Karen Aldous - The Vineyard

Charles leaned forward in his chair as the others joined him with full glasses in the cushioned outdoor loungers. Annatia retreated to the kitchen.

‘Exciting Jez.’ Cal couldn’t work out whether he was really happy for his friend or just plain green with envy. Jez was living his dream!

‘Gramps didn’t do much with it as a growing business. This was his hobby, his retirement toy. He didn’t want to do too much so we’re financing a new website and upping the stakes for awards and appellation – generally putting ourselves on the map.

‘Well this won’t do your reputation any harm,’ Cal said, holding up his wine glass. ‘This is excellent.’

‘Cheers mate. A little “beaut “don’t you think?’

‘You won’t hear me complain.’

Charles sipped his too just to find out what all the fuss was about. ‘Umm, yes, fine young filly. I think. Aren’t French wines passé now?’

‘French wines have had to up their game these last few years with all the competition, especially from countries like Italy and the new world wines. It’s tough!’ said Jez.

‘I think our English wines will be giving you a run for your money too.’ Cal winked across at Jez.

‘How is Domain de Caroline?’ Jez asked as Annatia filled a table under the canopy with brightly coloured food.

‘She too is coming along nicely. Just given her a spray actually.’ Cal sucked in his cheeks at Jez’s reference to his own vineyard. His pride and joy and, woe anyone who mocked it!

‘Have you started building your winery yet?’

‘We finished the foundations and the panels are just going up. I’ve got the electricians coming in next week to do the first fix.’

‘Great stuff. So what square footage is it gonna give you?’

‘It will be about three thousand square feet. Not huge but enough for an office, two loos, cave, tank room, press, bottling and public areas. Caroline has been great helping with the planning. Although that is not going down well with the daughter.’

‘Oh! Not heard about this one at all.’ Jez raised his wide brows as he spoke.

‘To be honest, I don’t know much but I think she is the benefactor of the estate but she and Caroline don’t see eye to eye. It could potentially be a problem.’

‘Why?’ Jez enquired.

‘Told you,’ piped Charles. ‘Bloody women. Put a spoke in your works!’

‘You could be right Charlie-boy, you could be right. I don’t know the story exactly but she came home for the first time in years and they had a big row. Caroline isn’t saying too much but I get the feeling it’s about the land. The daughter, it turns out, lives here in France, in Cannes, so I thought I would try and find her as I was close.

‘Well that’s about as useful as a stone in a shovel of shingle!’ Charles at least was following the conversation.

‘I figured there probably aren’t that many beauty salons in Cannes but oh…how wrong was I? Anyway as luck would have it, I bumped into her yesterday in Aix.’

‘Excellent, so?’ Jez asked.

‘Humm…Ok, I’m keen to get them talking. I have to. I’ve invested a lot of money and time so it’s in my interest as well as Caroline’s. Although, Caroline worried me a bit when she said, “My daughter needs to do some growing up.” They’ve obviously come to blows and I’m not sure if either are that bothered to be honest.’

‘Leave it be then Cal. Caroline wouldn’t appreciate you meddling,’ Charles said with his lawyer hat on.

‘Help yourself to food, guys.’ Annatia called, peeling off the last of the coverings.

Cal resisted saying any more. He was acutely aware of two things, his vulnerability if anything were to happen to Caroline; what would happen to him and the vines? Would the contract still stand? Lizzie was never part of the equation. Also since setting his eyes on Lizzie his head had not been in the right place and his heart, well, it had been reeled in to the point that it needed to get nourished or starve. He needed to find out whether she felt the same. After her fluster yesterday and her effort this morning, he suspected she may. But even though she’s not in a relationship with the father of her child, she may have a partner, be married even. He was becoming quite keen to find out more about her, this beautiful, graceful but intriguing Lizzie Lambert. How he was going to do this, he didn’t yet know.

Chapter 5

‘Anton. Please don’t call the salon! I’ll give you a number,’ Lizzie told him as she met him at his hotel reception. It was a vast hall of polished brown marble running from the front to the back of the huge Victorian building. A long contrasting light marble reception desk faced them with several staff busily greeting hotel guests clutching cases wheeled behind or stashed by marble columns. She’d only agreed to meet him in the reception area, public enough hopefully to keep Anton’s behaviour in check but Lizzie refused to sit down as she watched him pace.

‘Well you should have rung me. You have my number. I ring the salon and you are not there anyway.’ Anton marched back and forth by a long glass-topped coffee table.

‘That’s because I am at home with my little boy.’ Here’s my home number,’ she sat and pulled out a pen and a scrap of paper from her handbag and scribbled down her number. ‘Thierry’s nanny can get hold of me at any time. If I’m not there, leave a message with Marie-Claire and I will call you back. Anyway, what…?’

‘You know what it’s about. I want to meet my son. You bring Thierry to me. I want to get to know him.’ Anton’s dark brows knitted as he pleaded. ‘You had no right to hide him from me. You should have let me know. Why didn’t you?’

‘Anton, seriously? You would not have been interested, you weren’t… in the right place, I’m not sure if you are now. And, to be honest, since you’ve known for about eight or nine weeks, you’ve only come to see me once! Why is it suddenly more important?’

‘He is my son and I want to be part of his life. And,’ his face twitched, ‘I don’t want him brought up by another man. I want custody?’

‘What? You weren’t going to bother with your son until you thought I was with somebody else?!’ Lizzie’s frowned, ‘which I’m not anyway.’

Anton stood silent for a moment, his eyes searching hers. ‘No, I wanted him anyway. I would have wanted him years ago.’

‘I can’t believe that. Our relationship was over and I was going away. You would have made me terminate the pregnancy.’

‘I am his father. I have a right to decide in the matter.’ His glare swiped her face.

‘Ok, tell me what you would have said three years ago if I had come and told you?’

‘We could have been married.’

‘Are you mad? Anton we couldn’t last six weeks so we would never survive six decades. And anyway, surely you can guess why I chose not to tell you? She paused, waiting for his answer. ‘I’m talking about your drug habit. Anton.’

‘I…I didn’t...wasn’t…’ Anton stammered but Lizzie cut in.

‘Don’t lie to me. You clearly were and you had serious paranoia. You were controlling. If you didn’t deny it was your child, you would have forced me to get rid of it. There is no way you would have wanted a child. So it surprises me that you are suddenly so interested in being a father, even now.’

He stopped pacing and faced her, creasing his forehead. Her knees were close to buckling as his anger pulsated from his eyes. Passers-by began to stare.

‘You don’t know what I would have said but I liked you very much Lizzie and I could have made it work but I did not get to choose,’ he hurled in her face, his hands on his hips.

‘You? Wasn’t that the problem Anton? Shouldn’t that have been we ?’ Stepping back she glanced past him and out at the bright sky, unable to stop her body trembling and eyes welling up. She really couldn’t deal with this. Shifting her head slightly to avoid his eye, she settled her eyes beyond the hotel, and on the world outside. Avoiding him, she kept her focus on the carefree visitors delighting themselves as they promenaded on the Mediterranean shore, relishing the view, the warm sunshine and its persistent light reflecting on the sea. It was after all, she realised pensively, a major reason why she fell in love with Cannes. Now she was in another place; faced with an uncompromising Anton, the once loveable charmer, still in his expensive designer attire and ultra-polished grooming, giving her his bullshit. He hadn’t changed.