Page 52 of A French Inheritance
* * *
The day passed in a flash as, between the two of them, they decided on the best position for tables, where the parrot cage would go when ready and lamented the lack of shelves. They opened several boxes and made a note of the items they were going to put on display, and Briony made a stock list spreadsheet on her laptop. One of the boxes contained some vintage tablecloths that would cover the trestle tables beautifully.
Briony’s phone pinged with a text message from Elliot as they were starting to wind up and get ready to go back to the cottage.
Fancy a small picnic down by the lake at eight o’clock?
Briony immediately text back.
Yes please. Can I bring anything?
Just yourself and Meg.
‘You’re not the only one with a date tonight,’ Briony said, turning to smile at Jeannie. ‘I’m having a picnic with Elliot.’
* * *
Jeannie and Yann had left for their dinner date in Cannes before Briony locked the cottage doors behind her and walked with Meg down to the lake. It was a perfect late-spring evening, the temperature from the day still lingered in the air as a half-moon started to show in the sky.
Elliot was already there standing near the shoreline watching Luna swimming. A shallow wicker basket with a cloth over the contents was on the bench and a bottle of Prosecco was half buried and chilling in the water at the edge of the lake. He turned and smiled as soon as Meg alerted him to Briony’s arrival. He greeted her with a kiss on the cheek before stooping to pull the bottle out of its impromptu cold place.
‘Now, where shall we have our picnic?’ he asked. ‘On the bench or shall we wander out onto the jetty?’
‘I quite fancy sitting and dangling my legs over the water, but what about the dogs if we sit on the jetty?’
‘I predict Luna will follow us and lay down on the jetty hoping for tidbits and Meg always follows her so…’ Elliot shrugged.
‘The jetty it is then,’ Briony said. ‘I’ll carry the basket while you take care of the bottle.’
A few minutes later and they were both sat at the end of the jetty, legs dangling over the edge and the picnic basket between them.
‘Am I allowed to peek in the basket?’ Briony asked.
‘In a moment,’ Elliot said as he reached in and pulled out two wine flutes, which he handed to Briony, before starting to carefully release the cork from the bottle with a satisfactory pop and then pouring them each a drink. ‘Santé,’ he said and Briony smiled and clicked her glass against his. ‘Before we eat, I want to thank you for yesterday. You listened and responded with such kindness. Kindness that I really appreciated.’
‘You’re not down and out still from Robyn’s unkind knockout blow then?’ Briony said quietly.
Elliot shook his head. ‘No. You helped me stand back up again. I’ve pushed the pain of that final revelation into the far corner of my mind, where I’ve buried all the other detritus of my marriage.’ Elliot took a sip of his drink. ‘I am not going to allow Robyn to disrupt my life ever again. My working life as a vet is back on track…’ He paused and looked directly at Briony, before taking a deep breath. ‘My personal life on the other hand needs a lot of help. I really like you and I sense that you possibly like me a bit too, so will you please help sort me out?’
Briony smiled. ‘Yes, I can admit I like you too and I will be delighted to help you, but right now…’ She stopped.
‘What?’
‘Can we please eat; I’m starving. What’s in the basket?’
* * *
Half an hour later, the basket was empty. Elliot had made salmon, cucumber and mayonnaise sandwiches, there were slices of melon with Parma ham wrapped around them, and one large dish of strawberries and cream that had been shared between them – all washed down with the Prosecco.
‘That was an absolutely perfect picnic, thank you,’ Briony murmured. ‘I hereby appoint you chief picnic maker for all future picnics.’
Elliot smiled and nodded. ‘I reckon I can handle that. Right now I think it’s time we moved off the jetty and sat on the bench. It’s getting a bit cold out here on the water.’
Sitting on the bench, the two dogs at their feet, Elliot’s arm around her shoulders, Briony looked up at the moon shining in a darkening sky and gave a happy sigh.
‘I forgot to tell you earlier,’ Elliot said, breaking into her thoughts. ‘I had a phone call this afternoon from Jill, the daughter of Meg’s old owner, asking how Meg was and hoping she’d settled in well. She would also like to accept your offer of taking Meg in to see her father before it is too late, if you’re still happy to do that. Her father is not in a good way.’
‘Oh, that’s sad. Did she say when she would like us to visit?’
