The Family Affair by Helen Crossfield

Author:Helen Crossfield [Crossfield, Helen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Endeavour Media
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11: DINNER WITH THE ROWLANDS

True to his word, Olivier arranged for Beth to join Matt and Lottie Rowlands in the bistro for dinner. They’d been delighted at the prospect of sharing their table with an Earnshaw.

“It’s kind of weird to finally meet someone who actually lived in our house,” Matt enthused as soon as they’d been introduced. “I’m not sure where to start.”

“Me neither,” Beth smiled back, slightly disconcerted by his use of the word ‘our’ as she squished herself down in-between them.

“So, what brings you back to Kepton?” Matt continued, keen to get down to business.

“Family reasons,” Beth answered awkwardly as she settled into her chair. “My father died a couple of weeks ago, and it’s made me think a lot about the past. I came back for the funeral and stayed on. I’m just not ready to leave yet.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Lottie commiserated, as Matt poured them both a glass of wine. “Was it sudden?”

“Yes. Relatively,” Beth replied. “We knew Dad was ill but it all happened very quickly in the end. I didn’t see much of him over the last twelve months, which of course I now regret big time.”

“Just remember the good times,” Lottie said, reaching over to touch Beth’s hand.

“Yes I’m trying to,” Beth retorted, moving her wine glass nervously around on the red and white checked table cloth.

“When my father died I put an album together of happy family pictures,” Matt interjected. “And it helped more than I imagined it would. In the end what you’ve got left is memories, so you need to capture the good ones before they fade into the mists of time.”

Beth smiled anxiously as Matt talked. How could she even begin to explain that finding photos depicting happy times with her family might be stretching things a bit too far? But she didn’t want to appear rude.

“It’s a nice idea,” Beth said, trying desperately hard to think of photos of her family which could go into an album of happy memories. “I’ll think about it.”

“Olivier told us that you’re staying overnight at the bistro,” Lottie volunteered, registering Beth’s hesitation as she picked at the complimentary bowl of olives in the middle of the table.

“Yes I stayed last night as well,” Beth replied, brightening up. “It’s close to where some of Dad’s relatives live.”

“Well I can’t think of a better place to stay than here,” Matt smiled. “Olivier has set up a real gem of a place.”

“I know,” Beth beamed back. “There was nothing like this in Kepton when I lived here. I found it on the internet the other evening and couldn’t believe my luck.”

“Neither could we,” Lottie agreed. “Imagine our joy when we woke up one morning to find a French patisserie and bistro had magically appeared on our doorstep.”

“And it opened at the perfect moment,” Matt grinned enthusiastically. “We’d lived in London before moving up here, so we were used to having a whole variety of cafes and restaurants to choose from.

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