Paradise Found (17 page)

Tony, who had stirred from his somnolence by this time, said, ‘Much as I'd love to, obviously I can't.'

‘I'm coming,' Zoe announced. It would get rid of the oily lotion. It wouldn't take long for her bikini to dry, and then she could cover up with her sundress.

‘What about you, Camille?'

‘No, I don't think so, Matt.'

‘That's strange. I've never known you not to join in for a swim. You're usually the first one nattering to go in. Aren't you feeling well?'

‘To tell you the truth, I don't feel too good.'

‘Perhaps you've been in the sun too long,' Zoe said. Camille had seemed in top form when they came out, but she didn't look at all well now.

Camille sent her a scathing look. ‘Don't be
stupid.
With my coloring I can stay out in the sun all day without effect. My stomach feels a bit queasy, that's all.'

‘It's true,' Tony vouched foster. ‘Camille laps the sun up. It must have been something you ate, Camille.'

‘Yes, it must have been. Enjoy your swim, you two. Don't bother about me.'

Laughing at Camille's petulance, giving no warning of what he was going to do, Matt turned, scooped Zoe up, and, ignoring her protests, ran into the water with her, not letting her go until it swirled almost to his waist, then throwing her in.

‘You beast!' she gasped on coming up, but laughter spilled out of her eyes.

‘Come on,' he invited, striking out.

For a short distance she kept alongside him, but his stroke was too powerful for her and she found herself trailing behind, admiring the effortless way he cut through the water.

Tired, exhilarated, she floated on her back, drifting, staring up at the incredibly blue sky. Strong hands pulled her down again. She screamed, loving it, coming up sputtering but laughing. She caught him off balance and then it was her turn to push him under. He retaliated, grabbing her legs and winding them round his waist so that she was riding him. Their eyes were level. For a moment she drowned in the inscrutable depths of his. She was still laughing, but her laugh was shaky.
She
wriggled free; the lightness of the mood returned, and when they did run out of the water they were as uninhibited as children.

‘That was fantastic,' she said, twisting her hair to wring out the excess water, then patting herself with the beach towel before flinging it down on her mattress and falling on top of it to complete the drying process.

They had a late lunch in a harbor café. Her activities in the water had made Zoe ravenous. She started off with truffle pâté on a crisp green salad bed, then salmon mousse, followed by kidneys in wine, and she finished off with mountain raspberries and whipped cream.

As they came out of the café Matt said, ‘I suppose you want to walk that off?'

Zoe looked at Tony, anticipating an objection to being left alone again. He didn't look too pleased, but he said, ‘Off you go. I'll find a perch by the harbor and wait for you. You can collect me when you're ready.'

Camille said that she would stay and keep Tony company. She had merely picked at her food, and Zoe guessed that she still didn't feel well and wasn't up to any excess effort.

Matt and Zoe set off to walk through the old town. It was a joy to wander through, and Zoe found it easier to imagine that it had been built up from a poor fishing village to its present lush prosperity than she had on the fashionable beach front.

When she mentioned this Matt nodded in
agreement.
‘It's hard to believe St. Tropez hasn't always been the haunt of film stars and tycoons. Before that it was a painters' haven. Originally it was a Greek trading port. But do you know how it got its name?'

‘No.'

‘Nero executed the Christian Torpetius at Pisa and put the corpse in a boat with a cock and a dog to feed on it. The legend goes that the boat drifted ashore months later, with the body untouched. The fishermen promptly named their collection of huts St. Torpes.'

‘That's fascinating,' she said.

They seemed to have reached some unspoken truce. It was therefore all the more surprising when Matt suddenly rounded on her and said, ‘When are you going to end this farce of an engagement? The pretense you're keeping up is ridiculous.'

‘It's neither ridiculous nor a pretense,' she said, bristling. ‘It's a proper engagement.'

‘You'll never marry him.'

‘I will,' she insisted, stalking on ahead. But whether she meant it as firmly as it sounded, or was merely saying it to protect herself from Matt out of force of habit, she didn't know.

