The Tides of Change

by Joanna Rees

  ‘Agreed,’ she said.

  He kissed her again and she realized once more how stupid she was to worry about everything so much. Alex didn’t seem to have a problem about their future or where all this was leading, or who might stand in their way, so neither should she. She had to be confident. And trust him.

  The jeep outside beeped. ‘That’ll be Tariq. Come on,’ Alex said. ‘We’re going to meet Marouk and Masha.’

  ‘Can’t we stay here?’ Frankie asked. She was suddenly aware of how precious the time they had left was.

  Alex smiled at her. ‘It’ll be worth it, I promise.’

  The sun was about to set as they reached Essaouira on the western coast. They drove out of town, leaving the low buildings and tourist villas behind, until all Frankie could see was the breathtaking coastline.

  Soon, they turned off the road and the jeep bumped over the rutted sand, towards the sand dunes.

  ‘Where are we going?’ Frankie asked, but Alex smiled.

  ‘Over there, Tariq, my friend,’ Alex said, patting Tariq on the shoulder.

  Now Frankie could see a man waving. Alex jumped out of the jeep and kissed him on both cheeks, before introducing him to Frankie as Dev. He had smiling eyes and a handsome face and was wearing a red and white checked keffiyeh around his neck. He glanced at Frankie as Alex talked to him in French.

  Alex was so wonderful, Frankie thought, the way he could fit in anywhere, put people at their ease and bring a smile to their faces. And then she remembered: tomorrow he would be gone.

  Tears sprang to her eyes from nowhere. She was being ridiculous, she told herself. He hadn’t gone yet. She wouldn’t think about tomorrow.

  Dev started walking into the dunes and Alex beckoned for Frankie to follow. There, grazing on the long grass, were two of the most beautiful Arabian horses Frankie had ever seen.

  ‘Meet Marouk and Masha,’ Alex said, turning to her.

  Frankie thought back to the conversation they’d had a few days ago in bed, when she’d told him about growing up on Uncle Brody’s farm and how she missed riding the horses. And now he’d arranged this.

  ‘They’re beautiful,’ she gasped.

  And they were. The stallion was a deep, glossy chestnut-brown, with a patch of white between his eyes. As they approached, he looked up, his eyes shining with imperious intelligence. He seemed to recognize Alex as he approached, butting his nose into Alex’s chest as Alex leant in close and spoke to him, producing an apple from his pocket, which he fed to the horse.

  ‘Miss Frankie, Masha is for you,’ Dev said with a smile, leading her over to the other horse. She was lighter than Marouk, with a silky blond mane and long eyelashes. Her hooves scuffed the sand and Frankie noticed two of them were white. She smiled and walked up to her, holding out her hand for Masha to smell. The horse backed away, her long toffee-coloured tail swishing, so Frankie stopped. Soon, Masha came back to her. Her coat, when Frankie touched it, was unbelievably soft. These horses were obviously incredibly well cared for.

  ‘She’s – how you say? – shy,’ Dev explained. ‘She’s young. I have just broken her in. But she is one of my finest. Alex bought her especially for you. I see you two will suit each other.’

  Frankie gasped. She turned, open-mouthed, to Alex. ‘You bought me a horse?’ she asked.

  He smiled. ‘I thought you’d like her.’

  ‘I adore her.’

  As Dev got the horses ready, he explained that Alex had bought the stables when Dev’s family had got into trouble, saving them from bankruptcy and shame. Now he ran a profitable business and he kept horses for Alex. Marouk had been Alex’s horse for years and Dev told Frankie that Alex was a talented polo player and could be one of the best in the world if he gave it more time. But he hardly ever entered any of the tournaments, apart from the annual Cartier Polo in Windsor in Great Britain.

  Horses? Polo? Alex’s talents knew no bounds.

  ‘Come on then,’ Alex said, embarrassed by Dev’s flattery. ‘Let’s saddle up and get going before we miss the sun.’

  Once they were mounted, Frankie and Alex waved goodbye to Dev and set off, riding on the sandy paths over the dunes. Masha was spirited and it took

  Frankie a while to get her under control. She was determined to show Alex that she was competent. She still couldn’t believe he’d bought Masha especially for her. Did that mean that Frankie would come back here to ride her? The gift implied a future, surely?

