What Happens at the Beach... (14 page)

Natalie found she thoroughly enjoyed playing the part of the expert, advising him on the best places to go, and what to see. He had an excellent memory and he picked things up very quickly. For a scientist, he had a really good imagination and she could sense the book taking shape in his head as they talked. Just before she left to go home and prepare lunch, she broached the subject of the meal together. ‘I spoke to my grandma. If your offer of taking her for a meal's still open, she'd love to take you up on it. Do you have any preference as to when?'

He shook his head. ‘I'm completely free from now on and the offer's most certainly still on the table.' He realised what he had said. ‘Apologies for the pun, but any day, lunch or dinner's fine with me.'

‘She thinks lunch might be better for her if it's all the same to you.'

‘Excellent. So, shall we say tomorrow?' He looked genuinely pleased. ‘Shall we go back to
Les Vagues
or is there somewhere else she'd like to go to?'

‘She'd love
Les Vagues
, but she said anywhere will be lovely.' She grinned at him. ‘This'll be the first time a handsome man has taken her out for lunch in quite a while.'

‘Handsome? Well, tell her it'll be the first time I've taken two beautiful women out for lunch for a very long time.' No sooner had he said it than he turned away in embarrassment.

As Natalie walked home at lunchtime, she thought back on their little exchange in his study. This had been the first time there had been anything that could even vaguely be described as flirting between them and it had felt very, very good. She now knew that he found her attractive, even though he had appeared embarrassed to admit it. For her part, she had no doubt that she found him very attractive. Very attractive indeed.

When she got home, she passed on what Mark had said and left Colette sitting on the terrace smiling broadly while she went into the kitchen to prepare the salad. They had lunch outside and the ratatouille was as good as Natalie remembered. It was another perfect day with little wind and not a cloud in sight. As she enjoyed the food, Natalie did her best to concentrate on the beauty of their surroundings, the glimpses down through the trees to the blue of the sea below and the scents and sounds of the Mediterranean landscape. After her morning with Mark, she felt her worries and concerns about her future recede and she was able to enjoy the moment.

She was roused from her thoughts by Colette's voice, sounding a little wistful. ‘This is such a wonderful place, you know, Natalie. I suppose government taxes will mean you have to sell it when I die.' She looked across at Natalie with a gentle smile. ‘It's such a shame. If you could have kept it, it would have given you the perfect place to escape to whenever you wanted, as your own personal refuge from the cares and worries of work and life.'

‘Don't worry about me, Gran. I love my work, and the rest's pretty good really. Now I've got the David thing sorted out, I'll get on with my life just fine.' She caught her grandmother's hand in hers. ‘I know what you mean about the house, though. I was just thinking about that yesterday. It's been in the family for generations. It'll be sad to see it go.' She squeezed her hand again. ‘I know. I'll buy a lottery ticket. You never know what might happen.'

That afternoon, as usual, Colette went to her bedroom for a little sleep and Natalie went to her own room to check her emails. There was still nothing on the employment front and her heart sank. Universities in the UK would be starting up again in less than six weeks and she still had nothing. She trawled through all the usual sites, desperately searching for any vacancy she might have overlooked but, apart from Newcastle University looking for a lecturer specialising in German trade among the Hanseatic League states from the fourteenth century onwards, there was nothing.

Her phone whistled and she saw that she had a message from Dominique, asking if she could come down to the restaurant that evening. Natalie replied saying she would come and help out tonight and maybe Saturday as well. Ten seconds later she got a smiley face in reply.

Chapter 9

Colette was looking very chic in a flowery summer frock that Natalie hadn't seen before. It actually looked rather modern and Natalie found herself wondering if this was indeed something new her grandmother had bought recently, or just another example of fashion coming round again and again in a continuous circle of repeating styles. Natalie herself, knowing that
Les Vagues
was quite smart, put on the only other dress she had brought over from England. This one was slightly longer than her other one, but the neckline was a little more revealing. She took a good hard look at herself in the mirror before deciding to ask Colette what she thought. She came out of her room and found her grandmother outside on the terrace, leaning against the table, gazing down the valley. She asked for her opinion and got a smile in return.

