‘It’s out to the east of the village, near the Italian border. Quite close to Mama. It’s expensive over that way. It’s a nice cottage but it’s not for us.’ Ben helped himself to half a baguette and a slice of cheese. ‘Besides, it’s too small,’ he continued. ‘It’s only two bedrooms and we need at least three and a study for me. The garden isn’t up to much either. Also, in my opinion, it’s overpriced even for that area.’
‘Oh! That’s a shame, I rather liked the look of it,’ Jodie said, disappointed. ‘Houses here do seem expensive. This was the cheapest one in the window. Do we really need three or four bedrooms?’
‘Mais oui – for the family we shall have in the future,’ Ben said.
‘But we could start off with a smaller house and move when we have children,’ Jodie said. ‘That’s what generally happens in England.’
‘Here in France we prefer to find a home where we can grow our families and grow old together, from the beginning. A forever home.’
‘So, why did you say it was interesting?’ Jodie said.
‘I am surprised the owner is selling, that’s all. He’s a friend of Mama’s. It was his family’s holiday cottage for years. He moved back up here last year and I thought he’d planned on living in the area permanently.’
‘What sort of price range are we going to be looking in?’ Jodie asked, hiding her disappointment over the cottage. Knowing the answer to that would at least stop her falling for ones that were too expensive and out of their reach.
‘We can probably afford a bit more than the price of that cottage,’ Ben said. ‘Depends on where we decide to live and what we find – and how well the next book does.’ He stood up. ‘Talking of which. I’ll see you later. Oh, I forgot to tell you… Mama has invited us to supper this evening.’ He gave her a quick kiss and was gone.
Jodie sighed. She’d assumed she and Ben would buy a house somewhere locally, maybe near the village, but perhaps Ben was thinking of moving away? At least she knew the size of house he wanted and had some idea of the price range, but she still didn’t know whether they shared the same taste. Something they still had to discuss. She smiled to herself. At least she knew now that Ben did want children in the future.
Smothering a small sigh Jodie fingered her locket. ‘What d’you think, Mum?’ Talking to her mum when she was worried had become a reflex action. Somehow, holding the locket and voicing her worries out loud helped her. Made her feel her mum was still close.
She could hear Jacqueline’s voice now, telling her to relax. ‘You’re in France and you know everything takes longer here. Once you start looking the right house will turn up, you’ll see. And the answers to all your questions will fall into place.’
‘Come on, hurry up. You know what a stickler my mama is for punctuality. She forgives anything but lateness.’ Ben was standing by the car, its engine already running.
‘Sorry,’ Jodie said, slamming the cottage door behind her. ‘Tina wanted to chat!’
‘She always does at the weekend,’ Ben said. ‘She needs another flatmate.’
‘That’s why she rang. She’s seeing someone this evening. A friend of a friend. Fingers crossed they’ll get on.’
Automatically Jodie climbed into the passenger seat as Ben held the door open for her and snapped the seatbelt into its lock before remembering she’d planned to suggest she drove at least one way this evening. Too late now, the car was already moving.
‘Is it just us this evening?’ she asked, as Ben turned onto the road leading down to the village.
He shrugged. ‘Mama didn’t say. I guess there might be a couple of neighbours there. I know she has a couple of friends she wants to introduce you to.’
‘Are any of these neighbours likely to speak English? Even a little?’ It would be a long, mainly silent evening for her if they didn’t. Still, at least Ben wasn’t working for once and they were spending time together.
‘Mmm… possibly not,’ Ben said. ‘But don’t worry, I’ll translate for you.’ About to turn left, Ben slammed on the brakes instead. A large orange ‘route barré’ sign had been placed in the middle of the turning.
‘Damn!’ he muttered. ‘Now we are going to be late. Have to go the long way round.’
‘Any idea why the road is closed?’ Jodie asked.
‘Probably a small landslide somewhere. We’ve had a lot of rain this winter, which is always a problem with any unstable rocks.’
The long way round meant Jodie saw parts of the village and surrounding countryside she hadn’t seen before. Ten minutes later, as they drove down an even narrower lane than usual, she saw a small house set back from the road, a for sale notice fixed to its garden gate.
‘Oh, isn’t that the cottage I liked? What a lovely setting. Are you sure we can’t even look at it?’ she asked, as the cottage disappeared from view around a bend in the road and Ben turned onto another lane that led to the rutted driveway of his mother’s house.
‘Why? I’ve told you it’s too small for us.’
‘OK, I admit it. I’m a house-ophile – if there is such a word! I love looking at houses. And that cottage is exactly the kind of house I’m drawn to,’ Jodie said. ‘Are there bigger versions around? And importantly, is it the kind of house you might like?’
‘Oui. We’ll see lots that are very similar when we start serious house-hunting. It’s a traditional design in this area. We just need one with more space.’
Ben drew up alongside a scarlet Range Rover that was parked in front of the house. As they got out of the car Jodie said, ‘Who does that belong to?’ but before Ben could answer, Annette Delahaye had opened her front door and come out to greet them.
‘There you are. Last to arrive.’
As she was enveloped in a tight hug, Jodie fleetingly remembered Tina’s warning. ‘Mothers-in-law can be difficult,’ she’d said. ‘And we all know how close French men are to their mothers. She’ll probably turn out to be the mother-in-law from hell.’
Jodie smiled at the memory as she kissed Annette’s cheek. In the short time she’d known her, Jodie had become very fond of Ben’s widowed mother. A woman of copious energy and somebody you felt instinctively drawn to, she’d wholeheartedly welcomed Ben’s choice of wife into her family. Jodie knew she couldn’t have asked for a better mother-in-law.
‘Désolé,’ Ben said. ‘Rue du Berger was closed.’
‘Ah, my fault then. I forgot to warn you about that,’ Annette said, turning to Jodie and taking her by the hand. ‘Come on in and meet everybody.’
‘Everybody’ included Adele and Bernard, who were nearby neighbours, Thierry Francis, who Annette introduced simply as ‘my friend’ with no further explanation, and, to Jodie’s surprise and delight, Nicola and her husband, Gilles.
As she said, ‘It’s lovely to see you again’ to Nicola, Jodie couldn’t help noticing the scowl that flitted across Ben’s face when he saw Thierry. Mmm… her husband clearly didn’t like his mother’s friend although he was perfectly polite to him, at first.
Too early in the year to eat supper outside, Annette had set the table in the conservatory that ran the length of the house overlooking the garden at the rear. Small lamps placed in strategic places around the room and candles that flickered down the length of the table, interspersed with bowls of flower heads