by Ruby Loren
“I didn't even know there was a seating plan,” I confessed.
“You haven’t lived here your whole life. It’s our responsibility to make you welcome,” Adele informed us. “Are you bringing anything along? Perhaps something British?”
Despite being ignorant of the seating plan, I had known that some baking would be required.
“It might not sound British, but we did actually come up with the dish I’ve made. It’s called chicken tikka masala,” I told her.
I didn’t miss the apprehensive eyebrow raise, but I couldn’t blame Adele for being unsure. I only hoped I’d done the surprisingly British dish justice.
“I also made a blueberry cheesecake,” I said, not knowing where that particular dessert had originated from.
“We will be sure to try it,” Adele bravely promised me.
I tried not to roll my eyes at the typically French belief that English food was terrible. It wasn’t all pot noodle and sausage rolls!
* * *
The sky was a deepening hue of lilac when we left the cottage that evening.
Lowell and I had spent the afternoon on the sofa, watching a TV series about a couple of supernatural detectives. It had been fun trying to guess who the killer was, only to find out it was a monster lifted from the pages of history. All things considered, we didn’t have it too bad in the real world. At least no one got eaten by a wendigo.
I looked up at the pink and orange streaked sky and wondered what it would be like if summer lasted forever. The last time I’d wanted to extend a summer for so long was back when I’d been a kid on a family summer holiday that had felt like every day was a new adventure. As an adult, I was surprised the thought had crossed my mind but I understood why. The smell of woodsmoke and the gentle hum of the local musicians in the town square definitely gave me the sensation that all was right in the world, even if my adult self knew it wasn’t.
A leaf from a sycamore tree floated down and landed on the cobbled road. I looked down at it and reflected that autumn was already here. Inside, I knew I welcomed the change of seasons and the call to a fresh adventure.
“Madi!”
I looked up in time to see Lowell's exasperated expression. "Sorry, I was just thinking,” I said with a grin.
“You can think later. Let's get going or we’ll miss all the good food,” he said, inclining his head.
“Hey, the good food is right here!” I said, lifting my foil wrapped dish containing chicken tikka masala. A bowl of cooked basmati rice balanced precariously on top and my only regret was that there weren’t any pappadums.
“Oops!” Lowell teased, pretending to drop the cheesecake.
“Don't you dare,” I told him and strode on ahead, forcing him to hurry to keep up.
“Whoa, what’s the rush?” he said with a grin.
“You reminded me that there’s food on offer,” I replied. “I know it's bad manners but… someone has to be first in line for the buffet, right?”
“Oh, Madi,” he said, with that funny look in his eyes again. “Never change.”
Adele waved us over as soon as we walked into the square. The place was packed and it was clear that the entire village had turned out for the celebration. I recognised Madame Devereux, her son who’d been so distraught the other day, and a woman who must be the fabled daughter. I exchanged nods with various faces I recognised from the zoo when I walked through the crowd to leave my offerings at the vast table of food.
“Wow, this is going to be a good night," Lowell said, echoing my thoughts exactly.
I placed my dishes down and looked up into his dark eyes. The last streaks of colour in the sky made them light up and I before I knew it, I found myself kissing him.
When I pulled away I turned to see Mr Flannigan staring at us.
“They really did invite everyone," I muttered, less than thrilled that he’d turned up.
I pointedly walked into the crowd with Lowell by my side. Unfortunately, I didn’t think Mr Flannigan understood such subtle means of being told to stop being a creep.
I nodded at Detective Girard, who returned the greeting with a thin-lipped smile that hinted to me that not a lot of progress was being made down at the police station. Then I said hello to Nathan and his girlfriend, Sage. Having briefly seen her father through the window of a booth that morning, I couldn’t really see the resemblance. Alex wore thick-lensed glasses and had an impressively thick moustache. Sage had neither of these things.
