Escape to the French Chateau

Chapter 33

Chapter 33

The journey back to Chateau les Champs d’Or was quiet. Noel apologised for Johnny’s absence but wouldn’t be drawn on the why. They settled into silence, with a French radio station bleating Europop as Fran stared out at the passing countryside.

Maybe Johnny had changed his mind again.

Or perhaps Fran was overthinking. Noel didn’t seem particularly awkward that he was the one picking her up, so perhaps there was a simple explanation.

Once they’d arrived back at the chateau, Fran could take her first look at the damage caused by the fire.

She climbed from the car, thanking Noel for taking her back as she looked around. To the front of the chateau, the casual observer would never have known there had been a fire of any kind – the frontage of the building was untouched. But to the side of the chateau there was no way to ignore the fact that most of the garden was gone. Blackened stubs of shrubs and scorch marks proliferated, the extent of the fire halted in random patterns, dependent on the reach and spray pattern of the fire hoses.

‘This way,’ Noel said, leading her past the scorched lavender bushes, around the side of the chateau.

The patio furniture had been hastily piled up against the chateau wall; it had the look of garden furniture left outside in a UK winter, soaking wet and belligerent. As they walked, Fran glanced at Noel, wanting to quiz him about why he was leading her around rather than into the building. Did he think she wanted to see the damage?

As they reached the meadow to the rear of the complex, Fran realised just how lucky she had been to escape the clutches of the fire – and its deadly smoke. The sheds containing all the abandoned pieces of furniture she’d stumbled across earlier in the week – those buildings and their contents were ruined. Blackened limbs and roof joists all that was left of the structures, piles of charcoal marking the final resting places of all the vintage furniture she’d coveted.

Her gaze moved away from the ruins, out towards the meadows. Towards the tree with the split trunk where Red had run to in his panic. The oak under which she and Johnny had lain after their abortive rescue attempt. The tree she thought she’d seen lit up like a beacon of flames through all the smoke of the previous day.

The tree was destroyed. The split in the trunk had finally given way, branches and twigs splayed across the burnt ground in opposite directions, all seared and blackened along with the surrounding ground. The stump was still smouldering. Beyond the tree and the meadow, blackened grounds and burned vines stretched into the distance.

But it wasn’t the devastation which held her attention. It was the small party of people standing a little way away from the remnants of the oak.

Madame Beaufoy was there, flanked by Penny and Harry, who was twisting his chef’s hat between his hands. The groundskeeper, whose name Fran still didn’t know, was leaning on a shovel. And Johnny was there, meeting her halfway across the blackened ground, nodding his thanks towards his brother as Noel headed past him and joined the others.

‘I’m sorry I didn’t come to collect you, but I hope you’ll understand why.’ He gestured towards the others, and it was then that Fran noticed a sapling, its roots wrapped in sacking cloth.

‘It took me ages to locate and collect the right type of tree,’ Johnny added.

‘What is all this about?’ Fran said.

‘Jacques wanted me to tell you that if he’d known the wildfires were going to trash his gardens anyway, he wouldn’t have been so gnarly about the cat.’

She glanced at the groundskeeper, appreciated the nod he gave her, a slight softening apparent in his otherwise craggy features as he jiggled at the ground with his shovel.

‘I’m sorry about his beautiful gardens, too,’ she said.

‘So,’ Johnny said. ‘I wondered if it might be good to plant something to permanently remind everyone of Red.’ He waved a hand at the sapling. ‘I was going to get an oak to replace his favourite tree, but then I found this. It’s a maple, which will grow into a decent-sized tree, perfect for any visiting cats to hide in.’

‘It’s got red leaves,’ Fran said, her voice hitching around the words.

‘Yes. It’s Red.’

‘It’s beautiful. Thank you.’

Jacques stepped forward, taking hold of the sapling and removing the sacking from its roots. The groundskeeper positioned the sapling into the hole, shovelling soil and treading the tree in with a series of confident movements. Johnny wrapped a welcome arm around her shoulder, the squeeze just enough to reassure her as she did her best to wipe away her tears.

Once she’d managed to get her emotions under control, Fran turned to him. ‘I need to tell you something.’

‘What is it?’ His gaze was focused, expectant with a slight tinge of concern.

‘I’ve made my decision. I’m ready for a change, a new challenge – a fresh start, I suppose. And the thought of renovating somewhere as beautiful as Chateau des Rêves, being able to live in a place like that – I’d be crazy not to go for it.’

He grinned. ‘You’ve just made my day!’

