The Summer's Child Read online

  "We have access to Netflix France,” Roelle said, missing Samantha’s unhappy face. “Do you think they'll have scandalous movies?" Samantha made a face.

  "What does that even mean?" She asked.

  "French cinema is famous for being racy," Roelle said with a small smirk. Samantha frowned.

  "Ugh, no thanks. I'm too puritan for that," she said with a frown. Roelle scoffed.

  "You're not puritan at all," she pointed out. Samantha sighed.

  "Repressed then,” she decided. “I don't want to see anything racy." Roelle tilted her head.

  "What do you want to see?" She asked.

  "Ratatouille." Roelle straightened and blinked in surprise.

  "The movie with the rat?" She asked, confused.

  "Yes,” Samantha said with an empathetic nod. “It's one of the best movies in the world."

  "Oh my god."

  "It's true!"

  "No, it's a movie about a rat. And an animated movie at that!"

  "Please, you can't hate on animated movies."

  "Watch me."

  "Wow, okay, well, now we're definitely watching that."

  "What if French Netflix doesn't have it?"

  "Thank god Pixar has a million movies, right?"

  "They only have like 20."

  "Why are you like this." Roelle grinned, and Samantha settled against her, totally relaxed for the first time since she got off the plane.

  They got back to the hotel around three- the wind had changed, and for the last hour, the father and daughter had to constantly tack the sail. Samantha and Roelle just sat on the bow and enjoyed the spray of the water against the legs.

  “It’s kinda nice that we don’t have to be anywhere at any time,” Roelle admitted as they pulled into the dock. Samantha yawned and stretched.

  “True,” she mumbled. “Though perhaps we can walk back to the hotel instead of getting the cab? It’s only a six km walk.”

  “That sounds good to me.” So they walked, through the old part of the village, and along the winding streets, with Roelle’s phones Google maps giving them confusing directions that got them lost twice. But they found a small bakery that had wonderful little baguette sandwiches, and it was amazing.

  As they sat on a public bench in the park at the north end of the city, and Roelle was trying to bite into the baguette without her content falling out, which turned out to be a challenge, Samantha felt something twist in her heart. Under the golden afternoon sun, with Roelle’s hair and wild, and slightly stiff from the ocean salt, she looked so stunning, and Samantha realized she never wanted this vacation to end.

  ***

  They got back to the hotel around five thirty, and Samantha sunk into their bed with a happy sigh. The duvet was fluffed up to perfection, and she fell into the material with a happy sigh. Roelle walked straight into the bathroom to “sort out the horror of my hair” right now.

  “I want to order out,” Samantha called to her. Roelle poked her head out of the bathroom, confused.

  "We're doing what?" she asked.

  "Ordering out," Samantha repeated. Roelle snorted.

  "I don't think you can do that in France," she pointed out, coming into the bedroom while she furiously tried to brush her hair. Samantha frowned.

  "What do you mean?" She asked.

  "Well,” Roelle said with a shrug, “do you want pizza?"

  "No."

  "Then we're fresh out of luck,” she explained, spraying some product in her hair. “Nothing else delivers in Europe." Samantha frowned.

  "Are you sure?" She asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

  "I lived in Sweden, remember?" Roelle pointed out with a grin. She sat down at the desk-vanity and pulled out the stack of brochures for their trip.

  "I don't remember that about Paris," Samantha said with a small pout.

  "Well, I mean, you were in Paris,” Roelle pointed out without looking up from the documents. “Not in the middle of nowhere."

  "Please,” Samantha said, gesturing the protest away, “You had Cassie." Roelle looked up and nodded with a small smile.

  "True,” she admitted, “though that was weird for a while." Samantha sat up and frowned.

  "Why?" She asked.

  "Because Janine was weird about Cassie for a while." Samantha still looked perplexed. “Janine had a fight on ser with Cassie twice during filming.” Samantha groaned in understanding.

  "Oh man I totally forgot about the that," she admitted.

  "Cassie was an angel and didn't care, but Janine was very snippy and bitchy and kind of felt betrayed that I hung out with her? It was super weird, but we made it out fine,” Roelle explained with a small shrug. “Anyway, guess what I just read?"

