by Klaire, Jody
“By the look on your face, I’d say we are back to deuce,” Rebecca whispered.
Berne knew she was beaming. Tears welled up as if they’d fill her with enough light and happiness to float away.
“Oui,” was all she could manage.
The band started to play and she shuddered out a breath focusing on Pippa. She looked like everything Berne had dreamed of: From the first moment they met, the storm, the rain soaked teenager; to the rugby match, the beach; the pain of losing her, the agony of empty years without her, without being able to breathe fully; to the accident when she had dreamed of her only to wake and see Vivienne; to Pippa in the cottage, the confusion as Doug held her hand; the exhilaration of the stolen kiss, the Ardèche; to when Pippa declared she loved her. The sight of her running in the rain; to the sight of her now before her with tears in her twinkling eyes; Eyes full of love.
Every moment, every sound, every breath filled with the joy of seeing Pippa’s nervous smile.
“I’m guessing you’re not going to turn her down?” Rebecca mumbled, taking a long breath.
“Non,” Berne whispered through her tears. “I have been waiting to ask her for some time.”
Rebecca met her eyes. “Thought so.”
“Oui?” Berne cocked her head.
“Yeah, but like you, I thought she’d run a mile.” Rebecca grinned.
“Only she has run to me.” Berne let out a long, happy sigh.
◆◆◆
Iswallowed and coughed with all the glittery stuff Caroline had covered me in. The band had started but I wasn’t quite sure how I was standing in a wedding dress alongside Babs.
“Ça va?” Babs asked, breaking from gazing at Rebecca long enough to glance at me.
I shuddered out a breath. “Absolutely terrified, you?”
“Oui. I hope my legs will remember how to walk,” she mumbled.
Talking of legs, mine were shuddering like I was surfing a tumble dryer. “If they do, can they tell mine?”
I met Berne’s eyes. Electricity crackled through me, from me, from her. I swore that everyone seated must have been able to see it. My heart thudded, heavy, happy. My stomach zinged with nerves. Like when we first met, just stronger. So much stronger.
Babs took a hold of her bouquet and squeezed my hand. “I knew you would be happy to join me.”
“Glad one of us did,” I whispered.
My dad took my arm and Monsieur Henri took Babs’s.
“Now if you’ll gaze to the left, try not to faint in shock,” Dad said in his best “tour guide” voice.
I did just that and my mouth dropped open: My entire family, even my grandparents, and yes, my mother and sister, were there. My mother with a handkerchief and sister attempting a smile. “Are they tears of joy or sadness?”
He chuckled. “With your mother, who knows?”
I reached for Babs’s hand again. She squeezed it then I met Rebecca’s eyes. She flashed me a cheeky grin and nodded.
I stopped. I shut my eyes, my heart pounding. Maybe it was the corset, who knew, but I felt faint.
Breathe.
I locked eyes with Berne and my feet moved back into motion.
Berne, the one I’d spent every waking moment missing and loving. She was there... And she wasn’t bolting for the door. Hurray.
As I walked up the aisle, I was sure it should get harder but it got easier. Instead of panic, I felt more... Sure? Was that the right word? Yes, sure.
My beautiful Berne: who sat playing the piano in a thunderstorm, who watched me with hunger in her eyes, a softness in a smile, as I fell in love with her; a smile that shot desire through me; eyes that shocked me from the confusion I’d found being away from her; Berne who had drawn me back, stripped me bare, and renovated my heart.
Each step closer, I breathed her in, soaked her up. I wanted to get closer, I wanted to share my heart with her. She held out her hand as my dad presented it and I blinked away tears I hadn’t known were falling.
He kissed my cheek, pure joy in his eyes and stepped away.
I looked down at Berne’s calloused hands; strong hands; hands I’d felt even when I tried everything not to; hands that felt as if they’d been made to hold me fast.
Berne, my Berne.
“Guessing you fancy getting married then?” Rebecca mumbled through her tears to Babs.
“Oui,” Babs whispered. “And in your family home, si’l te plait.”
