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Ace agreed. Even though his mum and dad had parted when he was seven, it was on good terms and they had remained friends ever since. She blew in like a whirlwind throughout the year and whenever the fancy took her, usually at Christmas and always for his birthday.
Nanou was right, because his mum’s easy-going, sometimes too relaxed way of living her life always amused his dad who took her as she was – a free spirit that would never be tamed by anyone, least of all a man. And despite them going their separate ways after a very short, crazy marriage, his mum knew his dad well and her presence seemed to soothe him. And right now, Ace could tell she was just what he needed.
Feeling the gloom that was synonymous with Lance begin to lift, Ace was about to go over the plans for the following day when his nemesis burst into the kitchen. His arrival cast a shadow over Nanou’s face, Ace’s heart and the room.
His accent grated as much as the words, and the way Lance spoke to Nanou like she was a servant was disgraceful. ‘Is there anything to eat in this place?’
Ace answered. ‘Yeah, there’s tons of stuff in the fridge, help yourself. Lunch is at one, like always.’
An uncomfortable silence filled the room as Lance tutted and headed towards the fruit bowl and selected an apple before dragging out a chair and settling himself at the table, a smirk beginning to form on his face. ‘So, I hear your girlfriend is arriving tomorrow. Can’t wait to meet her. Dad says she’s a Brit. Does that mean you’ve been through all the girls in the village, or did you scare them all off?’
Ace knew better than to rise to the bait whereas Nanou stood and stomped off, making a loud huffing noise. ‘Yes, she’s called Edie, a very intelligent woman who shares similar interests to me and we started off as friends, but that’s something you won’t understand seeing as you have none.’
Lance smirked. ‘So, where did you meet her? Dad said it was online. Please tell me it was a dating app. Jeez, that would be hilarious. I bet she thinks she’s hit the jackpot hooking up with you and couldn’t wait to get invited here. Another user; they’re all the same.’ He crunched into his apple and chewed noisily while his eyes homed in on Ace, gauging his reaction.
He was used to being taunted, and Lance’s attitude towards women came as no shock to him so he didn’t bite straight away. His brother was lazy in every aspect of his life and capitalised on the eager starlets who thought knowing him might give them a leg up. He’d never had a meaningful relationship and viewed his girlfriends as appendages, and no doubt they thought he was a total pillock but if being with Joe Jarrett’s son got them into the best clubs, so what? His Edie wasn’t like that, and no way was he standing for Lance putting her down.
‘Actually, we’ve known each other for over a year and met at one of my exhibitions in London. She was doing her degree in literature and interviewed me for her thesis. We kept in touch and met up whenever we could and now she’s finished her degree we’re going to travel together. Her mum left her some money so she’s taking a year out before she looks for a job.’ Ace paused, wondering if he should elaborate, tell Lance about their idea for a book, a kind of travelogue, Edie writing it and him providing the photos, then thought better of it. Knowing Lance would only mock, he stuck to the bare essentials.
‘That’s why she’s coming here, for my birthday and afterwards we can plan our trip. So, from now on, keep your smart-arse insinuations to yourself. Especially when she’s around, okay?’
Lance held up his hands in mock surrender, laughing as he pushed back the chair and stood, tossing the apple core onto the table. ‘Hey, cool down, tiger. I was only teasing. I promise to play nice… cross my heart.’
Looking away as Lance crossed his chest, Ace focused on the apple core that was turning brown as it lay on the polished surface of the table and the anger that raged inside began to bubble. ‘Don’t forget to move that.’
Turning, Lance completely ignored the request and headed to the door, his parting shot hitting the target. ‘Hey, don’t sweat it. That’s what the staff are for.’
When Ace reached for the glass containing his undrunk milkshake, from behind, a firm hand rested on his, stilling him. Nanou’s voice then calmed his soul. ‘He’s not worth it, chéri, and that is one of my favourite glasses. Let him go. I will speak to Joe later because I am tired of how Lance speaks to us. I have had enough.’
Resting against her chest Ace heeded Nanou’s words, venting with his own. ‘I hate him sometimes, most of the time. I mean it, Nanou. I wish he’d go away and never come back.’
Planting a kiss on the top of his head Nanou then gave him a gentle hug before picking up the apple core. ‘We all do, Ace, we all do.’
Ace checked his watch as he stood on the balcony that ran around the whole of his father’s loft apartment. It provided spectacular views of the sea and surrounding property. Training the binoculars on the footpaths that edged wheatfields that now lay fallow after harvest, Ace scanned the route, hoping to spot one of their four dogs, knowing that his dad wouldn’t be far behind. The two chocolate Labradors and their partners in crime, a feisty Jack Russell and his more sedate sidekick, a sleepy-eyed Spaniel, rarely left his side.
