by T A Williams
‘Your commute to work here?’ He looked up at her quizzically. ‘Still a secret?’
Faye had spoken to Miss Beech about this earlier that week. ‘No, Miss Beech says I can tell you, but please don’t tell too many people. She’s very keen to keep herself to herself now she’s getting older.’ She read comprehension in Gavin’s eyes – those incredible wild animal eyes. ‘Anyway, the big secret is that I’m here to write her biography.’
‘So, you’re a writer then?’
‘Sort of. I’ve been teaching French and English and I’ve recently published my first book.’ She thought she had better be more specific. ‘It’s an e-book. You know, you read it on your e-reader or tablet.’
‘Wow!’ He sounded really quite animated and Faye felt happy for him. ‘A real-life author. I must read that. What’s it about and what’s it called?’
Faye felt herself blush. ‘It’s no big deal really. It’s a psychological thriller, set in the suburbs. It’s called The Devil Over Your Shoulder.’
‘Great title. And do you have a pen name or do you use your real name?’
‘Just my ordinary name, Faye Carter.’
‘Right, that’s my bedtime reading sorted for a while.’ Somehow, the idea of Gavin thinking about her when he was lying in bed was not what she wanted. Hopefully she and he were gradually building a friendship and the last thing she wanted was to spoil it with sex. She had a scary thought. One chapter in particular was a rather raunchy bedroom scene with quite a lot of explicit anatomical detail. The idea of having to face him after he had read that was daunting. She decided to make a pre-emptive strike.
‘Erm, Gavin, there are one or two bits that are distinctly PG, maybe more. I wouldn’t want you to think I was that kind of girl, you know.’
‘And what kind of girl might that be?’ He was smiling. Fortunately, at that moment Marlon, who had been pottering round Gavin’s vehicle, decided to come back and jump up on his hind legs to say hello to Gavin again. To Faye’s horror, she saw that he had just traipsed through one of the few remaining puddles and he left some magnificent muddy paw prints on Gavin’s thighs and shorts. She did her best to concentrate solely on the shorts.
‘Oh, Marlon, what a mess you’re making. I’m so sorry, Gavin.’
‘Don’t worry about Marlon. He couldn’t make me any dirtier than I already am. I’ve just had to disentangle a stupid bloody goat who managed to get her head stuck in my neighbour’s fence.’ He looked down wistfully. ‘You wouldn’t believe these shorts were clean on this morning. Dominique’s going to kill me.’
Faye found herself wondering who Dominique might be: a home help, a housekeeper, or maybe a girlfriend or wife. It was a fairly safe bet that a handsome man like Gavin would already have a partner. As such, this made it even easier for her and Gavin to just become friends, without having to worry about the relationship deteriorating into something more intimate. Intimacy with a man was still way off her agenda. Feeling reassured, she pointed at the vehicle that was even messier than he was. ‘So who cleans this?’
He shook his head. ‘To be honest, it hardly ever gets cleaned. The thing is, as soon as it rains around here, the ground churns into mud. Then, a day or two later, it’s dust again and it billows up as you ride along. I wash the quad bike, and five minutes later it’s filthy again.’ He smiled at her, definitely looking and sounding more relaxed now. ‘You appear to have managed to stay away from the mud, though. Those rather fine shorts of yours looks like they just came out of the shop window at Harrods.’
Faye laughed. ‘Somewhere a hell of a lot cheaper than Harrods but, yes, they are pretty new. I bought a load of lightweight stuff before I left the UK. Living in London, there’s not a lot of call for cotton shorts or bikinis.’
‘Aha, so does that mean you’ve discovered the swimming pool at the chateau?’ Faye nodded. ‘Miss Beech told Dominique and me we could use it if we liked, but I feel a bit awkward going up there.’
Well, that answers that one, Faye found herself thinking. It was very unlikely Miss Beech would have invited him to bring his cleaning lady with him to the pool, so that rather confirmed what she had anticipated. Dominique and Gavin were an item and that was all to the good. ‘Oh well, maybe I’ll see you there some time.’ She immediately corrected herself. ‘That’s you and Dominique obviously.’
