by Katie Fforde
‘So, Rowan, things,’ Skye said briskly when she was back. ‘We need to get going.’
‘There’s no need for Rowan to leave,’ said Caro. ‘As I said, I’ll be here and see she gets to her interview. I’ll be in loco parentis.’
‘I don’t think I believe you,’ said Skye. ‘I think you’ll shoot off to France the moment I’m gone.’
‘Even if she did,’ broke in Scarlet, indignant at hearing Caro virtually called a liar in her presence, ‘I’ll be here.’
‘Really?’ Skye turned to her. ‘You won’t be jetting off to Hollywood to be photographed half-naked in the pool of a movie mogul?’
Scarlet flushed. Skye was apparently referring to a real incident. ‘If you mean will I be going to my fiancé’s house and wear a swimsuit while swimming, no I won’t, not this time. I’m enrolled on an acting course with Sir Thomas Longhampton and will be in London.’
Skye’s hands flew to her face. ‘Not the Sir Thomas Longhampton?’
‘Is there more than one?’ Scarlet could well have been channelling Skye, her tone was so disdainful.
‘I saw his Hamlet when I was a student,’ Skye went on. ‘It was magical.’
‘Ooh! Something good happened in London, Mum!’ said Rowan, sounding very young.
‘Stratford-upon-Avon, actually,’ said Skye. ‘But it was an experience I’ll never forget.’
‘He doesn’t do much teaching,’ said Scarlet. ‘I was very lucky to get on his course.’
‘Or you’re just very good at acting,’ suggested Alec.
‘If she was that good she wouldn’t need to take lessons,’ snapped Skye.
‘Hey!’ said a soft voice from the door. ‘Sounds like the vibe in here has become a bit toxic. Let’s see what we can do about that.’
Caro happened to be looking at Skye when Joe came in and saw her face change from tense and negative to intrigued and interested. Joe was very good-looking and Skye had obviously noticed.
‘This is Joe, everyone,’ said Caro. ‘Skye, Joe is very into shamanism.’ She sensed that Skye would like this and hoped it would make her feel better about Joe.
It was as if someone had put Skye into a warm bath. She relaxed and smiled. ‘Really?’ she said to Joe. ‘I’ve been looking for someone to teach that for me at my Wellness Centre. It needs a more masculine energy sometimes. We should talk.’
‘Come in and join the party,’ said Caro to Joe, fascinated to see the effect he was having on Skye.
‘Have you guys eaten?’ said Joe, going into the kitchen area instead. ‘I’ve got some wonderful little cakes made with aquafaba if anyone fancies a vegan dessert.’
‘I haven’t been near anyone who even knows what that is for years,’ said Skye.
Caro felt a flicker of sympathy for her as she thought of the huntin’, shootin’ and fishin’ world Skye lived in on the estate. But then again, she could live somewhere else if she was that bothered.
‘So what is it?’ asked Alec.
‘Chick-pea water,’ said Skye.
‘Actually if you haven’t eaten and would like a vegan meal,’ Joe went on, ‘why don’t I pop out and get a few things? I could cook when I get back.’
‘That would be great!’ said Caro, resisting the temptation to offer him her purse, something she’d always done in the past if he or Posy were popping out for something for the household.
‘I’ll come with you,’ said Skye. ‘I could do with some fresh air.’
Within moments, Skye and Joe had gone.
‘She makes me feel as if we’ve all been sitting here farting and burping,’ said Scarlet. ‘Sorry,’ she added.
Rowan giggled and Caro joined in.
‘Joe deserves a medal,’ said Alec.
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said Scarlet. ‘Your ex-wife is very beautiful.’
Caro thought he definitely deserved a medal but didn’t want to get into a discussion about Skye’s beauty. ‘More wine anyone? I don’t think it’s vegan, so maybe Skye won’t want to drink it.’
‘She’s only vegan when it suits her,’ said Alec.
‘Maybe she fancies Joe,’ said Rowan.
‘He is very cute,’ agreed Scarlet.
‘You never mentioned he was cute,’ Alec said rather pointedly to Caro.
