The rest of the morning passes peacefully. Tommy sets off rather suddenly to walk to the nearest village, Peter dozes in the shade for most of it and Isaac and Polly take Reggie for a stroll to a nearby lake and on to a local village for lunch in a bistro. Lucia does some necessary laundry and pegs it out on a washing line she’s rigged up between two trees. Pickles has attached herself to Lu’s side, as if she instinctively knows this is her best hope for the future. The comfort of the little animal resting her nose on Lu’s foot when she finally sits down to rest is something she knows she must hang on to at all costs.
‘Can you tell me what I need to do to adopt Pickles?’ Lu asks the farmer’s wife, Amelie, when she’s mustered the energy to go over to the main building sometime later.
‘Leave it with me,’ the woman says. ‘Jean-Luc and I are visiting with my friend in London next month. I will deal with the necessary paperwork, get the small Pickles vaccinated and chipped and bring her to England.’
‘Oh my goodness, would you really do all that?’ Lucia is almost overwhelmed by this kindness. ‘I’ll pay for everything, and you can either come and stay with us in the Midlands or I’ll meet you somewhere. Anywhere!’ she adds recklessly.
Amelie smiles. ‘We will work something out. Maybe Jean-Luc and I will extend our stay and visit Stratford-upon-Avon. We have always wanted to go there. Is that near to where you live?’
‘It’s not a million miles away.’ Lucia sees the puzzled expression on Amelie’s face. ‘Sorry, that’s just a silly saying. What I mean is, Stratford is within an hour and a half’s drive from Chandlebury. I would love you to come and stay.’
‘And we will meet your husband? The one who you say does not like to travel with all of you lovely people?’
‘You might. Or on the other hand, you might not.’
The two women exchange looks. No more words are necessary. Lucia goes back to their pitch knowing she’s made a friend.
By three o’clock, Jean-Luc is showered, dressed in his best with bushy hair and beard combed neatly. He brings his seven-seater pick-up around to where Lucia’s party are waiting. Reggie is already strapped into his seat and Jean-Luc takes great care to make sure he’s securely fastened in.
‘Are you sure you don’t mind picking us up again?’ Lucia asks. ‘We can easily get a taxi back from the town … or I guess that’s possible …’
He laughs. ‘Please don’t take away my excuse. Our neighbour is having a party this afternoon and evening for his fiftieth birthday and everyone will be there.’
‘But what about you, Jean-Luc?’ Shouldn’t you be at the celebration?’
‘Perhaps I should, but there are a hundred things I would rather be doing. Amelie and I will go there early for a little while with the children and then be home in plenty of time to fetch you. It is a good excuse to leave before the dancing. Last year my neighbour’s wife fell off the table and the party ended early. It can get, as I believe you English like to say, messy.’
Tommy climbs into the front of the truck and they’re soon chattering away in a mixture of French, English and some strange in-between language that they both seem to find extremely amusing. Lucia is suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude for the others, all here to support her. There is no way she could ever have done this on her own.
Peter echoes Lu’s thoughts when he says, under cover of the howls of laughter from the front, ‘I’m so very glad we took this trip together. There’s no group of people who could make it as perfect as this, from my point of view. Thank you all for making this new family.’
Polly looks as if she’s about to cry and Lucia grabs her left hand as Isaac reaches for the right.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Peter says, his brow furrowed now. ‘I’ve said too much, my dear. I didn’t mean to upset you.’
‘No, it’s fine. It’s just that I was thinking the same thing. You lot are amazing. I feel as if we’re a team now. Me and Reggie … well, we were drifters until we met you. Now it’s as if we belong somewhere at last. At least for a while,’ she adds quickly.
‘For as long as you need us,’ Lucia says, giving her a hug.
‘For always.’
Lu can see that Isaac’s words are out before he can stop them, as usual. How’s Polly going to react to this? She holds her breath, but Polly just smiles and squeezes Isaac’s hand.
After a few miles, Jean-Luc announces that they have reached the nearest parking area to the place Lucia has described to him.
