Chapter 16: Moving On (part 1)

Our founder, Adam Slade, came to Sunset Valley many years ago with a vision.  Rather than settle for a 'run-of-the-mill' life he spent all his savings on a  large plot of land on which he, and his successors, would build a family estate that would be a landmark across the three towns. His only son, Brandon, has continued that work with the hope of passing the vision to his children, Cleo and Carl.

In this chapter old friends return and Cleo has a plan ...


Cleo is distraught. Her mother's death was a terrible blow but she is becoming very concerned about her father. Brandon really does not seem to be coping at all well.

She rings Pascal, an utterly sensible and understanding man, he will know what to do, he will be able to reassure her.

On hearing Cleo's dreadful news Pascal agrees to come to Sunset Valley as soon as he can. Looking at his schedule, and flight availability he would be coming over on the early flight in two days time, and should be in Sunset Valley by 9am.

Coincidently that same day is Carl's birthday and everyone was agreed that a party was definitely in order. It seemed the perfect time for Pascal to be back with the Slades.

On the day of her boyfriend's arrival, Cleo was up and about in plenty of time to make sure everything was ready for both Pascal's visit and Carl's birthday party.

She was out by the family memorial garden when Pascal's taxi arrived. He greeted Cleo with a passionate embrace and the most beautiful bunch of roses Cleo had ever seen.

There was no doubt, Pascal always knew the right thing to do.

So relieved that he was finally here, Cleo immediately started telling Pascal about her worries for her family.

Firstly there was her father, who had become so withdrawn and was looking so old – he had even taken to using a walking stick.

And Carl, who would often disappear for the whole day. When he was in the house he seemed OK, helping to keep the place clean and cooking meals for them, but sometimes he just went off somewhere and never said what he was up to.

"But, ma cherié," Pascal interrupted her, "what about you? How are you coping?"

Holding her hands gently in his, Pascal managed to get Cleo to talk about her own feelings. The sense of loss she felt and how she had no one really to talk to.

"I am here now, my love, I am here to be your rock, to share your grief and help you through it. If we can be strong, together, we can also help your father and brother. You are not alone any more."

As he pulled her close, Cleo felt the burden of grief and worries she had been carrying start to lift.

"Pascal, you don't know how much that means to me, thank you."

"But," she said, "we can't stay here all day, we have a party to attend!"

To make sure there was plenty of fun at his party, Cleo had arranged for a water-slide to be installed at the back of the house.

On this beautifully sunny day it was absolutely the right thing to have, the boys loved it though the girls didn't seem to be too interested in the slide, but nonetheless enjoyed watching the boys have fun.

In addition to inviting all of Carls school friends, Cleo had also asked Jesse Green to come over. She knew he was one of her dad's oldest friends and hoped seeing him again might help Brandon deal with Qiana's death.

Even though it had been several years since they had last spoken, for reasons Brandon had not disclosed to his children, Brandon and Jesse did seem really pleased to see each other.

They certainly had lots to talk about, reminiscing about their own school days, and how much Sunset Valley had changed over the years.

Brandon also discovered that they had something else in common, Jesse had also recently lost his partner, Elias. Apparently he had been caught in a rock-fall while exploring an ancient cave system near Shang Simla,

As the afternoon gave way to evening, it was time for Carl to "officially" leave childhood behind by blowing out the candles on the traditional Sunset Valley birthday cake.

Despite normally avoiding crowds, Carl was really pleased that so many of his friends had turned up to help him celebrate.

Looking on while Carl made jokes about his friends at school and what he was going to do as an adult, Brandon couldn’t help but feel really proud of his son.

He may not be around to witness many more birthdays but he was content that he and Qiana had done a great job in preparing Carl for adulthood.
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Cleo was delighted that Carl's party had been such a success but had noticed that her father was still somehow distant from everything.

Sure, he was there, and had cheered along with the other guests as Carl blew out the birthday candles, but she could sense that his heart wasn't really in it.

