Page 20 of Secrets Beneath a Riviera Sky
‘I was patient like Theo suggested. I’d hoped to hear from you before I went off to uni. But.’ Piers gave her a rueful glance. ‘Once there I became busy and involved and my life set off on the road to bring me to where I am today. Like they say, life is full of roads not travelled, isn’t it?’
‘Yes. Have you been happy?’ Francine asked quietly. ‘That is the main thing we can hope for. To be happy with the way life turns out despite everything we do to sabotage it.’ As she spoke, she realised that Oscar with his continual striving for material things and his controlling nature had probably never been truly happy in himself for his whole life.
‘Yes. I have a family and life is good.’ Piers smiled. ‘I hope you are too?’
‘Yes. Current circumstances aside, I have a happy life,’ Francine smiled. ‘This is a beautiful boat. Is she yours? I remember you being sailing mad.’
Piers nodded. ‘She’s all mine. If you fancy a sail whilst you’re here, just ask. You down here on your own?’
‘Maman and my daughter are with me. You mentioned your family?’
‘Two boys and a girl. Dominic, who works in the coffee shop with me now I’ve taken it over from Papa and Andre who works part-time in the cafe. My daughter, Armelle, is a bit of a free spirit but knows what she wants and is determined to get it, has started her own business. My wife ran off with a super-yacht owner a few years ago.’
‘Sorry to hear that.’
Piers shrugged philosophically as he topped up their glasses. ‘Mimi was always a fan of the bright lights and big spenders. I’m surprised she’d stayed with me for twenty years to be honest.’
‘You married Mimi?’ Francine couldn’t keep the surprise out of her voice. ‘I’d never have put the two of you together. I remember the two of you always sparring when we all hung out together.’
‘Theo, he tell me you marry an Englishman several years ago?’
‘Yes, Edwin. We have a daughter, Zazz – Jasmine really but she hates that name, too old-fashioned for her.’ Francine shrugged. ‘What she calls herself is the least of my worries at the moment.’
Piers looked at her, waiting for her to continue. When she did continue it was to change the subject, not wanting to talk about her problems with Zazz.
Francine looked at Piers, puzzled. ‘The cafe this morning? I don’t remember it belonging to your family. I remember one near the market?’
‘The position of the current one is much better business wise,’ Piers said. ‘One of the first things I did was to sell the old place and buy it.’
‘How come you took over the family cafe? I remember you planned to go travelling after uni and then?—’
‘I was going to change the world,’ Piers laughed. ‘I did go travelling for six months and then reality hit. I was needed back here, so.’ He drank some wine. ‘I surprise myself how much I like working in the cafe, besides, I get to go sailing on this beauty several times a week.’
‘Oscar had a boat, apparently. Do you know where he moored it? What it is like?’ Francine asked looking around at the boats tied to the quay.
‘It is berthed in the marina at Golfe-Juan. He was lucky the berth came with the boat, long waiting lists for moorings everywhere these days. It’s a fifty-foot motorboat. I forget its name.’
‘Quite a big one then. I must get Theo to check what’s happening about it – if he knows.’ Francine finished her wine. ‘I’d better get back to the house. It’s been great catching up a little.’
‘I’m down here most evenings,’ Piers said, standing up and taking her glass. ‘Come and say hi anytime. I’m sure there’s lots more to learn about each other’s lives.’
‘I might just do that,’ Francine said. ‘Escape from all the family turmoil over Oscar’s will.’ She stood up and took Piers’s offered hand to step up onto the stern of the yacht. ‘I don’t suppose you know a man called Serge Cortez, do you?’
Piers looked thoughtful. ‘Non. I don’t think so. Is he important?’
Francine pulled a face. ‘Who knows. But he could turn out to be my half-brother.’
‘Knowing Oscar’s reputation, I’m not surprised. Hope it’s just the one. Sorry, Frankie,’ he apologised as he registered the wince on Francine’s face at his words.
She shook her head. ‘Don’t be. I hadn’t even thought about there being more. I hope you’re wrong for Maman’s sake.’ Francine stepped on to the quay and turned to face Piers. ‘Thanks for the wine.’
‘Ciao.’
Francine walked back up to Le Suquet deep in thought. Meeting Piers had opened a floodgate of memories and added in several new thoughts about Zazz’s actions. Oscar’s too. Had he been the one to put the idea of coming to live down here in Zazz’s head? Or had Zazz had an ulterior motive when she first decided to secretly visit and meet her grandfather? However much Zazz said she was glad to have met him and how much they’d liked each other, Oscar would definitely have taken advantage of the situation. There had to be an ulterior motive for him to invite her to live down here. There was no way he would have done it out of the kindness of his heart. Francine gave a deep sigh. She knew exactly what his motive would have been. He’d wanted to be able to crow with satisfaction over his ability to entice his granddaughter away from her mother and especially her grandmother.
But the biggest personal realisation of all came as she unlocked the front door of Oscar’s house. Zazz had planned to do the very thing that she herself had been offered – the opportunity to stay with Oscar and live on the French Riviera. Her daughter had seized the chance that she herself had spent a large part of her life regretting turning down, whilst knowing at the same time, she’d done the only thing she could possibly do. There had never been a choice for her. After the sacrifices and the hardship that Agnes had suffered on her behalf, leaving her to live down here with Oscar had never truly been even a tiny possibility in her mind.
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