Chapter 13
Maurice had recommended a boat-hire company owned by a childhood friend, Pierre. At the marina, Haydon pointed to the shack at the end of a jetty where the sign hung: Paradis Sur La Mer. Underneath it read in English: Boats for hire.
‘Paradise on the sea,’ Molly translated, shooting Bastien a coquettish look that begged for his approval of her French. ‘Sounds swanky.’
Haydon nodded, reflecting, as he regarded a small collection of half a dozen vessels moored nearby, that it looked swanky too.
‘You know, we don’t have to hire a boat,’ Ashley began. ‘We’d be quite happy on the beach if—’
‘I promised everyone a boat, and a boat is what we’ll get,’ Haydon cut in. ‘I don’t know about you, but I suspect it’s going to be a long time before we get the opportunity to do something like this again so to hell with the expense – let’s just do it and make the most of our holiday.’
‘But—’
‘Before you go on about money again, I’ve told you that I was going to hire something for me and Ella anyway. It won’t cost any extra for you guys to come along, so I don’t need anything from you. Please don’t worry about it.’ He was about to beckon everyone to follow him, but Bastien and Molly beat him to it, tearing down the jetty together, leaving Ella to give chase and Haydon and Ashley bringing up the rear.
‘Ooooh, that one’s gorgeous,’ Molly said, pointing to a long, sleek-looking yacht. ‘And that one too,’ she added, switching to a motorboat with a honeyed wood hull.
Haydon dug his hands in his pockets, eyeing up the tiny fleet bobbing on a gentle swell, the sun bouncing off chrome guardrails and glossy bows. One stood out to him – a roomy-looking motorboat with a canopy and a large deck for sunbathing. It looked like something out of a James Bond movie, and for a moment he allowed himself the crazy fantasy of how cool and sexy he might look grasping the wheel and directing it out to sea. It was gorgeous, and spending time on it was bound to make it a day, not only for the kids but for Ashley to remember.
Trying hard to suppress a boyish grin, he wandered up for a closer look. ‘How about this one?’ he called over his shoulder to the others.
‘You would like to hire?’ a voice came from behind them and Haydon swung round to see a man standing at the doorway to the tiny hut that he assumed served as the boat company’s office.
‘How much is it?’ Haydon asked.
‘Three thousand,’ he replied, stubbing out the remnant of a rolled-up cigarette on the side of his hut.
Haydon gulped, his James Bond fantasy floating off with the currents that trailed away from the marina.
‘A week?’ he asked hopefully, though he already knew the answer that was coming.
‘For one day, Monsieur.’
‘Right…’ Haydon fiddled with the change in his pocket. Fat lot of good that was going to do him, though. But then Ashley let out a giggle.
‘Maybe you have one just as sexy but a little cheaper?’ she asked the man.
He inclined his head. ‘Perhaps. How much do you want to spend?’
‘About ten euros, I’d say,’ Ashley replied, giving Haydon a wry glance.
‘I have this one,’ the man said, pointing to the wooden-hulled boat. ‘This is fifteen hundred euros a day. Plenty of room for you all.’
‘Do you have anything around five hundred?’ Haydon asked. Even that would have to go on his credit card, but anything less was just going to be embarrassing.
‘This one is three fifty,’ the man replied, pointing to something that looked barely more than a rowing boat. ‘It is not so fast, but you will find it comfortable.’
‘It really is only for a bit of fun – a few hours to see the coast. Will it be suitable for that?’
‘Certainly,’ the man said.
Haydon stepped forward to get a closer look.
‘I have sailed one like this,’ Bastien said, joining him. ‘With my uncle. It will be strong enough.’
Haydon smiled at him. At least they had one competent sailor amongst them if it turned out he was completely hopeless. Which it probably would.
‘Are you Pierre?’ Ashley asked the boat-hire attendant.
‘Yes.’
‘Only, Maurice Dupont said to say hello.’
‘Ah Maurice!’ Pierre cried. ‘I know him well – a good friend from my childhood! He is here, in Saint-Raphaël?’
