The True Love Travels Series Box Set

by Poppy Pennington-Smith

  Once again, Sebastian answered it and returned with an almost-scowl on his face.

  “Not Jeremy?” Annie asked.

  Sebastian nodded.

  GiGi looked at him, then at Annie. “Jeremy is your business partner?”

  Annie nodded, already getting up from the table. “I’ll tell him to go. It’s not the right time for him to be bothering you with this, GiGi.”

  But GiGi shuffled in her chair and sat up a little straighter. “Annie, there’s no time like the present. It’s fine.”

  Annie wanted to protest, but before she could she heard a car door shutting and Jeremy’s feet on the gravel out front. And then he was there, standing beside them in his totally out of place suit and tie.

  “Angelique, it’s such a pleasure to meet you. I’m very pleased you’re well again.” Jeremy extended his hand, but GiGi looked at it as if it might poison her.

  Unsure what to do about this, Jeremy took his hand back and shoved it awkwardly into his pocket. Then, without even pausing for breath, he launched into his sales pitch.

  He blathered on about the hotel chain, about his friend, about how fabulous and sympathetic their renovations always were. And while GiGi listened, Annie’s blood began to boil.

  She looked up at Sebastian and saw a similarly fraught expression on his face. His hands were clenched by his sides and Annie felt as if he must have been trying very hard not to interrupt and ask Jeremy to leave.

  Annie was about to do so herself when GiGi held up her hand to stop him from talking. “Young man,” she said loudly. “Thank you. I’ve heard enough.”

  Jeremy stopped, his mouth hanging slightly open, clearly surprised at being spoken to so abruptly.

  “I will accept the offer.”

  Jeremy paused for a moment, his expression utterly frozen, but then he grinned, clapped his hands and said, “Well, that’s wonderful. I…”

  GiGi shook her head. “There is no need to discuss it more now. I trust that your offer is a good one and I’ll have my solicitors look it over. Thank you.”

  “GiGi, no.” Annie whispered at first but then felt her voice clamouring at her throat and shouted, “No! You can’t.”

  Jeremy looked at her as if she was going mad. Sebastian moved closer but didn’t take her hand. And GiGi smiled softly. “Darling girl. I know this hurts. But you’ve seen the accounts. It’s our only option, and I don’t believe your friend Jeremy would have come all the way here to sell us a rotten deal. Would you?” She turned to Jeremy and stared at him, pointedly.

  Unfazed, Jeremy replied, “Of course not.” Then he looked at Annie. “It’s a good deal Annie. The best you’ll get. I promise you.”

  Suddenly, Annie couldn’t look at him. Or her grandmother. Anger was bubbling up inside her and she felt like she might scream if she didn’t get away from him.

  “Excuse me, I’m sorry, I need a moment…” She pushed her chair back and walked past Jeremy, and Sebastian, and into the sunroom.

  She kept walking through the entrance hall and out to the front steps, and then she ran.

  28

  Annie

  Annie stopped mid-way down the driveway, panting and looking at the sky. Her heart was pounding angrily, but when she looked up it seemed to stop all together.

  Above her, the sky towards the village had become so dark it was almost black.

  She heard feet on the drive and turned as Sebastian jogged up behind her.

  “Annie… try not to be upset. This is your grandmother’s choice.”

  Annie shook her head at him, then pointed upwards. “Sebastian, I think they were right about the storm...”

  Sebastian was standing close to her. The humidity of the air and the closeness of him was making Annie’s skin hum. Above them, sky that was bright blue just a few minutes ago was now bruised with thick menacing clouds, swollen with rain, ready to erupt into a downpour at any moment.

  “We should go to the village. They’ll need to secure the tables they’ve been putting out if the wind picks up.”

  Despite the heat, Annie wrapped her arms around herself. “I thought you said it would pass quickly?”

  “I’m sure it will. But it could still be vicious.”

  Annie’s stomach clenched as she looked at his surly expression. “Do you think it will be?”