‘I’ve known Joe so long he’s almost like my nephew or something,’ said Caro. ‘He came to live on the barge when he was twenty and Posy was five. He was the son of an old friend of my dad’s and couldn’t afford accommodation in London. He was only supposed to stay until he found somewhere else to live but he fitted in so well and was so useful, we just kept him.’
She smiled. Joe was useful and naturally suited to life on the barge, but he was a free spirit. He wouldn’t have stayed if he hadn’t wanted to.
‘What about when Posy grew up? Weren’t you worried about a girl having a piece of eye-candy like him living here?’ asked Scarlet.
‘Not at all – she always treated him like a sort of older brother. And Posy told me once that she loved him but they didn’t have chemistry.’ Caro smiled. At the time she had said it wasn’t chemistry she was worried about, but biology. Posy had rolled her eyes and said, ‘Mu-um!’
‘Now,’ Caro went on. ‘In case any of us aren’t vegan, I’ve got some rather nice pâté. I’ll put it on some crackers.’
Skye and Joe seemed to find more in common than just vegan food and shamanism by the time they got back with bags of shopping. Caro was glad. Skye might have been very irritating but it wasn’t unreasonable to be worried about her daughter. Maybe she’d be able to go back to Scotland knowing her daughter was perfectly safe.
Or maybe she’d go back to Scotland thinking about a good-looking shaman who had (Caro had always suspected) a weakness for older women. Just as long as Skye went back to Scotland, and soon, Caro didn’t really care.
Skye cleared her throat, just as Caro was calculating if they had enough places for everyone to sit down.
‘I’ve decided,’ said Skye. ‘I will let Rowan stay for a little bit. Joe convinced me that the karmic energy of London isn’t quite as toxic as I thought.’
‘Hooray!’ said Caro. ‘That’s really good news. Now let’s eat!’
It was a delicious meal, everyone agreed. They all had wine, including Rowan, who had a very small amount out of respect for her mother. And while everyone exclaimed at how delicious and unexpectedly varied vegan food could be, Caro worried. Where was she going to put everyone if Skye needed to stay?
And while it wasn’t remotely unreasonable for her to ask if Skye was expecting to say, somehow she couldn’t. She decided if the worst came to the worst – and it would be the very worst – she’d have to offer Skye her bed and sleep on the sofa. However well Skye and Joe seemed to be getting on she could hardly ask if they’d bunk up together.
But just as the last vegan macaroon was crunched to destruction by Joe’s very white but slightly crooked teeth, Alec and Skye got up from the table.
‘I don’t think you’ll make the plane,’ said Alec, looking at his watch, ‘but I can get you on the sleeper if you hurry.’
They rushed out of the door, Skye hardly sparing time to kiss her daughter goodbye, and then there was silence.
Scarlet started to giggle. ‘Well, that was weird!’
‘She’s a lovely woman,’ said Joe. ‘Really interesting.’
‘You should go up and visit,’ said Rowan. ‘You’d love Glen Liddell – although it is tough for a vegan, I expect.’
‘Oh, I’m not a vegan,’ explained Joe. ‘I just like to experiment with different types of food.’
‘He has been known to eat roadkill,’ said Caro.
‘Gross!’ said Scarlet and Rowan, almost as one.
‘We discussed you going to France with Alec,’ said Joe.
Caro, who had been gathering dishes, stopped. ‘And?’
‘She’s OK about it,’ said Joe casually.
‘Really?’ said Caro, her heart beating faster. ‘Sh
e really said it’s OK to leave Rowan here with just Scarlet and you to look after her? She doesn’t need me too?’
Joe nodded. ‘She took a bit of persuading but she came round to the idea. I think getting to know me a bit has given Skye confidence.’ He smiled. ‘Besides, she’s really keen on having a shamanism workshop at her Wellness Centre.’
‘But you wouldn’t refuse to do that if she said no to Rowan staying with you and Scarlet? I think that would be wrong.’ Caro’s passionate need to be fair could sometimes work against her.
‘Of course not,’ said Joe. ‘But she’s happy enough about it, and for Scarlet to take Rowan to her interview at the art school. We went for a quick drink after we bought the food and talked it all over.’
