Chapter 10

The sun had set by the time Margaret reached her room although there was still enough twilight remaining that she could see walkers out on the beach. It had been a tiring day and she decided to enjoy her dinner, read her book and make it an early night.

As she prepared for bed, she thought about what she had seen that afternoon and evening and felt her goal had been accomplished. She had seen Martin's wife and child and had even seen how he interacted with them. She really needed no further information. Whilst Louisa was very pretty and James was a cute little boy, as cute as any of her friends' grandchildren, she could never be comfortable introducing them as her son's wife and child. Martin seemed to be satisfied with his family, but she found that Louisa lacked a certain …. what would she call it …sophistication … panache, perhaps? She was just a little too animated, not quite as cultured as she should be, rather common around the edges. Regal … that was how Margaret liked to present herself, refined and dignified. No, Louisa was nothing like herself or any of her close friends. She would have to think long and hard before she would introduce her to her friends.

Thus resolved, she decided to enjoy the amenities offered in the resort on her one full day there. Perhaps the day called for a bit of lounging by the pool in the morning followed by a sumptuous midday meal and a visit to the spa in the afternoon. Most conferences of this sort included tours for the attendees' spouses and most wives took advantage of those opportunities, visits to local landmarks, historic buildings, even shopping trips. She herself had enjoyed those excursions many a time. She felt confident that she could wander the resort without encountering anyone she might know.

Even if she should cross paths with someone she had known in England, it was unlikely they would recognise her; it had been so long since she had seen any of them, and they wouldn't expect to see her. She looked in the mirror and assessed her appearance, again debating whether she should have adopted some type of disguise. How did those women who acted as secret agents ever embrace other personalities? There must be an art to it, something akin to the thespian's art of melding into character as they took the stage. Whatever it was, she didn't feel up to such a charade. She would keep a low profile as it were, keeping to the periphery and not drawing attention to herself.

It would have been exciting to adopt a flamboyant and glamorous identity; certainly, it would have been more fun, slipping into one of the resort bars to flirt with any single men she might fine. But such a persona was not appropriate for the mission she had set for herself. She was there to observe, not be observed. Surely those old female operatives had to fade into the background at times as well. She wished she had taken a few drama classes back in school, but it was the girls with the bad reputations who flocked to drama, not those hoping to catch the right kind of husband.

xXx

It was late when she awoke the next morning. She had slept well, and she was quite hungry. She was certain that Martin and his family would be early risers. Children always rose early as did Christopher when he was working. It was likely that Martin and his family had taken their breakfast in their room and had already started their day, so she decided to risk taking hers in the café facing the beach. She rarely had more than a good cup of strong coffee and a piece of toast, but she decided to splurge this morning and selected a sweet pastry and some fruit to have along with her coffee. She opened her book and glanced down at it from time to time as she stirred her coffee to ensure that she looked busy while she ate. No need to encourage other diners to join her. The beach was wide and sandy here bordering right up to the edge of the cafe, and the water was a clear azure blue, really quite lovely if you liked that sort of thing.

She decided to spend some time relaxing near the pool; the day was warm for late January and the pool area was sheltered from the ocean breeze so she went back to her room to don a swimsuit and a beach cover-up. She grabbed a floppy hat, her sunglasses and her book and made her way down to the pool area where she found a chaise under a large umbrella at the shallow end of the pool near the children's pool area. She had only been there for a few minutes when she noticed Louisa and James arrive. They had obviously been at the beach for James carried a small bucket with a spade and rake. Louisa had a tote with what appeared to be more toys, a ball and a toy shark of all things, sunscreen, and several towels.

They both wore flip flops and swimwear. James had trunks and a swim top, obviously to protect his skin from the sun. Louisa was wearing a stylish multi-coloured cover-up, but when she removed it, Margaret was shocked at the swimsuit she was wearing. It was a two-piece suit with a dark bikini bottom and a multicoloured halter top that stretched revealingly over her swollen belly. It was disgraceful even if it was the style these days. She would never have worn such an outfit when she was expecting Martin. Again, she sighed and shook her head at the thought that Martin's wife had no sense of decorum. Such attire reflected not just poor taste, but also poor judgement. What must Martin's colleagues think seeing his wife parade around in such a fashion!

It just confirmed her decision not to try for a reconciliation. She returned her attention to her book whilst Louisa played with James in the pool tossing a ball back and forth. Louisa would throw the ball, James would duck into the shallow water and swim to catch it and then throw it back. Margaret herself would have tired of this game after a minute or less, but James seemed to love the repetition and Louisa was more than willing to encourage him.

At some point, perhaps a good 10-15 minutes into the game, James threw the ball a little too hard and it rolled out of the pool in Margaret's direction and landed right under her chair. It startled her and she was uncertain how to react. James jumped out of the pool, trotted over to her side and stared at her, uncertain how to retrieve his ball. She peered over her sunglasses, giving him a stern look, "Yes?"

"Uh … my ball." He wasn't certain what he should do and he looked somewhat frightened as he pointed in the direction of her chair.