‘You look lovely, dear, and it's not as if you're indecent by any means. After all, most of the girls on the beach nowadays are showing off far more than that. You've got a lovely figure. I'm sure your friend Mark will love it.'

From the expression on Mark's face when he came to collect them just before twelve, he most certainly did love her dress. He gave Natalie a broad smile before going over to Colette and offering her first his hand to shake and then his arm for support. He was wearing sand-coloured jeans with a light-blue linen shirt and he was clean-shaven today. Natalie caught her grandmother's eye and read the twinkle in the corner of it. Clearly Colette approved.

The drive to the restaurant in the comfortable, air-conditioned car took barely twenty-five minutes and Mark had phoned ahead to reserve a parking space right by the entrance. Barney the dog was in the back and spent most of his time breathing on Natalie's neck, very excited to find she was in the rear seat and so accessible to his nose. The headwaiter led them to the same table they had occupied before and the dog slipped under the table into his regular place without hesitation. They all sat down and Natalie was delighted to see the expression of happiness on Colette's face.

They had a delightful lunch. Her grandmother quite clearly enjoyed herself immensely and, although she began to look a bit weary towards the end of the meal, the joy on her face was still there. Mark proved to be attentive and charming. But not, Natalie reflected analytically, overly charming in the Philippe sense. Rather, he was good company, a generous host and a friendly conversationalist with a great sense of humour. He had Natalie and her grandmother in stitches as he recounted some of his early experiences in the laboratory, trying to prove the efficacy of his new discovery; nearly blowing up the science block as he did so.

From time to time, Natalie felt his eyes on her, but never intrusively and never enough to embarrass her. However, on the couple of occasions when his eyes then met hers, he was quick to look away, an expression almost of regret on his face. He was kind and attentive to Colette in particular and, by the end of the meal, Natalie definitely had the impression that her grandmother had fallen in love with him. In return, Colette recounted a number of stories about life down here as a young girl growing up, some of which Natalie hadn't heard before. Her tone was nostalgic, but without regret, and Natalie loved to hear her sounding so happy.

As for Natalie, she kept reminding herself that her relationship with Mark, at least for now, was professional, nothing more. Indeed, she found herself thinking, she knew next to nothing about him on a personal level. He had never so much as mentioned a fiancée, wife or girlfriend, but that didn't mean they didn't exist. The absence of a wedding ring meant nothing these days. Considering that he was a multimillionaire, and tall and handsome with it, it was almost inevitable that he should have a woman, or women, in his life already. Nevertheless, in spite of her best resolve, as she laughed at his stories and reflected on his kindness and generosity, she couldn't help feeling that familiar sensation that it wouldn't take much to make her fall for him, big time.

At the end of the meal, while he went off to pay the bill, Natalie looked across at her grandmother, one hand under the table scratching the dog's head. ‘Good lunch?'

‘Oh, darling, it was lovely.' Colette sounded very enthusiastic. ‘The food, the scenery, the day and, of course, the company.' She caught Natalie's eye. ‘He's a fine man, your Mark.'

‘He's not my Mark, Gran.'

‘Are you so sure about that?'

‘He's our neighbour and he's my boss, at least for the moment.' Natalie tried to put as much conviction into her voice as possible. ‘Besides, he's from another world. He's worth millions, he flies around in a private plane and he must have a whole queue of women after him.' She caught her grandmother's eye. ‘Anyway, remember what we talked about. I'm not looking for another man. I'm no longer the poor little waif who needs somebody to look after me. I can cope fine without him or any other man.'

When Mark returned he offered Colette his arm, while Natalie took hold of Barney's lead and, together, they went back through the restaurant to the car.

When they got home, Colette got out of the car and held out her arms to Mark. He came round to her and she embraced him, kissing him on both cheeks. ‘Mark, I can't thank you enough. That was a delightful meal and you're such a wonderful host. You've made an old lady very happy.'

‘You've made two ladies very happy.' Natalie gave him a big smile but stopped short of embracing him. He was her employer, after all.

