Less than ten minutes later, we arrived at our room. “Oh, my heck, this is incredible.” Ah, Lou—even “hell” was too salty for her. She was right, though, the room was incredible. It had the highest ceilings I’d ever seen, and everything was white—the marble floors, the plaster walls, the windowsills, the bedding. It was like walking into a giant marshmallow.
Lou dropped her case and went straight to the window. “Look at this!” I left my case next to hers and crossed the cavernous room to stand beside her. We were on the second floor and had an uninterrupted view of the château’s grounds. Beyond its borders was a landscape of valleys, hills, and vines—vibrant greens punctuated with flecks of gold and brown. There was only one tiny cloud in the sky, puffy and snow white.
“Frigging hell. I’m so glad we’re here.” Unlike Lou, I liked salty language.
“That’s amazing,” drawled Dani, joining us.
“Bunk beds?!” said Jaelee from the door. We turned in unison and stared at her. “I’m not sleeping on the top.” She challenged Dani with an unpleasant look. I’d been certain Jaelee could do a mean “mean girl”, but I never thought she’d turn on one of our own.
“I’ll sleep up there. I don’t care,” said Dani with a shrug. After only three days, she’d mellowed considerably. I thought of her taut face when she’d seen the garden shed in Paris.
“Good.” Jaelee stomped over and sat down heavily on the bottom bunk. Lou and I shared a look, and I could see she was about to go all mama bear. I literally stood back as she crossed the room and looked down at Jaelee, her hands on her hips.
“You owe Danielle an apology.” I saw Dani start to protest, then stop—maybe she wanted that apology.
Jae suddenly became very interested in her cuticles. Her mouth squirmed. “I’m sorry, Dani.”
“And us.”
Jae looked up at Lou, then me. “Sorry.” Lou’s whole manner changed in a heartbeat and she sat down next to Jae and wrapped her in a huge side hug.
“I’m sorry you’re having a hard time.” I saw a sheen of tears in Jae’s eyes and watched her blink them away.
“It’s no excuse. We all are. Well, maybe not Cat,” she teased. She caught my eye and I pretended to be insulted. “Anyway … you girls, you’re just so … sorry. I’ll behave, I promise.”
“Good, ’cause I want me some of that wine,” said Dani. It broke the tension and I was grateful for her graciousness. If Lou was mama bear, then Dani was the peacemaker. Jae was probably the closest we had to a troublemaker. I wondered what that made me.
“So, what’s our game plan then? Welcome wine, then buy a couple of bottles and find somewhere nice to sit? Maybe the vineyard?” I asked. Ah, right, I was the enabler.
“Welcome wine, then a swim,” replied Lou. What?
“Yeah, I’d like a swim,” said Dani. “I wasn’t sure if it would be warm enough, but I’m not wasting this gorgeous weather.” Oh, bollocks.
“I’m definitely busting out one of the bikinis,” said Jae.
“Hang on, did you say, ‘one of’? You brought more than one swimsuit?” I asked, distracted by Jaelee’s excessive bikini packing.
“Yes. I’m from Miami,” she replied, as though that explained it.
My three roommates erupted into action, unzipping their cases and pulling out swimsuits and wraps. I stood motionless, watching, until Lou realised I wasn’t getting ready. “What’s up?” she asked, as she stood.
“Uh, I don’t really want to go swimming.”
Three blank faces met mine.
“Yeah, you’re probably gonna have lots of chances to go swimming at a château in the middle of a French vineyard.” Jae’s point was undeniable.
“I didn’t bring a swimsuit,” I lied. Of course I’d packed one—it was on the list.
Lou looked at me confused. “I thought I saw one in your bag. It’s red, right?”
I sighed heavily, caught out. “All right, yes, I have a swimsuit, but I am not fit for human consumption in this—” I circled my hand in front of my crotch “—area. I didn’t have a chance to get waxed. This tour was very last-minute. All right?”
“Ohhh,” said Lou and Dani at the same time.
“‘Oh’, nothing. I’m still stuck on the ‘human consumption’ part,” said Jae, dryly.
“You know what I mean. I wouldn’t want to scare anyone.”
“Hey, it’s all good. I’ve got some wax strips with me.” Jaelee was full of surprises.
“What?”
She pulled out her toiletries bag, which was huge by the way, and took out some of those ready-to-go all-in-one wax strips. “Here.”
“I don’t DIY.” That wasn’t a lie. I’d had some very bad experiences DIY-ing a bikini wax.
“Extenuating circumstances.” She raised a single eyebrow at me. I wish I could do that. I needed to focus. I did not want to apply sticky wax on my lady parts, no matter how inviting the pool was.
“C’mon!” Dani was practically jumping up and down. “It’ll be fun.”
“C’mon, Cat.” Even Lou was betraying me.
“Fine!” I said as I snatched the strips from Jaelee’s hand. “I’ll meet you downstairs after—well, once everything is under control.” I went into the Jack-n-Jill bathroom which connected our room to the next, loud laughter following me. I didn’t care.
An hour later, I was glad I’d confessed my body hair dilemma. Not only did something like that cement a friendship, but I’d forgotten how lovely it was to take a dip in a pool, then dry myself in the sun.
And the afternoon was definitely enhanced by the endlessly flowing wine.
After we finished our welcome drinks, in what was very likely record time, Jaelee made a beeline for the chateau’s bar and brought back two bottles of the locally produced wine. One of them was still unopened on the grass beside us, but we made short work of the first. A bottle is only five glasses of wine—four if you pour like Jaelee.
“So, did we want to do the wine tasting later?” asked Lou.
“Pass,” said Jaelee. “Besides, we’re tasting the wine. I like it. What more is there to know?”
“We’d probably get to see the barrels and where they make it,” said Lou.
“I’m with Jae,” I said. “Plus, Sarah said the winemaker is this leering old guy.”
“Ewww.” Dani, who had her feet in the water and was watching a sort-of water polo match between the Kiwi boys, threw a grimace over her shoulder.
In a moment of perfect timing, a rep—I hadn’t caught his name—stood at the top of the double staircase and called out to get everyone’s attention. “Hey, everyone. If you want to do the wine tasting, meet us up here in ten minutes.” The other half of “us” was a young Italian guy who made old jeans, dusty work boots, and a flannel shirt look good.
“Who’s that?” asked Jaelee, shading her eyes against the sun.
The rep and the flannel guy were having a lively conversation and we could hear snatches of their laughter from our spot on the lawn. “Do you think it’s the winemaker?” asked Lou.