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

Stephanie stays at home to start cleaning the rooms. I hope we’ve moved on from the flare-up. I know now that Fabien has no intentions towards her and I think the situation will pass. All she really cares about is that she can trust me, which means I must keep my promise to her. Nothing can happen between Fabien and me. A knot twists in my stomach and in my heart. But that’s how it has to be. Right now, Stephanie’s faith in human nature must be restored, for Tomas’s sake as well as hers. It’s his future too. And that’s why I have to do what I’m about to do.

We walk through the backstreets, the way Stephanie has shown me, a short-cut after the riverside clearing, making the journey much quicker to the brocante. With every step my heart is beating harder, and I wonder if Lou and Rhi can hear it. It would appear not, as they exclaim at the cream and peach walls, the red and orange terracotta roofs.

I slow as we head towards the brocante. I have no idea what to say to Fabien. We both know it was far from ‘a silly kiss’, but I have made a promise and I need to stick to it.

We walk into the courtyard through the big wrought-iron gates. I see him straight away and he rushes towards me.

‘Del,’ he says, then stops, seeing Lou and Rhi right behind me.

‘Fabien,’ I say, my voice cracking. ‘These are friends of mine from back home.’

‘Friends of Ollie and Del,’ says Rhi, pushing past me eagerly to shake Fabien’s hand.

‘Ollie,’ Fabien repeats.

‘Her husband,’ confirms Rhi, not letting go of Fabien’s hand, until Lou elbows her out of the way.

‘Out of the three of us, she’s the only one who’s married and she seems to have forgotten where she left him!’ She laughs, a little too high-pitched.

‘Her husband,’ Fabien repeats, and my cheeks burn. He knows Ollie and I have split up. What he doesn’t know is that I can’t look at him without wanting to wrap my body around his.

‘Mine left me, with two small children, twenty years ago,’ says Rhi, who was a teenage mum, a bit like Stephanie.

‘Mine died at the gym, trying to get fitter,’ says Lou, drily.