This was a good opportunity to see how well they were raising this child. He didn't immediately scrabble under her chair to get the ball. Perhaps they were instilling some manners into him. She leaned up and asked, 'Your ball?"

He was shifting from one foot to another as Louisa walked up smiling at her, "I'm so sorry, but my son's ball has rolled under your chair. Would you mind if he slipped behind you to retrieve it?"

Now it was her turn to be polite, "Of course."

Louisa pointed to where the ball was resting and Margaret shifted her legs to the opposite side of her chair to make room for James, who quickly stepped behind her and picked up his ball. He started to run back to the pool, but Louisa stopped him, prompting, "James, what do you say?"

He stepped back to face Margaret and looked down at his feet whilst he rolled the ball in his chubby fingers, "Thank you Miss."

Margaret smiled at him and replied, "You're very welcome James."

He looked up into her eyes and gave her a quick grin before walking back to the pool.

"Again, I'm so sorry we had to disturb you. Thank you for your patience."

"It was no bother. You're welcome."

Margaret shifted back into her seat and returned her attention to her book, but she found herself captivated by the child and she continued to sneak looks in their direction. At one point she pulled out her phone, and pretending to write a text message, took several pictures of James to remember him by, including one or two with Louisa.

Shortly she heard Louisa exclaim, "Oh James, look who's coming to meet us."

The conference must have broken for lunch because Martin was walking towards them. She pulled her hat a bit lower over her face and reached down into her bag for a magazine, opening it to scan the table of contents. With her face concealed by the magazine, her hat, and her sunglasses, she was fairly certain he would not recognise her. It would be dreadful if he were to focus on her. Fortunately, he was focused on Louisa and James which offered her the opportunity to surreptitiously examine him.

He was wearing a dark bespoke suit that fit him perfectly with a blue dress shirt and patterned tie. Margaret had to admit he looked quite distinguished. If only his facial features were more regular, he could have been, if not handsome, at least attractive. As it was, his hair was cut shorter than it needed to be, a little longer and it would have hidden much of his overly large ears which distracted from his overall appearance. She still did not know where those ears and his equally oversized lips came from. Neither she nor Christopher had such features; there must have been some recessive genomes from generations ago at work when he was conceived. Louisa obviously didn't find them repulsive because she was beaming at him and James had become even more animated.

"Daddy, Daddy, look what I can do." James shouted, and he put his head into the water and paddled toward the opposite end of the small pool.

"Very nice, James," Martin commended his son as James rose from the water and turned around looking for his father's approval. "I believe it's time to take a break and eat lunch. Are you hungry?"

'Yes," James splashed up and down in the water.

"Come back then so we can go eat."

"I'll swim back." He took a giant breath, tucked his head under the water, and wind-milled back to where Martin was standing.

"Martin, can you get a towel from my bag for James?" Louisa asked as she waded in his direction at the side of the pool.

"Yes." Martin grabbed a towel just as James reached the edge and started to climb out. 'Here James, let's rinse off that pool water." He led him over to the outdoor shower and removed his swim shirt. He motioned for James to stand under the shower spigot. "James, stand right here." He himself took several steps away from James and leaned over to turn on the water. "Louisa, would you tend to James so I don't have to get wet. I have a Q&A that I must lead after lunch."

"Of course." She walked over and supervised James' shower and then turned him over to his father before rinsing herself. Martin wrapped the boy in the towel and began to rub down his legs, arms and torso before moving to his face and drying his hair. "There that should do it for now. Louisa, do you have a dry shirt or something we can put on to keep him from getting chilled?"

"Yes, his hoodie sweatshirt is in my bag. I'm sure his trunks will dry out quickly."

Martin quickly found James' sweatshirt and put it on him. He also took a comb out of the bag and ran it through James' hair so he looked quite well groomed for having just come out of the pool. Margaret watched this scenario with undisguised interest and wished she were close enough to take another picture of James with his hair neatly combed. He really was a handsome child; he bore some resemblance to his father with his blond colouring, but his features were more even, not as outsized as Martin's.

Whilst Martin was tending to James, Louisa finished her shower, dried off and put on her cover-up. "Thank god", Margaret thought, "At least she has the sense to make herself presentable away from the pool." Louisa gathered up their wet towels and James' toys, and stowed them in her bag after putting on some rather stylish sandals that matched her cover-up perfectly. With her hair piled neatly on top of her head, Margaret thought she actually looked the part of a successful surgeon's wife on holiday. Louisa handed her tote bag to Martin and took James' hand. As they walked away, Margaret could hear Louisa ask Martin, "How did it go?"

"Well."

"Good."

Margaret decided against the heavy meal she had planned since it might make her visit to the spa uncomfortable. She took a light midday meal on the balcony of her room rather than dine alone in public. Her room faced the sea and there was a pleasant breeze coming off the ocean. For late January, it was quite delightful. She had to admit she was enjoying her trip immensely. She might not be entirely enamoured with Martin's family, but the rest of her trip had been most enjoyable. She was looking forward to her afternoon in the spa and, she had to admit, she was still curious about her son and his family. She was certain she could find the opportunity to catch another look at the three of them before leaving the next morning.