In spite of the coastal views, stunning scenery and agreeable drive, both lapsed into silence as tiredness and frustration replaced eagerness and fun. It was only once they reached Concarneau and collected a Breton cake as a treasure that the sour atmosphere altered.
‘It’s called Kouign-amann,’ Bryony explained to a somewhat sullen Lewis, ‘and it is a specialty of the area made of bread dough, layers of butter and sugar. Try a piece. It might cheer you up. It might even make you smile a little bit,’ she continued, wafting the cake in front of his nose until a small smile cracked his face.
Lewis’s mood lifted and he insisted they stop for some coffee and to enjoy the picnic before heading to Quimper. They removed the mike packs again, found a spot off the main road and set up camp beside a field of golden sunflowers.
Lewis immediately drained a bottle of water and then wolfed down a ham-filled baguette. After a moment he spoke. ‘I ought to apologize.’
Bryony had decided she didn’t like falling out with Lewis. It was far more enjoyable when they were friends and the atmosphere lighter. She wasn’t one to hold a grudge or be off with anyone for long. Whatever had upset him had passed. ‘We all have our moments. I had mine yesterday. Want to tell me what upset you? Was it me?’
Lewis pushed his sunglasses back onto his forehead and fixed her with a forlorn look. ‘Gosh, no! Well, sort of. It’s complicated,’ he said with a sigh. ‘I can’t tell you in the car because the damn camera is on us all the time and we haven’t got sufficient time now so I’ll have to explain later.’
She chewed thoughtfully on a piece of cheese. ‘No problem,’ she replied. ‘Isn’t this fabulous? Sunshine, countryside and not a soul around apart from us.’
‘It’s superb. Can you hear that?’
She cocked her head and located the low humming of hundreds of bees. ‘Bliss!’
‘You know, I think after this experience, I almost could be tempted to move to France and buy a vineyard after all. It’s a world apart from our own hectic lives. It’s serene, filled with bounteous nature, few people and wonderful roads to drive along for mile after mile.’
‘Or kilometre after kilometre,’ she said with a laugh, glad that their relationship was back on an even keel. ‘Seriously, it would be wonderful. I can see you settling here and tending to your vines, then popping into town for a small aperitif before a lunch of cheese and fresh bread. Can’t think of anything nicer at the moment.’
He sat quietly, reclining on his elbows, sunglasses perched on top of his head, and his eyes closed. Bryony decided the French way of life would suit him. This trip might be the catalyst he required to kick-start a new life. The moment passed and with a sigh, she stood preparing to continue their journey and leave behind this idyll.
The final legs of the journey were not filled with the same tension they’d experienced at Vannes but when Bryony requested a stop on two more occasions to stretch her legs, there were no more moments of intimacy. By late afternoon they reached Rennes, the capital of Brittany and their final destination, somewhat exhausted. Fortunately, the crew was on hand to provide sufficient enthusiasm for the final shots and within minutes, amidst noisy cheers from those involved in the filming, the black and yellow car came into view and drew to a rapid halt outside the Palais Saint-Georges, a medieval abbey now housing city offices.
‘You beat us!’ Oscar cried, leaping over to congratulate the pair. Biggie snuffled around Lewis’s ankles with renewed interest.
Lewis bent to pat the animal. ‘Hello, Biggie boy. How did you enjoy your trip?’
‘He slept through the majority of it, the philistine. How many dogs get to go on a cultural journey around Brittany? He spent most of it on his back zonked out. How about you?’
‘It was interesting and tiring,’ Bryony replied.
‘What about Professor David Potts?’ Oscar babbled. ‘I couldn’t believe he was at Vannes. I thought he might be one of those lookalikes until he spoke. He’s got one of those dreamy voices, hasn’t he? My mum thinks he’s cute. Mind you, she thinks everyone under the age of forty is adorable. I think he’s dead hunky and yet sensitive and charming. No wonder he’s on the list of the UK’s top ten sexiest men. I got my photograph taken with him and so did Biggie. Biggie’s his latest fan. See, the man is a god. Even my dog loves him.’
Lewis muttered something unintelligible and stormed off in the direction of the abbey.
Bryony watched him depart then decided to join him. ‘I think Lewis needs to stretch his legs and so do I. We’ll be back in a moment.’
She caught up with Lewis, who was studying the building, arms stiff by his sides.
‘Come on, let’s walk and talk.’ She took his arm and guided him into the palace gardens, strolling past wide beds of geraniums and marigolds and along the path before stopping in front of a wooden bench where they both sat.
‘It’s Potts. Potts is the problem,’ he said at last.
‘Why?’
Lewis sucked in a long breath, tipping his head back as he searched for the words to explain. ‘He’s the reason Maxwell and I split up.’
Bryony digested this information and chose to remain quiet while he clearly struggled with his emotions.
‘Maxwell had an affair with him,’ he suddenly blurted out. ‘She was working on one of his programmes and like every female I’ve ever known, she fell for his smooth patter. He is ridiculously charming, isn’t he? All that hand kissing and holding your gaze, making you feel you’re the most important woman in the universe. And he’s got that easy Irish charm. Women love that – looks, charm and intelligence. It’s a heady mixture. Maxwell was like an over-excited puppy the day she found out she’d be working on the show with him. I humoured her. At that point I wasn’t jealous in the slightest. I honestly believed our relationship was solid. I didn’t have any reason to think she’d be bowled over by Professor clever-arse Potts.’ He spat out the words and clenched his fists, his eyes narrowing.
