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Back Escape to the French Farmhouse Save as PDF
Chapters (79)
  1. COVER
  2. About the Author
  3. Also by Jo Thomas
  4. DEDICATION
  5. ONE
  6. TWO
  7. THREE
  8. FOUR
  9. FIVE
  10. SIX
  11. SEVEN
  12. EIGHT
  13. NINE
  14. TEN
  15. ELEVEN
  16. TWELVE
  17. THIRTEEN
  18. FOURTEEN
  19. FIFTEEN
  20. SIXTEEN
  21. SEVENTEEN
  22. EIGHTEEN
  23. NINETEEN
  24. TWENTY
  25. TWENTY-ONE
  26. TWENTY-TWO
  27. TWENTY-THREE
  28. TWENTY-FOUR
  29. TWENTY-FIVE
  30. TWENTY-SIX
  31. TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. TWENTY-NINE
  34. THIRTY
  35. THIRTY-ONE
  36. THIRTY-TWO
  37. THIRTY-THREE
  38. THIRTY-FOUR
  39. THIRTY-FIVE
  40. THIRTY-SIX
  41. THIRTY-SEVEN
  42. THIRTY-EIGHT
  43. THIRTY-NINE
  44. FORTY
  45. FORTY-ONE
  46. FORTY-TWO
  47. FORTY-THREE
  48. FORTY-FOUR
  49. FORTY-FIVE
  50. FORTY-SIX
  51. FORTY-SEVEN
  52. FORTY-EIGHT
  53. FORTY-NINE
  54. FIFTY
  55. FIFTY-ONE
  56. FIFTY-TWO
  57. FIFTY-THREE
  58. FIFTY-FOUR
  59. FIFTY-FIVE
  60. FIFTY-SIX
  61. FIFTY-SEVEN
  62. FIFTY-EIGHT
  63. FIFTY-NINE
  64. SIXTY
  65. SIXTY-ONE
  66. SIXTY-TWO
  67. Epilogue
  68. Acknowledgements
  69. RECIPES
  70. Lavender shortbread
  71. Apricot jam sponge cake
  72. Lavender lamb
  73. READ MORE
  74. Prologue
  75. ONE
  76. TWO
  77. THREE
  78. FOUR
  79. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

Stephanie, where are you? I get up and walk to the window, looking for signs of light in the gypsy caravan. But there are none. I gaze up at the dark sky, scattered with stars, and hope she’s safe. I even find myself asking Mum to keep an eye on her, and trying to explain how Stephanie came into my life, how I feel responsible for the chaos I’ve caused but also how much I’ve come to care for her and Tomas.

Morning comes, and Tomas is up early, with the birds and the cockerel. I had just dropped off to sleep. He runs down to the kitchen, with Ralph protecting him on the stairs, then he’s out of the door and staring at the gypsy caravan, wanting to find Maman and tell her about his sleepover with Ralph. My heart plummets. Just for a moment, like Tomas, I’d hoped she would be back.

The bakery van turns up and I tell Simone that Stephanie is missing. She’s already heard and is keeping an eye open. She hands Tomas a pain au chocolat and refuses any money, wishes me luck and hopes Stephanie will be home soon.

We spend the day at Le Petit Mas, waiting. Rhi decides that she and Lou should start painting the bedrooms. I’m not sure that Lou has ever held a paintbrush. Only the ones she uses to put on her makeup.

I am going to put in the lavender plants, once I’ve made Henri’s desserts for the day. I get Tomas to stand on a chair next to me and throw the flour on to the work surface. I miss Stephanie being here, making me read out the recipe in French and correcting my pronunciation.

‘Non, répétez,’ she would say, sounding like a French schoolteacher. In return, I made her cook, like Mum used to do with me, showing her and overseeing her as she broke eggs into a bowl, missed and scooped up the egg as it ran over the work surface.

‘Merde!’ she would say, and I’d raise a disapproving eyebrow, telling her to relax when she cooks instead of worrying, and watching the pride on her face when she pulled out a tray from the oven. Biscuits and pastries made with lavender … and love.

Tomas and I make basic shortbread for Henri. I can’t be more adventurous, not with Stephanie missing. Looks like we’re back where we started, only worse off, with both of us more miserable than we were before we met, both wishing for things in our hearts and losing them. What will happen if Stephanie, God forbid, doesn’t come back? What will happen to Tomas? I scoop him up and hurry into town, leaving Ralph behind. He flumps, dejected, on to the cool tiled floor.