Chapter 23
23
PRESENT DAY
It had been three days since the fall and Allegra was feeling much better. As she was getting used to managing with just one arm, Maggie agreed to stay on until the weekend, returning home the following Monday. They’d developed quite the routine. In the morning Maggie would get bread, grabbing a quick coffee in the café on her way back. After breakfast on the terrace, they walked into town taking different routes so that Maggie could get to know the area a little better, picking up food on the way home from the market. Later they’d take a walk down to the beach once the day-trippers had gone home before returning to the terrace for sunset drinks.
That evening, as they sat with a glass of rosé each, the bay below soaked in golden light, Maggie wondered aloud if she might be able to find a bottle when she was back home.
‘This wine?’ asked Allegra. ‘It’s from a vineyard not far from here but I doubt you’d get it in England. I think they sell pretty much everything they make here.’
‘I’d love to go to a vineyard before I leave,’ said Maggie. ‘I’ve never been to one, not even at home.’
‘They make wine in Great Britain?’ asked Allegra.
‘They do. Some of them are pretty good. The sparkling wine is as good as champagne, apparently.’
‘I never knew that,’ said Allegra. ‘I’ll have to try some. It’s a shame Camille, Etienne’s sister who I told you about, isn’t here. She’s a winemaker but she moved to Burgundy with her husband years ago. We keep in touch, of course.’
Maggie took a sip of her wine and shook her head. ‘I still can’t believe what Etienne did.’
Allegra sighed. ‘I know, it seems so sad when things could have been very different but that’s the point. You can’t change the past. Only the future. Which is exactly why I got on a plane a few months after I got Camille’s letter. I sold the house and moved to Cannes. Not straight away, of course. I took that trip through Europe and I have to say, I loved every minute of it. There were times when I wondered what the hell I was doing but I got to see the most beautiful places, not to mention artwork in some of the galleries. You know, you can look at paintings in books, but nothing beats seeing them in real life.’
‘What happened to their family home in the end?’
‘It was sold after Etienne’s father died, sadly. They couldn’t afford to keep it all, the house and the vineyards. Etienne’s other sister Isabelle wanted to sell so they had no choice.’
‘Is that when he bought this place?’
‘Exactly, Etienne bought it as a wreck and obviously meant to do it up over the years, but he worked all over the world as a winemaker. Camille told me he came back here every now and again. I guess this was his investment. He never married though, which makes me sad. I asked if he ever talked about me or thought about coming to find me, but Camille said that he always felt he’d made his decision and the last thing he wanted to do was crash back into my life years later. Obviously, I then met Leo but there will always be a part of me that will wonder what if… I think maybe that’s why Etienne left me the house. It’s where we might’ve ended up if our story had been different.’
Maggie topped up their glasses with the last of the rosé. ‘So did you plan on moving here without even seeing it?’
‘Not at all. In fact, I almost put it straight on the market. It was still pretty much a wreck when I first saw it. I got to Cannes and stayed at The Carlton, as you know.’
‘I still can’t believe you lived there for a while,’ laughed Maggie.
‘I know, it was quite extravagant of me but then again, I was on my own. Looking back, I was quite lost still. I’d gone on this adventure thinking it would help heal the pain, but you take it with you, as I’m sure you know.’
Maggie winced a little. ‘So, what made you decide to stay?’
Allegra looked out across the bay, the sun now casting the last of its light on the water, the sky a canvas with thick brushes of orange and pink across it. ‘This.’
Maggie took in the view in front of her. ‘It is beautiful.’
‘More than that,’ said Allegra. ‘I found peace here. The house connects me to Leo because we dreamt of coming here together one day. And it connects me to Etienne and what might have been. I love my simple life here. I see friends when they come and stay but I’m just as happy when I’m here alone.’
Maggie raised her glass to Allegra. ‘Thank you for having me. I’ve loved being here and I’m just sorry it took your fall to make me stay.’
‘Well, the timing was perfect,’ laughed Allegra.
They sat for a while, watching the sun creep out of view, then returned to the kitchen where Maggie made them a big salade nicoise to share along with some baguette, cheese and fresh figs.
‘I thought I’d make you something you can eat easily with one hand,’ said Maggie as they sat down at the table.
‘Thank you,’ said Allegra. ‘Truly, I’m so glad you stayed.’
‘Me too,’ said Maggie, raising her glass. ‘Right now, I’m not sure I ever want to leave.’
* * *
The next morning Maggie got up early, threw on her T-shirt and shorts and made her way down the hill to the boulangerie to pick up bread and croissants as usual. Deciding she had time for a quick coffee, she took a seat at the little café on the corner and ordered an espresso. She’d been awake since around five for some reason – she couldn’t quite work out why – and thought a quick shot of coffee might help sharpen the mind. Just as she was about to take a sip, she heard a familiar voice.
‘Excuse me?’
Maggie turned to see it was the same man she’d met a few days before.
‘We met the other day. Well, we didn’t meet exactly. I made you choke on your coffee.’ He put his hand out. ‘My name is Nico.’
She looked at his outstretched hand, noticing the dirt under his fingernails. She shook it. ‘I’m Maggie.’ She felt her heartbeat quicken at his touch.
