Authors: Karen Aldous
‘You must take me to see it, Jack,’ his gran said.
Jack shrugged. ‘I…’
‘We can go along tomorrow,’ Cal nodded. ‘I’ll pick you both up about ten.’
Then to Cal’s surprise, Jack’s voice notched up an octave as he started to tell her about the salon. Missing out all the compliments he’d received from the girls, Jack said, ‘The guy who was doing cosmetic surgery was awesome. He drew me some sketches of how they lift back the skin on facial tucks. It was fascinating. So cool. Imagine being able to do that!’
Rose placed her hands to her slightly sagging jaw, pushing it up. ‘Yes, wouldn’t I love some of that?’
‘It’s amazing, Gran.’ Jack began demonstrating with his fingers, lifting his eyes and then his chin, pushing his skin back to his ears. ‘This, and like this. And,’ he clutched his chest with sincere excitement. ‘He showed me the before and after of a woman’s face in his catalogue, Jesus, he’d created a work of art. That must be so satisfying.’
‘Oh, sounds like you may have a contender for architecture here, Jack,’ his gran laughed. ‘Could you see yourself faced with cutting someone open?’
Cal’s eyes widened as Jack became increasingly animated.
‘I couldn’t do it to you, but, yes. I could. I think it would be a fun but challenging job. Arty like but with a bit of blood and gore. It’s not something that even entered my head before. I mean, I enjoy biology and I should get some excellent grades but, I’ll have to find out what I would need.’
Cal was tempted to join in but his mother was doing fine.
Rose embraced his sudden new discovery. ‘Why don’t you speak to this man, or Sophie? They can tell you what subjects to focus on.’
‘I don’t know. I’ve planned to go to London now,’ Jack said scrutinising Cal’s face and then raising a hand. ‘Sorry. I won’t speak about it.’
Cal straightened his jacket. ‘OK. I’ll be off. Have a nice evening and I’ll see you at ten.’
Lizzie had sat down with her laptop after making Thierry his tea when she heard Cal’s key in the door.
‘Jack.’ Thierry slid down from the table and ran to the door.
‘Sorry, just me,’ Cal said sweeping Thierry into his arms and squeezing him.
‘Cal, Mummy its Cal.’
Lizzie placed the laptop on the coffee table and rushed over. ‘Good to see you,’ she said slipping her arm around them both and pecking Cal on the lips. Immediately the touch and scent from his body sent her bubbling inside. ‘I thought as Jack was at your Mum’s, we’d eat out. Just you and me. Marie-Claire is here.’
‘Great with me,’ Cal said pulling her close as he lifted Thierry with one arm.
‘And I want to apologise for interfering.’ She gave him her sweetest pout.
‘You don’t have to.’ Cal brushed his lips to hers again and smiled. ‘So, lil’ man, tell me what you’ve been up to.’ He squeezed her before she went back to her chair.
Lizzie chuckled as she listened to Thierry give his account of his superheroes saving one another. Then as she flicked through emails and forums, a “Hello” on a forum pounced to her eyes. With heart racing, she clicked onto it.
Hello Lizzie,
I’m not sure if I am going to be much help. My dad is now eighty-three but he has never forgotten an incident when he was a lad which might be worth following up. He was seven or eight. His memory is a bit sparse now but since I bought him his laptop, he loves going through the forums and speaking to people from the East End. He was living in Rhonda Grove in Mile End at the time and says he remembers a couple in the flat below him who had two boys who he used to play with. These boys, he says, then got a sister. He remembers them coming home with a pram and the boys said their mum found her screaming at a bomb site at the church you mentioned. Apparently, the baby didn’t have a mother so they took her to look after her and, he believes, adopted her. My dad doesn’t know how old she was. He knows she wasn’t walking. She sat on the rug, so presumably she was about six months to a year. We don’t know. Anyway, if it is any help, Dad says the family name was Fordlock. The boys were Johnny and Jimmy. Johnny was about the same age as my dad and Jimmy about two years younger. Their Dad was called Johnny and their Mum, Elsie and, my Dad said, they moved to Kent soon after that. My dad thinks it might be Sidcup. Dad has a hunch it could be the baby girl but he doesn’t want to get your hopes up. Oh and he said, he thinks her name might be Angela.
If you do find out, Dad and I would love to know how you get on and if you ever find her.
Best wishes
Sue Loring and my Dad, Ronnie Speight.
Good luck and my email is above.
