Hot Basque: A French Summer Novel 2 by Laurette Long

Author:Laurette Long [Long, Laurette]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-05-11T04:00:00+00:00

***

‘Right, O’Toole. Spill.’

At last Jill and Caroline were alone, stretched out on sun beds. Edward and Julian had just left to watch Dominique training for his next cesta punta match. Antoine was working at the shop, but was meeting them for dinner later on.

Caroline rolled on to her stomach, preparing to give her friend the third degree, when Nadia arrived, bringing Joshua down to the pool after his afternoon nap.

They settled him in the shade of a parasol. Jill, with a sly grin at her friend, mouthed ‘later’ and shot into Auntie mode, rubbing sun-cream into the baby’s ‘ickle tummy-wummy’.

Nadia asked if it was alright if she went in the pool.

‘Of course Nadia, good heavens you don’t have to ask,’ said Caroline.

Nadia had enjoyed herself yesterday evening during the water pistol fight, and Caroline had noticed her looking longingly at the sea and the surfers this morning. She slipped out of her shorts, doused herself under the solar shower, and walked to the edge.

‘Careful’, Caroline called, ‘that’s the deep end.’

Nadia smiled and nodded. She was wearing a strict navy blue swimsuit. Her body was neat, streamlined, boyish. She stood at the edge of the pool, feet together, arms by her side. Then in a movement that was both swift and graceful she swung her arms above her head and dived into the water with scarcely a splash. She swam the length of the pool underwater, surfacing at the shallow end, near Jill and Caroline and the baby. She paused long enough to take a breath, then launched into a stylish crawl. She did twenty lengths without stopping, completing the turns in a fluid movement that brought her back on course without a ripple.

As she hoisted herself out of the water with a smooth efficient push of her arms, Caroline and Jill broke into spontaneous applause.

‘Wow! That was impressive Nadia. And beautiful to watch.’

‘Yes, you’re really good.’

Jill patted the sun bed next to her. With a shy smile, Nadia sat down and began to towel her hair.

‘I was in the swimming team at school. Then later the national team.’

‘Really?’The Polish national team?’

‘Yes. I had to stop when my father-’ she faltered, broke off, pulled herself together and continued almost sternly.

‘My father died. He fell down, at work, suddenly. It was–’ she searched for the word ‘aneurysm?’

‘Yes, an aneurysm.’ Jill’s face showed sympathetic shock. ‘How old was he?’

Nadia looked down, wiped some water off the sun bed.

‘Forty-two. After that, it was very hard for my mother. My big sister, Paula, finally she took my mother to her home to be with family. And I, that was when I started to look for a job.’

‘Is that how you came to work for Julian and Annabel?’

‘No, this is my third family.’

She leaned over and stroked Joshua’s cheek.

‘It must have been hard,’ said Jill. ‘To leave the other children, I mean. You must get attached.’

‘Yes, sometimes it was very hard.’

She reached for her bag, rummaged inside and took out a wallet.

‘These are my other children.’

She took out two photos.

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