‘It’s funny to see you here twice.’
‘I guess,’ said Maggie, laughing.
They held each other’s gaze.
‘May I?’ said Nico, pointing at the empty chair opposite her.
‘Yes, of course.’ Maggie hoped her delight wasn’t too obvious.
‘So, you’re on the strong stuff this morning.’ He looked at her espresso.
‘Yes, couldn’t sleep. Need a shot today.’
‘I haven’t been to sleep yet.’
‘You haven’t?’
He shook his head of dark curls. The waiter put a coffee on the table in front of him. ‘I work on a vineyard not far from here. We were picking grapes early this morning before sunrise.’
‘Why so early?’
‘It’s better for the grapes to pick them before it gets too hot. It helps keep them fresh.’
Maggie gestured to his hands. ‘That explains the state of you.’
He laughed, those same creases Maggie couldn’t help but notice last time appearing again.
‘Yes, I am sorry. No matter how much I try, I always end up like this.’
‘So, what are you doing here in Cannes?’
‘The Domaine where I work is just behind those hills you can see there.’
‘Do they not have coffee?’ Maggie suddenly realised she probably sounded quite rude. ‘I mean…’
‘I had to pick something up from a garage in town, a tractor part. It’s just round the corner. And I needed a proper coffee.’
‘Got it.’ She wanted to look at him and not look at him all at the same time. ‘So, are you a winemaker?’
‘Not quite, I look after the vines.’
‘So, you’re a… vigneron? Isn’t that the name?’
‘Almost. That’s someone who owns their own vines. One day I hope to but for now, I’ll have to make do with looking after someone else’s. What are you doing in Cannes?’
‘Staying with a friend. Just for a little while. In fact, I was hoping to visit a vineyard before I go home, I’ve never been to one.’
Nico nodded enthusiastically. ‘This is the perfect time to see one, when the grapes are being picked. You could come and visit the one where I work, if you like?’
‘Actually I was really hoping to visit the vineyards that my friend, the one who I’m staying with, used to go to as a teenager. She’s in her eighties now.’
‘Whereabouts, do you know?’
‘It’s towards Fréjus. She said the Domaine is at the foot of a hill.’
‘That doesn’t really narrow it down but there are plenty out that way; you’ll find somewhere I’m sure,’ said Nico, laughing. He picked up his cup and drained it in one. ‘Well, I wish you luck today. Let me know how it goes.’
Maggie laughed too. ‘And good luck with… your grapes.’ She wondered what on earth she was saying.
Nico smiled, putting a five-euro note on the table. ‘These are on me.’
‘No, please, you really don’t have to…’ said Maggie, but he’d already gone.
By the time she got back to the house, Allegra was sitting at the table with a glass of water. ‘You’ve been already?’
Maggie put the basket down, the smell of freshly baked baguette filling the air. ‘I have.’ She reached for some plates from the side and put them on the table. ‘You know, I was being serious yesterday. I really would like to visit a vineyard whilst I’m here. I just spoke to a guy at the café who’s been picking grapes already today.’ Much as Maggie wanted to tell Allegra about this handsome stranger, she decided it would sound ridiculous. After all, he’d only bought her a coffee to be nice.
‘Well then, how about we take my car out – you’d have to drive obviously – and we go and find you a vineyard.’
‘Are you sure you’re up to it?’
‘I’ve got a broken arm, darling. I’m not completely incapacitated.’
‘Okay, I’m sorry,’ Maggie laughed. ‘In which case, yes. I’d love that. Do you think we can go and see Etienne’s old family place, the one you went to?’
Allegra thought for a moment. ‘I guess it would be nice for you to see it, then you can tell your mother about it. Your grandmother and I had such a wonderful time there. We came down on the train together, from Paris, on a whim. It was one of the most thrilling trips of my life.’
‘Can you remember where it is?’
‘I’m sure if we find the right road, we’ll drive past it.’
Maggie reached for her phone. ‘What’s the name of the village?’
‘I can’t recall exactly but if we head towards Fréjus I know roughly where it is.’
‘The DN 7 road?’ said Maggie, looking at the map on her screen.
‘That’s the one. It’ll be interesting to see it after all this time.’
‘It won’t bring back sad memories?’
Allegra smiled. ‘No, only happy ones.’
After clearing the table, Maggie put together a picnic of leftovers from the fridge and took everything downstairs. Allegra’s car was in a garage at the bottom of the street and when Maggie removed the dustsheet, she couldn’t help but practically squeal at the vintage blue convertible Mercedes underneath. ‘Allegra, this is my dream car! Are you sure you trust me to drive it?’
Allegra smiled. ‘Of course! Get in, I’ll see you out.’
Maggie eased herself into the beige leather seat and put her hands on the steering wheel. She looked back at Allegra. ‘Ready?’
Allegra waved her out and soon they were on the road, heading into the hills behind the town.
As they wound their way up through the wooded landscape, it wasn’t long before Maggie glimpsed her first vineyard, the rows of vines looking full and lush with bright green leaves and heaving bunches of grapes beneath them. They drove on, Allegra pointing out various landmarks as they went. They stopped briefly by the side of the road at one of the viewpoints, the hills dropping away to the coast beyond.