‘You can walk to the cliffs from here,’ he says. ‘And later, there is a path to the beach, or you can follow the lane down to the village where you will find a very good café. My cousin Gerard runs it, and if you mention my name, he will make sure your bill is reasonable and your food and wine is excellent.’
‘That sounds like a marvellous plan,’ says Peter, when it’s clear that Lucia is lost in her memories. ‘The café sounds ideal.’
They fix on a time for the pick-up and Jean-Luc departs, while Isaac and Peter follow Polly to a handy toilet block. Lucia thinks for a minute that she’s alone but Tommy is soon by her side, and without speaking, he joins her as she sits down on a nearby bench in the shade of a sycamore tree. For a few moments, neither of them break the silence. The dappled sunlight through the leaves is mesmerising, flickering as a light breeze moves the branches.
‘Are you sure you’re ready for this next step?’ Tommy asks. ‘It’s going to be so hard, visiting the place where Eddie had his accident. I’m not sure if it’s wise, darling.’
Lucia still isn’t clear how much Tommy knows about the events so long ago when Eddie, wilful at the best of times, was allowed to join his friends on what turned out to be his last ever trip. Des may have filled him in, she supposes. But even Des doesn’t know everything.
‘I’ve got to do it, now we’ve come this far. If I don’t go, I’ll always regret it. I … I asked the compass.’
‘Yes, I thought you must have done. Tell me more.’
‘Well, not only did the compass needle point in the direction of the site of Eddie’s accident, but the barometer swung around madly until I settled down and held it in my hands and just let myself think about him. It finally stopped moving when it reached stormy. Then I got the strongest picture in my mind of Eddie waving goodbye from the back seat of my dad’s car. That was the last time I saw him. I need to say a proper goodbye, Tommy.’
‘Okay. Well, if you’re determined to go through with it, I’ll be here to prop you up,’ he says. ‘The only times I ever got the stormy reading were when my thoughts were pretty tormented too but it always ended well, to be fair. I can see you’re sure.’
‘Yes, I am. It’s a terrifying thought but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t go there. I’ve spent way too much of my life being scared to take risks. It’s time to jump off the highest diving board.’
He laughs. ‘You go from one extreme to the other, Lu. You’ve spent years paddling around in the shallow end and now this. I’m very proud of you, darling.’ He seems about to stand up but Lucia puts a hand out to stop him.
‘Tommy … could I just ask you something? Why did you make that CD for me all those years ago?’
‘Oh … I had my reasons.’
Lucia hesitates. Tommy looks as if he’d very much like the subject to be closed now. Does she really want to go any further with this line of questioning? But it’s always going to bug her if she doesn’t press for proper answers here. ‘Tell me the reasons, Tommy. I’m … interested,’ she says.
Silence falls. Even the birds seem to be slumbering in the afternoon warmth. A butterfly lands briefly on Lucia’s arm and she’s momentarily distracted by its shimmering beauty. Tommy clears his throat.
‘I thought you needed some romance in your life. Des wasn’t providing it. And I’ve always loved collecting my favourite songs. I thought you would appreciate the gesture.’
So that was all. Lucia has built up this crazy image of Tommy sending not-so-hidden messages and it turns out he just felt sorry for her. Shame at her own big-headedness makes her cringe. Tommy hasn’t finished though.
‘Embarrassing really, now I look back. You were married. You still are. I should never have sent it. That was just me thinking I knew best, as usual. I realised afterwards that you were probably so contented with Des that you didn’t need a soppy CD to make life more fun.’
‘Contented? I suppose so. Some of the time at least. It wasn’t the life I expected. But that’s both our faults.’
The bleak words are out before Lucia has thought them through, and Tommy turns to look her straight in the eye. When she doesn’t look away, he slides a tentative arm around Lu’s shoulders and pulls her close. She leans against him, feeling his strength and warmth sending shivers all over her body. Suddenly, he lets her go, and the shock of the cooler air between them makes Lu gasp.
‘The others are coming,’ Tommy says. ‘I guess giving you a hug isn’t so wrong at a time like this, but I don’t want them to get the wrong impression.’
Lucia stands up and tries to collect her thoughts as the rest of their party approach the bench. The wrong impression. Well, that’s her told.