That First French Summer

by Mandy Baggot

  Also by Mandy Baggot

  One Last Greek Summer

  One Christmas Star

  My Greek Island Summer

  Safe for Summer

  Summer by the Lake

  One Night on Ice

  One Summer in Nashville

  A Perfect Paris Christmas

  THAT FIRST FRENCH SUMMER

  Mandy Baggot

  AN IMPRINT OF HEAD OF ZEUS

  www.ariafiction.com

  This edition first published in the United Kingdom in 2020 by Aria, an imprint of Head of Zeus Ltd

  Copyright © Mandy Baggot, 2020

  The moral right of Mandy Baggot to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN: 9781789546323

  Cover design: Cherie Chapman

  Aria

  c/o Head of Zeus

  First Floor East

  5–8 Hardwick Street

  London EC1R 4RG

  www.ariafiction.com

  Contents

  Welcome Page

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Chapter Sixty

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  About the Author

  Become an Aria Addict

  Chapter One

  August 2005

  His skin was like perfectly browned toast, but with the smooth perfection of chocolate spread. It had been almost a week already and Emma still loved watching him. It was his athleticism and sheer passion for the game, even just in fun with the children, that she admired, gawped at and lusted after.

  He was rangy, almost six feet tall, already with the muscular frame of a man. He couldn’t be more than eighteen, could he? His hair was dark but flecked with gold from the French sun and his eyes were the colour of wet grass – cool and crisp, like giant green mirrors, looking into the soul of anyone that he met. Emma had said four words to him in six and a half days. Bonjour and Oui, ca va. Why hadn’t she learned more French? Or why didn’t she just talk to him in English? She knew he spoke it well, to the children he taught football skills to and to all the other girls who weren’t too scared to approach him and demand his attention. They giggled and adjusted the straps on their tiny bikini tops, flicking their hair and gazing at him with adoration in their eyes. She didn’t blame them. He was something of a god on their Riviera campsite. He deserved all their flirtation and amorous advances. She just wished she had the guts to join in.

  ‘Brie baguette, Emma?’ her father, Mike, called. He placed a plastic plate on the wobbly table in front of her and launched himself into the canvas seat opposite.

  She didn’t reply.

  ‘Haven’t you finished that book yet? You remember what Mr Devlin said. You must read the required text by the time we get back.’ He bit down into the impossibly tough bread, made so by the blistering sun and the lack of refrigeration facilities in their four-man tent.

  ‘I know, Dad. I’m getting there.’ She slipped her copy of Cosmopolitan down from her lap and under the table as discreetly as she could.

  Chaucer was one thing. But knowing how to put your eyeliner on properly when you were just feet away from the most gorgeous specimen you had ever encountered was far more important. Not that she had got close enough for Guy to have a chance of noticing her eyes, or the make-up outlining them. In fact, the closest they had got was at the clubhouse. Guy behind the bar, her behind her dad, waiting patiently for her Orangina. Her mousy hair un-styled and wet from the cold shower she’d just had.

  She bit into the baguette. The fusion of bread and soft cheese warmed her all over and smothered her in gladness. She was so happy to be in France.

  It was almost six months since her mother died and it was only on this holiday – her dad’s attempt to get them out of the house and away from the memories of her mother’s slow, painful demise – that she’d started to feel like the teenager she was. Living alongside cancer aged everyone. She could see it in her dad’s face and feel it inside of herself. They were both changed forever. She was that little bit more grown-up and her dad… well, he was supposedly still grieving for his childhood sweetheart. Three weeks in France couldn’t heal them completely, but perhaps it would plaster over the cuts and bruises, act like a liniment and give them the strength they both needed to go on.

  Emma took a deep breath and raised her head towards the sunshine. France had so much going for it after all. They had the best food, the best weather and apparently the best-looking boys. They just didn’t make them the same in England. Guy was bright and funny. He made everyone around him feel special just by being in his company. His voice was thick with a low, sultry accent and when he laughed it made her insides tighten. That had to be a good thing no matter how weird it felt.

  She was contemplating actually taking a glance at Chaucer when there was a loud shout in French and suddenly she found herself with a football in her face, a baguette on her lap and her backside on the floor. The camping chair upended and lay next to her.

  ‘You alright, love? Here, come on, let me give you a hand up,’ Mike said, leaping from his seat and going to his daughter’s aid.

  He was beaten to it. As Emma slowly began to realise what
had happened, an olive-skinned hand was taking a delicate hold of hers, as if handling the most fragile of objects.

  ‘I’m so sorry… We play too hard… I should take more care,’ he said, his hand resting in hers.

