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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

‘So you’re selling up?’ I ask, sad to think that this place, which has been my anchor since I arrived here and for all the people at the riverside clearing who depended on Henri, will close down. But now, after the incident of the honesty box, word will have got around and the mayor is bound to want to close the riverside clearing. One way or another, Cora has got what she wanted. Everything that has become home to me has gone. I’m right back where I started, only this time with a huge hole in my heart: I’ve lost not just a partner but a family. The wind whips up the awning, knocks over the chairs out there and shakes the wisteria growing up the wall.

‘No, I’m not selling,’ he says, and holds my gaze. ‘Be my business partner, Del. Come into the bistro with me. Run the place. I’ll take a back seat.’

I have no idea what to say. I’ve made such a mess of things. He could go away and come back to no business at all. He’s trusting me with his whole livelihood. What if I ruin it?

Suddenly the door flies open and crashes into the wall.

‘Fabien!’ He has a habit of turning up just when I’m thinking about him. Or is it just that I’m always thinking about him?

‘Del, I need to talk to you, urgently!’

FIFTY-SIX

‘So, I went to see Carine,’ he says, after greeting Henri, welcoming him home, saying they’ll catch up later, and agreeing with him that I’ve done a brilliant job. Henri and Rhi make themselves scarce, going up to his little apartment above the bistro.

‘Fabien, let me explain,’ I say. I need to tell him the last thing I wanted to do was hurt him.

‘No, please, Del. Hear me out. It’s important. I went to see Carine, after we talked. She told me … well, that doesn’t matter now. But I told her about the honesty box. And guess what she told me? That the mayor has given in to the Englishwoman’s demands,’ he says.

‘He’s going to close down the project!’ I wail.

Fabien shakes his head and smiles. ‘He had CCTV fitted!’ he announces.

‘What?’

‘He has everything filmed now!’

Fabien’s smile broadens and my heart melts.

‘It means there is proof that Stephanie didn’t do it.’

I jump up, the chair flipping back and clattering as it hits the floor, making a subdued Ralph bark. ‘So who did?’

‘Monsieur le maire is waiting for you with Carine!’

FIFTY-SEVEN

‘So,’ says the mayor, sitting at his desk in the mairie, his new CCTV cameras showing footage on the computer screen in front of him, ‘I can see what’s happening all over the town now. Four new cameras.’