by T A Williams
At the end of the meeting, Faye accepted an invitation to go across to the Coq d’Or with M. Leclerc, Obelix, and a couple of the others; among them dark-haired Alain. All the men, without exception, ordered coffees or glasses of the local aniseed liqueur, leaving Faye with a bit of a problem. She wasn’t really a fan of aniseed, didn’t often drink coffee in the evenings, and would really rather have opted for a glass of wine. However, she didn’t want to run the risk of offending any of the men by choosing a wine made outside their area or, worse still, by a local producer who wasn’t part of the cooperative.
After a moment’s reflection, she decided to play safe and asked for a glass of mineral water. They stood at the bar and chatted for ten minutes or so before their glasses were empty and it was time to go. Faye glanced at her watch and was surprised to see it was already past ten. The interviews had lasted longer than she had thought.
She shook hands and watched them start to head off in their different directions until she was left standing chatting to Alain by the restaurant door. Seeing as there were just the two of them, she decided to find out more about Désirée Desherbes. She felt quite certain she had picked up an unusual vibe when she had made her entrance and she was intrigued. As it turned out, Alain knew all about her.
‘Old Monsieur Desherbes, Désirée’s father, owns one of the biggest perfume houses in Grasse. He’s one of the richest men in the area and most of the local farmers here sell their lavender and other flowers to them. Their family’s originally from here and he’s a good, honest man. He pays well and that’s why we all trust him.’ He paused for a moment and glanced up and down the darkened street. ‘His children on the other hand, or at least his son, are a pain in the neck – or at least, they used to be.’
‘Children?’
‘Désirée and her brother, Etienne. You must have seen his car, surely?’ Faye shook her head. ‘He’s got a bright red Ferrari. You can’t miss it. Their problem is that they were spoiled rotten as kids. They always had whatever they wanted and, as a result, Etienne’s pretty hard going. For all I know, so is she.’ He stopped himself. ‘No, that’s not really fair. I haven’t spoken to Désirée for years. She may well have grown up and grown out of it, although her brother hasn’t. Anyway, they own the big house behind the church and they’ve been coming here every summer for as long as I can remember.’
‘You said, “hard going”, but she seemed pleasant enough.’
‘She’s probably okay now. I see her brother from time to time and he still always wants to be the centre of attention. Thinks the world revolves around him, but, like I say, Désirée’s probably different. I hope she is, because, if not, good luck trying to teach her.’ Faye felt her heart sink. Everybody else had seemed pleasant. Hopefully this woman wouldn’t sour things, but if she did turn out to be difficult, Faye knew she could cope. She gave Alain a grin.
‘I’ve spent the last five years of my life teaching teenagers in an inner-city school. It didn’t look as if she was carrying a knife or a gun. I’ll be able to cope, I’m sure.’
Alain gave her a smile, shook her hand, and delighted her by speaking English. ‘Goodnight, Faye. See you Thursday.’
Just then, she felt a light tap on the shoulder.
‘Hi, Faye. Hello, Alain. I didn’t see you here. Have you had a good meal?’ Faye looked up to see it was Dominique. She glanced behind Dominique to see if Gavin was also there, but she couldn’t see anybody she recognized in the little group with her.
‘Hi, Dominique. No, we’ve just been having a drink. What was your meal like? Good?’
Dominique nodded. ‘Any meal I don’t have to cook myself is wonderful, and tonight was really good. You should come here some time and try the gigot.’
‘I definitely will. No Gavin this evening?’
Dominique shook her head. ‘He’s babysitting Elise.’ She hesitated. ‘He doesn’t really go out very much. Anyway, I must go. Goodnight.’
Faye wasn’t surprised to hear about Gavin. She could well imagine he still didn’t feel too much like being sociable. A pang of sympathy for him ran through her as she watched Dominique and her group of friends file past.
‘Can I give you a lift home?’
Faye had almost forgotten about Alain beside her. She collected herself and gave him a smile. ‘No, thank you, Alain, it’s a beautiful night and I’ll enjoy the walk.’