“My family home?” Rebecca whispered. She looked to her father and back to Babs. Then she hung her head, tears and laughter spilling through.
Babs smiled up at her, wiping the tears away. “You are happy to do this?”
Rebecca grinned. “What better way to celebrate a hole-in-one.” She glanced at me and winked. “Go, Saunders.”
“Couldn’t let her wander up all by herself now, could I?” I shrugged. “Wouldn’t be polite.”
She chuckled as tears dribbled down her cheeks. “You and your manners.”
I turned back to Berne, sucked in a breath. Oh wow, I was in a dress, with Berne. “Um... Well... You see... I wondered—”
Berne placed a finger over my lips and tutted. She pulled a ring from her pocket. “I have been trying to ask for a while.” She held it up. “You wish to make this official, oui?”
I nodded. “I think I might faint, but yes please.”
She pulled off the one she’d given me and held it in her hand. “I am happy. I think you may turn me down.”
I slid my hand into hers.
Rebecca pulled a box out of her waistcoat and opened it, holding it up to Babs. “It was my mother’s.”
Babs stroked Rebecca’s cheek with her finger. “I know.”
Rebecca shuddered out her tears. “I’ve never seen anything as sneaky.”
Berne and I grinned at each other.
“She had a spare,” I said, motioning to the dress.
Berne nodded. “She had me to think this was only for her and Rebecca, oui?”
“She had my dad drive me up in the coolest classic car,” Rebecca said with a smirk.
Babs shrugged.
“Three members of a wedding completely unaware.” Rebecca wheezed. “When did you sleep?”
“What can I say?” Babs turned to the registrar and grinned. “I had a plan.”
Chapter 56
I held the knife with Berne as Babs and Rebecca did the same on the other side of the biggest cake I’d ever seen.
“So, we chose the cake too?” Rebecca asked. We’d spent most of the afternoon spotting the little details we’d picked out.
“Oui, it is made of chocolate, I believe.” Babs winked at me. “With caramel.”
“I’m too busy giggling at the figures on top but yum.” I tapped the chocolate versions of us: Babs with the steering wheel and a mobile phone; Rebecca with helmet, board shorts and a floatation vest—they’d even included her tattoos and the sunblock on her nose; Berne sat in a kayak with a paddle and a satisfied smile as I balanced on the rim, arms thrust out, in a wedding dress with a French rugby shirt over it.
I shook my head. “We look tasty in chocolate.”
Pictures taken, we were led to the gazebo. The sun was warm, pleasant, the wind had calmed and so everyone had eaten outside, overlooking the sweeping lawns.
“Can’t believe you managed to get my mother’s house back,” Rebecca whispered, giving Babs a squeeze. “It really feels like she’s here, you know?”
Babs wandered over to something tall covered in material. “Although we are all captured.” She winked at Doug and Stephanie. “Perhaps with a few additions.”
Stephanie giggled and snuggled into Doug who beamed.
“Monsieur Monmouth-Whitely wished to have someone to keep an eye on us, oui?” Babs nodded to him and he stepped forward.
“Haven’t seen it myself yet.” He cleared his throat. It was still odd to see him smiling. He pulled off the material.
I covered my mouth. It captured every bit of joy
and love Rebecca’s mother had been filled with. She had been tall, thin, with long hair that she’d always flicked back over one shoulder. The statue captured her: a warm smile that I remembered, a smile that Rebecca had when she let out an unguarded laugh. Some people shone when they smiled, but then some people shone full stop and Rebecca’s mother, and now her statue, beamed a happiness that I understood, that I felt.
True happiness, true joy. I glanced at Rebecca—yeah, the same glow that her daughter held in her misty blue eyes.
Mr Monmouth-Whitely stared up at it in tears. Rebecca went to him and clung to him. I gripped hold of Berne. I wasn’t sure whether Rebecca or Mr Monmouth-Whitely shook more with the tears. Babs put her hand over her mouth so Berne and I held our arms out and wrapped her up.
“You did a fantastic job,” I whispered to Berne through my tears.