‘Oh, my God, Cal look at this.’ Her heart thumped. ‘She could be alive!’ Lizzie could only hope. It sounded plausible, and such a mound of information to work with. Immediately she Googled the name. Fordlock. She began researching on further listings, and at last began gathering momentum. Luckily it was an unusual surname and some company records showed a C T Fordlock, G R Fordlock, then she spotted the J&E Fordlock registered in Hythe on the Kent coast but it was only an old business.
Cal tore his attention from Thierry. ‘What is it?’
‘Annie, this could be Annie. Or Angela, she may be now. I’ve received a really interesting response from a lady and her father with possible names for my mum’s aunt.’
‘Lizzie, don’t get too excited. It may not be her.’
‘But he said she was found at the same church,’ she said looking up at Cal who was now leaning over her and reading, displaying a guarded expression, and then it hit her. ‘Mmm, there could have been several babies. Oh no, what if they were at a mother and baby group?’ Her throat thickened. ‘Arrgh,’ her hand rushed to her mouth. ‘How tragic.’
‘And would she have been adopted? Didn’t she have family?’
‘Yes, but…’
‘Follow it up with research by all means but just don’t raise your hopes.’ Cal rubbed her shoulder. ‘It could get painful. It’s not just your hopes.’
Lizzie contemplated the lives of these poor souls. What carnage the bombings left emotionally. Inside, she wanted to cry. What if this was her aunt? ‘I have to try.’
‘Well, gather the information and try to piece some of it together so that if you do get in contact, you can ask the right questions with some solid foundation.’
‘There’s a registration of both initials on a company in Hythe. A haberdashery. It ceased in 2000. But that’s good, I have a possibility.’
‘Great. But find out more.’
‘Oh, but that was years ago. Oh, I hope she is still alive.’
‘And, if they are, I wonder if she even knows.’
‘I’m sure her brothers would have said something. According to this man who played with them, they were old enough to know, so it’s unlikely to have been kept a secret.’
Cal’s phone gave out a loud ping. ‘Oh, sounds like Kelly,’ he said reaching for his phone and levering it from his pocket.
Lizzie tried to concentrate on her task, seeking out more information but found herself increasingly intrigued by Cal’s conversation. Things didn’t sound good. In fact, there seemed to be more going on than she’d realised. She caught the word ‘lawyer’ and swung round with a frown. She watched Cal march up and down the room. He was then telling Kelly not to leave the house but to seek advice through a lawyer if Reuben wasn’t communicating. After half an hour repeating himself, he finally managed to get off the phone.
‘That sounds serious,’ Lizzie said, glancing up at Cal.
‘Yep, now she wants to run away from Nantucket. She’s not thinking about her son at all. We are talking just a few weeks here. She’ll never get him to stay if she leaves.’
‘Why is she so desperate?’ she asked as Cal began stomping the room.
He shook his head. ‘I don’t know, Lizzie, Reuben, no, both of them, their marriage. I think it’s come to the end of its life. I don’t know the full story. I don’t care, if I’m honest. I just want her to think about how it will affect Jack. She can’t just announce his parents are divorcing and then up and leave when he has exams in a few weeks.’
Lizzie felt the blood drain from her face. Kelly would need Cal more than ever now.
Cal stood at the doors looking across the buildings in the square although Lizzie knew he was searching his mind for solutions. That is what Cal did. He had an in-built capacity to block emotion or pain and think about a way forward. He turned to face her.
‘Please don’t mention any of this to Jack.’
Lizzie shook her head. ‘No. Of course not. Listen, I’ll go have a quick shower and we’ll try and relax for a few hours,’ she said closing down her laptop and taking it to the drawer.
‘Yes, sounds like a good idea.’ He thrust out a deep sigh. ‘Will we get into La Toque d’Or?’ he asked grabbing her as she turned from the drawer.
‘Hmm, should do,’ she said slipping into his grasp. She tried to keep her tone upbeat but inside, the discordant tones of mistrust stung the pit of her stomach; the thought of Cal out in Nantucket with the now single and needy Kelly.
He held her for a few seconds. His lips, warm against the skin of her neck, sent gurgling lust spiralling through her body. Just as she was about to turn around, Marie-Claire’s voice shot out from the bedroom door.
‘Thierry, have you eaten your dinner?’ she said emerging from the doorway. ‘It’s nearly time for your bath.’