Her hair had a reddish hue that I wasn’t sure was natural, but was incredibly pretty, and her nose turned up just a little at the end, which made her look cute. Despite her appearance, there was something in her eyes that let me know this was definitely a girl who liked to throw herself off high places. She was wild, and I wasn’t entirely convinced that Nathan had got the memo.
“They’re meant to be next to be engaged, you know.”
I turned to find Madame Myrtle - the woman I’d met when Luna, Adele, and I had paid our condolences to Madame Devereux - standing there.
“That’s interesting,” I said, politely, thinking of Nathan’s wandering eyes. I doubted he was ready for a commitment as big as marriage. I thought Sage would probably feel the same way, although perhaps for different reasons.
“Oh my gosh! Don’t look now, but Enzo is here with another woman!” Luna said, coming up behind me and grabbing my arm.
Despite her warning, I turned and looked. The gendarme had just walked into the square with the daughter of the boulangerie owner, who often worked in the shop with him. I’d always thought she looked like she was still in her teens, so I was surprised to see her with Enzo. She was also wearing the shortest miniskirt I’d ever seen. It made me nervous every time she took a step.
“I wonder what his wife thinks of that,” Madame Myrtle contributed, clearly delighted that there would be some new gossip around town tomorrow.
I turned back to Luna, but Alcide had arrived and they were already pretty engrossed in each other. I wasn’t the only who noticed. Madame Myrtle let out an ‘ooh!’ of interest and when my gaze returned to Enzo and his date, I thought he looked ready to come over and punch Alcide. I hoped Luna had seen fit to warn her new beau about her awful ex.
After Luna and Alcide had broken apart with glowing faces, we all went in search of Justin and Adele and found them already sitting at the table.
“Come on, grab a plate! Everyone’s still chatting and someone needs to get the eating going,” Adele said.
I thought I might be about to faint with happiness.
“Oh wow,” I kept saying, over and over, as I opened dishes and lifted foil. There were so many amazing looking foods - most of them heavy on the butter, cream, and cheese. It was heavenly.
Adele asked me to point her in the direction of what I’d brought and she spooned a bit of chicken tikka masala out onto her plate, looking at it doubtfully. “It smells nice… a little spicy,” she said in surprise.
I hid my smile, remembering that the French tended to think we Brits only cooked bland food. My tikka masala had a little more of a kick than it usually did.
Justin stuck a fork into Adele’s portion, prompting her to shout ‘hey!’.
“That’s pretty good,” Justin admitted.
“Would you care to put that in writing and publish it to the world? ‘Frenchman admits Englishwoman’s cooking is ‘pretty good’,” I joked.
“Whoa now, they’d take my citizenship away!” Justin joked back.
People had noticed us diving into the offerings and now a queue of people formed behind us. I finished serving myself a little bit of everything interesting, wishing I had a bigger plate.
We sat down at the long table. Nathan and Sage arrived a few moments later with their plates piled as high as mine and sat down next to Lowell and me. I couldn’t help sneaking a look at Adele to see if she was aware of Nathan's deliberate seating choice, but she wasn’t looking my way.
“Thanks for visiting my dad today. He r
eally enjoyed speaking to you,” Sage said to Luna, who blushed. I avoided making eye contact.
“That’s okay, I just fancied a trip up the mountain, you know?” she said.
“I thought you were scared of heights. All these years I’ve never been able to get you to go paragliding. Have you finally conquered your fear?” Sage asked with a twinkle in her eye.
Luna shook her head. “No, but that’s why I went up there. I wanted a small dose of fear to conquer,” she blustered.
Sage nodded, but I wasn’t convinced she didn’t have a shrewd idea of why Luna had really gone up there.
“Oh, Luna, you must try it! It’s amazing! Sage has been teaching me and I did my first solo jump the other day. Enzo jumped at the same time. It was great!” Nathan said.
