‘Why are you complaining? You found the guy. That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?’
Maddy bristled. ‘Yes, but I’m beginning to find the whole thing a bit weird. It’s as if this is some kind of project for your dad. As if he wants to show off his detective skills and score brownie points.’ Maddy stopped. Why was she attacking Erik? Was it the feeling of being drawn to him in a way she couldn’t control? She cleared her throat. ‘Sorry. Forget I said that. I’m a little overwhelmed by all this.’
Leanne nodded. ‘Of course. It’s been such a roller coaster for you.’
Maddy sighed. ‘Thanks for understanding.’ She picked at a piece of bread from the basket on the table. ‘Who is this Céline woman, anyway?’
‘Don’t know.’ Leanne looked around. ‘But maybe this is her?’
Maddy followed Leanne’s gaze and spotted a slim black-haired woman weaving her way with cat-like grace around the tables towards them, carrying two plates.
She stopped at their table. ‘Bonsoir. I’m Céline. Max made something special for you. A selection of Provençal specialities called a farandole.’ She placed a colourful plate in front of each of them. ‘I hope you enjoy it.’
‘Thank you,’ Maddy said. ‘Tell him—’ But the woman had left as silently as she had arrived.
‘Gosh. That perfume,’ Leanne said. ‘Oozing sex.’
‘What?’
‘Shalimar. Didn’t you smell it? Like a whole boudoir. But it suited her.’
‘I don’t smell people like a dog,’ Maddy snapped, still jittery after her reunion with Ludo.
‘Calm down. Here she is again,’ Leanne warned as Céline reappeared with a carafe and two glasses.
‘Sorry,’ she said in her heavily accented English. ‘I forgot to give you water.’
‘How about a glass of wine as well?’ Leanne asked.
Céline frowned. ‘We don’t serve alcohol. Our guests come here to, how do you say—’
‘To detox?’ Leanne suggested.
‘Voilà,’ Céline said. ‘Exactement. Bon appétit, mesdames.’ She glided off into the darkness.
They ate in silence for a while, both hungry after a long day on the road. Maddy found herself enjoying the array of food on her plate; duck pâté, stuffed peppers, deep-fried courgette flowers, tomatoes filled with spicy mince and other things she didn’t recognise with delicate flavours of herbs and spices. Céline appeared once more with two pots of crème brûlée for dessert. Maddy smiled wistfully as the taste of the dessert brought her back to that time with Ludo. Maybe he remembered too?
‘Heavenly food,’ Leanne declared when they were savouring the dessert. ‘Five-star stuff, really.’
Maddy nodded. ‘Oh yes. Ludo was supposed to become one of those world-famous chefs. His uncle told me that day we went to see his restaurant. But it never happened.’
‘And you didn’t meet again. Why? Did he tell you?’
‘Yes. As I told you, he forgot about me. Completely.’
‘Whaddyamean?’ Leanne asked through a mouthful of crème brûlée.
‘I was just one of a number of girls he dated at the time. Dated being a polite word for—’
‘Screwed? Oh, God, what a stinking bastard,’ Leanne exclaimed.
Maddy sighed. ‘You can say that again. But to give him his due, he did try to call me, but I scribbled down my number so badly he couldn’t read it.’
‘Funny how a small thing can change your life forever. My parents wouldn’t have met if my mam hadn’t forgotten her notes in the lecture hall at UCD. Dad found them and tracked her down. Saved her from failing her exams. He was her hero then. I wouldn’t be here if she’d been more organised.’
‘And we wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t been so stupid,’ Maddy said bitterly. ‘If I’d realised our so-called true love was nothing more than a quick fling to him, we could have done something better.’ She put her napkin on the table and got up, feeling thoroughly drained. ‘I’m really tired. I think I’ll go to bed and try to sleep.’
Leanne looked surprised. ‘Oh? But I thought you might have planned some kind of rendezvous with—’
‘Tomorrow morning, he said. Yoga at seven.’
‘Count me out. I think I’ll sleep in.’ Leanne pushed away her plate. ‘I’ll have some herbal tea before I turn in. You go on to bed. You look wrecked.’
‘I am. Goodnight. See you in the morning.’
