What Happens at the Beach... (29 page)

‘It's not. It's at seven o'clock next morning, so I need to find a hotel near the airport for the night, because I'll have to get up at four or five.'

‘Let me do that for you. My treat. I'll sort you out with a room and, if you feel like it, I'll buy you dinner that evening first. All right?'

‘That's not fair, Mark. You've been quite generous enough to me already. I've always tried to pay my own way in life. That's one of the main bones of contention between me and David.'

‘Call it a bonus, for being so good at your job. You've worked for it and earned it. Okay?' At that moment the lady appeared with a candle on a plate. By now the sun had set behind the hills, the breeze had dropped and it was getting quite dark under the trees. Remarkably, the only insect Natalie had heard since arriving up here was a lone fly that buzzed around them for a few seconds before going off in search of food elsewhere. So far, no mosquitoes. The flickering candlelight made the scene even more romantic and Natalie smiled to herself as she reached for her glass and sipped her wine.

She saw that Mark was still drinking water, conscious that he had to drive home later. He was looking over towards the old house so she had time to study him in profile for a few moments. She really did like what she could see. And now he was offering to drive her to her interviews and even to book the hotel for her. This was so typical of his caring nature. Was there, she wondered, more to it than that? Was he just feeling sorry for her after the death of her dearly beloved grandma, or were there feelings stirring in him for her? After all, he had referred to her as beautiful earlier, and had indicated that he really liked her, even though he was still recovering from the stress of one failed relationship. And if he were developing feelings for her, how did she feel about him? She now found herself repeating not one, but two mantras over and over again. She had to concentrate above all on her career, and she couldn't risk falling for him just because he was helping her and supporting her.

A few minutes later the lady returned with a silver plate bearing a huge, deep-yellow-coloured omelette. She set in down in front of them and retired. Mark picked up the serving spoons. ‘Half?'

‘Dear God, no. Unless you think this is the main course?' He shook his head. He cut a third of the omelette and slid it across to her plate, taking a similar-sized piece for himself. Natalie tasted it and whistled. ‘That is just about the best omelette I've ever had. And just look at the colour. This is the living proof that free range birds lay the best eggs.'

The main course that followed was confît of duck accompanied by a mountain of roast potatoes. They carried on chatting as the meal progressed and she learnt more about him. The one thing that was emerging clearly was the fact that, in spite of all his wealth, he was a very grounded, genuine individual, and Natalie knew that her affection for him was growing by the minute.

Finally, after what was in all probability homemade cheese, followed by
îles
flottantes
, she sat back, replete and happy. When Mark came back from paying the bill, he made a suggestion. ‘I was asking if there's somewhere we could take Barney for his walk and they tell me there's a track through the
garrigue
up ahead that leads to a viewing point.
Garrigue
means bushes?'

Natalie nodded. ‘Sort of. It's a local word for the sort of scrubby vegetation you get up here. You know: wild rosemary, thyme, brambles, thorny bushes and so on. I must admit that a moonlight walk sounds rather fine.'

They stood up and followed the directions he had received until they came to the track through the bushes. As they walked, Barney trotted ahead of them, but Mark made sure he didn't venture too far into the
garrigue
. ‘The lady's husband who told me to come up here said to just be a bit careful because there are wild boar about. They can be quite dangerous, especially if they feel their young are being threatened.'

‘Wild boar?' Natalie gripped his arm with both her hands. ‘So that's what I keep hearing in the undergrowth.'

‘No, I doubt it. Probably just snakes.'

‘You bastard, Mark Markeson. Well, I'm counting on you to protect me.' To make her point she kept hold of his arm as they walked along in the light of the multitude of stars that filled the sky above them. It felt very good. It was a delightful night and, as their night vision improved, it was quite easy to find their way along the track and to pick out the surrounding hills. To their left, the bulk of the Montagne Noire formed a dark backdrop to the scene. To their right, they got occasional glimpses of the hillside dropping down towards the plains and then the sea.

After they had been walking for ten minutes or so, the track widened out into a clearing. The bushes formed a barrier ahead of them, but to their left, there was nothing. They walked across to a rocky promontory and found themselves standing on top of a near vertical cliff that dropped away hundreds of metres into the deep, deep gorge. Natalie's grip on his arm tightened. They were a very long way up and in the daylight it would have been a phenomenal view. By starlight it was still stunning.

They stood there in silent contemplation, Natalie still holding on to his arm with her hands. She could feel the warmth of his skin against hers and the rapid beating of his heart beneath her fingers. After a while, she felt him turn towards her and she looked up, seeing his face dark against the stars above. She closed her eyes in anticipation of a kiss that never came.

After a few moments, she opened her eyes once more and saw his face turned away from her, his eyes looking out over the wide emptiness of the gorge. She followed the direction of his gaze, but there was only darkness. He and she stayed like that for many minutes, warm and comfortable together, but she couldn't miss the realisation that a barrier had come down between them. Finally, just as her arm was beginning to go to sleep, he stepped back and looked down at the dog.

‘Right, then, Barney, you've had your walk. We've got to get this young lady home.'

They walked back along the path together, still arm in arm, but she sensed that his moment of decision had come and gone, and she had lost.

Chapter 16

Natalie didn't sleep well that night. It wasn't because she was alone in the house of her recently deceased grandmother. In fact, the old house felt familiar and reassuring, her grandmother's benign presence still palpable in all her possessions, from the espadrilles poking out from beneath the dressing table in her bedroom, to the half-empty bottle of Muscat in the fridge. As Natalie lay in bed, listening to the cicadas outside, she drew comfort from the knowledge that Colette had loved her dearly and helped her so much. What, Natalie wondered to herself, would her advice have been if she were still alive today? She went through the arguments in her head time and time again until, finally, around three o'clock in the morning, the answer came to her so simply and clearly, just like her grandmother had told her.

