The Cotswolds Cookery Club: A Taste of France

by Alice Ross

  ‘Nothing exciting.’ He strode round the desk, standing right next to her as she clicked on the electronic diary. As the smell of his citrusy shower gel hit her nostrils, she suddenly felt lightheaded.

  ‘How about I make us a cup of tea?’ she asked, desperately needing to put some space between them. Her head had enough to deal with at the moment without adding him to the mix.

  ‘You read my mind,’ he chuckled, with a cheeky wink.

  Causing Kate’s flush to deepen, as she sincerely hoped he couldn’t read hers.

  The day at the practice turned out to be tremendous fun. The constant and diverse stream of clients were all delighted to discover Kate back on the premises. While the pets seemed perfectly happy in Gregg’s capable hands.

  In between appointments he popped out to have a chat with her, a giggle about some of the more eccentric village characters and, when time allowed, a cup of tea.

  Exactly as he’d done two decades ago in the veterinary practice in Nice. That summer had been filled with sunshine, laughter, wonderful French food and too much local wine. They’d worked hard during the day and at night had spent every minute together, eating out, eating in, gazing at the stars, gazing at each other. And every day Kate had felt herself tumbling a teensy bit more in love.

  Back in the present, memories of that happy, carefree time cascading over her, she found it increasingly hard to concentrate. And after adding three appointments to the wrong month, had made a humongous effort to pull herself together.

  Much to her surprise, though, she didn’t appear to be the only one reminiscing.

  ‘You know,’ began Gregg over lunch in the office, regarding her in a way she really wished he wouldn’t, ‘this reminds me of when we first met in Nice.’

  Not daring to confess the same, Kate kept her eyes on her sandwich. ‘Really?’ she muttered.

  He nodded. ‘I honestly think that was the best summer of my life.’

  Kate snapped up her head to him, almost choking on her cheese and pickle sandwich. ‘I can’t believe that for a minute. You must have had loads of fantastic summers in Australia. All that sun, sand and surf. And lots of other things beginning with S.’

  He laughed and shook his head. ‘There was certainly plenty of sun. And a few things beginning with S. But I honestly never connected with anyone the same way I did with you. It was instant, wasn’t it?’

  Oh God. She knew exactly what he meant. Their connection had been instant. But did she really want to have this conversation when there was so much else going on in her life? Clueless as to how to respond, she grabbed her bottle of orange juice and knocked back a large slug.

  ‘Even with Alannah, my ex-wife,’ he went on, ‘there wasn’t that immediate spark. In fact, when I first met her, I thought she was a bit up herself.’

  Kate set down her juice and puckered her brow. ‘But you married her.’

  He nodded, eyes now focused on his sandwich, as he pulled out a piece of chicken. ‘She wasn’t really up herself. She was actually very nice when you got to know her.’

  Grasping the opportunity to find out more about the woman, Kate asked, ‘What did she do?’

  ‘Gym instructor. Extremely fit. And a superb runner. She won most of the half marathons in the area.’

  ‘Oh.’ Wishing she hadn’t asked, Kate sucked in her stomach and tossed the remainder of her sandwich in the bin.

  ‘Funny how things work out, isn’t it?’ he continued dolefully. ‘If we hadn’t both been so stubborn about not moving, life could have been so different. Still…’ He smiled. ‘It’s turned out well for you. You’re happily married with a lovely family now.’

  Ha! If only, Kate wanted to say. Instead she glanced at the clock on the wall and said, ‘Heavens. Look at the time. I really should be getting back to the desk.’

  Following the conversation with Gregg, Kate’s head was more muddled than the twins’ jigsaw puzzles. The fact that he’d been so open and honest with her proved just how close they’d been in the past. She wished she could have reciprocated, but, as much as she’d wanted to, she couldn’t voice the words: that she’d never felt the same instant connection with anyone either. Not even the man she’d married.

  Kate lost track of how many mistakes she made during the course of the afternoon, heaving a huge sigh of relief when five o’clock rolled around and she could close the doors.

