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’m suddenly torn. Do I want to go with Fabien to the lavender farm? On my own? I need to keep a distance. He has this ridiculous effect on me every time he’s near and I can’t let myself get involved, I just can’t. Everyone I’ve loved has gone. Mum, the man I married – that Ollie is long gone – and the child I never had, will never have. I need to move on alone. Just me. I can’t let myself fall for anyone. Any happiness that comes my way is given with one hand and taken away with the other. I’m not going to let that happen again. I just want enough to be content … I look at him looking at me.

‘Why don’t Stephanie and Tomas come with us? She’s as much a part of the business as I am now.’

Fabien misses only the slightest of beats before he says, ‘Bien sûr! Of course!’ And Stephanie’s smile is back on her face.

Only I noticed the missed beat. This is for the best. I need to keep my distance. It’s for the best, I repeat to myself.

We all pile in to the van’s cab, Tomas and Stephanie next to Fabien, with Mimi, disgruntled, on her lap and me last, beside the door. Ralph has to stay at home. There’s no room for him. Next time, I tell him. But I know there won’t be a next time.

‘On y va!’ Fabien says, turning the truck in the drive and snatching a glance at me. Stephanie is stroking Mimi and I distract myself by pointing things out to Tomas.

‘Dragonfly,’ I say, and he laughs as we head down the drive and across the river to the other side of the valley.

The smell hits me before Fabien has even stopped the van. We bounce around in the cab as we go down the rough drive and, instinctively, I find myself reaching out to hold Tomas steady, but Stephanie is there before me and Fabien reaches over too so I withdraw my hand. She smiles at me. His mum has him. I’m still not sure when I should help with him. Stephanie and Fabien seem so natural around Tomas, unlike me. Perhaps I never had the maternal instinct.

Two old dogs are barking and sniffing around the van as we pull up, and the small bent man from the market is there, dressed in blue working trousers and jacket, wearing a black hat, just like he was in the market, waving to us. We climb out of the cab and Serge shakes hands with Fabien, then kisses Stephanie and me. His hands are tanned but gnarled by arthritis. He grins, showing the gap where his tooth once was, and comments again on my ‘lovely smile’.