Page 31 of The Forever Cottage

She pressed on her inbox, her heart beating in her chest, as she pulled up Charles’s messages.

Where are you? I’ve been trying to contact you.

You could have told me you were going away! Where have you gone? And who with?

Who has Barney?

Tess sighed, hearing Charles’s irritating voice resounding in her ear which was the last thing she needed in the beautiful surroundings of the pretty alpine town. She’d always been there for Charles at his every beck and call, but he couldn’t expect that any longer. What a blooming cheek! How dare he make demands of her? She fired off a message, keeping it short and sweet.

Away. Barney’s fine – not your concern. Back Tuesday.

She shrugged and smiled, knowing that her response would only enrage Charles further, which thrilled her no end. There was no way she would allow him to spoil her trip. Then she turned her attention to Rob’s message, hoping Charles hadn’t been giving him a hard time too, but relief washed over her as soon as she read the message.

Hey, hope you’re having a great time. Barney is missing you terribly, but I’m doing my best to console him. See you soon. x

The accompanying photo showed Barney legs akimbo, head thrown backwards with his eyes closed, lying on what looked to be Rob’s denim-clad lap, on the daybed in the garden room. Tess couldn’t help a big smile from spreading across her face, immediately reassured.

She scrolled through her phone, appraising the photos she’d recently taken, thinking she would send one back to Rob. There were some picturesque shots of the lake with the mountains rising above in the distance, similar to photos you might find in a travel brochure. Beautiful, but boring and impersonal. Instead, she plumped for a selfie that had her grinning wildly into the camera, her hand held up wide to the sky, in a gesture of complete joy, her eyes squinting against the bright sunshine.

It’s hell here, having a terrible time, but I’m sure I’ll pull through. See you soon.

And following Rob’s lead, she signed off with a couple of kisses, sending it off with a flourish.

‘All okay then, I’m gathering,’ said Gina with a quizzical look, noting Tess’s satisfied smile.

‘Yes, it’s fine. Just Charles being an idiot,’ she said breezily, as though she hadn’t expected anything different. ‘Oh, and Rob’s sent me a photo of Barney. He doesn’t seem to be missing me in the slightest, which is good news. Means I’ll be able to come again.’

‘Ah, but what about Rob?’ said Gina, with an air of mischievousness to her question. ‘Do you thinkhemight be missing you…?’

‘Don’t be daft! He knows how much I was worrying about leaving Barney behind, so he’s just putting my mind at rest. It’s good to know everything’s fine at home.’

The truth was despite her worries about coming away, she hadn’t really given Lower Leaping a second thought, not since checking with the care home that her mum was doing okay. She’d heard from Hannah too, who sounded back to her usually chatty and positive self and why she was ever worried about Barney, she didn’t know. As for Charles, he really wasn’t her problem any more. There was so much to see and do here that she wanted to cram in as much as she possibly could, which didn’t leave a lot of time for fretting about home. In fact, it was a bit of revelation that she could leave her old self behind and simply enjoy being this new version of herself, the one even she was still getting to know, relishing in the precious time she had with her closest friends.

That’s not to say that she wasn’t looking forward to going back to Hollyhocks Cottage and giving Barney the biggest hug ever. She’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that it would be good to see Rob again too.

24

‘I can’t believe this is our last afternoon here,’ said Tess wistfully. ‘Where has the time gone?’

‘It’s gone far too quickly,’ agreed Suzy. ‘And I’m really not sure that I want to go home.’

They had chartered a skippered boat on the turquoise, clear waters of Lake Annecy, the afternoon sun warming their sleeveless arms and the alpine scenery providing a breathtaking landscape. Small boats lined the shores of the lake and swans glided regally across its still waters.

Their captain, Tomas, was charming, entertaining and informative as he gave a running commentary on the history of the impressive architecture around them, including the distinctive Palais de Î’lle, a mediaeval building that had once been a prison, and a beautiful castle standing tall on a rocky outcrop, its stone towers and numerous turrets creating a fairy tale scene.

‘This chateau, it was the inspiration for the castle in Walt Disney’sSleeping Beauty,’ Tomas told them proudly, as they took out their cameras and phones to capture the stunning image.

‘Beautiful! Ah, how long do you think it would be before we were actually missed back at home if we decided to stay here?’ Gina asked, tongue-in-cheek. ‘I mean, I don’t know about you, but I could definitely get used to this kind of lifestyle.’ She trailed an arm over the side of the boat. ‘We could find an apartment overlooking the lake and set up a business.’

‘Doing what?’ asked Suzy, unable to hide the disbelief from her voice.

‘Oh, I don’t know. We could be specialist tour guides for British visitors or we could run a guest house. Or we could be chocolate tasters. We’d be really good at that. There must be a dozen things we could try.’

‘Yes, you must come to live in Annecy,’ said Tomas expansively. ‘I can ’elp find you customers. We could work together. You send people my way. I send them to you. How about that?’ If Suzy and Tess weren’t invested in Gina’s madcap idea, then Tomas certainly was.

‘You see!’ Gina said, jumping on their captain’s words. ‘It’s a wonderful idea.’

Tess had been won over by the charms of Annecy and with the holiday coming to an end, she could definitely see the appeal of spending a few more days in the alpine town, but wasn’t that the point of holidays? To take you out of your normal routine and open your eyes to new sights and sounds, offering a different perspective on the world. It wasn’t meant to be forever.

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