by T A Williams
‘No wife, but lots and lots of girlfriends. You’ve met him, have you?’ Hope nodded as Terri went on. ‘Well, you’ve seen how handsome he is and, of course, he’s absolutely loaded as well.’
‘They’re a wealthy family. So, lots of girlfriends?’ Hope was still fighting what she supposed to be Jess’s corner. ‘Any special girlfriend?’
‘Not that I can think of, but there was always a queue of women around him wherever he went.’ Terri laughed. ‘I should know. I was in the queue myself for a good long while until I met Louis. Anyway, if you see him, give him my love. We all hope he gets better soon.’
After she had walked off, Jess gave Hope an accusing look. ‘Just exactly what were you doing, asking Terri all those questions?’
‘Just testing the water. A bit like you paddling along this beach.’ Hope gave her a grin. ‘At least now you know the coast is clear.’
‘Why should that be of interest to me? What do you mean?’
‘You know exactly what I mean.’
Jess shook her head in mock annoyance. ‘Hope, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You may have come here to find yourself a man, but I’m quite happy as I am. And I’m certainly not looking for another rich guy.’
‘Of course you aren’t.’
Jess snorted. She would have preferred an argument from her friend, rather than just this condescension. But before she could retort, a familiar, bulky, form appeared.
‘Hello, girls. How are you both?’
‘Hi, Pete. We’re fine. All well in the world of personal security?’ Hope gave him a kiss on each cheek and a big grin.
‘Nobody’s taken a shot at me this week, so that’s good.’ He glanced across at Jess. ‘How about you, Jess? All well?’
‘Yes, thanks.’ She stood up and kissed him as well, then hesitated for a moment. ‘Pete… Terri said you saw the accident when David Dupont crashed his powerboat. Is that so?’
He nodded. ‘You know David?’
‘Yes, a little.’
‘How’s he doing? Nobody’s seen him for months. I even heard a rumour a while back that he’d died.’
‘No, I’m pleased to report that he’s very much alive.’
‘Well that’s good news. And his legs? They were really badly crushed. I know – I was one of the first on the scene. I’ve seen some bad stuff in my time and his legs were in an awful state. Is he getting better?’
‘Still a work in progress, I think. So, Pete, tell us what happened.’
They both listened to Pete’s account of what sounded like a horrific accident. The boat had hit a container lying just below the surface and had flipped into the air, cartwheeling end over end for a hundred metres. It sounded as if it was a miracle he hadn’t been killed.
Pete had just finished his tale when Jess felt fingers tap her bare shoulder. She looked up to find Olivier standing there. She jumped to her feet and kissed him on both cheeks, delighted to see him.
‘Hi, Olivier. Great to see you.’
‘Hi Jess. How long did it take you to dry out last Saturday?’
‘I couldn’t have been any wetter if I’d jumped in the sea. Thanks again for the lift home. Without you I probably would have drowned.’
Olivier went over and greeted Hope and Pete. To Jess’s surprise, Pete replied to his greeting in fluent French. Clearly, the big man wasn’t just all bone and muscle.
They had a lovely evening. Gradually, other people arrived and Jess recognised a number of faces from the previous week. By the end of the evening, she had danced with quite a few people, including Pete, Hope and, of course, Olivier, and she had had a whale of a time. Finally, around two o’clock in the morning, the music stopped and they all started to make their way home. Both Pete and Olivier offered Jess a lift home, but she opted to walk back around the coast with Hope, rather than leave her by herself. She kissed both of the men and exchanged phone numbers with Olivier before setting off.
Now that the music had stopped, it was a wonderful, still night, with very little noise apart from the rhythmic movement of the waves against the rocky shoreline and the usual background chirping of cicadas. There was enough light from the near full moon for them to be able to make their way along the coastal footpath without too much trouble. The only lights they saw were across the bay in Ste-Maxime, along the coast beyond, and what might have been a cruise ship out at sea. The hillside behind them was pitch black, either because all the occupants of the villas were asleep or because they only used the houses as second homes for a few weeks in August – and it was still the month of June.
