Two Days in Biarritz (19 page)

“Everybody is well today!” he grinned at Kate as she approached him from the empty waiting room. “Come in, I am glad of the company.”

The small country practice was friendly and informal and suited Kate.

“How are you, Madame Cassaux?”

“Doctor, I have been having a busy time . . .” She told him of her divorce, of her mother’s illness and the trip to Dublin, and the pressure of producing work for her impending exhibition.

“I will check you out,” he said, taking the blood pressure monitor in hand.

When he was finished he passed an empty bottle over to Kate.

“Can you give me a sample, please? Then I want to check your bloods.”

Kate went into the tiny closet off his surgery and returned three minutes later.

The doctor had numerous litmus papers ready to dip into the cloudy liquid which he did quickly and discreetly by the sink. He then washed his hands and returned to the desk with a wide grin on his face.

“Madame Cassaux, you are not ill but you do have a condition.”

Kate braced herself. She had no idea what was wrong with her but the doctor seemed positive.

“You are going to have a baby!”

Kate’s mouth dropped. This couldn’t be happening. This was the sort of thing that happened to adolescents when they drank too much or took drugs. This should not be happening to a woman who had just had her fortieth birthday.

Dr Borel leaned forward and touched Kate on the arm.

“Mrs Cassaux, are you all right?” he asked gently.

kate twitched slightly in her seat and shook herself down. “Yes, Doctor, it’s just a bit of a shock.”

Kate’s head was spinning.
Biarritz! What possessed her to be so careless? In her wild days she had always had a condom on her. It was obligatory like her lip-gloss and wallet. How could she have been so irresponsible? She didn’t even know how to contact the father. Hell, she didn’t even know his second name. What was she going to do?

* * *

“Really, Annabel,” her mother chastised. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you. There are plenty of women who would love to be in your position. Colin is an excellent provider for his family – you’re really showing him up.”

“But this isn’t about Colin or my family, Mum,” Annabel sighed.

“Is this all about turning forty? Because some people’s hormones do start to go a bit ditsy.”

“Mum, why can’t everyone just let me get on with it. I love making food and I want to see if I can make a go of a little business on my own.”

Lily shook her head in dismay. She didn’t have quarter the resources or income that Annabel had when she was rearing her family and she couldn’t understand her daughter’s actions. She had assured Colin that she would talk some sense into Annabel but now on the evening before the market it looked as though it was too late for that. She had never known Annabel to be so strongminded about doing something on her own. She had always found it easy to steer her daughter in the right direction before.

“Will you have a cup of tea, Mum?” Annabel was anxious to change the subject.

“Go on then, a quick one. It’s getting late.”

Annabel poured the water from the kettle into her blue and white china teapot.

“Have you any news about Betty?” Lily asked.

“I haven’t been speaking to Kate,” Annabel replied awkwardly.

“Why ever not?” Lily demanded. “This is the very time you could be helping the Carltons out, instead of running around doing silly markets.”

Annabel sighed. Was her mother ever going to drop it? “I have been trying to ring Kate. I told you she doesn’t answer my calls.”

“She’s probably noticed you’ve lost the plot too,” Lily replied sarcastically.

Annabel clicked the roof of her mouth with her tongue.

“What was the row about exactly?” Lily probed.

“I don’t want to go there, Mum, it’s just something that happened years ago.”

“She’s always been a very good friend to you,” Lily droned on. “You should be investing time into your friendships instead of –”

“Don’t say it, Mum,” Annabel interrupted. “Just don’t say any more.”

* * *

“Come around, now!” Kate pleaded. There was no one else in the world that she felt she could talk to at this minute. A few weeks ago she would have lifted the phone to Annabel straight away but now she didn’t even have her.

Fabian knew the difference. He knew when Kate was really upset or just throwing a tantrum. He jumped in his Renault, almost forgetting to turn the headlights on in the twilight. When he got to her backdoor it was worse than he had expected. Kate was already dressed in a housecoat. Black tracks from her mascara slid down her cheeks.

“
Cherie
!” Appalled, he rushed to her side. “What is wrong? Is it your mother? Tell me
vite
!”

Kate ran the palm of her right hand up over her nose then searched distractedly for a tissue. Fabian took some kitchen roll from the counter-top and handed it to her. She still said nothing but used it to wipe the tears away.

“Kate, please,” he whispered softly.

She looked up at him. Her eyelids drooped at the corners. “I’m pregnant,” she uttered.

“
Mon dieu!”
Fabian was aghast – this was a complication of massive proportions. “How did this happen?”

“It happens when a man and woman have sex,” her words causing her to laugh briefly.

“But who is the father?”

Kate sat speechless. Images flashed through her mind. She hadn’t slept with Stefan in over a year and anyway, they had never managed to conceive in all their years together. She hadn’t slept with Shane because she wanted to wait until it was right. Until he was free.

“There is only one person who can be the father,” she sobbed heartily into the snotty piece of kitchen roll. “The surfer in Biarritz!”

Fabian took a sharp intake of breath. He jumped up to get her a fresh piece of tissue paper. “Here, Kate,” he said, handing the tissue over. He felt inadequate to handle this situation – his gay friends didn’t have pregnancy complications as a rule.

“I can’t believe it,” Kate cried. “What am I going to do?”

“You don’t have to have it,” Fabian suggested gently.

“I was reared on Catholic guilt – I never thought I’d ever have to contemplate something like an abortion,” she gulped. “Especially at my age.”

