dashed over to help. Discovering they were both travelling to Belle Vue had been a delightful surprise. They’d chatted and got to know each other a little on the flight over. They both lived in Bristol – Chelsea across town in the less affluent district of Kingswood, compared to Matilda’s posh end of Clifton. Neither of them could believe they’d won the holiday.
Matilda finished her coffee and was eyeing the units under the work surface speculatively, wondering which of them housed the dishwasher, when Amy appeared.
‘Good morning. I hope you slept well? Join me for another coffee?’ she said, going to the machine. ‘Have you seen the others?’
‘Thank you,’ and Matilda pushed her cup over. ‘You’ve just missed Chelsea. She came for croissants, said she needed the carbs for her swim. I haven’t seen Vicky.’
‘I think Vicky’s already working on her laptop,’ Amy said. ‘D’you have any plans for today?’
‘I thought I’d have a wander around the gardens, if that’s all right with you,’ Matilda said. ‘I need to loosen up my ankle with some gentle exercise. Then I’ll sit by the pool and read until lunch.’
‘This is your home while you’re here. You’re free to wander wherever you want. Maybe some hydrotherapy would be helpful for your ankle if you don’t want to swim. Just sit on the edge and exercise your legs in the water. Did you bring a costume? If not, I keep a supply of spare ones for guests.’
‘Thanks. I did bring one, but to be honest I’m not that much of a swimmer.’ Matilda looked at Amy. ‘Which day are you planning for the Monaco outing?’
‘Not sure yet,’ Amy said. ‘Why?’
‘I’m thinking I’ll maybe give it a miss. I’m not sure my ankle will cope with too much walking. I remember a long hill and flights of steps leading up to the Palace. I wouldn’t want to hold you all up.’
‘You won’t,’ Amy said. ‘Wait and see how the ankle feels on the day we decide to go. You can always have a coffee at one of the pavement cafés and watch the boats.’
‘True. Right, I’m off to get my stick and explore your beautiful garden.’ As Lola stretched and walked towards her, Matilda bent down and scratched her head. ‘You coming to show me the way?’
Amy laughed. ‘That dog has her own itinerary. One that mainly includes finding Pierre wherever he is in the garden and being fed biscuits.’
7
After Matilda had left, Amy tidied the kitchen, happy that everyone appeared to be settling in. Hopefully, barriers would start to break down during the day and dinner this evening would be a more relaxed affair as they all started to bond and become friends.
Once the kitchen was tidy, Amy made her way to her bedroom, intent on doing her normal exercise routine at the barre in her room before catching up on some paperwork. She might not be a professional ballet dancer these days but she still adored dancing and was determined to stay as supple as possible for as long as possible.
She was checking through bookings for the retreat in August when her phone rang.
‘Hi, Mum,’ Amy said, pressing the speaker button. ‘How you doing?’
‘Fine. Dad and I were planning to come over sometime this summer. Any dates to avoid when you’re full?’
Amy quickly skimmed through the bookings chart. ‘First week in July is currently free. After that, there’s only one weekend free in late August. Shall I pencil you in for the July week?’
‘Please.’
‘Done – already looking forward to it.’
‘So how are the competition winners?’ Fleur asked.
‘All three are really nice,’ Amy said, knowing her mum had been sceptical at the wisdom of giving three people a free holiday.
‘Good. Glad it’s working out. Heard anything recently from…?’ Fleur said, leaving the question hovering in the air.
‘No. Why should I? All communications go to you. He doesn’t know where I am. Besides, it’s in the past. Over,’ Amy sighed. She knew Fleur couldn’t help bringing up the subject of her ex-husband every time she phoned, but she wished she wouldn’t.
‘Darling, you know that’s not true. It’s unfinished business,’ Fleur said gently. ‘You need proper closure so you can move on with your life.’
‘I have moved on – or doesn’t moving to France count?’
‘You know what I mean. You’re still young, I hate to think of you on your own forever. Apart from running away to France, you’ve done nothing about anything. I’m surprised he hasn’t really put the pressure on yet, remembering how forceful he could be. It’s not good, the way you’ve ignored things. It’s been five years now. You need to get closure.’
‘I know how long it’s been, Mum,’ Amy said. She also knew how much Fleur herself had been hurt when things had gone wrong for her. ‘I promise by the end of this summer I’ll have looked into sorting out all the legal stuff. All the paperwork is here – including a letter from the notaire who has agreed to act for me. I just haven’t had the energy to kickstart things.’ Or the inclination if she were honest. It was easier to let things drift.
‘Good. You owe it to yourself to sort things. We’ll talk about it more in July when we see you.’
After a few more minutes’ general chat, Amy said goodbye and put her phone down on the desk. She loved her mum dearly and deep down knew she was right about getting closure on the past, but ignoring it and hoping it would all miraculously sort itself out had been the easier option. It wasn’t as if she’d met anyone new and needed to have the past all tidied up and pushed away into the recess of her mind. Somehow, she couldn’t see herself ever forgetting how hurt she’d been at what had happened.
Amy took a deep breath. She’d concentrate on Belle Vue for the summer months and then, come September, she’d start to organise things to bring an end to the biggest mistake of her life. For the next week or so, though, she was going to enjoy having the three competition winners here and giving them a good holiday. She’d enjoy taking them to Monaco later this week – it had always been a favourite place of hers and was full of happy memories. It had been too long since she’d spent time there.
The gardens surrounding Belle Vue were absolutely beautiful and extensive, Matilda discovered as she wandered along various paths deep in thought, little Lola bouncing in front of her leading the way.
Matilda, who’d owned several dogs in the past and missed not having one in her current life, slipped back without noticing into her old habit of talking things through with her canine companion. Saying things out loud to a dog couldn’t be misconstrued as talking to yourself. Everybody did it. And somehow stating the problem out loud made it easier to think about.
‘So, Lola, what d’you think I should do then?’ Matilda said. ‘Admit to Josh that I’m glad he stopped me selling up quickly after William died, but I feel the time is now right. A small cottage with a garden somewhere in the countryside – maybe on the outskirts of a village. Even here in France. Or do I give it another six months and see if I feel more settled?’
The little dog stopped and looked back at her briefly before charging off down a path to the right.
Deep in thought, Matilda failed to notice Lola bound up to a man pulling weeds out of a flower border and jumped when a voice said, ‘Bonjour, Lola, ma petite. Et bonjour à vous, Madame.’
She looked around in surprise and saw Pierre, the gardener, regarding her quizzically. He’d clearly heard her talking to herself. Had he understood her words though?
‘Bonjour,’