‘I shouldn’t have been so bloody complacent. There I was, parked at home dressed in trackpants every day, tapping away at a keyboard, thinking everything was ideal in my world. Meanwhile, Maxwell was falling head over heels for a suave, good-looking dude. I should have anticipated it. I should have made some effort before she jumped into bed with him.’
He shut his eyes and continued speaking. ‘I let myself go. It’s easy to do when you’re happy in a relationship. You don’t notice it to start with – a few pounds here, a few pounds there. Then one day, you’ve put on a stone. You tell yourself you’ll make an effort to lose it but you don’t. Work gets in the way and you go out almost every weekend and drink and eat all sorts of crap. Then you buy clothes in larger sizes and convince yourself it doesn’t matter because you think you’ll lose it when you finish your next project. Of course, you don’t because you’ve been eating takeaways while your girlfriend is out at night, and when you do get time off you don’t feel like jogging or going to the gym. Besides, you don’t want anyone to laugh at you at the gym. You’ll be the fat bloke while everyone else will be pumping weights and showing off six packs.’ He paused, opened his eyes and gave a sharp laugh before shaking his head.
‘So, there I was, an eighteen-stone idiot. I didn’t imagine Maxwell would have an affair, let alone with someone like Potts. I was a fool. She is beautiful. I knew that. Of course other men are going to find her attractive. I believed she was as happy with our relationship as I was. I didn’t suspect for a minute she would give up on me and everything we had – our home, our life, our future.’
He dropped his head into his hands. Bryony felt helpless. She wanted to comfort him yet he had now erected an invisible shield. He still loved Maxwell. That much was obvious. She toyed with the idea of putting an arm around him but he raised his head and with a weary sigh said, ‘I walked out the day she told me about the affair. I didn’t argue. I didn’t fight for her. I didn’t stand up like a real man. I skulked off like a kicked dog. I ought to have convinced her to give us another chance but I didn’t. My own self-worth was at a low. I helped cause the breakup. She would never have had an affair if I’d been more attentive to her, to our relationship, and been in better physical shape, or just simply shown her how much I cared about her. I was as much to blame as she was.’
‘No, Lewis. I understand you might feel that way but you’re wrong. No one deserves to be cheated on.’
He gave a small nod. ‘Anyway, I licked my wounds, chose a new destination and got a grip on my life.
‘I shed the weight. Stress played its part along with resolute determination. I moved out to another flat in London. I ran every single day and once I’d dropped the first stone, I started working out at the gym. The rest of the blubber fell away pretty quickly in fact. I worked hard at it. Spent endless hours on the cardio machines and then working out with weights. I was like a man possessed. I not only lost the weight I put on, I lost more and more. I kept at it. I had a crazy notion that if Maxwell saw me looking more like my old self or even better than that, she’d fall for me again.’
He looked across at a couple wrapped in each other, walking down the path, oblivious to his pain.
Bryony broke his silence. ‘She didn’t want to give it another go?’
In a hoarse whisper he replied, ‘She’d moved on too. Potts was a fixture in her life. He moved in with her, into our old flat.’ Lewis shook his head, eyes filled with pain. There was a catch in his voice. ‘How could I ever compare to the wonderful, clever, macho Professor David Potts? She’d never choose me over him. The rest you know. I gave up and moved to Derby.’
‘How can you think that way? To start with, you’re macho too, but people don’t get together with people just because they’re macho. You’re more than that. And you’re buff. I’ve seen you with your shirt off and Melinda commented on your bum last time you visited. Said she wanted to take a bite out of it.’
He offered her a small smile.
‘You have so much more to offer – you’re entertaining, witty and massive fun to be with. Even Melinda agrees on that score and she’s really difficult to please. I’ve loved being with you here in France. And you have plenty of intelligence. Look how we got on today and a lot of that was down to you. You knew things I didn’t know. Potts may know stuff about science but I bet he wouldn’t have been able to navigate French streets in a rickety French car. And I think you’d even stand a fair chance of beating me at Scrabble,’ she added gently, smiling at him. ‘After all, you did win the UK Under 13s Scrabble competition. I think Maxwell is a prize chump. She had something special – a wonderful man who loved her – and she threw that away.’
Lewis nodded. ‘Thanks. I shouldn’t let Potts get to me but seeing his smug face bought it all back.’
Bryony thought for a second before saying, ‘It’s not fair to put you through this. You shouldn’t have to put up with Potts as a presenter. I’ll tell Laura we don’t want to continue and we’ll pull out. They’ll have to find someone else.’
Lewis gave her a thoughtful look. ‘You would pull out, wouldn’t you?’
‘Too right I would. I’d much rather we throw in the towel than you have to face that man. Sometimes it’s best to walk away from the past.’
Lewis held out a hand. She took it and he squeezed hers lightly. ‘Thanks, but I’m no quitter. Potts may have won Maxwell but you and I are going to win this contest and you’re going to get every possible chance to appeal for your sister. Come on. Let’s get back to the others. We have a contest to win.’
She slipped her arm through his and they sauntered back towards the group.
‘Did Melinda really say she liked my bum?’ he asked.