The Jersey Scene series box set

by Georgina Troy

  He shook his head. ‘I’d been working without a break for a few months now, so they understand me taking a little time away from the project.’ He shrugged. ‘It can get too intense if it’s all you ever think about. It is important to me, but sometimes it’s good to step away and be forced back into the real world.’ He swallowed another mouthful of his food and, unable to resist, asked, ‘So, what do you think of Daisy then, Nan? I could tell by you inviting her here that you like her, but now you know we were,’ he hesitated to find the right word, ‘close in Vietnam, does that change your feelings about her?’

  ‘No, of course not,’ she said immediately. ‘There’s a definite chemistry between you two, probably a little too much,’ she rested a hand on his shoulder. ‘I don’t want either of you to get hurt though.’

  ‘Why would we?’ he asked knowing exactly why but needing her to voice his concerns so that he couldn’t ignore them.

  ‘We don’t know how long Daisy will want to stay here. Even if she is happy working at The Encore, how long will it be before you have to return to wherever it was you were last working?’

  ‘South Africa. And I should only be here for one month,’ he admitted quietly.

  ‘You see, that’s not long at all. You work away for months at a time. Do you think it would be fair on Daisy to expect her to wait here for you each time?’

  He could see where she was coming from. ‘Maybe she could come with me in some capacity,’ he said. Although what exactly she would do, he wasn’t quite sure. ‘She’s an artist, Nan, she can work anywhere, surely?’

  ‘I don’t doubt it, but what if she doesn’t want a life following you around the world? How well do you know her, anyway? Would you consider giving everything up for her?’

  He shook his head. ‘We haven’t got to that point, Nan,’ he said.

  ‘But you do like her, don’t you?’ she asked. ‘A lot.’

  ‘I really like her. We spent some incredible weeks together in Vietnam and then went our separate ways. I guess I was hoping we could carry on from where we left off.’

  He waited for her to agree, or argue, but instead all she did was look down vacantly at the scrambled egg on toast she’d barely touched. ‘Not necessarily,’ she murmured eventually.

  Gabe put down his knife and fork and rested one hand on his grandmother’s back. ‘Are you all right?’ He’d never seen her act like this before. It was out of character for her to appear down; even if she was upset, she always put a brave face on things. ‘Why does it matter to you how close Daisy and I are? Are you thinking about something that happened to you? Between you and Grandpa Lorenzo?’ He hoped she might finally be opening up to him about her mysterious past.

  She nodded slowly. ‘I suppose I am. I resented him for something he did, something that I should have forced him to deal with, but instead I stupidly let my pride get the better of me. I ended up missing out on, well, I don’t really know, but it was impulsive and short-sighted of me, I know that now.’ She grabbed hold of his forearm. ‘When you’re young you assume you have all the time in the world to put things right, but life isn’t that simple sometimes.’

  She smiled at him, but he could see it was forced and that she was trying to lighten the mood that had dipped so rapidly between them. ‘All I’m saying is be sure of your feelings for Daisy before making any decisions. Try to remember that she will have her own ambitions for her future that might not fit in with yours, and if you want to be together try to find a compromise that works for you both before giving up on a future you might otherwise miss out on.’

  ‘I will, Nan,’ he said. ‘I promise.’

  She smiled and patted his cheek. ‘Enough serious chat for now,’ she said. ‘Come on: let’s eat and make the best of this glorious June morning.’

  He nodded. ‘Yes, let’s do that.’ He gave her a quizzical look. It unnerved him to hear her speaking so seriously about something, especially when referring to her past. She never spoke about anything from when she was young.

  He could hear the phone ringing inside the house and stood up but before he could step away from the table, Anna, the housekeeper, came outside holding the phone.

  ‘Madam, it’s Mr Rick on the phone. He says Miss Francesca is thinking she might not go away after all.’

  His grandmother sighed and held out her hand to take the phone. ‘Thank you, Anna.’ She pushed her plate away and lifted the phone to her ear. ‘Francesca, what is all this nonsense?’ There was a silence while she listened to what his mother was telling her. ‘Absolutely not. I’m fine, and your son has generously taken the time to come back to Jersey and help me run the hotel. So, you will pack your bags and get on that flight and stop all of this. You do it every time you have to go away on location. It’s stage fright, nothing more. You’ll be fine once you get there.’ She raised her eyes heavenward.

