Page 10 of Secrets Beneath a Riviera Sky
‘We’ll meet you there,’ Zazz said decisively without consulting her mother.
After Theo left, taking Cerise with him saying that he didn’t want her unsettled by being back in her old home, Francine and Zazz took their cases upstairs.
‘That was Oscar’s room,’ Francine said, pointing at the first door they came to. ‘I don’t expect either of us want to sleep in there. The bathroom is here, you can take the room next to it, if you like, and I’ll have this one opposite. As I remember it, there is another bedroom up there,’ and she pointed at a spiral staircase at the end of the hallway. ‘But that may not be in use these days.’ She opened the door she was standing next to and dragged her suitcase inside before Zazz could react.
Zazz walked to the end of the hallway, passing the large armoire placed against the wall halfway along, looked over her shoulder to check that Francine had closed her bedroom door and slowly climbed the spiral staircase with her luggage. The spacious attic room she stepped into was perfect with its beamed and sloping ceiling and windows that gave a glimpse of the Mediterranean. Sparsely furnished there was a large double bed, a chest of drawers, a hanging rail in the recess for a wardrobe, a small desk and a comfortable chair placed near the window. Zazz sighed happily before leaving her case and rucksack on the floor by the bed and turning to run lightly back down the spiral stairs. Opening the large armoire, she was pleased to see it full of towels as well as the bed linen she’d hoped to find and she began to pull out duvet covers, pillowcases and sheets. She grabbed a couple of towels but didn’t bother pulling duvets down from the top shelf, it was warm enough to sleep under a simple cover.
Holding bed linen for Francine as well she moved towards the room her mother had chosen. ‘I’ll give you a hand making your bed, shall I?’ Her voice faded away as she saw her mother sitting on the bed staring into space.
‘Mum, what’s wrong?’
Francine gave a start and stood up. ‘Nothing is wrong. I just got caught up in memories of the past. You’ve found the bed linen, thanks,’ and Francine held out her hands to take some.
‘This is a nice room,’ Zazz said.
Francine nodded. ‘Yes, it’s the room I usually stayed in as a teenager when I came for the mandatory daughter-father visits. The room you’re in was my bedroom before, before Maman and I left.’
‘I’ve decided to sleep up on the next floor,’ Zazz said. ‘It’s still a bedroom and has a lovely view. Got to love climbing a spiral staircase to go to bed. Come on, let’s make up your bed,’ she added before her mother could question her choice of room.
‘Thank you.’
As Zazz straightened up a few minutes later after smoothing down the duvet cover she said. ‘I think I’ll unpack and then have a shower – unless you’d like first shower?’
‘No, I’ll have one after you. I might just lie on the bed and read my Kindle for a bit after I’ve unpacked.’
‘I’ll see you later then,’ and Zazz pulled the door closed behind her as she left.
Up in the attic room Zazz quickly made the bed before unpacking and hanging her clothes on the rail in the recess and placing the rest of her stuff in the chest of drawers. Her laptop she placed on the desk and after sending Rufus a quick WhatsApp message to say she’d arrived she put her phone alongside it.
A few moments later and Zazz was in the surprisingly modern bathroom, standing under the rainfall power shower luxuriating in the feel of the hot water as it pounded away the tension that had gripped her shoulders all day. As she felt herself relax, she decided that tonight over dinner at the auberge would possibly be a good time to talk to her mother and grandmother with Theo there to help keep things calm. He’d been cross with her at the airport but hopefully he would be able to help her make both of them understand why she had done what she had. At least she hoped he would help, Zazz sensed he didn’t entirely approve of her actions over the past few months. And he, like the others, didn’t know the half of them so far and was equally unlikely to approve of them.
