Page 66 of Summer at the Château
‘Brigitte?’ Pixie asked quietly.
Brigitte shook her head. ‘No words from me, just these flowers,’ and she placed the bouquet on the ground by the potted rose before straightening up and smiling at Pixie.
Pixie took a deep breath. ‘Standing here in the grounds of the château saying a final goodbye to you, my darling husband, is not something I ever thought I’d be doing,’ she said quietly. ‘Ten years ago, we made so many plans, the two of us sitting down here in your favourite place. The life I’ll live here without you will be different to the one we planned together and I know I shall miss you forever, but thank you for the gift of the family I always wanted. I promise you’ve left them in safe hands. I love you.’ Carefully Pixie took the lid of the urn and looked at Justine, ‘Shall we do this together?’ And she gently shook some of the ashes out before handing the urn to Justine.
The two of them walked around the willow tree, taking it in turn to shake the urn until it was empty.
‘There you go, Frank, you’re free to enjoy the ever after now.’ As she and Justine turned to rejoin the others, Pixie stopped. ‘One thing I forget to say, Frank, I’m going to have a bronze plaque made for the bench, dedicating it to you, so feel free to sit on it and enjoy the view any time you get tired of floating around.’
Walking back up to the château, Pixie felt that a great weight had been lifted, that she too, was free now to get on with the rest of her life in Brittany.
‘You okay, Pixie?’ Charlie asked, falling into step alongside her.
‘Yes, thanks. I feel it’s another step forward, drawing me closer to a new life here. I must admit I’m looking forward to a quiet few days once Brigitte and William leave for home and Gwen goes to spend time with Augustus.’
* * *
William was loading luggage into the car and had happily agreed when Gwen had asked him earlier for a lift to Roscoff. Charlie volunteered to fetch her case and ran back into the château.
Pixie gathered Gwen into a tight hug. ‘Mum, you’re the bravest woman I know. Be happy. I’ll see you next week.’
William slammed the boot shut, Gwen and Brigitte kissed everyone goodbye and, within minutes, Pixie, Charlie, Justine and Ferdie, holding Trouble on her lead, were standing on the drive waving goodbye. As the car turned out of the drive and disappeared, the three adults let out deep sighs.
‘It’s going to be quiet around here for a few days,’ Pixie said. ‘Which is just as well, the three of us have got a lot of planning to do if we’re going to get Château Quiltu Retreats up and running for next spring.’ Her mobile buzzed and she pulled it out of her jeans pocket. ‘Morning, Jean-Yves. I was going to ring you and make a rendezvous. That would be lovely. Okay, I’ll see you later.’ She ended the call and turned to Charlie and Justine. ‘You two can cope without me, can’t you? Jean-Yves wants to take me out for lunch. He’s picking me up at 12.30.’
‘I’m sure we can amuse ourselves and Ferdie for a couple of hours,’ Charlie said, putting his arm around Justine. ‘Shall we take a picnic lunch down to the lake?’
‘Yes,’ shouted Ferdie. ‘Can we have crisps and can I fish?’
‘You’ll have to help me get it all ready first,’ Charlie answered.
‘If we have boiled eggs, can I peel them? I’m good at doing that, Mummy says,’ Ferdie babbled excitedly.
‘Today we’re going to have cheese and tomato baguettes. Reckon you can butter the baguettes?’
Ferdie nodded happily. ‘I can spread the mayonnaise too.’
* * *
A quarter of an hour later, the three of them were making their way down to the lake. Ferdie running ahead with his bamboo rod, Trouble bounding alongside and Charlie and Justine carrying the picnic hamper between them.
‘So, you and I are going to be working together,’ Charlie said. ‘Think we’ll manage to cope with mixing business with pleasure?’
Justine glanced across at him. ‘Depends. I’ve heard some chefs are very temperamental, are you one of them?’
‘No. The main thing you need to remember is, in the kitchen I’m the boss.’ Charlie grinned at her.
‘Okay, I’ll remember that. So where does the pleasure come in?’ Justine raised her eyebrows at him.
‘Well, I’m sure working with you with be a real pleasure, but I’m looking forward to extending that pleasure to outside working hours. I would very much like us to be more than friends,’ Charlie said seriously.
They reached the bench at that moment, where Ferdie was waiting for them, and Justine didn’t have time to reply.
‘Let’s get your fishing rod ready and you can have a go while Mum and I set up the picnic things,’ Charlie said, helping Ferdie to hook a piece of bread onto the line. He watched as Ferdie carefully cast the line before returning to Justine, who gave him a serious look.
’I’ve got Ferdie to think about as well as me. He likes you a lot and I know you like him too, you’re so good with him. The thing is, as you’ve probably realised, we come as a package. I can cope with being hurt if we become more than friends and it doesn’t work, but I can’t risk Ferdie being hurt.’
Charlie held up his hand. ‘Stop. Let’s get a certain question out of the way. I know how I feel about you and Ferdie, but how do you feel about me?’