Caro beamed at everyone as she carried a pile of dishes to the galley area, ecstatically happy. ‘I’ll just get this lot out of the way and we can sort out beds.’
‘I’ll help you with that,’ said Joe.
‘No! You cooked.’ She didn’t like to add that he’d been brilliant with Skye too, although it was true, because she didn’t want to imply Skye was difficult, which was also true.
‘We can do beds,’ said Scarlet. ‘Rowan, do you know where things are?’
‘Yup,’ said Rowan. ‘Though Dad’s sleeping in the cabin you had before.’
Caro filled the dishwasher rapidly and then put the kettle on. The others may not need a cup of tea and a nice sit-down but she certainly did.
They were all sitting and relaxing when Alec came back.
‘Did Mum get her train all right?’ asked Rowan, anxious in case her mother might suddenly spring into view and threaten her plans all over again.
‘On the train, safe and sound.’
‘And she’s really OK with Rowan being here, even if I’m not?’ asked Caro. ‘You don’t need me in France, after all.’
He grinned, suddenly reminding her of the boy she’d spent all night talking to on a beach of a Greek island. ‘Actually, I really do! When I was paying for Skye’s ticket, I realised I didn’t have my driving licence with me.’
Caro couldn’t stop smiling. Not only was she going to France with Alec, she had a real, proper reason to accompany him.
‘We’d better see if we can sort out some flights then,’ she said, trying to keep the joyous excitement out of her voice.
‘Lead me to your laptop,’ said Alec. He was smiling too.
Chapter Eleven
Although it was late, they agreed Alec should email his friend and Caro should investigate flights. She had to force herself to keep calm. She’d had this treat snatched from her so often (it seemed) and now she was really going to France.
She had just booked two seats for tomorrow’s afternoon flight (expensive but convenient) and was looking into car hire when Alec had a reply.
‘Pascal is really welcoming!’ he said. ‘If we meet him at the factory in Grasse, he can put us up for a couple of nights.’
‘Lovely!’ said Caro, thinking that really she’d prefer a B and B or even a small apartment so she could have her own bathroom. She also wondered a little bit about sleeping arrangements but trusted that Alec would have made it clear in his email they weren’t a couple. Or were they? She’d lost confidence in her ability to read his body language and her own feelings made her flee from intimacy sometimes. She really hoped this trip away from everyone else close to them would give them a chance to sort things out.
When she finally got into her own bed that night she was very glad they hadn’t gone for the 5 a.m. flight. Check-in times at London City were relaxed compared to major airports but it would still have been a horrendously early start.
Although it was easy to get to the airport via the Docklands Light Railway, Alec had arranged a cab.
Caro was very excited. She had her carry-on case which had wheels and hoped she’d packed the right things. The trouble with packing was, she felt, that while you knew you wouldn’t wear half what you had put in your case, you never knew which half. What would the weather be like in the South of France at this time of year? But as she had a credit card and was going to a very nice part of the world, she felt she’d be able to buy anything vital she might have omitted.
Alec had a worn leather bag slung over his shoulder which appeared to contain all he needed. He was, Caro decided, lucky: he could look informal – untidy even – in an attractive way. What looked good on him would look a mess on some other people.
Little bubbles of excitement kept forming inside her as they drove through the streets. She was going to the Côte d’Azur with a very attractive man. Whatever happened or didn’t happen between them, that had to be good.
She’d been out with a few people since she and Posy’s father had broken up and some of the relationships had been fun. But none had been worth either sharing her barge or leaving it so they could live together. Posy was quite fussy too, and anyone she was remotely sniffy about was sent on his merry way. What would Posy think about Alec, she wondered? At least he had his own hair and teeth – a minimum requirement for Posy. Although, to be fair, she didn’t know if he took his gnashers out at night and put them in a glass. She’d probably find out soon enough. She glanced across at his teeth and said, ‘Are we nearly there yet?’
He looked confused but did smile. No, those teeth looked healthy, but a bit crooked as well. They were his. She smiled back, slightly more enthusiastically than her small joke deserved.
