A French Affair by Susan Lewis

Author:Susan Lewis [Susan Lewis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2007-05-16T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

BY THE TIME she returned to the cottage Jessica was struggling to hold onto her good mood, but it was hard, for even as she dialled Charlie’s number she was aware of how afraid she was of falling out with him again. However, if it was going to happen it luckily wouldn’t be right away, as her call was diverted straight to his voicemail.

‘Hi, darling,’ she said affectionately, ‘just wondering how you are, and if you’ve managed . . .’ Realising any mention of her mother was likely to annoy him, she quickly altered what she’d been about to say, and continued with, ‘to speak to Harry today. He seemed a bit homesick when I called him this morning, so I wondered if he sounded the same to you. Anyway, give me a call when you can – and sorry about waking you this morning. Love you.’

Not sure how she felt about having to tread so carefully around him for fear of being snapped at or told she was insensitive to his feelings, she rang off and gave a deep, shuddering sigh. She guessed the important thing was that they didn’t keep arguing over nothing, and maybe it would help if she stopped telling him about her meetings with the officials. After all, he’d gone through the horror of it once before, and to a far greater degree than she had. Maybe she should accept that this was her quest for answers, not his, since he clearly believed he already knew them.

With that thought still in her mind, she began dialling her mother’s number in Capri, and to her amazement there was an answer after the fifth ring. ‘Hello?’ she said, sounding as uneasy as she felt. She’d been so certain of finding no-one at home that she couldn’t quite remember what she intended to say now. ‘Is that Maurice?’

‘Yes,’ a male voice replied. ‘Who am I speaking to?’

‘Jessica.’

‘Ah, Jessica.’ He sounded genuinely pleased to hear her, and he had no reason not to be, she thought, for unlike most of her mother’s conquests she’d always got along very well with Maurice. ‘How are you, my dear?’ he asked. ‘I hear you’re in France. Is it as hot there as it is here?’

‘Probably,’ she answered, grateful to him for not mentioning the reason she was here. ‘I’ve been trying to get hold of my mother. Is she still with you?’

‘She most certainly is. She’s in the pool at the moment, but I’ll go and get her.’

‘Before you do that,’ Jessica said, ‘tell me, is she all right? I mean, what was the collapse all about?’

‘Oh, she’s on fine form,’ he assured her warmly. ‘Never looking better, if you ask me. Ronnie, darling, here’s Jessica to speak to you.’

Jessica heard the splash of water as her mother climbed out of the pool, then after a muffled exchange with Maurice, Veronica’s voice came down the line saying, ‘Darling, how are you? Charlie said you were trying to get hold of me, but we’ve been sailing for a few days .

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.