Chapter 34
34
‘After all our hard work today I think we deserve some fresh air and maybe a glass of wine at one of the bars?’ Edwin said as he and Francine closed the last box full of stuff to go to Sunny Bank.
‘Definitely,’ Francine agreed. ‘A walk along the quay would be great. Some sea air to blow the cobwebs away. Maybe Piers will be on his boat and I can finally introduce the two of you.’
Piers’s boat was all closed up and there was no sign of him as the two of them walked past. ‘Another time,’ Francine said. ‘Going for a coffee in his cafe might be better.’ They walked on further until they were level with the big hotel on the bend of the coast road.
‘Shall we have a glass of wine in their bar?’ Edwin said. ‘Or would you prefer somewhere else?’
‘It looks a bit intimidating,’ Francine said. ‘I don’t really feel dressy enough for a place like that. Let’s wander back. There’s a small place in the square near the steps by Theo’s cottage.’ They retraced their steps but this time as they passed Piers’s boat he was on board and smiled in welcome as he saw them. Francine introduced the two men and Piers insisted they stepped on board for a glass of wine.
‘Zazz, she helped us out in the cafe yesterday morning. We were so grateful. My son, Dominic, took her for supper last night in his favourite Italian bistro to say thank you.’
‘The same son who took her to the cinema the other evening?’ Francine said. ‘She didn’t mention it to us.’ She glanced at Edwin, who simply shrugged his shoulders.
‘No rule that she has to tell us her every movement,’ he said. ‘She’s been independent now for some time and once we return to Devon, we’ll have no idea of what she’s up to down here.’
‘With my boys I am much more relaxed about their social life whereas with Mel, I have to stop myself from being too inquisitive,’ Piers smiled. ‘Perhaps it is something to do with a father’s protection towards a daughter.’
‘Maybe,’ Francine said. ‘Although I don’t recall Oscar being overly blessed in that direction towards me. It was always Mum and Theo looking out for me.’
‘Frankie, you had friends looking out for you down here,’ Piers said quietly. ‘I remember Theo telling me to take care of you because…’ He hesitated. ‘Because of your difficult home life.’
‘I didn’t realise that,’ Francine said. ‘Belated thanks,’ and she smiled at him.
‘It was always a pleasure to see you every summer,’ Piers said.
‘We were over on Saint Honorat yesterday and I was telling Edwin about our nighttime camp fires on the beach on Saint Marguerite beach.’
‘Ah, the good old days. Impossible to do that now, too many rules and regulations,’ Piers said.
‘Kids today don’t know what they’re missing,’ Francine said, finishing her wine and glancing at Edwin. ‘I think we’d better make a move. We’ve got more house clearing to face tomorrow and I think an early night would be a good idea.’
They were walking back up to Oscar’s, when Edwin said. ‘How well did you really know Piers in the past? He seems very fond of you still all these years later. Calling you Frankie is not something I’ve ever dared to call you in all the time I’ve known you.’
‘It’s what all my friends down here called me. I guess it was a teenage name that I outgrew.’ Francine glanced at Edwin, surprised. ‘You’re not jealous, are you?’
‘No. Just interested.’
‘Piers and I were close but we were never a couple in that we slept together. I think if I hadn’t left like I did, then maybe something would have happened between us that summer, I honestly don’t know. I always looked forward to seeing him but I hadn’t thought about him in years. It was quite a surprise meeting up with him.’ Francine shrugged. ‘Now he thinks I’m an uptight English woman. Very different to the “spontaneous” girl he knew all those years ago. I know you think I’m too hard on Zazz,’ Francine said. ‘Does that mean you agree with Piers that I’m uptight?’
When Edwin didn’t answer straight away she stopped and looked at him. ‘I’ll take your silence as a yes then.’
Edwin took hold of her hand. ‘I think you get uptight over things you cannot control because you care. Zazz is a good kid, she’s grown into a lovely young woman and now she has to find her own way in life. You can’t keep protecting her. As for not being spontaneous, well work and responsibilities tend to take precedence over spontaneity for us all. But,’ Edwin squeezed her hand, ‘we are coming to the time of our lives when we can decide how busy we want to be and make time for ourselves. I think we can practise doing things together on the spur of the moment. I don’t remember you ever being particularly spontaneous but I do remember you being fun. Maybe you need to try and re-kindle your inner Frankie?’
The rest of the walk home continued in silence. As they closed the front door behind them Francine turned to Edwin.
‘I fancy a soak in the bath tonight rather than having a shower.’
‘While you go ahead and soak, I’ll check my e-mails. I’m expecting one that might mean I have to go home sooner than I planned.’ Edwin went through to the kitchen as Francine made for the stairs.
‘Give me a shout if you want me to scrub your back, Frankie,’ Edwin called out.
Francine turned and stared after him before going upstairs and into the bathroom. Like that was going to happen. Of course she didn’t want him to scrub her back. That would only lead to them having sex and after that uptight remark she wasn’t in the mood. She turned on the taps and once hot water was gushing into the bath poured in an extravagant amount of bath oil and soon the perfume of her favourite rose-scented bath oil began to fill the bathroom air.
Checking that her towel was on the rail, she stripped off, leaving her clothes on the floor and stepped into the bath. She lay back and closed her eyes, letting the hot water sooth and relax her body as she tried to empty her mind. Bliss. But it wasn’t long before niggling thoughts began to creep back in. She’d always thought of herself as level-headed, in control, calm in a crisis and generally capable of dealing with anything life chose to throw at her. Uptight though? Did that really describe her these days? She was beginning to suspect it did.
Had she really changed that much since Piers had known her all those years ago? Why hadn’t she noticed that she’d become this uptight person? When had she lost her French la joie de vivre as Piers had put it so succinctly? “An uptight English woman” he’d called her. It couldn’t just be to do with the fact that after the age of seven she’d grown up in England. She and Agnes talked French all the time and Agnes had made sure she knew all about her hometown Cannes, the place of her birth, as well as the history of France. True, there hadn’t been talk of any family relations, no visits from grandparents or aunts, just Uncle Theo. But there had been those six teenage fortnights of annual holiday spent here in this very house. Holidays that had shown her a whole different way of living, one that she had assumed she would always have access to.
Memories of the way that last holiday had suddenly ended flashed into her mind. Arriving back in Devon with Uncle Theo, determined not to let her maman know how upset she was about the opportunity she’d had to refuse. She remembered too, being equally determined to be in control of her own life when she turned eighteen a week or two later. Her father had had his last opportunity to be involved in her life. From then on she was going to apply careful thought to which direction would be the best for her to go in.
Was that the beginning of her losing her spontaneity? Of becoming uptight? Edwin said he didn’t remember her being spontaneous but she had been fun to be with when they first met. Clearly she wasn’t fun these days.
Thoughtfully, Francine stretched out a leg and turned the hot tap on with her foot. Things were so different these days. So many different opportunities where anything seemed to be attainable to Zazz’s generation. Zazz. Francine sighed. She loved Zazz so much but would have to admit she hadn’t been the best mother to her in recent months. Zazz, asserting her independence by deciding to stay in Bath and not move with them when Francine and Edwin left for Dartmouth, had been something of a shock.
In a lightbulb moment as she reached for the soap, Francine realised it had been empty nest syndrome in reverse. The child staying and the mother leaving. So, when they were together, she’d tried too hard to convince herself that Zazz still needed her in her life but had only succeeded in driving a wedge between them. At least now she realised the problem she could start to mend their relationship.
Now all she had to do was find her inner ‘Frankie’. Maybe she could start tonight. ‘Edwin,’ she called. ‘I think maybe I do need you to scrub my back.’