  Except then, her brain twisted itself into more knots as it meant she and Gregg were alone again.

  ‘Think I’ll go for a quick pint,’ he said, grinning at her across the reception desk, looking just as happy and relaxed as he had two decades ago. ‘Fancy joining me? It’s a lovely evening. We could sit outside.’

  After her mentally exhausting afternoon, Kate could have killed for a drink. And for all she hardly dared admit it, she would also kill for the opportunity to spend more time with him. But, as she gazed into his twinkling eyes and opened her mouth to inform him that she couldn’t think of a better way to end the day, the reality of her life punched her in the face. She couldn’t go to the pub. She wasn’t a free and single twenty-one-year-old. She was a forty-two-year-old mother of three and wife of one.

  Not that either of those facts made it easier for her to say, ‘I’d love to, but I’d better go home.’

  Because the truth was, she didn’t want to go home.

  At the house, feeling heavy of heart and weary of head, Kate opened the front door to find Jemima sitting on the bottom stair howling, the twins naked and imitating chickens, a coating of raisins covering the floor, a wok on top of the TV, and Domenique muttering a string of unmentionable French words.

  ‘What on earth’s been going on?’ she asked.

  ‘The twins have been horrible again,’ wailed Jemima. ‘I want to go and live at Cecilia’s house.’

  Kate plopped down on the stair beside her. ‘They can’t have been that bad, surely.’

  ‘They have. Mia shoved Mr T the teddy down the toilet, then Milo did a wee on him.’

  ‘Oh. Right.’ Kate sighed as she watched the twins pecking at the raisins on the floor. ‘Well, maybe I’ll come and live at Cecilia’s house too.’

  At that announcement, Jemima’s sobbing gathered pace and Domenique announced she’d had enough and scuttled off to her room.

  Kate was attempting to calm everyone down when Andrew arrived home. With a face like thunder.

  ‘What a pig of a day,’ he puffed, striding through to the living room and tossing his laptop case onto the sofa. Milo and Mia immediately leapt on it, yanked open the zip and began tugging out bits of paper.

  An activity which normally resulted in Andrew muttering several expletives under his breath, before whipping up the case and putting it somewhere out of reach. This evening he didn’t seem to notice.

  Studying him as he slumped down into the armchair opposite, Kate concluded that he looked terrible. Even worse than the other day. Like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. Was it down to pressure of work? Or was it the stress of keeping his affair with Domenique secret? Either way, she concluded, as he rested his head against the cushions and closed his eyes, she couldn’t face breaking the news about Gregg working at the practice tonight.

  For more reasons than she cared to admit.

  The following morning, still completely discombobulated after her day working with Gregg, Kate had no idea what to do with herself. Never normally one to wish ill on anyone – especially not her wonderful, loyal employee, Sarah – she found herself hoping the receptionist’s dicky tum hadn’t cleared up. Phoning the practice, she’d held her breath in eager anticipation of hearing Gregg’s voice. But it had been Sarah who answered. At the wave of disappointment that skittered through her, Kate had had to sit down.

  But what did it all mean?

  Fortunately – or not – she was robbed of any opportunity to ponder the matter as the twins were, once again, behaving badly. Obviously having had her fill of
them the day before, Domenique snatched up Jemima and the car keys and shot off to nursery without giving Kate the option to do the same. She had, however, in the few minutes she’d been in Kate’s presence, received another text. One that had brought another smile to her face. And one that, once again, had ignited Kate’s suspicions.

  As Milo clobbered Mia over the head with a cucumber, Kate decided she was unlikely to find any answers to the relationship questions swarming about her head today. Plus, if she didn’t do something to calm down the twins, blood might well be shed. To that end, she tugged some clothes onto each of them, rammed them into the buggy and marched out of the house.

  Giving no thought to where she was going, she found her feet taking her in the direction of the practice.

  Which was completely pathetic. Gregg might think she was stalking him. Which she wasn’t. Was she? On a surge of panic, she sucked in a deep breath, assuring herself that the practice wasn’t the only property that interested her on that street. Mrs Dunlop’s house was next door. Which – as surreal as it still seemed – would also soon belong to her. And which she still had no idea what to do with.

