What Happens at the Beach... (16 page)

Over lunch, she recounted the events of the morning to her grandmother. Colette, as ever, was very supportive.

‘But he introduced her to you as a friend, not a fiancée or a wife. You've already told me he hasn't got a ring on his finger. This one's probably just some hopeful, trying to snare a rich man. Don't worry, you'll soon see her off.'

‘Somehow I don't think so. Anyway, like we've discussed time and time again, I'm not on the lookout for a man. If he and Hortense are an item, who cares?'

She couldn't miss the twinkle in her grandmother's eye but, mercifully, she didn't comment, other than to offer a little advice. ‘You wait and see. Somehow, I don't think your Mark and this woman are more than friends.'

‘I keep telling you, Gran. He isn't my Mark.' Sadly, that now appeared to be the case.

That evening Dominique asked Natalie if she could help out in the restaurant as it was Laure's night off. Although it was a Monday, they had a lot of bookings and it was looking like being a very busy night. It was the month of August, after all. Natalie was happy to agree, pleased to have something to occupy her.

Virtually every table in the place was filled by half past eight and Dominique and Natalie were almost running from the kitchen to the tables in order to keep up. It was just before nine o'clock when Natalie spotted a couple of latecomers at the door. A quick glance round showed her that the family on table five were just finishing their desserts so there should be space before long. She went over to greet the new arrivals. As she got to the door and realised who they were, she got a major shock. Standing there, arm in arm, were Mark and Hortense. Natalie felt her face flush.

‘Good evening. Have you come for dinner?'

Mark nodded, the embarrassed expression on his face even clearer than before. ‘If it's not too late.'

‘Too late! In Paris or Madrid people are only just thinking about going out to eat around now. This really is the back of beyond, isn't it?' Hortense did not sound best pleased. She was wearing a gorgeous orange dress that accentuated her suntanned skin although it did expose quite a lot of it. Natalie ignored Hortense and addressed herself to Mark.

‘I'm afraid it's a terribly busy night, but the people on that table over there have almost finished, if you don't mind waiting five minutes.' She pointed to the terrace. ‘I could bring you a drink while you're waiting, if you like.'

‘That's marvellous. I'm sorry we've arrived so late.' Mark gave her a smile and then turned back towards his companion. ‘Something to drink, Hortense?'

‘I'd love a glass of good champagne, but I don't suppose they have anything like that here.'

Natalie managed to keep her tone even as she told them they did indeed have a choice of champagnes. She went back inside to get it from the fridge behind the bar. Dominique caught her eye. ‘That's the woman you were telling me about?'

‘None other.' Natalie shovelled ice out of the fridge into a bucket and added water from the tap. ‘How easy is it to slip poison into a bottle of champagne?'

‘Come, come, you don't want to poison that handsome man, do you?' Dominique was impressed. ‘This is the first time I've seen him close up. He's dreamy.'

Natalie removed a bottle of champagne from the wine fridge, slid it into the bucket, folded a clean white cloth across the neck of the bottle and put it on a tray with two glasses. She gave Dominique an oblique look. ‘Here goes. What's the betting she doesn't like it?' She picked up the tray and went out to the terrace where Mark and Hortense were perched on the low wall, waiting for their table. She set the tray down and started to open the bottle. As she did so, Mark reached out and gently caught hold of her wrist. He looked up and caught her eye.

‘I'll do that, thanks, Natalie. You go off. You must be terribly busy.' He gave her a smile and she smiled back. As she straightened up to turn away, she saw an expression of open antagonism on the face of Hortense, but decided to rise to the challenge.
All right, you cow
, Natalie thought to herself,
I'm going to be so bloody sweet and nice to you tonight, you'll choke on your food
. She gave Hortense a big smile.

‘I hope you enjoy the wine. I promise I'll call you just as soon as a table becomes available.' The battle now joined, she returned to the kitchen in a much better frame of mind.

As the evening progressed, the tables gradually began to empty until Mark and Hortense were among the last. As far as Natalie could see, they hadn't had a very enjoyable evening. During the course of the meal, Hortense had complained about the mussels, sending back a perfectly good bowl of them with a change of order. Then she had, either by accident or design, managed to knock a glass off the table that shattered on the flagstones. Natalie had immediately replaced the glass and brought a dustpan and brush, with which she swept up all the pieces of broken glass under the disdainful eye of Hortense. The fish was too cold, the vegetables too salty and even the mineral water had a ‘strange taste'.