Chapter Nine
The next morning, when Faye went across to start work, she found Eddie in the kitchen, waiting for her. Marlon was absent, so presumably either Claudette or her son had taken him for his morning walk. Eddie looked up and smiled as she came in.
‘Hi, Faye, did you sleep well? Come in, sit down.’
‘I slept like a log, thanks, and you?’
‘I slept pretty well, but Anabelle’s had a recurrence of her condition, so the doc’s been called. She told me to ask you if you minded putting off your session with her until this afternoon.’
‘Of course not. I’m so sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do?’
He shook his head. ‘No, thanks. She’ll be fine, I’m sure.’
Just then, the door opened and Claudette arrived with Marlon. Both looked pleased to see Faye.
‘Good morning, Faye. Sleep well?’
‘Yes, thanks, Claudette.’ Marlon came rushing over and Faye had to dissuade him from climbing onto her lap. She ruffled his ears as he sat down beside her, panting from his exertions. ‘I gather Miss Beech is unwell.’
‘Yes, I’m afraid so, but I don’t think she’s in too much discomfort this time. Hopefully it’s not a serious attack. Now, would you like a coffee or a tea?’
Faye had just had a cup of tea, but she relished the chance of sitting down alone with Eddie in particular, so she said yes. Once it was made, Claudette set a cup in front of Faye along with a plate of biscuits. ‘I’m afraid these are yesterday’s biscuits, but they should still be okay. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll go up and see if Miss Beech needs anything, and then I’ve got things to do upstairs. If you need me, just shout up to me.’
Faye picked up her tea and glanced across at Eddie. ‘I’ve been really pleased to hear Miss Beech opening up about her childhood and family over the past few days. I’m just sorry to have awakened so many sad memories for her.’
‘Even film stars have their problems, you know, Faye.’ Eddie paused. ‘Maybe more than other people.’
Faye didn’t try to press him as to what he meant by this. Instead, she nodded and continued. ‘I’m sure. Anyway, I’ve got lots of dates, anecdotes, and film facts, but it would be good to get a bit more detail about her early years. Do you think she’ll really be able to talk to me this afternoon?’
‘I reckon she’ll be fine this afternoon. You might have to have your session with her in her bedroom, but you never know, she might even be well enough to come downstairs. By the way, when you’re writing about her early years, remember she really loved her mother. She owes her a tremendous debt of gratitude, not just for encouraging her to try her luck in the US, but for lots of other things, too.’ He caught Faye’s eye for a moment. ‘Lots of stuff happened to Anabelle early on, but she’ll have to be the one to tell you about that.’
Faye would dearly have loved to ask what he meant by stuff, but she thought it better to wait and talk to Miss Beech herself, rather than behind her back – even though she had told Faye she could ask Eddie anything. Luckily, Eddie was still reflecting out loud.
‘Some of it was good, but there was also some bad stuff. Like I say, she’ll have to decide whether she wants people to know that or not.’ He was still looking at Faye seriously. ‘Put it this way, she and I go way back and I don’t think there’s any doubt we’re each other’s best friend, but she only told me the whole story very recently. She likes you a lot and she trusts you a lot. Give her time and, hopefully, she’ll open up.’
Faye returned to the stables, mulling over what he had said and remembering what Miss Beech herself had sa
id. “We all have skeletons in our cupboards,” were the words she had used. Faye wondered just what sort of skeletons these were and if Miss Beech would ever decide to reveal them to her.
***
The days went by quickly. Miss Beech recovered from her attack and was soon her old self again, back on her feet, reminiscing and recounting a host of stories. Faye found she had enough material now to consider making a start on what would become the first chapter of the book, dealing with Miss Beech’s early years, to insert in front of what she had already written, and it soon took shape.