‘Night, love. Sleep tight,’ Leanne said.
Maddy walked across the dark terrace, around the corner behind the restaurant towards the reception area and the bedrooms. When she was about to step inside, a small shape bumped into her. She bent down and discovered a little boy of about three. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at her. ‘Où est Maman?’ he asked.
‘Viens, chéri.’ Maddy took him by the hand and was about to lead him to the restaurant to ask if someone there knew him, when Céline came rushing towards them.
She scooped the little boy into her arms. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I thought he was asleep. Don’t worry, madame, I’ll get him back to his bed.’ She kissed the boy and walked away, cooing softly into his ear.
Paralysed with shock, Maddy looked at Céline’s receding form. That child – those dark eyes…
She suddenly knew what she had to do.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Leanne yawned. ‘What’s the rush all of a sudden?’
Maddy gripped the steering wheel and accelerated down the slipway to the motorway. ‘I just wanted to get away.’
‘At six-thirty in the morning?’ Leanne yawned again.
‘Yes.’ Maddy clenched her jaw.
‘Why?’
‘Because.’ Maddy glanced at Leanne. ‘No need to look so cross. We’ll be in Nice sooner than planned. That’s where you wanted to go, wasn’t it?’
‘Yeah, but not this early.’ Leanne leant her head back. ‘I know what’s going on. Your lover boy wasn’t as hot as you thought?’
‘No. He’s as hot as I remembered.’
‘Weren’t you supposed to meet up after the yoga?’
‘Yes. No… We were, but—’ Maddy hit the steering wheel. ‘Shit! I told you. He didn’t remember me.’
Leanne sat up. ‘So you said. But I thought it would all come back to him when you talked. How could he be such a gobshite? Maybe he didn’t mean it.’
‘He meant it. He explained it all in detail during our talk. He hadn’t a clue who I was until I reminded him. And even then I was just a fleeting memory.’ Maddy blinked away her tears. ‘And here I’ve been pining for him all these years, imagining it was the love story of the century, while all this time he hadn’t even spared me a thought – or even remembered me. What a fecking waste of time.’
‘You’ve been pining for him? But you married someone else.’
Maddy sighed. ‘I know. But… I’ve been thinking about it lately and I see it clearly now. It was such a dark time in my life.’ Maddy fought back tears as the sorrow threatened to well up. ‘Everything seemed to happen at once. It was unbearable.’
‘Of course. That guy never showed up after promising he would, and then your mam…’
Maddy nodded, changed gears and slipped into the right lane. ‘Yes. After losing my mother, I was so alone. I needed someone to love me, to hold me. And there Tom was at that stupid student ball, looking so handsome, dancing with me, flirting, telling me I was beautiful. It saved my life in a way. Made me feel like life was worth living again. Everything happened so fast after that. I got pregnant, we got married in a rush. We had two babies very quickly. It was amazing and fun and totally mad. And of course, I loved Tom and we were happy. For a while. Then we had the daily slog of childcare, two jobs, paying bills and all that stuff. And every time things felt dreary and boring, I had this fantasy of the perfect man, the perfect love story that I lost. You know, something to cheer you up in all the drudge.’
‘And you thought that maybe, one day, you’d meet again and fall into each other’s arm
s and live happily ever after?’
‘Stupid, huh?’
‘Nah,’ Leanne drawled. ‘Fantasies? We all have them. I don’t blame you. But I have to tell you I feel a little disappointed. It seemed lately as if everything would fall into place for you. The lottery win, your hubby smooching that floozy in public and the marriage on the rocks. You could throw it all in his face, keep the cash and move in with Mr Smooth in lovely south of France. Final kiss and fade out. Fabulous. That’s a movie I’d love to watch in front of the fire on a cold night.’
‘You’re laughing at me.’
‘Aw, come on, Mads, it’s a bit of a farce, isn’t it? All of it, I mean. You, me, the poodle, the car, Horace, my dad and now your hottie French boyfriend with amnesia.’
Maddy shook her head and managed a wry smile. ‘I suppose it is when I think about it.’