‘I couldn't have asked for better dining companions,' he replied rather formally, then gave them both a grin and returned to the driving seat. As the car went back down the drive, Natalie could see the dog standing up, looking out of the rear window, his tail wagging hopefully, no doubt in expectation of a walk to come. She went into the kitchen and brought a bottle of mineral water from the fridge and two glasses. After filling the glasses, she sat down beside her grandmother.

‘So, good day?'

Colette looked up. ‘A very good day, Natalie, a very good day. Your Mark's a very good boy. I can feel that. And don't be put off by the fact that he's rich. So what? What counts is the man.' Her voice tailed off. ‘Now I think I should maybe have a little lie down.'

Once Colette had gone off to bed, Natalie went into her room and changed out of her dress, reflecting on what her grandmother had said. She lay down on her bed, her thoughts now filled with the man her grandmother stubbornly insisted upon calling
her
Mark. Yes, he was very rich, but there was no doubt that, so far at least, he was proving to be a very genuine, kind and reasonable man. And there was no disguising the fact that she felt good when she was with him, very good indeed. Maybe Colette was right. Maybe he was
her
Mark. She closed her eyes and drifted off into a light doze.

She woke less than an hour later, yawned and stretched. She stepped into her shorts and tiptoed barefoot out onto the terrace. The bottle of mineral water was now tepid, but she poured herself a glass and drank it anyway. She glanced at her watch. It was almost four o'clock. In an hour or so the carer would be here and she decided she would go down to the beach for a good long swim to counteract the effects of the huge lunch. Before that, she sat down at the computer and did another futile scan of the job opportunities. By now she had extended her search to include Belgian as well as French universities, but there was nothing suitable. What on earth was she going to do if she couldn't find a lecturing position?

When Jeanne arrived at five, Natalie went down to the beach for a swim. The clear blue of the sky was now punctuated by the long, cigar-shaped clouds she had come to recognise as heralding the arrival of the Tramontane wind from the northwest. For now, however, it was still hot and the water calm. Keen to burn off the big lunch, she kept on swimming past all the mooring buoys until she reached the twin headlands that protected the bay from the cold currents and bigger waves of that part of the Mediterranean. She flipped over onto her back and floated for a while, staring up into the sky, knowing that she felt happier than she had done for months.

She straightened up, treading water, and looked back towards the shore, wondering if she might see Mark coming out for his afternoon swim. There was no sign of him and, as the currents were beginning to draw her away from the bay, she started swimming back, raising her head from time to time in case he appeared. Somehow, the idea of bumping into him out here in the freedom of the water really appealed, seeing his broad shoulders and strong arms, maybe touching his body. In fact, the idea appealed a lot, but there was no sign of him yet. Nevertheless, she swam slowly back to the beach in a rather pleasant, semi-erotic haze, dreaming of Mark. However, as she approached the shore, she saw another familiar face, or, more particularly, body. As her feet touched the bottom, she waded back to the shallows and heard his voice.

‘Good afternoon, Natalie.' He was standing with his feet in the water, waiting for her eagerly.

‘Hi, Rémy.' She went to get her towel and wrapped it round herself before coming back to give him the good news. She gave him a big smile. He was looking very nervous and her heart went out to him.

‘Good news, Rémy. I've spoken to Laure.' She saw his expression brighten.

‘And…?' There was no disguising his interest.

‘And you were right. She
has
broken up with her boyfriend.' His eyes were now sparkling. ‘And she and I had a little chat. I told her you were interested in her and, Rémy, I definitely got the impression she rather likes you.'

He was positively beaming by now. He opened his arms and caught hold of her, hugging her to him in a warm embrace. She felt his breath on her ear and heard him murmur, ‘Thank you,' over and over again. She was then disconcerted to feel a touch on her bottom. For a moment, she thought it was Rémy, becoming a little too grateful, but a downward glance soon revealed the culprit. She extricated herself from the fisherman's arms and turned to find Barney the dog standing behind her, looking momentarily perturbed at the result of her reaction to his friendly advances.