She tried to block out the other alternative that was rising up in her mind: that she was making a big noise to incite Matt's angry reaction. That she wanted him to shout her down on this score. Denying that thought was as hopeless as trying to shut it out. Thoughts
like
that didn't knock and politely ask if they could come in, they were in before you knew it.

Why was she tearing herself apart? She'd been hurt and humiliated once. Matt had left her without a goodbye. He'd do the same again. She had to be mad. Sun-crazed.

A splintering pain shot across her forehead. Perhaps that was it . . . Perhaps she'd had too much sun after all. The sinking feeling in her stomach wiped out that speculation. It would be nice to think there was a physical reason for the way she felt, but she knew that her condition was emotional and that she would be fooling herself if she believed otherwise.

They made a silent return to pick up the car. Zoe held her tongue on the torment of her thoughts; Matt's face was closed to her, its only animation the cynicism in his eyes. It seemed a million years since they'd cast their differences aside and played happily together, their moods as buoyant as the water they'd ducked each other in.

It was a relief to collect Camille and Tony. Whatever had been ailing Camille was completely gone. Both her health and her spirits had been restored to sparkling form; on the way back it was Camille's bright chatter that shifted the emphasis from the strain that existed between Zoe and Matt and went a long way to lightening the atmosphere.

They stopped for a meal just short of Les
Pins,
and this time the roles were reversed. It was Zoe who picked at her food and Camille who made up for her lack of lunch and ate ravenously. Matt dropped Zoe and Tony off at Les Charmettes and then took Camille home.

Even though it was late, Zoe and Tony didn't hurry to bed. Hannah was still up, and they stayed chatting over a nightcap for quite a long while. Zoe couldn't remember what they talked about. Her headache was still banging against her temples, robbing her of concentration. Matt still hadn't returned by the time Zoe did eventually escape to bed.

CHAPTER NINE

Matt left for home the next day. Zoe watched him go with both relief and a strange aching sadness. He went off in his truck with as little ceremony as when he had arrived.

At least this time he hadn't gone without saying goodbye. Did that make it better or worse? There had been nothing in his eyes to suggest that before too long he would be saying hello again.

Camille hadn't gone back with him, as Zoe's inquiry revealed. Apparently André Dupont had persuaded his granddaughter to stay a while longer. But Zoe couldn't help wondering if it wasn't the other way round, that perhaps
Camille
had failed to persuade Matt to take her back with him.

A few days after Matt's departure an opportunity occurred for Zoe to ask Hannah something which had been bothering her.

‘Hannah, while Tony's not around'—he was in his room catching up on his letter writing—‘there's something I'd like to ask you. Please yourself whether you answer me or not. It's none of my business. I've no right to ask, because it's an unpardonable intrusion into your family privacy, but—'

‘It can't be that, Zoe, whatever it is. You're going to be part of this family; which makes all the difference. So go ahead and ask. I can always reserve the right to change my mind and not give you an answer if I find that it's
too
sticky.'

‘It's about Matt, actually.'

‘Is it now?' Hannah said, her gaze floating shrewdly over Zoe's troubled face.

‘It's something Tony said about Matt. Naturally, it's his version. I wondered if yours was the same.' Zoe spotted the thoughtful look in Hannah's eyes. If she was reading this right, it came to her that she shouldn't have doubted Tony. In Hannah's estimation, she should, as a loving fiancée, have believed implicitly that what Tony said had to be the truth, without needing confirmation. She wouldn't have questioned anything that Matt had told her. Oh well, having gone that far she had to go on.
‘I
understand that Matt and Tony's father started out as equal partners, and that Matt bought Tony's father out.'

‘Yes, that is so.'

‘Tony is under the impression that Matt cheated his father. And so Tony feels cheated. He thinks that he should be Matt's equal partner and not just an employee.'

‘Oh, dear. It's very sticky. You're not going to like what I have to say. That is,' Hannah qualified, ‘it's not going to put Tony in a favorable light.'

‘That can't be helped.'