‘Yes. He says he’s sorry he hasn’t been to see you yet, but he’s been busy with Violette’s birthday-party preparations. But he asked me to let you know about that too – it’s on Friday night and they’d like to invite you.’
‘I would love to come to her party!’ Pierre beamed. ‘Please tell him I accept!’
‘I will,’ Ashley said.
‘So, you are family?’
‘He’s my stepfather.’
‘You should have told me this!’ Taking Haydon’s arm, he led him away from the boat he was mulling over to a bigger one. It wasn’t as playboy as the one Haydon had drooled over, but it was more like he’d envisaged when he’d first hatched the plan for the day’s adventure. ‘You like this one?’ Pierre asked. ‘This is better, and I will charge you only five hundred euros.’
‘Really?’ Haydon asked.
‘Of course! This is why I show it to you.’
Haydon looked at the others. Ashley nodded her approval. ‘It’s lovely.’
‘OK.’ Haydon turned to Pierre. ‘We’ll take that one – thank you!’
‘Please follow me,’ Pierre said, starting towards his little office. ‘We must complete the papers first.’
After a brief (far too brief, Haydon felt) safety demonstration and a run-through of what was where on the boat, everyone climbed aboard and Pierre waved them off. This was madness, Haydon reflected as he watched the gap between them and the land widen. He didn’t even know what the front and the back end of a boat were called, and yet now he was in charge of one. What had he been thinking? He’d put the whole party in danger because he wanted to impress a woman, like a sad teenage boy. Come to think of it, Bastien – the real teenage boy on board – had more sense than he did and would probably end up taking on most of the sailing anyway.
‘This is amazing!’ Ella squeaked as the wind picked up her hair.
‘It is!’ Molly agreed. ‘The best!’
At least that made Haydon feel a bit better. He tried to relax and focus on calming the nerves that were making his hands shake as he gripped the wheel awkwardly. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all, and if everyone enjoyed themselves it would be worth the stress.
‘It is pretty cool,’ Ashley said. ‘I’ve never actually been in charge of a boat before. Not that I’m in charge, of course.’
‘Right now, I’m not sure I am,’ Haydon said. ‘I think the boat is actually in charge.’
‘Follow the headland,’ Bastien said. ‘Stay clear of the rocks. We will be OK.’
Useful advice, Haydon thought wryly. Stay clear of the rocks – it wasn’t like he’d planned to do anything else.
‘Would you like to navigate?’ Haydon asked him, realising that now was perhaps the time to swallow his manly pride and bow to Bastien’s superior knowledge. ‘I’d appreciate your help with the instruments because they all look very confusing to me.’
‘The boat guy explained them,’ Ella said.
‘Yes, he explained them to a moron,’ Haydon replied, and Ella let out a giggle.
‘No, you’re not,’ Ashley said kindly.
‘I’m very happy to help,’ Bastien said. He climbed over a seat and peered at the compass on the dashboard.
‘You’re doing fine,’ Ashley said quietly as the girls joined Bastien to watch in awe as he became the man of the hour.
‘Ignore my fussing,’ Haydon said. ‘I just want everything to be perfect today.’
Their eyes met, and he wanted nothing more than to take her face in his hands and kiss her. But her earlier request to take things slow came back to him – she neede
d time to see that she could trust him and he had to respect that.
‘Thank you,’ he said.
‘No, thank you!’
‘No, thank you!’
‘Oi!’
Haydon grinned. He had words, words of devotion, hours of explanations fighting their way out, but he had to swallow them back. Instead, he turned his attention to steering the boat and savoured the closeness of her beside him, the skin of her bare arm touching his as she scanned a sea that was crystal blue and calm for miles.
‘When you’re at home and it’s all grey and drizzly you can’t imagine anything like this,’ she said. ‘And when you’re here you can’t imagine there’s a place all grey and drizzly.’
‘Which would you prefer?’
‘It’s gorgeous here, but home’s home, isn’t it?’
‘I’ve never been to York.’
‘You should come and visit us. You and Ella would always be welcome.’
