What Happens at the Beach... Read Free Page B

back.’ She found herself twisting the engagement ring from her finger, the sunlight glittering in the cut facets of the cluster of diamonds as she did so. ‘You can tell your mother she doesn’t need to worry any more.’ She thrust the ring at him and headed for the gate. Behind her she heard him call her name, but only very quietly so as not to disturb any of the guests. She ignored him and left.
    It was a ten-minute walk to the station. When she got there she discovered that the next train to get her back to Cambridge would not be along for half an hour. She walked right to the far end of the platform and sat down on her own on a bench in the sun. It would have been very easy for her to bury her head in her hands and cry, but she had no intention of letting that happen until she was well away from David and his family. She dug in her bag for a tissue and blew her nose, taking a series of long, slow breaths to calm her racing heart.
    She needed to speak to somebody, badly. In Cambridge there was just Amy, her oldest friend, and a few other girls she knew fairly well, and there was her supervisor, with whom she had grown pretty close, but that was about it. It was almost five years now since the crash that had robbed her of her parents. Without brothers and sisters, without her mother to turn to, and without David, that only left one guaranteed shoulder to cry on. She pulled out her phone and checked the time. It was almost three. In France, it would be almost four o’clock. Her grandmother should have woken from her afternoon snooze by now. Natalie flicked through her contacts until she reached
Gran
and pressed the green button.
    It was a while before she answered, but the old voice was unmistakable. ‘
Oui, allô.
’
    â€˜Hello, Gran. It’s me, Natalie.’ She switched effortlessly into French.
    â€˜Natalie, my darling girl, hello.’ Her mother and her grandparents had always spoken to her in French and Natalie had grown up bilingual as a result. As her doctoral thesis had been on the Cathars of southern France, the ability to read and speak fluent French had been a massive help to her in her research.
    â€˜How are you, Gran?’
    â€˜I’m all right, in a geriatric sort of way. The sun’s shining, the doctor still allows me a glass or two of wine, so I can’t complain. And how’re you?’
    â€˜A bit low, to be honest.’
    â€˜But you’ve only just been awarded your doctorate. You should be up on a cloud right now.’ A note of concern entered her grandma’s voice. ‘You’re not ill, are you?’
    â€˜No, I’m fine. It’s just...’ She hesitated, unwilling to launch into a post-mortem of the afternoon’s events on the telephone. ‘I’ll tell you all about it when I see you.’ She suddenly felt very weary. ‘Gran, I was wondering. Would there be room for me over there for a few weeks? I’ve really got to get away.’
    â€˜Of course, my child.’ The fact that Natalie was now thirty made no difference to her grandmother. She would always think of her only granddaughter as about ten years old. ‘I’d love to see you. Come as soon as you like and stay as long as you like.’
    Natalie thought fast. It was the middle of July now. She had finished all her commitments at the university and, particularly after the events of this afternoon, there was nothing and nobody to keep her in Cambridge. She didn’t hesitate. ‘I’ll come over as soon as possible, tomorrow if I can. I’ll get on the first flight I can find. I’m at the station waiting for a train at the moment. As soon as I get back home I’ll sort everything out, and I’ll call you this evening.’
    â€˜That’s wonderful, as long as you’re sure. It’ll be so good to have you here again.’ Natalie could hear the pleasure in her grandma’s voice.
    â€˜Of course I’m