Page 36 of Secrets Beneath a Riviera Sky
‘Theo has already offered us his cottage to stay in as often as we want to,’ Agnes said.
Francine nodded. ‘I know but I wouldn’t want to take advantage. It’s good to be independent. Here’s lunch,’ she said as Theo and Edwin appeared.
The size of small plates, the Pan Bagnats were stuffed full of salad, egg and tuna and were, everybody agreed, quite delicious.
Edwin, gazing out over the Mediterranean towards the mainland coastline, shook his head in wonder. ‘This place is so beautiful, so tranquil, it’s hard to remember that over there, a short distance away, the twenty-first century is in full swing with all its attendant commercialism.’
Theo gave a sad smile. ‘I agree. Life today is fast and furious compared to life here on the island for the monks. But even here the monks have to run a commercial business in order to survive and maintain the ancient Abbey as well as their slower, chosen, way of life.’
Agnes brushed the crumbs off her lap and stood up. ‘And I, for one, am grateful to the monks for providing us with an idyllic escape from the real world – and making such delicious wine and liqueurs. Two bottles of which are waiting for Theo to collect from the boutique.’
* * *
Zazz wasn’t sure what to wear for her supper date with Dominic. She hadn’t brought many date-wearing clothes with her – mainly jeans and tops. In the end she decided on her favourite posh white jeans, a long-sleeved Breton-style top with red stripes, teamed with her denim waistcoat in case the evening turned chilly, and she slipped her feet into her wedge sandals. Dominic had invited her for supper not dinner so hopefully they would go to a bistro-type place rather than a posh restaurant.
Dominic had said he’d come up to Le Suquet for her and they could walk down together but Zazz had quickly suggested they met in town and had persuaded Dominic to meet her at the bottom of rue Saint Antoine. Introducing him to her parents, her mother in particular, wasn’t going to happen tonight. He was waiting for her and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.
‘I hope you like pasta,’ he said, looking at her. ‘Because we’re going to the best pasta bistro in Cannes.’
‘Love pasta,’ Zazz said.
‘Good. Come on then, it’s five minutes down this way.’
Dominic pushed open a nondescript door and revealed a spacious courtyard with several huge terracotta pots containing olive trees or oleander plants dotted around, a rampant bougainvillaea covered its stone walls and at the far end a loggia was covered with the blue flowers of plumbago. Tables and chairs were placed under the loggia and also higgledy-piggledy around the courtyard amongst the plants. Fairy lights were entwined in amongst all the greenery and solar lights in the pots were starting to shine as dusk fell.
Zazz looked around her in amazement. ‘What a wonderful place. It’s magical.’ She kept the words ‘and romantic’ to herself.
‘One of Cannes’s best-kept secrets,’ Dominic said. ‘If you don’t know about it you’ll never find it. The food’s good too.’
A waiter came forward, obviously a friend as he laughed and greeted Dominic by name before showing them to a table for two under the loggia. There was a large window on the back wall and Zazz watched, fascinated, as the team of chefs and sous-chefs danced around each other in the kitchen as they all concentrated on stirring and shaking pans, intent on producing the best food for their customers. It was like watching a ballet without music. Zazz guessed there must be noise in the kitchen but none could be heard in the courtyard.
She took Dominic’s advice and chose the linguine with French green beans, parsley pesto and freshly grated pecorino Romano cheese, The fresh Sauvignon Blanc wine with its herb overtones he chose to accompany their meal was perfect too.
As they ate, Dominic talked a little about various films he’d seen and Zazz quickly realised he was a bit of a film buff. She hadn’t heard of half the films he mentioned – just the blockbuster ones. He laughed when she confessed to loving anything with George Clooney and Julia Roberts in.
When he asked if there was a boyfriend back in the UK, she shook her head and told him about Rufus. Dominic mentioned being hurt too by a previous relationship but didn’t go into details, simply saying it was a few years ago now.
‘Do you like working with your papa in the coffee shop?’ she asked. Dominic nodded.
‘I love it. Can’t wait to take it over when Papa retires like he keeps threatening to do.’ Andre, his younger brother, wasn’t interested in being involved in the business full time and had plans to go to America once he’d graduated. ‘His ambition is to work for a year or two in California and then he wants to return to Sophia Antipolis, the Riviera’s answer to Silicon Valley, and set up his own high-tech company here.’ Dominic shuddered. ‘I can’t think of anything worse than sitting behind a computer all day.’
Zazz talked about concentrating on her social media business and about wanting to write a novel one day. She’d never told anyone else that, and was surprised she felt so comfortable telling Dominic and was glad he didn’t rubbish her dream.
They shared a huge tiramisu for dessert and enjoyed small coffees afterwards, although Dominic pulled a face at the coffee. ‘Not as good as ours,’ he whispered.
After supper he took her hand as they walked along the Croisette looking at the lights, the big glitzy ‘Welcome to Cannes’ sign hanging over the Croisette ready for the festival, coloured lights wound around the palm tree trunks, more lights strung between the trees.
As they passed the Palais des Festivals Dominic said, ‘I have two tickets for the second Thursday evening film screening, not sure the film will be to your liking – George Clooney isn’t in it – but would you like to come and brave the red carpet with me?’
‘Seriously? I’d love to,’ Zazz said.
‘Great.’
Dominic insisted on walking her home. At the door she turned and said, ‘Thank you for a lovely evening.’
‘The first of many I hope,’ Dominic said before placing a fleeting kiss on her cheek and leaving. ‘See you soon.’
Once up in her room she sent Mel a text.
