Whispers (20 page)

Jo reluctantly followed after her mother and sister as they headed for the lift, and in no time at all she was tucked up warm and cosy in bed.

‘I’m not at all tired,’ she whined, but by the time Jess had put her clothes away she was amused to see that Jo was already fast asleep. So much for her not being tired, she thought as she joined Mel in the sumptuously furnished lounge. The girl was flicking through the TV channels, but when Jess appeared she mumbled, ‘Actually, I think I might get an early night too. I’m done in.’

Jess sighed. She’d been hoping that in different surroundings when they were alone together Mel might confide in her about what had been troubling her. But it was already apparent it wasn’t going to happen tonight.

‘All right, love. If that’s what you want,’ she told her tenderly, and watched as her oldest daughter slipped away to her room. And then she grinned wryly. Here she was in Gay Paree – with only the telly to keep her company!

Once the girls had gone to bed, Jess paced the room feeling strangely unsettled. She knew that it would be useless going to bed just yet, as there was no way she was going to be able to rest, so after checking that the girls were both asleep she wrote them a hasty note telling them where she would be in case they woke up, then snatched up her bag and headed for the door to the suite. Once she was sure that the door was locked firmly behind her she then went downstairs to the bar for a nightcap feeling in a slightly reckless mood. Jess had never been much of a drinker, but then she told herself,
I might never get this opportunity again, so why not make the most of it?
The bar was much like the rest of the hotel, extravagant and plush with deep leather settees and glass-topped tables placed here and there, and soft music was playing. A few of the gentlemen drinking in there glanced at her appreciatively as she picked her way to the mirror-backed bar, but Jess kept her eyes straight ahead.

‘A gin and tonic, please,’ she told the young barman as she slid onto a high stool and fiddled in her bag for her purse.

‘Please, allow me.’

Jess quickly looked to her right and then her face relaxed into a smile when she saw Emile Lefavre standing there.

‘That’s very kind of you, thank you.’

‘You are most welcome, but where are your charming daughters?’

‘They’re tucked up in bed fast asleep,’ she answered. She was actually quite pleased to have him there as she had felt rather self-conscious walking into the bar on her own.

Once the barman had poured her drink, Emile gestured to one of the leather settees. ‘Shall we sit over there?’ he asked pleasantly. ‘I think it might be rather more comfortable than perched here on these high stools.’

When he lifted her drink she followed him willingly and soon they were seated staring out of the window onto Paris at night.

‘I can see why they call it the City of Lights,’ Jess said dreamily as she sipped at her drink. ‘It’s quite awesome, isn’t it?’

‘Absolutely,’ Emile agreed. ‘You must try to do the after-dinner Paris By Night Illuminations tour. It’s quite breathtaking. I’m sure you and your daughters would enjoy it. Although I have to say I find it hard to believe you are old enough to have two daughters.’

Jess was beginning to relax now as the gin and tonic worked its magic, and she giggled. It had been a long time since anyone had paid her such a blatant compliment, and she found that she quite liked it.

‘Ah, so it’s true then,’ she said. ‘I heard that Frenchmen had the gift of the gab.’

Emile’s blue eyes twinkled as he raised his glass to her. ‘It is best not to believe everything you are told,’ he said. ‘I also find it difficult to believe that your husband would allow such a beautiful woman to come here on her own.’

‘But I’m not on my own,’ Jess pointed out defensively. ‘I have the girls with me and Simon, that’s my husband, couldn’t come because of work commitments. He is a builder and so he has to work when he can. Building work tends to slacken off through the winter. We’re actually here to celebrate Melanie’s fourteenth birthday, which was in September.’

‘She looks a delightful young woman,’ he told her.

Jess nodded. ‘She is, but . . .’

‘But what?’

‘Well, she hasn’t been herself for a while and I was hoping that this break might perk her up a bit.’

‘Ah.’ He nodded understandingly. ‘I see it many times, the teenage problems in my job as a teacher, especially with the girls. Teenagers can be very moody, can they not?’

‘That’s putting it mildly.’ Jess could hardly believe that she was sitting here in a bar in the middle of Paris pouring her heart out to a man she had only just met, but Emile, as she was fast discovering, was remarkably easy to talk to.

