Fern’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. ‘Bloody drunken driver,’ she cursed under her breath. ‘You annihilated more than Laurent’s life when you killed him – you stole my happiness and created turmoil in his family.’

15

The remaining days before Belinda returned to the UK passed in a whirl of activity. The village shop owners had jumped at the opportunity to run the campsite shop rent-free over the Easter holiday period, even though Belinda had stressed there were unlikely to be many customers. They’d also indicated they’d be interested in a proper rent-paying lease for the summer months once the campsite was up and running.

Which meant that one morning, Belinda joined everyone in cleaning the shop, whilst Alain checked out the freezers and the electricity with one of the men.

When everyone disappeared for lunch, Alain ignored her protests and insisted that she joined him for a snack at Yann’s.

‘A crêpe and a glass of wine, an hour at the most,’ he said. ‘You’ll be back working before you realise it.’

‘I was going to do some admin over the lunch hour,’ Belinda answered, surprised by his offer. ‘Besides, I’m dirty from all the scrubbing.’ She glanced down at her grubby jeans and sweatshirt.

‘It’s a village bar. People, they go from work.’

Belinda sighed. She was hungry. ‘An hour, no longer. There’s still so much to do before I leave.’

‘We go in my car,’ Alain said. ‘Come on BB. Time to find you a sausage.’

Belinda couldn’t summon the energy to argue and followed him out to the 2CV. She bit back on the memory of a long ago yellow 2CV as BB jumped onto her lap for the short drive to the village and she gave him a tight hug.

Most of their current workforce had opted for lunch in the bar and smiled at her and Alain as they walked in. After asking her what she would like – ‘Ham and egg crêpe and a glass of white wine please’ – Alain went straight to the bar while Belinda found an empty table near the window and settled BB under it.

‘Five minutes for food,’ Alain said, joining her with the wine she’d asked for and a beer for himself. ‘Santé.’

‘Santé,’ Belinda echoed as they clinked glasses. ‘Hope it is only five minutes for the food. I can’t believe I Iet you talk me into coming here. I should be back at the office doing stuff I didn’t get to do this morning.’

Alain looked at her but didn’t say anything.

‘Why are you looking at me like that?’ Belinda demanded.

‘I think if you ever relax. Ever stop thinking about work. Have fun.’

‘Yes, of course I do, but right now I need to stay on top of things here before I return to England.’

‘So what is it you do, when you are on top of things?’