Haydon smiled, his heart soaring. Things were going so well so fast that it was almost frightening. He was only glad he hadn’t ignored whatever impulse had forced him to confess his feelings for Ashley, because whatever happened from here, even if it didn’t work out, he would never regret this day spent with her.
‘Ella was only saying this morning how she’d love to visit,’ he said. ‘I suspect the kids are already sneakily organising it. Don’t forget to give me your details before you go home and we’ll fix something up.’
‘And maybe you could give me the right phone number this time,’ Ashley replied, and when he looked at her now he couldn’t tell if it was humour or pain in her smile. Perhaps it was a bit of both, because if she felt half the regret he did for all those lost years, then pain was inevitable. But they’d found each other now, and if life had taken the path they’d hoped for all those years ago, he wouldn’t have Ella. Things happened for a reason, or so Janine had always said and, for once, he had to agree with her.
‘I’m not losing you a second time,’ he said. ‘You can have my phone number, address, National Insurance number… just so long as you know how to find me.’
She leaned in closer, her arm pressing gently against his. It was slight, just enough to tell him that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. At least, that was what he was hoping.
‘There is a cove just around the headland,’ Bastien called. ‘I remember it now from when I came to visit before. It’s quiet and good for swimming.’
‘Aye aye, Captain,’ Haydon called back. ‘So we’ll set a course for it…’
Out at sea the heat was tempered by a stiff breeze, but it was still glorious, the sun bouncing off glittering waves as they cleaved a path through them. The sky was blue and endless, meeting the sea in a smoky line marking the distant horizon. Ashley’s hair whipped around her face and she dug into her bag and produced a hairband to tie it back, revealing the curve of a neck that Haydon just ached to kiss. He shook the thought and tried to concentrate on steering the boat again, though every so often his gaze would wander back to her as she contemplated the sea ahead, every detail almost too perfect to be real.
‘You look amazing,’ he said finally, as quietly as the roar of the boat engine would allow and unable to help himself any longer. ‘I can’t stop staring at you.’
‘Please try,’ she said with a soft laugh. ‘Remember that you’re in charge of a boat here.’
‘I’m doing my best, believe me. But you’re making it so damn hard.’
‘Easy, tiger…’
‘Oh, God, I didn’t mean that!’
‘I know you didn’t.’ Ashley giggled. ‘But you missed a trick!’
Haydon blushed. He wasn’t usually the blushing kind, and yet every time he saw her he felt like a blushing, bumbling teenager, all hormones and longing.
‘Haydon,’ she began, ‘there’s something…’
‘Dad!’ Ella shouted across them. He looked to see her leaning over the side of the boat, peering intently into the waves. ‘Dad, you need to see this!’
‘What?’
‘The biggest fish I’ve ever seen!’
Haydon grinned. ‘I can hardly come and look while I’m steering the boat.’
‘Let me take it,’ Ashley said.
‘You’re sure?’
‘Are you saying I can’t drive a boat because I’m a woman?’
‘No, I’m saying neither of us has driven a boat before, and I don’t know about you, but I was crapping myself at the thought.’
‘I’m not.’ She smiled. ‘Go and see what Ella wants.’
‘Thanks.’ He nodded. ‘What was that you wanted to say before we were interrupted?’
She shook her head. ‘It’s nothing.’
Haydon smiled, but the idea of not getting to hear what she’d begun troubled him, though he couldn’t say why. But Ashley took the wheel from him and looked about as natural as anyone who’d never done it could look, and he decided that perhaps it was better to put his worries out of his mind for now and concentrate on enjoying the day.
They were anchored in a quiet cove that they’d found exactly where Bastien had said it would be. It was hard to imagine anywhere more beautiful than what they’d already seen so far in the Côte d’Azur but this place managed it – a sweeping shoreline, cliffs dotted with cypress and juniper tumbling into a sapphire sea, gentle waves breaking on their jagged outcrops. Ashley didn’t think a more perfect spot for their day out could possibly exist.
‘I wasn’t expecting your lunch to be quite so amazing,’ Ashley said as Haydon unpacked the bag he’d brought. ‘I feel guilty that I never thought to bring anything.’
