That Long Lost Summer Read online

  ‘Another early bird,’ she greeted Flora cheerfully. ‘I was just going to make some coffee. Would you like some?’

  ‘Love some, but can I make it? Give you time to sit in the sun and dry off,’ Flora said, feeling suddenly alive amid the beauty of the place. The air was fresh before the shimmer of midday heat. The garden was bright with pots full of colourful flowers, damp from being recently watered.

  ‘You can next time, I’ll show you where everything is. I follow Matt’s grandmother’s habit of making each person or couple do the catering for a day in turn. We don’t bother much with lunch, because people often like to do their own thing during the day. But we usually get together in the evening.’

  ‘Great idea, otherwise the poor hostess kills herself producing meals and it’s no fun having people to stay. Be sure and tell me when it’s our turn,’ Flora said.

  ‘I’ll draw up a new rota when everyone’s up. Sorry,’ Susie laughed. ‘Sounds a bit schooly.’

  ‘But a good idea,’ Flora said, ‘and far better than us feeling guilty.’

  Xavier sauntered over to them. He was wearing well cut navy shorts and a white linen shirt; his face was tanned. He looked wonderful and he knew it. He smiled at Flora before turning to Susie. ‘Shall I carry something out here for you?’

  ‘No, not yet. Talk to Flora, I won’t be long.’

  Xavier said. ‘Let’s walk round the garden and catch up; I can’t believe you’re here. I was trying to work out how many years ago we took that boat out at Thorpness, on the mere, at dead of night.’ He touched her shoulder as if to turn her to face him. ‘We were disturbed when the place got a bit crowded, I remember.’ His eyes were warm and his mouth, that she’d love to kiss, was smiling at her.

  The memory of that night flooded back as if it were yesterday. She hoped he didn’t guess how feelings of attraction for him were flooding through her, seemingly undimmed by time.

  ‘The next day you left Aldeburgh without leaving any message. Had you changed your mind about us?’ He regarded her intently.

  ‘My aunt died so my brother came to fetch me. There was no time to come and find you.’ She remembered the pain of that.

  ‘I see, I’m sorry. I often wondered.’

  They wandered round the large garden, away from the villa with its many windows. The lawn was burnt in parts by the sun and the large old fashioned pool shimmered like a jewel in its pale stone setting.

  She glanced away from him, struggling with her feelings. ‘Though it was a long time ago,’ she added quickly, not wanting him to guess how she longed for that time to return.

  He took a step back, as if he guessed her thoughts, regarding her thoughtfully. ‘Though now you are a married woman, mother of two girls, I believe, and I am divorced with a young son. Everything has changed. Dommage, but that is life, n’est pas?’ He smiled ruefully. ‘Ships passing – lingering a moment perhaps – before going their separate ways.’

  ‘Something like that, yes.’ She must play it cool. She must not make a fool of herself by imagining Xavier still cared for her, over twenty years on. It was only because Hugo seemed so distant that her body was behaving foolishly, fired up with almost forgotten desire.

  When they’d been all together as a family, she and the girls hugged each other often, kissed goodnight, goodbye, hello. Maybe… a small voice nudged her; maybe you and Hugo should have kissed each other more.

  Susie came out of the kitchen now carrying a tray and Xavier hurried to take it from her. He picked up the coffee pot and began to pour mugs of the strong, aromatic coffee. The three of them sat back on faded but comfortable sun loungers, cradling their mugs in their hands.

  ‘So amusing that you know each other from years back. Xavier’s just told me he was amazed to see you here.’ Susie’s expression was eager to know more. ‘I remember you telling me, Flora, that your family spent most summers sailing in Aldeburgh, because you lived in Suffolk. Xavier said he was there, too, one summer.’

  ‘Yes, my family had an old boat, Westwind, a Dragon, and we pottered about on the estuary. It was great fun. In August there was a regatta with a dance at the end of it. They were lovely summers, though that one turned out to be my last holiday there.’

  ‘So you never took your children there?’ Xavier’s dark eyes were warm, amused, sending her heart racing.