  Gabe smiled. He knew this routine by heart; he’d experienced it for as long as he could remember.

  ‘Gabriel will be there to collect you,’ she shook her head and pointed at her watch.

  ‘Two-thirty,’ he mouthed.

  He zoned out from the rest of the call to finish off his meal. Lydia soon rang off and placed the phone down on the table. ‘I don’t know why she puts herself through this,’ she said.

  ‘She loves it when she gets there. And also, when she comes home after filming has ended and she has something new to entertain her guests with back at the hotel.’

  ‘Yes, she does.’ Lydia took a sip of her tea and grimaced. ‘That’s cold now. I have to feel a bit sorry for your mother though,’ she said laughing.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because each time she has one of her turns your father phones me. She knows I’ve got enough experience in films that she can’t argue with me. It always infuriates her.’

  ‘Poor Mum,’ Gabe said, smiling. He was relieved someone was able to stop her dramatics. He loved his mum very much, but she could be exhausting and as much as his father could be difficult to live with, with his roving eye and slight excesses with alcohol, Gabe knew that most of the time they had a great relationship, and for that he was very grateful.

  ‘Do you think Mum should have married someone who doted on her and followed her to her locations?

  His grandmother nodded. ‘Yes, she needs that hero-worship more than most and she doesn’t get it from your father because he’s too busy demanding it for himself. Mind you, I think at times like now that’s good for her.’ She laughed. ‘How you turned out to be so placid and happy with your own company I don’t know.’

  ‘Is that what I am?’ he asked. He was different to his parents, that was for certain. ‘I’m just relieved I never wanted to go into the acting business too. Can you imagine what it would have been like to have three of us involved in show business in the family?’

  ‘Four,’ she said tapping his arm. ‘What about me?’

  ‘But you’re not a drama queen, Nan.’

  ‘No, but I probably used to be when I was younger.’

  ‘I have a feeling you would have secretly loved to come from a normal family like Daisy. She must think we’re all a little crazy,’ Lydia laughed. ‘Poor girl.’

  ‘What’s normal though?’ he said, realising how little he knew about Daisy’s family, or her past. Then again, he thought, he hadn’t divulged very much about his family either. If he had she wouldn’t be working at his family’s hotel. He was glad they’d mainly stuck to discussing their travels in Vietnam, otherwise he was pretty certain Daisy would have taken a job elsewhere.

  Lydia raised her eyebrows. ‘I think we’re a little less normal than your average family, don’t you?’

  ‘Yes, I can’t argue with that.’

  Lydia ate a little more, then put her fork down with a sigh. ‘We have an anniversary to deal with while your parents are away,’ she said. ‘I know that the girls from Lapins de Lune took over the hosting of the one the other week just after the fire in the orangery, but I think that maybe if that youn
g builder, Luke, was it?’ Gabe nodded. ‘Well if he completes the work quickly then we could hold the next event at The Encore.’

  ‘Lapins de Lune?’ The name rang a bell, but Gabe couldn’t quite place it.

  She took a sip of her tea. ‘You remember, it’s that events business.’ When he shook his head, she added. ‘They specialise in vintage linen and crockery for weddings and other parties, and they do event planning. The Le Lievre girl, you know, the one whose mother is a sculptor, well it’s her and her friend Jessica Moon. They started the business a couple of years ago, and after the fire took over the reception for a couple.’

  Gabe could picture the man and nodded. ‘Did they expect to host this party too?’

  ‘No, but your mum suggested that maybe they might do so, if Luke didn’t manage to finish the work on time.’

  Gabe was all for helping others, but on this occasion his parents’ hotel needed the money. Summer was their most profitable time and what they made between May and September had to keep them going for the rest of the year. ‘I’ll help Luke with the work if I have to,’ he said. ‘We can’t afford to turn away any more business, Nan. These events are worth a lot of money to Mum and Dad.’

  ‘I know. Give Luke a call today then and see if there’s anything you can do.’