  Frankie gasped as they crested the final tall dune and saw the beach beyond, the sea stretching out before them, with the low sun turning the waves to shimmering gold.

  They trotted together down on to the white sandy beach and on towards the breaking surf. Then Alex set off at a gallop, and Frankie followed in hot pursuit, feeling the hot sea breeze through her hair. She whooped, digging her heels into Masha so that she caught up with Alex. She felt like a kid again, back on Uncle Brody’s farm. She felt so free.

  They rode on for miles, until Frankie, exhausted, begged Alex to stop.

  Her legs were shaking as they both dismounted. Her thin white linen dress clung to her, splattered with sea spray, sand and sweat, but she didn’t care. The ride along the beach had been the most exhilarating of her life.

  They let the horses rest and sat on a rock, watching the sun sink into the sea. Frankie rested her head back against Alex, regaining her breath.

  ‘That was amazing,’ she said with a sigh.

  ‘Good.’

  ‘You spoil me, you know,’ she said, turning her head so that she could look up at him. She felt strangely emotional. ‘No one has ever given me a horse. Not even a toy one.’

  He kissed the top of her head. ‘You deserve it.’

  ‘Can I come back here and ride her all the time?’

  Alex laughed. ‘You can ride her wherever you want. She’s yours.’

  ‘I think she likes it here with Marouk, don’t you?’

  They watched the sun setting behind the two horses for a moment. Masha nuzzled against Marouk’s long neck. Steam rose from both their coats.

  ‘But you mean we’ll come back here? Together?’ she checked.

  ‘As often as possible, I hope,’ Alex said.

  Frankie felt her heart soar.

  ‘You know, I meant what I said about you being with me,’ Alex said after a while. ‘But I have to insist on one thing.’

  ‘Anything.’

  ‘I want you to trust me, Frankie. Completely.’

  She thought back to her earlier resolution. ‘I do.’

  ‘And I want to trust you, too.’

  She felt a jolt of panic. Had he realized she’d been digging for information about Yuri on his computer? She wished now more than ever that she hadn’t meddled. She vowed to herself that she’d never, ever lie to him again. This was way too precious.

  ‘There is one thing I haven’t told you,’ she said.

  ‘Go on.’

  Alex sounded so nervous. She was about to tell him about what had happened back in South Africa, but something about his tone made her realize that it wasn’t the right time.

  ‘It’s nothing,’ she said.

  ‘No, tell me.’

  Frankie took a deep breath. She bit her lip. ‘It’s about Sonny Wiseman,’ she said, opting to tell him about what happened on Pushkin.

  ‘Sonny? What about him?’

  Frankie told him about Dieter and Eugene and the bent game of poker she’d witnessed, about topping up the gin with water and filling Sonny in on what had happened.

  ‘It just seemed so unfair and I couldn’t help myself telling him what they were doing,’ she said.

  Alex laughed. ‘Is that it?’ he asked.

  ‘Aren’t you cross?’

  ‘Why would I be cross? It’s between Dieter and Sonny. They’re always stitching each other up. It’s probably just one of Dieter’s little jokes.’ Alex stroked her hair, smiling. ‘Oh, my sweet Frankie, have you been worrying about it all this time?’

&nb
sp; She nodded. ‘I wanted to tell you before, but . . .’

  ‘You silly thing. You can tell me anything. You can trust me and I can trust you.’

  ‘Of course you can. I promise you, Alex.’

  Alex was silent for a moment. ‘You see, I have to insist on trust. It’s so important to me. And I can’t help it, but I’m a jealous guy, Frankie. And I’ve been hurt before. If you’re with me, you’re mine. If I were to see you flirting with another guy – well, let’s just say it would kill me.’

  ‘Like I’m going to flirt with anyone else!’ she said, laughing, turning to face him. His eyes were serious in the glow of the setting sun. ‘Surely you know that I’m just yours?’

  ‘I don’t want you to think I’m overly possessive,’ he said, stroking her hair out of her face.