There was one light, though. As they reached George’s villa, Jess saw a light burning in one of the upstairs bedrooms. She quickly worked out that it was coming from David’s room and felt a little pang of sadness for him, still awake at this time of night.
Brutus was very pleased to see them and actually broke into a run as they took him for a walk up the hillside behind the villa as usual. Hope was impressed.
‘Our four-legged friend seems to be getting his energy back, which is good. So, Jess, talking of friends, how come you didn’t take Olivier up on his offer of a lift home? I could have walked or taken a ride on the back of Pete’s Harley, you know.’
‘I thought I’d rather walk home with you.’
‘I’d have been OK. For another time, you go ahead. Don’t worry about me.’
‘Of course, Hope, but it was fine.’ Her voice tailed off.
‘So, what about Olivier? Are you interested?’
‘Olivier? Yes, he’s a really nice guy.’
‘Nice? Just nice? Does that mean you don’t fancy him? I think he’s gorgeous.’
Jess gave it some thought – not for the first time that night. Yes, he was a good-looking man. He was intelligent, friendly, and he had a great sense of humour. Under other circumstances, she could have easily seen things developing with him. But something, or someone, was holding her back. Hope wasn’t her best friend for nothing. She had clearly been reading her mind.
‘Still thinking about David?’
‘Yes, I suppose so. Oh, I don’t know, Hope. There’s just something about him.’
‘Like the fact that he looks like a movie star and he’s apparently loaded?’
‘No, not that.’ She reached over and tapped Hope on the wrist. ‘I really mean that. The last thing I want is another man like Rafael. But there’s something about David. Yes, he’s grumpy, he’s suffering, he’s depressed, but there was something else.’ She hesitated, searching her own mind for the answer. ‘It’s just that underneath it all, I think he’s a genuinely nice guy and I think he needs somebody.’
‘We all need somebody, Jess. So what’re you going to do about it?’
‘Well the first thing I’ve got to do is to try to cheer him up, get him interested in life again.’
‘And how do you propose to do that?’
‘I wish I knew.’
* * *
Sunday was a lazy day and Jess and Hope stayed around the house, doing the laundry and pottering in the garden. Just before lunchtime, they took the dog down to the beach and Jess finally let herself be persuaded to try swimming in the sea. She was happy to find that, after the initial shock, the temperature was really quite pleasant. Certainly, it was warmer than any seaside holiday she had ever had in Britain. And, once she had got used to the water, the swim itself turned out to be a lot of fun.
Brutus was clearly delighted to have two swimming companions and he splashed happily between the two of them as they threw an old tennis ball about. After a while, Hope set off on a longer swim out into deep water, but Jess chose to stay with the dog. It was then that disaster struck. Jess had chosen to wear her old bikini and it was while she was locked in a scramble with Brutus for the ball that the wardrobe malfunction she had been dreading happened. A scrabbling paw caught on the top of her bikini and something gave. Seconds later – to her horror – she saw a triumphant Brutus swim shoreward bearing her red bra in his m
outh.
‘Brutus, you little bugger, come back here.’
By this time, Brutus had reached the beach and he clearly had no intention of returning the purloined article. Instead, he settled down at the top of the beach by the footpath with her bra between his front paws and a wide canine smile on his face.
‘Brutus, give that back… Brutus, come! Come here! Come!’
Brutus was essentially an obedient dog, and Jess’s command worked remarkably well. She was gratified to see him stand up, trot back down into the water, and start swimming towards her. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been explicit enough with her instructions, and he left her bra lying on the beach alongside the coastal footpath.
As the Labrador arrived at her shoulder and she felt his cold wet nose against her, she pondered what to do. A glance out to sea showed her that Hope was a good hundred yards away by now, head down, swimming strongly. A close inspection of the footpath revealed no signs of life and there was nobody on the terrace up at the villa, so, apprehensively, she decided to swim back in and retrieve the missing article herself. Accompanied by the dog, she headed back until she was in only a couple of feet of water and then, after one more nervous look in both directions, splashed out of the water and ran up the beach to grab it.
