Biarritz Passion: A French Summer Novel (19 page)

She introduced the two of them to Annabel.

‘Ah! Another English rose!’ Antoine kissed Annabel’s hand and was rewarded with a dazzling smile.

‘Three beautiful women! Alone!’

Dominique threw himself down next to Claudie, who turned to Caroline.

‘Did I tell you that Dominique and Antoine were on the
pelota
team with Jean-Paul? In fact they do everything together, everything crazy and dangerous.’

‘Pelota
,’ said Caroline, trying to remember her guidebook.

Antoine began to explain, first in halting English, then
:

‘
Tu parles français
?’ he asked a gleam of hope in his eyes.

‘Un peu.
’

‘Ah!’
His face cleared and he launched into a rapid-fire explanation with lots of gestures. Annabel switched off after the first couple of minutes and started fiddling with her cell phone.

Caroline nodded, remembering, as Antoine demonstrated.

‘I was reading about it. And I think I’ve seen it on television, or something like it. It was a programme about South America. Don’t they call it
jai alai
?’

‘South America!’ Antoine was clearly insulted. ‘Yes, it’s been adopted all over the world,
but
jai alai
is our game, a Basque game. It originated here. And it was the Basques who discovered America, you know.’

Caroline apologised, realising she had ruffled some patriotic pride.

‘Hey Jean-Paul!’

Jean-Paul came back to the table, clasping his friends’ hands with a loud smack.

‘Here come the drinks.’

Edward and Julian were both holding trays of glasses that tilted perilously as they were jostled by the swarm of pe
ople on the terraces.

The music had started and couples were pressing on to the square.

Julian was introduced and came in for some joshing as the friend of the ‘
faux Basque’
, the fake Basque as they called Edward.

‘Look at him, blondie, calls himself a true son of the
pays
.’

Edward put up with the jokes good-naturedly
, boasting that he was not only able to play
pelota
with the best of them, he could also play cricket like Gary Sobers.

‘Who?’ Antoine and Dominique spoke in chorus.
‘Cricket?’

‘Tell you what,’ said Julian. ‘We’ll organise a match on the beach, Edward, what do you say? Show these innocents what a fast ball really means.’

Caroline smiled. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. All except Annabel who was nursing
her drink with a sulky expression.

‘Everything OK sweetheart?’ said Julian, guiltily.

‘Is that all everyone talks about here? Surfing and
pelota
and cricket? I thought we’d come out to dance.’

She looked at Antoine from under her lashes.

‘I’m sure Monsieur Antoine here isn’t going to leave a lady sitting down when there’s some music playing.’

Antoine spluttered into his beer and made to get up.

‘Of course, please excuse me, that is, if that’s OK with you Julian?’

‘Go ahead
old chap,’ said Julian scarcely hiding his relief.

Annabel flung him a look and marched off to dance with Antoine.

‘I know,’ he said to Caroline, ‘I’m going to have to take lessons. I’m hopeless with these modern dances. Two left feet. They don’t seem to do Viennese waltzes any more.’

‘I’ll ask Claudie to teach you,’ said Edward. ‘She knows every dance going.’

Claudie and Dominique had followed Antoine and Annabel out into the throng and could now be seen doing some strange ballet known only to them which seemed to consist of a lot of sensuous wriggling up and down on the spot mixed in with some spectacular Argentine tango moves and bursts of jive.

‘That was amazing! Antoine is a brilliant dancer!’

Annabel flung herself down and took a long drink of Julian’s beer.

‘Steady on darling.’

She raised her eyes heavenwards.

‘Come on Edward, your turn!’

She was on her feet again, clicking her fingers in time to the music, holding out her hand with an imperious gesture.

‘Really darling!’ said Julian ‘you mustn’t get too tired!’

Annabel didn’t deign to reply, simply tossed her blond mane and seized Edward’s arm. With a look which said ‘what can I do?’ he allowed himself to be dragged into the mass of gyrating bodies.

‘We must not be beaten! Caroline?’

Caroline hadn’t the heart to refuse Jean-Paul, even though her feet were aching in her new sandals and she could feel a blister coming on one heel.

The band was playing a rumba.

‘I haven’t the faintest idea how to do a rumba!’ she protested as he led her into the thick of the dancers. She tried to remember the moves she’d seen on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’. Rumba, the dance of love. Oh wow. But she need hardly have worried. There was so little room that the two of them could only stand still and sway in time with their neighbours. Allowing herself to relax and succumb to the rhythm Caroline threw back her head and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the night sky stretched out above the treetops, soft and immense and studded with stars.

They stayed on the square for a couple more numbers before making their way back to the table. Edward and Antoine were talking to a group at the bar. Dominique and Claudie were nowhere to be seen.
Maybe trying out some ‘Fifty Shades of Grey routines’? thought Caroline, remembering their Argentine tango. Annabel and Julian were sitting in frosty silence, chairs apart. Annabel’s face wore a look of elaborate boredom.

‘Uh
oh,’ said Jean-Paul as they drew near.

‘JP! Just in time!’

Annabel leaped to her feet and seized him by the wrist before he could sit down.

‘Surely
you
aren’t too tired to dance with me!’

She threw a black look in Julian’s direction.

‘Come on, let’s leave the older generation to nurse their bedtime drinks!’

Caroline taken aback watched her sister storm into the crowd. Jean-Paul threw out his hands and gave an expressive shrug.

‘
C’est la vie
! Women,
mon ami
.’ He patted Julian on the shoulder. ‘You know they are from Venus? Claudie keeps telling me. We are from somewhere else, apparently, maybe a very small stupid planet? In any case we shall never understand their higher intelligence.’