  ‘I don’t. Not at all. In fact, I feel just the same way.’

  ‘Good. Because I have to tell you, Frankie, that I’ve completely and totally fallen in love with you.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  In the executive car park of the Elstree air base where the Harveys kept their private plane, Emma slammed closed the boot of her black Porsche Cayenne and pointed the beeper at the lock, before turning away with her Mulberry overnight bag.

  ‘You got everything?’ she asked Cosmo as he came round from the other side to join her.

  She’d been shocked when she’d called Cosmo to tell him that she was flying to Scotland to see Victoria and Hugo McCorquodale, and he’d told her that he was coming with her too. He used to come to Scotland every summer to go fishing with Hugo, a godfather privilege that Hugo had tried to make a tradition. But Cosmo hadn’t been last year, or the year before. And lately, he’d stopped flying anywhere altogether, on account of it being bad for his carbon footprint. Admirable as that was, it irked Emma that all his principles and actions seemed to imply a criticism of her. But today was obviously different.

  ‘Here, let me take that, Mum,’ he said, grabbing her bag.

  ‘Are you sure?’ Emma asked. He was already carrying a heavy laptop case. Cosmo took it from her by way of an answer and Emma smiled. Despite all his evasiveness and surliness, underneath it all he was a gentleman. Those years of drumming in good manners had paid off after all.

  ‘What have you got in there, anyway?’ Emma asked, nodding to his laptop case.

  ‘Just . . . stuff,’ he said, slipping down a pair of vintage Ray-Ban Aviator shades from the top of his head.

  He was looking healthier than normal, she noticed, and older too. And since Julian’s party, he’d cut off his dreadlocks, so that his coppery brown hair now curled attractively down to his shoulders. My God, she thought suddenly. Cosmo had turned into a man. A handsome man at that.

  She smiled at him, pleased to have the company. She didn’t like flying alone. And she hated the fact that she couldn’t get hold of Julian. She always talked to him before take-off. They always told each other that they loved each other.

  But wherever he was his phone didn’t seem to work, and she hadn’t been able to speak to him for over a week. That was the longest time ever that she hadn’t heard his voice. She’d left lots of messages for him, asking him to call her when he could. But she supposed there couldn’t be any signal in Norilsk.

  She was desperate to know how it was all going. Had they found as much platinum as he’d hoped? She was worried for him, working out there in the cold in the middle of nowhere. And the thought of Dimitry Sergeyokov still haunted her.

  But if the mine was up and running, then she needn’t worry any more. It would mean that the deal had come off. She was puzzled that Julian hadn’t found a way to contact her to set her mind at rest.

  It had been ten days since the magical weekend skiing in Switzerland with Julian, and Emma had distracted herself by working non-stop ever since. There’d been the charity auction of the late Lady Sacks-Forsyth’s wardrobe at Christie’s in the week. It had been a lavish affair, with couture outfits dating back to the thirties. Emma had been pleased to see so many collectors in the audience, as well as several old acquaintances, whom she’d been able to have a good gossip with.

  Despite being so busy, she still missed Julian like crazy. There was so much to tell him. But she would just have to take her mind off it by spending some quality time with Victoria and Hugo instead.

  She needed to get things back on track with Victoria in particular. Emma had asked her to come to the auction and she’d agreed, but once again, just as at the Platinum Ball, Victoria had made an excuse at the last minute, claiming she’d been unable to leave Scotland. Emma had tried to cajole her friend on the phone, but she’d just been friendly and charmingly dismissive, cutting off Emma’s line of questioning.

  It was so unlike Victoria that Emma was now sure that something serious was wrong. There was something Victoria couldn’t – or wouldn’t – speak to Emma about, despite the fact that the two women had been fast and firm best friends since they’d lived together in their twenties. Was there some horrible illness that they weren’t telling her about? Or was Victoria having problems with Hugo? Lately, every time Emma had mentioned him, Victoria had changed the subject. Well, she’d find out soon enough.

  Gerald Summers waved and came out of the office to greet Emma and Cosmo, and they walked together to the hangar.

