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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

‘We’ll cancel the taxi, change our flights. Just until things are sorted,’ says Lou, with what seems almost like relief. But I feel so lucky to have my friends still here, like they belong in this community too.

I nod to the paramedic and step towards the ambulance.

‘No!’ Stephanie says, grabbing my arm. ‘You cannot go!’

‘Why not?’ I ask. ‘Someone should be with him.’

‘No! You need to cook!’

‘Cook?’ I’m puzzled. This isn’t a time for thinking about our evening meal.

‘Not for us, for these people.’ She holds out a hand and two more people, in dark clothing with unkempt hair, join Alain by the sofa and he explains what’s happened.

‘What do you mean, I need to cook for these people?’ I’m still no wiser.

‘Henri!’ she says urgently. ‘He has many people relying on him. He cooks for the bistro, and then everything that is left when he closes he brings here, every evening, and serves it to the people who need it.’ She points to the little hut with the closed hatch. ‘He was here checking for any empty bowls that got left behind after he cleared away last night, like he does every morning. He checks no mess was left behind. You have to help. Without Henri, there is many a time I would have gone without food. Same for many of these people. They are relying on him.’

I look around the clearing. ‘I can’t cook – at least, not for so many people!’ I may have enjoyed cooking for all of us at the house, but there’s no way I could cook restaurant standard food in the bistro and for the numbers Henri must feed every day. ‘I’m just a home cook!’

I look at the ambulance and they’re shutting one door, waiting to shut the other. The lights are flashing.

‘I thought I heard sirens.’ Cora appears from the other side of the ambulance. ‘I heard it from the garden. I’m having some new tiles laid,’ she says. ‘Anything I can do to help?’

This is becoming a spectator sport, I think. My hackles start to rise. Henri is a good, kind man who is in real need.

‘Who is it? One of the hoboes?’ She looks at Alain, who has possibly saved Henri’s life with his quick thinking and actions.

We look at her in horror, hardly able to believe what we’re hearing.

‘No, actually, it’s Henri, from the bistro,’ I say, pulling myself up tall.