Chapter 28
28
Theo and Agnes went to the market on Friday morning to buy some cheeses, nuts, olives, sourdough bread, tapenade and a pissaladière , ready for the evening’s aperitifs. They also went to the wine cave where Theo helped Agnes choose the champagne she wanted to serve. Leaving the market, Theo insisted he had to have something sweet with his coffee this morning and they stopped at the boulangerie and bought two apricot tarts.
Back at the cottage Agnes organised coffee, put the tarts on plates and carried everything out to the yard while Theo put the shopping away.
‘Do you want to come this afternoon when I take Francine to meet Edwin?’
Agnes shook her head. ‘No, I don’t think so. Zazz has offered to help me with the food so the two of us will see to that.’ She glanced at Theo.
‘Remember that envelope that Francine found with my name on it? I forgot to pick it up when we left. I should at least open it.’
‘I popped it into the briefcase when I was up there. I’ll bring it down in the next day or two. Not a problem.’ Theo took a bite of his apricot tart, wondering whether now would be a good time to talk to Agnes about the file he’d hidden upstairs in his room. Knowing how upset she would be when he told her the news, he took the coward’s way out and decided to leave it until after tonight’s meeting with the Cortez’s. And probably until next week. At least then Edwin would be here to help him give some moral support to whoever needed it.
Francine let herself into the cottage at lunchtime as usual. Theo had told her not to knock, to treat it like her own home and just walk in, so she did. There was a lovely vibe about this old cottage and she knew she would have been a lot happier staying down here with him and Agnes. Francine thought about Zazz staying on her own up in Oscar’s house when everyone had returned to Devon after all this will business was settled. Would Zazz really be happy up there on her own? Somehow Francine doubted it. There were ghosts in the place even for Zazz she suspected. Maybe now Edwin was joining them this afternoon they could persuade her to change her mind and go home with them when they left.
Francine heard Agnes and Theo laughing together in the kitchen and she smiled to herself. Maman sounded so happy. Honestly, she and Theo were so good together she’d often wondered whether there could ever have been more between them. If only Maman had married Theo instead of Oscar all their lives would have been different and so much better, but she knew that union had always been out of the question. But now? Probably too late, sadly. Besides, if something had been going to happen between the two of them it would have happened years ago.