She waded hastily back into the water, sat down on a rock and slipped the bra back on with considerable relief, noting that the clip was looking a bit bent. Clearly this particular bikini’s days were numbered. She had only just clipped herself up again and was beginning to recover from her embarrassment when she heard a voice, directly behind her.
‘Jess… and Brutus… how good to see you.’
Antoinette’s voice made her jump. She turned her head and saw the housekeeper standing at the little wooden gate where the private path led up from the beach to the villa.
‘Hi, Antoinette. All well?’
Hearing a familiar voice, Brutus came charging out of the water and up the beach to greet his friend.
‘Yes, fine, thanks.’ Antoinette sounded relaxed. ‘Is that Hope out there in the sea? Brutus! Go and shake yourself somewhere else, would you? Here, go fetch.’
Jess saw her pick up a chunk of wood and throw it out to sea. The Labrador plunged after it with considerable enthusiasm.
‘He’s looking a lot more energetic, isn’t he?’
Antoinette slipped off her sandals, waded into the water and sat down on a rock a few feet away from where Jess was sitting. They both sat in silence for a few moments, enjoying the warmth of the sun. It was all very still and the only noise came from a cluster of seagulls fighting over some tasty titbit a little further around the coast. Apart from the two of them, the only other living being to be seen was Hope, now swimming back towards the shore. Jess found herself smiling.
‘I still can’t quite believe we’re on the Côte d’Azur and yet it’s so quiet. You’re the first person I’ve seen since I came down to the beach.’
‘We’re very fortunate here. The masses tend to stay on the bigger beaches.’
‘Do you ever come down here for a swim yourself?’
‘I do sometimes, when it gets really hot. You wait – August down here can be absolutely boiling.’
‘What about the others – George and David?’
‘George never swims in the sea – in fact he rarely uses the pool. His wife, Babette, used to be a great swimmer and David when he was younger used to do a lot of swimming and underwater fishing. He often used to bring me octopus and even an occasional lobster for the kitchen.’
Jess sighed for him. ‘I wonder if he’ll ever be able to do that again.’
‘I don’t know, but I’ll tell you one thing, Jess. Since you and Hope arrived, he and his father are so much more cheerful, and that’s got to mean something.’
At that moment, Hope arrived back and splashed towards them, fighting off the joyous welcome provided by Brutus.
‘Hi, Antoinette. Coming for a swim?’
Antoinette shook her head.
‘No, I’ve just popped down for a few minutes on an errand. George wanted me to ask Jess if she felt like coming round for a glass of wine this evening and taking a look at the house. And Hope, of course you’re very welcome as well.’
Jess gave her an answering smile.
‘Of course. Do tell him I’d be delighted to come round and take a look at the villa. Hope, are you here this evening?’
‘Max said he’d be back around five, so, if George doesn’t mind, Antoinette, I promised I’d go over and join him in the harbour.’
‘Of course. Vive l’amour. So, Jess, if you’re sure, would six o’clock be all right for you?’
‘Perfect. Tell him I look forward to seeing him then.’
As she stood up and waded back to the beach, Hope caught Jess’s eye and winked.
‘And his son, hopefully, eh, Jess?’
Jess didn’t reply.
Chapter 13
Jess and Brutus went over to the villa at six o’clock as arranged. She brought her laptop, pad and measure with her, in readiness for her survey, and she found George waiting for her with a bottle of cold Chablis. He told her he had just spent an hour working in the garden and there was welcome colour in his cheeks as a result. There was, however, no sign of David. Jess, while not surprised, couldn’t help but be disappointed.
