‘Toddy, baby!’ A tanned, lithe blonde wrapped in a stunning royal-blue sarong, exactly the right shade to accentuate her tan and the golden hue of her hair, appeared as Todd escorted Sophie into what he called the breakfast room.
The woman placed both hands on his shoulders and kissed each cheek with a loud ‘mwah, mwah’.
She looked oddly familiar next to Todd. A relative? An aunt? Another cousin? He hadn’t mentioned an older sister. There was no way this model-like creature could possibly be his mother.
‘Darling, when did you get here?’ There was genuine puzzlement on the woman’s face. ‘Did Brett pick you up from the airport?’
‘We drove. Left very early. Arrived about half an hour ago.’ Todd’s stiff stance and uncharacteristic coolness made Sophie immediately wary.
‘Drove.’ The woman rolled her eyes as if it were the oddest thing she’d ever heard. ‘At this time of year. You must have left at a godawful time.’ She gave a delicate shudder. ‘Well, don’t let your father know, otherwise I will never hear the end of it,’ she said, pursing her lips, which Sophie had been trying hard not to stare at for the last minute. There was something not quite right about them, but she couldn’t quite identify what. It was almost as if they belonged to another person.
The woman gave herself a visible sort of shake as if suddenly spotting Sophie standing behind Todd.
‘And who’s this?’ she asked, all arch and winsome.
Todd stepped aside and slid an arm along Sophie’s shoulder, letting it rest there with reassuring weight as if he were laying claim to a staunch team-mate.
‘Mom, this is my friend Sophie. Sophie, this is my mom, Celine.’
‘Mom!’ Sophie’s mouth fell open in unchecked surprise and she stared. This stunning woman with the amazing figure, in her casual knotted sarong over bikini, with her Jackie O sunglasses perched on top of her white-blonde hair, was nothing like the Nancy Reagan matron she’d pictured. ‘You look far too young. My goodness, I thought you were a cousin or something. You can’t possibly be …’
With a dazzling smile, Todd’s mother turned to her. ‘Well, you can be my new best friend. That’s so adorable of you to say. And you’re English. What a darling accent! Where are you from?’
‘I live in London.’
‘I adore London. We always stay at the Savoy when we’re in town. Do you know it?’
Sophie nodded, bemused, wondering if you know it meant, have you stayed there, or have you heard of it?
‘Old fashioned but so English. I love it. Todd’s father always wants to stay at the Marriott, because he’s an old friend of Bill’s, Bill Marriott.’ She paused for breath before adding, ‘And you’re a friend of Todd’s?’ With her raised eyebrow and the sultry lowering of her voice, she hinted at a thousand questions.
‘We work together, Mom. And Sophie was going to be on her own for the holidays.’ Todd shut her down, without answering the question.
‘Oh.’ Frigid disinterest echoed in her voice. ‘You work at this magazine place too? You have a job.’
Sophie nodded. His mother pinched those strange lips together and busily brushed an invisible speck from her sarong and huffed. ‘Well, it’s not as if Todd even needs to work there. I think he does it to annoy his father. Which I suppose is as good an incentive as any.’
Todd didn’t say anything but from the look on his face, it wasn’t the first time such views had been expressed.
‘I think it must be our generation,’ said Sophie with an understanding smile at Celine, ignoring the slightly shrewish tone. ‘My father says exactly the same.’
‘He does?’ Celine seemed mollified by Sophie’s quick nod, while Todd flashed her a grateful smile. ‘I guess it’s a phase then. Hopefully he’ll grow out of it.’
‘Now, I want you to make yourselves at home. Todd, you can show Sophie around. If you have any special dietary requests, do let chef know. We’re having dinner tonight in the dining room. Just the family party, the rest of the guests are flying in tomorrow. And then we’ll have a houseful. The party on Saturday night is formal dress. Todd, you did bring your tuxedo?’
‘Of course.’
A small Filipino woman approached them and waited patiently until Celine turned her attention to her. ‘Ah, this is my housekeeper, Mahalia. If you need anything, Mahalia can help you.’
The woman’s eyes lit up. ‘Mr Todd, welcome.’
‘Hey, Ma, how are you?’ He gave the pint-size woman a big hug, picking her up off her feet, as her severe face relaxed into giggles.
