Tales of Dirty Old Man Ch. 07

"Then it's time to take you home,"

I looked at the other two and they nodded in agreement. I pointed Rosie's bow at the landing stage. I held her steady, Peter jumped down and secured the mooring lines, and I stopped the engine. A few moments later, a bushy grey-haired old man appeared from between the vines waving his arms.

"This is private property; you cannot moor here. Please g ..." His voice trailed away as he saw Simone.

"Simone!" and she ran into his arms.

They spoke to each other in rapid volatile French, far too fast for me to understand other than the odd name.

They wound down and she brought him over to me, "This is Gaston he's looked after these vines for as long as I can remember, he bounced me on his knee when I was a child, and taught me to prune my first vine."

I went to shake his hand but he drew me into the classic French man hug and kissed me on both cheeks. There were tears in his eyes.

"So you are the one who got rid of that bastard Bernard and brought my little Simone back to me."

I pointed at Pete, "He did most of the work."

Pete got the same treatment and then Angie.

I said to Angie, "I get the impression Bernard was not liked."

"No shit Sherlock, what makes you think that?" She laughed.

Simone took my hand and almost dragged me up the track in the direction of the house. As we got closer, I realised that it was a lot larger than I had first thought. Simone confirmed my suspicion when she turned to us and spoke.

"Welcome to the Chateau de Grasse."

I looked at her, "I thought we agreed no more surprises."

She looked surprised at my statement, "But this is just my home."

Then she looked absolutely wicked, and she asked hopefully. "Does this mean I've been naughty and I get to be spanked?" God, what kind of monster had I created?

"Do you think you've been naughty," I asked her.

"Of course I have, I've been very naughty."

I looked at Pete for help.

"Don't look at me. You started this and you need to deal with it."

Change the subject I thought.

I asked "Why 'de Grasse,' not 'Laurent.'"

"That was my mother's name and this all comes from her side of the family. Laurent is my father name."

She stood beside me, her golden hair shining in the sunlight wearing a short light blue sundress looking out over the chateau. She was so beautiful that for a second I couldn't get my breath. I had to sit down on a nearby wall and I realised how much I loved her. I had that moment of disbelief that she could love me too.

Simone came and knelt at my side looking worried, and she took my hand in hers, "Are you alright?"

I stroked her hair and face, and saw the others looking at me in concern.

"No I'm fine, but I need to ask you a question. Why, when you are so beautiful and have all this, do you want to be with me for the rest of your life?"

She punched me on the shoulder, "You idiot, because I love you with all my heart and soul, that's why. Don't you think I've been asking myself the same question about you ever since we met?"

Angie said, "Could you two please agree that you both love each other and were made for each other. Let's move on. I want to see the Chateau."

We agreed and continued walking up to the Chateau. Simone whispered to me, "I haven't forgotten that I need punishing."

"I'm working on a suitable one."

She smiled at me obviously in anticipation of our rough sex play when I 'punished' her beautiful body.

As we reached the door, it opened and a tall elegant elderly woman appeared. Simone dragged me by my hand to meet her. She and Simone stood there in each other's arms for a few moments quietly crying. They wiped their eyes and she motioned us in to the entrance hall and then through to a sitting room.

Simone introduced us. "This is Sarah, Gaston's wife. She's the housekeeper and looked after me when my mother died,"

"Aye, she was a bonny wee lassie," Sarah told me in a soft highland accent."

She saw the look of surprise on my face. "I came here on a working holiday to pick the grapes more than forty years ago. I was going to travel the world. I got as far as here and met my man, and I never left."

She smiled at me and asked, "So you are the one who has stolen my darling's heart?"

Simone said, "Sarah he's everything that Bernard wasn't, and we are going to get married on New Year's Eve in the Maldives."

"I know. Rachael called to tell us the news. She also mentioned that when the children get back from America they will be staying with her until they go back to school."

Pete said, "I keep wondering if that school is not one of the problems. I think you should consider moving them to one that is local, and also not a boarding school."

It was obvious that Sarah wasn't sure who Pete and Angie were, so Simone introduced them and explained that they were the ones who had worked out Bernard's plans and had put the spanner in them.