  She couldn’t speak. His beautiful face was only inches from hers, his blanket of chestnut-brown hair flopping forward over his cut-glass eyes. He could have been reciting Shakespeare and she wouldn’t have heard it. She was struck dumb, mesmerised by his spell. All she could see were his deliciously full lips as he mouthed the word care and all she could feel was the slight pressure of that tanned hand in hers.

  ‘You OK, love?’ her dad said again looking at her bewildered expression with concern.

  He probably thinks I’ve taken a blow to the head, Emma thought, realising her blue eyes were wide from staring at the French boy and her mouth was parted in a rather pathetic pop-star groupie kind of way.

  She closed it and struggled to get to her feet. He helped her. He took her arm with one hand, righted the camping chair with the other and then, supporting her with both his hands, he lowered her into her seat. If she died now, gave in to the heart attack she was surely having, she wouldn’t care. She’d be content to go just because he had touched her.

  He picked her book up off the floor and ran his fingers over its cover, removing the dust.

  ‘Chow-cer,’ he said, looking at the illustration and trying to get the pronunciation right.

  ‘Chor-cer. It’s not my book of choice. I mean I have to read it, for school. It’s for A levels, you know, exams,’ she babbled. She knew her freckled cheeks were reddening. She knew it wasn’t because the factor-thirty sun cream was wearing off. It was him. She was blushing. It was hormonal. Ally had told her all about it.

  ‘I love to read. Not Chow-cer perhaps, I do not know. You think I would like this book?’ he asked, flicking open the pages and observing the text.

  The only thing Emma was observing was him. The way his fingers stroked each page, the way he was looking at the words. He looked at them as if they were important, as if they might move something in him.

  ‘I’m not sure I like him, I mean his style of writing. It’s all in really old English, like relic stuff. No one talks that way now. Well, apart from Mr Devlin who seems to revel in it. But he’s like a character out of Dickens… on skis.’ Emma added as Guy raised his head to study her.

  He threw his head back and laughed, his green eyes alive, his hair drooping over onto his forehead.

  ‘On skis? What is this on skis?’

  ‘We just say it, in England. Well, me and my friends back home. It’s just like saying someone is something and then a hundred per cent more,’ Emma attempted to explain.

  Why had she said that? Stupid Ally Thomas and her made-up phrases to try and sound cool. It didn’t sound cool. Not when you were trying to explain it to a hot French boy you couldn’t keep your eyes off.

  ‘Like… how you say? The girl is beautiful – on skis,’ Guy said, his eyes locking with hers.

  ‘Yes, just like that,’ Emma agreed, having to force the words up her throat.

  ‘I’m Guy,’ he said. He extended his bronzed hand towards her.

  She knew this. Everyone knew who he was and what he was called. He was the pin-up of the campsite, the person everyone wanted to know and be known by. But she loved the way he pronounced it, to rhyme with ‘key’. To her it was the best name in the world, oozing his laid-back coolness.

  ‘I’m Emma,’ she said. She took his hand and gave it a professional handshake she might have reserved for a careers advisor.

  ‘I know,’ he answered, smiling.

  Chapter Two

  Present Day

  Marry me.

  The words were bumping around in her head, stopping anything else from getting through. Sometimes when Emma replayed the phrase it filled her with excitement, joy and a thrill she hadn’t felt for years. Then, when her mind repeated the question again it was spoken by a different voice. Marry me. It sounded wrong, almost like a jailor talking before the shackles were attached.

  ‘Well? How does it look?’ Ally Thomas barked.

  ‘It looks like a gym.’

  ‘Argh! Emma! A little more enthusiasm please! It is a state-of-the-art sports facility. A gym conjures up images of strongmen, puffing, panting and dumbbells. Here, at the Wellness Sports and Spa Fitness Centre we do not have stress and strain. We have motivational personal trainers. We have the latest in cardiovascular equipment and we have beauty treatments to rival a dip in the Icelandic mud baths,’ Ally announced. She proudly puffed out her chest like an aroused pigeon.

  The Wellness Sports and Spa Fitness Centre was brand new and being opened and launched that day. Emma was there because Ally was the manager. Ally knew nothing about sports and fitness, but she had a power suit and a loud voice and could organise the unorganisable. She wanted her best friend’s opinion before the official opening in the afternoon. How things had changed in eight years.

  Eight years ago, Ally had been all set to do a course in beauty at the college and Emma was destined for university. She had made it there, but at the time she’d had to prioritise.

  Emma swallowed as she caught sight of their reflection in the wall-width mirror. Self-consciously, she scraped her blonde bobbed hair behind both ears. Compared to Ally she looked like Cinderella in the pre-ball rags period. Ally was dressed in designer wear, all coiffured and tweaked, not an eyelash out of place. Emma was wearing jeans she’d had for years and a much-loved, shapeless, cream, long-sleeved top. Money was tight and Dominic came first.

