‘Bonjour, Fern. Ça va? I was passing and saw grand-mère. It is good of you to bring her out like this.’ He hesitated and glanced at his grandmother. ‘She has perhaps told you our news?’

Anouk gave an imperceptible shake of her head.

‘Carole and I we ’ave a new baby on the way. Une petite sister for Jean-Marc.’

‘Congratulations, please give my love to Carole,’ Fern said. ‘I’m so pleased for you both.’ She genuinely was, despite the sinking feeling in the pit of her tummy. She suspected she knew what was about to come.

‘Maybe we come, Carole and me, talk to you about the house again?’

Fern sighed. ‘Fabian, you know the only way I can leave is for you to buy me out. I have to buy somewhere to live and all my capital has been invested in the auberge. Has something changed? Have you found a mortgage?’

Fabian shook his head. ‘No. C’est pas possible. But I own half the maison and want to live in it with my family.’ His voice had steadily risen and people were glancing their way.

Anouk patted him gently on the arm.

‘I’m sorry, but this isn’t the place to discuss a private family matter,’ Fern said.

Fabian took a breath and exhaled deeply. ‘I’m sorry also. But Carole, she wants a proper family home and I get so frustrated about the impossibility of it all.’

‘I know it’s difficult, but the harsh truth is if your father was still alive, you wouldn’t even be entertaining these thoughts.’

‘But he’s not alive, is he? And you are living in a house that rightfully belongs to me as his son.’

‘It is also a house that needed a lot of work doing to it when Laurent inherited it from his grandmother – work that you will reap the benefit of when you inherit. It was that money, my children’s inheritance, that paid for those renovations. Money that I am trying to replace and pay the overheads by continuing to run it as an auberge. You can hardly deny my children have a right to an inheritance from me.’ Fern rubbed her face. ‘I don’t like the situation any more than you do, but, hopefully, in a couple more years, I’ll have recuperated enough to move out.’

An unhappy Fabian sighed. ‘I ’ave to go. We need a proper family conference to sort something out. There are two possible solutions we haven’t talked about yet. Au revoir,’ and he kissed his grandmother goodbye before hesitantly turning to Fern and kissing her cheek too. ‘Desolé,’ he muttered and walked away.

Anouk sighed. ‘One of the solutions he suggests if you won’t move out is that he, Carole and the children move in with me.’

‘How do you feel about that?’ Fern asked. ‘Would it work? You’d have someone on hand to keep an eye on you.’