Chapter 24
‘I can’t believe this is our last afternoon here,’ said Tess wistfully. ‘Where has the time gone?’
‘It’s gone far too quickly,’ agreed Suzy. ‘And I’m really not sure that I want to go home.’
They had chartered a skippered boat on the turquoise, clear waters of Lake Annecy, the afternoon sun warming their sleeveless arms and the alpine scenery providing a breathtaking landscape. Small boats lined the shores of the lake and swans glided regally across its still waters.
Their captain, Tomas, was charming, entertaining and informative as he gave a running commentary on the history of the impressive architecture around them, including the distinctive Palais de ?’lle, a mediaeval building that had once been a prison, and a beautiful castle standing tall on a rocky outcrop, its stone towers and numerous turrets creating a fairy tale scene.
‘This chateau, it was the inspiration for the castle in Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty ,’ Tomas told them proudly, as they took out their cameras and phones to capture the stunning image.
‘Beautiful! Ah, how long do you think it would be before we were actually missed back at home if we decided to stay here?’ Gina asked, tongue-in-cheek.
‘I mean, I don’t know about you, but I could definitely get used to this kind of lifestyle.
’ She trailed an arm over the side of the boat.
‘We could find an apartment overlooking the lake and set up a business.’
‘Doing what?’ asked Suzy, unable to hide the disbelief from her voice.
‘Oh, I don’t know. We could be specialist tour guides for British visitors or we could run a guest house. Or we could be chocolate tasters. We’d be really good at that. There must be a dozen things we could try.’
‘Yes, you must come to live in Annecy,’ said Tomas expansively. ‘I can ’elp find you customers. We could work together. You send people my way. I send them to you. How about that?’ If Suzy and Tess weren’t invested in Gina’s madcap idea, then Tomas certainly was.
‘You see!’ Gina said, jumping on their captain’s words. ‘It’s a wonderful idea.’
Tess had been won over by the charms of Annecy and with the holiday coming to an end, she could definitely see the appeal of spending a few more days in the alpine town, but wasn’t that the point of holidays?
To take you out of your normal routine and open your eyes to new sights and sounds, offering a different perspective on the world. It wasn’t meant to be forever.
‘Well, I hope our kids would soon note our absence,’ said Suzy. ‘I know they’re all off doing their own thing now, but they still need us. I’d like to think that they would miss us sooner or later. They would, wouldn’t they?’ she added, laughing.
‘Okay,’ said Gina, with an exaggerated sigh. ‘So what you’re telling me is that we really have to go home tomorrow. What a shame!’
‘Then you must come back soon,’ urged Tomas. ‘If you are in Annecy and you need some help then come and find me. I am always on the boat.’
‘Thanks, Tomas, we’ll definitely be back, won’t we, girls?’
It was a conversation they returned to that evening as they sat in a cosy bistro and ate delicious raclette and fondue, sipping on a crisp white wine.
‘Hasn’t this been the best holiday ever? I know I wouldn’t have had half as much fun with Ryan,’ Gina said with a quirk of her mouth.
‘Well, thanks for inviting us. It’s been exactly what I needed, even if I didn’t realise that until I got here. It’s been like a reset for me. A realisation that there is a whole other world outside the cosy sanctuary of Lower Leaping and that I probably need to get out more,’ said Tess, laughing.
‘You would never move away, though. Would you?’ Suzy asked.
‘I’ve thought about it, but only fleetingly.
I’ve always loved living in the village, as you well know.
It’s home and I’ve got so much history and so many friends there that it would be too big a wrench to move away.
Whether or not Charles has other ideas, like selling the house and splitting the assets, I don’t know.
That’s why I want to get the divorce finalised as soon as I can so I know where I stand. ’
‘Well, I know my idea of selling up back at home and moving here didn’t go down very well with you two, but now we’ve done this once, I think we should make it an annual event, don’t you? We could either come back here or try somewhere else. We could do a grand European tour.’
‘Definitely,’ said Suzy.
‘That sounds like a plan,’ agreed Tess.
She grew reflective for a moment, wondering where she might be in a year’s time.
So much had happened in the last few months that it was difficult to look so far ahead and imagine what her future might hold.
She hoped her plans to let out the annexe would have come to fruition.
She’d always enjoyed hosting visitors and this way it would bring in some extra cash as well.
As soon as Rob had moved on, she would have some photos taken, look at pricing and investigate how to get her details on to some of the main websites.
Hopefully, by then, her mum would be fully recovered from her health issues, Hannah would be back from her travels and off at teacher-training college and Tess would be living alone at Hollyhocks Cottage as a divorced woman.
Tess had already been in touch with the solicitor recommended by Nico, who had put the necessary paperwork into action, which was another reason she was glad to be away.
It stopped her dwelling on Charles’s inevitable reaction when he found out what she had in mind.
He was bound to turn up at the house demanding to know exactly what she thought she was doing and she really wasn’t looking forward to that conversation.
