Page 52 of Summer at the Château
‘Great. It can be our first joint present from us to him.’ Charlie looked at her with a smile on his face. ‘The first of many, I hope. Oh, and by the way, I’m making his cake.’
‘He’ll be thrilled about that, thank you.’ Justine smiled back. Inwardly she gave herself a stern warning to take things carefully, not to rush things. She couldn’t risk Ferdie being hurt if it all ended in tears and Charlie vanished out of their lives as quickly as he’d entered.
‘I’ll just text Carole and ask her to tell the farmer’s wife we’d like the puppy.’
They drove several kilometres in a companionable silence before Charlie spoke again. ‘May I ask you something? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.’
‘Okay.’
‘What happened with Ferdie’s dad? Does he ever see him?’
Justine shook her head. ’I’d been with Patrice for about eighteen months when I fell pregnant, which came as a huge shock to both of us. Me probably more than Patrice as I’d decided I needed more in my life than a guy with no ambition and was about to break off the relationship. Apparently, the course of antibiotics I had to take for a bacterial infection knocked the pill off course. Patrice blamed me, decided he didn’t want the responsibility and took off. I’ve no idea where he is and, no, he doesn’t see Ferdie.’
‘More fool him.’
‘In a way, but I’m not sure he would have made a good father, so it’s better he’s not around,’ Justine said and decided to change the subject. ‘Tell me more about the plans Pixie has for the château and particularly, how you’re going to be involved.’
‘As far as I can gather, she’s returning to the UK in September to start selling her house – and Grandma’s. I think they’re both planning on being back here again by the middle of October and we’ll spend the winter formalising and organising Château Quiltu Retreats, ready to open next spring.
‘The plans are pretty vague still, but basically, I’ll be in charge of the kitchen,’ Charlie said. ‘Pixie will decide which courses to run and organise guest speakers. She’s hoping Gwen will play a part too. Hey, maybe you can give a course on basket making.’
‘I’d like that. Doing the markets is going to become more difficult as Ferdie gets older, but I’ve still got to earn a living.’
‘Don’t forget I’m more than happy to look after Ferdie if you need a hand anytime.’
‘Thanks. I might have to take you up on that during the school holidays.’
‘Are we nearly home yet, Mummy?’ a small voice from the back said.
Justine turned round and smiled at Ferdie. ‘Yes. Look, Charlie is about to turn into the drive.’
‘Looks like Pixie’s got surprise visitors,’ Charlie said, drawing up alongside a smart Mercedes before stopping the car and looking across to where Pixie and Gwen were standing with an elegant woman and a man. A sharp intake of breath from Justine made him turn and look at her. ‘Are you OK? You’ve gone a ghostly white.’
‘Oh god, I don’t believe this. Pixie’s visitors? They’re my mum and dad.’ Justine looked at Charlie. ‘All hell is about to break out, so be warned. How could she just turn up without any warning?’
Charlie was silent as he got out to reach in and undo Ferdie’s straps and lift him out.
Seeing him, Pixie called out, ‘You’re back just in time to meet Brigitte, a lovely old friend of mine and her husband. We haven’t seen each other for years. I can’t believe she’s managed to track me down here. Justine, why don’t you come and meet them too.’
Charlie lifted Ferdie out of the car and set him down gently on the drive, in time to hear Justine swear under her breath before saying in a loud voice. ‘Ferdie, come and hold my hand now, please.’
But Ferdie ignored her and ran straight across to the visitors. ‘Gangan. Gramps. I’ve been to the beach with Charlie and Mummy. Have you brought Buddy? Are you staying for my birthday?’
The loud silence that greeted his words as he ran up to Brigitte resonated in strident, hurtful echoing waves around the group as the four of them froze and all eyes turned to look at Brigitte.
34
Pixie found her voice first and glared at Brigitte. ‘You’re Justine’s mother?’
Brigitte nodded. ‘I’m afraid so. We go somewhere private. I think we ’ave the need to talk.’
Pixie shook her head vehemently. ‘Not me. You need to talk and answer a lot of questions. We’ll go down to the lake.’ Pixie turned and walked quickly away.
‘Why, so you can push me in?’
‘Don’t tempt me.’
‘Pixie, you’re killing me here, slow down, I can’t keep up.’
