Page 47 of Summer on the French Riviera
36
It was almost midnight when Gazz walked Elodie home. Stopping outside the villa’s gates, he took her in his arms to kiss her goodnight. ‘Eh bien! What an evening,’ he said. ‘I like your papa. And I think you do too?’
‘Yes. Harriet was right. He is a good man. I only have good men in my life,’ Elodie said, reaching up to return his kiss. ‘Thanks for walking me home. See you tomorrow.’
Gazz waited until the gate had closed behind Elodie before calling out, ‘Je t’aime. A bientôt,’ and moving away.
‘Moi aussi,’ Elodie called softly.
Indoors, Elodie crept up the stairs and into her room, where Lulu was already asleep on her bed. Part of her wanted to wake Harriet up and talk to her about the evening, but another part of her wanted to relive it by herself first.
Once Elodie had recovered from her shock, Jack had apologised if he was ruining their plans for the evening but please would they both join him for dinner at one of the beach restaurants. Gazz had offered to leave the two of them alone to get to know each other, but both Jack and Elodie had insisted he stayed.
When they’d agreed to have dinner with him, Jack had made straight for a restaurant and reserved a table for the three of them.
‘Your mom and I had dinner here the other evening, so I know the food is good,’ he’d said. As soon as the waiter had poured their aperitifs, he’d raised his glass in a toast. ‘To fathers and daughters’.
‘I love the way you say mom,’ Elodie had said. ‘Mum didn’t tell me she’d met up with you for dinner.’
‘We had a great time, reminiscing and…’ he’d hesitated. ‘Re-establishing contact, I hope.’
Elodie had given him a sharp look. ‘Is reconnecting with Mum one of the reasons you’re here.’
Jack shook his head. ‘No. The main reason was following a hunch that I had an unknown daughter, which, when it proved to be true, wanting to meet you and the two of us getting to know each other. Everything else fades into insignificance compared to that. Please believe me when I tell you that I’ve never forgotten Harriet and…’ Jack had hesitated. ‘And if I’m to be in your life – which I hope you will allow me to be – I’d like to be back in her life too again, so long as she is willing to let me. I do find it hard to forgive, but I know she had her own reasons for failing to tell me about you.’
Elodie had given him a thoughtful nod.
‘I have so many questions to ask you,’ Jack had said. ‘I hardly know where to start. I’m going to jump straight in with a serious, make-or-break question: do you like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?’
Both Gazz and Elodie had stared at him before bursting out laughing.
‘Is that some sort of trick question?’ Elodie had asked.
Jack had looked affronted. ‘To an American, it’s important to know. Well, do you?’
‘Never ever had one,’ Elodie had said. ‘I like peanut butter, but not sure about having jelly with it. How about you – do you like marmite on your cheese?’
Gazz had looked at them both in amazement. ‘Weird food you both like, but I bet you each pull a face at the thought of eating the French favourite, steak tartare with or without the raw egg yolk.’
‘Ugh, raw beef,’ Elodie had shuddered.
The waiter had arrived with their food then and the talking had paused for a few moments.
Now, as she sat on her bed cuddling Lulu and remembering the laughter around Jack’s so-called serious question, Elodie realised it had been the moment they’d all relaxed and which had set the friendly tone of the rest of the evening. Even the truly serious exchanges between them that had followed had been treated with gentleness and kindness. Like when Jack had said he’d always wanted a daughter and she’d instantly replied without thinking, ‘I’ve never missed the dad I never had.’
‘That makes me feel terribly sad for what we’ve both missed out on,’ Jack had said. ‘We have a lot of catching up to do.’
‘How long are you staying in France for?’ Gazz had asked.
‘I have another four months on my visa, which hopefully I can extend if I need to. My mother, who is here with me, has the same but will probably want to go home rather than extend the holiday.’
‘Hang on,’ Elodie had interrupted. ‘I’ve got an American grandmother? Have you told her about me? Are there any uncles and aunts I should know about?’
‘I’m an only child, so no uncles or aunts. But, yes, you have an American grandmother who is looking forward to meeting you. You also have a half-brother, Nathan. He’s hopefully coming here for a holiday soon, so you’ll get to meet him then. Oh, I forgot. You do have a great-uncle, Cooper, my mother’s twin brother. He’s a bit of a recluse these days, so we don’t see him often.’
Jack had handed his mobile phone to Gazz. ‘Would you take a photo of us please? If I return to the hotel without evidence of this meeting, my mother will not be happy.’
Gazz had taken the requested photo and then a selfie on his own phone of the three of them for Elodie.
