Aunt Daisy's Letter

by S J Crabb

  ♥24

  The driver hauls my case from the boot of the car and nods before returning the way he came, leaving me alone in a strange place feeling strangely at ease with myself.

  Grabbing my case, I begin to wheel it towards the door, reminding me of when I last wheeled a case and I laugh to myself at how strange January is turning out to be. Two holidays in one month and a funeral. Aunt Daisy would be proud of my spirit of adventure.

  Taking the large bundle of keys from my handbag, I struggle to find the right one. After the fifth attempt, the key turns in the ancient lock and the door creaks open under my gloved hand.

  The air is slightly musty and there are cobwebs welcoming me in. It smells of ancient dust and stale air, and I shiver as I see the extent of the task ahead of Sable and Arthur. Fleetingly, I wonder if demolition would be a much better option, but as I look around at the crumbling walls and architraves; I see beyond the aged imperfections and discover the true beauty of the past.

  Wooden floors creak underfoot as I move from room to room. It surprises me that I have no fear because anyone could be lying in wait for me, but it’s as if I know I’m safe here. The building has a warm atmosphere which is the only warm thing about it and I smile with pleasure as I see the potential of a place that could be so amazing in the future.

  As I explore, I see the sheer size of the task ahead. I count seven bedrooms and three bathrooms upstairs, some of which are accessed by small meandering staircases into the four turrets. I gasp at the views these rooms offer despite the grey vista outside and can only imagine the perfection they frame as the seasons change.

  Downstairs was a large kitchen with only a rusting range cooker and long scrubbed wooden table left in residence. The large reception rooms were missing floorboards and the plaster was crumbling from the walls, but they all offered large ornate fireplaces that would bring any room to life when lit.

  However, it is upstairs that brings me the most pleasure and it’s solely because of the view. I could sit for hours on any of the small window seats, set in an alcove overlooking the lake, the orchard, or the wild gardens that have seen better days.

  As I dream about the future and what this place will bring, I hear a door slam downstairs, which immediately makes me nervous. Someone’s here.

  My heart starts racing as I wonder who it could be. I’m not expecting anyone and maybe it’s an intruder chancing their luck, or one of mum’s murderers that appear to be freely on the loose just about anywhere.

  Edging towards the door, I listen for voices and hearing none, swallow hard. Maybe I should just hide out in a cupboard or something until they get bored and leave. I’m not sure I’m ready to face anyone, and yet I am the keyholder and it’s why I’m here after all. To oversee everything, so grabbing any courage I may have, I venture tentatively downstairs.

  “Hello, are you here, Lily?”

  A loud voice booms through the Château and I listen in surprise. That voice sounds rather familiar, but it can’t be, I’m hearing things.

  As I reach the bottom step, a man comes striding into the hallway and I almost rub my eyes in disbelief – Finn!

  He turns and smiles as he sees me staring at him in shock. “We meet again, Adams.”

  “But how, what’s going on, why are you here?”

  Then I say in a whisper, “Are you following me?”

  He throws his head back and laughs loudly, and I feel a little annoyed at his reaction. “Maybe I am, nothing gets past you, hey, darlin’.”

  “Explain yourself then because if you are following me, I want to know why?”

  He grins and leans back against the ancient wood panelling and looks me up and down.

  “Hmm, still overdressed as usual with completely the wrong clothing.”

  I stare down at my velvet leggings and UGG boots and feel annoyed. Ok, I admit a faux fur jacket is a little ostentatious for rural France and possibly the matching fur hat is a step too far but nobody will convince me that the adorable cream muffler doesn’t finish the outfit off perfectly. So, I glare at him and say tightly, “Says the man who thinks standard army issue clothing is bang on trend. What’s the matter, Finn, did you suffer a style bypass in your youth because you could certainly use some lessons?”

  His eyes flash and he shifts from the wall and heads purposefully towards me, with a steely glint in his eye. Despite my bravado, I begin to shake inside because there is something so potent about the alpha male that appears to exist to taunt me every chance he gets. As he draws near, he leans down and whispers, “I missed you, Lily.”

  Well, I didn’t expect that and just stare at him in shock. Then he reaches out and pulls me close and says softly, “Are you ready to strike a few wishes off your bucket list.”

  “What do you mean?” My voice is shaky and weak, completely against how I want to appear, and he strokes the side of my face and says softly, “This is the perfect opportunity to live dangerously. Make some memories to keep you warm at night. Throw caution to the wind and live on the edge. What do you say, Lily, will you let me show you how amazing life can be?”

  For a moment, I think he’s going to kiss me and I am so ready for it but then he pulls back and winks, “You know, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you and that list since you left. It made me question my own life and what I wanted out of it.”

  “Really.”

  Now I’m interested and he nods. “Yes, it made me question everything and the only thing that seemed to matter was that I saw you again. Why do you think that is, Lily?”

  I almost can’t speak but manage to say in a rather high voice, “I’m sure I don’t know.”

  He looks thoughtful and then shrugs. “Well, maybe this is our chance to find out together.”

