Page 24 of A French Adventure
Five minutes later, they were buying cold drinks and salad baguettes from the snack van on the beach and settling down to eat their lunch on one of the benches.
Halfway through his baguette, Thierry gave a contented sigh. ‘I’ve missed this so much,’ he said.
‘I’m sure you could have got a salad baguette in Singapore if you’d looked in the right place,’ Olivia said lightly. ‘But that’s not what you meant, is it?’
Thierry shook his head. ‘Non.’ He gestured around him. ‘It’s all this. I missed down here more than I missed Paris.’
‘Well, when you decide what you’re going to do next, you’ll have to ensure you can do it from here,’ Olivia said.
‘You make it sound easy.’
Olivia gave a shrug. ‘It might be, it might not, depends on what you decide to do. You did say you had a couple of ideas?’
Thierry nodded. ‘I’ve done a bit of research on one, which has shown it’s a no-go. I’ll have to see what happens with the next one.’
‘Why not talk to Papa? He still seems to have fingers in lots of pies, as they say. He may have a suggestion or two.’
‘Good idea. I’ll have a word with Trent after this weekend. See if he has any ideas.’
Olivia finished her baguette and brushed the crumbs away. ‘I have to get back. Lots to do this afternoon before supper with Vivienne and Maxine. It will feel strange being a guest in my own apartment.’
‘Will you let me know how Maxine is please? Since the party she’s not been herself and I have the feeling she is avoiding me. I do worry about her.’
‘I think perhaps the first garden party without Pierre must have been more difficult for her than we realised,’ Olivia said thoughtfully. ‘I’ll message you if I’m worried about her tonight. Otherwise I’ll see you in Monaco on Sunday. Thanks for lunch.’
17
Vivienne spent all Wednesday morning and most of the afternoon up on the terrace writing. Lunch was a quick cheese sandwich, eaten still hunched over her keyboard. At four o’clock, happy with the day’s work, she gave a deep sigh and closed her laptop. Time for a shower, a quick dash to the supermarket to buy food for supper and then an evening with Maxine and Olivia.
A couple of hours later, Vivienne gave the terrace a quick sweep and tidied the cushions before putting plates and glasses on the table. In the supermarket earlier as well as food, she’d bought four citronella candles in terracotta pots and, after lighting them, she placed one in the centre of the table and dotted the others along the terrace wall. Hopefully, they’d serve to keep the mosquitoes at bay as well as looking pretty.
Olivia and Maxine arrived together, minutes after Vivienne had finished carrying the food up to the terrace. Olivia with a posy of flowers, which she handed to Vivienne with a smile, and Maxine handed over a bottle of already chilled rosé, also with a smile.
‘You didn’t need to bring anything,’ Vivienne protested. ‘Supper is my way of saying thanks to you both for everything. But thank you anyway.’
Vivienne poured glasses of rosé and the three of them stood by the terrace wall looking out at the view.
‘I try to angle my chair to just see the Med when I’m working up here,’ Vivienne said. ‘I’m so easily distracted by the people on the beach.’ She glanced at Olivia. ‘I think I saw you with Thierry earlier today.’
‘You did. But please don’t mention it to my mother on Sunday. She’ll immediately start planning our wedding and that would be exasperating because, in the scheme of things, that’s not going to happen.’ Olivia laughed. ‘Thierry has always been in my life and it’s good to have him back. He’s like my big brother really, he always used to tease me mercilessly when I was younger. Now we’re good friends and he just tells me awful jokes.’
‘He’s a good man,’ Maxine said quietly. ‘Like his father. I’m glad he’s back too.’
‘Shall we eat?’ Vivienne asked. ‘I would like to ask your advice about something.’
As they all tucked into the platter of cold meats and cheeses, olives, mozzarella salad and slices of baguette, Vivienne told them what she knew about her ‘French connection’.
‘My birth mother came down here on holiday and apparently had a brief romance and returned home pregnant. Her parents sent her away to a mother and baby home and two weeks after I was born, my parents adopted me.’ Vivienne paused. ‘When Jacqueline, my adoptive mum, died, going through some of her papers, I found my birth certificate, a photograph and a sealed envelope with a man’s name written across it and the address of a village in the countryside behind Nice where he lived.’
Vivienne paused and took a deep breath. ‘I believe that man to be my birth father and I would like to find him. I’ve googled and found the village – Puget Theniers – but there doesn’t appear to be an easy way of getting there. Do either of you have any ideas how I get there – other than hiring a car? And if that’s the best option, I’ll probably wait until Natalie gets here and we can go together.’
‘Hiring a car, it is the best way,’ Maxine said. ‘There is a small train to take you to Puget, but then you have the problem to find the address. Perhaps it’s in the commune and not in the village itself. I’m happy to drive you. We make a day out and I show you the countryside.’
‘Really? That would be wonderful.’
‘I might even be tempted to come with you,’ Olivia said. ‘If you go on a day when I’m not busy. Next week is mostly quiet for me!’
‘One day next week it is,’ Maxine said. ‘I’ll sort a day out, probably next Wednesday.’