  Sebastian released a low whistle and bit his lower lip. “I hope not. I really hope not.”

  By the time they arrived in the village and parked Sebastian’s scooter down by the river, it seemed the entire population of Saint-Sabran was out in the square. Seeing Annie, the mayor rushed towards them, clopping over the shiny cobbled stones, waving her arms and tutting furiously. “We’ve done what we can to secure the tables, but it doesn’t look good. We could cope with the rain, but if the wind comes too…” The mayor shook her head and squeezed Annie’s hand between hers. “I think we may have to cancel the festival, Annie.”

  Annie swallowed hard. Ever since whisperings of the storm had begun to circulate, she’d been trying not to think the worst. But now, she didn’t see how they would avoid it. All their hard work. Everything she and Sebastian had done over the last four weeks… it would be over. Just like that.

  “Let’s not be hasty.” Sebastian was speaking calmly, looking towards the tables, which had been folded and tied together under the archways of the stone buildings surrounding the square. “It won’t take long to set everything back up when the storm passes. We might have to postpone our opening night. But let’s not talk of cancelling. Not yet?” He flashed his confident, cavalier smile at the mayor and she visibly blushed.

  After a pause, she nodded. “Yes, I’m sure you’re right. After all, Saint-Sabran has weathered many storms over the years.”

  “Of course it has,” Annie agreed. “This will be no different.” As she spoke, she tried to sound confident – like Sebastian – but before she could add that it wouldn’t harm anything if they had to reschedule tomorrow’s Grand Opening, it began to rain.

  In the square, villagers who had been diligently tidying away anything that might blow away or be ruined by the incoming bad weather stopped in an almost comical freeze frame. Raindrops had begun to dimple the surface of the river. Annie could see them punctuating the stillness of the water. And then she began to feel them, strangely warm on her skin, but large and heavy… the kind of raindrops that were just the beginning of something much, much bigger.

  The mayor glanced at Sebastian’s scooter. “I don’t think you two should ride back to the chateau.”

  Annie looked at Sebastian. “GiGi is alone…”

  “Jeremy is there.”

  Annie raised an eyebrow at him. “Sebastian, he won’t know what to do. If we go now we might make it before the rain gets worse. We need to close the shutters, secure the doors… we should have done it before we left.” She could feel a familiar throb of anxiousness rising in her chest but Sebastian put his hand on her arm and caught her eyes with his.

  He paused for a moment, just looking at her, then said, “Okay. We must hurry.”

  They had only just crossed the bridge when the angry black clouds above them opened and a tirade of rain was released. It came so quick and so heavy that Sebastian’s scooter almost skidded straight off the road. Perched behind him, Annie was clinging onto his waist and trying to slow her breathing to something less panicked. Ahead, she could barely see where they were going and eventually Sebastian slowed to a stop and shouted above the rain, “Annie, we have to stop. I can’t see and I feel like she’s going to slip out from under me.”

  Annie climbed off the back of the scooter. Her hair was plastered to the side of her face and she could barely blink quickly enough to keep the water from her eyes. “We’re not far… we could walk?”

  Sebastian looked around them, then nodded. There was nowhere nearby to shelter and it was an equal distance between the village and the chateau, so they continued on foot.

  Annie felt as if they had been walking for hours
when they finally saw the black iron gates. With trembling, wet, freezing cold fingers she punched in the security code.

  Nothing happened.

  Sebastian tried. But, still, nothing happened. “The power must be out,” he muttered. “Come…” he gestured for Annie to follow him and led her a little further along the wall. Behind a cluster of trees, part of it was crumbling and was low enough for them to climb over. Sebastian gave Annie a leg-up, then followed.

  By the time the reached the chateau’s front steps, the wind was blowing so hard they barely made it to the top. And when they did, the front door too refused to open.

  Annie let out a frustrated cry; she was shivering and on the verge of tears. “GiGi?! Are you alright?!” She was hammering on the door, shouting at the top of her voice when she finally heard someone shout back. But it wasn’t her grandmother; it was Jeremy.

