Page 65 of Rendez-Vous in Cannes
Daisy nodded. ‘Yes. I sort of half expected him to turn up here and try to spoil things with Nat.’
The gate buzzer went. ‘Here is Nat,’ Poppy said, pressing the open button. ‘Tom, Cindy’s here to play.’
‘Hi,’ Daisy said as Nat gave her a greeting kiss. ‘This is a surprise.’
‘Cindy was desperate to play with Tom while Teddy and Verity were out this morning. When I rang and Poppy said Anna wasn’t here, I thought, why not.’
‘He’s still not happy about Cindy knowing Anna is her grandmother?’
‘Verity says he needs to come to terms with things himself first.’
‘You’ll be in trouble then if Teddy finds out,’ Daisy shook her head.
‘I’ll face that if it happens,’ Nat said. ‘It’s Philippe Cambone’s memorial service this morning, so I’m hoping, with a bit of luck, Anna has gone there and won’t return until after we’ve left, so I’ll be able to assure Teddy that Cindy hasn’t had any contact with her.’
With the two children playing happily in the pool, Nat and Daisy sat down to watch them and discuss plans of their own for the future.
‘When does your job with the Wickhams finish?’
‘Officially tomorrow when we get back to the UK. How long are you staying on down here?’
‘Mum and Dad will be here later in the week so I want to be here then. Dan gets back at the end of the week. Think I’ll probably change my flight to Friday. Help Poppy get the villa ready, spend some time with Mum and Dad but leave in time to give Poppy some space to enjoy having Dan home,’ Daisy said. She took a deep breath. ‘Once I get back I’ll start putting feelers out for work, pack up the flat and be back down here to live in the cottage in, hopefully, less than a month. Ready and waiting for you to arrive for a summer in the sun.’ Daisy smiled at him. ‘I’m so looking forward to it.’
‘Some of the summer might be spent in the States,’ Nat said.
‘Exciting. When d’you—’ Daisy stopped in mid-sentence as she heard the villa gates opening. ‘Nat – Anna and Leo have just arrived back. Teddy and Verity are with them.’
‘Cindy, Tom. Out you get,’ Nat said. ‘Mummy and Daddy are here. Run over to the cottage and we’ll get you dry,’ and he hurriedly shooed the children in the direction of the cottage, where Poppy was waiting with towels and a worried look on her face.
The children were barely dried and dressed when Teddy came over.
Everybody tensed, waiting for the explosion.
‘Hi, kids. Enjoy your swim?’
As everyone looked at him, surprised, he turned to Nat.
‘Would you like to take the rest of the day off? I think we’re going to be busy as a family this afternoon and evening. Cindy, say goodbye to Tom. I need you to come over to the villa – Anna and I have something very important to tell you.’
‘Okay’ Cindy said. ‘Does that mean I’m allowed to see Anna now?’
‘Yes,’ Teddy said. ‘I don’t think you can go on calling her Anna though. That is something you and she will need to talk about.’
Watching Teddy walk back towards the villa hand in hand with Cindy, Daisy said. ‘Well, that sounds as if things on the Anna and Teddy front have sorted themselves out easier and earlier than Anna was expecting. I’m so pleased for Anna.’
As Anna and her new family disappeared into the villa, Nat looked at Daisy and Poppy.
‘D’you two have anything planned for this afternoon? If not, fancy spending it with me wandering around the Chateau de la Napoule? Tom would enjoy it too I think.’
‘Great idea. A visit to the “Once Upon a Time” fairy-tale chateau will be the perfect end to festival week. But first I’ll treat the four of us to pizzas down in Cannes before we go,’ Daisy said, turning to Poppy. ‘Be easier if we take your car, then we can go straight along the bord de mer to the chateau.’
36
Anna’s heart was thumping wildly as she and Verity organised an impromptu lunch for the five of them in the villa kitchen. As they’d walked back from the memorial service, they’d called into a favourite boulangerie, where Leo had taken charge and bought baguettes, pizzas and onion tarts, plus a large tarte tropézienne to go with coffee afterwards. Stunned by the fact that Teddy had accepted her hesitant invitation to join them for lunch, Anna had been incapable of remembering what, apart from cheese and some slices of ham, was already in the kitchen.
Leo and Teddy were now busy rearranging chairs around the terrace table, while Cindy was back in the pool, splashing around happily.
‘I can’t believe this is happening,’ Anna said quietly, looking out of the window at the two men. ‘I mean, I know it’s not all going to be plain sailing between us, but the fact that Teddy is actually here ready to talk to me.’ She looked at Verity. ‘I can’t tell you how much his words this morning meant to me. Did you know he was going to say what he did?’
