The highlight of every day in Antibes for Guy was settling down on the roof terrace at eight o’clock in the evening, a glass of wine in his hand, and making a video call to Liz. After a busy day of appointments, conversations and sorting paperwork, it was always a balm to his soul to see her and spend time, albeit at a distance, with her.
‘Hi, darling,’ he said that evening as she answered. ‘How are you today?’
‘Missing you madly, of course, but I’ve only just finished a Zoom call with the French retreat writers.’
‘How are they all?’
‘They are all fine. What have you been up to today?’
‘Leon is in port again for a fleeting visit. We had lunch together, which was good. I answered a few questions for him about Jake and afterwards we came back here and together we video called Dad.’
‘How was Edwin?’ Liz asked. ‘It must be very emotional for him.’
‘I did warn him that Leon truly does look like a young Jake and I think he was semi-prepared for that, but, yes, he did get emotional. Leon has promised to go and see him as soon as he has a few days off. I think he’s going to take Joan and Helena with him. Not to go straight in en masse but for them to be close by if Dad wants to meet them. Joan, I think, wants to meet him especially.’
‘Did Leon tell you Helena is engaged to Teddy his best friend?’
‘Yes, apparently they are both deliriously happy.’
‘Helena was certainly happy tonight,’ Liz said. ‘Oh, nearly forgot, Becky is also engaged to Xavier.’
‘Heaven help Xavier.’
‘Guy! I know she’s a bit full-on, but basically she’s a nice person.’ Liz paused. ‘Any news on the villa?’
‘The valuation came through today, so that’s something. Closing the business down is time-consuming, with all the paperwork involved and licences to cancel.’
‘Once the villa goes on the market, do you think it will sell quickly? Or is that an impossible question to answer?’
‘No, it will be sold quickly,’ Guy said. ‘I already have a buyer lined up. Sorting the legal paperwork out shouldn’t be difficult.’
‘Does that mean I’ll see you in person soon?’
‘Very soon hopefully,’ Guy said. ‘And then we will have a lot of decisions to make together.’
‘I can’t wait for you to be here and take those decisions. Right, I need to get myself some supper, so, goodnight,’ and Liz cheekily gave Guy a chef’s kiss at the screen.
47
Sandy and Romain were at Villa Celestia preparing the villa for the second retreat there to open at the weekend. Unusually, they could hear Guy moving around upstairs.
Sandy looked at Romain. ‘D’you think he plans to tell us any time soon that Villa Celestia is going on the market? It’s such a worry. I thought we were safe until the end of our contract.’
‘It’s not like Guy to be secretive, I’m sure he has good reasons for not telling us,’ Romain said. ‘Even if he does put it on the market, these things always take at least three or four months to go through.’
‘Not in this case,’ Guy said, dragging a suitcase behind him. ‘It can go through very quickly.’
Sandy turned guiltily to look him. ‘Sorry, Guy, to be talking about you, but we are pretty worried about the rumours we’re hearing. What about our contract for running the retreats from here?’
They both eyed him warily and waited.
Guy looked at them both. ‘The last two weeks have been incredibly busy, but there was a reason I didn’t come and tell you about Villa Celestia. I wanted to iron out all potential problems for you before telling you how happy I am, knowing I have the perfect private buyers for it.’
‘Without it even being officially up for sale?’ Romain said. ‘I know it’s a special villa but good for you. Sadly, not so good for us.’
‘Okay, full disclosure time,’ Guy said. ‘I’m not selling it with the “restaurant with rooms” business or any of the licences, just as a private villa. Your contract to run your retreats here until the end of the year still stands. I’m hoping you will officially take over Villa Celestia on January the first next year, but the villa will technically be yours as soon as you sign on the dotted line.’ Guy beamed at them both. ‘It’s all organised.’
Sandy held up her hand, palm outwards towards him. ‘Stop. That word “you”,’ she said looked at him. ‘Are you talking about Romain and me buying Villa Celestia?’