  Standing outside Mrs D’s cottage, the twins riving leaves off the surrounding hedge, she felt a pang of affection for the old lady. Swiftly followed by a pang of disappointment that she couldn’t fulfil her wish and come up with something wonderful to do with the property.

  ‘Penny for them.’

  She snapped her head round to find Gregg at her side. Smiling at her in the way that caused his eyes to crinkle, and Kate’s heart to skip a beat.

  ‘Hi,’ she said, cursing herself at the heat that immediately rose in her cheeks. ‘How’s it, er, going today?’

  His smile stretched a shade further. ‘Great. Sarah’s back, as you know. And she’s making all the appointments on the correct days.’

  Kate laughed as she gave him a playful punch. ‘Next time she’s ill you can cope by yourself.’

  ‘Only joking,’ he said. ‘It was fun yesterday. In fact,’ he said, lowering his voice slightly, ‘between you and me, I rather hoped we’d be able to do it again today.’

  The heat in Kate’s cheeks intensified. ‘That’s mean,’ she said, not daring to fess up to the same thought. ‘That would have meant Sarah still being ill.’

  He pulled a face. ‘You’re right. I feel bad even saying that. I’ll buy her a cake to go with her morning coffee when I’m out.’ He motioned to the buggy. ‘Aren’t you going to introduce us?’

  Kate’s stomach gave a little lurch. It felt weird him being here with the twins – him belonging to one part of her life, they to another. Having them together added to her discombobulation. ‘This is, um, Mia and Milo,’ she said, tugging Mia’s hand away from the hedge.

  Gregg crouched down to the buggy. ‘Hi, guys.’

  All leaf-riving ceased as two cherubic faces stared at him.

  ‘They’re cute,’ he said, straightening up again and looking Kate directly in the eye. ‘Just as cute as their mother.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ tutted Kate, trying to ignore the flash of pleasure that had shot down her spine at the compliment. ‘I’m forty-two. No one’s cute when they’re forty-two.’

  ‘Don’t you believe it,’ he said, winking at her and striding off.

  She really should have stayed in the house, Kate concluded, stomping home with the buggy. She’d thought the outing might have cleared her head and calmed down the children. But as the twins chanted ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ at the tops of their voices, and her mind whirred with yet more thoughts about Gregg, it appeared to have had quite the opposite effect.

  Back at the house, she attempted to occupy herself by doing a rare bit of tidying up. Scooping up a load of papers from the living room floor, a small piece of card slipped out.

  A boarding card.

  From Nice to Bristol.

  The Saturday of the week Andrew and Domenique had both been away.

  The week Domenique had been in Nice.

  Which could only mean one thing: Andrew hadn’t been on a course in Edinburgh at all.

  He’d been in France with their au pair.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Kate sank down onto the sofa, staring at the boarding card, a million questions bombarding her brain. How could Andrew and Domenique carry on as normal all this time? How could they face her every day, eat with her, talk about mundane things, when all the while they must be thinking about the next time they could be together, plotting behind her back, sending lovey-dovey texts which were read in her presence?

  She was still on the sofa contemplating these questions, anger rapidly sweeping aside her initial hurt and confusion, when Domenique arrived back – with her pert bottom and swingy ponytail, which Kate had an all-consuming urge to chop off.

  ‘I’ve been to the shop,’ the Frenchwoman informed her, sashaying past the door with a couple of carrier bags.

  ‘Have you?’ muttered Kate, shoving the boarding card under the sofa cushion and deciding that, rather than immediate confrontation, it might be best to devise a plan.

  During this devising, fury mounting by the second, she watched the au pair going about her work. The audacity of the girl astounded her. How dare she sleep under her roof, eat her food, care for her children, drive her car, when she was shagging her husband? Didn’t the French do conscience? The English certainly did. Although Andrew had evidently been missing the day it had been doled out to his group.

  ‘Everything is okay?’ the Frenchwoman asked, catching Kate observing her for the third time.

