she’d thought she was as happy as she was ever going to be. Falling in love at fifty-seven years old hadn’t been on her radar. Not that it ever had been. Her default setting since her particularly disastrous teenage years had been the old saying ‘Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.’ So instead of a husband and family, she had a successful career she enjoyed, her own home and money in the bank. If she’d ever felt that something was missing from her life, she’d firmly pushed the thought down and away. Everybody had regrets, didn’t they? You learned to live with them.
Then, at a swanky London party on New Year’s Eve, mutual friends had introduced her to widower Leo Hunter. It was one of those rare occasions when two people connected, forming an instant friendship. Leo worked for one of the big five publishers and was intrigued by Anna’s job in the film industry. The noise of the party had faded into the background as they’d talked and discovered things they had in common. Two hours later when Big Ben struck and welcomed in the New Year, and fireworks lit up the night sky, Leo had taken her by the hand and pulled her towards him. Lifting her hand to his lips and placing a gentle kiss on it, all the time his gaze never leaving her face, he’d said, ‘Happy New Year, Anna. I think we’re going to have a wonderful year together.’
Unprepared for the feelings he’d stirred in her, Anna was wary when he telephoned the next day, inviting her to the theatre, but within days she knew she’d fallen unequivocally in love with him. The realisation in the following week that Leo felt the same way about her had been, and still was, overwhelming.
Anna smiled at the memory of their first meeting; the way they’d just clicked. Within days they were acting like lovesick teenagers.
Unexpectedly, too, she’d found herself being accepted as part of a family when Leo introduced her to his two grown-up children, Luke and Alison, who unselfishly welcomed her presence in their father’s life, pleased to see him happy again. With her own parents dead for years, it was a long time since Anna had had anything resembling a family unit in her life. Leo and his children were everything a proper family should be. Loving and close to each other and, importantly, there for each other. A real loving family, the like of which she’d long ago stopped wishing for in her own life, knowing it was an impossible dream.
Wandering around the grounds of Marshland House, stopping to smell and admire the beautiful display of rhododendrons of different colours that were everywhere, Anna tried to banish all thoughts of Leo and concentrate instead on this latest film she was working on, In the Shadow of Mrs Beaton. A costume drama based on the life of a little-known Victorian culinary expert, Mrs Agnes Marshall. Even in pre-production days, it was already stirring up a lot of interest. With a script written by a famous writer and a couple of big name stars being approached to play the principal roles, it was being tipped for box office success.
Anna’s mobile rang while she was standing looking out over the lake that was part of the landscaped gardens to the rear of the house. Leo.
Taking a deep breath, Anna answered the phone trying to speak naturally, but, try as she might, she’d never yet managed to stop her heart thumping or her hands shaking whenever she heard or saw Leo. This time was no different. She hadn’t felt this way about anyone since those long ago giddy days of her first love.
‘Hi, how are you, my darling? Have I told you how much I miss you when we’re not together?’
‘Missing you too.’
‘Is the house all the agent promised it would be?’ Leo asked, knowing how important it was for Anna to find the right location.
‘If the inside of the house is as good as the outside and the grounds, it will be perfect,’ Anna told him. ‘I’m glad I made the effort to come today. At least it’s one less thing to worry about while I’m in Cannes.’
‘Ah, Cannes,’ Leo said. There was a slight pause before he continued, ‘I sincerely hope you know what you are doing, Anna my darling. Going back and raking up the past is not always a good idea.’
Even from two hundred miles away, Anna could hear the concern in his voice.
‘Leo, I have no intention of “raking up the past”, as you put it. I’m simply going to the film festival. I know I’ve managed to avoid it for forty years, but it’s time to lay the past to rest now. Besides, how could I refuse to go this year? I know I’ve been in the business for what seems like forever, but it’s the first time since I started my own company five years ago that one of the films I’ve been production designer on, is “In Competition” at Cannes. This year I have to be there for the premiere of Future Promises. No excuse will be acceptable.’ Anna hesitated. ‘And, there are certain ghosts I have to lay for both our sakes, Leo.’
She heard Leo sigh softly down the phone. ‘I just worry about you pulling the past into your present. I don’t want you to be hurt.’
Anna smiled. Picturing Leo and longing to feel his arms around her, she said softly, ‘I know. You are still joining me, aren’t you?’ she added anxiously. ‘I’m so looking forward to our first holiday together and I can’t wait to show off my own handsome leading man on the red carpet.’
‘Of course I’m coming and I’ll be there as soon as I can get away,’ Leo promised. ‘But right now I must go. I’ll ring you tomorrow to make sure you’ve arrived safely. Love you.’
‘Love you too,’ Anna smiled happily to herself, her hands trembling as she switched off her phone.
Looking out over the countryside, Anna sighed, her fingers toying with the chain of the gold locket that she rarely took off. Was Leo right inferring she was tempting fate returning to Cannes after all these years? Her nemesis was certainly powerful enough to rear up in protest and throw the errors of her past into her present – maybe even destroy the future with Leo. It was a risk, though, she had to take to ensure a second chance at happiness. Surely, after forty years, closure was a mere formality?
Leo hadn’t mentioned marriage in so many words yet, but Anna suspected – hoped – he would soon.
Standing in the grounds of Marshland House, Anna resolved to talk to Leo again about her past. In detail. He deserved to know the whole truth. And where better to tell him than in the place where it had all begun? What she had told him so far had been the merest skeleton of events. Until she knew him better, she’d been afraid to tell him the whole sad story, but now she was confident of her strong love for him, and his for her, she wanted him to know the complete story. She was determined to be totally honest with Leo. It was the only way.
Hearing car tyres scrunch along the gravel on the drive, Anna made her way round to the front of the house, where the agent was parking his car alongside hers.
An hour later, as the agent left for another appointment, Anna switched on the car radio and sat for a few moments writing up her notes, half listening to a news bulletin.
Inside, the house had been everything she’d hoped it would be and she’d instructed the agent to draw up a contract to allow filming to begin there in the autumn and send it to her office. Now she was free to go to Cannes and do what she had to do before enjoying the festival and Leo’s company when he arrived.
The next moment, the voice of the news presenter made her catch her breath in shock.
‘Some news just in. The respected French film-maker Philippe Cambone has died in America. Responsible for some of the biggest blockbuster movies of the twentieth century, he was recently awarded an industry lifetime achievement Bafta which was to have been presented at this week’s Cannes film Festival.’
Automatically,