‘We might well take you up on that invitation one of these days. It feels like it’s going to be a hot summer. We had a wet spring and everything’s a bit late; but, boy, is the temperature shooting up now.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘Anyway, I’d better make a move. I’ll see you around, I’m sure. Bye, Marlon.’ He started the engine and set off along the track once more, soon disappearing into the distance.
As she resumed her walk with Marlon, Faye reflected with considerable pleasure upon the fact that his grumpiness, or melancholy, appeared to be on the wane. He had sounded really quite cheerful and that was very good. She also couldn’t miss the fact that she, too, was feeling ever more cheerful. The more she thought about it, this interlude in Provence was turning out to be just what she needed.
Chapter Six
A few days later, after preparing a quick sandwich for lunch with the end of yesterday’s baguette, Faye settled down to make a start on the book. She became so engrossed in her work, it was gone four o’clock before she looked up. She clicked on Word Count and saw that she had managed to write well over four thousand words and she felt very pleased as a result.
She picked up her purse and went over to collect Marlon for his afternoon walk and to buy more bread. He was stretched out on the kitchen floor, dead to the world, but as he heard the door handle turn, his eyes opened and he leapt to his feet, tail wagging excitedly. There was no sign of Claudette, but Faye knew she would see the lead no longer hanging on the back of the door and know where Marlon had gone, so she and the dog set off, heading down the hill towards the village.
It was suffocatingly hot this afternoon, but Faye could see clouds massing on the horizon. Maybe there was a break in the weather on the way. The fields alongside the road were once more dry as a bone and no doubt the local farmers would be grateful for some more rain.
As they walked down the usually deserted road, she heard a car coming up the hill towards them and pulled Marlon to one side to let it pass. To her surprise, it slowed and then stopped. At the wheel was Gavin, no longer wearing one of his faded T-shirts, but an immaculate light blue shirt, open at the collar. He had pretty clearly just climbed out of the shower, as his hair was still wet, slicked back on his head.
‘Hi, Gavin. Going somewhere special?’
‘Hi, Faye.’ He gave her a smile, apparently without too much effort this time. ‘Depends what you mean by special. There’s a seminar in Grasse this evening and I thought I’d better put in an appearance. Do you know Grasse?’
She shook her head. ‘That’s the perfume place, isn’t it?’
‘That’s right. I sell most of my lavender to one of the big-name companies there. It’s a beautiful little town, or at least it would be if they could do something about the traffic problem, which is awful. I often go there.’
‘So the perfume I use maybe started life there? At least, when I can afford to buy perfume.’
‘I suppose some of the ingredients might even have started life on my farm, but who knows? I’m afraid I can’t say I’ve noticed your perfume, but then I’m not what they call a “nose”. Do you know, some of the really top specialists in the perfume business have their sense of smell insured for millions? It’s a bit like those special pigs they have to search for truffles.’ He was definitely sounding more animated than the first few times they had met. ‘So, where are you two off to?’ He glanced down at Marlon who was clearly dying to jump up and say hello, but Faye had a firm hold on his collar for fear his nails might scratch the new-looking car.
‘Just a quick walk down to the village to buy some bread, as long as they’ve still got some left at this time of day.’
‘Bye, Gavin.’ Faye heard the car drive off up the hill as she and Marlon carried on down to the village. As she walked, she found herself wondering who, or what, Elise might be.
The centre of the village was a tree-lined square outside the rather fine old church. In the middle of the Place de la Libération was a war memorial bearing a heartbreakingly long list of names of the glorious dead and, to one side, a row of little shops, among them one marked Boulangerie, but which stocked a bit of everything, not just bread.
A few old men were sitting on a bench underneath the lime trees, presumably trying to summon the energy to start a game of boules on the dusty strip of sandy ground behind them. In this heat, they clearly had little intention of doing anything strenuous and Faye didn’t blame them.