Her first lessons in the village went well. As she was only certain she was going to be in St-Jean until Christmas, unless, of course, she decided to take the plunge and stay on after her contract ended, she decided to tailor the course specifically to the needs of her students. Basically, this meant forsaking grammatical perfection and the written word, in favour of communication. She wasn’t too worried if what her students ended up saying was grammatically questionable, so long as they and their prospective customers could understand each other.
She set up a series of role-play situations, mostly involving foreign tourists looking to taste and buy wine, and gradually managed to get the students to enter into the spirit of the thing.
M. Leclerc turned out to be a gifted actor whose portrayal of a fussy English wine snob brought the house down, while Obelix’s drunken Scandinavian caused so much laughter a gendarme came in from the street to see if everything was all right. Faye did her best to play down national stereotypes, but the students had no such scruples and had a whale of a time.
Faye, too, enjoyed herself a lot and soon got to know the students well. In particular, she palled up with Chantal. Once she had learned to ensure she stayed on Chantal’s left side, by her good ear, they were able to converse quite freely. After lessons, she got into the habit of going for a drink with some of the students, among them Chantal and Alain, and it wasn’t long before she began to notice that Alain rather liked Chantal. To Faye, it was pretty clear from his attitude, but Chantal didn’t appear to notice.
Faye found herself in the tricky position of wondering whether she should play Cupid with two of her students. Used to dealing with minors, with whom any kind of extra-curricular involvement was strictly forbidden, she fought the temptation to mention this to Chantal, but it bothered her, as she had also rather got the impression that Chantal might well feel the same way about Alain. Reluctantly, for now, she let them get on with it, but kept an eye on them for any signs of a developing relationship.
She was relieved to find that Désirée Desherbes turned out to be far more pleasant than Alain had feared. Her English was already pretty good and she obviously enjoyed being one of the better students. She turned up on time, and she didn’t interrupt in class. In fact, she fitted in remarkably well. Désirée often accompanied them on the trips to the café after lessons and Faye was pleased to see her join in with the conversation quite naturally and the friendly mood wasn’t disturbed. Quite the opposite, in fact.
As the late summer days passed, the weather remained hot and increasingly stuffy. For the first time, Faye turned on the air conditioning in her flat in the afternoons while she was in there working, although she managed to do without it at night, sleeping with her window wide open. To her surprise, as long as she avoided having the window open with the lights on, the mosquitoes didn’t bother her, although she discovered she had an unexpected house guest.
Returning from watching a film in the basement cinema one evening, she found a little gecko on her bedroom ceiling, stationed upside down, just above the bed. This little beast from the lizard family, a sort of greyish colour, appeared totally unmoved by her proximity and spent all evening scampering across the ceiling, hunting for and disposing of flies and other insects.
The next day she told Claudette, who informed her she was very fortunate to have a gecko in the house as they brought good luck. Unless, Faye reflected, you were an insect. Although Faye wasn’t a fan of reptiles, she soon got used to seeing him about and even christened him – Graham. She just hoped that Graham wouldn’t lose his footing in the night and land on her. She really wouldn’t like that one bit.
It was too hot in the middle of the day for walks with the dog up in the garrigue, and even Marlon himself appeared unwilling to spend too much time in the direct sunlight. Eddie reminded Faye of her physics lessons at school. While light colours reflect sunlight and heat, dark colours absorb it. Clearly Marlon knew more about physics that she did and preferred to stay in the shade wherever possible. So Faye limited daytime walks to short distances and tried to incorporate as much shade as possible, returning quite often through the woods where she had met George the dog shortly after arriving at the chateau.
Evening walks became the main walk of the day and she and Marlon got into a routine of an hour’s walk every night. These, coupled with regular trips to the pool, more than compensated for the addiction she was forming to Claudette’s biscuits, and she was pleasantly surprised to find her shorts getting looser around her waist.