‘Great that you see it my way. Then you’ll love the latest blog post. I did a little ditty about the fancy rest home back there. Not mentioning any celebrities, of course. Just a hint here and there. Took some photos, including that faran-thingy we ate last night. And your boyfriend as he was cooking up a storm in the kitchen. Too good not to post. The result was terrific. A kaleidoscope of impressions.’
Maddy laughed. ‘You’re so mad.’
‘Aren’t we both? So why did we run out of there like that? Was it getting to be too much?’
‘Yes. I felt humiliated somehow. As if I was begging him to remember me and maybe fall for me again. As if that was going to happen. And then the little boy I found crying in the reception area. Turned out to be Céline’s son.’
‘And the dad? You think it’s whatshisname?’
‘Must be.’ Maddy sighed. ‘Whatever. He seemed to have forgotten to mention a wife and child during our talk. And then he had the nerve to kiss me.’
‘Jesus,’ Leanne muttered.
‘Yeah,’ Maddy said. ‘The final nail in the coffin of my beautiful romance. He hasn’t changed at all. I think that the best thing to do right now is to get away from him and all the memories that were built on false hopes. Now I want to go somewhere lovely and have a good long rest before we start the journey back.’
‘I think my dad’s house in the hills above Nice is just the place for that. Stunning views, big pool, comfy beds and champagne on tap.’
‘Bring it on,’ Maddy said and floored the accelerator.
* * *
After stopping for a long lunch in the pretty town of Aix-en-Provence, they reached Nice in the afternoon and drove through the heavy traffic on the Promenade des Anglais, not minding the slow progress along the beach front. That way, they had a chance to admire the view of the deep blue sea, the coastline, the shiny white yachts at anchor in the bay and the sailing boats on the glittering horizon. The palm trees swayed in the gentle breeze and petrol fumes mingled with the smell of coffee and fresh bread.
‘Oh Nice, I love you,’ Leanne declared and stretched her arms against the blue sky when they stopped at a traffic light. ‘This is way better than Paris. It’s so warm and blue and… sinful,’ she added, glancing at a handsome young man coming out of a restaurant. He waved at her and blew her a kiss. Leanne blew him one back. The lights changed and they surged forward into the roaring traffic. Leanne giggled and hugged Bridget. ‘I feel reborn.’
Maddy shook her head and laughed, feeling better now that the meeting with Ludo was behind her. ‘Yes, I know what you mean. This place is intoxicating. So great to have a convertible on a day like today.’
‘Not just any convertible.’ Leanne ran her hand over the shiny red door. ‘I love this car. I think I might buy it.’
‘Can you afford it? What about the flat?’
‘Screw the flat. I’ll just live in the car.’
‘Sounds like a good solution. Turn on the GPS, will you, and stop spoofing. I need to find the road to Vence.’
‘I want to put on some French music. We don’t need the GPS. We’re picking Dad up at his shop in the old town. He’ll direct us. All we have to do is to find the store. It’s near an area called the Cours Saleya or something, he said.’
‘In that case, I think we should park and continue on foot,’ Maddy suggested. ‘Impossible to drive through those narrow streets.’
‘You’ve been here before?’
‘Only once, a few years ago. Tom took me with him on a business trip,’ Maddy said with a dart of nostalgia. Those were the happy days – all gone now. ‘He was at a conference, so I had plenty of time to walk around the city. The old town is lovely, but I wouldn’t want to drive through it.’
They found a parking place in an underground car park and carefully locked up after taking all their valuables with them.
‘Have your phone ready,’ Maddy ordered. ‘The old town is full of beautiful vistas and quirky shops and bars. Great material for the next blog post.’
Leanne took Bridget in her arms. ‘Brilliant. Great contrast to our last one from Gordes.’
‘Gordes,’ Maddy said, her heart constricting. ‘It’s like a dream. Did it really happen?’
‘Sure did. That old hunk was not just a hologram.’ Leanne winked and walked ahead out of the car park. ‘Hey, you know what?’ she said over her shoulder. ‘You’re too good for that kind of guy. You’d be better off forgetting him. He isn’t worth your tears.’