‘It would taste even stranger if you'd let me put the poison in it,' Natalie hissed to Dominique through gritted teeth as she knelt behind the bar and brought out a replacement bottle. From the kitchen door, she heard Alain's whisper.

‘You're doing brilliantly. Most waitresses would have spilled soup down her front by now. And it's a big enough target…'

‘I won't say I haven't been tempted.' Natalie took the replacement bottle of water out with a charming smile on her face and rejoiced inwardly to see Hortense getting more and more uptight.

When Mark came across to the counter to pay the bill, he surreptitiously slipped a twenty euro note under the plate and gave Natalie a big smile. ‘Good night, Natalie, and thank you so very much. And please tell the chef I ate extremely well.'

‘You're very welcome, Mark. But there's no need for a tip, really.'

He caught her eye. ‘Oh, yes there is, believe me. Anyway, goodbye for now. See you on Wednesday.'

Once Mark had walked back out onto the terrace, Alain appeared from the kitchen, wiping his hands on a cloth. He picked up the twenty euro note and folded it, slipping it into Natalie's hand. He tapped her elbow. ‘Always take the money, Natalie. And, tonight, believe me, you've earned it.'

Half an hour later, Natalie made her way back up the path to home. It was almost midnight and she was surprised to see the light on in her grandmother's bedroom. She went up the stairs and tapped on the half-open door. ‘Gran, are you awake?'

‘Yes, I am, dear. Come in, come in.'

Natalie pushed the door open and went in to find her grandmother sitting up reading. ‘Are you all right, Gran?'

‘I'm fine. I just don't feel like sleeping. So, tell me, did you have a good evening?'

For a moment, Natalie was about to launch into an account of Mark and Hortense's arrival and the scene that had followed, but she decided against it. ‘Lots of people. Dominique and Alain must be doing very well.'

Colette nodded a few times. ‘That's good. So, when are you working with your Mark again?'

‘The day after tomorrow. We're spending the day following the route of the crusaders in 1209 and beyond. He's busy tomorrow, presumably with you-know-who.'

‘You listen to your old grandma. It'll work out.'

As Natalie went into her room she received a text message from Philippe.

Forecast for tomorrow wonderful, but bad from Wednesday. Would you like to come for a sail and lunch tomorrow? My aunt and uncle will be with us as well. Philippe

Natalie sat on the edge of the bed and pondered. The idea of a sail along the coast on a beautiful sunny day had considerable appeal. Above all, the fact that she wasn't going to be alone on the boat with him was reassuring. She felt she knew him pretty well by now, but she was conscious of her grandmother's warning. Besides, she thought to herself, if Mark was off having fun with Hortense, why shouldn't she accept Philippe's invitation? She sent him a reply saying she would be delighted.

Chapter 11

Next day dawned warm and bright. All was silent in Colette's room when Natalie awoke, so she tiptoed out and headed down to the beach for her swim. The jetty was empty, so she assumed Philippe would be bringing his boat across from Banyuls or one of the other little ports to collect her at the agreed time of eleven-thirty. The sky was clear blue, without a cloud to be seen. It seemed hardly believable that the forecast for the next day was heavy rain. Still, she thought to herself, as she slowly swam out past the mooring buoys, the countryside badly needed some water. Everywhere was burnt brown by the sun and it hadn't rained down here for well over a month.

Laure, assisted by a little group of sparrows, was clearing crumbs off the terrace when Natalie got there for her early morning coffee. Natalie went behind the bar and helped herself, looking into the kitchen to ask if Alain wanted a drink. He was in there, filleting what looked like sea bass, and she reflected just how hard the couple worked, without a day off throughout the busy summer months. Alain gave her a cheery wave, but refused the offer of coffee, telling her to make one for Dominique and Laure who probably hadn't had breakfast yet.

Natalie made three coffees and took them outside. Dominique and Laure sat down with her to drink their coffee and chat. The first thing Natalie wanted to know was from Laure.

‘Well, so how's it going with Rémy?'

Laure blushed. ‘It's going well. I went out with him last night and we had a really good time.' She looked up from her coffee. ‘I'd heard all sorts of stories about him being a terrible womaniser.' Natalie's eyes naturally flicked across to Dominique who was looking innocent. ‘But he was ever so well-behaved. We're going out again at the weekend.'