  ‘No, Hugo works in the travel business, so we went abroad. We got great discounts,’ she explained, ‘and the weather was always better in Europe. I remember some pretty bleak summers in Aldeburgh over the years and Hugo’s not really a sailor.’

  Susie’s mobile pinged with a message. She took it out of her pocket and lazily glanced at it before sitting up abruptly. ‘Oh, heavens!’ she exclaimed. ‘All I need.’

  ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘Oh, just Alegria, my niece.’ Susie sighed. ‘We don’t hear from her for months and then she suddenly rocks up. She’s been in Italy working at something in fashion, but that’s over and she wants to come here. She’s on her way now. She could have given us more warning, after all, we might not have even been here.’

  Flora knew the story. Valerie, Val, Susie’s younger sister had got pregnant at a party and the man, if she ever knew who he was, had disappeared. Val was not a good mother, being far keener on forging her career in fashion journalism, working her way up to become the editor of a top glossy magazine, so Susie, with no children of her own, was often called upon to help out. Val had many lovers, some making better father figures than others and Matt had become the most constant man in Alegria’s life.

  ‘Have you room for her?’ Flora was thinking how full the villa seemed to be.

  ‘Yes, she can sleep in the summerhouse.’ Susie gestured towards the wooden house, with its small veranda half covered by a white bougainvillea. ‘She’s done it before.’ She got up. ‘I better break the news to Matt.’

  ‘What news?’ Matt appeared from the villa. He was dressed in white shorts and a dark pink T-shirt, and now he slipped his arm round Susie. ‘Can I guess? Alegria’s making an appearance.’

  ‘Yes, she’s on her way,’ Susie said. ‘We haven’t seen her since…’ she frowned, trying to remember, ‘well over a year ago. Do you think it means she’s in trouble?’

  ‘We’ll soon find out,’ Matt said, with a sigh. ‘Perhaps she’s missing us, wants a summer holiday. Hasn’t she been working somewhere in Europe, or was she just bumming around?’

  ‘I think she was working. Val got her some fashion job in Italy.’

  ‘So, when’s she arriving?’ Matt helped himself to black coffee with a couple of spoons of sugar, before going to sit down beside Xavier.

  ‘Hasn’t said, sometime today, I assume. She might not know herself. I’ve no idea how far she has to come, or how she’ll get here. Anyway, there we are, we’re the nearest she has to a stable home, my sister being too busy with her own life to give much time to her daughter,’ Susie said darkly, before going inside to change out of her bathing suit.

  Matt said, ‘Alegria’s a funny little thing, very needy, though that’s not surprising with the mother she has. We’ve done our best over the years, to give her some sort of base. You remember her, Flora? She was either at boarding school, or with her mother and some sort of nanny or au pair. We had her when we could, but as we both worked, it was difficult.’

  ‘You did your best,’ Xavier said. ‘I met her a couple of times at your house; she must have been about twelve, thirteen. Does she see her father?’

  ‘We’re not quite sure who he is,’ Matt said. ‘Val was, and probably still is, quite a wild girl. We hardly see her, she lives in a different world to us.’ He laughed. ‘She – Alegria, I mean, might help with your Laurie, Xavier, you never know.’

  Flora looked surprised. Was Xavier’s ex-wife coming here too?

  Xavier caught her look. ‘Darcy, my ex, has to go to Spain because her father’s fallen ill and she can’t take Laurie, so I’ll have him sooner than planned. But if that’s d
ifficult now, with Alegria coming, I’ll take him home.’ He turned to Matt.

  ‘No, don’t do that, he’s going to share your room, so there’s no difficulty,’ Matt said.

  Other people began to surface. Martha, Didi and Tony dived straight into the pool for a swim before breakfast. Sylvia went to check on the kittens. Hugo appeared and, looking pale and tired, came over to join her.

  ‘Morning everyone,’ he muttered, before addressing Flora. ’How long have you been up?’

  ‘Not long, but I couldn’t get back to sleep.’ She smiled at him, though he did not smile back. She had the feeling that Xavier was watching their body language with interest, and that their marriage was exposed to all the world for the empty, loveless one it had become.

  5

  Breakfast was fresh, flaky croissants that Xavier had gone to buy from the village earlier, fruit, cereal and coffee. Flora realised that the others had made their own plans for the day.