Lizzie arrived at the salon just before seven in the hope of getting some work done before joining Cal, Rose and Jack at Domaine Margot.
‘Good morning,’ she called, entering the busy reception.
Betty the cleaner sung cheerily as she did her last-minute buffing of the glass. Aimée the hair stylist and Margaux, a make-up artist, were discussing the finer details of a bride and her bridesmaids whilst Sylvie, the second receptionist, was listening to messages on the answerphone. Then, following just behind her, a deep Scottish voice boomed.
‘Morning, ladies,
bonjour
.’ Female eyes fluttered in his direction.
Lizzie jumped, clutched her chest, then stretched out a smile as she turned. ‘Good morning,’ she managed, noting how utterly smart he looked in a beautifully cut suit and his chin, clean-shaven. More disturbing was the way his eyes lifted and smiled. They shone bright blue this morning with an endearingly familiar warmth.
‘I spoke to my mother last night and she will be getting back to me later today. I can assure you she has no problem with the request, she will simply juggle as she usually does.’
‘Excellent, Angus. Tell her thank you.’
Grabbing a coffee, Lizzie went up to her office and began wading through her inbox and in-tray trying to stay focused, her mind continually wandering to Cal. They had spent a lovely evening together at the restaurant and, on their return, chatted until the small hours. He’d told her that Kelly had mentioned her marriage was a farce nowadays but he hadn’t expected it to blow up right now. Not with Jack going through such a difficult time. This made Lizzie wonder if Kelly was seeking an escape through Cal. And, of course, if he was returning for several weeks, what more would she be expecting from Cal?
Sinking lower within herself, memories of her previous humiliation wrenched her physically and mentally. She really wasn’t comfortable with the situation, but how could she say anything when he had a highly volatile Jack to tend to? Cal was getting notably stressed as it was. Hell, she thought. She could lose him either way. Scare him off with accusations and sulky jealous bouts, or let him slip away into Kelly’s open arms. What then was even more alarming was that Thierry would be the one who got hurt the most.
Trying to get her mind back on her work, Lizzie picked up her summer marketing schedule then checked the volume of bookings in place. They hadn’t been in Rue d’Antibes last summer and so it was difficult to predict how many passing tourists would take time out to stop in for treatment. Deciding she would have to create some sort of Summer Special campaign, she wrote it on her list for ideas to be generated.
A tap on the door alerted her to Angus.
‘Hi, come in.’
‘All sorted. She’s now coming over the last week of May. After that, I’m free all summer.’
‘Oh that’s brilliant. I really appreciate that,’ she said and he turned and left.
Why can’t everything be so easily resolved?
She checked the time and immediately shut down her computer.
After collecting Rose and Jack, they drove to Domaine Margot. Rose had definitely lifted Jack’s spirits and, when they arrived, he gave her a tour of the house like he’d just won top prize for estate agent of the year. He was babbling excitedly about the pool and the rooms with a view and then the Jacuzzi to be fitted outside his room where they now stood on the terrace.
‘Cal, this is absolutely stunning.’ She beamed at her son. ‘Goodness, this really is a dream. You’ve done really well to find this.’
Cal slid his sunglasses up as he observed his mother ‘A lot of work to do but, yes. I’m so pleased you like it.’ He pulled Lizzie towards him. ‘This will be our family home.’
‘Maybe Jack can help if he is here in the summer?’ Rose chanted. ‘That would be wonderful wouldn’t it, Jack?’
‘I would love him to…’ Cal stopped as Jack bolted a glance his way. ‘But we’ll see.’
‘Some of it, sure,’ Jack nodded.
Rose took Lizzie’s other arm. ‘The house will be beautiful when it’s done. Jack seems to love it too. Do you know, Jack was saying yesterday how impressed he was with the salon. Isn’t that right, Jack?’
Jack reached up and scratched his head and nodded. Lizzie wasn’t sure if he was just being polite to his gran.
‘As he was so keen on the cosmetic surgery side, I thought he would enjoy going to talk to Sophie or that man he met there, helping Sophie, I don’t know his name.’
‘Oh, Angus,’ Lizzie said, passing a quizzical glance at Cal.
‘Well,’ Rose said steadily, ‘this sounds a bit cheeky, Lizzie, and you can tell me to mind my own business if you’re any way offended, but would Jack be allowed to go along and see what they do? You know, get a better understanding to see if it was something he would like to do.’
‘That would be really cool,’ Jack said enthusiastically.