Page 50 of Summer on the French Riviera
‘I find it really hard to even think about calling Harriet mum. I’ve not managed it once yet and she’s been back in my life for several months now. We’re slowly getting closer for sure but…’ Elodie hesitated. ‘After such a short time of knowing him, I’m already thinking of Jack as my dad. Which I feel is wrong somehow. If I start calling him dad without calling Harriet mum, I think it will upset her.’
Gazz didn’t speak and Elodie looked at him anxiously.
‘I know I’m a horrible, horrible person.’
‘Don’t be silly, you’re not horrible at all. In fact, I think you’re rather lovely,’ Gazz said, putting his arm around her shoulders and giving her a tight squeeze. ‘The fact that you’re worried about upsetting your mum is proof that you care.’
‘I’ve been trying to analyse myself. All I can think of is that it’s because he never knew he was my dad, so didn’t have to choose whether to stay or go, whereas Harriet clearly did know she was my mother but chose to leave me. But then, I can understand in a way why she did what she did, although it turned out to be an even bigger mistake.’
‘I think you should stop worrying,’ Gazz said. ‘By the time Jack returns to America, you’ll probably be calling Harriet mum without a second’s thought.’
‘Hope so. Jack wants me to go back with him. He’s even suggested I move over for six months.’
‘Are you thinking about doing that?’
‘No.’ Elodie’s reply was instant. ‘My life is here now. I’d like us to go for a holiday, or even several holidays, but not for months at a time.’
Gazz gave a sigh of relief. ‘For a moment there I thought I was about to lose you to a life in America.’
‘You don’t get rid of me that easily.’ Elodie turned and gave him a quick kiss. ‘Have you thought any more about us moving in together?’
‘It’s not going to be as easy as I thought. Permanent rental apartments used to be fairly easy to find, if expensive, but now people are offering them as Airbnbs all year round. They make more money and they don’t have the possibility of having difficult tenants long term.’
‘We will just have to keep asking around,’ Elodie said. ‘Something will turn up eventually. Maybe Philippe will hear of something. He seems to know a lot of people.’
38
‘Has your muse turned up to help now you’re painting again?’ Hugo asked during a lull in serving customers the following Saturday.
Harriet smiled. ‘Yes, she has and I’m really enjoying painting again.’
‘That’s great. So how many paintings have you managed so far?’
‘Six complete and another one almost there.’
‘I was thinking of the first week in December for the exhibition I promised to hold. It’s still a few months away, so aim for another eight maybe. Is that doable, do you think?’
‘I think so, but I honestly do not know,’ Harriet said. ‘Life should settle down for me now that Jack has finally met Elodie.’
‘What? When and where?’ Hugo raised his eyebrows. ‘Details please.’
Harriet quickly told him about Elodie and Jack’s accidental meeting on the beach, ‘And Jack treated us all to lunch at the Belles Rives the following day.’
‘Nice. And the two of you? Are you friends again?’
‘Not sure we’ve reached the friends stage quite yet. I suppose the best way to describe it would be to say it is all very civilised and grown-up. For Elodie’s sake mostly.’ Harriet pushed away the memory of Jack holding her by the hand to introduce her to Martha. That hadn’t been a grown-up action and it had definitely given Martha the wrong impression of the state of their current relationship.
Hugo looked at her thoughtfully. ‘You still like him, don’t you?’
‘I did like the younger Jack very much,’ Harriet admitted. ‘But right now it is our shared history, including Elodie, that has brought us back together.’
To Harriet’s relief, the gallery door opened and a couple walked in and she moved away from Hugo with a smile of welcome for them, pushing all thoughts of how much she liked the older version of Jack away.
* * *
Gabby walked Lulu on Sunday morning and called in at Colette’s, wanting to tell her about lunch at the Belles Rives and meeting Jack and his mother.
‘He seems desperate to do the right thing by Elodie now he knows about her. And even more so now that he has met her in the flesh,’ Gabby said. ‘And the way he is around Harriet is interesting too. I get the feeling that it’s not just Elodie he cares about.’
