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

‘Hello, you!’ I say, as if I’ve welcomed back an old friend. And the friend in the mirror smiles at me warmly and I like it. I like what I see and smile back at her.

I shower, dress and make my way downstairs. It’s not until I reach the kitchen that I realize I’m humming. Stephanie turns when she hears me come in and I stop humming, but the smile doesn’t leave my lips.

‘Someone’s happy,’ she says.

‘Thrilled that Henri is on the mend and on his way home,’ I say quickly. ‘Everything is going back to how it was.’

‘Not quite how it was,’ she says, and I’m not sure if she’s talking about her and JB or something else. I give a little cough and clear my throat, and see she has already made a start on the morning’s bakes. Tomas is helping her and JB is pulling on his jacket, kissing Stephanie goodbye, then Tomas, then going off to work with Fabien at the brocante. I reach down and pat Ralph, who Fabien instructed to stay downstairs last night with his little dog Mimi. We didn’t hear a peep out of him.

‘Where do you want me?’ I ask.

‘You’re fine,’ she says. ‘You go to the bistro. I have everything in hand here.’

And she does. She doesn’t need me. She has everything under control, her and Tomas. ‘I’ll see you at the bistro, then.’ I smile even wider.

‘Oui, à bientôt!’ she says, opening the oven and putting in her first tray of bakes.

‘Touche pas!’ she tells Tomas.

‘Touche pas!’ he repeats, waving a finger at me, making me laugh.

‘À toute à l’heure,’ I call, as I pick up my bag, leaving Stephanie and Tomas to cook and heading down the drive to the metal gates and on to the road towards the riverbank. The smell of wild thyme, rosemary and pine gives way to the sounds of the riverbank, as I head towards town with a smile on my lips and the sun on my face. I watch the flash of blue and yellow as a pair of kingfishers dip in and out of the river and the long grasses there, fat bumblebees buzz around the wisteria hanging over a fallen fence, and a weeping willow draping its branches in the clear, slow-flowing water, all as relaxed and carefree as I feel.

As I reach the riverside clearing, I slow down. Two men in suits are there, with the mayor, looking around the site.

‘Bonjour,’ I say, and they acknowledge me, the mayor smiling politely.

What’s going on? Clearly something is, and I’m suddenly worried.