Sage jabbed him in the ribs and his face morphed into horror. “Sorry! I didn’t mean…”
“It’s fine,” Luna said, remarkably casually considering the way Enzo had made her gnash her teeth at the police station. “I deserve better than him and I've finally found my perfect match,” she said, smiling at Alcide who looked fondly back.
I realised that Luna was someone who was quick to love. I only hoped that Alcide was the same and that he wasn't the kind of man who messed women around. From what I knew of the man so far, he seemed decent and passionate about what he did. Sometimes to a fault, I mentally added, thinking about the way he’d made it hard for me to argue that the squirrel monkeys should be returned to their enclosure.
“Huh!” I said, having a sudden thought.
“What is it?” Lowell asked but I shook my head at him.
“Nothing, it’s work. I just suddenly thought that if the squirrel monkeys stay on the loose, their enclosure could be converted into an aviary for the macaws and African grey parrots,” I told him and then apologised for bringing it up when we were supposed to be having some time off.
“Inspiration strikes where it may," Lowell said, lifting a hand to brush back one of my wild tendrils of blonde hair.
“The plot thickens,” Adele said, sliding into the chair next to me. “I just saw Juliet Argent walk in with Detective Prideaux. Wonders never cease! I thought the man was married to his job.”
I thought back to my exchanges with Detective Prideaux and had to agree with Adele. I wondered how Juliet had managed to distract the detective from his job long enough to get him to agree to attend with her. I also wondered if Detective Prideaux knew that he was just a pawn in the sparring lovers’ games.
“This is actually not so bad,” Adele told me after she’d made a suitable amount of fuss over taking a bite of the curry.
“Told you we can cook,” I said, feeling slightly proud to be British.
Unfortunately, Enzo chose this moment to walk in front of our table and throw a suspicion filled look Adele’s way. My culinary success was forgotten when she swore under her breath.
“He’s got it into his head that I’m guilty of something. He thinks I might have been the one who stabbed Constantine because her bag appeared on my bonnet.”
“Lucky for us, he’s not the one in charge,” I said, thinking of the trouble Luna would be in, too.
“You’re Madi aren't you?” A woman had come up behind me.
I nodded and looked questioningly at Adele, but she'd already turned back to her conversation with Justin.
“May I have a word?” The strange woman asked.
I threw Lowell an apologetic look as I pushed myself to my feet, but he was chatting happily with Alcide and didn’t even notice I’d moved.
“What can I do for you?” I asked, when we were a little way away from the crowd in the darker shadows by the trees. For a moment, I was reminded that there was a killer on the loose… and I’d just walked off somewhere where I couldn’t be seen with a woman I’d never met before.
"So sorry to take you away from the party like this, but I only thought it was fair to tell you.”
The woman wrung her hands and I wondered what terrible truth was about to be sprung upon me.
“It’s my neighbour, Ambre, she’s been stalking your partner. I don’t like to pry but I’ve seen her following him and then dithering around, like she’s plucking up the courage to approach him. I just wanted you to know.”
“Oh,” was all I could think to say. It was odd enough that a strange woman had pulled me aside to let me know her suspicions, but even stranger to think that someone might be chasing Lowell in such an unusual fashion. I knew full well that Lowell was attractive enough to draw attention, but I couldn’t fathom what he might have done to warrant a stalker.
“Perhaps I should have a word with her?” I ventured, but the woman looked stressed.
“What will you say? She’ll know I told you!”
I didn’t buy her concern for a second. She hadn’t brought me aside to tell me this information out of the goodness of her heart; she wanted to start some drama.
“I’ll think of something,” I assured her, still unsure of what - if anything - I was going to do. “Enjoy your evening,” I said, but the woman was already murmuring something about the raffle starting and drifted away before I'd finished.
I was left standing on the edge of the village square looking back in on the revelling villagers. I realised that the woman I’d spoken to hadn't exactly given me a clear description of who Ambre was. I shrugged my shoulders and figured there was nothing to be done about it. I’d warn Lowell that he might have someone after him, but he could look after himself. What’s more, I trusted him, I realised. A lot had changed since we’d first met and he’d kept his cards so close to his chest it had nearly got him killed. We’d built a pretty decent relationship.