Caroline’s heart warmed towards him.

Julian gave a little smile of thanks which faded as Jean-Paul followed the blond mane into the thick of the dancing.

‘Damn damn damn.’

He turned to Caroline.

‘Sorry. It’s all got a bit too much tonight.’

He looked so fraught that Caroline impulsively put her hand over his and gave it a squeeze.

‘What’s the latest?’

‘Oh it’s...’ he shrugged. ‘Just another argument. The same old story. We’ve had row after row these last two weeks. I didn’t want to say anything earlier, spoil your holiday. But I’m at my wits end Caroline. I don’t know what to do for the best.’

Caroline shook her head in dismay. She hadn’t realised things had deteriorated so badly.

‘Is it the Frankfurt business?’

‘That’s part of it. The thing is
, this new deal with the Germans is essential for the firm. I won’t hide it, we were struggling when they came along. What can I do? I’m the CEO, I simply have to go out there. She just doesn’t seem to understand that. But if she came with me, she’d have every luxury she could imagine, no work, no stress, as much money as she wants, a car to take her to the shops, trips back to London. She could rest, take it easy—’ he broke off and took a deep breath. ‘Every time I mention it she becomes evasive, irritated, sometimes it’s as if—’ he shook his head, ‘as if she hated me.’

‘Oh Julian I’m so sorry.’

Privately, Caroline was beginning to have serious misgivings about the future of the relationship. She had picked up on her sister’s irritability with Julian. The others had noticed it too. And long experience warned her that if Annabel did not embrace an idea wholeheartedly from the beginning, it was almost impossible to get her to change her mind. Was she having second thoughts about the engagement? If that was the case, Caroline decided, she absolutely had to speak to Annabel, get her to stop playing around and give Julian a straight answer. Even if the answer wasn’t one he wanted to hear. She couldn’t carry on in the role of fiancée simply to make use of Julian as a rich and attractive escort. It was too shameful. Caroline wouldn’t let her. They could all see how miserable and unhappy he was. If only Margaret was here. Caroline sighed. She had to take Annabel on one side as soon as possible, play the
gendarme
. She hated the idea. She wanted a happy ending for them, wedding bells and babies. But some things were just not meant to be.

She hadn’t the heart to say any of this to Julian, who was slumped in his seat as though the cares of the world were on his shoulders.

‘Cheer up Jules. It might just be a passing cloud. You know how temperamental Annabel can be. Maybe after the holiday, you know, when you’re back at home, things will be different. And don’t forget, you’ve both been working hard, well especially you, Julian. You’re stressed, Annabel’s stressed, she probably just doesn’t want to think about anything except enjoying herself right now. Look how she was last night! Life and soul of the party!’

‘Oh Caro, you’re such a sweetheart. The thing is...’

He looked like a despondent little boy. She gave his hand another squeeze, put on a reassuring smile.

‘The
path of true love and all that. I’ll talk to her. Promise.’

The music had stopped. Hot and dishevelled,
the dancers were returning to their tables. Caroline offered up silent thanks. She felt really bad for Julian. Part of her wanted to simply come out and tell him to forget all about Annabel, her sister simply wasn’t worth it. She was shallow, she was self-centred, she was calculating. Caroline had been the victim of all her sister’s bad traits. Of course there were other sides to her as well, she could be loving, generous, attentive. When she felt like it. That was the trouble. Predicting how Annabel was going to feel was like watching a weathervane in a turbulent wind. In any case, Caroline told herself, Julian would not take the slightest notice. He was just too hooked.

Jean-Paul fell into an exaggerated totter as he neared the table moaning about ‘
les
anglaises
’ and where did they get all that energy it must be something in the tea. Annabel paused on the edge of the square, pretending to watch the musicians.

‘Miss MacDonald. May I have the very great pleasure?’

Edward was holding out his hand, bending over in a mock bow.

Glad to escape, she let Edward lead her away from the table, where Annabel had finally sat down and was now talking too fast and too loudly to Jean-Paul.

They made their way towards the small stage. The band were consulting over their next number. Caroline was keenly aware of Edward’s fingers, warm and strong, gripping hers. The musicians picked up their instruments, the lead singer, a voluptuous girl in a short red dress, cradled the mike, and in a warm and sexy voice murmured a couple of words in Spanish. The crowd roared.

‘
Si si si
!’

The chant died down as the guitar started up, playing a soft and sultry tango.

‘
Bésame, bésame mucho
...’

The singer tossed her long black hair from her face, closed her eyes and swayed her hips. Caroline found herself pulled towards Edward and caught
up in the erotic rhythm of the song. Any reticence vanished as the steps came back to her, and she found her body responding perfectly to the commands of her partner.

‘Slow slow quick quick, slow slow quick quick...’
she remembered her Aunt issuing commands as she and Birdie guided the sisters round the living room at Willowdale. Waltzes, foxtrots, the quickstep. And fortunately, the tango.

‘A girl simply has to know
all the ballroom dances. It’s a social obligation, and what’s more, it’s jolly good fun!’

‘
Besame mucho, que tengo miedo a perderte después!’

As t
he singer threw back her head and poured her heart into the words Edward pulled Caroline hard against him. The instant their bodies touched, a thousand fireworks exploded. She gasped as her body caught fire.

‘
Do you understand Spanish?’ he murmured into her ear, his breath coming hot and rapid on her neck.

‘No
, I, the title, I just know the title. ‘
Besame mucho.
’