Apart from birds feeding on the curls of ploughed earth there was nothing to see so he began to scan the cliff path that meandered along the coast towards the village. Again, it was empty so in desperation Ace searched the beach below. Methodically working his way around the jagged nooks and crannies that edged the sand, he could see that the tide was beginning to trickle into the shallows, the rock pools filling slowly.
Joe hadn’t turned up for lunch and had been gone for hours. Soon they’d lose the light because autumn was drawing its curtains earlier each day, and the incoming storm had sent an advance party of dark-grey clouds, like a portent of what was following on the horizon. It was due to hit in forty-eight hours, plenty of time for Edie to fly in safely.
The thought of her always had the same effect on Ace. Like a barrage of conflicting emotions in a vast array that no matter how hard he tried, couldn’t be untangled and laid out straight despite his best attempts at logic, one of his superior abilities. Instead, Ace had tried to put his feelings into boxes. Keep everything separate and not all jumbled up.
Box One was full of sensible things that kept him grounded, focused on the core of their relationship which was built on friendship. His admiration knew no bounds, for her talent as a writer, her intelligence and wit, for being well read, worldly wise and eager to experience other cultures and traditions from around the world. She loved quizzes, and chess. Was a theatre addict and would watch anything and everything, musicals being her guilty pleasure, but her favourite was Shakespeare. They’d been to the ballet together to see Swan Lake where he spent most of the time wishing he could photograph the dancers. Maybe when they got to Sydney he could treat her to a night at the opera because she would love that. Edie loved most kinds of music, too, but not his dad’s so much. That was a good thing though.
Box Two was for the mushy stuff. Like how when she stepped off the train at Paddington, all the other passengers paled and his petite-ange stood out. His little angel was surrounded by auras more intense and beautiful than the colours of the rainbow. How her fair hair was cut into a bob so severe that it traced a line around her jaw and even if she shook her head, it always fell perfectly back into place. And her pale-brown eyes, the colour of the walnuts that Nanou used in the Caesar salad, and how if it was the billion-euro question he would be able to draw every single freckle that scattered over her nose and cheeks. What it was like to hold her hand; and the feel of her skin on his. The other stuff made him blush and it felt a bit disrespectful to think of Edie that way even though he knew it was only natural.
Perhaps she thought of him like that too, but not at the start when she’d had a boyfriend and cheating was what unkind people did. The thing was, Edie didn’t have a boyfriend anymore, so they’d been able to stop being friends when she and Tom split up when they left university and he got a job in Canada. Ace really loved Canada, Canadians, the flag, everything about it, now.
Box Three – that contained his dreams, all the things he hoped might happen but didn’t dare think about too much or act upon in case he ruined everything. He was about to open the lid, take a quick peep inside and think about the future when movement on the beach distracted him.
The dogs, two of them at least, Bob and Vic the chocolate Labradors, bounded towards the shore and yes, there to the right was his dad, sitting cross-legged on a slab of rock, looking out to sea while Luna, the doe-eyed Spaniel sat faithfully by his side and Riva the Jack Russell dug a hole in the sand.
‘Dad, I wish you’d tell me what’s wrong,’ Ace spoke aloud, hoping that the words carried on the September breeze might somehow reach his father’s ears.
Something had been bothering his dad for months and Ace was sure it started with the letters, sent first to Gus at the office in London, toxic tweets and comments on the official NorthStar pages, and one-line messages from a fake email account that quickly shut down by someone they all presumed was an obsessed fan. And then a hand-written note arrived at the apartment in New York, again postmarked Chicago, which set alarm bells ringing. His dad and Gus had said it was just a crazy person, and that stuff like this came with the territory and Ace believed them, at first. What had really rattled his dad’s cage was when one turned up at their house in Notting Hill, same postmark. Whoever it was, was on their tail.
Maybe it was a combination of stuff. Gus getting sick, the letters, Ace announcing he wanted to take a few months out to backpack across Australia and the Far East, and a legal battle over the rights to his songs and band name that had blown his dad’s mind.
Going back inside, Ace placed the binoculars on the hook and made his way downstairs and after telling Nanou he’d located his dad, set off to meet him. Even if he wouldn’t talk about his troubles, Ace could be by his side, his best mate like always. And in the meantime, he had a call to make.
As he strode towards his motorbike, Ace pulled out his phone and rang the one person who might be able to help and who, for once in her life, needed to do as she was told. Opening his contacts, Ace scrolled past his dad, Nanou and Edie and tapped the fourth name, Maman.
