Perhaps she was overreacting? It had been a long time since anyone had thought to protect her from real or imagined trouble. Despite their differences, she liked Alain and after their conversation this evening, knew he had hidden depths that he kept well concealed. She was beginning to value his friendship and didn’t want them to fall out. Tomorrow at breakfast she’d apologise and lay the blame on becoming fiercely independent since her divorce.

31

There was an unusual atmosphere in the kitchen during breakfast at the auberge Thursday morning that worried Fern. The four guests in the dining room were happy and friendly as she served them, talking about where they were going for the day, Quimper. One of the party was vegan and asked if she could recommend anywhere for lunch. ‘Try my favourite place for lunch in Quimper, The Sherlock Holmes Restaurant. Lots of choices for both vegans and meat eaters,’ Fern said. ‘You’ll all find something tasty to eat. You need to get there early, it’s very popular.’

In the kitchen, though, something was different. Scott and Anouk normally set the world to rights over their coffee and croissants, but this morning, they were both strangely quiet. Fern struggled to get a word out of either of them. In the end, after the guests had gone upstairs to get ready for their day out, Fern poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table with them.

‘Right, you two. Why the long faces?’

Anouk stood up. ‘I’ll let Scott tell you. I’m going to write a letter in my room.’

Fern watched her go as a feeling of sadness threatened to engulf her. She knew what Scott was going to tell her before he even opened his mouth to speak.

‘You have to return to America, don’t you?’

He nodded. ‘I was planning on staying for another month, but my god-daughter has emailed me to say her mother, my cousin, isn’t well and wants to see me.’

‘When are you leaving?’ Fern asked, her voice low, surprised at how empty she felt at the thought of saying goodbye to Scott.

‘I’ve had a look at flights and the first direct flight I can get from Paris to New York is Tuesday, which means I have to leave on Monday from Brest.’

Fern smiled at him. ‘We knew you’d be going back sometime, it’s just a bit sooner than we… I expected.’ She put her cup down on the table and Scott caught hold of her hand and squeezed it gently.

‘I will be back I promise,’ he said, looking at her, ‘but Kylie’s illness complicates things. I’m not sure how long I will need to stay in New York. It could be a couple of weeks or it could be months.’