  "What?" Samantha slid off the bed to come look over Roelle’s shoulder as she pointed out a paragraph in their brochure.

  "All charges incurred on this vacation are covered by the sweepstakes," she read out loud. Samantha narrowed her eyes.

  "What does that mean?" She asked.

  "It means we can order room service for free," Roelle said with a wicked grin. Samantha gasped.

  "What! That’s so cool!" She jumped up to the phone and pulled the room service menu from under the phone. "Is there lobster in the room service?"

  "No," Roelle said, small smile pulling at her lips.

  "Damn it," Samantha said dramatically.

  "You don't even like lobster!" Roelle pointed out, smirking.

  "It's the principle, Roe," Samantha explained.

  "Sure,” Roelle hummed, back trying to smooth out her hair. “Anyway, they have burgers." Samantha clapped the menu shut.

  "Done," she said. Roelle rolled her eyes.

  "You're in France, Samantha!" She pointed out.

  "And tomorrow, during the fancy dinner, I will eat fancy food. Tonight, however, I will have this hotel's best burger, and feel good about myself."

  "Why are you like this?" Roelle asked, as she got up and walked over to the bed, sitting down next to Samantha and grabbing the menu.

  "What, cute?” Samantha asked, falling back on the bed. “Beautiful?"

  "Annoying," Roelle supplied wryly. Samantha chuckled.

  "How rude," she said happily. Roelle rolled her eyes at her, though she was secretly so relieved that Samantha was feeling better. She decided on some fish for herself, called down, and was assured their food would be ready within the half an hour. She fell back on the bed next to Samantha, and Samantha pulled out her phone with a small: "Oh!"

  "What?" Roelle asked.

  "I got baby snaps from Giselle," Samantha said with a smile.

  "Oh my god," Roelle whispered, excited.

  "Yes."

  "Let's see." Roelle leaned into Samantha to see the pictures. Samantha watched the series of pictures of baby Jason and Giselle, laughing, giggling, a video with adult Jason, and then a pic of all three of them. Giselle looked wonderful, and healthy, and her baby was the cutest, most beautiful, perfect baby in the world.

  “Even though she’s not named Samantha,” Roelle decided, “she’s still the most cute baby in the world.”

  “Obviously.” Samantha agreed with a small nod. “Come on, let’s send Giselle a reply.” They ended up sending Giselle about half a dozen snaps, because Samantha had not yet discovered the potential of Snapchat filters, so Roelle had to teach her the ways, and it was incredibly fun.

  By the time their food arrived, they had picked out a movie, (Finding Nemo, since French Netflix didn’t have Ratatouille), and were already cuddled up in bed together.

  Samantha had no problem falling asleep that night.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Roelle woke up to the sound of her alarm again, but as she instinctively turned to turn it off, she realized she couldn't move. Samantha was draped over her, her face burrowed against Roelle's shoulder, her arm over her hip, her foot resting on Roelle's shin. Roelle immediately stilled, and then, for good measure, stopped breathing. She couldn't believe this - she knew Samantha w
as a deep sleeper, but she had really thought that perhaps accidentally snuggling her would have woken Samantha up. But no.

  She was so warm. Roelle stiffened as she realized her desire to lean into Samantha was getting stronger the more she was awake. She needed to get out of this. She needed to get up, and step away from Samantha Lee.

  She actually needed to get out of this whole vacation. This was too much. Why had she ever thought she could do this?

  She let out her breath, turned off the dumb alarm, and got up. Samantha mumbled something quietly in protest, rolled over, and continued to sleep.

  This morning, her sun salutations didn’t come easily. Her body felt stiff against the familiar movements, and although she closed her eyes, tried to breathe out, and concentrate on nothing, all she could think about was Samantha.

  She knew this entire trip had been a bad idea.

  She breathed out again. Tried to clear her mind.

  Perhaps that's why Samantha had asked two other people before her? Because she too knew it was going to be a bad idea?

  Roelle realized she was not going to get rid of these thoughts the easy way. She grabbed her iPod, changed into her shorter running shorts, and went for a jog.

