Chapter 12
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.
‘Zazz insisted she was staying up here and I couldn’t let her be alone. Agnes is happy down with Theo so that is something at least.’
‘How is Zazz?’
‘Truly? I’m not sure. I’d hoped that once the angsty teenage years were over she’d start to communicate with us again but,’ Francine paused, ‘I’m sure there’s something going on in her life that she doesn’t want me, us, to know about. Since we left Bath she seems to have become a stranger.’
There was a short silence. ‘Maybe a few days in Cannes together will bring you closer again.’
‘Hope so,’ Francine said. ‘We’ve got the notaire’s meeting soon, after that we should be able to start working out what we can do this visit. I think we’re going to have to come back a couple of times to sort things, empty the house out for a start, before we can get rid of the place.’
‘Once you’ve seen the notaire you’ll have an idea of all the necessary formalities and be able to work out a timescale. We can come over together later and organise things. Get a house clearance company in if necessary.’
‘That’s true. We don’t have to do it all ourselves.’
‘What are you all doing this evening?’
‘Supper in a local restaurant and hopefully an early night.’
‘Enjoy that then. I’ll ring you in the morning.’
When Francine went downstairs ready to leave for the restaurant sometime later, Zazz was in the sitting room curled up on the sofa typing a WhatsApp message on her phone.
‘Ready?’ Francine asked, disconcertingly noting how completely at home Zazz looked sitting there.
‘Two seconds,’ Zazz said. ‘Need to send this to a friend.’ She pressed send and stood up. ‘Let’s go.’
‘I think rue Saint Antoine is in this direction,’ Francine said, locking the front door behind them and pointing to her left.
‘It definitely is,’ Zazz said, followed by ‘What?’ as Francine turned and looked at her.
‘How could you possibly know that?’
‘My friend Mr Google told me.’ Zazz laughed lightly before quickly stepping in front of her mother to bypass another pedestrian. Rue Saint Antoine with its numerous restaurants, boutiques and jewellers was popular with locals as well as holidaymakers and its narrowness coupled with the crowds made it impossible to walk side by side. Talking to Zazz as she’d hoped to do as they walked was not going to happen, Francine realised, so she resorted to window shopping at several of the boutiques they passed. Zazz, a couple of metres in front of her, came back to join her as she stood for a moment in front of an upmarket boutique shop window filled with jewellery.
‘What’s caught your eye?’ Zazz asked.
Francine pointed at a simple silver necklace with several small diamonds spaced around the chain. ‘It’s beautiful but gosh, the price tag!’
‘I’ll tell Dad you’d like it for Christmas, shall I?’ Zazz said as they both moved away from the window. Francine laughed and shook her head.
‘No point. It’s way out of our Christmas present price range.’