Natalie told Laure how pleased she was for her. Even if her own attempts at romance appeared doomed to disaster, at least she had in some small way contributed towards getting Laure and Rémy together and that cheered her a bit. After a brief chat, she went back up to the house where her grandmother was already out on the terrace, brushing yesterday's breadcrumbs away, just like Laure at the café. There were no sparrows in sight up here, but Natalie knew that the Labrador would deal with any crumbs that remained. Natalie went over to her and gave her a hug. Her grandmother looked up with a smile and rested on the handle of the broom.

‘Good morning, my dear. So, what are your plans for today?'

‘I'm going sailing.' Natalie told her about the invitation from Philippe. ‘He says today's the last sunny day. It's going to rain tomorrow.'

‘Well, we could certainly do with some rain. Everything's so terribly dry. So, what are you going to wear for your yachtsman?'

Natalie smiled. ‘The usual. Shorts and a T-shirt with a bikini underneath just in case I fancy a swim.'

Colette looked uncertain. ‘Shouldn't you dress up a bit?'

‘It's high summer and I'm going on a boat. Shorts are the most practical. That'll be fine.' She grinned at her grandmother. ‘Besides, I don't want to look in any way provocative, even though I'm pretty sure he doesn't think of me in that way. Besides, his aunt and uncle are going to be on the boat with us. Anyway, what about you? Anything exciting today?'

Her grandmother smiled. ‘At my age, darling, one day's much like another. Mind you, seeing as it's going to rain tomorrow, I think I'll do a bit of tidying up outside before the rain arrives. Jeanne can give me a hand when she comes in. So, where's your Mark today?'

‘He didn't say; just that he was going to be busy. I suppose the arrival of his lady friend explains that.' Yet again she found herself thinking about Mark and Hortense and what they might or might not be doing together. She did her best to dismiss the image. ‘Tomorrow we're supposed to be setting off on the first of our field trips to places of interest for his book.'

‘As long as the rain's not too bad.' Colette wasn't joking. When it rained down here, it really rained. Natalie could remember occasions in the past when the rain had been so intense it had ripped great chunks of tarmac off the roads and washed bridges away.

‘We'll see. I'll keep an eye on the local news tomorrow.' Natalie headed for the kitchen. ‘Two teas?'

A bit later on, as Natalie made her way down the path to the beach, she spotted a blue and white yacht, nosing its way into the bay. By the time she reached the jetty, Philippe was just in the process of bringing the boat alongside. He was wearing immaculate white shorts and a red polo shirt. A sailor's cap and aviator glasses completed the look. Natalie repressed a smile, reminded of something out of an old black and white movie. He gave her a cheery wave. ‘Perfect timing. Good morning, Natalie.'

The boat came to rest with a gentle slap against the fenders. Philippe held out his hands. Natalie grabbed hold and stepped aboard. As she did so, he leant forward and kissed her softly on the cheeks. ‘Ah, beautiful, as always.'

Natalie went down into the large cockpit and found an elderly couple already sitting there. She stood under the shade of a sailcloth canopy and introduced herself to them while Philippe opened the throttle and the yacht began to move forward. He spun the wheel and the boat obediently swung out into the bay, turning right round until they were facing the open sea. Natalie heard the engine note increase and the boat headed out past the mooring buoys and into the deep water. She took a seat in a corner of the cockpit and looked around. The old couple were very friendly and she was soon chatting to them. From their accent, it was clear they were from the area and Natalie felt sure her grandmother would know them. Any anxiety she might have been feeling at accepting Philippe's invitation rapidly evaporated as they spoke.

Philippe was very happy, playing captain behind the beautiful, polished-wood wheel with its stainless steel spokes. It really was a beautiful day and, as they came out past the rocky entrance to the bay, the coastline stretched away north and south of them, wild and unspoilt for the most part. Although there were a few gentle waves now that they were out of the shelter of the headlands, it was remarkably calm and the yacht slipped smoothly through the water. Once they were clear of the land, Philippe turned south and slowed the engine while the electric winches unfurled the mainsail and jib. As the breeze filled the sails, he killed the engine completely and they got underway in blessed silence. When he was happy with the course he had set, he called to Natalie.