Page 53 of A French Inheritance
‘Wednesday afternoon. I’m off then and I could come with you.’
‘Yes, I’d like that,’ Briony said, giving an involuntarily shiver.
‘Time to leave, I think,’ Elliot said. ‘The walk back will warm us up.’
Back at the cottage garden gate, Briony turned to Elliot. ‘Thank you for a lovely evening.’
‘Can I have a hug tonight?’
‘Definitely,’ Briony said, moving into his arms and holding him tight.
The kiss Elliot gave her seconds later was an unexpected welcome delight.
39
Tuesday morning and Briony went up to the farm ready to start the bed-changing and cleaning of the Cider House. The wedding photograph of Yann’s grandparents was in her bag, in the hope that she could use the scanner in Lucy’s office to make one or two copies.
Adam and Lucy were in the kitchen when she arrived talking about the weekend. Lucy jumped up when Briony walked into the kitchen, immediately pouring her a coffee and pushing the biscuit tin towards her. ‘I know you’re here to start on the Cider House, but first I’m hoping you can do some admin. We’ve had quite a few enquiries over the weekend and I’d rather get them out of the way before doing the domestic stuff.’
‘That’s fine.’ Briony took the photograph out of her bag. ‘May I use the scanner to make a copy of this please?’ And she showed the photograph to Lucy. ‘It’s Yann’s grandparents’ wedding and my great-grandparents are there in the group.’
‘Wow,’ Lucy said. ‘How amazing. Where did you find this?’
Briony quickly explained about the boxes and said she’d promised Yann a copy.
‘Of course you can use the scanner – there’s some photographic paper in one of the drawers.’
‘Thanks. I’ll take my coffee into the office and get on.’
It took Briony an hour to deal with the various enquiries and also to finalise some bookings for May and June. Once everything for the gîte business was up to date, she found the glossy photographic paper and scanned and made two copies of the wedding photograph.
As she closed the scanner down, Lucy appeared. ‘Everything is up to date and entered on the spreadsheet, and the new confirmed bookings are in the wall calendar as well,’ Briony said. ‘I was just coming down to fetch the cleaning stuff and go over to the Cider House.’
‘Great. I can edit my video on the computer now and get it live. I’ll come and give you a hand then.’
Briony collected the basket of cleaning stuff from the utility room and made her way across to the Cider House. She daydreamed her way through the routine cleaning of the kitchen and bathroom as thoughts of the picnic the night before filled her head and she smiled happily, remembering how good it had felt to share a hug and a kiss with Elliot.
Lucy arrived in time to give her a hand with changing the beds. ‘I’ll take the bedding back to the farm to wash and dry,’ she said as they remade all the beds.
‘I was wondering whether I could change to another day for admin work?’ Briony said as they strolled back up to the farm. ‘Mum is going to man the brocante on Saturdays while I’m helping you with changeover day and the guests, but Thursdays might be a problem if I decide to open an extra day.’
‘Shall we change Thursday to Monday for the admin and see how that goes,’ Lucy said.
‘Thanks.’
As she walked back down to the cottage, Briony thought about the things still to do on her list. The weeks were sure to fly by if she wanted to be ready by late May for the beginning of the summer season.
Jeannie was busy in the garden when she got home and after lunch the two of them sat on the terrace and went through the to-do list on Briony’s laptop.
‘There is still so much to do,’ Briony said. ‘So far on the list I’ve got: photograph the artisan units for the newspaper advertisement and get in touch withNice Matin; order some business cards; find a shelf unit or two; finish upcycling the parrot cage; buy some plants and plant the handcart and probably the bicycle basket.’
‘I can take over buying the plants,’ Jeannie said. ‘Geraniums, petunias and maybe some pansies? We’ll need some compost too. Lots as the garden pots here need a top-up. I’ll ask Yann to take me to the nearest garden centre because thepépinièrewon’t have them, but they do have some agapanthus that I intend to buy.’
‘Thanks. Pascal will be good for that journey,’ Briony said, smiling.
Briony sprayed the parrot cage that afternoon, leaving it to dry in the sunshine as she and Jeannie went up to the unit to do some more sorting out. Both Holly and Calvin were there, the doors to their units open, and Briony quickly took a photograph of the three with their open doors.
‘What does everybody think about the name “Briony’s Belle Brocante” for my business? Has anyone got any better suggestions?’