  Listening to the conversation over breakfast, Flora learnt that sometimes the people staying here organised a group outing if everyone wanted to go to the same place. At other times, some wanted to go to the beach, others on a shopping spree, or sightseeing, and some stayed peacefully here, sunbathing and reading by the pool. But whatever they did during the day, they all met up at the villa for supper in the evening.

  Susie said she’d better hang around to wait for Alegria to turn up and Matt, Didi and Tony said they’d go to the market, as it was Didi and Tony’s turn to cook. Sylvia and Martha were going to the beach, and Ben said he’d go with them.

  Flora glanced over at Hugo, who was nursing a mug of coffee, and skim reading an old copy of the Daily Mail. She wished they had hired a car like everyone else. There had been some talk of it before they left, but he’d said they’d wait and see.

  Martha said. ‘You can join us on the beach, if you like. We’ve found one that’s not too crowded. There’s a bar, shade and you can eat there, too.’

  ‘Thanks, that sounds great, don’t you think, darling?’ Flora addressed Hugo. ‘We must get ourselves together later and hire a car too; there’s lots of lovely things to see. Don’t you remember that time we came near here with the girls?’

  ‘I think I’ll stay here by the pool. It’ll be nice to relax after the hectic time I’ve had in the office.’ Hugo folded up the newspaper. ‘Maybe I’ll walk down to the village later when it gets cooler.’

  Flora was aware that Xavier was watching them. He was sitting on the other side of the table with a plate of fresh fruit in front of him. He seemed to be the only person who had not announced his own plans for the day. She knew his young son was coming, but she didn’t know when.

  ‘We’d like to leave quite soon before it gets crowded.’ Martha was clearly impatient although her voice friendly enough.

  Seeing Sylvia appear from coping with the kittens, Martha rather tactlessly remarked that she’d read cats could eat their kittens if they felt threatened.

  ‘You do talk rubbish sometimes, Martha.’ Sylvia retorted. ‘The cat knows I love her and would never hurt her or her family.’

  ‘Of course, I didn’t mean you, Sylvia,’ Martha said impatiently, ‘but if you want to come to the beach, we’re leaving now.’

  Ben, too, had got his things together and was loitering beside them, slightly amused by the cat conversation. ‘Eating them would be their sort of contraception, I suppose.’

  ‘Not at all.’ Sylvia looked outraged.

  Flora hurried to her room struggling with fury and hurt at Hugo’s manner. Why was he so offhand? Why didn’t he seem to want to be with her? He was now settled on one of the sunbeds laid out by the pool, and opened the book he’d been carrying. As if he guessed she wanted to harass him, he firmly immersed himself in it.

  In their room, Flora quickly made the bed, and picked up a towel Hugo had left on the floor, before stuffing a bag with things for the beach, including her book and went back to the garden.

  Ben was waiting for her, hovering by the breakfast table. ‘They’ve parked the car in the lane round the back, I’ll show you where it is.’ He smiled, a kind, congenial man and she went with him, calling goodbye to Hugo. He was now talking to Xavier, who called out, ‘Have a great day,’ while Hugo just lifted his arm in farewell, barely glancing her way. Susie appeared, laden down with sheets and pillows she had sneaked from the airing cupboard to make up a bed for Alegria in the summerhouse. Xavier jumped up to help her. Flora wished she was staying behind now, too.

  6

  ‘I’m very fond of her, but Alegria does have a challenging way of turning up at the most inconvenient time.’ Susie said.

  ‘You’ve always been far more of a mother to her than her own mother, if you don’t mind me saying.’ Xavier said, while he unpacked the blow-up bed and fixed it to the pump.

  ‘Well, you know my sister,’ Susie said with impatience, ‘some people said she should have let Alegria be adopted but I couldn’t let her go to strangers. She’s the nearest Matt and I have got to a child of our own.’

  ‘You couldn’t have adopted her?’ Xavier asked.

  ‘No, Val kept wanting her back, interfering and changing her mind,’ Susie said. ‘When we tried to explain that we thought Alegria needed a secure home, she played the motherhood card. Anyway, we did what we could.’ Susie’s voice was flat. ‘But children aren’t easy, are they? Especially when they’re old enough to make their own decisions.’ She cleared a place for him to put up the bed by the wall.