  ‘I will.’

  After they’d finished, he gave his grandmother a lift to the hotel so that she could run through the bookings with his mum before they left. Phoning Luke, he was relieved to discover that with a little extra help from him the work should be completed in time for the couple’s big day.

  He walked around the back of the hotel through the colourful rose garden to check on the work being done to the orangery. His father had sent him photos of the fire damage and it had shocked Gabe at the time, but now, a couple of weeks later and after quite a bit of hard work from Luke and his team, it didn’t look nearly so bad. Burnt wooden frames had been replaced, the walls had been plastered and now just needed a little paint. It was going to be fine, he thought, relieved for his parents’ sakes.

  ‘Looks much better now, doesn’t it?’ His dad asked, coming up to stand next to him, a pipe clenched between his teeth. Gabe couldn’t help smiling. How the constant puffing on that thing hadn’t ruined his father’s singing, he couldn’t imagine.

  ‘You must have got quite a shock on the night of the fire?’ Gabe asked.

  ‘It could have been so much worse,’ Rick said. ‘Though your mum nearly had hysterics, especially as we were ninety per cent full with guests at the time. It did show us that our fire drills worked though, which was something.’

  Rick put his arm around Gabe’s shoulders. It was good to be alone with his father for once. Gabe loved his mother but she always demanded so much attention and if she was with them then his father never got the chance to say his piece.

  ‘We’re very grateful to you for coming all the way to Jersey to help your grandmother.’

  ‘Don’t be, Dad,’ he said. ‘I’m happy to spend time with her and I needed to step back from the project. Hopefully while I’m away I’ll come up with ideas to raise more funds to keep it going too.’

  They began walking to the back of the hotel along the gravel pathways that meandered through the geometric line of tiny pools, some bridged with a large slab as a way to cross from one side to the other.

  ‘Your grandmother would kill me for saying so, but despite how well she looks, she is getting older and I don’t like to think of her being left to run this place on her own. When I signed up to do this tour, I thought your mother would be staying in Jersey and the two of them could work together.’

  This was news to Gabe. ‘So when did she receive her offer for the part in the film?’

  ‘Only a month ago, when another actress fell ill and had to pull out. Your mum was delighted, of course.’

  ‘You can’t blame her,’ Gabe said, picturing his mother’s joy to be offered the part. ‘She’s always fretting about work drying up.’

  Rick took the pipe from his mouth and nodded. ‘I know, but we always agreed that one of us would stay behind if the other had an offer of work.’

  Gabriel stopped walking. ‘Dad, it’s fine. I’m thrilled she’s got something to look forward to and Nan and I will be perfectly happy here looking after everything until you both get back home again. Don’t worry about it, really.’

  Rick pulled Gabriel into a tight hug. ‘You’re a good boy, Gabe. We’re very lucky to have you as a son.’

  His father always became sentimental when he was about to go away and Gabe knew how he hated goodbyes. He suspected it was because his father had lost both his parents at an early age. For him, though, his parents going away to work was so much a part of his life that it never worried him at all. ‘Everything will be fine. You two go and forget about us. Enjoy your tour, have fun, and we’ll have a party to celebrate once you both get back.’

  ‘Great idea, my boy, I’ll mention that to your mother.’

  Chapter Four

  Daisy

  ‘He’s so annoying,’ Fi said, slamming down her car keys on the top of the reception desk.

  ‘Who is?’ Daisy couldn’t help being amused by Fi’s drama-queen tendencies. There was never a dull moment when she was around, and Daisy wished she’d had a younger sister like Fi when she was growing up.

  ‘My brother,’ she said through clenched teeth. ‘He can be such a pig.’

  Daisy didn’t know Sebastian Fielding, but she’d seen a picture of him in the local paper a few times. She’d heard enough about him from others and doubted very much that he treated Fi badly; in fact, she’d heard he doted on her.

  ‘How come?’ Daisy asked, trying to pacify her before any of the guests wondered why their receptionist was flouncing around the marble entrance hall. ‘Didn’t he buy you that shiny red Fiat 500?’

  ‘Yes,’ Fi said glowering at Daisy. ‘That’s not what I’m referring to though, is it?’