‘Todd! Really.’ Despite her remonstration, Sophie was relieved to see that Celine’s frown didn’t quite meet her eyes. ‘Honestly, he is naughty. With everyone else Mahalia is an absolute martinet. Quite why she dotes on him so much, I’ll never know.’
Mahalia giggled and when Todd put her down, she pinched his cheeks. ‘He so good looking, Cee. Now Chef want you to try the beef Carpaccio and you need make up your mind which crystal for tomorrow. The Lalique or the Baccarat?’ The diminutive woman put her hands on her hips. ‘I need decision today, lady.’
‘I was thinking the Swarovski.’
‘Eeeugh, no,’ screeched Mahalia, swatting at the other woman with her hands. ‘Too trashy. They no good.’
‘She is so bossy,’ said Celine. ‘And I couldn’t live without her. See you later.’
And the two of them walked away, Celine’s blonde head bowing down next to the dark head.
Todd watched them go with a wistful smile. ‘There they go, the Rottweiler and the Pekinese. You know they’re best friends.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes, when no one else is around, Mom spends all her time in the kitchen with Mahalia, gossiping and drinking coffee and watching repeats of Gilmore Girls and Riverdale. Not that she’d ever admit it and if she heard me say that, she’d have my tongue cut out.’
‘That’s so sweet, although it sounds familiar.’ Sophie thought of her parents and how they first met. The tale of her dad taking refuge in the kitchen, getting under the feet of his new housekeeper at Felston Hall after his ex-wife refused to move out, was one of Sophie’s favourites.
‘Hmm, sweet is not a word I associate with my mother.’
‘She’s very glamorous.’ Sophie smoothed down her linen dress, worrying that maybe it was a bit too casual. Even dressed in a sarong, Celine looked a million dollars.
Todd tugged at the loose dress over her swimming costume. ‘Don’t worry. You always look gorgeous. Come on, I’ll show you around.’
‘Fancy a dip?’ asked Todd.
‘I’m not sure I dare,’ answered Sophie, looking around the pool area, the last stop on the grand tour, which was grand. ‘It’s so … quiet.’ The word perfect had been her first choice.
Wooden decking surrounded the long rectangular pool which had been tiled in deep blue with a wave design picked out in a glittery twinkling mosaic. White rattan sun loungers, topped with navy-and-white cushions, all propped up at the same height, were arranged in pairs with a matching table and a co-ordinating parasol separating the two. Rolled navy towels had been placed exactly two thirds of the way up each bed and a little pot of bright-red geraniums sat on each table.
‘It is lovely,’ said Sophie, not wanting to sound ungrateful at the offer, but she didn’t want to be the first to move one of those carefully placed rolled-up towels. To litter up one of the sunbeds. Put her sunglasses and sun cream on a table.
You couldn’t deny the house was gorgeous and seriously sumptuous, the superlatives were endless … but it didn’t feel like a home. Everything had been placed. Nothing left. Nothing scattered. Even the family photos, all formal pictures, were grouped in silver frames on the grand piano in the sort of lines that felt as if they owed everything to military precision and nothing to family pride.
Suddenly she realised she was biting her lip and from the slightly amused expression on Todd’s face, she knew every thought had been transparently displayed on her face.
‘Come on, come and meet my brother.’ He grabbed her hand and led her towards the back of the house and down a corridor she’d missed spotting earlier.
No wonder this room was tucked away, with its battered leather sofa, pile of video games and a huge wide-screen TV. It looked comfortable, slightly worn and much more like a family den. A boy of about thirteen sat on the edge of the sofa hunched over a controller, completely focused on the screen in front of him, on which airborne dragons ridden by longbow-wielding elves, which Sophie knew were called Lairfolk, battled with an alien species which bore a marked resemblance to flying otters.
‘Hey little dude,’ said Todd.
The boy’s head whipped round and he jumped up, abandoning his controller. ‘Todd!’
‘Marty!’ teased Todd, mirroring his brother’s excited arm waving.
The boy skidded to a halt just short of Todd’s outstretched arms as he noticed Sophie, and his own lanky arms dropped awkwardly to dangle at his sides.
‘Hey,’ he muttered. ‘You’re back.’