‘No, I don't suppose it can.' Hannah sighed deeply. ‘I must tell you a little about Tony's father, my late son-in-law. I don't like speaking ill of the dead, but Edward Talbot was a weak man. Full of charm, of course, with good looks and a silver tongue that could talk the birds out of the trees, so I could understand what Nerissa saw in him, but he was lazy. He wanted all the good things in life, he had very expensive tastes, but he wanted these things without working for them. When he first went into business with Matt it seemed an excellent arrangement. Looking back, Matt must have had some awareness, but he didn't say anything. It only came to light who was putting the real effort in when Matt was out of commission?”

‘Out of commission?'

‘Matt had an accident while driving a truck.
It's
said that over half the road accidents to British motorists on the Continent occur within 150 kilometers of leaving the Channel ports, because of tight schedules and unfamiliar driving conditions. But Matt wasn't the one at fault. He never set himself an impossible target, and he was used to driving on the Continent. It was a crazy vacationer who hadn't left himself time to catch his ferry on the homeward trip. He had three children in the car and he was tearing up the road. Matt could have plowed into the car, and being in the much bigger vehicle he stood a chance of getting away comparatively unhurt, or he could have taken a foolhardy risk and swerved to avoid it. If you've come to know Matt at all during your stay here, you won't need me to tell you what action he took.'

‘The foolhardy risk?' The only lie she had ever found him out in. I might take the odd calculated risk, he had told her quite recently, but never foolhardy ones. But he had—once.

‘He swerved, turned the truck over, and spent the next six months in hospital. The main worry was his right eye.'

‘That faint scar across it?'

‘Yes. Brilliant surgery was performed on him, then complete rest was ordered. In doing as he was told, and saving his eye, he almost lost his business. Edward let it run completely down. If the boot had been on the other foot Matt would have worked himself into the
ground
to keep things stable for Edward's return. Edward was simply too lazy to bother. Matt decided that if he was going to work round the clock to get himself out of the red it was going to be for himself and not for someone who wasn't worth it. If cheating Edward Talbot was giving him an ultimatum, accept what's on the table or we'll both sit back and wait for the receiver to come in, then, yes, Matt cheated him. In my book it's the other way round. Because of Edward's initial connection with the business Matt has always felt under an obligation to keep Tony in a secure job. I think Tony is cheating on Matt in not being grateful. He should show a bit of loyalty instead of complaining of injustices done to him. If Tony wants what Matt has got, then he should do what Matt has done, start at the bottom and get it for himself instead of looking for the easy option. Tony is my grandson, my only grandchild, and I love him very much, but I'm not blind to his faults. You asked, and couldn't lie to you. I had to say nothing, which would have been as good as saying that what Tony said about Matt was true, or tell you the facts. I didn't have a choice, did I? I only hope that I haven't lowered Tony too much in your eyes.'

‘Strangely enough, you haven't. If anything, it's made me understand him better. Anyone would find it difficult to live up to Matt's example. Tony never had a chance. He could
never
accomplish what Matt has, even if he lived to be a hundred; he's too much his father's son. He probably realized all that at an early age, so he didn't even try . . . It's all so clear now. Matt's a fine person, and I'm not minimizing what he's done with his life, made of himself, it's just that Tony comes out of a different mold. Matt's like a robot the way he goes after things. In a way, it's a little frightening.'

‘You think that Matt's got no tender feelings?'

Was that what she'd implied? ‘I don't know.'

‘Sometimes what we are isn't entirely in our own hands, as you've just so rightly pointed out. Matt can't help being like he is any more than Tony can. Spare some of your compassion for Matt. Perhaps life has made him that way. His accident robbed him of more than you realize. Brilliant surgery saved his eye, and his own efforts saved his business, but he lost the girl he loved.'

‘Yes, I remember you telling me there was a girl in his life. Was she very lovely?'

‘I wouldn't know. I never met her. Matt said she was beautiful, but it must have been a superficial beauty. She can't have been very lovely inside. I hated to see Matt so miserable, it tore me apart, and I begged him to get word to her about what had happened, but he said it would be no use. She was only interested in his position and his money. As he was without
both
at the time he had nothing to offer her that she wanted. He didn't want her to see him as he was. He said it would torture him, although how he could be any more tortured than he was, I failed to see. However, Matt knew this girl, I didn't. I had to trust him to know how she would react.'