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

‘Of course,’ he says, and jumps down from where he’s standing on a chest of drawers. He switches the charm back on. Did he charm me? So nothing he said meant anything? It really was ‘just a silly kiss’. Then why had it felt like so much more? Is he already looking elsewhere? Or have I really hurt him with what I said, in the heat of the moment? I feel so stupid! The way I felt when I looked at him, the way I thought he looked at me, it felt so real at the time. And now he’s acting like we’re strangers. He’s making Lou smile and Rhi laugh as he shows them more of the gems he has in his warehouse.

‘Put it all together. Shall I put it on account, Del?’ he calls, as friendly as if nothing has passed between us.

‘Oh, I’ll pay,’ says Lou, reaching into her tasselled shoulder bag.

Fabien waves her away. ‘It’s fine. Del and I understand each other,’ he says.

I wish there was something I could say to make him understand why I had to say what I did. Anyway, even if I didn’t mean it, to him it was just a silly kiss. My eyes sting with tears I blink away.

‘Oui, merci. I’ll pay you soon,’ I say quietly, through my tight throat.

‘And I have some big pots of paint that might be useful. I can lend you brushes, if you like. Just drop them back when you’ve finished.’ I’m not sure if he’s talking to me or Rhi and Lou, but I thank him and wish I could wind the clock back to when we were standing by the truck with the smell of the lavender and his eyes only on me. ‘I’ll bring it all up later, and the lavender plants, if you’d still like them?’ he asks, making a note of all the items I have and rounding off the numbers to a very acceptable figure.

We leave the brocante. Fabien kisses Lou and Rhi on the cheeks and, very briefly, me. I yearn to feel his cheek against mine.

‘Well,’ says Rhi. ‘Whoever he goes home to at night is a very lucky person indeed.’

Yes, I think, very lucky. But it won’t be me, and my heart shatters all over again.

TWENTY-FOUR

Rhi and Lou insist on taking me for lunch. I’m not sure if it’s to make up for their sudden arrival or they want to see if what Ollie has said is true and I really have lost the plot. I take them to Henri’s, through the ancient archway, down the cobbled street to the little bistro, where the awning is out, and the tables are laid outside.