She tied Marlon to the ring set in the wall and told him to wait. He sat down obligingly and set about scratching his ear with his back leg while she pushed through the gaudy plastic fly curtain into the shop. Inside, the air smelt of fresh-baked bread and caramel, and Faye realized she was really quite hungry. She looked over at the rack behind the counter and was relieved to see three or four baguettes still remaining. She went up to the counter and was greeted by the friendly lady. She had already been in a few times and they knew each other by sight.
‘Your usual baguette, mademoiselle?’
Faye nodded. ‘Yes, please.’ She spotted the last remaining croissants and cakes at the far end of the counter and decided she had earned a treat. ‘And a pain aux raisins, please.’
As the lady served her, she heard the fly curtain rustle as another customer came in. She glanced round and saw a woman with a little child in a buggy. As their eyes made contact, she saw what looked like recognition on the other woman’s face. The woman gave Faye a shy smile and came across to her.
‘Hello. I saw Marlon outside, so you’ve got to be Faye. I’m Dominique from the farm. Gavin told me he’d met you.’ Her French accent sounded local, just like Gavin’s. Still smiling, she held out her hand towards Faye.
‘Hello, Dominique, it’s good to meet you.’ As Faye shook hands, she took a closer look at Gavin’s other half. Dominique had a mass of jet-black hair, beautiful brown eyes, and smooth olive skin. She was a very good-looking woman, probably in her early thirties, and Faye could see why Gavin had been attracted to her. Faye summoned a smile and pointed to the little figure in the buggy. ‘Are you going to introduce me?’ What was the name Gavin had used?
‘This is Elise. Elise, ma puce, give Faye a wave.’ The little girl looked up from her buggy and subjected Faye to a searching stare, but made no move to wave. Faye crouched down, took one little hand in hers, gave the girl a big smile, and spoke to her in French.
‘Hello, Elise. I’m Faye. Did you see the big doggie outside? He’s with me.’
After a pause for consideration, the little girl’s face broke into an answering smile and she said a word, but Faye didn’t understand. She glanced up at the mum who translated. ‘She said, “George”. She thinks that’s George outside.’
Faye stood up again. ‘Of course – I met George along with Gavin a few days back.’
Dominique nodded. ‘He told me you’d arrived. It’ll be good for Miss Beech to have a bit of company.’
Faye paid the lady behind the counter who had been affecting disinterest, while listening closely, and picked up her purchases. ‘Merci, Madame.’
She made way for Dominique and the little girl and gave them both a smile. ‘I’m just taking Marlon for a walk, but I expect I’ll see you again soon. Bye, Elise.’ This time she got a smile and a wave from the little girl and she waved back.
‘Au revoir, Faye.’ Dominique looked genuinely pleased to have met her and as Faye walked back out into the sunshine, she reflected that there probably weren’t that many younger people in a place like this and Dominique was no doubt glad of the company. Hopefully she would soon be able to add Dominique to her list of friends down here.
She and Marlon returned to the chateau by a circuitous route through the fields and it was as she walked along a narrow path that she got a serious fright. There was a sudden movement just ahead of her and a yellow and black snake that had been sunning itself on a dry stone wall slid away frighteningly quickly as Faye’s shadow fell upon it. Marlon had already passed the sleeping reptile without noticing, but Faye was scared stiff. She had always been afraid of snakes and she tried to remember what her dad had said about the poisonous ones.
She hurried on until she was well out of the way of the snake or any of its friends and family, before stopping and sitting down on a fallen tree trunk, which was bleached almost white by the sun. This was an ideal place from which to give her father a call. Marlon happily slumped down beside her. She checked the time and saw that her father would still be at work, so she phoned the office and was put straight through to him.
‘Hi, Dad. It’s me.’
‘Hello, darling, how wonderful to hear from you.’ As always, he sounded delighted to get a call from her. ‘How’s everything over there in Provence?’
‘It couldn’t be better.’ Apart, of course, from the snake. ‘Miss Beech is a sweetie, as are all the others in the chateau. And I’ve got myself a lovely black Labrador to take me for walks.’
‘And the book?’
