‘You look a total mess,’ Penny said, a crack discernible through her words.
‘Thanks …’
‘You’re welcome,’ Penny said, the hitch in her words clearly audible as she slid into the chair beside the bed, reaching out to take one of Fran’s hands. ‘Bloody cat.’
‘Yeah. Bloody cat …’
From the way both women began to tear up, Johnny decided a tactical withdrawal would be the best move, give them some time to talk.
‘I’m going to find a coffee. Do you want one?’ he asked, shuffling away as they both shook their heads.
Once he’d located a coffee, Johnny mused over how long he should leave Penny and Fran together. On their journey to the hospital, Penny had intimated that her burgeoning friendship with Fran had taken a recent knock, but she hadn’t elaborated. Hopefully the chance to chat would get them back on track. Which left Johnny wondering why he was here. Past checking that Fran was going to be OK, which didn’t seem to be in doubt now that he’d seen her, why had he come?
Hours earlier, he was packing up, ready to leave the Loire behind. He’d convinced himself that he’d made another error of judgment, that his plans for Chateau des Rêves were, as he’d originally dubbed them, nothing more than a pie in the sky idea. That he didn’t need to saddle himself with even more unknowns, when his whole life had already disintegrated into a mire of confusion. Fran’s lack of transparency had done nothing but spiral his confusion to unbelievable new heights.
If he’d learnt anything lately, then the value of honesty had to be top of the list. It had to be number one on any list of requirements for Johnny, moving forwards. And she hadn’t been. She’d pretended to be someone she wasn’t.
Was this setting an appropriate space in which to confront her with the way he felt about her deception? The way it had fed into his already shattered sense of perspective, had spiralled him even further into tight introspection. And why did the thought of the conversation he needed to have with her make him feel so bereft?
‘I’m genuinely sorry about the cat,’ Penny said, squeezing Fran’s hand before retracting her hands into her own lap. ‘I know he meant a lot to you.’
Fran rubbed at her eyes, taking a moment to get herself under control. ‘Maybe he’s OK, and he managed to get to safety.’
Although Penny squashed the expression almost as quickly as it formed, she didn’t hold much hope for Red’s survival.
‘I was going to take him home with me,’ Fran said.
‘And where is home?’ An abrasive edge crept into her voice, she couldn’t help it. ‘Do you live with your father when you’re not jet-setting around the world, or what?’
Fran sighed. ‘I’ve never lived with my father. Until my mother died, I never even knew who he was.’
‘But I thought …’ Penny’s eyebrows pinched together. That didn’t make sense. How could she not know about a father like hers?
By the time Fran had given her a surprisingly frank explanation about her upbringing, Penny was beginning to wish she hadn’t stormed out of Madame Beaufoy’s office, wished she hadn’t been so quick to judge and instead heard Fran out in the first place.
‘From here on in, though, you can live like a princess,’ Penny said. It was an attempt at an apology. That was why she’d come, after all. But the words were spectacularly blunt, and she regretted them almost as soon as they’d left her mouth. Facts were facts, though, and with a dad like Bill Wilding,Fran couldn’t be anything other than set for life. She’d won the parenting lottery.
‘I’d rather still have my mum,’ Fran said.
The words hung like a guillotine over Penny’s head.
‘Yeah. I guess … That was a bit …’ When the ground didn’t open into a large enough trough for her to jump into, Penny stared at her own lap, hoping the perfect words might migrate to the front of her brain to express her feelings. They didn’t. Instead, she fumbled out the most basic of an apology.
‘Fran, I’m sorry. I truly don’t care who your father is, or any of that stuff. I have no idea why I said all that. I keep making a mess of things, but I just want to let you know how much I value our friendship. That I’ve loved getting to know you, and … Well, that’s it, really.’
‘For what it’s worth, I’m glad I opted to work at Chateau les Champs d’Or, instead of staying there as a guest, because otherwise I never would have had the chance to meet you either, would I?’
Penny’s cheeks coloured. ‘You’re cool with us still being friends, then?’ When Fran grinned and nodded, Penny became overexcited and hugged her, only to quickly pull back at Fran’s gasp, remembering that she was injured. Penny decided to change tack. ‘Can I just say … Johnny …’ She hoped the raise in her eyebrows and the emphasis she placed on his name was enough to convey her message.
‘What about him?’
She was surprised at Fran’s reticence, making her line of questioning more obvious. ‘Well, not any guest would rush to the hospital to check if an employee is OK. How do you feel about him?’
‘I’m not sure it matters.’
‘What? Have you seen the man?’
‘Yes. Of course I have.’