"So it's your people who came around and escorted Bernard from the office and house?"

"Yes, and I should check up on them."

I said, "You know you could be right about the children. Can you ask your team to find out what other options we have locally?" Then I realised I was taking over and this was Simone's decision.

"Sorry darling, I think that Pete is right, but they are your children and it's your decision. I'll support whatever you think is best."

"No, Peter is right, Michael and Anna need to come home, and we need the time to become a proper family."

Then she asked, "Pete, do you want to go in to the office?"

"Please," he said.

Simone looked at me, "I think the Chairman of the Board should go with him."

Angie burst out laughing.

I said, "If you think he needs his hand held that's fine with me. Plus I need to ask your father a question." I winked at her.

Sarah got Gaston to drive us to the office, "Call when you want to be picked up."

Pete said, "Not a problem. I'm sure I can get one of the one of the minions to drive us back."

Sarah told us, "Miss Simone, Angela, gentlemen, diner will be served at eight. Your rooms have been sorted for tonight."

"Ask daddy to come to dinner please," Simone added.

I nodded as we walked out to the car -- a silver grey 1960 Bentley Continental S2 that both Pete and I drooled over. Gaston smiled at us, "She is a beautiful car is she not? It was Simone's mothers car, and is now Simone's."

"Christ I knew there was a reason I fell in love with that woman. Pete you're in the back. The Chairman gets to ride up front."

Pete chuckled, "You're going to milk the Chairman angle for a long time aren't you?"

"I haven't even started; get in."

The drive to the office wasn't far but I enjoyed every second of it. The office was part of a group of buildings that backed up to a hillside with the grape vines all around. Gaston pointed each out for us and described their purpose. The buildings were comprised of the winery, the office, the bottling plant and the storage warehouses that extended into the hillside.

We got out of the car and entered the offices. Pete immediately grabbed one of his team and organised a status meeting in the boardroom. When I walked in with him, there was a stunned silence. Then you could hear the whispered, 'It's the Chairman,' running round the room. Oh, I was really going to enjoy this! I could see Pete heading for the chair at the head of the conference table and I beat him to it and sat down. Pete glared at the poor person sitting in the chair next to mine. There was a very rapid reshuffle and he sat down. I couldn't help it, I just grinned at him.

"Don't you dare say a word," he hissed at me, and then launched himself into a discussion with the five members of the team. To my inexperienced ears, it sounded like Simone had inherited a very healthy company.

I decided it was time to meet Simone's father. I interrupted Pete's flow and asked for directions to his office. As I left I reminded him to ask about the local schooling options for Michael and Anna.

I followed the directions and walked down the corridor to George's office. I told his secretary that I needed to speak to him.

"And you are who Monsieur?"

"My name is Andrew and I am his daughter's fiancé."

A look of shock shot across her face and she jumped up and hurried into the office. A few moments later she reappeared followed by an older and elegantly dressed gentleman in his late sixty's.

I held my hand out to him, "Monsieur Laurent, I would like to introduce myself. I'm Andrew, and I would like your permission to marry your daughter?"

He looked surprised at the bluntness of my question and then smiled briefly. He shook my hand and invited me into his office ignoring my question. We sat down in a pair of wingback armchairs by a fireplace and he asked his secretary to bring us each a glass of wine. I relaxed a bit; at least he hadn't proposed a duel.

He started the conversation."I don't know if I should be thanking or cursing you for getting rid of my soon to be ex son in law. But I do know that you are probably the best thing that has happened to my daughter in the past few years."

He looked at me with anger in his eyes, "The more I hear, the more I despise Bernard. I was an idiot. I believed his stories and I abandoned my daughter. Worst of all I helped him turn my grandchildren against their mother." He snuffled as he started to choke up in his inward anger.

"We all make mistakes, and I think Simone knows that. I think you'll find that she's moved past those terrible years. I feel glad to have helped in some small way. She wants you to come to dinner tonight. She also wants to move the children to a local school."

"I will be there; she and I need to talk.