  The phone rang and Daisy held up one finger to indicate Fi should wait while she took the call. ‘Gabe, hi,’ she said unable to help smiling at the sound of his voice. Forcing away the image of him in faded denims, she listened while he explained that he was going to be slightly late to collect his parents.

  ‘I’m giving them a lift to the airport,’ he said. ‘Please let them know I haven’t forgotten them.’

  ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘I’ll tell them straight away.’ She put down the receiver.

  Fi opened her mouth to continue her rant just as Francesca flounced out of the door linking the staff area of the hotel to the front lobby. She tapped her watch dramatically, before turning to open the door she’d just slammed shut behind her.

  ‘Rick, come along, darling, we’re going to miss this blasted flight if we’re not careful.’ She flicked her long reddish hair from her shoulder and added. ‘Why you always leave everything until the last minute I’ll never know.’

  Daisy could hear him cursing and banging what she assumed to be their cases against the hall walls. ‘Bloody hell, Francesca, what crap have you filled your suitcases with this time? You’re going to be working on location: you do remember that they have costume and makeup departments there, I assume?’

  Francesca squeezed her tiny form as far back against the doorframe as she could to let him through while she held open the door.

  ‘And,’ he said as he half dragged her suitcase through the hallway. ‘I only left things until the last damn minute because I was doing my best to placate you, if you recall.’

  ‘Miss Fiore, Mr Malone,’ Jose, the flustered head porter, called, frantically waving over two of his young assistants. ‘Please, we will take these to the car for you.’

  ‘Where is Gabriel?’ Francesca asked Daisy as she neared the reception area. ‘He was supposed to be here half an hour ago.’

  Daisy couldn’t help noticing that Francesca had forgotten to draw in one of her eyebrows; it gave her a lopsided look making it difficult for Daisy to concentra
te. She didn’t point out that if he had been on time then he would have had to wait half an hour for them both to be ready, but simply said, ‘He’s just phoned. He should be here any time now.’

  Rick left the cases he’d been struggling with for the porters to handle and stomped outside. Daisy spotted him lighting a cigarette as soon as he was far enough away from the building not to infuriate his wife.

  ‘You’ll ruin your beautiful singing voice if you carry on doing that,’ Francesca said, spotting him as she stepped outside to peer down the long driveway for Gabriel.

  ‘Why don’t they just refer to themselves as Mr and Mrs Wilson?’ Fi asked. ‘Those are their real names, after all.’

  Daisy shrugged. ‘I suppose it’s because Francesca is an actress and is still referred to in her work and the press as Francesca Fiore, and Rick is known as Rich Malone, his stage name.’

  ‘Weird,’ mumbled Fi, sitting down in her chair next to Daisy and then bending down so Francesca couldn’t see her behind the raised desk, she took her pink lip gloss from her bag, unscrewed it, and reapplied it to her lips. ‘I find life confusing enough with one name, never mind having to listen out to people calling you by several names. I don’t know how Gabriel copes with their lifestyle, do you?’

  Daisy sat up straighter as she recognised the deep purr of Gabe’s car. ‘I’m sure he’s quite used to it,’ she said. ‘After all, his grandmother was famous too, wasn’t she?’

  Fi knitted her eyebrows together in confusion. ‘What, Mrs Grey you mean?’

  Daisy smiled at Fi’s surprise. ‘Yes, she was the Jersey Bombshell, didn’t you know?’

  ‘The what?’ Fi giggled.

  Daisy was indignant on Lydia’s behalf that Fi found this revelation amusing. ‘Mrs Grey was famous in the fifties.’ She recalled pictures of a young Lydia dressed in a red–and-white polka-dot dress with a tiny cinched-in waist. ‘She was very glamorous and incredibly beautiful. She was always photographed looking immaculate, not like actresses these days,’ she said aware she was sounding just like her mother. ‘I particularly liked one of the pictures of her with a leopard-print silk scarf over her hair and wrapped round her neck. All you could see of her face were these huge dark glasses and perfectly made up red lips.’ Daisy sighed. ‘I still can’t quite believe I’ve met her.’