Page 31 of A French Inheritance
It was a gorgeous evening when she opened the field gate and set off. The sky was still blue, although the sun was beginning its descent; the air was balmy and a perfect temperature for a walk.
Reaching the lake, Briony stopped and listened. The cicadas in the trees were extra noisy this evening and there was the usual crowd of robins, chaffinches, tits and sparrows flying back and forth between the nearby trees and shrubs. Briony walked out along the wooden jetty and stood looking over the lake and at the rowing boat moored alongside. Giving in to a sudden urge, she stepped slowly and carefully into the boat and sat on the central wooden plank. Tonight there were several ducks on the water in the middle of the lake and she watched them bobbing around for a while.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was starting to feel more and more that the decision to move here had been the right one. Her mum would be back soon and together they could sort the cottage and garden out. Working with Lucy for the summer was going to be fun and…
Suddenly there was the noise of a huge splash and the boat rocked. Startled, Briony instinctively put a hand out and grabbed the side of the boat as she opened her eyes. Luna was in the water swimming, whilst Elliot stood to one side looking embarrassed.
‘Sorry if Luna startled you.’
‘No worries. At least she didn’t try to join me in the boat,’ Briony said, laughing. ‘I love seeing her, but we must stop meeting like this. Two days in a row people will start talking.’ Oh dear, the look on his face told her he was not amused by her comment. Quickly, she changed the subject. ‘No sign of a dog for me yet?’
Elliot shook his head. ‘No, sorry.’
Carefully, Briony stood up, accepted the hand Elliot held out to help her and stepped back onto the jetty. ‘I’d better get back. I’ll leave you to enjoy the peace and quiet.’
‘Please don’t let me chase you away,’ Elliot said.
‘You’re not. I’ve had a busy day, so an early night is on the cards.’
‘Goodnight then.’
‘Night.’
With an inward sigh, Briony turned away to walk home. What was it about Elliot that got under her skin? Or, to put it another way, why had there been an unexpected frisson through her body when she’d taken his hand?
24
Lucy had suggested that she picked Briony up Monday morning from the cottage. ‘No point in dragging you up here when I’m going to be driving past your door. Nine o’clock okay?’
Briony was waiting outside the front door of the cottage as Lucy drove down. ‘Good morning,’ Lucy said brightly. ‘Hope you had a good weekend?’
‘Yes, thanks. I made a start on sorting out the cottage. Moving furniture around, putting some of Giselle’s things into boxes. I will have to decide what to do with them later, but for now I’ve squeezed some of them into the garage. The rest are in the sitting room.’ She sighed. ‘I hadn’t realised Granny was such a hoarder.’
‘House clearing can be hard,’ Lucy said sympathetically. ‘I’ll make my way to Forville Market whilst you go to the cash machine. We can meet up there and you might find somebody who can come and do a mini house clearance for you. Take away the furniture you decide not to keep.’
‘Thanks, good idea. How was your Sunday?’
‘Busy. Those tweaks you did to the website and the social media promo posts you did seem to have garnered us some attention. Lots of likes and visits to the website. I’m hoping there will be a couple of bookings as a result later today.’
Once in Cannes, Lucy parked as close to the market as she could, and pointed out the street where Briony would find the cash machine. ‘See you in the market.’
Briony made for the cash machine and joined the queue of three people.
Putting the cash safely in her bag, she made for the market hoping that she’d have time to have a quick look around before Lucy was ready to leave. Despite the noisy foreign chatter around her, Briony felt herself relax. Alongside the auctions for Raise Your Hand, she’d also organised mini festivals and markets like this one had been in her life for years. Lots of stalls with a mixture of antiques and bric-a-brac, a rare book stand, lovely French linens and artisans offering furniture restoration services. She wandered around for a few moments, soaking up the atmosphere before stopping by a stall with smaller objet d’art nicely arranged on a velvet cloth. Briony smiled at the woman standing behind the stand as she looked at a small brass antique French carriage clock, priced at two hundred and fifty euros.
‘Bonjour.Can I help you?’ the woman said.
Before Briony could answer, Lucy was at her side. ‘Hi, are we ready to hit thesupermarché?’
Briony nodded and picked up one of the business cards that were on the table. ‘Merci.Do you have a shop in town?’
The woman shook her head. ‘No shop – business rents are too expensive. I’m here every week and also in Antibes in summer.’
‘Thanks again,’ and Briony turned away, not wanting to delay Lucy, who was clearly ready to leave. ‘Sorry I didn’t mean to keep you waiting,’ she apologised. ‘I tend to forget the time in places like this. I was in my element.’
‘Did you find anyone to help clear the cottage?’
‘No, I was so busy looking at actual items for sale that I forgot to look.’