When they were on the plane, Alec said, ‘Let me tell you about Pascal. He’s been so important in my life.’
‘Go on then,’ Caro said.
‘We met at uni. We both did chemistry but he always wanted to create perfume. I’m not sure if he gave me the idea, but of course that’s what I’ve always wanted to do too, and after uni Pascal went on to study perfumery at ISIPCA in Versailles.’ He paused. ‘I asked my father if I could go too, offered to pay my own way, but I’m afraid his reaction was – well – fairly extreme.’
‘He threw you out?’
Alec nodded.
‘Really?’ Caro was shocked. ‘I was joking when I said that, sort of. Murdo really threw you out of the house because you wanted to learn how to make perfume?’
‘There were a few other things wrong with me of course but that was the icing on the cake.’ Alec grinned. ‘We’d never got on really well. I just wasn’t huntin’, shootin’ and fishin’ enough for him, although I do like fishing. He got on much better with Lennie.’
Caro nodded. ‘But that’s terrible. I suppose Murdo is from a different generation really, older than his age in terms of being a member of the modern world.’
‘No one could ever accuse my father of being modern, that’s for sure.’
‘So,’ went on Caro, aware that it wasn’t a long flight and she needed to know about Pascal before they met him, ‘how did you learn perfumery? And how did Pascal come into it?’
‘In some ways, I was lucky. I got a job on the oil rigs in the North Sea. But I also had Skye and Rowan to support, quite early on. This meant I had to learn about perfumery in my spare time. I’d go on the odd course when I was home from the rigs, but I had a family, I had to spend time with them too.’
‘Would you rather not have had a family?’ The thought did make him seem rather heartless.
‘Nothing could ever make me regret having Rowan, but honestly? Skye and I got married because she was pregnant. But anyway, perfume was always more of a hobby. I’d see Pascal sometimes and he’d talk to me about it, tell me what was going on in the industry, point me to books I could read, short courses I could go on. It all had to be secret, of course.’
‘Secret from Skye?’
‘Oh yes. She didn’t want me doing anything that wasn’t all about her.’
‘Perhaps that was because you were away so much and she may have felt she spent enough time alone with her baby. She would want you there when you could be.’
‘It wasn’t about me spending time with Rowan – Skye wanted me to focus o
n her, not our lovely daughter. But I don’t want to tell you my wife didn’t understand me – she didn’t, but that was my fault, not hers, really.’
‘So, the perfume? You managed to learn all about it without going to college?’
He shook his head ruefully. ‘I managed to learn a bit about it over the years, and managed to blag my way on to an intensive course. I don’t suppose a French perfumier would consider me qualified really, but I know enough to start creating some fragrances, I think. I’ve always had to have other jobs; I could never devote myself entirely to it. Ironically, now I’m running the estate, I can find a bit more time. And Pascal will help if there’s anything I can’t do for Scarlet and David.’
‘Well, that’s brilliant. It makes it even more clever, you having to do it part-time and in secret.’
Alec sighed. ‘I just wish Murdo wasn’t quite as set in his ways. I’m sure we could get on better if only he hadn’t got me down as an airy-fairy waste of space.’
Caro giggled. ‘If that’s what he thinks about you, what does he think about Skye?’
‘Well, Skye gets away with a lot more because she’s only a woman and she’s pretty. Besides, she gave him Rowan and he adores her.’
‘We all do! She’s so lovely!’
‘And I’m so grateful for everything you’ve done to help her.’
‘No need for gratitude. She’s a very talented artist and so sweet.’
He put his hand on hers for a second before there was a call for landing.
‘Oh, I love it when you step off an aeroplane and know you’re abroad,’ said Caro. ‘The warmth, the smell, the feeling of being somewhere different.’
Her feeling of elation survived passport control, picking up the car and negotiating her way out of the car-hire car park. She pulled over as soon as she could to get out of the way of cars who knew where they were going.
‘You don’t mind driving on the right?’ Alec asked, getting out his phone and finding the satnav on it.
‘Not after a few minutes. I’ve done it before.’