Now, she took another sip of her wine and brought herself back to the moment, her gaze drifting out of the window of the bistro, landing on the old, cobbled, pedestrianised street, aglow with soft lighting, couples walking by arm in arm, animated chatter in different dialogues resounding around them.
Perhaps Gina’s idea of upping sticks and moving out here wasn’t such a bad one after all, she thought, with a wry smile.
They lingered over their meal, choosing a selection of sweet treats for pudding which they opted to share between them and then had coffees and a digestif, by which point, Tess felt delightfully satiated and light-headed.
She was only pleased her friends were with her so that she could hang on to their arms when they made the short walk back to the hotel.
As they waited for the bill to arrive, her phone, which had been face down on the table beside her, vibrated.
Both Gina and Suzy looked at her expectantly and Gina added, ‘That’s not Rob again, is it? Sending you bedtime kisses.’
‘No! Excuse me,’ she said. ‘I’d better just check.
’ She turned the phone over, wondering who it might be at this time of night, although her anxiety from the other day had lessened since she’d been able to unwind and relax fully, the wine and the ambience obviously helping with that.
Could it be Rob? A flicker of hope flared in her chest. More likely Charles demanding to talk to her about the divorce, or Hannah, with a request for funds from the other side of the world.
She’d already spoken to her mum earlier this evening, who sounded chipper, although she knew how quickly things could change in that direction.
The preview of the message flashed onto the screen and she realised it was none of those people.
‘Oh…’ she uttered, unable to hide her surprise. ‘It’s from Nico.’
Surely he couldn’t be wanting to talk to her about the divorce at this time of night?
‘Nico, the nice solicitor guy? What does he want?’ Gina said, never afraid to ask the obvious question.
Tess was wondering the same thing as she opened the message.
‘Oh,’ she exclaimed again. ‘That’s funny. He’s asking if I’d like to go out for dinner with him.’
‘What’s funny about that?’ Gina exclaimed. ‘Didn’t you say how helpful he’d been, how lovely he was?’
‘Yes.’ She’d said all those things about Nico. He was amenable, considerate and pleasant company, with lovely, kind eyes, but she wasn’t sure how she felt about a dinner invitation.
‘What does he say exactly?’ Suzy urged, giggling like a teenager.
Tess paused for a moment, thinking it was probably best not to tell them.
That they should all just go back to the hotel to bed and she could think about replying to Nico in the morning, but with two eager expressions looking at her from the other side of the table, she knew she wouldn’t get away with that.
‘Okay,’ she said, looking over her reading glasses at them. ‘“Hey, hope you’re doing okay? I was thinking of trying the new tapas place in Bramlingham. I’ve heard good things about it and wondered if you’d like to join me? This Saturday, perhaps? Only if you’re free of course. No worries if not.”’
‘Ooh,’ swooned Gina and Suzy in unison.
‘You’ll go, won’t you?’ It was more of a statement than a question from Gina.
‘Not sure.’ Tess pondered on the idea, bringing an image of Nico to mind. ‘He’s a great guy, but a dinner date seems loaded with intent. I’m not sure I’m ready to start seeing other men in that way and I would hate to give him the wrong idea.’
‘You’re reading far too much into it,’ Gina scolded her.
‘Think on it as dinner with a friend. You’ll be able to get to know him better and discover if you want to develop the relationship further.
If you don’t then you can keep it on a friends-only basis.
From what you’ve told us, he sounds like a decent guy. ’
‘Yeah.’ She’d thought that when she’d first met him when she was still with Charles.
Friendly and open, he was unlike some of Charles’s other colleagues, who could be pretentious and overbearing.
Not Nico, though – he was easy to talk to and amusing company as well.
Easy on the eye too. ‘I’ll have a think about it,’ she said. ‘And get back to him tomorrow.’
‘Do it now!’ Gina urged, leaning across the table. ‘I know what you’re like, Tess. If you leave it until the morning, you’ll find an excuse not to go and I reckon that would be a big mistake. Just say yes; what have you got to lose?’
It might seem inconsequential to Gina. She’d been on her own for years and had a potted dating history, but for Tess this was a big step into unchartered territory.
She’d not been on a date in over thirty years; she wasn’t sure she would even know how to act in that situation and as to what she would wear, she really had no clue.
Her gaze drifted across to Suzy, who gave the same imploring look as Gina.
‘Okay, fine,’ she said with a sigh. ‘I know I won’t get any peace until I do, but if this turns out to be the biggest mistake I’ve ever made then I’m blaming you two.’
Tess picked up her phone and fired off a message before she had a chance to change her mind.
What a lovely idea, Nico! Thanks for thinking of me. I’d love to come along.
She felt a mix of relief, freedom and trepidation as she popped her phone into her handbag. It didn’t matter; she still had plenty of time to come up with the perfect excuse as to why she shouldn’t go and, if she needed to, she would obviously make sure to let Nico down gently.