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

She turns and walks downstairs to where Tomas is sitting at the little table, with a glass of milk, eating biscuits. Well, he’s feeding biscuits to a well-behaved Ralph, delighting in his barking, and rewarding him with more. Stephanie marches over, scoops Tomas up from the chair and puts him on her hip. He begins to cry, reaching for Ralph, who is still sitting obediently, giving the occasional bark, hoping to be rewarded.

‘Wait, Stephanie!’ I say, as she scoops up her plastic bags with one hand.

‘It would seem, Madame,’ she says pointedly, but I know she’s hurt and disappointed, ‘that you do not have room for us after all. I cannot ask my son to sleep on the bare floor. We would have been better to stay where we were.’ She walks towards the front door. ‘I’m sure you thought you were doing a good thing.’

She stops and looks at me. ‘Do you have children?’

‘No.’

‘Well, you can’t have mine!’ Her words sting me, like a slap in the face.

‘I don’t want your child. I wanted to help you. Like I say, we all deserve a second chance. You’re practically a child yourself,’ I say.

‘I am a mother. A good one! Better than mine was! I didn’t have family to eat with or cook with. I am surviving the only way I know how. But I must put my child first.’

The slap in the face still stings. She’s right. I thought I should be helping her and the child. But I have no idea what a child needs. I’m out of my depth. Instead of helping, I’ve just made things a hundred times worse.

I watch as she walks towards the drive. Where on earth will she go?

‘Where will you go?’ I call after her.

‘Back to the river clearing. I have friends there,’ she says, over her shoulder. ‘Everyone will be gathering about now.’

She carries on walking, Tomas reaching out his arms to Ralph.

My eyes fill with tears and I look away, trying to stop them falling. And then I see the solution! Why didn’t I think of it before? Why hadn’t I remembered it?

‘Stephanie, wait!’

SEVENTEEN

I run back inside, grab the key from the kitchen drawer and run back out, beaming. Stephanie has stopped and put Tomas down. I don’t know if it’s because he’s heavy or she’s prepared to hear what I’ve got to say or show her. But I’m taking my chance.

‘Follow me.’ I wave my arm in a big circle and hold up a key with the other.

For a moment she stares at me, but then, making my heart skip, she follows me.