He looked at me, "That's probably the best thing for them. They trust me, I can help by explaining to them what their father was doing."

He looked at me and raised his glass, "I think I will be happy to have you as a son in-law." He looked wistfully at me. "Now that Simone is back maybe I can think about retiring. I think that's why I let Bernard take over these past few years."

There was a knock on the door and Peter entered. I introduced him to George, and he sat down. They started an in depth business discussion that went over my head. I looked around George's office, and I was drawn to a painting on the wall. For a moment I thought it was Simone, but then I realised it couldn't be her because of the period dress the woman wore.

George saw me looking and interrupted his conversation with Peter. "That is Simone's mother Helene. It was painted when she was twenty four, two years after we married."

I said, "I thought it was Simone at first."

George pointed at a photograph on his desk, "That's Helene at almost the same age as Simone is now. You would think that they were twins."

I looked at him "I know she died when Simone was ten, if you don't mind telling me, what happened?"

"It was a stupid accident. She wasn't even supposed to be on the plane. We were at a wine festival, but she really wanted to be back here in time for Simone's tenth birthday. She jumped at the chance when a family friend offered to fly her back. The plane crashed on takeoff and there were no survivors."

I looked at him with a sense of mutual sympathy; "I lost my wife four years ago to cancer, I know that you never really get over it."

There was a long pause and then I continued, "Dinner tonight, we were told to tell you that it's at eight o'clock."

He smiled, "That will be Sarah. She does enjoy cooking and with Bernard and the children gone she hasn't had a lot of opportunities lately."

I knew that they had more to discuss, so I told Pete, "I guess you would like to wrap up here? If so I'm going to take the opportunity to wander round the winery. I've never seen one up close."

I told George, "I will see you tonight," and we shook hands.

George called out his office door and a young man appeared. "This is Robert; he will be happy to show you around."

I got the full VIP tour and I must say it was very interesting. I've drunk a lot of wine in my time, and I even made it when I was in Saudi. But what I was shown was completely different from the jerry can in the bathroom I knew!

I could see that Robert was itching to find out who I was. Also how Pete and I fitted in to all the changes that were presently going on in the winery management. Finally, when we reached the tasting room his curiosity got the better of him.

He asked, "How do you know Monsieur Laurent?"

"I don't really. I know his daughter, and we are getting married in a few months time."

"But...but she is married to Monsieur Duval."

I told him, "Not for much longer; she's divorcing him."

"Ah, then that explains why he is no longer here; but the other people, why are they here?"

I thought about my answer and decided to err on the side of caution, "It's a management team she has brought in to support her father, as Bernard no longer has anything to do with the company."

He looked a bit confused with this statement, "But why did she bring them in?"

"Because all of this is hers not Bernard's; her mother left it to her."

Our conversation was interrupted as Pete and George arrived.

George asked Robert, "Please fetch us a bottle of the special reserve."

He told us, "This is our best wine, it's my favourite and I would like you to try it."

He took it from Robert and opened the bottle. He handed me a glass and I savoured the aroma and then took a sip. It was full bodied, a delicate symphony of summer fruits on the tongue. It was one of the best wines I'd ever tasted and from the look on Pete's face he completely agreed.

George told us, "We don't sell it; it's only kept for the family."

He saw my expression and smiled, "Or for soon to be members of our family."

I stage whispered to Pete, "We may need to give serious thought to extending our 'family' if it comes with benefits like this."

"I agree, but right now we need to get back to the chateau. We need to round up a driver."

George waved at Robert, "Robert can drive you, and please tell Simone I will see her at eight."

*********************

A Family Dinner

It was seven before we got back at the chateau. We found Simone and Angie dressed for dinner sipping wine on the terrace.

Simone told us, "There are clean clothes for you in our rooms. We got them from Rosie earlier. Sarah does like us to dress for dinner. Is daddy coming?" I nodded and she looked happy but nervous.

I said, "He knows he let you down. He realizes that he let Bernard manipulate him and he regrets it. All he wants to do is quietly retire and enjoy his grandchildren."

Simone and Angie showed us to our rooms. Simone pointed out her room. To my surprise the room Simone took me to was next to hers. I gave her a quizzical look.