  ‘So, are you staying for the ribbon-cutting?’ Ally asked, checking her watch.

  ‘No, I’ve got to pick Dominic up from swimming in…’ She checked her watch. ‘God, fifteen minutes. I’d better go.’

  ‘No more rushing about for you in a few months. We’ll be doing swimming lessons here, you know,’ Ally proudly reminded her.

  ‘I know, you’ve given me at least five leaflets about it. I’ve got to go,’ Emma said, embracing her friend and trying not to crinkle her so obviously new suit.

  ‘You and Chris are coming to the gala dinner tonight though, aren’t you? I’ve invited Councillor Martin. I know you’re desperate to bend his ear about more funding for the school,’ Ally said.

  ‘Yes, we’re coming. My dad’s babysitting Dominic and we have a pass out until at least midnight. Later if I leave him chocolate Bourbons,’ Emma said, grinning.

  She’d been looking forward to the gala dinner since Ally told her about it. Usually the closest she got to dressing-up was when she decided her students at the school needed period costume to help them understand the era they were studying. With a young son and a boyfriend who worked unsociable hours as a taxi driver, nights on the razz were very few and far between. She only hoped tonight wouldn’t be tainted by the question she still hadn’t answered. He’d said the words, marry me, like he’d said them twice before. This time she had sighed heavily, patted his arm and taken a pile of towels up to the airing cupboard. She knew it wasn’t what he’d hoped for and she wondered how long he would keep asking before he gave up on her.

  ‘How’s your dad’s internet dating going?’ Ally asked, opening the door and leading her friend back out to the balloon-adorned reception area.

  ‘He’s going on a second date with Velma the dog trainer next week,’ she announced with a giggle.

  ‘Blimey! I thought you said she brought one of her dogs along to the last date.’

  ‘She did. Dad likes dogs,’ Emma said.

  ‘I’m saying nothing.’

  ‘So, who’s the celebrity you managed to con into opening this fitness and wellness spectacular for the prize of a money-off voucher for the butcher’s?’ Emma asked. She pushed open the main door and got her hair whipped up by the breeze.

  ‘Ah well, I had got Jason Simpson. You know, England’s number ten, scores loads of goals every week for Finnerham United. The kids absolutely love him, the women adore
him, the men respect him, and I was clapping my hands together…’ Ally began.

  ‘He can’t come, can he?’

  ‘He’s gone and done in one of those crucial ligaments or something and they’re operating… today,’ Ally informed her with a frustrated sigh.

  ‘And?’

  ‘And I’m left with some new guy they’ve just signed from France. Now what was his name? Guy. That’s right, Guy Duval. He probably can’t speak the lingo, no one will understand a word he says and, knowing my luck, he’ll look like the back end of a bus,’ Ally gabbled.

  ‘Guy Duval,’ Emma said. Her voice had dropped to a whisper.

  Marry me. Marry me. Marry me. The images were already in her head: his dark hair, his emerald-coloured eyes, his bronzed hand reaching out to her…

  ‘Emma, you’re letting air in. It will play havoc with my climate control,’ Ally said, taking the door from her friend’s hand.

  ‘I have to go,’ she said, her voice almost failing her.

  ‘I know, shoo! Go and get Dom and I’ll see you later. I’ll be the one with my hand up the French guy’s arse being the ventriloquist if he can’t speak a word of English,’ Ally said, cackling out a laugh.

  Emma managed a faint smile and hurried out of the leisure centre. It couldn’t be him! Duval in France was like Smith in England. There were hundreds of people in France called that, weren’t there? And so he played football? So did lots of men. Lots of French men called Duval. No, it couldn’t be him. It wouldn’t be him.

  Chapter Three

  It was him. Google had a lot to answer for. Here he was, Guy Duval from the Riviera campsite, now looking at her out of her laptop screen. He was dressed in the bright blue of the French national football team, the gold cockerel motif looking resplendent on his chest. Everything about him was as she remembered it. She had never envied a cockerel before, but there it was, its feathers erect, a smug beak on it, festooned against that well-structured torso.

  Why had she never Googled him before? She knew the answer to that. She had banned herself from thinking about him. When he broke her heart, she snapped. She’d left, she’d moved on and she had well and truly put him away in her past. It had to be that way. There were times when her thoughts had travelled back to those few weeks, usually when she had had too much to drink or after a bad day at school. The trouble was, she could still so easily recall how the French sunlight felt on her skin, how his hand had felt in hers. But along with the good memories were others she would rather forget. She’d been broken. He had broken her. You didn’t Google people who took your heart and threw it away.