‘That was some display,’ Liz said as the noise finally died away. She couldn’t tell Guy that the whole extravaganza had taken on a surreal feeling for her. She’d never dreamt that she would ever be standing on a rooftop terrace on the French Riviera watching an amazing firework display with a man she already felt she had a connection to. And yet here she was. ‘Thank you so much for asking me to watch it with you.’
Guy picked up the champagne bottle. ‘Shall we finish the last little drop?’
‘Why not? Be a shame to waste it.’ Liz smiled as she held out her glass.
* * *
Half an hour later, Liz stood up. ‘Time for me to go.’
‘Come on, I’ll walk you home,’ Guy said with a serious look on his face before they both laughed.
Once downstairs, Guy leant in and gave her a fleeting kiss on the cheek.
‘Goodnight, thank you for a lovely evening. See you later today.’ And the door closed behind him as he disappeared back up the stairs.
As she got ready for bed, Liz smiled to herself. The freedom to live life on her own terms was a major bonus of being unexpectedly single at her age. Giving her the chance to make special friends, even to form a new relationship with someone special. But, she reminded herself, however special she felt Guy could be, she’d be leaving Villa Celestia in a week’s time and going home.
23
Liz was woken Sunday morning by the sun streaming into her room. Sleepily, she picked her phone up off the bedside table and groaned. Ten past ten. Lying there, slowly coming to, she smiled, remembering last evening. It was definitely a few hours she would never forget. A perfect private space above the lights of the Riviera twinkling along the coastline, the company of a man she really liked, slow French jazz in the background, lovely champagne. It had all the makings of a romantic seduction scene in one of her books.
Except there was no seduction, just a growing friendship between two people who liked each other. The decision seemingly made by both of them to take things slowly. As her head cleared, Liz found herself thinking,Not too slowly though, I’m only here for another week.And with that thought, she reluctantly threw the duvet aside and got up. A hot shower would stop those kind of thoughts.
Standing under the powerful jets of water, she wondered if Guy had overslept too. She hoped not, he had guests to provide breakfast for.
It was almost eleven o’clock when she made it downstairs, obviously too late for breakfast. In fact, there was no sign of anybody being around.
Liz placed a coffee pod in the machine and picked up a packet of palmier biscuits.
‘Missed you at breakfast! Are you okay?’ Guy’s voice broke the silence and she whirled round to see him standing in the doorway of the dining room looking at her with a smile on his face.
‘I’m fine. I just overslept, which is unusual for me. How about you?’
‘Up with the dawn chorus as usual! Thank you again for a lovely evening.’
‘Thank you for inviting me,’ Liz said. ‘And those fireworks were a real bonus.’
Guy smiled. ‘We must do it again before you leave.’ As he spoke, they both heard the front door of the villa open and close. ‘That will be Zoe. Catch you later.’ And with a smile, Guy disappeared into the kitchen.
Out in the garden, Isobel was sitting under one of the parasols enjoying a mid-morning cup of coffee and beckoned her over, a look on her face that told Liz she was about to be bombarded with questions.
‘So how was last night? What did you get up to when we went paddling in water that was barely above freezing? And don’t tell me you stayed in your room and brainstormed your story.’ Isobel gave Liz a knowing look that silently said, I know better!
Liz briefly wondered whether it was worth trying to bluff her way out of saying anything about last evening, but, on the other hand, it would be good to talk about her feelings and Isobel had been a good sounding board over the last year when all the divorce business had felt overwhelming. ‘What do you think I did last night then?’ she said, a teasing note in her voice, playing for time and breaking one of the crisp palmier biscuits apart.
‘Well, I came up to get a towel before going paddling and saw you disappearing behind a certain door. And, later – much later, I might add – after we got back, I knocked on your door and you didn’t answer. You could of course have been fast asleep by then, but my head is saying that you were still upstairs.’ Isobel grinned at her. ‘Right or wrong?’
Liz smiled and shook her head at her friend. ‘I can see why you write crime with detailed clues. Okay. I haven’t told you this, but when I went shopping in Antibes for my swimming costume, I bumped into Guy and we had a glass of wine together in a lovely secret garden cafe. Afterwards, he invited me to watch the fireworks last night from his roof terrace,’ she said. ‘So I did.’
‘Two dates within one week,’ Isobel said.
Liz shook her head. ‘New friends spending time together. Definitely not a date as such. I don’t think either of us is ready for more than friendship at this moment in our lives.’ There was absolutely no way she was going to tell Isobel how by the end of the evening she wished it had been a proper date. It felt too much too soon. ‘Ralph leaving me for another woman was hurtful, but I’d fallen out of love with him sometime before and I’ve come to realise he actually did me a favour by leaving,’ Liz said quietly. ‘Guy, on the other hand, is still grieving for his wife. I get the feeling she was the love of his life.’ She finished her coffee and pushed the cup away.
‘A holiday romance would do you good,’ Isobel said gently.
‘A holiday romance is not generally a long-term one and I think I’d rather like to have Guy in my life as a friend than not at all,’ her voice trailed away. ‘He’s a lovely man.’
‘You really like him, don’t you?’