12
After Zazz left her, Francine sank back down on the now made bed and tried to rationalise her thoughts. However strange it felt to be back in Le Suquet and here in this house, she had to deal with it. Staying at Theo’s would have been easier for there were no bad memories associated with it but letting Zazz come here to stay on her own had never been an option in her mind. At least Agnes had been spared the trauma of returning to the house she’d run away from nearly half a century ago. Francine closed her eyes and immediately the times she’d slept in this room in the past slipped into her mind…
How she’d hated leaving Agnes in the summer without help in the B&B and how Oscar smiled at her and raised his eyebrows in irritation every year when she mentioned it. She’d been twelve before Agnes finally gave in to Oscar’s demands that she stayed with him for two weeks every summer and allowed her to go. So, for the next six years, there had been a summer pattern to her life.
Agnes always drove her up to Bristol airport, checked her in as an unaccompanied minor and saw her safely into the departure lounge before turning away and going home. Francine still remembered the taste of bile in her mouth that first time, how nauseous she’d felt as she watched Agnes walk away after telling her Oscar would be waiting for her at Nice. In the summers that followed, it was often Theo waiting to meet her because Oscar was busy with ‘business’.
That first summer of travelling alone to France kickstarted a steep growing-up curve in her life. She didn’t tell Agnes some of the things that happened in France knowing she wouldn’t like it. Even at that young age she’d been sensitive to her mother’s feelings and divided them into ‘on a need-to-know basis’ that wouldn’t upset her mother. Most days she walked down through Cannes to see Theo who at the time was busy still renovating the old house he’d purchased a few years ago. Theo treated her like his favourite person in the world, he was always pleased to see her at any time. Oscar, even though it was he who insisted she came every summer, sometimes made her feel she got in his way and was a bit of a nuisance. She’d quickly realised after the first summer that Oscar was simply exercising his rights and trying to make life difficult for Agnes.
But those teenage summers in the South of France had, she realised in hindsight, not been all bad. Using French all day and every day improved her native language immensely. Agnes and she always spoke French together but English was the main language in her daily life at school and with her friends. Oscar rarely had time to entertain her and whilst Theo was always pleased to see her, there were times when he was busy too and she was left to her own devices for an hour or two.
As she grew older she spent more time with Theo than she did with Oscar. It was Theo who introduced her to friends of his who had teenage children so that she quickly built up a circle of friends for the holidays. It was Theo too who taught her to play tennis, took her to the theatre, shrugged his shoulders when she questioned why Oscar wanted her there when he couldn’t be bothered to spend a lot of time with her. ‘It’s just the way he is,’ he’d said. ‘And I expect he’s got a lot on his mind. Business and – and other things.’
She’d never asked about the ‘other things’ she’d simply accepted that Oscar had his secrets. It wasn’t until much later that Francine began to understand that his secrets always involved a woman.
Theo had always accompanied her back to the UK at the end of her holiday, saying it was his yearly treat to spend time in Devon with her and Agnes…
Francine came to with a start as the bathroom door slammed and she heard Zazz run up to the attic bedroom. She’d be glad when the meeting with the notaire was over and they could begin to do whatever it was they needed to do. Deciding if there was anything Agnes wanted to keep from the house would be next, not that there was likely to be anything. And she herself definitely didn’t want a thing. Getting ready to put the house up for sale would be the next step. It would be a huge job clearing the place of Oscar’s possessions, clothes, books, furniture and all the other personal things he’d collected over the years. And then of course there was his boat to be disposed of. Theo would know whom to approach over that. Briefly Francine wondered about the boat. Where was it currently? What sort of boat was it – a sailing dinghy, a motorboat, or possibly even a proper yacht?
Francine stood up and grabbed a towel. All these questions would start to be answered tomorrow, right now she needed a shower. Ten minutes later as she stood in front of the bedroom mirror drying her hair, she saw a text message on her mobile from Edwin. Rather than text him back she pressed the call button and gave a happy smile when he answered.
‘How was the flight?’ Edwin asked. ‘How does it feel to be back down in Cannes?’
‘The flight was fine. But everything feels peculiar to me right now. Not helped by staying in Oscar’s house.’
‘I assumed you’d stay at Theo’s,’ Edwin said, surprised.
