BooksBarbecue
Back Escape to the French Farmhouse
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

I breathe a huge sigh of relief and tears spring to my eyes yet again, this time of sheer joy. I can see Tomas toddling towards her. She drops her bags and runs to him. He stumbles and falls, face down. Rhi lurches forward, but stops herself. I clench my fists, resisting the urge to help. As he lets out a wail, Stephanie scoops him up, and holds him to her, tightly, and he puts his arms around her, tightly, as if they’ll never let each other go. And, once again, I can feel Mum close to me, making me feel that everything is going to be okay.

Stephanie kisses him over and over again, then walks towards me, abandoning her bags where they are. Has she come to take Tomas and go away again? Is this goodbye? There is nothing keeping her here.

She stands in front of me. Her eyes are big, tired and scared. I want to hug her, but I can’t. I have to let her tell me what she wants. I just feel it.

‘Maman,’ says Tomas, smiling now, making me smile too.

‘Oui,’ I say. ‘Your maman is here. You’ve missed her. And I think she has missed you.’ I look at her. ‘You’re his mother, Stephanie, and no one can ever replace you, or do a better job than the one you’re doing. He adores you. And no matter how many times things go wrong, he’ll never stop loving you. You’re his mum. And you only need one good parent in life to feel loved. I know. I had just one.’

There are tears in her eyes as she asks, ‘Can I come back, please?’ She swallows. ‘Back to how it was? I’ll work really hard, and I won’t let you down.’

‘You’ve never let me down, Stephanie. I feel I did that to you, and I’m sorry you’ve been hurt.’ Then I can’t stop myself any longer: I open my arms and hug her and Tomas close to me. ‘Welcome home, Stephanie,’ I say. ‘Now, go and shower and let’s cook,’ I say, finally releasing her.

Then Rhi hugs her and so does Lou. I get to work in the kitchen making one of Mum’s and my favourites: pasta bolognese.

Later I walk outside, where Rhi tops up my wine glass, then hers and Lou’s, and raises a toast. ‘To Le Petit Mas, cracks and all!’

‘Cracks and all!’ We sip as the sun vanishes on another day at Le Petit Mas. I wonder how much longer this lovely time here with friends will last, and push to the back of my mind the question of what will happen when they go, if this place isn’t up and running as a chambre d’hôte. And why Ollie has changed his profile picture so soon.