Page 45 of A French Affair
‘Non. It stops my parents worrying about money and they’re ’appy for me to have a job while things sort themselves out.’
Belinda waited for him to explain what things needed sorting out, but he stayed staring out over the river.
‘Were you living with them before the cottage was ready? Or have you got your own place in the village?’
‘I was back in my old childhood room with them. Still covered with motorbike posters.’ Alain grinned at her. ‘A virtual time warp.’
‘Did they mind you moving out again so soon?’ Belinda asked. Then, as something Alain had said the day she did her first site inspection flashed into her mind, she turned to look at him. ‘Hang on, why are you still living in the cottage now I’m back? Why haven’t you returned to your parents’ place to keep an eye on them? You told me you had no intention of living on site until the season started properly.’
Alain returned her glare with one of his own. ‘And leave you living on site by yourself? Don’t be ridiculous. And don’t accuse me of being a chauvinist again. It’s the way I was brought up – you don’t leave any woman in a vulnerable situation.’
‘We’re in the middle of the countryside, not the inner city,’ Belinda said. ‘There are campers around. I have a phone to call the gendarmes if I have to. And I have BB. I don’t need looking after. You should be looking after your parents.’
‘Like it or not, I’m staying put in the cottage until you leave for good. Now let’s get back,’ and Alain waited for her to start walking before he fell into step alongside her.
Back at the cottage, Belinda said a polite bon nuit and went straight to her room to get ready for bed. She supposed she should be grateful that Alain was such a gentleman. The campsite was in an isolated position and under the cover of darkness it could be eerily spooky with the owls calling to each other and the nocturnal animals rustling through the bushes as they hunted for food. But she’d have coped. Although, if she was honest, she did sleep better knowing that there was someone else in the house with her. Any emergency and help would be instant.
Perhaps she was overreacting? It had been a long time since anyone had thought to protect her from real or imagined trouble. Despite their differences, she liked Alain and after their conversation this evening, knew he had hidden depths that he kept well concealed. She was beginning to value his friendship and didn’t want them to fall out. Tomorrow at breakfast she’d apologise and lay the blame on becoming fiercely independent since her divorce.
31
There was an unusual atmosphere in the kitchen during breakfast at the auberge Thursday morning that worried Fern. The four guests in the dining room were happy and friendly as she served them, talking about where they were going for the day, Quimper. One of the party was vegan and asked if she could recommend anywhere for lunch. ‘Try my favourite place for lunch in Quimper, The Sherlock Holmes Restaurant. Lots of choices for both vegans and meat eaters,’ Fern said. ‘You’ll all find something tasty to eat. You need to get there early, it’s very popular.’
In the kitchen, though, something was different. Scott and Anouk normally set the world to rights over their coffee and croissants, but this morning, they were both strangely quiet. Fern struggled to get a word out of either of them. In the end, after the guests had gone upstairs to get ready for their day out, Fern poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table with them.
‘Right, you two. Why the long faces?’
Anouk stood up. ‘I’ll let Scott tell you. I’m going to write a letter in my room.’
Fern watched her go as a feeling of sadness threatened to engulf her. She knew what Scott was going to tell her before he even opened his mouth to speak.
‘You have to return to America, don’t you?’
He nodded. ‘I was planning on staying for another month, but my god-daughter has emailed me to say her mother, my cousin, isn’t well and wants to see me.’
‘When are you leaving?’ Fern asked, her voice low, surprised at how empty she felt at the thought of saying goodbye to Scott.
‘I’ve had a look at flights and the first direct flight I can get from Paris to New York is Tuesday, which means I have to leave on Monday from Brest.’
Fern smiled at him. ‘We knew you’d be going back sometime, it’s just a bit sooner than we… I expected.’ She put her cup down on the table and Scott caught hold of her hand and squeezed it gently.
‘I will be back I promise,’ he said, looking at her, ‘but Kylie’s illness complicates things. I’m not sure how long I will need to stay in New York. It could be a couple of weeks or it could be months.’
‘Well, I’m not going anywhere, I’ll be here when you do return. What about your hire car? Where will you drop it? Brest or Carhaix? I can always drive you to the airport if it’s Carhaix.’
‘Appreciate the offer, but I can leave it at Brest.’ Scott looked at her. ‘I’m not very good with airport goodbyes. Arrivals I love. Departures, not so much.’ He hesitated. ‘What I would like you to do though is to have dinner with me Saturday night. Just the two of us. Is that possible?’
‘Yes. I’d like that. Thank you. And tonight when my friend, Belinda, comes here to meet you and to talk to Anouk, the three of us will put on happy faces.’
* * *
Thursday on the campsite was surprisingly busy considering it was a weekday at the end of April. The last few days had been wonderfully sunny and spring-like and it seemed as if the world and his family had taken it upon themselves to get out into the countryside. But it wasn’t until Alain pointed out that Friday was the first of May that Belinda realised the real reason.
‘Of course. How stupid of me to forget the Labour Day holiday. And everybody is “faire le pont” – making a long weekend of it.’ She glanced at Alain. ‘It’s the vide-grenier this Sunday too, isn’t it?’
Alain nodded. ‘Oui. Hervé and Yann’s Gang will be here Saturday afternoon to start setting things up.’
Both Belinda and Alain took great care to make sure visitors realised that the site was barely operational yet and most people took it all in their stride. There were one or two disgruntled guests, who decided to drive on a bit further when they realised the lack of facilities. Which made Alain grumble under his breath. Belinda didn’t exactly say ‘I told you so’, but she did say again there were certain twenty-first-century technologies that were necessary.
