Return to the Little French Guesthouse by Helen Pollard

Author:Helen Pollard
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781786810472
Publisher: Bookouture

13

When I arrived at Alain’s, I found him sitting at the dining table, working.

‘What are you doing that for, on a glorious day like this?’

‘I needed to do something complicated to take my mind off Gloria.’

‘Has it succeeded?’

‘No. Come here and help me out.’

I gave him an innocent look. ‘I don’t think my maths is up to it, Alain, to be honest.’

‘Not interested in your brains.’

‘Charming!’ I went over and sat across his lap, snaking my arms around his neck. The kiss was long and much needed by both of us.

‘Better?’ I asked him.

‘Mmm. Better.’ He leaned in for another. ‘Ouch. I’m getting cramp.’

I slapped at him. ‘I’m not that heavy.’

He stood and moved past me to the kitchen, patting my backside on the way. ‘No. You’re just right. Lunch?’

‘Please.’

He put together a tray of cold meats, tomatoes, olives and bread, and we took it outside.

‘You’d better tell me the whole story,’ he said in a resigned tone as we helped ourselves.

So I did. Alain needed to know what was going on, and I needed an outlet for the numerous emotions that Gloria’s return and her attitude had provoked in me.

When I’d brought him up to speed, he was as wound up as I was. ‘Are we presuming that Nathan left her?’

‘I can’t imagine she left him only to come back to somewhere she hated enough to run away from in the first place. But the whys and wherefores don’t matter. What matters is that she’s back, and she thinks all she has to do is to snap her fingers for Rupert to welcome her with open arms.’

‘Surely he won’t?’

‘I don’t know, Alain. When she left him, he admitted their marriage was already on shaky ground, but even so, he was really shocked by her desertion. What bugs me is that he’s been going through a kind of healing process since, in his own way, and I didn’t think he was too unhappy.’

‘But?’

‘Well, it’s possible that he’s lonely, isn’t it? I don’t get that impression – he once told me he wasn’t designed for marriage. And even if he is lonely, taking Gloria back won’t solve that. I don’t see how their relationship would be any different from before.’

Alain stood and began to pace.

‘We could do some French,’ I suggested. ‘It might take our minds off Gloria.’

‘How many swear words would you like to learn? Because I have a fair few at the tip of my tongue right now. Anyway, I have a better idea.’

He took my hand and led me to the large shed at the bottom of the garden, where he dragged out two bikes. His and...

‘Yours, temporarily. If you like it, yours to buy for fifty euros.’

I stared at the foreign object with panic and dismay. ‘What?’

‘One of the neighbours is selling it, so I said you might like to try it. This is the perfect opportunity, don’t you think? We need a distraction, and we need physical exercise to get rid of tension.’ Seeing my expression, he laughed.

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