She said, "It's Sarah. It's her Highland Calvinistic morals. Not under my roof if you are not married was her quote."

"But it's your roof."

"Do you want to be the one who tells her that?"

"And how are we going explain Angie in our bed, because she is expecting her first baby sperm donation tonight."

Angie said, "Too damn right I am."

"That not an issue, watch this."

Simone went to a large wall mounted mirror in my room and pressed a hidden catch. A hidden door panel swung open to show us a view of a surprised half-dressed Pete in the next room.

"One of my distant relatives had it installed to make it easier to visit his mistresses."

I looked eagerly at the other connecting wall between our rooms, "And there is secret door between our rooms? Good God, I feel like the Scarlet Pimpernel, they seek him here, they seek him there."

"If there is one I've never found it, but then you could just use the regular door between the rooms;" She pointed at a door that had been painted to look like the wall.

Angie laughed, "Oh goody musical beds tonight."

Simone told us with a grin, "Sarah may have been brought up with highland morals but she's lived in France for long enough that she understands the passion of love,"

She laughed, "What goes on behind closed doors..."

"...stays behind closed doors," I completed.

"Hurry up you need to get dressed."

I was the last to arrive only just beating Sarah's dinner announcement. I was pleased to see that Simone's Aunt Rachael had joined us. I greeted her with a kiss and she gave me a quick hug. There were six places set round the table. I would have expected to see a seventh place but Simone told me that Sarah would never eat with the family.

Sarah made every effort to impress; the food and wine were excellent. It was obvious that Simone had forgiven her father. We discussed the problem of children with him. He agreed that it would best for them if they changed schools. He asked us to let him find a suitable local school for them. We decided that he and Rachael would pick them up from the airport. Simone had wanted to be there but she was quick to understand that they needed time to start countering Bernard's influence before she saw them.

I think the highlight of the evening for George was when Simone asked him to give her away at the wedding. For a few moments, he was silent and then he nodded, and there were tears in his eyes.

We were served coffee and drinks in the sitting room and finally Sarah sat down and joined us. The topic of conversation drifted to the wedding and the arraignments. Simone wanted Sarah and Gaston to come, but Sarah refused.

"I'm sorry I would love to come but Gaston won't fly, and I will not be leaving him on his own."

Pete said to me, "Talking about the wedding, I got a text from your daughter. First will you please switch you bloody mobile on, her words not mine. Will you please check the details on the family page? If you want her to book the flights, she needs you to authorise the funds."

He disappeared and returned with his laptop and handed it to me. I opened the laptop and logged into the family page. I checked the status of the wedding invites. Then I saw that Kerstin had set up a travel page and people had been filling in their flight requests. I had Pete release funds to her and left her a message to start booking the flights. I told her to book first class wherever possible. I also asked her to forward all the confirmations to the resort, and added Rachael and George to the list.

My mailbox was full of messages of congratulations. There was also a message from Julia with Marylou's contact details and the reminder to call. I copied them down, and noticed that there were many messages for Simone.

I handed the laptop to Simone so she could check the messages. I asked Pete if I could borrow his phone to call Marylou.

Angie looked at me, "I heard a bit about Marylou from Julia and Ros, what was the full story?"

*****************

For Angie

"Do you want the long or the short version?"

Simone said, "The simple one please."

"Well she's American nurse and was working at one of the hospitals in Riyadh when I met her. For the last three months of her contract, she moved in with Julia and me. We became a proper threesome; I suppose you could describe it as a triad. After she left Saudi Julia and I met up with her a few times. She joined Ros and me on holiday a couple of times, and they became very close. I know that Julia and Mike met up with her a few times as well. For some unknown reason she never considered herself as part of the family. She stayed a close friend for many years until she married a right idiot about ten years ago."

"Why did she leave?"

"She was going back to school, and they wouldn't hold the place for her when she tried to extend her contract. I hadn't heard from her in years, not since she married. I don't think her husband approved of old boyfriends. We got the odd Christmas card but that was it. Apparently, a few months ago she contacted Julia."