  This turned out to be an equally bad idea. Unless she was willing to run along the beach, she needed to run through the sidewalks of the village. She knew not to harm her knee by running on asphalt, so she settled for walking instead, turning to one of her favorite meditation podcasts and tracing her and Samantha's winding route from the other day down to the waterfront, and then back up.

  She walked by a small patisserie, eyed it, and decided that Samantha might appreciate a pre-breakfast snack.

  By the time she returned to the hotel it was only 8.30, but it was shaping up to be a warm day.

  Sweater Couple were crossing the lobby for the breakfast room when Roelle entered, and they lit up when they saw her. "Why Roelle!" Katherine said with a wide smile. "I see you've already gone out and worked up a sweat. I do so admire people like you."

  "Thanks," Roelle said with a tight smile. The food in the other room smelled wonderful, and she suddenly realized she was starving.

  "We so missed you at dinner last night," the husband jumped in. His name, Roelle recalled, was James, and he sent her a smile that made her skin crawl. "Will you be joining the castle tour today?"

  “Hm,” she hummed, suddenly very sure that she didn’t want to do anything with them. "What will you be doing?" Roelle asked tactfully, smiling non-commitally.

  "We were debating between the castle tour, and the medieval museum. We're thinking about the museum." They eyed Roelle hungrily. She smiled.

  "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint, but Samantha has her heart set on the castle," she said cheerfully, and then made to leave, but the Sweater Couple didn’t seem to get the tactful clue.

  "Well, how wonderful, so do I!” James cut in. “I think we'll go to the castle instead, don't you think, Kat?"

  "Of course!” She simpered. “We would so love to know you better." Roelle gave them her best impression of a smile, suppressed an eye roll, and nodded.

  "Yes, of course,” she replied, hoping she had kept her weariness out of her voice. “Now, if you don't mind me, Samantha will wonder where I am."

  "Of course!” This time they parted to let her cross. “We'll save you a seat at breakfast," they called after her, and Roelle closed her eyes, stopped, and turned back around, charming smile reaffixed to her face.

  "Oh no, please - don't wait for us! Samantha can be so painfully slow in the morning."

  "Women, am I right?" Roelle just laughed, waved, and ran towards the stairs.

  "Did you go running?" Samantha asked, turning over to yawn at Roelle. Roelle shook her head, tearing her iPod and it's Velcro pouch away from her bicep.

  "The beach is full of small stones, and i didn't want to trip, so I walked the village."

  "Did you bring me anything?" Samantha asked, sitting up and stretching. Roelle swallowed, trying to ignore the tiny bit of bare skin that showed when Samantha’s shirt rode up.

  "Even though we're about to go down to breakfast?" She asked, forcing herself to turn away from Samantha.

  "Yes," Samantha mumbled, and Roelle could hear the put in her voice. She sighed affectionately, and indicated the brown paper bag on Samantha’s nightstand.

  "Of course I did." Samantha broke into a huge grin.

  "Yay!" She cheered, unpacking the bag and bringing out the beautiful freshly baked croissant. Roelle made frowned at the smell - she was getting really hungry now. Better get ready for breakfast.

  "I'm going to shower now."

  "Great I'll go after you," Samantha hummed as she settled back into bed and switched on the television. She flicked through the channels impatiently. Samantha settled on a French cartoon and watched with interest as she ate the crisp and fresh croissant. She was dismayed by how little French she understood. She didn't need this.

  She switched to CNN. More bad news about cabinet picks. She sighed and turned off the TV totally.

  The shower had stopped. Only another ten minutes until Roelle would be done….

  Samantha picked up the brochure on which Roelle had marked their daily schedule. Today, there were a variety of options, but Roelle had highlighted "Trip to Castle" in her bright yellow highlighter, so Samantha knew what they were doing. She got out of bed and stretched, yawning as she reached the sky. She had slept so well.

  "You won't guess who I met in the lobby," Roelle said through the door of the bathroom. Samantha tilted her head.

  "Your biggest fans?" She offered. Roelle laughed.

  "No, I wish. They were so sweet and nice. No, I met the Sweater couple." Samantha groaned.

  "Oh no."

