Chapter 5
5
Francine, still upset at the way Zazz had hung up on her, was grateful to Edwin when he suggested the three of them went down to their favourite riverside local restaurant for a meal that evening.
Sitting there sipping a glass of chardonnay, waiting for their meals and watching the activity on the river through the restaurant’s huge picture window, Francine thought about how much their lives had changed in the last fourteen months or so. Edwin’s redundancy had been the catalyst for them selling the house in Bath and, at Agnes’s suggestion, joining her in the large Victorian terraced house in Dartmouth that she’d run as a busy guest house for years and where Francine had spent the majority of her childhood.
‘I rattle around in it now I have virtually closed and only have the occasional guest from the old days,’ Agnes had said. ‘There is plenty of room for us all to live separate lives together.’ She hadn’t mentioned she’d welcome the company but Francine had quickly realised that was an important underlying part of the offer. Agnes was lonely.
The suggestion had been totally unexpected and would undoubtedly solve a major problem for them, but Francine had hesitated at first. Being Agnes’s only child Francine had always known that her family home in Dartmouth would eventually pass to her. She and Edwin had even tentatively talked about moving down to be closer to Agnes as she grew older and even retiring there one day in the distant future but redundancy was not retirement. There was still at least a decade of working to get through before that happened.
Francine and Edwin debated for some time about Agnes’s suggestion. Would accepting the offer be the right thing for them both in the long term? Edwin and Agnes had always got on but few men were likely to relish the thought of living with their mother-in-law. Edwin had simply shrugged when Francine had asked him how he felt about it.
‘I don’t see it being a problem. Like Agnes said, the house is plenty big enough for the three of us, it’s a real family-sized house, so there’s also room for Zazz if she decides to come with us, although I suspect she’ll want to stay in Bath.’ So the decision had been made. Sell up and move in with Agnes.
Even though Francine had been happy at the thought of ‘going home’ she was sad to leave Bath and the home she had loved. They’d been so lucky to find the ‘Old Vicarage’ twenty-five years ago long before the developers had started pulling down neighbouring houses with their large gardens and building two, if not three, houses on the plots. Surrounded now by a new small ‘desirable’ housing estate, the house with its classic Victorian design and large garden was something of a rarity in the neighbourhood. Something they found to be in their favour when they decided to sell up.
Edwin’s redundancy package was generous after twenty years with the company but the thought of an uncertain income loomed large in her thoughts for weeks, months. At fifty-five Edwin was at the wrong end of the employment scale and was determined to work for himself this time. Although a well-respected graphic designer with lots of contacts in the industry, would any of them want to take him on as a freelancer? She, personally, as a copy editor and proofreader, could live and work anywhere in the county. But to have both of them relying on erratic freelance incomes would be a worry.
Now, fourteen months later everything had settled down. In many ways the twenty-five years that Francine had lived elsewhere had faded away as she settled back into the small town life she had grown-up with. Several of her old school friends who had married local men and still lived locally welcomed her back and soon she and Edwin’s social lives were as busy as they’d ever been. Edwin had picked up several freelance design jobs, become a volunteer at the museum and was generally living a happier, stress-free life. Francine’s money worries stilled once the money from the sale of the Bath house was safely in the bank along with the redundancy monies.
Francine’s own work had continued uninterrupted, and she was as busy as she’d ever been. The manuscript currently on her desk in her office at the top of the house needed to be finished and returned by the day after tomorrow and she still had fifty pages to go before she could do a final read through. She’d prioritise it tomorrow, finish it and send it back so she’d be ready to go to France immediately if it was confirmed her and Agnes’s presence was necessary. Ironically the book was one expanding on the joys of living on the River Dart in Devon, the very river she’d grown up alongside and was currently sitting by.
Always a busy port, these days it boasted two or three marinas and its deep safe harbour was popular with private yacht owners.
The jolly tune of ‘I Do Like to Be Beside to Seaside’ unexpectedly burst forth from Agnes’s handbag making Francine shake her head and laugh as Agnes answered it.
‘ Salut , Theo. You have news?’
