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

It’s not even 7 a.m., but the town is alive with chatter and the clatter of stalls being erected, shouts of directions as vans are parked, goods unloaded and displayed. It feels like the opening night of a big musical and we all have our own part to play in it. Fabien talks briefly to the woman from the mayor’s office who points to my pitch. It’s down the alleyway, between the square and the main road leading to the car park. A bit off the beaten track maybe …

Fabien seems to read my mind. ‘So it’s not the best pitch … but it’s a start.’

‘It’s great,’ I try to enthuse, but it really is out of the way and I’m terrified that all our efforts will have been for nothing.

‘They don’t know you. You’re from out of town – out of the country! You’ll have to work for your custom. If you want it, you’ll have to go and get it,’ he says. Again, I feel he’s challenging me. What he means is, I have to prove to the mayor and the locals that I’m really here to stay.

‘But at least it’ll be out of the sun.’ Fabien smiles one of his killer smiles.

‘And right next to Henri’s bistro,’ I add, thinking how much I’d love a coffee right now. Just then, Henri comes out to greet Fabien and me.

‘Welcome! And bonne chance!’ he says. Ralph is darting this way and that, taking in all the smells, and cocks his leg on an olive tree in a pot outside the smart chambre d’hôte next door. Fabien and Henri laugh. I tie him to the table once Fabien has set it up and thrown the cloth over it.

‘Wait!’ says Fabien, going back to the truck. ‘A chair, for quieter times,’ he says. I decide to tie Ralph to that, rather than the table.

‘Merci, Fabien, for everything. You have been a good friend. You and Carine,’ I emphasize.

He smiles. My stomach flick-flacks.

‘Perhaps you would like to join me for lunch after the market?’ He tilts his head to one side.

Is he asking what I think he is? I bite my lip.

‘And Carine?’ I ask tentatively. ‘You and Carine?’

‘Carine is … She has an appointment,’ he says. A flash of irritation crosses his face.

I’m uncomfortable. I’m not sure how Carine would feel if I was to have lunch with Fabien on my own. I wouldn’t have liked Ollie to have lunch on his own with female friends.

‘I’m sorry, Fabien. I can’t.’

He frowns. ‘I thought … we could get to know each other … understand each other better, non? Lunch. It’s what we do here in France.’