Chapters (79)
- COVER
- About the Author
- Also by Jo Thomas
- DEDICATION
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgements
- RECIPES
- Lavender shortbread
- Apricot jam sponge cake
- Lavender lamb
- READ MORE
- Prologue
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING
I march determinedly back towards the bridge and the alleyways that led me here. With each step I take, I can hear the arguing on the landing above the little back room where Steph and Tomas are living. I can feel Ralph’s nervousness. My steps slow. What am I doing? Ralph is looking at me as if he’s asking the same question. I slow to a standstill.
‘What am I doing, Ralph?’
‘Woof!’
‘I have no idea,’ I say to myself … but I know I have to do something.
FIFTEEN
‘Why would you do that?’ says the young woman. Tomas is on the floor now, running his hands through Ralph’s thick coat, both enjoying it.
‘Because …’ I try to come up with a suitable reply. I think of Carine, a new friend in the town inviting me out for coffee. I think of Fabien putting my furniture together, giving me the book. I think of Le Petit Mas and the second chance it’s given me.
‘I stole from you!’ she persists.
‘You said yourself I had a lot left over. It was only going to waste.’ I don’t tell her that I gave the rest to Henri: lovely, kind Henri who treated me to lunch and put in an order for daily desserts. ‘From the heart of Provence,’ I hear him say. The three who have helped me get started here.
‘Why?’ She narrows her eyes. Then we both look at Ralph and Tomas.
‘Because everyone deserves a second chance,’ I say. I think of the failure I felt at being unable to have children. But it’s not failure if we grow and learn along the way and take life’s chances, a chance at happiness. I hope I can learn to live with not having children. I hope the pain will start to fade. I hope I can learn to live a life here, happily too. Right now, I just know I can’t walk away.
‘Come and see what you think. If you don’t like it, I’ll bring you, Tomas and your belongings back here. I promise.’
She frowns.
‘I’m just offering you a chance. I have a house, plenty of room, and I need someone to work with me. Help me develop my … business.’ I’m thinking on my feet. I’m inviting a young woman and her child into my home, to live with me, I have no idea how long for, but all my instincts tell me I can’t walk away from a girl trying to do her best for her baby in a place like this. ‘I’m turning my home into a chambre d’hôte. You work for me in return for accommodation and food. If and when …’ am I really saying this? ‘… I get the business going, and if we get on okay, I can begin to pay you too. It’s a fresh start for your son.’