Page 41 of The Riviera House Swap
‘Ah you are challenging yourself. To improve your French, perhaps?’
‘Well, yes.’ Nina said, wondering whether she should leave it there. But something about Sabine’s frank openness and theevening and the wine and the fact she hadn’t really had a decent chat with anyone for a while prompted her to go on. ‘My French isn’t as good as I want so I hope to improve that, but that is not my main reason.’
‘You do very well, with your French. Your accent is good.’
‘Thank you,’ she smiled. ‘Oh, God. I can’t believe I’m going to tell you this… but I’m here to find a man.’
‘You want to find a French man to love?’ Sabine looked interested. ‘You have run out of British ones, perhaps?’ She grinned.
‘Well, yes. HeisFrench. But not any man. A specific man.’ In for a penny, thought Nina, and filled in the blanks for her new friend in French, with occasional lapses into English. Her divorce, her significant birthday and the letter she’d revisited. Then finding Pierre online and suddenly having the urge to see him and find out whether they had, after all, been fated to get together.
‘So, here I am!’ she concluded.
Sabine was silent for a moment and Nina had a sudden lurch of fear. What if she seemed completely crazy? Saying it all out loud, and in her faltering French, it had sounded slightly bizarre.
She was about to say something to mitigate her confession – such as,Just a bit of fun, though!But before she could, Sabine clapped her hands together loudly, making Nina drop her fork right into her pile of green beans.
‘Ah, but Iloveit!’ she cried, her eyes sparkling with excitement. ‘It is so romantic. That you have him in your heart after so many, many, many, many years.’
No need for quite so many ‘many’s, Nina thought, wondering how old Sabine was. She looked about twenty-five – probably forty seemed completely ancient to her. ‘Well, it’s just—’ she began.
‘And I can help you to do this,’ Sabine carried on. ‘We can find Pierre, find a way for you to meet him, as if it is just a coincidence. And to see whether he feels anything too.’ She seemed inordinately excited. ‘And my brother! He can help us! He works near there. Maybe he already knows Pierre!’ She drew out her phone and began to type.
‘No, honestly,’ Nina said, reaching a hand out and putting it on Sabine’s arm. ‘I’d rather just keep it a secret. It’s just… it feels a bit silly really, I suppose.’
‘Pah, nonsense,’ said Sabine, who clearly had the bit well and truly between her teeth at this point. ‘This is love. Love is many things, but it is not silly. It is wonderful!’ She wiped a rogue tear from her eye. ‘Now I must stay for some time for this project – and Antoine, he will help us to think of ways to do this. And you will be together.’ She clasped her hands in rapture. ‘And it will be the most wonderful love story.’
‘Or he’ll reject me completely. Or I’ll find out he’s married,’ added Nina.
‘No. I am certain. This will not happen,’ said Sabine. ‘Because it is written in the stars, no? And the stars, they never lie.’
Nina wondered whether Sabine had ever read her horoscope in theDaily Mail, but kept schtum. She sensed that she was fighting a losing battle. This was no longer her secret mission; this was Sabine’s project and no longer completely in her control. She took a deep drink from her wine. Embrace it, she thought. I’m meant to be embracing life. Risk. Making things happen.
Her stomach gurgled hesitantly. Nina sometimes wondered at the expression ‘go with your gut.’ That was meant to be about taking risks, acting decisively, wasn’t it? But her stomach seemed to curdle at any sign of trouble – if she listened to it too much, she’d never leave the house. Or possibly the bathroom.
Sabine’s phone beeped and she seized it, scrolling quickly with her thumb. ‘Antoine, he says yes, he will help. He does not know Pierre, I am afraid. But he works with a lot of people. Someone will know something.’
‘Oh God. Please tell him not to involve anyone else!’ Nina said, her stomach finally overruling her heart.
‘Ah, he will be discreet,’ said Sabine. ‘He knows that it is a secret, just for us.’
‘OK. Thank you,’ Nina said.
Sabine reached over and clutched Nina’s hand in a surprise gesture of friendship. ‘No, you do not need to thank me,’ she said. ‘This is something that I long to be a part of. Life is an adventure, and love is an adventure. And I live for adventures.’
21
THEN
‘You want to come to the beach?’ Brigitte asked her that morning. It was Saturday and their day to spend with their families. In all honesty, Nina hadn’t been looking forward to it. ‘Some friends are coming.’
‘OK,’ she said.
Brigitte nodded. ‘Bring your costume.’
Conversation between them was a little stilted. She’d learned over the last few days that Brigitte’s English was a little behind the others – perhaps the reason she’d sometimes preferred to absent herself from Nina’s side. In fact, truth be known, Brigitte hadn’t wanted to participate in the exchange at all – her parents had forced her, she’d admitted. It had made Nina feel a bit weird – like she was in the way. But after Brigitte’s confession, her pen pal had become a lot more friendly – perhaps less conscious of her attempts at English and more assured that Nina’s French was advanced enough to keep the conversation going.
They went to the main beach, which was pebbled. She winced as she made her way across the unforgiving stones to the water’s edge. But once there, spreading out their towels, they lay in the warm sun, Nina could imagine that she was on a far moreluxurious holiday – perhaps in an exclusive Spanish resort, or further afield – somewhere like Greece or Italy or all the other places she hoped to travel to eventually.