The waitress arrived with their meals at that moment and Francine missed hearing the beginning of her mother’s conversation but she didn’t miss the fleeting expression of concern that crossed her face. Two minutes later, as Agnes finished the call, Francine glanced across at her and waited while her mother took a sip of her wine.
‘The notaire has cancelled Theo’s meeting with him tomorrow and re-arranged it for the end of next week.’
‘Did he give Theo a reason?’
‘He has an unexpected court case to attend for one of his clients and next week is the first available time he can fit Theo in. He did apologise but said as the Agistini case is a non-urgent family one he hoped the delay would not inconvenience Theo too much. Theo said he had no option but to agree.’ Agnes took another sip of her wine before giving Francine a serious look.
‘But the notaire has also requested that you, me and Jasmine too, are at that meeting because of a complication he has found concerning the will.’
‘The three of us need to go to France?’ Francine said, puzzled. ‘Why on earth would that be necessary? I can understand you and me, but Zazz too?’
‘Theo, he thinks Jasmine is probably mentioned in the will,’ Agnes shrugged. ‘He said the notaire wouldn’t discuss it over the phone but assured him it was a normal French inheritance complication. He simply wants to make sure everyone understands the implications of everything.’
‘How do you feel, Maman, about returning to France after all this time?’
Agnes bit her lip. ‘It will be easier knowing that Oscar is not going to make his presence felt, that’s certain but,’ she shrugged. ‘I can’t begin to think what it will be like to be honest, although hopefully it will finally draw a veil over the past for me, so there could be something good in that respect.’
‘Going en famille will help too, I think,’ Francine said. ‘I’ll phone Zazz when we get home. She did say she’d arrange some time off when she thought there would be a funeral to attend, so I’m sure it won’t be a problem for her.’
Agnes barely registered Francine’s words, suddenly lost in her own thoughts about the ordeal ahead of her in the next week or two. How on earth could she circumnavigate her way around the unknown problems that were on the horizon? Oscar might be dead but this complication with his will was sure to cause her difficulties and mess with her head like he had in the past. She could practically see that familiar smug, cruel smile on his lips as he’d planned this final upset to her life. Would she be able to draw a veil over her past like she had said to Francine? Perhaps, although she couldn’t help thinking that people might die, but their cruel actions remained forever as memories.
* * *
Returning home after their meal, Edwin went upstairs to the room he’d turned into his office saying he wanted to finalise a quotation for a website he’d been asked to design. Agnes said she was going to watch TV in the sitting room and Francine, hoping that Zazz would be in a better frame of mind, made for the kitchen to ring her.
‘Once I’ve spoken to Zazz, I’ll come and join you,’ she told Agnes.
Zazz answered her phone warily. ‘Hi Mum. I was going to ring you later. I’m sorry about hanging up on you. I know I was rude.’
‘You were,’ Francine said. ‘Unexpectedly and completely without cause – not like you at all. Have things gone wrong at work or something? Is it Rufus?’
‘No, Rufus and everything is fine,’ Zazz answered quickly. ‘It was just the shock of Oscar’s death and I’d not heard Direct Cremations were an actual thing before. I find it incredibly upsetting that there are people out there who apparently have no-one to mourn them.’
‘I’m sure there are wakes or memorial services held after the event for the majority of deceased people,’ Francine said, before falling silent for a second or two. ‘Theo rang this evening. The notaire has asked for a meeting to discuss the will at the end of next week. He has also requested that as well as Granny and I being there that you attend too. Can you get the time off work? Maybe a week?’
‘Getting time off work isn’t a problem,’ Zazz said quickly. ‘I was coming down to stay for a few days anyway.’
‘Okay. I’ll book tickets and we can sort out the details when you’re here.’
‘See you soon then.’ And Zazz ended the call.
Francine joined Agnes in the sitting room. ‘Zazz is coming home for a few days and is okay to come to France with us as well. Tomorrow I’ll find flights and book the tickets.’ She collapsed onto the settee with a yawn. ‘Life does like to shake things up at times, doesn’t it?’ she said, a rueful tone to her voice.
Agnes nodded but didn’t answer. She had no intention of telling Francine that she suspected this particular shake up would very likely prove to be calamitous for their little family in more ways than one.