THE tennis had been good, his companion pleasant to be with, and as the two of them walked along the main street of the village, seeking refreshment after the exercise, Leo was aware that the bells were ringing at the church and a wedding was taking place.
Not an unusual event on a Saturday in June, by any means, but it was attracting a lot of attention, as weddings always did, and when his tennis partner wanted to linger outside the church they separated, him to the café farther along the street and her to join those who were waiting for the bride and her groom to appear.
The place was almost empty when he got there, even cream teas were being overshadowed by what was happening at the church, but there was one customer sitting at a table at the back, staring into space, and he forced a smile.
Hot and sticky, he just wanted to relax but she was here again, the young French doctor looking so forlorn he just had to go across and say hello.
‘So how’s it going?’ he asked easily, towering above her with racket in hand.
‘Fine,’ she said with a pale smile.
‘You must be the only one not watching what is going on at the church. I thought that most women love a wedding.’
He was making conversation and knew it, out of his depth because she looked so glum, and he was dumbstruck when she said tonelessly, ‘Not those who have been betrayed. Today should have been my wedding day too. I should have been a bride, but as you can see it has not happened.’
‘Oh!’ he exclaimed, and lowered himself onto the chair beside her. ‘I am so sorry. I would never have brought up the subject of marriage if I’d known. It is not surprising that you aren’t amongst the observers and well-wishers. Do you want to talk about it?’
She shook her head. ‘No, I don’t, Dr Fenchurch. I was managing to get through the day reasonably well until I saw the wedding and came in here to get away from it.’ The pale smile was back. ‘But I’m all right now.’ Steering the conversation into less upsetting channels, she said, ‘What has happened to your tennis partner?’
‘Naomi? She’s outside the church with everyone else, but we were about to separate in any case. We only meet once weekly for tennis. So why don’t you let me take you back to the house before the bridal couple appear?’
‘But you came in here for some refreshment,’ she protested.
‘I’ll have a bite when I’ve seen you safely away from all of this,’ he replied. ‘If we take the long way round we’ll miss the church. But, Amelie, I have to warn you there will be other weddings. June is the most popular month in the year so…’
‘I’m not going to have a panic attack every time I see one,’ she told him.
‘It was because it was today of all days that it upset me so much, and I’m butting into your weekend again, aren’t I? I am so sorry.’
‘Don’t be. You are alone in a strange place and I am happy to help in any way I can,’ he assured her, and was surprised how much he meant it. ‘So let’s go, shall we?’ And with a smile for the girl behind the counter as Amelie paid for what she’d had, he shepherded her outside and they set off in the opposite direction from the wedding.
Harry had rung him after breakfast, wanting to know if the previous night’s arrangements had gone smoothly, and he’d been able to tell him that they had.
‘So what’s she like?’ he’d wanted to know, and Leo had described her briefly.
‘Something in your tone tells me that Amelie is not another chic Francine Lomax,’ the senior partner had said laughingly.
Leo hadn’t taken him up on that comment. Instead, he’d told him, ‘She was down in the cove swimming at some godless hour this morning after seeming to be completely exhausted last night.’
‘How do you know that?’
‘I saw her go past with a towel over her arm and realised I hadn’t told her about the rip tides, so went after her to be on the safe side.’
‘And where is she now?’
‘I don’t know, but if her rapture on seeing Bluebell Cove is anything to go by, she’ll be out seeing the sights.’
‘We’ll be calling round soon,’ Harry had informed him, ‘and if she isn’t there we can stop by again later.’
It would seem that she hadn’t been there because she was here with him, Leo was thinking when the surgery and the house opposite came into view. When she opened the door there was a note behind it.
He was observing her hesitantly as she bent to pick it up, undecided whether he should go and leave her to her private thoughts or offer to stay and keep her company for a while until he was sure she was all right to be left on her own.
Unaware of what was going through his mind, Amelie read the note and exclaimed, ‘Oh, dear! Dr Balfour and his family have been while I was out.’
‘Don’t concern yourself,’ he advised. ‘I spoke to him this morning and he said he’ll call again if he misses you, but for now, Amelie, would you like me to stay for a while or would you prefer me to leave?’
For the first time he saw the sparkle of tears in the blue eyes looking into his, but her voice was steady enough as she replied, ‘I will be all right, thank you. You helped me through a bad moment and I am grateful, but I am sure that you have other things to do.’
As relief washed over him at being let off the hook he said, ‘All right, if that is what you would prefer, but I’ll leave you my mobile number just in case.’
‘There is no need,’ she protested. ‘I will be fine once this day is over,’ and wished she hadn’t been so quick to tell him the reason for her distress. She’d kept the hurt under wraps ever since the break-up with Antoine and would still have been doing so if she hadn’t come across a village wedding.
Leo’s relief at her insistence that she would be all right was short-lived. While he was out dining with Georgina from the boutique and other friends that evening he was on edge, knowing that he shouldn’t have been so quick to latch onto Amelie’s reassurances.
The day she’d been dreading wasn’t over yet and the hurts that life was prone to hand out always seemed to multiply with the coming of the night.
It was as he’d said. She was alone in a foreign land and although he hardly knew her, he did have some degree of responsibility towards her because she was joining the practice on Monday morning and they would be meeting again. On a different level.
The folks he was with were aware of his wandering thoughts and Georgina asked, ‘What’s the matter, Leo? Aren’t we entertaining enough for you tonight?’
He smiled and there wasn’t a woman there who didn’t wish he belonged to her, including Georgina, but she was aware that Leo was not the marrying kind, not where she was concerned anyway.
‘I have got something on my mind,’ he confessed. ‘I’m sorry if I’m poor company.’ He sent an apologetic glance in Georgina’s direction. ‘I need to pop out for a while. If I’m not back when you’re ready to order, you know what I like to eat, Georgina.’ And before anyone could comment he’d gone, striding out of the restaurant with a haste that didn’t go unnoticed.
Ten minutes and once again he was outside the house where Amelie was staying, and when he saw that it was in darkness he was about to turn away when her voice came from behind him.
‘Dr Fenchurch!’ she exclaimed. ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you again today.’
‘I just came to check that you’re all right,’ he said smoothly, as if he hadn’t been fidgeting on her behalf for the last hour. ‘I’m dining with friends in a restaurant not far from here so thought I’d call to make sure.’
‘That is very kind of you and makes me even more