  Collecting myself, I say firmly, “Well, this is all a little strange if you ask me. I’m not sure I understand what on earth is happening here, but all I know is that I’m here to do a job and I’m not sure if Sable would be happy if I let somebody else stay here with me. I mean, the interpreter is due at any time, so it may be a little awkward. Maybe you should look for an air B&B in the meantime, or then again, you could always pop up your tent in the grounds, if you still have it.”

  I take a few deep calming breaths and try to get my head straight. Finn just throws me a cocky look and says, “Je suis ton interprète.”

  “What did you say?”

  “I am your interpreter.”

  “But how, what’s going on, seriously, are you stalking me?”

  He grins and his eyes flash as he nods. “Yes, I am.”

  Taking a step back, I feel a little faint. “You are.”

  “Yes, you see, Lily, I engineered this whole invitation because I thought you may need someone to guide you safely through the list. When you told me you worked for the magazine, it was the gift that kept on giving.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He laughs and says lightly, “Relax, I’m not a weirdo or anything.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that.”

  He smiles gently. “Listen, I’m sorry but you see Arthur is my cousin and when you told me you worked with Sable, it was too good a coincidence to ignore. I engineered the whole mini break just so I could see you again and maybe help you with your list.”

  “But why? It’s a bit extreme, isn’t it?”

  “I’m an extreme kind of guy. I thought it would be more of a memory this way. You could look back and see the romance of the situation and who knows, you may even enjoy my company. I had a few weeks to kill and as I’m fluent in French, along with a few other languages, I offered to help. Arthur and Sable were too busy to be here, and I thought of you. I mean, we never really got the chance to get know one another, so this is our chance.”

  I feel a little light-headed and say weakly, “Sable knew.”

  He nods. “Yes, when I told her I wanted to surprise you, she told me to leave it in her capable hands. I knew I could count on her because Sable is the type of woma
n who doesn’t take no for an answer. Quite domineering in a lot of ways, but she gets results.”

  My head is spinning with the whole situation and Finn smiles. “Come on, I’ll show you to the guesthouse. It’s a lot more comfortable than this crumbling ruin and I’ll make you a coffee and you can get warm by the fire and adjust to the situation.”

  Reaching out, he takes my hand and squeezes it gently. “It’s ok, Lily, don’t be worried. I can assure you I’m an officer and a gentleman and you are perfectly safe with me.”

  He leads me outside and I watch as he carefully locks up behind us before hoisting my case up with ease and saying lightly. “It’s not far, just through those trees.”

  As I follow him down the cobbled path, I feel a growing sense of excitement. Finn is here - with me – for two whole weeks. Now the shock has worn off, I feel excited because from the look in his eyes, this trip is going to be one I will never forget.

  ♥25

  As Finn said, the guest house isn’t far and I’m interested to look inside the rather boring looking stone building with wood-smoke pouring from the chimney. Gingham curtains flutter at the windows, and the paint peeling from the large front door doesn’t fill me with a lot of hope on the interior.

  However, inside is perfectly charming. Although not my usual taste, I find a certain delight in the French antiquities that decorate the space. Wirework and pottery sit side by side on ornate dressers set behind comfortable armchairs. A riot of colour explodes inside the cottage, all battling for attention with each other because there is apparently no theme running through this room at all.

  The warmth of the fire beckons me and as Finn sets my case down onto the flagstone floor, he says cheerfully, “Take a seat by the fire and get warm. I’ve made a pot of coffee and I have some soup heating on the range with some crusty bread. You must be starving after your journey, so you as may as well make yourself at home and let me run around after you for the next hour.”

  He heads off and I sink into one of the old velvet chairs by the fire and try to organise my mind. This is the strangest experience of my life, so far anyway, and yet I’m not afraid. Mum would imagine Finn to be some mad weirdo stalker with murder on his mind. However, I just have an increasingly warm feeling inside as I think about the lengths he has taken to spend time with me. Here I was thinking he wasn’t interested and all the time he was planning this.

  As my feet begin to thaw in front of the open fire, so do any reservations I may have had. He’s right, this is a golden opportunity and maybe this will be my Aunt Daisy moment when she met Luca. Suddenly, it strikes me that maybe Finn is also married and as he heads back into the room carrying a large tray of goodies, I say quickly, “Just a quick question, Finn.”

  He looks at me expectantly as he sets the tray down on the wooden table before us. “Um, you don’t happen to be married by any chance, do you?”

  I think I hold my breath as I wait for his answer and he says incredulously, “Of course not, why?”

  The relief makes me lean back in my seat and I laugh softly, “Just checking.”

  Handing me a bowl of soup, he says with interest, “Are you?”

  “What?”

  “Married?”

  I say incredulously, “Of course not.”

  Grinning, he sits beside me and laughs softly, “Just checking.”

  Rolling my eyes, I eat up and I must say I’m feeling quite good about life right now. I have two weeks of excitement to look forward to with possibly the man of my dreams and no worries because as he can speak French, he can deal with the builders and deliveries.

  After a while, I say thoughtfully, “You know, while I’m here, I may take up a new hobby.”

  “Like what?”