As she discussed this with Pascal, an idea just popped into her head.

"You know, Pascal, I remember from those very first visits how well you and Dad had got on. Remember that first time, when he tried to teach you how to fish?"

"And failed!" Pascal laughed, as he remembered his first trip to the Valley.

"Yeah, yeah, he didn't stop talking about for weeks – and always mentioned it again whenever I told him I was seeing you. I think what he really needs now is to be reminded of all the good times ..."

"Well, yes, OK Cleo, so what are you thinking?"

"You should move in, here, with us, as soon as."

"Really? That is really what you want? Will your father and Carl be OK with it?"

"Yes, yes, of course, the both love you and, to be honest, I could do with having you around right now."

With his hands gently holding her head, Pascal looking deeply into Cleo's eyes and smiled in agreement.

"Ma cherié I would love to, to be with you every day would make me the happiest man in the whole world. And if you think I can help your father then how can I refuse. I will need to tell my parents and my boss but I will be here for you, forever, in just a few days I am sure."

Having got Pascal's agreement, Cleo went to find Carl, who was in the dining room clearing away the last of the birthday food.

"Carl, I've just been speaking with Pascal and, long story short, I have asked him to move in with us, with me, and I want to make sure that you are OK with it."

"Y'know sis that I like Pascal, and you've been seeing each other for a while, but why now? So soon after Mum?"

"In all honesty this situation here is what prompted me to ask him. You know how Dad has been recently and I'm hoping that having Pascal here will help him – y'know how well they get on."

"True enough sis, I suppose that makes sense ..."

"And, to be fair Carl, I don't think you’ve been coping that well either and I think having Pascal moving in will give us all something else to plan for and help us move on from here."

Carl was rather taken aback by his sister's blunt but, to be honest, accurate assessment of their life recently.

"Err, yeah, I suppose that is true. I haven't really liked being home so much these days ..."

"I know it's difficult Carl, but we have to deal with our grief and get on with our lives. Mum wouldn't have wanted us moping around here for ever."

"No, you're right," Carl agreed, "and it would be good to have something else to think about, like Pascal settling into the Valley ... of course I'm happy about it ... though I expect you to make an honest man of him before too long!"

Cleo leapt out the chair and embraced Carl with all her might. "Oh, thank you, thank you. That means so much to me. That's the best birthday present you could have given me, baby-bro! It's going to be wonderful, I know it."

Carl noticed Pascal sat at their chess table on the patio so went over to join him.

"Mon ami, that was a great birthday party, I am happy to have been here."

"Thanks, yeah, it was good. Cleo was really pleased to see you ... and keep on seeing you ..."

"Ahh," Pascal smiled at him, "She has told you her plan?"

"She has, and I wanted you to know that I'm cool with it. I'm happy if she is, so as long as you make her happy it's all good with me. And, she might be right, it could be good for Dad too."

With a firm handshake the two men sealed the deal, Carl really hoped that this would bring the good times back to the Slade family.

That night, as Cleo and Pascal relaxed in bed Pascal reassured her that Carl was OK with him moving in, and thought it was a good idea.

It would only take a couple of days to sort everything out in France. His parents had got used to his visits to see Cleo and wouldn't be surprised that he was going to be moving from the sleepy town of Champs Les Sims to the sophistication, relatively speaking, of Sunset Valley.

He would be sad to leave his job at the bookstore, he did enjoy it, especially meeting all the different people who came to buy or just talk about books. But this would be the start of new chapter in his life, an exciting and more rewarding chapter.

With Pascal once again in her bed, Cleo started to feel more relaxed than she had for some time. When they made love it was slow and sensuous and wonderful. Sometimes passion was not all about the "fire" and urgency.

Before she drifted off to sleep Cleo just lay there looking at Pascal and thinking how happy he made her.

There was a niggling worry at the back of her mind, but she quickly dismissed it, it wasn't going to get in the way of how good she felt this night.




Chapter 16: Moving On (part 2)