‘I think the book’s going to be phenomenal. I’ve got so much material already. Believe it or not, I only started writing properly today and I’m already almost five thousand words into it.’ She remembered the reason for the call. ‘Anyway, listen, Dad, talk to me about snakes.’
‘Snakes?’
She went on to describe the snake she had just seen and he was quick to calm her fears.
‘No question, Faye, it was a grass snake. They’re harmless.’
‘If by harmless you ignore the fact that I could have died of fright.’
After the call had finished, Faye sat there, admiring the view and idly scratching her leg. After a bit, she started scratching her thigh, this time a bit more urgently, and it was only then that she glanced down. She had deposited the paper bag containing the pain aux raisins, along with the loaf of bread, on the tree trunk beside her and the aroma was wafting up to her. To her horror, she now saw that an unbroken black line of ants was marching steadfastly up the side of the log, across her leg, and was already crawling all over the bag.
She jumped to her feet, startling the dog, as she desperately swatted the ants off. By now, she had the distinct feeling that they had progressed further up her leg and she scrabbled at herself. Taking a quick glance up and down the track, she unbuttoned her shorts and pulled them down so as to ensure that there were no more ants hidden under the material. She was just adjusting her pants after making sure the invading insects had all gone when she heard footsteps and heavy breathing. She made a lunge for her shorts and desperately pulled them up her legs as she glanced over her shoulder.
She found herself face to face with the scruffy grey mass of hair that was the Beast of St-Jean and, in the distance behind him, she spotted Obelix, just coming round the corner. The Beast appeared to be very pleased to see her and reared up on his hind legs to deliver a slobbery lick to her face. Faye’s hands were still engaged in securing the buttons of her shorts at the time and she couldn’t stop his enthusiastic greeting. Fortunately, at that moment, she heard a whistle and felt the monster drop down and run back to his master. She reached for a tissue and wiped her face as Obelix approached, an apologetic expression on his face.
‘I’m so sorry, Faye. He was just being friendly.’ By now, the Beast and Marlon were happily sniffing each other, the monster looking totally innocent. Faye gathered her wits about her and mustered a smile.
‘That’s quite all right. I had a bit of an ant problem, that was all.’ Both of them glanced down at the log where the paper bag was almost invisible
under a colony of ants. Obelix good-naturedly picked it up and shook them off, before handing it back to Faye. Tentatively, she opened the bag and looked inside, relieved to find that the ants hadn’t managed to penetrate it. She removed the pain aux raisins and slowly tore it in half. ‘Here, Obelix. Have a piece.’
After a few token protests, it was clear he was only too glad to accept a piece and they took big bites of the lovely soft pastry. This stirred considerable interest from both dogs, who took up position at their feet, Marlon assuming his “nobody ever feeds me” expression. Faye looked down at him and the giant hound beside him.
‘You can both have a tiny bit at the end, all right?’ She got the distinct impression that Marlon nodded his head. She scratched his ears and looked up at Obelix. ‘You can’t beat fresh pastry.’
Obelix nodded. ‘It’s excellent. Will you be able to get pains aux raisins when you go back to London? That is, if you’re going back.’
‘Yes, but not as good as these. And, as for going back, I’m afraid so. I’m going to have to find myself a new job after Christmas. I do love it here, though.’
She let her eyes roam. She could just make out the roof of the chateau up above where she was sitting, while down in the opposite direction, over the roofs of the village, she could see the river winding its way down the valley towards the distant Mediterranean. The air was warm, the sky still blue, although now peppered with thickening clouds, and right in front of her was an amazing pink wild orchid, sticking up from between two rocks. All in all, it was a pretty wonderful place to live. ‘Even so, if I’m honest, I’ve been wondering whether I should maybe think about staying on.’
Obelix’s expression brightened. ‘That would be great. I’m sure you’d fit into the village really well.’
‘I do hope so.’ Maybe she really should stay on here and start a new life in Provence when her contract at the chateau finished. The idea definitely had considerable attraction and she felt a smile on her lips. ‘Well, one thing’s for sure: it’s a great place to live.’ She glanced down at Marlon. ‘It’s not a bad life here, is it, dog?’