‘I do have a couple of requests, however,’ she added.

‘Oh?’

‘I’ll need running water and electricity at all times – is that possible?’ She pursed her lips. ‘I’ve never been very good at camping.’

‘What’s not to like about camping? I love a night under canvas …’

‘Do you really?’

Johnny smiled but didn’t answer, leaving Fran hoping he was joking. Instead, he said, ‘I can’t believe this is happening – I’m so excited, Fran. And once the transfer of ownership goes through, we can start to plan properly.’

Fran nodded; her throat choked with emotion at his level of enthusiasm. Wanting to hug him, but not sure it was the right action in this setting. Instead, she took a deep breath and crossed to Red’s tree, taking one of its silky crimson leaves in her fingers, then turned to the assembled group.

‘I just want to say thank you, to all of you. This has certainly been a trip I’m never going to forget.’ She swallowed hard so she didn’t begin to cry again.

‘Come on,’ Penny said, a bright smile accompanying her words as she linked arms with Fran, ‘let’s go get some coffee. I could kill for an espresso.’

Everyone headed into the kitchen, and Louis took one look at all the ashy footprints on his pristine floor, and the soil falling freely from the groundskeeper’s boots before rolling his eyes in disgust.

‘Oh, mon Dieu,’ he muttered.

‘I’ll clear up the mess, Louis,’ Penny said, pouring coffee for everyone.

‘No,’ Fran said. ‘I will.’

In the end Harry offered to clean up the sooty footprints from the kitchen floor, while Louis, without complaining for probably the first time in his life, cleared away everyone’s coffee cups.

Harry looked longingly at the door that Penny had just recently exited from. ‘Can you give me a couple of minutes?’ Harry asked Louis as he lodged the floor mop against the wall of the cleaning cupboard. A brisk nod was enough to have Harry dumping his toque and apron, and he didn’t miss the knowing look Louis gave him as he rushed out in search of Penny. He’d wanted to catch her earlier, but she and Fran had been glued together, chatting and laughing like a couple of kids. Watching Penny laugh in such an uninhibited way had caused a little bit of jealousy to flare up inside of him, seeing how someone other than him could spark this kind of reaction from her – he wanted to be the person who could make Penny happy every day for the rest of her life. This only bolstered Harry’s confidence, confirming what he already knew deep down inside: that he had made the right decision, however difficult it had been, to break things off with Sophie.

He caught up with Penny in the staffroom.

‘I’ve got something I need to tell you,’ he said, breathless at the gravity of what he was about to say.

‘Oh yeah?’ she said, folding her arms.

‘Yeah. I’ve made a decision.’

‘What a coincidence, me too.’ She grinned at him, reaching into the biscuit barrel. ‘I was thinking digestive, but I’m going shortbread finger instead. Want one?’

Harry brightened at her carefree expression, then he shook his head at the offer of a biscuit as his smile faded. ‘Can we be serious for a moment?’

Penny rolled her eyes. ‘Don’t you be ruining my mood, Harry Greenfield.’

‘I FaceTimed Sophie.’

‘I see.’ Penny slid into a chair. ‘How is she?’

‘Like you care,’ he said. But he wasn’t being unkind. ‘You’ve never even met her.’

‘True. But she must be all right if she chose you. I might hate her guts, but that doesn’t make her a terrible person, does it?’

‘In a funny way I don’t think she was all that surprised by what I had to say.’

‘Well, I expect you know one another quite well. Must have had a lot to catch up on …’ Penny shrugged at the obvious-ness of her comment.

‘We did, but that’s not what I’m trying to tell you. I’m making a real cock-up of this, but to cut a long story short, I told her I’ve never felt happier than I do right now.’

‘Way to go with making your fiancée feel good,’ Penny said, but the flippancy of her comment wasn’t matched by her expression. She was watching him like a hawk.

‘There’s no way I’m ever going back home or enlisting in the army.’ Harry sighed, saying these words out loud felt like the ending of an era. As though he was finally exiting a long, dark tunnel he hadn’t even realised he was in. ‘I told her I haven’t been fair to her, that I feel like I’ve been stringing her along and that we should call off our engagement. Make a clean break and move on.’

‘Wow. Brutal.’

‘You think?’ Confusion clattered across his thoughts – he thought Penny would be pleased. ‘Does it make it any better if I tell you she agreed?’

‘Does it make what any better?’

He sighed. ‘You’re not going to make things easy for me, are you?’

A sly grin edged onto her face. ‘What are you trying to say, Harry?’