  ‘Look at Flora and Hugo,’ she went on, before he could answer. ‘They had one daughter almost before they married, and then another. They were a strong unit of four and now, to everyone’s surprise, both girls have upped and left for university in the States. No one saw that coming.’

  With the bed in place, Susie began to put on the sheets. ‘Amusing to meet up with Flora like this – small world.’

  ‘Yes, we met one summer on holiday, sailing at Aldeburgh – goodness, over twenty years ago – but she had to go home suddenly as someone, a relative I think, died. I was about to leave a day or so later and, somehow, we hadn’t got around to exchanging addresses. You remember what it was like then, with no mobiles, internet and all? We lost touch, so it’s great to meet up again now.’ He smiled at her. ‘Strange world.’

  ‘Well, that’s the bed made, thanks, Xavier,’ Susie said. ‘We’ll just sit back and wait for Alegria to arrive.’ She went out of the summerhouse on to the lawn. ‘I’m happy to have a day here, got quite a few things to do. Didi and Tony are doing supper and Matt is bringing back more wine and there’s salad and cheese for anyone who’s staying for lunch. What are you doing?’

  He hadn’t really thought. He’d been thrown by his ex-wife Darcy’s call early this morning, telling him she had to go suddenly to her father in Spain as his cancer had returned. She was putting Laurie on a plane to come to him tomorrow and she’d no idea when she’d be back.

  It would be wonderful to have Laurie with him now though, earlier than he thought.

  It would have been a gift to go out somewhere with Flora today, he thought, as he wandered round the garden, stopping to admire the bed of vivid red Cannas in the corner by the gate with their dark, purply leaves.

  Memories of that summer in Aldeburgh where he and Flora had met and fallen in love came back like a wave to envelop him. She’d called him her ‘almost lover’ he remembered after they’d been disturbed that night before they could make love on one of the islands on the lake in Thorpness. They had made a plan for the following night but the next day she had gone, and he, hurt and angry that she had left him no word, returned to France leaving no address behind. If only he’d known that she’d been called back home as a relative had died. How different life had been then, without the instant means of contact today.

  ‘I might join the others on the beach,’ he said now to Susie, who was tidying up some bright blue agapanthus lolling out of a terracotta pot, ‘or go up into the hills. Saint Tropez is s
o crowded.’

  ‘As you want. Oh, here come the others back from the market,’ Susie said, hearing the car. She put down her secateurs. Matt got out of the car followed by Didi and Tony all exclaiming over their purchases of fresh fish and vegetables.

  Xavier had a sudden longing to be with Flora. He’d drive down to the beach; he knew where she’d be.

  Before he could tell the others what he was going to do, Didi said. ‘I feel all hot and bothered after battling in the market, so we thought we’d go to the beach, catch up with the others.’

  ‘I’ll join you there, but I’ll take my own car,’ Xavier said, thinking that if he went alone he might be able to spirit Flora away.

  ‘Good idea, see you all later then.’ Susie smiled at him. ‘The food looks delicious, especially that fish. I’m really looking forward to supper time.’

  7

  Flora sat in the back of the car with Ben, wishing fervently that she hadn’t agreed to go on this trip to the beach. It was so hot; she’d forgotten the way that intense heat beat down, leaching away all your energy. She realised, with dismay, that being a passenger in the car meant she must fit in with Sylvia and Martha’s plans, and if they wanted to stay on the beach all day, she would have to do the same as there’d be no other way back to the villa.

  Ben, being quite solid, took up most of the back seat. He had lived here as a child and pointed various things out to her. ‘It’s so changed, of course, or maybe that’s my perception of it now that I am older.’

  ‘So did your parents work out here or are they French?’ she asked, forcing herself to be friendly.

  ‘My parents are artists. We camped out here, renting run down places, going to local schools until I went to boarding school. Things were cheaper then. You might not believe it now, but it can get very cold in the winter. I soon settled away at school, made good friends, Matt among them, though I wonder if staying out here would not have been a better education for life.’