‘You’re right.’ Maddy trailed after Leanne, her mind full of the night before. It had been surreal to come face to face with the man she had fantasised about all her adult life. He had been like a mirage at the end of a hot dusty road, an image floating in front of her, tempting, teasing, full of promises. A parallel universe she could have lived in. If only they had met up again, she had thought. How silly to think Ludo had pined for her ever since they parted. She had just been a brief flirt to him, a girl he slept with once and then disappeared, only to be replaced by another girl, then another and another. The image she harboured of a beautiful young man with a pure heart was replaced by the real, not-so-noble Frenchman to whom women were easily discarded commodities. He had obviously been through some kind of hell, and she felt for him, but his journey through life had nothing to do with her. She played no part in it, and he had been in no way instrumental to her own troubles. They had led parallel lives and her imagined connection between them was but a fantasy. Leanne was right. It was time to forget and carry on. Life was too short to let this destroy her.
They emerged into a sunlit street that led to a large square, lined with little restaurants and boutiques selling clothes, shoes, handmade leather goods, arts and crafts. Leanne consulted her phone and came to a stop in front of a sage-green door with art-deco style stained glass panes. ‘This is it. The Hovden hub. This is where the magic happens, where people come to buy bespoke soaps, scents, lotions and potions.’ She pushed the door open. ‘Abandon all hope,’ she said darkly.
Maddy rolled her eyes and laughed. ‘You’re such a drama queen.’
Just as in the Paris shop, bells tinkled as they walked in. This shop was twice the size of the one in the capital city and the décor more elaborate and expensive. The packaging and displays were exquisite and a delicate scent of orange blossom and lavender hung in the air. Customers queued at the counter waiting to collect orders or place new ones. The pretty girls who worked in the shop were all in floaty Provençal print dresses. The boutique had a dreamlike atmosphere, like something from an impressionist painting.
‘Lovely place,’ Maddy remarked.
Leanne put Bridget down on the floor, looking proudly around. ‘Yes. It’s a bit girly, but I love it. I expected something more minimalist and Scandinavian. But it suits this area and the general idea of perfumes from Provence.’
The door opened behind them, and Erik, cool and elegant in a white linen shirt and beige trousers, walked in. ‘Ah, you’re here. Great. We could head up to my house when—’
‘How about right now?’ Leanne checked her phone. ‘It’s coming up to five. I don’t want to get stuck in the eveni
ng traffic. I’ll drive if you like, Mads.’
‘That’d be great,’ Maddy replied.
‘No,’ Erik interrupted. ‘The rush hour doesn’t really start until around six-thirty. In any case, there’s someone who wants to see you, Maddy. He called into the shop about twenty minutes ago. He’s waiting at the café around the corner.’
‘Who?’ Maddy asked. Ludo, she thought. He’s realised we need to be together. He has finally remembered what happened between us, and he wants to apologise for causing me so much pain. Her heart racing, she ran out of the shop and around the corner.
Chapter Twenty-Six
But the man waiting for her at a table outside the small café wasn’t Ludo.
‘So here we are,’ Tom said.
‘Looks like it,’ Maddy agreed and sank down on a chair opposite him. ‘But what on earth are you doing here?’
‘I came because I thought we needed to discuss… well, everything.’
‘Terrific timing,’ Maddy remarked, making no effort to be pleasant.
‘What do you mean?’
She shrugged. ‘I just meant I’m in the middle of a lovely holiday, and then you arrive wanting to “talk”.’ She leant forward. ‘But whatever. Let’s talk, then, beginning with that woman you’re obviously involved with.’
Tom frowned. ‘Woman? What woman?’
Maddy pulled her phone from her bag and clicked until she found the picture. She stuck it under his nose. ‘This woman. Your sister posted this charming image in the comments section of our blog.’
Tom sat back, glaring at her, ignoring the picture. ‘Yeah, and what about you parading around Kildare Village buying sexy underwear? And flaunting yourself with that tart you call a friend in a series of blogposts, where you go all around Europe doing God knows what with I don’t know who. That’s pretty cheap, if you ask me. How do you think that looks to my friends and colleagues?’
‘Not to mention the members of your golf club,’ Maddy filled in. ‘One of whom must be that woman in the picture Jacinta so kindly provided. I think we might start with your explanation of that one.’
The Road Trip_A feel-good romantic comedy that will make you laugh out loud! Page 18