Chapter 33
I sat in the car waiting for Theo to finish his conversation with the French driver.
Failing to understand a word, I dreaded to think what they were saying, although hearing them laugh, I hazarded a guess their amusement was at my expense.
Not that I could blame them. I had just made a fool of myself.
Dressed in black jeans and a black thigh-length woollen coat, the Frenchman looked to be in his mid-fifties.
Confident and suave, he had dark hair, cut short at the sides, while the top had been left slightly longer.
Although still quite tall, he was shorter than Theo and watching their easy interaction, it was hard to believe they’d only just met.
I turned my attention to inside the car and flipping down the sun visor above my head, stared at my reflection in its little mirror.
My eyes were red and puffy from crying and my lips purple from the cold; I wasn’t surprised to see I looked as bad as I felt.
Worse still, I couldn’t believe I’d embarrassed myself by booing into Theo’s chest.
There’s nothing wrong with being vulnerable, my inner voice said.
‘And you can shut up,’ I replied. I pulled a leaf out of my tangled hair and flicked the visor back up where it belonged.
I rubbed my hands, which were scratched and sore, and tried to get the dirt from under my fingernails.
Noticing muck from brushing against tree bark and moss on my jeans, I attempted to clean that off too – but the brown and green stain refused to disappear.
I sighed, wanting nothing more than a long hot bath.
But I doubted I’d get one and willing Theo to hurry up, questioned if we even had a bed that night.
I turned my attention to my phone and absent-mindedly brought up Mum’s TikTok account.
‘Bonjour à tous,’ Maeve said with Jackson sat next to her. ‘Comment allez-vous? Today is the 23rd of December.’
I frowned as the video continued to play without a single buffer. ‘You’re kidding me,’ I said and, picturing myself stuck up a tree for what turned out to be no reason, I mimicked the two big smiles coming back at me. At least someone’s having fun.
‘Before we talk about what we’ve been up to…’ Maeve continued. ‘…we want to say a big thank you, don’t we, Jackson?’
Clearly a lad of few words, he nodded. ‘Yes. Thanks, everyone.’
‘We never dreamed so many people would be interested in our little trip. Did we, Jackson?’
He shook his head. ‘No. We didn’t.’
‘But blimey.’ Maeve chuckled. ‘I’m in shock.’ She put a hand up to her chest. ‘Actually we both are, aren’t we?’
‘We are.’
Keen to see the figures Mum was referring to, I hit pause and checked out her profile.
‘How many?’ In absolute awe, I blinked a couple of times to make sure my eyes weren’t seeing something that wasn’t there.
‘That’s amazing.’ Good amazing, or bad, I didn’t yet know, but Mum and Jackson were certainly giving established influencers a run for their money.
I filled my cheeks with air and exhaling, got back to the video.
‘Now, before we get into it. I’d like to discuss the unkind comments we’ve received and to those of you who left them, I have a question.’
I wondered if engaging with her trolls was such a good idea. Keyboard warriors feed off interaction and delight on the impact they have on their targets.
Maeve tilted her head. ‘Are you well?’
Going off what I’ve read, clearly not!
‘You’re obviously going through something at the moment. Just know, there’s help out there when you’re ready.’
Mum’s expression oozed sympathy but I knew she was being sarcastic. Her favourite saying when it came to people creating discord was kill them with kindness and as I chuckled, it was good to see that in action.
‘You can talk to friends and family, counsellors, your doctor even. I understand you’re disappointed in life, let’s face it, things don’t always turn out the way we hope.
But saying mean things to people on the internet to make yourself feel better…
well that’s just plain silly. My advice is make some changes. Try and alter your mindset.’
You’re a better woman than me. I’d be telling them to get a life.
‘Start small if you have to. Look for the joy in the little things.’ Maeve smiled. ‘Appreciate rather than denigrate.’
Again, I let out a laugh. You should put that last bit on a T-shirt.
‘Now, getting back to the good stuff, we do have a couple of things to report, don’t we, Jackson?’
‘We do.’
‘Firstly, I spoke to Gisèle this morning…’ Maeve said.
‘…and she told me about a carol concert being held in the centre historique part of town. At their abbey no less. On Christmas Day. Not only that…’ Maeve’s smile grew.
‘…she suggested we might like to attend.’ She jiggled in her seat. ‘With her and her family.’
A clue to where she and Jackson were headed, I committed it to memory.
‘Didn’t she, Jackson?’
‘She did.’
‘Well, of course, we said yes.’
I smiled. Intentional or not, Mum and Jackson were an odd pairing and the two of them clearly didn’t realise how funny they were. As I wondered if that was the key to their success, they played their parts to perfection; Mum being the comic of the duo and Jackson the straight man.
‘Anyone who knows me understands how much I love King’s College Choir.
Every year, on Christmas Eve, Erin and I settle down with a glass of sherry to watch them on telly.
No, that’s not strictly true, Erin prefers Baileys.
But you know what I’m saying. It’s the tradition that counts.
Anyway, because we’re here and not at home, I think Gisèle’s invite will be an excellent substitute. Don’t you, Jackson?’