Todd ignored the sudden loss of enthusiasm and swept his brother into a hug, rubbing his knuckles into the top of the boy’s head until Marty wriggled and started play-fighting back.
‘How are you, little dude?’
‘Taller than Mom,’ said Marty with a pugnacious lift of his chin that belied his reedy build and thin shoulders.
‘This is my friend Sophie. This here’s my little brother.’
Marty scowled at him and gave Sophie a perfunctory nod but she spotted the give-away firming of his lips.
‘Hi Marty. Good game.’ She nodded towards the screen.
His shoulders lifted. ‘Do you play?’
She smiled at his sudden eagerness. ‘I have been known to,’ she said with a self-deprecating twist to her mouth.
‘Wanna play?’
‘Not just now,’ said Todd.
As Marty started to turn away, a flash of disappointment in his eyes, Sophie jumped in.
‘I’d love to.’ She moved around to the front of the sofa, ready to take a seat. ‘But only if I can be a Swirenguard and have a Rating Nine Dragon Wraith.’
She giggled at Todd’s startled look while Marty immediately perked up, rubbing his hands together, and handed her a second controller. ‘Cool. You’re on.’
He looked back at his older brother. ‘Todd?’ and even before he could answer, the boy was already scrabbling under the sofa and pulling out a third controller.
‘What the heck?’ He gave Marty a cocky grin. ‘I’ve never even heard of this game … but looking at the opposition, little dude and English, I feel a victory coming my way.’
Sophie winked at Marty. ‘I think we need to show him a thing or two. This is war.’
‘This is war,’ echoed Marty and fist-bumped Sophie. Her heart turned over at his easy acceptance of her as over his head Todd mouthed, ‘Thank you,’ to Sophie with a warm smile.
Half an hour later, Todd was pleading for a break. ‘Seriously, you guys are monsters. Ganging up on me like that.’
‘What did you expect?’ said Sophie with a superior tilt to her head, nudging Marty.
‘Yeah, bro. Me and Sophie creamed you.’
‘Sophie cheated,’ said Todd, laughter dancing on his face.
‘How did I cheat?’ asked Sophie with mock indignation.
‘You didn’t say you’d played before.’
‘You didn’t ask.’
‘Yeah Todd, you didn’t ask,’ chorused Marty.
Todd rolled his eyes. ‘And how did you know those evil fairy things were down the mine-shaft before you got there?’
‘Yeah, actually that was pretty cool.’ Marty’s admiration made her grin. ‘And when you raided the serpent’s nest to get more arrows. This version only came out two days ago.’
‘I never had you down as a gamer.’ Todd’s puzzlement made her raise her eyebrows at both of them with an impish smirk.
‘Well …’ she paused, unable to keep the glee from her face. ‘I might have had a bit of inside knowledge.’
‘You had a preview copy?’ asked Marty, his eyes growing wide.
‘Better than that. I’ve seen its inception. My neighbour is Conrad Welsh.’
Marty’s mouth dropped open, his eyes even wider now, while Todd looked blank.
‘Should I know who that is?’ he asked.
‘H-he … h-he …’ Marty spluttered.
‘He’s, well actually, he’s a she, is a games developer. And quite well known.’ Marty nodded vigorously at that. ‘She lives next door to me in London.’
Marty was now blinking furiously, holding his chest as if he were hyperventilating.
‘She’s a … well, friend is stretching it. Conrad is a loner, she doesn’t really do friends, or rather, she doesn’t know what to do with them.’ Sophie often thought of her as a stray kitten she’d adopted. Her neighbour rarely tore herself away from the computer screen to bother with things like visits to supermarkets, so Sophie had taken to visiting with regular food parcels as if she were some elderly impoverished neighbour instead of a socially awkward twenty-three-year-old with more money than she knew what to do with.
‘I get dragged in to help her test the games. She’s a bit … she doesn’t like strangers in her flat and won’t let the games leave her place before she’s happy with them, so it was me or nothing.’
Marty had just about found his breath. ‘That’s seriously sick,’ he said, his awestruck attitude lasting for another few minutes as he peppered Sophie with questions, much to Todd’s silent amusement.
At last Marty ran out of steam on the games front. ‘Can we go boarding?’
‘Sure,’ said Todd. ‘I’m dying to get out on the beach.’