Page 14 of A French Inheritance
A few moments later, Jeannie quietly broke the silence. ‘Thank you for giving me time to try to hide my tears.’
Elliot gave a half shrug. ‘I didn’t see any tears.’
A minute passed before he spoke again.
‘Lucy is a good listener if you need someone to talk to. She’s patiently listened to me a few times over the past year when I needed to get something off my chest and out of my mind. No judgement or advice. Just a listening ear. And what goes in that ear stays there. Lucy doesn’t tattle to anyone. Not even to Adam. I’m a good listener too.’
Jeannie didn’t say anything immediately. The two of them sat there in companionable silence for a moment or two watching the birds fly to and fro, listening to the noise of the cicadas and the occasional frog’s croak from somewhere near the lake. ‘Sitting here alone, I realised just how much I miss Giselle and suddenly I couldn’t stop the tears flowing.’
‘It must be difficult for you returning to the cottage without Giselle being there,’ Elliot said quietly.
Jeannie nodded and gave a muted mmm in acknowledgement. ‘It does feel strange. Losing her was hard even if it was inevitable. We’d been friends from the moment we met nearly forty years ago. I never really thought of her as old or as my mother-in-law. She was simply Giselle, my friend. I miss her so much.’ Jeannie bit her lip and tried to stop the tears from falling again. ‘And right now I feel that I’ve let her down, handling something badly and upsetting Briony, which was the last thing I intended to happen.’
Unexpectedly, Elliot placed his hand on her arm. ‘Shh. Turn your head slowly to the right and look at the bunch of yellow irises on the edge of the lake.’
‘Oh,’ Jeannie breathed. ‘How beautiful, a kingfisher.’
Silently, they watched the bird for a moment before it suddenly took off, a streak of blue disappearing into the bushes at the far end of the lake.
Jeannie turned to Elliot, her eyes glistening, this time with happy tears. ‘I expect you know the superstitions – I’d rather call them beliefs – surrounding kingfishers?’
When Elliot shook his head, she continued.
‘They were Giselle’s favourite bird. She always maintained that they are a symbol of peace and serenity. Not only do they signify a free spirit, they are seen as messengers of good news. To see one is very lucky.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Maybe everything is going to turn out the way Giselle would want it to.’
Elliot smiled at her, pleased that she had shaken off her tears, and recovered her equilibrium. Whether the sight of the beautiful kingfisher truly signalled good things on the way for both of them, only time would tell.
10
Briony woke the next morning determined to talk to her mum, to try to make sense of the situation. Jeannie was humming happily to herself as Briony walked into the kitchen. ‘Morning. Coffee is ready. Toast okay today?’
‘Thanks, toast is good. You sound happy.’
‘I saw a kingfisher down by the lake last evening and Giselle always said they were lucky birds. It made me feel happy for the future.’ Jeannie smiled at her. ‘Did you sleep well?’
Briony nodded. ‘Took time to drop off, but otherwise okay. And I love being woken by the dawn chorus.’
Sitting at the kitchen table sipping her coffee, she waited for Jeannie to place the toast on the table and sit down with her. Time to address that elephant in the room.
‘Mum, I know you said you’d be happy to sell up and come here to live on your own. But do you truly want to do that? It’s not simply a ploy to keep the cottage available for me in case I sell it now, but sometime in the future I change my mind and regret not coming here to live?’
‘It’s not a ploy. I’d love to live here. I love the place,’ Jeannie said. ‘I tried for years to persuade your father to let us move back, but unfortunately, despite being born in this very cottage, he never wanted to return to live here. He preferred living in England. I could never understand that. It was one of the few things that we disagreed on.’
‘After he died, you could have moved over, lived with Granny.’ Briony looked at Jeannie. ‘Why did Granny move to England so you could care for her for the last years of her life? Why didn’t you come here? Save her the upheaval.’
Her words fell into a silence as Jeannie returned her look before answering. ‘Isn’t it obvious? I didn’t want to leave you. I could see your marriage wasn’t as happy as you deserved and I wanted to be around for you in case the worst happened. Granny felt the same way. She decided that she’d rather be with me and close to you rather than on her own in France.’
‘Gee, thanks,’ Briony said. ‘Now I feel guiltier than ever. Granny could have stayed in her own home and you could have lived in France.’
‘Don’t. You have nothing to feel guilty over,’ Jeannie said. ‘Granny was happy living with me. As far as she was concerned, we’d made the right decision.’
‘I did appreciate all the support when I left Marcus,’ Briony admitted. ‘But I wish I’d known the truth.’ She picked up a piece of buttered toast and nibbled it before glancing at her mother. ‘The thing is, I don’t feel that I deserve to inherit the cottage.’
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake,’ Jeannie said, trying to keep the exasperation out of her voice. ‘Deserve has nothing to do with it. French law dictates you’re the nearest relative, therefore you inherit the cottage. Giselle was so happy that it was going to a family member she loved.’
‘I wish I knew what to do. I keep going round and round in circles. My heart says I’m so lucky to have inherited the cottage and to have the opportunity to live here in France. But my head says no. It’s not practical. I need an income. It’s going to take time for my French to be up to scratch again, I’ve used it so little for years. So I need to work in England. I suppose I could work remotely online for a company there, if that’s allowed.’
‘I think you need to stop analysing things and listen to what you, in your heart of hearts, want. Things have a habit of working out when you give them time,’ Jeannie said. ‘Try to put it out of your mind for a day or two. We have an appointment with the notaire soon, maybe he will be able to explain if French laws allow you to work remotely for a foreign country whilst living here.’
