Page 30 of A French Country Escape
‘That would work for me,’ Ingrid said, reaching for her crutch and carefully pulling herself onto her feet. ‘I’ll make a list of things I know we’re going to need and start doing some research on the internet while you work out the figures for Stella. The money from the cottages is still mostly intact so, as long as we don’t go mad, we can definitely buy good quality.’ Ingrid began to make her way slowly through to the kitchen. ‘Before I forget. Could you please collect a box from the tack room for me sometime in the next few days? It’s under the saddle racks at the far end.’
Now that the new bathroom fittings had arrived, Sasha was starting to prepare the bathroom for its makeover. Freddie was hoping to plumb the new shower in one evening this week, and to do the bath and sink at the weekend. Once he’d done her bathroom, he’d leave her to the decorating and make a start onhis own. The sun was shining and she would have preferred to be out in the garden, but had decided she could do that later this evening and hopefully avoid all the midges. She was busy rubbing the window frames down when her phone pinged with a text message from Jean-Paul.
I come to walk and train the dogs at four o’clock. D’accord?
Sasha glanced at the time. Quarter past three.
Merci. A bientôt.
She was ready and waiting at four o’clock, having showered, dried her hair, dressed in a more respectable pair of jeans than the pair she was wearing earlier, and pulled on a clean T-shirt. A light foundation with sunblock smoothed over her face and she was ready. It wasn’t a date, after all. It was simply a friend helping with training the pups – and also maybe helping her to improve her French as well.
Jean-Paul surprised her by driving down theroute de galopand parking his tractor by the garden entrance. Mitzi and Mimi gave both him and Viking an enthusiastic, noisy welcome. Before they set off, Sasha put a couple of dog biscuits in her pocket to use as treats and to encourage the pups to do as they were told. After Sasha had clipped them onto their leads, she closed the cottage door behind them and they started to walk through the château grounds. Jean-Paul had taken Mitzi while Sasha had Mimi. Viking, who was off the lead, trotted happily alongside Jean-Paul as they walked.
Jean-Paul took his phone out of his pocket. ‘I have a little English but now I have an app also.’
‘I have an app too,’ Sasha said, taking out her own phone. They both smiled, happy at the thought that communication between the two of them would be easier from now on.
‘You like living here?’ Jean-Paul asked.
Sasha gave an enthusiastic ‘Oui!I love it. I can’t quite believe I live here in my own cottage in France. It’s beautiful. I wish…’ She stopped, not wanting to embarrass Jean-Paul with her own sadness.
‘Vouswish…’ Jean-Paul prompted.
‘Mum’s inheritance made it possible for us to buy the cottages and it makes me sad that she’s not around to see us living here,’ Sasha said slowly before shaking her head. ‘Désolée. It’s the way life works, we wouldn’t be here without losing her, but she’s left a big hole in my life.’
‘C’est naturel,’ Jean-Paul said. ‘My parents, they both still live. But I see them only sometime. My sister, she live in Bordeaux and they join her last year. They help with thepetits-enfants.’
‘You are an uncle!’ Sasha said, smiling, silently wondering whether she and Freddie would ever elevate each other to the status of auntie and uncle. She could only hope that sometime in the future they would both meet someone special.
‘We do some puppy training,’ Jean-Paul said. ‘Before we forget and the walk is finish. It is important to sound firm.’ He stopped walking. ‘Viking,attends.’ The dog stopped and looked at him. ‘Assis.’ Viking sat instantly, almost before Jean-Paul had said the word. To Sasha’s amusement, both Mimi and Mitzi were also sitting, their tails swishing the ground, watching Viking. ‘We walk a little bit more and then you give the commands,’ Jean-Paul said.
‘Okay.’
Having moved on a little way, it was now Sasha’s turn.
‘Mimi, Mitzi. Viking.Attends.’ Viking stopped and the pups followed a second later. ‘Assis,’ Sasha said. And all three dogs sat.
‘The pups they are intelligent. It not take long for them to learn,’ Jean-Paul said. ‘You practise each time you walk them. Now I think we return to your house.’
Once back at the cottage, Sasha thanked Jean-Paul for his help and his company. He simply smiled, kissed her on the cheek and said ‘À bientôt’ before leaping into his tractor with Viking and leaving. Sasha waved goodbye and smiling happily, she turned to go indoors. Downloading a translation app just to be able to talk to her must mean he liked her and wanted to get to know her.
23
‘Is this the box you wanted brought up from the tack room?’ Penny asked, two afternoons later, pushing open the kitchen door with her hip, and carrying a cardboard box into the kitchen.
‘Yes, thank you. That’s the one.’
‘Where shall I put it?’
‘Somewhere out of sight in the sitting room. I want to show the contents to Eliza and Lucas after the book club tonight; to Alice too of course, if she comes,’ Ingrid said. ‘It’s most of the things I found in the tack room when I cleared it out for Colette to use. Some of it goes back to the thirties and even earlier, when the château was heavily involved in the French trotter-horse racing world. There are rosettes, photos, weigh-in slips, as well as programmes from then, but also from the sixties when William, Eliza’s husband, was working as a groom here. His name is mentioned several times on race programmes. I thought she might be interested to see them and maybe tell us a little bit about that time. There’s a small silver cup in there too.’
‘What are you going to do with it all after you’ve shown it to Eliza?’
‘I was thinking maybe a small display cabinet of some of the best stuff in the foyer alongside Merlin, a collage perhaps as well. Sasha would know about doing one of those. And of course if Eliza wants any of it, she can take it.’
‘What time is the book club tonight?’
‘Usual time – seven thirty for eight,’ Ingrid said. ‘Are you going to join us? I’m sure you’ve readRebeccaat school.’