“I only finish it a few days before we arrive.” She blew out a breath. “It was not easy.”
I beamed up at her. “C’est parfait.”
“Mais.” Babs cleared her throat, her eyes locked on Rebecca and her father. “I have a present from your friends to you.” She turned to smile at us.
Berne sighed. “You gave us a wedding—”
Babs held up her hand and Fabrice hurried over with a grin and held out an envelope.
I took it. Unlike Berne, I liked presents. I opened it. “Renovating hearts?”
She smiled. “Oui. Doug, Stephanie and I are in need of your skills.”
Rebecca wandered over. “Stone and wood furniture designed by master craftswomen, and made in the heart of Wales... renovations and furniture?” She raised her eyebrows. “But we live in France?”
“Oui, my little English scone,” Babs said, tapping her on the nose. “But there seems to be a lot of artisans ready to take up the challenge.”
Rebecca cocked her head. “You hired the whole lot, didn’t you?”
She nodded.
Doug wandered over and handed over another envelope. “Stephanie and I wanted to pitch in.”
Rebecca took it with a frown. “For what?”
He kissed her on the cheek and went back to Stephanie. Rebecca opened the envelope. “It’s a contract?”
Mr Monmouth-Whitely cleared his throat. “Yes, you’ll have a lot of work to keep you busy. I believe that a major contract in the South of France has come your way?”
We would? How?
“It seems that Emilie could not keep up with her clients demands,” Stephanie said with a shrug. “And Natalie and the others... they leave her.”
Babs grinned. “Oui, and my handpicked team of gorgeous people remains in place and with help from some hairy men.”
“Gwen isn’t hairy though,” Rebecca said. “We’re keeping her too, right?”
“If your business partners agree.” Mr Monmouth-Whitely said.
Berne smiled and squeezed me. “We work together once more, oui?”
“That’s some present.” I grinned at the others. “I, for one, love it.”
“I don’t have a present for you,” Rebecca mumbled to Babs.
Babs put hands on her hips. “You try to get my parent’s blessing; you go to Monaco, you dress up for me; you ask their permission, you take a job here; you beat your father on the course; you take care of me when I am sick and you help me to give a friend I love her home back.” She beamed up at her. “You love me... you do not run... I am happy.”
I beamed at Rebecca who went pinker than she did in the sun. “I...” She shrugged again.
Doug smiled. “I have a present for you too.” He took Stephanie’s hand. “I’m hoping that you and Berne will use it when you are over here. Winston likes the sun.”
He was right. Winston loved France.
“You don’t have to do that—”
“I want to.” He walked up to me and took my hands.
I gave him a big hug, breathing in his scent. “Thank you.”
He nodded to Berne and turned, leading us around to the front of the house. I grinned at the classic car.
“You managed to fix it up?” I asked, running my hand under the decorations put on. I’d loved it in the showroom. It was a beautiful car.
“Bribery mainly. Stephanie is fantastic at charming people.” He winked and she laughed. “I believe it’s a French trait.”
I sank into his hug once more and kissed him on the cheek. “Make her happy, give her a rugby team.” I winked at him as he held open the door.
Babs, Berne, Rebecca and I clambered in.
Erique sat behind the wheel. “Let’s get you home, oui?”
I nodded and waved out to those gathered as they threw confetti over the car.
“I can’t believe my mother grew up here,” Rebecca mumbled, gazing out of the window as we drove away from the house through the lanes into the village—The villagers were out, waving to us, throwing confetti, cheering.
“Hopefully, they’ll be as happy to see us when they have to work for us,” I said.
Erique drove past a very impressive looking unit. The “Renovating Hearts” name chiselled into the stone, with what looked to be a half-wooden, half-stone logo.
“The fusion of passion, non?” Babs said with a cheeky wink.
I cleared my throat, feeling my cheeks glow into life once more. “Don’t know where you got that idea.”
Chapter 57
We’d had some curious looks at the airport and even more so when Rebecca hoisted Babs into her arms and carried her up the steps onto the private plane—Even the plane had the letter H on it.
