‘I don’t doubt it, but what if she doesn’t want a life following you around the world? How well do you know her, anyway? Would you consider giving everything up for her?’
He shook his head. ‘We haven’t got to that point, Nan,’ he said.
‘But you do like her, don’t you?’ she asked. ‘A lot.’
‘I really like her. We spent some incredible weeks together in Vietnam and then went our separate ways. I guess I was hoping we could carry on from where we left off.’
He waited for her to agree, or argue, but instead all she did was look down vacantly at the scrambled egg on toast she’d barely touched. ‘Not necessarily,’ she murmured eventually.
Gabe put down his knife and fork and rested one hand on his grandmother’s back. ‘Are you all right?’ He’d never seen her act like this before. It was out of character for her to appear down; even if she was upset, she always put a brave face on things. ‘Why does it matter to you how close Daisy and I are? Are you thinking about something that happened to you? Between you and Grandpa Lorenzo?’ He hoped she might finally be opening up to him about her mysterious past.
She nodded slowly. ‘I suppose I am. I resented him for something he did, something that I should have forced him to deal with, but instead I stupidly let my pride get the better of me. I ended up missing out on, well, I don’t really know, but it was impulsive and short-sighted of me, I know that now.’ She grabbed hold of his forearm. ‘When you’re young you assume you have all the time in the world to put things right, but life isn’t that simplesometimes.’
She smiled at him, but he could see it was forced and that she was trying to lighten the mood that had dipped so rapidly between them. ‘All I’m saying is, be sure of your feelings for Daisy before making any decisions. Try to remember that she will have her own ambitions for her future that might not fit in with yours, and if you want to be together try to find a compromise that works for you both before giving up on a future you might otherwise miss out on.’
‘I will, Nan,’ he said. ‘I promise.’
She smiled and patted his cheek. ‘Enough serious chat for now,’ she said. ‘Come on, let’s eat and make the best of this glorious July morning.’
He nodded. ‘Yes, let’s do that.’ He gave her a quizzical look. It unnerved him to hear her speaking so seriously about something, especially when referring to her past. She never spoke about anything from when she was young.
He could hear the phone ringing inside the house and stood up, but before he could step away from the table, Anna, the housekeeper, came outside holding the phone.
‘Madam, it’s Mr Rick on the phone. He says Miss Francesca is thinking she might not go away after all.’
His grandmother sighed and held out her hand to take the phone. ‘Thank you, Anna.’ She pushed her plate away and lifted the phone to her ear. ‘Francesca, what is all this nonsense?’ There was a silence while she listened to what his mother was telling her. ‘Absolutely not. I’m fine, and your son has generously taken the time to come back to Jersey and help me run the hotel. So, you will pack your bags and get on that flight and stop all of this. You do it every time you have to go away on location. It’s stage fright, nothing more. You’ll be fine once you get there.’ She raised her eyes heavenward.
Gabe smiled. He knew this routine by heart; he’dexperienced it for as long as he could remember.
‘Gabriel will be there to collect you.’ She shook her head and pointed at her watch.
‘Two-thirty,’ he mouthed.
He zoned out from the rest of the call to finish off his meal. Lydia soon rang off and placed the phone down on the table. ‘I don’t know why she puts herself through this,’ she said.
‘She loves it when she gets there. And when she comes home after filming has ended and she has something new to entertain her guests with back at the hotel.’
‘Yes, she does.’ Lydia took a sip of her tea and grimaced. ‘That’s cold now. I have to feel a bit sorry for your mother though,’ she said, laughing.
‘Why?’
‘Because each time she has one of her turns your father phones me. She knows I’ve got enough experience in films that she can’t argue with me. It always infuriates her.’
‘Poor Mum,’ Gabe said, smiling. He was relieved someone was able to stop her dramatics. He loved his mum very much, but she could be exhausting and as much as his father could be difficult to live with, with his roving eye and slight excesses with alcohol, Gabe knew that most of the time they had a great relationship, and for that he was very grateful.
‘Do you think Mum should have married someone who doted on her and followed her to her locations?’
His grandmother nodded. ‘Yes. She needs that hero-worship more than most and she doesn’t get it from your father because he’s too busy demanding it for himself. Mind you, I think at times like now that’s good for her.’ She laughed. ‘How you turned out to be so placid and happy with your own company, I don’t know.’
‘Is that what I am?’ he asked. He was different to hisparents, that was for certain. ‘I’m just relieved I never wanted to go into the acting business too. Can you imagine what it would have been like to have three of us involved in show business in the family?’
‘Four,’ she said, tapping his arm. ‘What about me?’
‘But you’re not a drama queen, Nan.’
‘No, but I probably used to be when I was younger.’
‘I have a feeling you would have secretly loved to come from a normal family like Daisy. She must think we’re all a little crazy.’ Lydia laughed. ‘Poor girl.’
