A French Affair

by Jennifer Bohnet

  Belinda and Chloe settled for a modest coffee-flavoured ice cream with a flake, but Alain had the same as the twins. Clutching their ice creams tightly, they made their way along a small deserted jetty and sat dangling their legs and feet in the water as they enjoyed them.

  ‘Is this still the largest man-made lake in Brittany?’ Belinda asked. ‘I remember the teacher being inordinately proud of that fact when we came.’

  Alain nodded. ‘Oui. A few years back, they drained it to work on the dam itself. It was fascinating to see the ruins but sad in a way, knowing how many hamlets and how much land had been sacrificed. And now, it is full again. No one remembers what lies under the water.’

  ‘It’s a beautiful spot,’ Chloe said. ‘I’d loved to go sailing here. Maybe when the twins are about eight, we’ll come back and spend a holiday on the campsite, teach them to sail. You up for that, Mum, coming back?’

  ‘Who knows where we’ll all be in five years,’ Belinda answered. ‘But yes, in theory, I’ll come with you.’

  After their ice creams were finished, they walked slowly back to the car for the rest of the drive home. Within minutes, the twins were asleep and everybody was lost in their own thoughts. It was after Alain had turned off the main road and was driving along the country lanes towards the campsite that Belinda recognised where they were.

  ‘If you could pull over in the lay-by just past the next crossroads, I can point out the cottage where I used to live to Chloe,’ she said quietly to Alain. ‘The entrance drive is about twenty metres along the road, but you won’t be able to see the cottage from there as the drive has a curve in it.’ As Alain slowed the car before stopping in the lay-by, Belinda said, ‘There you go, Chloe, that’s the cottage where I grew up.’

  Sitting there, looking across a field at her old home, Belinda felt a flood of emotions flow through her. The cottage itself was a typical Breton building, with gabled dormer windows, red shutters fixed to the wall downstairs and a red wooden front door. The field at the side where she used to ride Lucky was bright yellow with rapeseed flowers and the tall trees in the copse seemed to have been cut down.

  Closing her eyes, in her mind she could still visualise the layout inside the cottage. A room on either side of the hallway, her bedroom next to the large kitchen at the back, and stairs leading to the main bedroom and bathroom on the first floor were hidden behind a door in the kitchen. Unbidden, a memory of her and her parents in the kitchen leaped into her mind. It was summer and they’d spent the day collecting and stacking enough bales of hay in the barn to feed their animals through winter and now the three of them were enjoying their supper sitting at the pine table. Belinda couldn’t remember the food they ate but she knew there had been wine and a can of lemonade for her. What she could still remember all these years later though, was that both she and her parents had been a happy family that evening. She wished with all her heart that things had never changed.

  Belinda opened her eyes and came to with a small start as Chloe spoke.

  ‘It looks lovely, Mum,’ Chloe said. ‘Typically French. Which sounds silly, I know, but some of the cottages I’ve seen would look at home in England.’

  The rest of the drive passed quickly and once back at the campsite, Chloe had to wake the twins up. Both Aimee and Charlie woke up grumpy, so Chloe said she’d walk them down to the cabin and see if playing with BB and Bernie would cheer them up.

  Before Belinda and Alain went to the office to check that all was well, they took the baby seats and the buggy out of the car and took them into the cottage, where Belinda thanked Alain for the day.

  ‘Lac de Guerlédan was a great idea,’ Belinda said. ‘Just what was needed to lift Chloe’s and my spirits after the hospice.’ Belinda ran her hands through her hair. ‘Seeing my dad for what I know will be the last time was harder than I thought.’

  ‘Come here,’ and Alain pulled her into his arms for a hug. For several seconds, Belinda stayed there savouring the closeness and knowing Alain felt concerned for her.

  ‘I could get used to these comfort hugs you keep giving me,’ she said softly.

  Alain looked at her wordlessly before giving her a gentle kiss on her head and releasing her.