‘And have her moods affected her schoolwork?’ he asked now.

Jess nodded sadly. ‘Yes, I’m afraid they have. Mel is a very intelligent girl and up until recently her school reports were excellent, but now . . .’

When her voice trailed away he smiled at her sympathetically. ‘Perhaps you should think of getting her some extra home tuition? I do quite a lot of private tuition myself. At the school during the day
I
teach French, but I also teach maths and English evenings and weekends. It wouldn’t be so far for me to come down the M6.’

Jess chewed on her lip uncertainly. She wasn’t sure what Mel would think of that idea; or Simon for that matter.

‘I’ll think about it,’ she promised as she drained her glass with every intention of returning to her room. But before she could stand Emile had snatched the glass up and was heading for the bar again, and she didn’t wish to appear rude so she sat there studying him. He really was a remarkably good-looking man. Not quite as muscular as Simon but very attractive all the same. He had changed now from his smart suit into more casual attire, and she decided that it suited him. He wore beige trousers and a navy-blue polo-shirt with the top button undone exposing a tantalising glimpse of thick dark hairs on his chest.

Blushing again, she quickly diverted her gaze, wondering once more what the hell she was doing sitting there. She was a happily married woman and this time next week she would be back at home in the daily grind with all this nothing more than a memory. She found everything about Emile attractive, which was surprising as she could never remember feeling vaguely drawn to any man but Simon. But then she had never found herself in Paris without Simon before, sitting in a bar with romantic music playing in the background and an attentive man at her side. She tried to think of other things and suddenly remembered the journal safely tucked away back in the bedside drawer at home. She wished that she had brought it with her now. Perhaps then she would have stayed up in her room reading about Martha’s life and not have been tempted down to the bar. But then, she reasoned, what harm was she doing? She was merely enjoying a conversation and a drink, or a few drinks, with a pleasant acquaintance. They were hardly having a passionate affair, which was more than could be said for Simon, who had clocked up more than a few over the years with different women who had caught his eye. For all she knew, he could be with another woman right at this very minute. What was the saying? While the cat’s away the mice will play? The relaxed mood suddenly fled.

‘Is something wrong, Jessica?’ Emile asked as he returned to the table with the drinks in his hands.

Even the sound of his French accent made her tingle and she shook herself mentally. She was behaving more like a teenager than the one who was tucked up in bed upstairs.

‘No, but I er . . . I think I ought to go up after this one,’ she
mumbled.
‘You know – to check on the girls.’ But later, when she glanced at the wall clock behind the bar, she was shocked to see that it was almost one o’clock in the morning. The time had flown by while they had discussed everything from art to politics. At home, she and Simon never seemed to have time to talk about anything other than the more mundane matters such as what job he was working on or the children. The realisation saddened her and she determined to try harder when she got back.

As her eyes fastened on Emile’s hands she couldn’t help but notice the difference between his and Simon’s. Emile’s fingers were long and tapering, almost like a pianist’s fingers, and his hands were smooth and well cared for, whereas Simon’s were always red and chaffed from the outdoor work he did.

‘So where were you thinking of taking the girls tomorrow?’ As his voice sliced into her thoughts, she came back to the present.

‘I – I thought perhaps we might visit the Louvre,’ she stammered. ‘Jo wants to see the
Mona Lisa
.’

‘That’s an excellent choice.’ He smiled at her approvingly over the rim of his glass as she hastily raised hers and took a final sip. She was feeling more than a little tipsy now and was anxious to return to her room.

‘Well, thank you for a most enjoyable evening,’ she said as she extended her hand and wobbled to her feet.

The corners of his lips twitched with amusement as he solemnly bowed and kissed her hand. ‘The pleasure was all mine, I assure you,’ he told her. ‘Goodnight, Jessica. I am sure we shall meet again.’

She nodded as she carefully turned and began to pick her way amongst the tables to the door. The bar was almost empty now, with only the odd couple here and there still talking animatedly.