We pulled up outside the cottage in Ajoux late at night but I felt a whoosh of relief to see it and be home. I smiled at sound of the river trickling by, sloshing over the stones and took in the smell of some sweet flower in the air. It was much warmer than Wales, like a warm embrace.
Winston peeked his bonnet out of the garage doors. I cocked my head. I was sure that the garage doors had fallen off. Maybe I’d fixed them and forgotten?
I wandered over to the bridge and sat on the wall. My feet were aching from the heels and my wedding dress was a bit too warm in the heat. Summer in France. I’d missed it.
“It is good to be home?” Berne asked in a gentle tone.
“Yes, it feels like it’s always been home.” I looked to the villages below, the moon high overhead, the lights twinkling away.
“You do not wish to spend more time in Britain?” She’d had it drilled into her by Mr Monmouth-Whitely and Gwen all evening that it was Britain, not just England. Welsh people tended to throw things at her when she got it wrong.
“I don’t mind visiting.” I looked over to Babs and Rebecca who were canoodling next to the car. “And Rebecca’s posh new house is very nice. Fantastic stone work in particular.”
Berne leaned in and captured my lips. “Your gentle touch on the wood makes it shine, oui?”
I smiled against her lips. “I love the way you talk.”
She arched an eyebrow and I laughed. I held onto her for a moment, relishing the fact that I was in France, with her, married to her.
She let me hold her, rubbing slow circles over my back.
“Were you really worried that I’d go back to Doug?” I didn’t know why I needed to ask but it had nagged at me.
Berne pulled back to meet my eyes. “Non, it took me some time but I know that you love to be with me as much as I do you.” She smiled. “I trusted you, him, both of you, oui?”
I winked at her. “And I sent pictures.”
She grinned. “This also.”
I glanced over at Babs. She and Rebecca were giggling with Erique, who couldn’t get the suitcases out of the boot. In all fairness, there was a lot of them.
I squinted then cocked my head. “Why’s there no scaffolding attached to the house?”
“Pardon?” Berne nuzzled into my neck.
“Did it get stormy and blow down?” I asked.
Rebecca dragged the suitcases out of the boot as Erique protested about his back
. Were there more cases?
“Non,” Berne said in a jolly tone.
I squinted. I was sure we’d left scaffolding up. We hadn’t finished the roof on that section. I wandered toward the house, wedding shoes in hand, then stopped.
Wait...
The garden, even without light shining on it, looked manicured. It had plants and mini trees and hedgerows. “Did we pull up at the wrong house?”
Rebecca yanked the suitcases to the door. “Pip, worry about that when we’ve had a cuppa, will you?”
She sounded exhausted. She’d been raging between weepy, elated, pensive, and disbelief on the plane. Babs had cooed to her the whole time. The soothing tones had nearly sent me to sleep and, I didn’t know about Berne, but I was exhausted too. Marrying really took it out of you.
“Warmth,” Babs mumbled in a dopey tone. “Warmth and dry and no rain.”
I nodded, following Babs and Rebecca inside. They dragged suitcases into the kitchen but I stopped in the hall.
“It looks like our house,” I mumbled.
I turned to the left.
Huh?
There used to be a section of wall there. I’d partitioned it off, I knew I had. We’d hung the picture of Rebecca and me on the Ardèche on it.
Only now, there was no wall but an archway into a spacious living room. We’d only claimed a portion of the space before as the rest was a work in progress. Now we had patio doors leading out onto a terrace. I wandered over and placed my hand on the glass. We had a terrace?
“Okay, we’ve had the hardest working burglars ever.” And ones that hadn’t understood the concept.
“You—” Rebecca clattered into something behind me, her voice filled with the shock I felt. “How?”
I walked to the door, which had once been to my makeshift workshop but it wasn’t one anymore. No, now it was the entire length of the old cattle barn which we’d rescued from the foliage.
“How?” I mumbled. I turned to Babs who had a look of wonder on her face. Then I met Berne’s eyes. “Did you rob a bank?”