I walked back towards the festivities and arrived just in time to see Luna jump for joy when her raffle ticket number was called out. She ran up to the little stage that had been erected by the fountain and claimed her prize - a ridiculously large bottle of wine from the vineyard at the edge of the valley. By the laughter of some of the other villagers, I wasn't so sure it was a prize you wanted to win, but Luna seemed happy.
The announcer moved on to the next ticket number and I carried on making my way through the crowd. I walked past an elderly couple, eagerly holding onto their tickets, and happened to witness the moment when Luna walked straight into Enzo. I watched as his eyes slid up and down her body, before Luna tossed her hair and made to walk passed him. He reached out a hand and grabbed her arm, saying something to her. Even as I moved forwards to step in, she’d already shaken him off. I heard a sound of disgust from behind me and discovered I hadn’t been the only one to witness the little exchange. The other gendarme, whom Luna had informed me was Enzo’s ex-wife, shook her head. I thought about telling her that none of this had anything to do with Luna and everything to do with Enzo, but it seemed futile. All I could do was hope that she knew the man she’d married well enough to realise exactly whose fault it was that various women were being rubbed in her face.
I was nearly back at the table, where my food still waited, when someone grabbed my arm and made me jump.
“I didn't mean to startle you but please… I must talk to you,” a woman with eyes as hungry as my belly said.
I resigned myself to it being the night of the wild women. “Are you Ambre, by any chance?” I asked and the woman turned white.
“Who told you? What else did they…?” She shook her head. “It doesn't matter. Please, I have to talk to you in private.”
“Right now?” I said, trying to look around for Lowell. This was a woman who had been described as stalking him. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go anywhere on my own with her.
“Please,” she repeated, and there was something in her eyes that made me relent. This woman looked desperate, but not violent.
We walked away from the crowd, returning to the spot where I'd previously spoken with this woman’s neighbour.
“What can I do for you?” I asked, still feeling a little nervous about her intentions.
“I
’ve been trying to speak to the man you're with for a whole week but no one ever answers your phone. He’s a detective, isn’t he?” Ambre burst out.
I immediately revised my opinion about her intentions towards Lowell. This was clearly about something else.
“He’s a private detective but he’s on holiday right now,” I said, speaking carefully.
“He’s definitely not working on a case?” the woman affirmed, looking harried.
“He’s not. He’d have told me,” I said, feeling ninety percent sure that it was true. I hoped it was true, anyway.
Her face flashed with relief for all of a second before she returned to looking concerned. “You saw Monsieur Devereux the day he fell, didn’t you?”
I nodded. It was common knowledge in the village by now.
“Did he say anything? You know, before he died?” she asked.
Then it came to me in a flash of blinding reason. Ambre was the one in witness protection.
“He was already dead before he hit the ground, so nothing was said.”
We made eye contact with each other and I knew she’d seen the knowledge I now held reflected in my eyes.
“It’s not me, it’s my husband. He committed a crime a long, long time ago. After he was released from prison, it became clear we weren’t going to be able to have normal lives again. The hate against him was so extreme that the police gave us new identities. Paul and I both changed the way we looked as much as we could afford to and settled down here in L’airelle. We’d only been living here a couple of years when Pascal returned from working in England. He recognised us right away, as the case had been so big and he had all these connections. We were worried then, but he promised us he was a professional and would never reveal our secret. But when he died…” She trailed off.
“You thought he might have told someone the truth. Perhaps that was even the reason someone murdered him,” I filled in, solemnly. “I can’t vouch for what he said before he died, but for someone to kill him, I’d have thought Pascal must have made them very angry indeed.” I left the implication hanging.
“Thank you,” Ambre said. “You’ve put my mind a little more at ease. I just hope this all blows over. I like our life here.”