Page 48 of Summer on the French Riviera
‘Whereabouts do you live in America?’ Gazz had asked.
‘On the east coast up near New York. I can’t wait for you both to visit.’
As the evening had worn on, Elodie remembered sitting back, watching the sun set over the Esterel mountains, sipping her wine and listening to Gazz and her father, a father she couldn’t yet fully relate to but whom she was already feeling drawn to, genially discussing the state of world tennis. Gazz was a keen follower and bought tickets for the Monte Carlo Masters every year. Apparently her father had played in some amateur competitions when younger. Elodie had smiled at that. She’d loved playing in the Dartmouth Regatta Tennis Annual Championship, had even won the cup one year. Had she unknowingly inherited her love of the sport from him?
They were still sitting there when the moon was high in the sky and the beach was emptying. With more than a degree of reluctance, they had all stood up to leave and Jack, who had barely glanced at the bill in the small dish, placed several euro notes in it and handed it to the waiter with a ‘Merci. Tout compris.’
As the three of them had made their way along the Promenade du Soleil, Elodie sandwiched between the two men, Jack had said quietly, ‘Your mom has told me her marriage, like mine, was a mistake. Has she told you anything about that time?’
Elodie had sighed. ‘A little. To be honest, selfishly, I’ve never asked her outright. I hated Todd for taking her away and I didn’t want to know anything about him. The one thing I do know, though, is that he was very controlling. You’ll have to ask her to tell you the details if you want to know.’
‘I want to know and I intend to ask her,’ Jack had said. ‘Now, did we decide on a time for lunch for everyone tomorrow? I think we said twelve o’clock for twelve thirty in the bar at the Belles Rives.’ He had shaken Gazz’s hand. ‘It was good to meet you and I trust we’re going to be good friends. I hope you can make lunch tomorrow, but there will be lots of lunches in the future if you can’t.’ He’d turned to Elodie. ‘May I give you a goodnight hug?’
Wordlessly, Elodie had moved into his arms and he’d pulled her close.
‘It’s wonderful to finally meet you. We’ve made a lovely first memory this evening. And I promise to be the best father you never knew you wanted. See you tomorrow.’
Elodie pulled the duvet back with a happy sigh and climbed into bed. Spending the evening so spontaneously with Jack had been great, and now there was the family lunch to look forward to tomorrow.
37
Elodie did the breakfast croissant run with Lulu early the next morning and rewarded herself with a quick swim before the others appeared for breakfast. Harriet placed the coffee on the table and watched Elodie dry herself.
‘You and Gazz have a good evening last night? I heard you come home.’
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you, I thought I was quite quiet,’ Elodie said.
‘You didn’t wake me. I was reading.’
‘Morning,’ Gabby said as she arrived and pulled out a chair. ‘Did you and Gazz get to Cannes?’
‘No. We had supper at one of the Juan beach restaurants instead.’ Elodie took a bite of her croissant, chewing and swallowing before she said casually. ‘By the way, the meeting this morning with Jack is cancelled.’
Elodie immediately felt bad when Harriet reacted with an exasperated, ‘Oh for heaven’s sake. Why?’
Elodie said, ‘It’s just a change of plan. The reason we didn’t get to Cannes last night was because Jack was on the beach talking to Gazz when I arrived and we both realised who we were.’
Gabby and Harriet stared at her.
‘Which is how we ended up at the beach having supper with Jack.’ Elodie turned to her mother. ‘The same restaurant he took you to.’
‘I didn’t know you’d had dinner with Jack,’ Gabby said, looking at Harriet, who shrugged.
‘He was getting frustrated at Elodie not agreeing to meet him so I thought I’d try to calm him down. So what happens now?’
‘He’s staying around for a few more months,’ Elodie said. ‘He really wants to get to know me, us. I really like him. Like you said, he’s a good man. Anyway, today we’re all invited for lunch at the Belles Rives. Philippe too, Gabby. My American grandmother is going to be there also. I’m actually looking forward to it.’ She finished her croissant, drained her coffee cup and stood up. ‘Twelve o’clock for twelve-thirty in the bar at Belles Rives. We can all walk down together at about twelve fifteen. I need to do some work now, see you later.’
As Elodie left, Harriet gave a strangled laugh as she looked at her mother and they both shook their heads in rueful acceptance.
‘Well, at least they appear to have got on,’ Gabby said. ‘We just wait and see now what happens. I must say I’m looking forward to finally meeting your Jack and his mother too. And lunch at the Belles Rives is sure to be delicious.’
‘He’s not “my” Jack,’ Harriet protested. ‘He just happens to be someone I knew a long time ago and is the father of my now grown-up child.’ She pushed the thought ‘he was most definitely my Jack then’ away. Too many years had passed, too many mistakes had been made; it was too late to have regrets for what might have been.
Gabby regarded her shrewdly. ‘He’s also someone who has gone to a lot of trouble to track you both down. I haven’t even met him yet, but I think you may find he would like to be your Jack again. And, for what it’s worth, I also think you still have feelings for him.’ Gabby stood up. ‘I’m looking forward to seeing the two of you together.’ She gave Harriet a mischievous smile. ‘I’m going to phone Philippe and tell him about our luncheon date and then I’m going to make myself presentable for meeting my American counterpart. Some older American women take their appearance very seriously, I’m told, and I don’t want to let the side down.’
Harriet stayed where she was for a few moments. Jack and Elodie meeting, she knew, was the beginning of massive changes in all their lives. Some of those changes were sure to be more welcome than others. And Gabby was right. She did still have feelings for Jack as much as she might try to deny them. Feelings that had never ever gone completely away. But she wasn’t about to admit them to anyone.
* * *