‘I do.’
‘And I can always watch King’s on catch-up, can’t I?’ Suddenly serious, Maeve turned to Jackson. ‘It will be on catch-up, won’t it?’
Jackson shrugged. ‘I dunno.’
Maeve looked directly into the camera. ‘Erin, if you’re watching this, can you record the concert for me? Just in case.’
I frowned at Mum’s audacity. No, I blooming well can’t. After the upset she’d caused, even if I’d have been in a position to, I doubted I would have.
It saddened me to think Mum thought so little of me. That she genuinely expected me to be sat at home awaiting her return. I’d just risked my life for the woman. A woman who seemed to have no idea that disappearing without warning, let alone at Christmastime, would cause concern.
Again picturing myself straddling the tree, I wondered if I should really be criticising someone else’s antics and aware the answer was no, my shoulders slumped.
‘Now to our second bit of news,’ Maeve said.
Jackson’s face lit up while I steeled myself.
‘It would seem our party of two has become three.’
My heart sank and I threw my head back in despair. Please don’t say you’ve picked up a hitchhiker.
‘It all started when we stopped at this aire de service. We were having a bite to eat. Nothing fancy, just un croque monsieur. Anyway, we heard this crying, didn’t we, Jackson? We looked around us to see where it was coming from and that’s when we saw her.’
Oh, Lordy.
‘The poor little girl was starving.’
I stared at the screen, horrified. You saw a child? On her own?
‘Her hair looked like it hadn’t seen a brush in goodness knows how long.’ Maeve shook her head and tutted. ‘And we couldn’t just leave her there.’
Of course you couldn’t. But what’s that got to do with…
? My heart raced as realisation set in. If I’d thought the gendarmerie were tough on traffic violations, I hated to think what they did to kidnappers.
I looked out of the window at Theo and opening my mouth to call him over, I hesitated.
The last thing Mum and Jackson needed was me blabbing in front of a French citizen.
He’d be straight onto the authorities. My heart sank at the thought of Mum’s viewing figures.
Along with everyone else watching this video.
‘Not that we abducted her or anything like that.’
Good luck getting a judge to believe you.
‘We checked no one was looking for her and…’ Maeve put a hand up as if to clarify. ‘…she willingly got into the car, didn’t she, Jackson?
He gave an emphatic nod. ‘She did.’
Jesus, Mother. I swallowed hard, unable to believe Mum was telling the world she and Jackson had lifted a child off the street.
Maeve’s expression softened as she gave Jackson a nudge. ‘Would you like to do the introductions?’
Way to go, Mum. This isn’t going to get you arrested at all.
Jackson jumped off his chair and disappearing off-screen, returned with a blanketed bundle.
My fears grew. That’s not a child, it’s a baby. I’d known Mum wanted grandchildren but that was taking things too far.
The baby moved.
They’re going to lock you up and throw away the key.
My phone grip tightened and my eyes widened in anticipation as Jackson angled the abductee towards his audience. Confusion took hold as I stared at the biggest pair of brown eyes.
Maeve smiled like a proud granny. ‘Everyone, I’d like you to meet Roma.’
Finding myself staring at a dog, my body crumpled as, in an instant, my fears evaporated. Why would you do that to me? To all your viewers?
Roma broke free from her blanketed confines and clambering up and down Jackson’s chest, she tried to smother him in kisses.
Long-haired and reddish-brown in colour, the more she jumped, the more her ears flapped and her bushy tail wagged.
Laughing, Jackson was forced to crane his neck to avoid her licking his face.
‘Isn’t she beautiful?’ Maeve asked.
I couldn’t deny Mum was right. As for whether Roma was worth the heart attack Mum almost gave me, the jury was still out.
‘Obviously that’s not her real name. It’s the one we’ve given her.’ She patted Roma’s head. ‘And don’t be worrying, everyone. We haven’t stolen her. We’ve had her checked over by a vet who’s informed us she isn’t chipped. I also left my number should anyone report her missing.’
Roma finally calmed down and settled on Jackson’s knee.
‘The only other option was sending her to the pound.’
The dog’s eyes closed as Jackson rhythmically stroked along her back.
‘And we weren’t having that. Were we, Jackson?’
Keeping his eyes on Roma, he smiled gently. ‘Definitely not.’
‘I think that’s enough excitement for now.
’ Maeve gave Roma a fuss. ‘Time to get you sorted, eh?’ She returned her attention to her audience.
‘The first thing we need to do is put her in the bath.’ Maeve smiled at the camera.
‘Thank you again for all your kind words and support. As for the less kind out there, remember what I said and do better. Until next time. Au revoir, tout le monde. à bient?t!’
I took a deep breath and rather than race to the comment section, I let my phone drop.
Regardless of what Mum said, the internet trolls wouldn’t be able to help themselves.
Regardless of Mum’s efforts, her attackers would already be calling her cruel for denying Roma’s real owners the chance to get their dog back.
While others accused her of spreading rabies.
Not sure how much more excitement I could take, I decided not to read them.