Looking at the map on her phone, Maggie showed Allegra their location. ‘Do you think we’re nearby?’
Allegra squinted at it. ‘It’s off this road to the right, another couple of kilometres and we’re there.’
Maggie drove on, trying not to rubberneck at the passing hilltop villages, almost too beautiful to be true.
‘I think we just passed it,’ said Allegra, looking back over her right shoulder. ‘I’m sure those were the gates. I remember those cypress trees.’
Maggie drove on until she found somewhere to turn the car round, then took a left into the drive only to find a heavy chain and padlock in place.
Allegra opened her door with her good arm and walked up to the gates and shook the padlock. She looked back at Maggie. ‘This is definitely it. If you look from here—’ she pointed up ahead ‘—you can just see the house.’
Maggie turned the engine off and went to join her. She looked at the vineyards in front of them, clearly in a state of disrepair. There were wires hanging loose from posts and the vines were out of control, long tendrils swaying in the gentle breeze. Bunches of grapes hung below, the thick trunks of the vines just visible. Maggie looked up towards the house, pale orange stone peeking through the thick line of olive and cypress trees surrounding it. The faded blue shutters at each window were closed, some hanging precariously, others missing all together. ‘It looks abandoned, don’t you think?’
‘Sadly, I think it does,’ said Allegra, her voice quiet.
‘I’m so sorry, I was really hoping it would be as you remembered it. It must be sad to see it like this.’
Allegra nodded. ‘Camille didn’t know who bought it. I think she found it too painful to think about. So sad, really. That house was so full of life when they lived there.’ Allegra turned and looked across the road. There, just as she thought, was another small road leading off down the hill. ‘You know, if we drive down there, I think it takes us to another vineyard on the other side that used to be Etienne’s family’s too.’
‘Down that track?’ Maggie looked at the dirt road, grass growing in the middle.
‘Let’s go and have a look.’
‘You sure you want to take the car down there?’
‘Absolutely, come on.’
They made their way slowly, Maggie avoiding the potholes as best she could. Almost as soon as they left the main road, the track veered off to the right, then down a short way and there in front of them was another vineyard, as ragged as the one by the house. The vines in this one looked different. There were no posts, just small bush-like vines planted in rows of sorts.
‘Look at that sweet little stone hut up there,’ Maggie said, pointing to a small pale stone building not far in front of them.
Allegra looked at it, removing her sunglasses. ‘This is definitely it,’ she said.
‘I’m going to have a look,’ said Maggie, turning off the engine again. ‘Are you coming?’ She opened her door.
‘In a moment, you go ahead.’
Maggie walked up to the stone hut and in through the doorway. The timber roof was half missing and all that was left of the door were two huge metal hinges on one side. She peeked inside; a few rusting old tools were propped against the wall. She turned back to the vineyard in front of her, the soil dry and cracked, full of jagged rocks and stones. Walking over to the nearest vine, she picked at one of the bunches of grapes hanging beneath the canopy. It was covered in a white bloom and one wipe of her finger revealed a dark purple-black grape beneath. She put it into her mouth and bit into it, tart juice filling her mouth. She’d rather a black seedless, she thought, as she spat the grape onto the ground.
As Maggie walked back to the car, she looked at Allegra sitting in the passenger seat with her eyes closed, the sun and a small smile on her face.
Maggie called over to her. ‘Are you okay?’
Allegra opened her eyes and looked at Maggie. ‘Happy memories, that’s all.’
‘What a beautiful place. It’s just such a pity it’s been left like this. And I’m sad we can’t see the house.’
‘I guess some things are best left in the past,’ said Allegra. ‘I tell you what though, how about we have our picnic under that old oak tree before we leave? I reckon we’ve got the best views from here, and we’ve got them all to ourselves. There’s a rug in the boot.’
‘Leave it to me,’ said Maggie.
Under the shade of the tree, they feasted on cheese and charcuterie, breaking off wedges of baguette over the grass. As they ate and chatted, Maggie felt her shoulders drop. ‘There is something quite magical about this place,’ she said, cutting off a thin strip of aged Comté cheese bought from the market. ‘Want some?’ She offered it to Allegra.
‘Thank you. Yes, there really is. It’s where the harvest party took place every year. I think I told you about it.’
‘Oh yes, of course.’
‘There was a full moon that night, I remember.’
‘Is that what you were thinking about just now?’
Allegra nodded as she took a bite of the cheese. ‘It’s funny, I look back now and at the time I thought I knew how life was going to work out. Then, when it didn’t, I spent a long time thinking I’d lost what should have been mine. I mourned a life with someone I believed I was destined to be with. But really life is about living in time, wherever you are, at that precise moment. Promise me something, Maggie.’ She reached across and took Maggie’s hand. ‘Stop living in the past. Your life is here, now. And the day after. And the day after that. Do you see what I’m getting at?’ Allegra stroked Maggie’s hand gently.
Maggie nodded. A tear rolled down her cheek. ‘I do,’ she said. ‘And I know you’re right.’
‘Of course I am. I’m old,’ said Allegra, laughing gently.