  “Annie! We’re alright. The power is down and this fancy door-lock system has sealed us in. Your grandmother says there should be a generator but it hasn’t kicked in yet.”

  “Is Angelique alright?” Sebastian shouted through the door, his face etched with concern.

  “Yes. She’s reading in the library.” There was a pause then, behind them, a bone-rattling clap of thunder shook the sky, followed almost instantly by a flash of lightening.

  Behind the door, Jeremy shouted, “I’ll look after her, Annie. Is there somewhere you can shelter until all this is over?”

  “Yes, we’ll find somewhere. Take good care of her Jeremy.” Annie placed her palm on the door, but then Sebastian took her by the elbow and led her away from the front of the house.

  “The stable… come.”

  After scurrying gingerly down the steps and around the side of the property, Annie stopped and took off her shoes. They were water logged, slippery, and slowing her down. So, she abandoned them at the edge of the lawn and followed Sebastian through the copse of trees that led to the old stable.

  The door was unlocked, and Sebastian ushered her quickly inside.

  Finally, they were out of the rain. For a moment, her senses struggled to readjust. Outside, they had been battered in every conceivable way. The noise and the feel and the sight of the storm had been overwhelming. Now, it was like someone had finally turned down the volume.

  In the shadow of the trees, and with the pitch dark clouds overhead, the inside of Sebastian’s converted stable workshop was as dark as if it were the middle of the night. Using his phone to light the room, he located some candles and started lighting them.

  Annie was panting, her breath catching in her chest as she struggled to slow her heart rate. Whether it was from the effort of the journey, the fear she felt for her grandmother, or just the sheer emotional rollercoaster she’d been on the past few days – she couldn’t tell. But as the old stable started to flicker into view, she began to calm down.

  One half of the downstairs was now Sebastian’s workshop and the other had been turned into something resembling, but not quite, a kitchen.

  After lighting the candles, Sebastian brought her a towel and some dry clothes and looked sheepishly at their surroundings.

  “It’s not much. Not yet, but…”

  Annie smiled at him. “You’re very talented at what you do, aren’t you?”

  Sebastian rubbed the back of his neck, then as a huge clap of thunder rattled the walls and Annie winced, he said softly, “It’s going to be okay. It is just… what do you British say? Just ‘weather’.”

  Annie laughed, despite herself. “That,” she gestured to the window, “is not just weather. That is like all the weather in the world, happening at once.”

  “We have good storms here in Provence.”

  “You certainly do.”

  “Well, seeing as we are stuck here for a while, shall we have a drink?”

  “Tea?”

  Sebastian chuckled. “I do have a kettle, but I was thinking…” He walked over to his make-shift kitchen and reached up onto a high shelf. “Very, very cheap but very, very nice vin du Provence…”

  “Wine?” Annie’s stomach twitched as she thought of her grandmother up at the chateau, and the village, and all of their preparations for the festival… it was hardly a time for wine.

  As if he could read her mind, Sebastian nudged, “I can’t think of a better time for it. To calm our nerves, no?”

  His eyes twinkled in the candlelight. So, Annie nodded. “Alright.” Clutching the clothes he’d offered her close to her chest, she added, “Is it okay if I change into these?”

  “Ah, of course. You can go upstairs, I’ll follow.”

  “Upstairs?” Annie looked towards the ceiling and felt her stomach tighten a little. Wasn’t upstairs where his bedroom was?

  “The living space is upstairs, down here is just the workroom. And a little bit of kitchen.” Sebastian chuckled as he gestured to his lonely kettle, miniature fridge, and single hot-plate. Then he handed her the matches. “There are candles at the top of the stairs.”

  “That’s very forward thinking of you.” Annie wouldn’t have known where to start looking for candles in her apartment back in London, let alone have some ready and at-hand in an emergency. In fact, she couldn’t think of a time in recent history when she’d even used them. Mainly, she stuck to the battery-powered LED ones.

  “I haven’t installed electricity up there yet, so I use candles every night.”