“That is another reason why you may not want to take a risk.”

“I’ve only just turned forty – lots of women have their first baby at my age,” she snapped.

“Sorry!” he winced.

“No, Fabian,
I’m
sorry,” Kate said softly and she stretched out her hand to hold his. “I can’t believe this is happening to me, just when I thought I was getting back on track with Shane.”

“Well, maybe he won’t mind?” Fabian flicked his wrists in the air.

“I think two sons from a previous marriage is enough baggage, don’t you?”

“Kate, you have to think about an abortion. It is not a good time with your mother so ill and all the other things happening in your life.”

Kate knew that Fabian was right but she didn’t know how she could handle it at the moment. There was too much going on and this was the last straw. “Fabian, I know this may sound strange but I really thought I would never get pregnant again. I mean nothing happened for Stefan and me. I thought there was something wrong with him. Then when he got his assistant pregnant I thought there must be something wrong with me.”

“But you have the boys!”

“I know but sometimes people get pregnant by fluke,” she groaned. “Anyway, this is not something I can just wipe out like a bad hairdo. Besides . . . I always wanted a little girl . . .”

“Too many problems for one night,
Cherie
,” Fabian sighed gently. He stroked the side of her face gently – then he combed her hair back behind her ears. “I am going to make a nice bath with a lot of bubbles and then I will pour you a glass of wine and bring it to you, would you like?”

“Thanks, Fabian,” she replied softly. “I’m so lucky to have you . . . but do you mind making a cup of tea instead of some wine. I’ve been feeling ill all week after drinking wine and now I know why.”

“Of course,” Fabian smiled. “A cup of tea it is.”

* * *

Shane crept quietly through the dimly lit house. He’d been in Barcelona and Glasgow earlier. He threw his keys on the kitchen table and went over to the tap to get some water. He missed her like a limb already. It hadn’t even been a full day since she left for Toulouse but he was counting down the hours until she returned.

“Shane!” Natasha’s lyrical voice called from upstairs.

Shit, he thought – she’s awake.

“Yes?” he hollered.

“Would you bring me up a glass of water?”

“Yes, up in a minute.”

He carried the glass up the stairs, all the time thinking and wondering how he was going to get out of sleeping with his wife for yet another night. It was nearly two weeks since they last made love and she was watching her ovulation dates carefully.

“I’ve been trying everything to stay awake,” she smiled. “Thank God you’re home. Come to bed quick!”

Shane felt an incredible pressure bear down on him as Natasha stared at him like a prize bull. He definitely didn’t want to make love to her now. As each day passed he questioned whether he ever wanted to make love to her again.

“I’m really tired,” he blurted out. “Do you mind if I stay in the spare room?”

Natasha sat up in the bed. “Yes, I bloody well
do
mind! What is wrong with you this last week, Shane?”

“I’m really busy in work – I’ll be fine.”

“You’re always really busy in work, so what is really wrong? We’re trying for a baby, and you need to be having sex to do that!”

Shane put his hand up to his forehead. He hadn’t wanted to say anything to hurt Natasha, but he couldn’t let her go on with false hope. His feelings had changed and he didn’t want to bring a child into the world with her while he was so uncertain.

“Now is not a good time.”

“Why isn’t it a good time?” Her voice was starting to quiver. “This is very fickle of you. You can’t just turn around and say, I don’t want a baby this month but I did four weeks ago!”

Shane knew she was right but there was no easy way of saying it. “I’m not as sure as I was last month and I just want a bit more time to get used to the idea,” he gulped. “That’s all.”

Natasha flumped back on her pillows as if she had been given a sharp slap and she didn’t like it one bit. She was good at getting what she wanted and Shane had never reneged on anything that she had ever wanted before. She would make him pay for this. “Go into the bloody spare room then! I don’t want to look at you at the moment!”

Shane was glad of the escape. Serious guilt was beginning to settle in his stomach. He needed to be braver and figure out a gentle way of letting Natasha down. She had done nothing wrong and he had to think everything through before he finished his marriage.

The spare room smelt dank and lonely. He felt he didn’t deserve any better for hurting Natasha. He warmed as he crept under the covers and images of Kate flooded his head. He prayed for a solution to his dilemma. He wanted Natasha to be happy and Kate to be back in his life fulltime but had no idea how any of it was possible.

* * *

Annabel placed the last batch of humus on the top of the large cardboard box.

Rosa was still in her pyjamas and she had Rebecca by her side.

“Thanks for looking after the kids,” Annabel smiled
at the Spanish girl. “Bring them down later to see their mum at work!”

Rosa
nodded her head and set about preparing the children’s breakfast.

Annabel slammed the door of the jeep and set off for the harbour. It was only a quarter past eight and already most of the stall-holders were rigging their canopies and stands.

She settled beside Marcel, the French choclatiére, who gave her a friendly wave.

“You got a stall then!”

“Yes, thanks,” she beamed. “It’s great.”

“You are lucky no rain today, and sometimes the wind –
puff!
”

Annabel smiled. The market traders were warm and welcoming, waving at her from all directions. 

Business was slack until about half past ten when the market officially opened. Then the people swarmed like bees around a honey pot. Annabel sold the first carton of humus with pride.

“Thank you,” she said politely, taking the five-euro note from an elderly lady with a tartan carrier bag and giving a coin back in change. She was thronged with customers for three hours and didn’t see the time pass.

Rosa eventually arrived with the girls in tow. The girls skipped over to their mother, excited and amused at seeing her in her new role.