One Saturday afternoon, Faye was out for a very short walk with Marlon, hugging the trees around the edge of one of the lavender fields, when she spotted a tractor coming along the track towards her. It was a big blue tractor, towing a gaudy purple trailer with high sides, and she was very pleased to see the driver was Gavin. She stepped out of the shade and waved at him. He drew up alongside her and turned off the engine, climbing out of the air-conditioned cab and jumping lightly to the ground beside her. He gave her a smile as he fought off the amorous intentions of Marlon.
‘Hi, Faye. I’ve got something to say to you.’ This sounded a bit ominous and she took a half step back, wondering what was to come. ‘It’s about that chapter in The Devil Over Your Shoulder that you described as PG.’ Faye felt herself starting to blush. ‘Well, I’ve got to tell you something about it.’ He paused again, clearly enjoying tantalizing her.
‘Well, go on then, get it over with. If it helps, I had to look some of the things up on the internet, or at least the spelling.’ She looked at him hopefully and saw his smile broaden.
‘I just wanted to say that I found it written with delicacy and very good taste. Yes, they were rolling around in bed together, but you managed to describe it in a way that was graphic, but not in any way distasteful.’ He gave her an encouraging smile. ‘That shows what a good writer you are.’
Faye felt a few drops of perspiration run down her back and hoped it was the result of the high temperature. She gave a sigh of relief. ‘Well, thank goodness for that. How far have you got with it?’
‘I’ve finished it. In fact, I finished it last week while you and your boyfriend were down at the Coq d’Or. Dominique told me she saw you.’
‘Alain’s not my boyfriend; he’s my student.’ For some reason, Faye knew that it was important to her that he should know that. ‘Did you know I’m giving English lessons to the wine producers at the cooperative?’
‘Dominique was telling me something about that. So, does that mean you might not be leaving us after all when your time at the chateau’s finished?’
‘I’m not sure. I’m definitely here through to Christmas and I’m going to have to make up my mind pretty soon now about what I’m going to do afterwards.’
‘I hope you decide to stay. Anyway, I loved your book and I’m very impressed. It’s rather nice being able to tell people I’m friends with a famous author.’
‘Hardly famous, but I’m very glad you liked it.’
‘Yes, it was really good. Now, I’ve been hoping I’d catch you. I just wanted to let you know the lavender harvest’s taking place on Monday.’ He corrected himself. ‘At least, that’s the plan, unless we get a thunderstorm over the weekend that turns the fields into mud. So, do come down and see for yourself what it’s all about. It’s a bit of local colour you can put into one of your books if you like.’
‘Thanks, Gavin, I definitely will.’ She glanced at her w
atch. It was half past four. She had invited Miss Beech and Eddie for a light dinner in the flat and she needed to get home to see that everything was ready. ‘Anyway, I’d better get off back.’ He gave her a little wave, turned, and climbed up into the cab once more. He started the powerful engine and as the tractor and trailer pulled away, Faye reflected that he was definitely looking and sounding a lot more relaxed than just a few weeks previously. She was glad for him. At the same time there was no doubt that she, too, was feeling a lot more relaxed. She took a deep breath of Provençal air and set off along the path once more.
***
Even without Gavin telling her about the start of the lavender harvest, Faye would have quickly realized what was happening, the moment she awoke on Monday morning. She checked the time and saw it was just after seven-thirty but, clearly, Gavin and his men had made a very early start and were already well into it. Although she was too far away to hear the tractor, the scent of lavender already in the air as she opened the shutters was unmistakable. By the time she went over to the chateau at nine, the smell in the courtyard was intense.
‘Good morning, Faye.’ Claudette was doing something in the sink and Marlon was sitting at her side, eyes trained on her hands. As Faye came in, he glanced at her, wagged his tail, but didn’t move from his position. Faye came across to say hello to both of them.
‘I can’t shake hands, Faye. I’m in the middle of preparing tonight’s dinner.’ Faye leant over and peered down. Claudette was busy peeling a heap of king prawns and it was this that had attracted the dog.
‘Hi, Claudette. So, do I gather that Marlon likes prawns?’ Marlon looked up at the sound of his name, but immediately transferred his attention back to the sink.
