Chapter 22
22
‘What a character,’ Ingrid said when Penny rejoined her in the sitting room. ‘What on earth have we agreed to? A wedding reception is one thing, but a party afterwards?’
‘We can still back out,’ Penny said. ‘Tell her we have had to reconsider, it’s too short notice. She might think twice when I send her the quote anyway. It’s not going to be a cheap wedding reception.’
‘I think you could quote Stella a six-figure sum and she’d wave it away as if it were nothing,’ Ingrid said. ‘She must love her daughter very much.’
Penny laughed. ‘She doesn’t have a daughter. It’s her wedding – her first at seventy-two. And she’s very happy and excited about it.’
‘Gosh, I wasn’t expecting that. I look forward to meeting the bridegroom,’ Ingrid said.
Penny gathered together her own paperwork and the folder Stella had left. ‘I’m going to be busy for the next couple of hours trying to work out the cost of everything and also the things we need to buy.’ She glanced at Ingrid. ‘How’s the bank balance currently? I know you sold the cottages to free up some cash, but we’re going to need a lot of stuff for this wedding. Buying in the champagne and wine is going to be expensive for a start. Then there are tables, chairs, crockery and glasses, to name but four. We could always hire, but that won’t be cheap. I think buying for this and future weddings would make more sense.’
Ingrid nodded. ‘I know you’re right, but we need to find things that fit in with the spirit of the chateau. I don’t want to buy stuff just because it’s all we can find. I was hoping to eventually source some art deco crockery, but we’re unlikely to find that in a hurry.’
‘True, and we probably wouldn’t be able to hire anything that specific,’ Penny said. ‘How about a compromise on crockery of delicate, plain white porcelain? If we find some art deco vintage later, we can always keep it in reserve.’
‘That would work for me,’ Ingrid said, reaching for her crutch and carefully pulling herself onto her feet. ‘I’ll make a list of things I know we’re going to need and start doing some research on the internet while you work out the figures for Stella. The money from the cottages is still mostly intact so, as long as we don’t go mad, we can definitely buy good quality.’ Ingrid began to make her way slowly through to the kitchen. ‘Before I forget. Could you please collect a box from the tack room for me sometime in the next few days? It’s under the saddle racks at the far end.’
Now that the new bathroom fittings had arrived, Sasha was starting to prepare the bathroom for its makeover. Freddie was hoping to plumb the new shower in one evening this week, and to do the bath and sink at the weekend. Once he’d done her bathroom, he’d leave her to the decorating and make a start on his own. The sun was shining and she would have preferred to be out in the garden, but had decided she could do that later this evening and hopefully avoid all the midges. She was busy rubbing the window frames down when her phone pinged with a text message from Jean-Paul.
I come to walk and train the dogs at four o’clock. D’accord?
Sasha glanced at the time. Quarter past three.
Merci. A bient?t.
She was ready and waiting at four o’clock, having showered, dried her hair, dressed in a more respectable pair of jeans than the pair she was wearing earlier, and pulled on a clean T-shirt. A light foundation with sunblock smoothed over her face and she was ready. It wasn’t a date, after all. It was simply a friend helping with training the pups – and also maybe helping her to improve her French as well.
Jean-Paul surprised her by driving down the route de galop and parking his tractor by the garden entrance. Mitzi and Mimi gave both him and Viking an enthusiastic, noisy welcome. Before they set off, Sasha put a couple of dog biscuits in her pocket to use as treats and to encourage the pups to do as they were told. After Sasha had clipped them onto their leads, she closed the cottage door behind them and they started to walk through the chateau grounds. Jean-Paul had taken Mitzi while Sasha had Mimi. Viking, who was off the lead, trotted happily alongside Jean-Paul as they walked.
Jean-Paul took his phone out of his pocket. ‘I have a little English but now I have an app also.’
‘I have an app too,’ Sasha said, taking out her own phone. They both smiled, happy at the thought that communication between the two of them would be easier from now on.
‘You like living here?’ Jean-Paul asked.
Sasha gave an enthusiastic ‘ Oui! I love it. I can’t quite believe I live here in my own cottage in France. It’s beautiful. I wish…’ She stopped, not wanting to embarrass Jean-Paul with her own sadness.
‘ Vous wish…’ Jean-Paul prompted.
‘Mum’s inheritance made it possible for us to buy the cottages and it makes me sad that she’s not around to see us living here,’ Sasha said slowly before shaking her head. ‘ Désolée . It’s the way life works, we wouldn’t be here without losing her, but she’s left a big hole in my life.’
‘ C’est naturel ,’ Jean-Paul said. ‘My parents, they both still live. But I see them only sometime. My sister, she live in Bordeaux and they join her last year. They help with the petits-enfants .’
‘You are an uncle!’ Sasha said, smiling, silently wondering whether she and Freddie would ever elevate each other to the status of auntie and uncle. She could only hope that sometime in the future they would both meet someone special.
‘We do some puppy training,’ Jean-Paul said. ‘Before we forget and the walk is finish. It is important to sound firm.’ He stopped walking. ‘Viking, attends. ’ The dog stopped and looked at him. ‘ Assis. ’ Viking sat instantly, almost before Jean-Paul had said the word. To Sasha’s amusement, both Mimi and Mitzi were also sitting, their tails swishing the ground, watching Viking. ‘We walk a little bit more and then you give the commands,’ Jean-Paul said.
‘Okay.’
Having moved on a little way, it was now Sasha’s turn.
‘Mimi, Mitzi. Viking. Attends .’ Viking stopped and the pups followed a second later. ‘ Assis ,’ Sasha said. And all three dogs sat.
‘The pups they are intelligent. It not take long for them to learn,’ Jean-Paul said. ‘You practise each time you walk them. Now I think we return to your house.’
Once back at the cottage, Sasha thanked Jean-Paul for his help and his company. He simply smiled, kissed her on the cheek and said ‘ à bient?t ’ before leaping into his tractor with Viking and leaving. Sasha waved goodbye and smiling happily, she turned to go indoors. Downloading a translation app just to be able to talk to her must mean he liked her and wanted to get to know her.