  44

  Fern, busy fine tuning things in the café to her satisfaction before the impending dreaded hygiene inspection, hummed happily to herself as she worked. It had felt strange today arriving at the campsite without Belinda or Alain being there to greet her. She hoped that their visit to the hospice was not proving too traumatic for Chloe or Belinda. At least they were in good hands with Alain.

  Fern smiled to herself. As much as Belinda might deny it, the telltale signs of their growing closeness were there for all to see. The evening they’d come for supper before Scott left, she’d detected a softness in Alain’s eyes as he’d looked at Belinda. The solicitous way he’d silently watched her, ready to shield her from anything that might upset her when Anouk had mentioned her family, well that spoke volumes. She could only hope that things had progressed between them before Belinda left.

  As she cleaned the café windows it struck Fern how much her own life had changed in the last few months since she’d met Belinda. Anouk moving in with her was, she supposed, the biggest change of all so far, closely followed by this job – something which would never have happened she suspected without meeting Belinda. She was so looking forward to summer and earning some extra money. Extra money that she could save towards recuperating the money invested in the auberge. And then there was Scott.

  The café door opened at that moment and Fern, expecting it to be a hopeful camper looking for food, opened her mouth to apologise for the café not being open, but it was Fabian. She looked at him in surprise.

  ‘Hi. What are you doing here? Anouk said she was expecting to see you this morning. Oh,’ her hand flew to her mouth, ‘has something happened to her?’

  ‘Non. Anouk is fine,’ Fabian quickly reassured her. ‘I wanted to see you. You look well. Are you ’appier too?’

  ‘Yes I’m happy,’ Fern said, smiling at him. ‘How are you all settling in at the Huelgoat house?’

  ‘It is wonderful. Carole she too is ’appy,’ Fabian said. ‘Anouk tells me you are the manager here for the season.’ He hesitated. ‘She also tell me you have met a man?’

  Ah, so this is where the conversation was headed, Fern thought and waited for Fabian to continue.

  ‘An American?’

  ‘Yes Scott is American.’ Fabian, she could tell, was having difficulty in finding the right words to say what he wanted. Was he about to accuse her of being disloyal to his father? Tell her that it was too soon after Laurent? Well, she wasn’t going to help him out, put words in his mouth, so she waited patiently.

  ‘I am very ’appy for you,’ Fabian said, taking a deep breath before continuing. ‘But you tell this Scott please, that if he ’urts my step-mama he will regret. I will be on his case.’

  Fern stared at him in astonishment. Fabian was concerned about her new relationship but not for the reasons she’d been expecting. He could have no idea how much his words had moved her. How much he’d reminded her of how protective Laurent had always been of her. Anouk had been right when she’d said Fabian was more like his father than he realised. Impulsively Fern leaned in and kissed Fabian’s cheek.

  ‘Thank you. I’m really touched by your concern. Scott will be back here in a few weeks and you’ll meet him then. Anouk likes him and I’m sure you will too.’

  ‘Good.’ Fabian exhaled a deep breath, clearly relieved he’d said his piece. ‘This place it looks good, you will ’ave a busy summer ’ere when people learn about your cooking. I ’ave to go.’ A quick hug and he was gone, leaving Fern with a happy smile on her face.

  She finished cleaning the windows, putting everything away tidily in the designated cupboards before standing and looking out of the now sparkling windows, deep in thought. She might have blithely told Fabian that he would meet Scott soon but in truth she had n
o idea of when that would happen. Every day when they spoke Fern hoped Scott would give her a return date she could write on the calendar and begin to cross the days off but so far all he’d been able to tell her was that things with his cousin were improving.

  Thoughtfully she fingered the Scotty dog pendant that permanently hung around her neck these days. As much as she longed for his return, and she’d surprised herself when she’d inwardly acknowledged just how much she longed for that, there was nothing she could do except wait. Scott had promised he’d be back as soon as possible and she believed him. She could tell when they spoke on FaceTime that he was hating the separation as much as she was.

  Absence makes the heart grow fonder might be a true saying but it was a difficult one to accept and live with. Fern sighed. All either of them could do was to knuckle down in their different countries, keep busy and the time would eventually pass. At least with summer fast approaching, Fern knew she’d soon be busy with the auberge and now the café.

