His voice broke, and he had to look off for a moment to regain his control.
“Kyle,” Nanine called, waiting to continue until he turned his head. “We all love you both too. Very much. When Madison came to me this morning, I immediately knew something had happened. She cleverly used my own words against me. Do you remember how I told you that I would only speak of what happened to Nanine’s once and never again?”
He nodded, remembering that horrible moment. She’d still been in her hospital bed, stuck with tubes, looking fragile and scared.
“Madison told me the same. When she finished, I was too in shock to say anything, and then she was embracing me and running out the door.” Nanine touched a shaky hand to her elegant brow line. “After she left, I sat and thought of what had befallen me and Nanine’s at Auguste’s hands, and now what is befalling Madison and Nanine’s as it now stands.”
She took Carl’s hand, and they shared a look before she returned her gaze to Kyle. “I do not know how much it will help, but I came to tell you I would like to tell my personal story to our dear friend Gustave atLe Monde, including how Auguste is improperly using his influence again. I will dare the Michelin people to listen to him again, and I will dare anyone to cooperate with someone so dishonorable. This man willnotruin our family.”
A few gasps echoed in the room. Kyle clenched his jaw to keep it from gaping. Nanine was the most private of people. That she would be willing to share this kind of story publicly…
“But your heart!” Brooke protested.
Nanine tapped her chest. “It is strong enough for what must be done. To do nothing would be the end of everything I stand for.”
Kyle knew to look past the tragedy in Nanine’s voice. He must. “Nanine, I do not know if that will help either. Certainly, it will be the talk of town, if not the culinary industry. Are you certain?”
Nanine looked around the room. “With my whole being.”
“Then I say blast the bastard with everything you’ve got, Nanine,” Brooke said in a clipped tone.
“Hear, hear!” Sawyer called out.
“Then we are agreed.” Nanine smoothed the seam in her wool pants. “I will call Gustave after we finish.”
“What about Madison?” Thea asked, clenching Jean Luc’s hand. “We can’t know for certain the article will work unless by some miracle Nanine’s wins a star. The announcement is in just over a week.”
“Gustave would have to rush the article,” Brooke added. “It’s?—”
“A hell of an order,” Dean finished in as somber of a tone as he’d ever spoken. “Maybe I could kidnap Madison? Of course, I’d need help. Doc, how are you at throwing a fishing net over someone?”
“I’m your girl there,” Phoebe put in.
Sawyer’s face registered an almost comical amount of alarm as he said, “Your biggest obstacle, Kyle, is that she’s being protective, trying to save you from ruin. Us too.”
“Yes, that more than anything is why she is planning to leave,” Nanine interjected. “She wants her star, but her love is great for you, Kyle. And for all of us here.”
“Love is a powerful driving force,” Sawyer added, taking his spectacles off and cleaning them. “To sacrifice oneself and one’s desires so the person who holds your heart does not share the same wretched fate is the most noble act of all.”
“Leave it to Madison to be a martyr for love,” Brooke drew out, tapping her thumb and forefinger together.
“And yet her loyalty is one of the reasons we love and respect her,” Axel added with his usual Nordic somberness.
“Yes, it is,” Kyle agreed, his heart heavy. “None of my arguments would sway her.”
Phoebe winced. “Sorry, Kyle, but I live with eloquent argumentative discourse. Mere reason won’t work. You’re going to have to get right in her face. Tell her you’ll dog her to the ends of the earth. That you’ll camp outside whatever place she hangs her hat?—”
“Cross a desert without shoes,” Dean broke in with a wince. “Basically, you have to convince her you’re not giving up.”
“Ever.”Brooke gave him a steady look. “Even if Madison continues to push you away.”
He closed his eyes, needing a moment. Brooke was right. He was going to have to keep fighting Madison, and she was one hell of a fighter. How were they supposed to not keep breaking each other’s hearts?
“Your task is not to seek for love,”Sawyer softly quoted,“but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it, and embrace them.Rumi. That is the journey Madison faces, and you must help her navigate it.”
Dean groaned as he held his head playfully in his hands. “Jeez, Doc, why don’t you simply bash his head in and put him out of his misery? I wouldn’t have a clue what to do on that score.”
But suddenly Kyle shoved out of his chair because he did, and that was all that mattered.
