‘He’s got a boss and a daily working routine,’ Liz said. ‘His time off is probably limited. And, also, I think he’ll probably need time to let the news sink in.’
‘Maybe Joan hasn’t even told him about me yet?’
‘I expect she has. She’s only here for a couple of days and she’d want him to know before she leaves.’ There was a short silence before Liz spoke again. ‘Do you have any idea of what you want to do now with all your free time?’
‘I think the best thing I can do is not to plan too much – just go with the flow. Take the next six months to look at all possibilities and see what happens before making any long-term decisions. Although there is one long-term plan I would like to settle because a lot of other things depend on it.’ Guy ignored Liz’s raised eyebrows at his words and carried on speaking. ‘Also, I need to visit Dad as I want to introduce Leon to him as soon as possible. There are a couple of things I need to settle here in Antibes, other than that, no plans.’ And he raised his glass in a toast-like gesture as he gave her a happy smile.
‘You asked me if I would do something the other evening and I said I’d think about it,’ Liz said.
‘And have you?’ Guy asked, suddenly feeling apprehensive.
‘I’ve changed my flight to Wednesday afternoon,’ Liz said. ‘I hope that’s all right,’ she added.
‘I wish it was for longer, but it’s definitely all right. You can always extend it if you decide to stay longer,’ Guy said, pulling her in for a hug.
Liz shook her head. ‘No. If I’m not part of that long-term plan you mentioned, I’d rather have a few days with you and go home before I get hurt.’
Guy gently put his finger on her lips. ‘Shh. Didn’t you hear what I said a moment ago? About the future – yours and mine? You being in my life is my long-term plan,’ he said slowly. ‘We will decide together on a future for both of us, because without you in it, my future will be empty.’
Liz sighed happily. ‘Now that’s settled, you can walk me home.’
‘I thought maybe you’d…’
Liz shook her head. ‘Not tonight. Tomorrow when we are here alone.’ And she leant in and kissed him goodnight.
40
Joan walked up to the villa Sunday morning to say goodbye to Helena, hoping to see Guy and to hear whether Leon had contacted him. She doubted though whether Leon had been in touch with Guy yet, it was barely twelve hours since she’d broken the news. Joan sighed. She was pleased for Leon, of course she was, but she couldn’t help wondering how having a new relative suddenly joining their family dynamic of three would affect things.
Nobody was in the hallway when Joan pushed open the door. ‘Hello. Anyone around?’
There was a loud crash from the direction of the kitchen, followed by a muffled expletive, before a harassed-looking Guy hurried into the hallway.
‘Morning, Joan. How are you? Are you alone?’ Guy looked around and out through the open door down the driveway. ‘I was hoping…’
Joan shook her head. ‘Sorry, I’m alone. What did you drop? It sounded like a whole battalion of cooking trays.’
‘It was,’ Guy said. ‘I managed to knock half a dozen stainless-steel trays off the table.’ He gave Joan an anxious look. ‘Have you told Leon about me yet?’
‘I told him last night.’
‘After what I guess would have been a huge initial shock to him too, did he say anything?’
Joan shook her head. ‘Not really. He was quite thoughtful after I’d told him about you. I think he was more than a little shellshocked when he left me last night.’ She gave Guy a sympathetic look. ‘It will take time for him to process. Don’t worry, I think it’s quite difficult for him to get time away from the yacht at the moment. You’ll meet him soon.’
Guy gave a resigned smile. ‘After thirty-four years of not knowing I had a nephew, I guess I can be patient for a couple of days at least.’
‘If you’ve got five minutes now, I’d like to ask you a couple of question of my own too.’ Joan looked at him hopefully.
‘Sure, ask away.’
‘I’ve already told you nobody really knew about us being together, we hadn’t told anybody. Besides, it was very early days. We thought we had the rest of our lives to tell people – your parents, my parents. Our secret plan was for us to marry as soon as we could.’ Joan paused. ‘Sometimes, though, when you think you are being cleverly secretive somebody guesses. And rumours start. The question I want to ask you is – when you went to Sicily did you hear any gossip about Jake and me? Gossip that might have made you think he had a girlfriend? A girlfriend who needed to know what had happened. To be able to share her grief with the family. Be asked to attend the funeral?’
Guy looked at her. ‘Jake was a few years older than me, but we were close growing up. As adults, though, we took different paths in life, and some years we only managed to see each other once or twice. He took his big brother status seriously and I knew he was always on the end of the phone for me if I ever needed advice and he’d move heaven and earth to get to me if I was in trouble. I still miss him.’ Guy paused. ‘To answer your question, you have to believe me when I say if I’d heard a whisper about Jake being in a relationship with anyone, I would have done my utmost to find them – because Jake would have wanted me to. And also to help everyone get through that dreadful time by being there for each other.’
Joan heaved a sigh of relief. ‘Thank you.’ Being unknown to Jake’s family she could cope with, but if they’d known about her and had ignored her presence in their son’s life – well, that would have been hard to deal with. ‘You must understand that I truly loved Jake. It was totally love at first sight for both of us.’
Guy gave her an understanding nod. ‘Love at first sight. It’s happened to me too. Can I ask you the same question. Did you know anything about our family?’