  She couldn’t help wishing though, that as well as Scott returning so they could be a proper couple and enjoy the summer together, that Belinda wasn’t leaving. The first real girlfriend she’d made in years, Fern knew Belinda was really going to leave a gap in her life when she left.

  45

  The next day when Belinda went down to the cabin with the usual breakfast croissants, Chloe greeted her with a sad smile. Charlie and Aimee took their croissants and went to sit with Bernie and BB as usual and Belinda glanced up at her daughter as she placed a cup of coffee in front of her.

  ‘What’s wrong?’

  Chloe shook her head. ‘Nothing anyone can do anything about.’ She pulled her croissant apart and spread some marmalade over it. ‘It’s just I can’t stop thinking about Granddad. I’ve thought more about him in the last twenty-four hours than I have done in twenty-three years.’

  ‘Given the circumstances,’ Belinda said gently, ‘I’m not surprised. He’d been written out of our lives, but suddenly being here, he was pushed to the front of mine too.’ She took a sip of coffee. ‘Would you rather I hadn’t said anything to you? Not told you he was here in Brittany; that he was ill? Maybe it was unfair of me to burden you with both a first and final memory of him.’

  ‘No, I’m glad you told me. Granny keeping family secrets was bad enough, so don’t you start.’ Chloe sighed. ‘Sorry, that sounded harsh, I didn’t mean it to.’

  Belinda was silent for a few moments. ‘I honestly don’t know what to say or how to tell you to stop overthinking things. I’m struggling with that myself.’ She gave a rueful smile. ‘I guess once you get back to Max and start packing up for your new life in the Vendée, memories of yesterday’s visit will start to fade and merge into being something that touched you deeply but didn’t in the end have a detrimental effect on your life. I hope so anyway.’

  ‘But what about you?’ Chloe asked quietly. ‘It’s not going to be easy for you to forget what you’ve learnt and seen since you’ve been here.’

  Belinda was quiet for several seconds before she took a deep breath. ‘I think, and this applies to both of us, it’s impossible to turn the clock back and there’s nothing we can do to change things, so we have to accept and try to move on. You will focus on a happy life with Max and the twins and I’ll concentrate on you all.’

  ‘Does that mean you’ll come to the Vendée?’

  Belinda rubbed her face and eyes. ‘I still haven’t decided, to be honest. Give me a bit more time to think about it, okay?’ She finished her coffee. ‘Right, it’s your last full day. What do you want to do? Alain has suggested we have a barbecue this evening. Invite Fern, Anouk, and Bernie of course, and any of the campers who want to join us. What do you think?’

  ‘Sounds good. The twins and I met up with another family by the swings. I’ll find their caravan and invite them.’

  ‘That’s the evening sorted then. What about the rest of the day? There’s probably a market on somewhere.’

  Chloe shook her head. ‘I’d just like to pootle about the campsite, if that’s all right with you. I might wander down to the shop and pick up a few bottles of wine and some cheese to take home for Max. And a final picnic lunch by the river again would be good.’

  ‘Okay, I’ll leave you to it and go and do an hour or two in the office. See you later for lunch.’

  Belinda was on the phone taking a booking for a camper van for three weeks in August when Alain opened the office door and came in with a smiling Fern. Once she’d finished taking the details down and promised to send a confirming email, Belinda ended the call and turned to Fern.

  ‘We passed. We can open the café whenever we like,’ Fern said excitedly.

  Belinda partially covered her face with her hand. ‘The kitchen inspection this morning. I’d completely forgotten about it. I’m so sorry.’ How could she have forgotten something so important? Having a lot on her mind was no real excuse.

  ‘It is okay,’ Alain said. ‘Now we make plans for the official opening party.’

  ‘We can celebrate a little tonight as well, can’t we?’ Belinda said. ‘Chloe likes the idea of a barbecue for her last night. You and Anouk will come, won’t you?’ she said to Fern.