She and George sat on the terrace and chatted for a while before starting their inspection of the house. As usual on these occasions, Jess the architect did her best to find out what the client wanted, before making any proposals of her own. In essence, it was pretty simple. George wanted to retain the quirky character of the building, while making it a bit more practical and bringing it up to date.
‘I wouldn’t want it changed too much. Babette and I had so many good times here, I wouldn’t want to lose those memories.’
Jess was delighted to hear him managing to speak about his dearly beloved wife in matter-of-fact tones.
‘And do those memories extend to, for example, the bath in the lounge?’
He managed a smile. ‘Well now you come to mention it… I think that’s maybe one of the changes that need to be made. And another thing…’ His smile broadened into a grin. ‘I think it’s time I got myself a toilet that’s the same shape as my bottom.’
‘And what about bigger changes? Like this terrace, for example, are you happy with it like it is?’
‘I love it, although I suppose it might be good to get some sort of windbreak. It can get a bit nippy here in the autumn and winter.’
Once she had got a clearer idea of his thoughts, Jess got George to give her a tour of the building, leaving the Labrador dozing on the terrace. Using her clever little Leica laser measure, she measured the rooms and quickly sketched the floor plan on her pad as they went round. Once they had finished on the ground floor, he took her upstairs. To get there, they used the mirrored lift and she quickly realised one of the main disadvantages of having mirrors everywhere was that it probably hadn’t been such a good idea to wear a short skirt. For the second time that day she felt her cheeks burn as she glanced down and got a clear view up her skirt to her pants, reflected back at her from the floor. Fortunately, George gallantly kept his eyes straight ahead, but when they stepped out, she resolved to use the stairs in future.
‘Of course the lift has been a godsend with David in his chair.’ George kept his voice low and Jess wondered whether his son was nearby.
There were three bedrooms on the upper floor, all equipped with ensuite bathrooms and all, in Jess’s view, desperately in need of a revamp. One bathroom was chocolate brown, one avocado green, and the last one a lurid yellowy orange. She glanced at George.
‘Any emotional attachment to the bathroom décor? How would you feel about changing the colour schemes?’
‘I would be delighted. And I know Antoinette would be, as well. She keeps telling me it’s getting harder and harder to tell what’s clean and what’s dirty. What were you thinking of? White?’
&
nbsp; ‘Whatever you like, George, but, personally, I’m for white in bathrooms. Let’s give it some thought.’
There was a fourth room on the upper floor and it was here that Jess found David. A quick calculation had already told her that this had to be the room from where he had been watching her, and it turned out not to be a bedroom, but a study. In there she found a battery of state-of-the-art computers on a glass and steel trestle table and, in front of them, David in his wheelchair, surrounded by files and piles of paper. Unless he was engaged in several complicated videogames at the same time, it looked very much as if he was working. Somehow, the idea that he might have a job, rather than just be living off inherited wealth, served to increase his appeal to Jess.
‘Hi, David.’
‘Hello, Jess.’ He spun the chair round so that he was facing her and, just for a second, she got the impression that his expression looked welcoming, before it returned to its normal blankness. ‘You’re here in your professional capacity, I believe.’
‘That’s right.’ She decided to try to keep him talking. ‘So, as this is evidently your study, what changes, if any, would you like to see in here?’
She saw him think for a moment before pointing down to the floor beneath the long work surface.
‘If you could do something about all this, I’d be pleased. I’m afraid it’s going to burst into flames one of these days.’
Jess looked down and immediately saw what he meant. The floor was a mass of cables, extension leads and multiple adaptors. It looked like a plate of spaghetti – only a lot more dangerous.
‘Ouch. Yes, I see what you mean.’
Turning to George, she asked him one of the questions she had written on her list earlier.
‘Would I be right in thinking that the electrical wiring is the original wiring from fifty years ago?’
‘Some bits of the downstairs have been rewired, but I’m afraid this is all old stuff upstairs.’
Jess added an exclamation mark alongside that particular bullet point. David hadn’t been too far off the mark when he had mentioned a possible fire hazard. She looked back at him.