What counted were the interviews. Mark and David were less important than her need to find secure employment at this stage in her life. After her experiences at the hands of David and his mother, then Philippe down at the beach, and now her apparent rejection as anything other than a friend by Mark, one thing was quite clear. She was on a hiding to nothing with the men currently in her life. She decided to concentrate on her career, devoting the whole of the next day to researching all three institutions, their courses and the specialities of the people who would be interviewing her, so as to be as prepared as possible. Finally reassured that she once more had a way forward, she fell asleep and slept until the sun coming in through the window landed on her face and woke her.

She checked the time and was unsurprised to see that it was already almost eight o'clock. She threw off the single sheet that covered her and went into the bathroom, emerging ten minutes later, ready for the day. The first thing she had to do was go up to the chateau and collect Barney. As Mark was away for the day meeting old friends in Perpignan, and as Madame Lenoir and her husband were going to a family lunch that day, Natalie had volunteered to look after the dog and was looking forward to his company. She walked up through the trees to the chateau and across to the back door. As she took the key from under the flower pot at the side of the door, she heard scrabbling from inside and a little whine. Barney had realised that she was there.

She opened the door and received a joyous welcome. After collecting his bowl and a bag of food from the table she went back out with him, locking the door behind her and replacing the key. Together they returned to her grandmother's house where she dumped the food, and then she let him lead her on an hour's walk through the woods round as far as the right-hand headland overlooking the bay. From there she could see down to the restaurant where Dominique was out on the terrace, clearing up and preparing the tables for lunch. Natalie waved down to her but Dominique didn't have time to look up. Sunday for them was the busiest day of the week and if Natalie hadn't had to prepare for the interviews and look after the dog, she would have offered to help.

It was another brilliantly sunny day and, as they walked back through the pine trees, Natalie resolved to come back to the beach later on for a swim if she had time. She sat down on a rock near the end of the headland, sufficiently far from the cliff for her not to be worried on Barney's account. He settled down in the shade of the rock beside her and she was free to let her mind roam. In the car on the way home the previous night, she and Mark had barely spoken. He had seemed far away, lost in his thoughts. She wondered if he was regretting taking her to such a romantic place, and the atmosphere in the car had been a bit strained as a result.

She glanced back over her shoulder and saw her grandmother's house on the hillside, the place where she and her parents had been so happy in the past. Now, she knew with crushing certainty, those times had passed and it was, as she had said, just her against the world. She might be stronger now than five years ago, but it didn't disguise the fact that she was still alone. In spite of her resolve, she started to cry once more. She told herself she was crying for her grandmother, but, deep down, she knew she was crying for herself.

After a while, she took a deep breath, blew her nose and wiped her eyes. Together with Barney she walked back through the trees to the house. After giving him a couple of biscuits and making some coffee for herself, she set up her laptop on the kitchen table and started her research with the Cathar centre in Carcassonne. From there she moved on to the Canadian university and by early afternoon she felt she was as clued up as she could be in advance of Tuesday's interviews. Barney spent the whole morning snoring in the corner and only opened his eyes when she got up to prepare a sandwich for lunch. Now that Colette was no longer with her, Natalie resolved to cut down on the food she was consuming, although her regular swims and the stress of this summer's events meant that she definitely weighed a few pounds less than when she had arrived in France.

She was so tied up with researching the three possible jobs, sorting through her grandmother's documents, and looking after the dog, that she didn't get down to the beach after all. Finally, after walking up to the chateau and handing Barney over to Madame Lenoir just before dark, she toyed with the idea of going for a swim, but decided against it. With Mark for company was one thing. Out in the sea at night on her own was quite another. Thinking of Mark made her mind start churning over yet again what had, or rather what hadn't, happened the previous night, and she got home feeling a bit low as a result. A couple of glasses of the local rosé and a goat's cheese salad cheered her up a little, but she went to bed feeling unsettled once more, thoughts of Mark and David whirling in her head.

Monday morning was spent in a mad rush, informing all the relevant authorities of her grandmother's death. Although the doctor had been to the town hall, Natalie had to go back there to inform the local tax authorities, and from there she went to the bank. She received one piece of good news when the girl in the bank told her they could release sufficient funds from her grandmother's account to pay for the funeral and the reception. This took a weight off Natalie's mind and relieved her seriously stretched finances.

She got home at just before one o'clock on Monday and was pleased to find Barney lying on the terrace waiting for her.

‘So, your master not back yet, then?' The Labrador got up, trotted across to her and stood up on his hind legs, reaching his paws up to her waist. She caught the big furry pads in her hands and looked deep into his eyes. ‘You're gorgeous, you know, and I love you to bits.' This, she thought to herself, was what love should be like; simple, open and uncomplicated. ‘Why do we humans make such a mess of it, Barney?' He didn't appear to know, but he licked her fingers anyway.

Natalie went down and spent the afternoon on the beach, joined partway through by Barney once more. She managed to persuade him to come into the sea as far as his tummy, but he refused to come in any further. Leaving him there, she swam out to the mooring buoys, thinking about the interviews to come and the effect they might have on the course of her life. She thought yet again about her grandmother and her lovely old house that, almost certainly, would have to be sold. Staring up at the rocky headlands ahead of her she reflected that this was probably the last summer she would come swimming out here. It was a sobering thought; yet another connection with her youth being stripped away.

She and Barney went back to the house at just before six and had only been there for a few minutes when her phone rang. It was Mark. She found she was very pleased to hear his voice.

‘Hi, Natalie. I'm back.'

‘Hi, Mark. If you're looking for your dog, he's lying on my feet.' She glanced down to the shade under the table to where the dog was stretched out. ‘He's been keeping me company, and my feet warm.'