‘I wanted to do right by Sophie. I needed to sort everything out with her first. You understand, don’t you?’

‘Sure. You’ve broken things off with her. And?’

Harry huffed with exasperation. ‘When I saw you heading into the chateau yesterday, to search for Fran, I realised I couldn’t bear to lose you – either in the smoke, or ever. I realised something I’ve been trying to deny for a while now.’ He moistened his suddenly Saharan-dry lips. ‘I think I’m falling for you, Penny, and I wonder if you’d—’

Harry didn’t get to finish the sentence, because Penny had pressed her lips against his. To finally feel the soft warmth of her mouth against his was easily the finest moment of Harry’s life. And as she slid her hands around the back of his neck and he pulled her close, he reckoned it was just the first of many finest moments all yet to come.

Eventually, Penny broke away, her gaze fixed on his. ‘Thank God. You do realise you nearly drove me out of my mind, don’t you? I’ve never had so many mixed messages from a bloke in my entire life. But I’m glad you finally came to your senses.’ Penny winked and Harry rolled her eyes at her remark – he guessed he deserved it. ‘What do you think about moving on from here soon, maybe seeing if we can get work on one of those superyachts on the Mediterranean? What an adventure it could be!’

‘I’m happy wherever we go, as long as I’m with you,’ he said.

‘Oh my God, so soppy. But absolutely the right answer,’ Penny said, pulling him close and kissing him like he’d never been kissed before.

Although Johnny had been ready to leave Chateau les Champs d’Or several times during his stay, actually saying goodbye that afternoon turned out to be far more difficult than he could have imagined. With everybody packed up and luggage stowed in the hire cars, he suggested they might enjoy a bite of lunch in the bar before they headed for the airport.

Johnny needed time to work out how to explain to Ricky and Ed what would be happening to Taylor Made Wine over the next few weeks. The way their stay at Chateau les Champs d’Or had panned out, only a fool wouldn’t have picked up on the tension, but they deserved a careful and frank explanation.

If it were at all possible, Johnny had decided that Noel should carry on with Taylor Made Wine on his own. Hopefully there would be enough revenue to keep the two employees on, but that would be something to be sorted out alongside the finances. With the strong likelihood of an investment package for Chateau des Rêves from Bill Wilding, it might be possible for Johnny to extract his stake from Taylor Made Wine over a longer timeframe, rather than taking a sledgehammer to the business and destroying everyone’s jobs.

Noel seemed to have accepted the inevitable and Johnny felt a pang of sadness for his brother. At the fact that Noel would be left clinging to what had been, like driftwood on the ocean, while Johnny could finally put all his energy into moving forwards.

Maybe one day he would be able to re-establish a relationship with Noel, because a forever without his brother was something Johnny wasn’t sure he really wanted. Denying Estelle her Uncle Noel, when Johnny knew how much she loved him, that seemed wrong, too. But for now, Johnny needed space.

The idea of showing Estelle around Chateau des Rêves gave him a buzz every time he thought about it. Although that would be some time off, yet. The dilapidated chateau had escaped the fires, much to his relief, but there would be a few months of work needed before the place was ready for any special visitors.

Beaufoy Wines vineyard had also been spared, and when Johnny had seen Madame Beaufoy earlier that morning, and had explained his plans for Chateau des Rêves and its proposed links with Beaufoy Wines, she had taken his face between the palms of her hands as she offered him her best wishes.

Leaving Fran was the biggest wrench. Even though they had plans to meet with her father in London, to spend time working on the details of their chateau escape, Fran was going to have to sort out her flat, to decide if she could bear to give up the tenancy taken on by her mother twenty-seven years previously. She would come to Chateau des Rêves when she was ready, and Johnny was only too willing to allow her the time she needed.

Johnny didn’t envy her the decision. A permanent move to the Loire would involve a massive change for him, too. Time away from Estelle was going to be especially challenging.

With little time spare, if there was any chance of them making their flight back to the UK, Johnny kept his farewells brief and upbeat. After all, as far as the people who mattered to him most were concerned, this was nothing more than a farewell. An adieu. It was certainly not goodbye.

The intention of a quick hug for Fran fell by the wayside when he wrapped her in his arms and caught a hint of her perfume. She hugged him tight, and he wondered if there could be something more between them, but just as quickly she was pushing him away, thanking him again for Red’s tree and reminding him not to be late for their meeting with Bill Wilding.

With the chateau disappearing in the rear-view mirror, Johnny smiled. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he had everything to play for. Anything was possible.