Page 60 of A French Inheritance
Elliot surprised her turning up just before two o’clock with Luna. ‘I thought I’d come and be your assistant this afternoon,’ he said, hugging her.
‘Thank you. I’m not expecting to be too busy, I think the weather is so nice people will be making for the beach,’ Briony said.
‘Then we get to enjoy each other’s company,’ Elliot said.
The afternoon, as Briony had predicted, was the quietest day of the opening weekend, with no more than ten customers making their way up to the brocante. A couple turned up for thepépinièreand Elliot dealt with them.
As she locked the door at five o’clock, Elliot glanced at her. ‘Fancy celebrating the success of the first weekend of the brocante being open with a huge ice-cream and a stroll along Cannes harbour?’
‘I think that’s a brilliant idea,’ Briony said. ‘Some sea air.’
A quarter of an hour later, Elliot had squeezed the Toyota into a small parking space near the harbour and they were strolling along the quay with the dogs on their leads, enjoying a large ice-cream each – pistachio for Elliot and caramel cream for Briony. One of the Îles de Lérins tourist boats had unloaded passengers back from a visit to the islands and the quay was crowded, separating Briony and Elliot for several moments.
Briony knew that the crowd would soon disperse back into Cannes and Elliot would be at her side again in minutes, so she slowed her pace before stopping to look across the harbour at the large luxury yachts moored there, and waited. She’d taken the last bite of her ice-cream cone when her body went rigid with shock at the sound of a loud familiar voice as its owner made their way along the quay. Briony held her breath and stayed perfectly still, hoping that she wouldn’t be noticed.
‘Thought I’d lost you for a moment with that crowd,’ Elliot said, touching her arm, making her jump. ‘What’s the matter? You’re trembling and you’re very pale. Do you feel ill from the ice cream?’
She shook her head. ‘No. I just heard a voice I never wanted to hear again. I’ll be fine in a moment.’
Elliot put his arm around her and turned as the shout of ‘Briony, it is you. Fancy seeing you here.’ And the owner of the voice bore down on them.
‘You down here visiting Granny again in that godforsaken village somewhere up in the hills?’ Marcus had clearly been enjoying a boozy lunch and was well on the way to being drunk.
‘Marcus.’ Briony stared at him, willing him to go away, hating the inquisitive looks passers-by were giving the three of them, wishing that she was safely back at the cottage.
Marcus suddenly registered that she wasn’t alone and that a man had his arm around her shoulders. ‘Are you with him now?’ he demanded, jerking his head in Elliot’s direction. When she didn’t answer, he turned to Elliot. ‘Always did think she was better than she is. I was married to this woman and now she ignores me, won’t deign to talk to me.’
‘I wonder why that is,’ Elliot said, an edge to his voice. Silently, he held out Luna’s lead to Briony, which she took after a quick anxious glance at him.
‘Oh, been filling your head with nonsense about her ex-husband, has she? Well, let me tell you, matey, it was me that divorced her, not the other way round – couldn’t take any more of her whinging. You’re welcome to her, mate, that is all I can say.’
Elliot leant in to Marcus and swiftly grabbed a fistful of his shirt and blazer and pulled him close. Holding him firmly, he looked Marcus in the eyes and spoke slowly and deliberately. ‘I am not your mate. I am your sworn enemy from this day. If you ever come near Briony again, I promise you, you will regret it. You are a despicable drunken man and I have a mind to inform the two gendarmes who are walking this way that you’ve been drunkenly disturbing the peace. Here in Cannes they don’t like that kind of behaviour and you might find yourself in a cell for a few hours to sober up. So I suggest you scarper when I let you go. Or perhaps I’ll keep you here and let them deal with you?’ Elliot said thoughtfully.
Marcus glared at Elliot before wrenching himself free. He was lost in the crowd before the gendarmes reached Briony and Elliot.
‘Did we have a problem here?’ one of the gendarmes asked.
‘No, officer. Just a man who can’t hold his drink.’
Elliot took Luna’s lead from Briony and, holding her by the hand, said, ‘Come on, let’s get you home.’
Sitting in the car as Elliot drove them home, Briony sighed. ‘I feel such a fool for just standing there, but I simply blanked out when he appeared. I didn’t know what to do. I am so glad I wasn’t alone. Thank you.’
Owls Nest was empty when Elliot dropped her and Meg off. He didn’t want to leave her, but she insisted she was fine, kissed him goodbye and told him she’d see him tomorrow evening down by the lake.
Briony sat out in the garden, Meg at her feet, after Elliot had reluctantly left her, determined to push all thoughts of Marcus out of her mind once and for all. She’d come a long way in the last few weeks and now had so much to look forward to. Her own business, good friends and best of all she and Elliot were at the beginning of a relationship that she knew was based on true love. Seeing a drunken Marcus so unexpectedly had been a massive shock. After she’d left him and started divorce proceedings, for months she’d dreaded the possibility of bumping into him everywhere she went in Bristol, but not once had that happened. Strangely it had never occurred to her it could be down here that he would appear in her life again.
But she was determined that it was now a life that Marcus would never again be allowed to influence or to be a part of.
47
When Briony stumbled out of bed the next morning and made her way to the kitchen after a fitful night’s sleep, Jeannie was humming to herself as she made coffee and toast.
‘Someone sounds happy,’ Briony said.
‘That’s because I am,’ Jeannie said, holding out her hand to show Briony her ring. ‘Yann asked me to marry him yesterday – and I said yes.’
‘Oh Mum, that’s such a beautiful ring. Congratulations. I’m so happy for you and Yann.’