  "Yeah, they wanted to know what we're doing today."

  "You told them the opposite of what we're doing, right?" Samantha asked, hoping against hope.

  "I tried!” Roelle protested, opening the bathroom door so she could give Samantha a pleading look. “They changed their answer!"

  "What?" Samantha asked, aghast.

  "Well, I asked them what they were doing, they said the museum, so I said we're going to the castle, so they immediately decided that they were going to the castle too now." Roelle pouted at Samantha around the doorframe. Samantha groaned again.

  "Oh no."

  "Look, there are worse things than hanging out with them all day," Roelle tried, walking out of the bathroom.

  "Please!” Samantha said, falling onto the bed again. “Name one!"

  "Roaches," Roelle offered as she walked back into the bathroom and started brushing her hair. Samantha laughed.

  "Okay,” she admitted, “good point."

  "Anyway, this will help us build up couple credentials," Roelle explained as Samantha walked into the bathroom.

  "Couple credentials?" She asked, toothbrush in mouth, raising an eyebrow at Roelle

  "We have to look credible," Roelle explained, fussing over her curls. Samantha spit in the sink.

  "We do look credible," she protested. Roelle gave her a look.

  "Every day you wear the same dress to breakfast, our credibility drops a bit."

  "Pfff, no one even notices," Samantha dismissed, rinsing her mouth out with water and spitting again.

  "We're in France, Samantha. Of course people notice,” Roelle deadpanned. “Now shower quickly. I’m starving.”

  “Yes Ma’am.”

  Much to Roelle’s satisfaction, Samantha was able to shower quickly slip into her familiar red breakfast dress, and stand ready at the door within minutes. Roelle got up from the vanity and raised an eyebrow at Samantha.

  “Stop trying to wear your sneakers and put on my pumps," she scolded. Samantha pouted.

  "Why?" She asked, making a face.

  "They will turn out away."

  "Fine," Samantha grumbled, switching her shoes, grabbing the room key and handing it to Roelle. "Next time we're going on a couple's vacation, we'
re going to a hipster artsy place. Oh wait, even better, an airbnb."

  "Please, you would hate an airbnb,” Roelle claimed, holding the door open for Samantha. “You have to pay for those." Samantha laughed.

  "Ugh, you're right," she agreed as they walked down the corridor to the stairs, and the breakfast.

  Breakfast was uneventful - by the time they arrived, Sweater Couple were leaving, although they complained that they had saved them a seat, they promised they would forgive them. "Now that we have all day together, we just can't wait to ask you all the questions!"

  "We're going to have so much fun!" Samantha could hear the panicky note in Roelle's voice, and she had to cough to hide her smile.

  The trip to the museum was scheduled to leave the hotel at 10 a.m in a small minibus. Roelle made sure she and Samantha were dressed and ready to go, waiting in the lobby, five minutes too. She sat down on the central sofa, her nose buried in the Lonely Planet section on this castle. It turned out that this castle had a lot of really cool history - it was built in the 1220s, on a site of a castle that had been around since the 1000s.

  "This place is like....700 years older than America!" Roelle gushed. Samantha yawned.

  "A lot of things are older than America," she told Roelle. Roelle shot her a glare.

  "Name one thing," she ordered. Samantha shrugged.

  "Trees." Roelle raised an eyebrow.

  "Really?" She asked, scoffing.

  "What?” Samantha protested. “I mean, they are!"

  "You’ve been to trees that are 500 years old?" Roelle asked, incredulously. Samantha made a face.

  "I mean, they don't have to be 500 years old,” she pointed out. “America is barely 250." Roelle was about to argue, and then sat back in surprise.

  "Oh man, you're right," she admitted. Samantha smirked.

  "The nation of England is older than America," she pointed out. Roelle rolled her eyes.

  "Funny."

  "Dinosaurs are older than America." Roelle jokingly shoved Samantha.

  "Stop it, you know it all. I don't even know why I try so hard." Samantha grinned up at her.

  "It's because you find me cute and irresistible," she told her, holding up her arms to protect herself. Roelle blushed a deep red.

  "In your wildest dreams," she said, managing to look haughty despite the heat in her cheeks.