‘I’m always thinking about my stomach so that’s probably why I packed lunch.’
‘That’s true,’ Ella agreed. ‘He thinks everyone else wants to eat constantly too. And he didn’t eat any breakfast today.’
‘You don’t eat enough,’ Haydon said, raising his eyebrows at her. ‘If someone isn’t nagging you you’d skip meals every day.’
‘Yeah, but Kevin says if I needed it I’d eat it so not to worry.’
‘Kevin?’ Ashley asked.
‘Mum’s boyfriend,’ Ella replied carelessly. Ashley glanced across at Haydon to catch him bristle at the mention of the man who must have taken his place in Ella’s home. She’d heard something of him, second-hand from Molly, but it was the first time Haydon and Ella had talked about him in her company. She supposed it was a sign of how comfortable they were all becoming with each other already, and she didn’t know how she felt about that. The attraction to Haydon was all too real, but the force of it scared her, and she could have no idea how it would all end. Could she trust him? Was anything he’d said to her true? But then she glanced at Molly and was reminded that she was keeping secrets too, and perhaps trust had to work both ways.
‘Haydon, did you pack any cutlery? Or plates?’ Molly peered into the bag he’d just emptied. Displayed proudly on the picnic blanket on deck were loaves of crusty bread, butter and cheese, ham and chicken, bottles of wine and juice, fresh fruit, pastries and assorted canapés.
Haydon’s smile faded and Ella giggled. ‘Always thinking about food, just not how to eat it.’
‘We’ll manage somehow,’ Ashley said. ‘It might get a bit messy, but if the cavemen managed to eat without knives and forks I’m sure we can.’
‘The cavemen didn’t have bottles of wine to uncork,’ Haydon said with a doleful glance back at the picnic he’d unpacked with such pride before the flaw in his planning had been revealed.
‘Perhaps it’s better if we don’t drink the wine anyway,’ Ashley said. ‘We’ve got to get this boat back in one piece.’
Bastien stood up and pulled off his T-shirt to reveal a still hairless chest and lithe, golden limbs. Ashley wondered which girl’s mouth she ought to tap shut first as they both watched with obvious longing.
‘I am going to swim,’ he announced. ‘It is better to eat afterwards.’
‘Can I swim here, Dad?’ Ella asked.
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Haydon looked doubtfully at the rocks surrounding the cove.
‘It is safe,’ Bastien said. ‘I have been here before.’
‘You’ll be careful?’ Haydon asked, turning back to Ella.
‘Of course. Bastien will be in the water with me and he’s a brilliant swimmer.’
‘I’m sure he is,’ Ashley put in. She was quite sure that if anyone had questioned Bastien’s ability to split the atom Ella and Molly would both have agreed he was brilliant at that too. ‘But the sea can be unpredictable and we’re miles away from help here.’
‘I’m going in too,’ Molly said, stripping down to her swimsuit. ‘Ella will be fine with both of us there.’
For a moment Ella looked vexed at being treated as the baby, but then her expression softened again as she clearly calculated that if the others were going in Haydon could hardly stop her without looking like a killjoy.
Ashley went to open her mouth. But then closed it again.
‘I’ll be careful, Mum,’ Molly said.
‘You’d better,’ Ashley said.
Bastien balanced on the edge of the boat. For a second he was poised, with the impossible grace of a ballet dancer, before he tensed and flexed and then dived effortlessly into the sea with barely a splash. Molly, with rather less grace, threw herself off the boat in such a violent manner that Ashley suddenly felt sick with worry. Then Ella followed, clambering down the steps at the side of the boat to ease herself gently in. Haydon went over to check the situation.
‘They’re OK?’ Ashley asked.
‘Yes,’ he called from the side of the boat. ‘It actually looks nice – do you fancy it?’
Ashley shook her head and lay back on the pile of cushions they’d spread on the deck. ‘I’d rather work on my tan right now.’ She closed her eyes, and listened to Haydon’s footsteps as he came over to join her.
The Summer Getaway_A feel-good romance novel perfect for holiday reading Page 17