  ‘Love to.’

  Alain fired up the barbecue down on the entertainment area for the evening and news spread like wildfire through the campsite that the invitation was open to everyone. Still early in the season, there were only three or four camper vans and three caravans currently on site and nobody booked into the cabins. The family Chloe had mentioned arrived early with their two boys and were soon involved with Charlie and Aimee playing ball.

  Watching Alain cooking at the barbecue, Bernie cheerfully helping him and handing out the food, Belinda found herself thinking again about the future when her time here was over. So far, the only decision she’d taken was to leave Milton Hotels when Nigel completed the sale. It was the first step in her new life and she should have felt happier about it than she did. It was not knowing the direction of her second step that was bothering her.

  ‘Penny for them? You look miles away.’ Fern wandered over to her side with two glasses of Prosecco and handed her one. ‘Cheers. I’ve settled Anouk down with some new camper-van friends and she waved me away, told me to find you, so talk to me.’

  ‘Not worth a penny or even a centime. How’s Scott?’

  ‘He’s fine. Hoping to have a return date fairly soon.’

  ‘I bet you’re looking forward to that.’

  Fern nodded. ‘I still can’t quite believe I’ve met someone else who I really like. Or the fact that he seems to like me too.’

  ‘Believe it. You know, I’m really going to miss this place,’ Belinda said, watching Alain as he turned to smile at something Chloe said.

  Fern followed her gaze. ‘Place or person?’

  ‘Place… oh hell, all right, person as well,’ Belinda admitted.

  ‘Then stay,’ Fern said.

  ‘It’s not that easy.’ Belinda said automatically. Could she really pack up her old life in the UK and come back here and work for Alain like he’d suggested? Was she brave enough to take the leap?

  ‘It’s not that difficult either. Try turning it on its head and think of it as an opportunity. Once you’ve packed up your flat, given up your job, you can be footloose and fancy free for a few months. You’ve got the chance to do whatever you want, to go wherever you want.’ Fern gave her a quizzical look. ‘And I think you know deep down what you want.’

  46

  Both Belinda and Chloe were subdued the next morning at breakfast in the cabin.

  ‘Even though parts of your week have been unexpectedly traumatic for you, I’m glad you came and I hope you are too,’ Belinda said, glancing at her daughter.

  ‘It’s lovely here and most of the time has been great,’ Chloe answered. ‘As for the traumatic part, well…’ She sighed. ‘Yes, it was upsetting, but I’m glad I was here. I hoped it helped you to have me here?’

  �
�More than you’ll ever know,’ Belinda said.

  ‘You’ll let me know when Granddad dies?’

  Belinda nodded. ‘Of course. Now, what time do you plan to leave for the ferry?’

  ‘I thought about half eleven? I can take my time driving up to Roscoff and have a bite to eat in the restaurant at the ferry terminal before we board.’

  ‘Want a hand packing the car?’

  Chloe shook her head. ‘No, I’m an expert at it these days.’

  ‘In that case, I’ll take Charlie and Aimee for a last walk down to the river. Keep them out of your way.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  The twins were happy to hold her hand as they walked along the river path and stood enthralled to watch a young deer cross the path, making its way into the field adjoining the campsite.

  ‘Its tail bobbed up and down like a rabbit,’ Aimee said, delighted.

  By the time they returned, Chloe had packed the car, moved it up to the forecourt by the office and was standing talking to Alain. The twins promptly let go of Belinda’s hand and ran up to Alain, who picked them both up and swung them around.

  ‘Say goodbye and thank you to Alain,’ Chloe said.

  Belinda watched as both Charlie and Aimee hugged and kissed him goodbye before running over to her.

  ‘Bye bye, Gangan.’

  ‘Bye bye, you two. I’ll see you soon,’ Belinda said, watching as Chloe strapped them both into their seats. She gave Chloe a hug. ‘Travel safe. Let me know when you’re home.’

  ‘Will do,’ and Chloe gave Alain a goodbye hug before getting in the car and starting the engine. She wound the window down and beckoned Belinda over.