Page 36 of A French Inheritance
‘I don’t really have the time,’ Briony said, ‘but thanks for the offer.’
‘See you tomorrow then, if not before.’
Briony drove home feeling happy. That was an hour well spent. Time for a shower followed by breakfast and then she’d brave driving Pascal into Cannes in for the first time and go to the bank and sign the papers.
27
The last thing Elliot needed when he got home after a hard day was for Lucy to hand him another letter from the TV company when, with Luna at his side as usual, he popped into the kitchen to say ‘Hi’ to them both. He took the letter with a resigned, ‘Thanks.’
‘You look exhausted,’ Lucy exclaimed. ‘You staying for supper?’
Elliot shook his head. ‘No, thanks. Had an early supper with Julian. It’s been a manic day today. The veterinary practice has been so busy. How the hell Julian managed with only the four of them beats me. Anyway, you two okay?’
Adam nodded. ‘It’s been one of those days here too. Non-stop phone calls and people turning up on the door. Didn’t get half of what I wanted to get done today.’
‘Day off tomorrow, I can give you a hand,’ Elliot offered.
‘Sure? Would be grateful but don’t want you knocking yourself out.’
‘A walk down to the lake with Luna for half an hour now, a good night’s sleep and I’ll be as right as rain,’ Elliot said, hoping that would turn out to be true.
‘Come up for breakfast in the morning,’ Lucy said. ‘Full English is on the menu.’
Elliot looked at her. ‘God, Lucy. Any time you get tired of my big brother you can move in with me.’
‘Ow, watch it, kiddo,’ Adam said.
‘See you both in the morning.’ Elliot shoved the letter in his pocket and turned to leave, Luna instantly at his side.
Elliot took the back farm track down to the woods and the lake, hoping that he wouldn’t bump into Briony. He still hadn’t sorted out his feelings in regard to their friendship. He knew that he wasn’t ready for anything too serious yet, but surely he could cope with bumping into her occasionally? He’d enjoyed the evening she’d cooked supper more than he’d enjoyed an evening in a long time.
As for the letter currently in his pocket, he’d hoped his silence would have told the TV company that he wasn’t interested. When he got back to the cottage, he’d write an email telling them he didn’t want to be involved and not to contact him again. He stood still for a moment, closed his eyes and took some deep breaths. He could feel the stress building up again even simply thinking about everything that had happened.
When he opened his eyes, Luna had gone ahead and was down on the edge of the woods being petted by Briony. Despite how he’d hoped he wouldn’t see her, he felt a small smile breaking across his face and he hurried down towards her. The memory of seeing her hugging the tree flashed into his mind.
‘Which tree are you hugging tonight?’ he said, smiling, the words out of his mouth before he stopped to think. Briony didn’t know that he’d seen her that day. The look on her face told him he was in deep trouble.
Briony gave him a hard stare. ‘I didn’t think there was anyone around. You saw me? Watched me? Sounds a bit stalkerish to me.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Elliot said. ‘I definitely was not stalking you. I promise as soon as I saw you, I turned back. I didn’t watch you for a single second. I didn’t want to disturb you in your moment of…’ he shrugged, not knowing what to call it. ‘Your moment of quiet contemplation.’
‘Thank you for that,’ Briony said, staring at him. ‘You look stressed. I think you need to hug a tree.’
‘What? I definitely do not need to hug a tree,’ Elliot said, turning away.
‘You do. It’s surprisingly therapeutic. And it’s scientifically proven to make you feel happy. You can’t knock something or ridicule it, if you have never tried it,’ Briony said, a challenging edge to her voice.
There was a silence for several seconds before Elliot slowly turned back to face her. ‘Scientifically proven, eh? Okay. Which tree?’
Briony turned and pointed to the trunk of a large oak. ‘That one. You need to banish sceptical thoughts and empty your mind. Close your eyes and hug the tree.’
‘How long do I hug it for?’
Briony shrugged. ‘You’ll know when you’re ready to stop hugging. I’ll keep Luna with me. Go on.’ Her hand waved him in the direction of the tree.
Shaking his head in disbelief at what he was about to do, Elliot moved towards the oak tree. A quick hug and he was out of here. Standing under the tree looking upwards at the developing canopy of green leaves, Elliot closed his eyes, stilled his thoughts and reached out to place his arms around the trunk of the tree. His fingers began to trace the grooves of the rough bark under his hands before he stilled them and leant into the tree. His breathing deepened and he could feel himself becoming calmer.
He had no idea how long he stayed like that before he opened his eyes, let his arms drop to his sides and turned to face Briony.