  ‘Going anywhere nice, Lady Em?’ Gerald asked. He now coordinated all the planes, but he’d trained Emma years ago and she’d always had a soft spot for him. He was in his late sixties, but had a craggy friendly face and a sharp sense of humour.

  ‘Up to Grampian, to see the McCorquodales.’

  ‘Lovely day for a flight.’

  ‘Isn’t it? You know Cosmo, my son,’ she said, pulling Cosmo forward.

  Gerald shook Cosmo’s hand.

  ‘How’s your dad?’ Gerald asked. ‘You look just like him.’

  Cosmo shrugged. ‘Who knows?’

  ‘Julian’s fine, as far as we know,’ Emma said, annoyed that Cosmo had shown so little grace. Maybe she was wrong about those manners. ‘He’s in Russia. On business.’

  ‘Talking of Russians, look at that beauty over there.’

  Emma looked to where he was pointing over the other side of the wide runway and saw the brand-new Gulfstream 550 sitting on the tarmac. It was the latest in luxury private jets and was flanked on either side by two matching black helicopters.

  Emma whistled.

  ‘I know. You don’t see those that often over here, only in the States,’ Gerald said. ‘Lovely piece of kit. You know it can stay in the air for sixteen hours? The pilot who brought it in said that he’d never seen equipment so advanced. He could see the runway through twenty miles of cloud and thick fog. Incredible. Owned by a Russian.’

  ‘Oh?’ Emma asked.

  ‘Fella called Khordinsky.’

  Emma looked back at the plane. ‘Really? I’ve met his wife.’

  ‘I only deal with his agents,’ Gerald continued. ‘They’re keeping it here with his helicopters. He’s getting a new place down in the Cotswolds.’

  ‘Any idea where?’ Emma asked, intrigued.

  Gerald shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’

  How strange, Emma thought. She always had her ear to the ground when it came to the Cotswold property scene, especially the kind of property the Khordinskys would be interested in buying. She knew for a fact that there were no stately homes coming on the market in the near future. So where on earth could the Khordinskys be moving to?

  Well, wherever it was, Emma felt sure that their paths would cross soon. And if Natalya Khordinsky was living nearby, Emma would certainly be able to secure her as a patron for the charity.

  ‘Hang on,’ Gerald said, listening to his walkie-talkie. ‘I’ve got to do some clearing before I can get the plane out. You two wait here. Help yourself to a coffee.’

  Five minutes later, Emma sat outside the cafeteria with Cosmo. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d sat in the sun with him, just chatting. The thought that they�
�d grown so far apart suddenly made her incredibly sad.

  ‘So, why do you want to come up to Scotland, exactly?’ she asked, deciding to risk asking him a direct question. He’d been so evasive about his reasons so far.

  ‘Why shouldn’t I?’ he answered, his tone as usual defensive.

  Emma sighed. ‘I just wondered, that’s all.’

  ‘If you must know, it’s business.’

  Emma laughed. ‘Business?’

  His eyes flickered with anger. ‘Don’t laugh at me.’

  ‘OK, I’m sorry. I won’t, I promise,’ she said, feeling awful, and annoyed with herself for having mocked him. After all, why shouldn’t Cosmo take up an interest in business? She was always nagging him to make something of his life.

  ‘What kind of business? Can you tell me about it?’

  Cosmo gazed out at the planes taxiing to the runway. ‘You know I told you that I wanted to set up an eco-community, and that we’ve been looking for a suitable property?’

  Emma nodded, biting her tongue. She knew that Cosmo had already broached the subject with Julian, who had pooh-poohed the whole idea.

  ‘Well, I’ve been in touch with Hugo.’

  ‘Hugo?’ Emma asked, surprised. ‘Why Hugo?’

  ‘Because he’s got that big place on his land. The one that was destroyed by fire.’

  Emma shook her head, confused.

  ‘It’s the other side of the river. It’s derelict. Anyway, we’ve been discussing it as the site for the eco-project.’

  ‘Cosmo, I really don’t think—’

  Cosmo rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. ‘I knew you’d be like this.’

  Emma bit her lip. She needed to backtrack. She felt a sudden pang of affection towards Hugo. He must have been encouraging Cosmo without involving Emma and Julian.