After crossing the foyer she entered the lift and in no time at all she was back in their suite of rooms. A quick peek into the girls’ room assured her that they were still fast asleep and she sighed with relief as she pulled the pins out of her hair and let it tumble about her shoulders. She then kicked off her high heels and hurried over to the phone. Suddenly she needed to hear Simon’s voice, and although it was very late she hoped that he wouldn’t mind her disturbing him.

As she dialled her home number she strummed the table impatiently with her free hand as she waited for Simon to lift the phone. But after waiting for five whole minutes she slammed the receiver back into the cradle with a frown on her face. Why hadn’t he answered? There was
a
phone right at the side of their bed! Then her face softened. She, better than anyone, knew that once Simon was asleep wild horses galloping over him couldn’t waken him, so he had probably slept through it. She crossed to the window to admire the view once more then slowly took herself off to bed where she slept like a baby right through until eight o’clock the next morning.

‘Mum, Mum, wake up!’ Someone bouncing on the bed at the side of her brought her eyes blearily open and she squinted to see Jo grinning down at her. Her mouth felt like the bottom of a birdcage and she had a raging headache, but then as she thought back to how much she had drunk the night before, she had to admit it served her right.

‘Morning, love.’ The words came out as a groan and Jo stared at her in concern.

‘Are you ill, Mum?’

‘No, sweetheart. I just had a couple of drinks last night after you’d gone to bed and I’m paying for it now.’

Jo grinned. She hadn’t seen her mum with a hangover before and found it mildly comical.

‘So what shall we do today?’ she asked now. ‘We need to get down to the dining room for a start-off or they’ll be finished serving.’

‘Where’s Mel?’ Jess croaked as she pulled the duvet back over her head.

‘She’s in the shower. I’ve already had one and I’m all dressed too.’

‘All right then, I can take a hint. Buzz off and I’ll get up.’

A hot shower, three glasses of bottled water and two Paracetamol tablets later, Jess felt almost human again and they were downstairs in the hotel dining room by nine.

Glancing about as a waiter ushered them to a table, Jess wondered if Emile would be there and was relieved when she couldn’t see him. She felt strangely embarrassed about the way she had knocked the drinks back in his company the night before and was sure he must think she always behaved like that.

Jo tucked into her meal as if she hadn’t eaten for a month and even though Mel didn’t eat half as much, Jess was pleased to see that she made an effort at least. She herself stuck to fruit juice and a yogurt, and was relieved when they could leave the restaurant to return to their rooms.

‘Now wrap up warmly,’ she advised them. ‘It’s cool out there.’

The girls did as they were told then they all trooped down to the foyer armed once again with their cameras.

‘I think we’ll hop on the tour bus,’ Jess told them as they stepped out into the chilly air. ‘That way we can get on and off as we like. Where would you like to go first?’

‘The Eiffel Tower,’ Jo whooped excitedly.

‘Right, according to the concierge I just asked, there’s a stop just up here,’ Jess said, peering at her street map. It was as they rounded the corner that she saw Emile standing at the stop and her heart sank.

‘Good morning, ladies,’ he greeted them jovially as he saw them approaching. ‘It would appear that great minds think alike. You are taking the bus tour, yes?’

Jo nodded. ‘Yes, and we’re going to see the Eiffel Tower first.’

‘How extraordinary, that is just what I was planning on doing. Would you mind very much if I tagged along with you? It is so much more fun seeing places if you have company.’

Jess’s stomach turned over but she kept her smile fixed firmly in place as they all joined Emile at the bus stop.

In no time at all he and Jo were chattering away as if they had known each other for years, and even Mel was occasionally chipping in with the odd remark. Jess sighed resignedly as they all boarded the bus. She would much have preferred it to be just herself and the girls, but now that Emile had latched on to them she supposed she would just have to make the best of it.

Despite Jess’s apprehension the day flew by and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They spent the morning in the Eiffel Tower and even Mel got excited about the panoramic views from the top of it. Jo was like a fountain of knowledge and happily spouted all about its history, facts that she had learned at school. Jess wasn’t particularly interested in discovering how many rivets it had taken to erect it, or even about the forty tons of paint it had taken to paint it, but even so she smiled indulgently, pleased to see Jo enjoying herself. Emile and the girls seemed to be getting along famously.