  “Art.”

  He shakes his head. “I thought you’d already done that.”

  “No, this time I’ll paint landscapes. I’m sure there must be an easel around here somewhere and a canvas. We are in France after all, the home of creativity and many famous painters.”

  “Maybe. Have you ever painted before?”

  “No, but I’m guessing it’s easy.”

  Finn laughs and throws another log on the fire. “So, what’s happened, you’ve been here for at least an hour and I haven’t seen you take a selfie once yet, are you feeling ok?”

  “Of course, I’m just waiting for the right shot to reveal itself.”

  As I look around, it strikes me that this place could use a bit of a design makeover and say critically, “I can see what Sable meant. This place is a project. I wonder if she’s secured the television series yet?”

  Finn snorts. “In her dreams.”

  “Why not, as you said before, she’s very domineering and gets results?”

  “Because it’s been done already. No, she’ll be lucky to see any profit from this place inside of five years if you ask me.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it needs a complete overhaul on the buildings alone before you can even start on the interior. The grounds need landscaping, and that’s not cheap when you’re talking on this scale. Then she will need to kit it out to appeal to the luxury market, and even with your skills on designing homes on a budget, it will still cost a small fortune. No, if you ask me, she’ll get bored long before it’s finished and either sell up, or delegate the job to staff.”

  He laughs. “If I know my cousin, he’ll be the same. They like their creature comforts too much to suffer in poverty for long. As soon as the going gets tough, they’ll be booking a trip to an all-inclusive paradise and turning their backs on this whole project.”

  “What makes you so sure?”

  “Because I know them and they think everything can be bought and when they’re paying they expect quick results. This place is a lifetime’s work and they won’t have the patience for that.”

  The flames from the fire illuminate Finn’s face, and I find myself staring at him in wonder. I always knew he was handsome but here, inside this retreat with only each other for company, he seems a lot more relaxed than he did on the camping trip. He has softened a little and although he is still the best looking man I have ever spent time with, there’s a lot that intrigues me about his life past the obvious attraction.

  He hands me a coffee and I decide to delve a little deeper.

  “So, what do you do for a living, Finn? So far I know you are good outdoors and appear to speak three languages.”

  “Five actually.”

  “Wow, what are the other ones?”

  “Well, obviously English, although some say that’s my weakest one.”

  He grins and I roll my eyes. “Then there’s German and French, of course. I also speak Spanish and Italian.”

  Wow, I’m impressed and interested to hear why. “So, how did you learn them all? Did you do a course at evening college?”

  He laughs and sits back in his chair and fixes me with a strangely intense look. “No, I needed to learn for my job. I spent some time in each country and picked up the language. Walter and Ryker helped me when I worked in Germany. I returned the favour with their English.”

  “You’re right then.”

  “About what?”

  “You are rubbish at English. They could hardly speak a word.”

  Finn laughs and shakes his head. “They’re fluent, they are just very private people. They don’t say a lot for a reason.”

  “Which is?”

  “Because then they would have to answer questions they would rather not.”

  Now I’m intrigued and lean forward. “Tell me more.”

  Finn looks a little worried and shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Lily. I can’t speak about them, or the job we do. It’s probably best you don’t ask. Maybe I’ll tell you more when I know you better.”

  He looks away as I stare at him in surprise. Why won’t he say? An uneasy feeling creeps through my body and I say slightly nervously, “It’s not illegal is it?”

  For a moment he doesn’t answer and looks a
little uncomfortable. “Not exactly but it’s not nice, so it’s best you forget about it.”

  Standing up, he gathers the tray and says cheerfully, “Ok, I’ll wash and you can dry, then I’ll show you to your room. Tomorrow we begin the adventure, but tonight you will probably just want to grab some sleep. You must be tired after that journey and I have some things I need to do.”

  He doesn’t look at me as he heads off to the kitchen, leaving me feeling a little unsettled. What is it he does and why won’t he say? He looked so uncomfortable when I asked, and it’s only made me more determined to find out.

  As I follow him, I’m starting to think this is the strangest day of my life and yet something is telling me it will be all be ok, at least the fool in me is saying that. The sensible part of me is shrieking at me to get out of here as soon as possible because nothing is adding up. Too many coincidences and a lot of unanswered questions. Maybe I should never have come, but for the first time in my whole thirty years, I feel alive.

  ♥26

  The room he showed me to is basic in the extreme. Bare wooden floors with just a thin cotton rug. A big brass double bed with covers that look as if they’ve never seen a washing machine. Even the pillows look old and have lost their stuffing and the lack of ensuite facilities is all too obvious as I spy a water pitcher and bowl standing on the wooden chest that my nan wouldn’t be seen dead owning. The curtains at the window are a little jaded and don’t appear to act as any deterrent to the light outside. Even the old Armoire in the room looks to be the entrance to Narnia and I shiver as I face the prospect of staying here for two weeks.

  Finn leaves me to it and I wonder what he does.

  However, my phone rings interrupting my thoughts and I’m happy to hear Heidi on the other end.

  “Lily, where are you? You mum said something about going to France.”