  ‘Perfect,’ hissed Kate.

  By the time lunchtime staggered round, Kate had worked herself up into such a tizz she was surprised she didn’t have steam coming out of her ears. At the sound of her phone ringing, she snatched it up and barked, ‘Yes?’

  ‘God. You sound like you’re having a good day,’ said Gregg.

  ‘Hmph,’ harrumphed Kate, one eye on Domenique as she wiped pink felt-tip pen from Mia’s face.

  ‘Er, right,’ he stammered, evidently having no idea how to reply to that. ‘Well, I’m really sorry to call but we need your help again. Sarah’s stumbled across a problem with the accounts. She said you’d be able to sort it out.’

  ‘I wouldn’t bet on it,’ muttered Kate, feeling incapable of sorting out her handbag at that particular moment. ‘But I’ll come over anyway.’

  Kate marched to the practice like a woman on a mission. Although what mission, she wasn’t sure. She only knew that, after the shock of discovering the boarding card, plus the indecision over what to do about it, hearing Gregg’s voice had ignited a burning need to see him. And the minute she set eyes on him, she understood why. Because he, as far as she was aware, had never lied to her. Unlike her husband, who must have lied dozens of times.

  He was alone in the practice, Sarah having popped out on her lunch break.

  ‘I’m so sorry to have called you,’ he said. ‘It sounds like it’s the last thing you need.’

  Kate flopped down onto the sofa in the office. ‘Don’t apologise. I’m glad of an excuse to escape.’

  ‘Kids?’

  She blew out a breath and shook her head. ‘Adults. But I really don’t want to talk about it. Any tea on the go?’

  ‘There could be. Any banana bread to go with it?’

  She shook her head, the corners of her lips curving upwards. Her whole world might be crumbling around her, but Gregg could still make her smile. ‘No. Sorry. Other things on my mind today.’

  ‘Fair enough.’

  He sat down next to her, swivelling around to face her. ‘Whatever it is, if I can help, I will. You know that, don’t you?’ He reached across and brushed a stray curl from her face.

  Kate gave an almost imperceptible nod as she gazed into his blue eyes. She’d once trusted this man with her life and she’d have no qualms about doing so again. As his lemony shower gel once again assaulted her senses, her gaze d
ropped to his lips. The same lips that had once explored every inch of her body. What would it be like to feel them on her again, she wondered. To find out, all she’d have to do was lean in a shade further and press her mouth to his.

  But she couldn’t, she realised.

  Because, as much as she could happily strangle Andrew right now, he was still her husband and she loved him. Yes, she and Gregg had shared wonderful times in the past. And no, she hadn’t experienced that initial intense spark of attraction with Andrew that she had with her first love. But, at the end of the day, that spark hadn’t been enough: Gregg hadn’t come back from Australia for her, and she hadn’t moved to Oz for him. Their stubbornness and immaturity had won out, resulting in them going their separate ways. And Kate’s way was with Andrew. Or at least she hoped it was. Their first encounter might have ignited a flicker rather than a raging inferno, but it had proved more than enough to investigate and invest in. Over the years, they’d nurtured and cultivated their relationship. And it had responded accordingly, producing solid foundations, growing strong and stable before being embellished with children. Okay, things were far from perfect at the moment; the foundations had become a little rocky. But, with care and attention, surely they could be strengthened again.

  ‘Kate, what is it?’ Gregg gently pressed. ‘You look terrible.’

  ‘It’s Andrew,’ she whimpered, tears burning her eyes. ‘He’s having an affair with the au pair.’

  Walking back to the house an hour later, red-eyed and blotchy-faced, Kate had regained a little of her equilibrium and some sense of control. Thanks to Gregg. He’d listened patiently while she’d babbled and blubbed, sparing no details as she’d brought him up to date with her suspicions – and the discovery of the boarding card.

  ‘Look,’ he’d said when she finished. ‘I can imagine it’s hard going at the moment with the children. But it won’t always be like that. Things will get better. I know. I’ve seen lots of friends struggle through rough patches.’