with them.
‘Right, you two. Why the long faces?’
Anouk stood up. ‘I’ll let Scott tell you. I’m going to write a letter in my room.’
Fern watched her go as a feeling of sadness threatened to engulf her. She knew what Scott was going to tell her before he even opened his mouth to speak.
‘You have to return to America, don’t you?’
He nodded. ‘I was planning on staying for another month, but my god-daughter has emailed me to say her mother, my cousin, isn’t well and wants to see me.’
‘When are you leaving?’ Fern asked, her voice low, surprised at how empty she felt at the thought of saying goodbye to Scott.
‘I’ve had a look at flights and the first direct flight I can get from Paris to New York is Tuesday, which means I have to leave on Monday from Brest.’
Fern smiled at him. ‘We knew you’d be going back sometime, it’s just a bit sooner than we… I expected.’ She put her cup down on the table and Scott caught hold of her hand and squeezed it gently.
‘I will be back I promise,’ he said, looking at her, ‘but Kylie’s illness complicates things. I’m not sure how long I will need to stay in New York. It could be a couple of weeks or it could be months.’
‘Well, I’m not going anywhere, I’ll be here when you do return. What about your hire car? Where will you drop it? Brest or Carhaix? I can always drive you to the airport if it’s Carhaix.’
‘Appreciate the offer, but I can leave it at Brest.’ Scott looked at her. ‘I’m not very good with airport goodbyes. Arrivals I love. Departures, not so much.’ He hesitated. ‘What I would like you to do though is to have dinner with me Saturday night. Just the two of us. Is that possible?’
‘Yes. I’d like that. Thank you. And tonight when my friend, Belinda, comes here to meet you and to talk to Anouk, the three of us will put on happy faces.’
Thursday on the campsite was surprisingly busy considering it was a weekday at the end of April. The last few days had been wonderfully sunny and spring-like and it seemed as if the world and his family had taken it upon themselves to get out into the countryside. But it wasn’t until Alain pointed out that Friday was the first of May that Belinda realised the real reason.
‘Of course. How stupid of me to forget the Labour Day holiday. And everybody is “faire le pont” – making a long weekend of it.’ She glanced at Alain. ‘It’s the vide-grenier this Sunday too, isn’t it?’
Alain nodded. ‘Oui. Hervé and Yann’s Gang will be here Saturday afternoon to start setting things up.’
Both Belinda and Alain took great care to make sure visitors realised that the site was barely operational yet and most people took it all in their stride. There were one or two disgruntled guests, who decided to drive on a bit further when they realised the lack of facilities. Which made Alain grumble under his breath. Belinda didn’t exactly say ‘I told you so’, but she did say again there were certain twenty-first-century technologies that were necessary.
It was late afternoon before things slowed down and Belinda took the opportunity to make some coffee while Alain showed a family of four to one of the cabins.
‘I think we definitely need Marie working weekends from now on,’ Belinda said, when he returned.
Alain nodded in agreement. ‘And probably for most of the week while Chloe is here. You’ll need to spend some time with her.’
‘True, so long as that’s okay with you.’
‘Of course it is. They stay in the cottage with us?’
Belinda shook her head. ‘I thought I’d put them in a cabin.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘I think I’m going to slip off in a moment and leave you to it for any late arrivals. I really fancy a long hot soak in the bath before I head out for the evening.’
‘You’re not home tonight?’
For a moment there Belinda thought she heard a disappointed note in Alain’s voice.
‘I’m having dinner with Fern to meet Anouk, her ma-in-law, and Scott, her American friend.’ She looked at Alain. ‘I’m hoping that Anouk will be able to help me solve a mystery from my past.’
‘Your French past?’
Belinda nodded. ‘Yes. There’s nothing I can do to change it, whatever happened, happened. But I do need to know the truth.’
‘Good luck. I hope Anouk can help,’ Alain said. ‘You’d better go