  “Oh, I see.” Annie felt herself start to blush but she wasn’t sure why. “Alright then, I’ll see you in a moment.”

  Sebastian nodded, then started rummaging for wine glasses in a box under the still-doorless countertop near the sink.

  At the top of the stairs, just as Sebastian had promised, Annie found a cluster of candles – some large, some small. She perched on the top step and lit them, one by one, the room slowly coming to life.

  Before really looking at her surroundings, desperate to get out of her wet clothes, she took the bundle Sebastian had given her into the bathroom and – by the light of her phone – changed into a pair of his joggers and a loose white T-shirt.

  A few weeks ago, she would have been mortified at the thought of Sebastian seeing her like this; makeup-less, wet hair, baggy clothes that hid almost every redeeming feature she had and accentuated those she was self-conscious of. But now, she found that she didn’t really mind.

  Emerging from the bathroom, instead of worrying about what she looked like, she suddenly noticed what Sebastian had done with the upstairs of the chateau’s old stable. And it took her breath away.

  All one room, with a double bed at the end nearest the bathroom, the opposite end was finished with a wall of pure glass that wrapped round into a U-shape. With the storm raging outside, this enormous floor-to-ceiling window made Annie feel as if she was in some kind of eerie dream. But she imagined that in daylight, it would be utterly beautiful.

  Just in front of the window, in true Sebastian-style, was a large indoor hammock and, beside it, a cluster of plump floor cushions. Annie picked up a couple of candles and placed them gently on a small hammered-metal coffee table that also housed a stack of French architecture magazines. Then she flopped into the centre of the cushions and felt herself let out a sigh.

  Behind her, she heard footsteps on the stairs. And then, in the reflection of the glass, Sebastian appeared holding two large wine glasses.

  “Do you like it?” he asked, handing her a glass and folding himself down beside her.

  “Sebastian, it’s beautiful. You did all of this?”

  “It isn’t finished.” He looked down at his fingernails shyly.

  “It’s still beautiful.”

  Sebastian shrugged and looked up at her. “Not quite yet. But it will be. Although, I suppose now maybe it won’t.”

  “What do you mean?” Annie’s forehead wrinkled into a frown.

  “Your grandmother has decided to sell. I very much doubt that whoever buys the chateau will allow me to stay.”

  Annie sighed and pu
shed her still-damp hair from her face. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

  “I will be very sad to go. But she must do what is best for her… and for the chateau.”

  Annie lifted her wine glass to her lips, but couldn’t bring herself to drink. Everything in her body was telling her that selling the chateau was the wrong thing. Sebastian being forced out of the beautiful home that he’d been working so hard on was wrong. Her going back to England was wrong. But she couldn’t see how to make it right.

  29

  Annie

  As the candles flickered, and the storm continued to hammer the old stable, Annie and Sebastian sipped their wine and watched the sky beyond the trees darken until it was pitch black.

  “I hope Jeremy’s looking after her,” Annie whispered, almost to herself, picking at a small tear in the knee of the joggers she was wearing.

  “He is not a nice man,” Sebastian replied. “But I don’t believe he is a cruel man either.”

  Annie nodded. “You’ve always been a good judge of character, haven’t you?”

  “I like to think so.” Sebastian held her eyes as he spoke, and it made Annie feel as if she needed to look away.

  Fiddling with her wine glass, she finally said what she’d been thinking of saying since they sat down: “Do you remember the last time we were stuck inside in a storm?”

  For a moment, Sebastian didn’t speak. And when Annie looked up, he was watching her with a strange expression on his face. “Yes. I do.”

  She wondered if he was remembering it too – the summer they turned sixteen, the summer they officially became girlfriend and boyfriend, before Annie broke both of their hearts and ruined it all.

  Sebastian was resting his elbow on the top of his bent knee. The other leg was stretched casually over the cushions. He had changed clothes but, like Annie, his hair was still wet. He brushed it from his face and sighed, smiling at her with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “We were walking by the river, the rain started and there was nowhere to shelter.”