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 finish my coffee and look out on the mist again, rolling up the valley, burning off the morning dew, promising a glorious day, and try to calm myself. I have to make this work. It’s my only chance of earning some money and staying on here.

I walk over to the lavender hedge. There is a smell in the air, the same smell I noticed on the morning after the mistral, when I hadn’t returned to the UK and had decided instead to stay. It is the scent of a new dawn and a new day. The cobwebs on the lavender are covered with dew, which sparkles like diamonds. I pick some of the lavender and hold it to my nose. It seems to calm me. What’s the worst that can happen? I ask myself. That I don’t sell anything. Panic grips me again.

As if on cue, I hear a friendly toot and the crunch of tyres on the stony ground at the front of the house. My stomach flick-flacks. This is it! I’m going to make it work. I want to be a part of this community, at the heart of it, and I want it to be my home.

Ralph practically falls over himself, trying to co-ordinate his legs in his excitement at greeting a visitor. He barks, then catapults to the front of the house, banking round the corner, probably taking out Fabien’s legs from under him as he bowls into him with sheer joy.

‘Whoa!’ I hear Fabien laugh. He could charm anyone with that laugh. If he can get Ralph to do as he’s told, I’m sure he has women falling at his feet all the time. But he and Carine are a solid couple.

‘Ralph! Ralph!’ I call, and follow him to the front of the house. ‘Ralph!’ The morning peace is shattered.

I round the corner, slow to a standstill and catch my breath. Ralph is sitting obediently, his tongue hanging out, panting, raising his paw to Fabien for him to shake. Fabien, wearing his battered leather jacket and a bandanna around his neck, smells delicious, I realize, as I move closer.

‘Bonjour, Del. All ready?’ He steps away from Ralph and kisses my cheeks, the delicious scent wrapping itself around me, like a hug. Ralph barks at him impatiently, but Fabien ignores him.

‘Bonjour, Fabien.’ I felt his breath on my lips as he kissed me. Dawn is breaking on the skyline and the cockerel down the road crows. Night turns to day in what feels like an instant. As light begins to seep through the trees, there’s a spring in my step.

‘Oui!’ I smile.

‘Have you slept?’

‘Not a wink!’ I laugh. ‘I’m too excited. And I’ve been up baking!’