Page 32 of The Forever Cottage

‘Well, I hope our kids would soon note our absence,’ said Suzy. ‘I know they’re all off doing their own thing now, but they still need us. I’d like to think that they would miss us sooner or later. They would, wouldn’t they?’ she added, laughing.

‘Okay,’ said Gina, with an exaggerated sigh. ‘So what you’re telling me is that we really have to go home tomorrow. What a shame!’

‘Then you must come back soon,’ urged Tomas. ‘If you are in Annecy and you need some help then come and find me. I am always on the boat.’

‘Thanks, Tomas, we’ll definitely be back, won’t we, girls?’

It was a conversation they returned to that evening as they sat in a cosy bistro and ate delicious raclette and fondue, sipping on a crisp white wine.

‘Hasn’t this been the best holiday ever? I know I wouldn’t have had half as much fun with Ryan,’ Gina said with a quirk of her mouth.

‘Well, thanks for inviting us. It’s been exactly what I needed, even if I didn’t realise that until I got here. It’s been like a reset for me. A realisation that there is a whole other world outside the cosy sanctuary of Lower Leaping and that I probably need to get out more,’ said Tess, laughing.

‘You would never move away, though. Would you?’ Suzy asked.

‘I’ve thought about it, but only fleetingly. I’ve always loved living in the village, as you well know. It’s home and I’ve got so much history and so many friends there that it would be too big a wrench to move away. Whether or not Charles has other ideas, like selling the house and splitting the assets, I don’t know. That’s why I want to get the divorce finalised as soon as I can so I know where I stand.’

‘Well, I know my idea of selling up back at home and moving here didn’t go down very well with you two, but now we’ve done this once, I think we should make it an annual event, don’t you? We could either come back here or try somewhere else. We could do a grand European tour.’

‘Definitely,’ said Suzy.

‘That sounds like a plan,’ agreed Tess.

She grew reflective for a moment, wondering where she might be in a year’s time. So much had happened in the last few months that it was difficult to look so far ahead and imagine what her future might hold. She hoped her plans to let out the annexe would have come to fruition. She’d always enjoyed hosting visitors and this way it would bring in some extra cash as well. As soon as Rob had moved on, she would have some photos taken, look at pricing and investigate how to get her details on to some of the main websites.

Hopefully, by then, her mum would be fully recovered from her health issues, Hannah would be back from her travels and off at teacher-training college and Tess would be living alone at Hollyhocks Cottage as a divorced woman. Tess had already been in touch with the solicitor recommended by Nico, who had put the necessary paperwork into action, which was another reason she was glad to be away. It stopped her dwelling on Charles’s inevitable reaction when he found out what she had in mind. He was bound to turn up at the house demanding to know exactly what she thought she was doing and she really wasn’t looking forward to that conversation.

Now, she took another sip of her wine and brought herself back to the moment, her gaze drifting out of the window of the bistro, landing on the old, cobbled, pedestrianised street, aglow with soft lighting, couples walking by arm in arm, animated chatter in different dialogues resounding around them. Perhaps Gina’s idea of upping sticks and moving out here wasn’t such a bad one after all, she thought, with a wry smile.

They lingered over their meal, choosing a selection of sweet treats for pudding which they opted to share between them and then had coffees and a digestif, by which point, Tess felt delightfully satiated and light-headed. She was only pleased her friends were with her so that she could hang on to their arms when they made the short walk back to the hotel. As they waited for the bill to arrive, her phone, which had been face down on the table beside her, vibrated.

Both Gina and Suzy looked at her expectantly and Gina added, ‘That’s not Rob again, is it? Sending you bedtime kisses.’

‘No! Excuse me,’ she said. ‘I’d better just check.’ She turned the phone over, wondering who it might be at this time of night, although her anxiety from the other day had lessened since she’d been able to unwind and relax fully, the wine and the ambience obviously helping with that. Could it be Rob? A flicker of hope flared in her chest. More likely Charles demanding to talk to her about the divorce, or Hannah, with a request for funds from the other side of the world. She’d already spoken to her mum earlier this evening, who sounded chipper, although she knew how quickly things could change in that direction. The preview of the message flashed onto the screen and she realised it was none of those people.

‘Oh…’ she uttered, unable to hide her surprise. ‘It’s from Nico.’

Surely he couldn’t be wanting to talk to her about the divorce at this time of night?

‘Nico, the nice solicitor guy? What does he want?’ Gina said, never afraid to ask the obvious question.

Tess was wondering the same thing as she opened the message.

‘Oh,’ she exclaimed again. ‘That’s funny. He’s asking if I’d like to go out for dinner with him.’

‘What’s funny about that?’ Gina exclaimed. ‘Didn’t you say how helpful he’d been, how lovely he was?’

‘Yes.’ She’d said all those things about Nico. He was amenable, considerate and pleasant company, with lovely, kind eyes, but she wasn’t sure how she felt about a dinner invitation.

‘What does he say exactly?’ Suzy urged, giggling like a teenager.

Tess paused for a moment, thinking it was probably best not to tell them. That they should all just go back to the hotel to bed and she could think about replying to Nico in the morning, but with two eager expressions looking at her from the other side of the table, she knew she wouldn’t get away with that.

‘Okay,’ she said, looking over her reading glasses at them. ‘“Hey, hope you’re doing okay? I was thinking of trying the new tapas place in Bramlingham. I’ve heard good things about it and wondered if you’d like to join me? This Saturday, perhaps? Only if you’re free of course. No worries if not.”’

‘Ooh,’ swooned Gina and Suzy in unison.

‘You’ll go, won’t you?’ It was more of a statement than a question from Gina.

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