when the camp opens and I’m back in the UK.’
Alain shrugged. ‘I will worry about it when – if – we get any bookings for them.’
‘We’ll get bookings.’ Belinda stared at him and reached a decision. ‘Right. I’ll ask Nigel to book a night ferry, I’ll meet him at Roscoff, we’ll spend the day sorting Pods out and he can go back on the evening ferry.’
Before Alain could answer, the office door opened and a delivery man stood there, electronic signing device in his hand.
‘Three parcels for Marshall,’ he said, holding the device out. ‘Where do you want them?’
‘Manager’s cottage,’ Belinda said, scrawling a signature with her finger before following the man out. ‘I’ll show you.’
At least unpacking parcels would take her mind off Alain’s stubborn refusal to have anything to do with the pods. She didn’t, of course, have any intention of dragging Nigel over here when she was quite capable of making a decision herself. She’d only suggested it in the hope that Alain would change his mind. But she could really do with a second opinion before she committed to spending a large sum of Nigel’s money. She’d been hoping that Alain would agree to accompany her and she’d be able to change his opinion about the pods. She’d see if Fern would like to go with her instead, they could make a day of it, have lunch up on the coast.
It took Belinda a couple of hours to unpack and put the contents of two of the boxes away in the cottage. Knowing that the hotels back in the UK all had surplus equipment stacked away, it had made sense to make use of it rather than buy new. Bed linen, towels, pillows, cushions, cutlery, electric kettle, crockery – Nigel had sent everything she’d itemised to make the cottage as comfortable as possible.
She smiled as she unpacked the third box, a bean-to-cup coffee machine that was surplus to requirements in one of the hotels. She’d enjoy using that while she was living here.
She was up in the bedroom at the front of the house making up the bed when she heard footsteps on the stairs.
‘Who’s this for?’ Alain asked, appearing in the doorway.
‘Me. I told you that as soon as the place was clean and user-friendly I intended to move in. More convenient to be on site and it saves Nigel some money.’ Expertly she did the last hospital corner on the bottom sheet before reaching for the duvet cover and shaking it out flat on the bed. ‘While you’re here, you can give me a hand putting this on.’ Not giving him the chance to refuse, she handed him a corner of the duvet and began to push the opposite corner up into the cover with its pretty red poppy design.
Without a word, Alain did as she asked, although she could almost feel the tension emitting from him as he worked. It was a strangely intimate thing to be doing with a man she barely knew, she realised, before pushing the errant thought away.
‘Thanks,’ she said, reaching for a pillow and slipping it into a pillowcase. ‘Did you want me for something?’
‘I come with you to look at the pods. Let me know which day.’
Belinda looked at him, surprised. ‘You’ve changed your mind? Okay. I’ll ring the site and book an appointment,’ Belinda said, longing to ask him why he’d changed his mind, but Alain had already turned away and was going downstairs.
Making her way downstairs, Belinda glanced in the small sitting room, which was cosy and inviting now the clean loose covers were in place on the settee and the armchairs grouped around a coffee table in front of the clean log burner.
Her mobile buzzed. Nigel. Just the person she wanted to talk to.
‘Hi. Thanks for the delivery. Planning to move into the house this week. Everything all right your end?’ she asked, but Nigel’s words drove everything she needed to say out of her mind.
‘Need to give you the heads-up about a change of plan,’ Nigel said. ‘Reckon you can finish getting things ready for Easter over there in the next few days and come back here a week early?’
‘Honestly? There’s still so much to organise – staff to find, the café to organise, the cabins to refurnish, the small shop has to be stocked. And I haven’t sourced any pods yet. Why?’
‘I might need you to stay back here for a bit after Easter. Maybe indefinitely. Alain’s going to have to cope