‘Like you care,’ he said. But he wasn’t being unkind. ‘You’ve never even met her.’
‘True. But she must be all right if she chose you. I might hate her guts, but that doesn’t make her a terrible person, does it?’
‘In a funny way I don’t think she was all that surprised by what I had to say.’
‘Well, I expect you know one another quite well. Must have had a lot to catch up on …’ Penny shrugged at the obvious-ness of her comment.
‘We did, but that’s not what I’m trying to tell you. I’m making a real cock-up of this, but to cut a long story short, I told her I’ve never felt happier than I do right now.’
‘Way to go with making your fiancée feel good,’ Penny said, but the flippancy of her comment wasn’t matched by her expression. She was watching him like a hawk.
‘There’s no way I’m ever going back home or enlisting in the army.’ Harry sighed, saying these words out loud felt like the ending of an era. As though he was finally exiting a long, dark tunnel he hadn’t even realised he was in. ‘I told her I haven’t been fair to her, that I feel like I’ve been stringing her along and that we should call off our engagement. Make a clean break and move on.’
‘Wow. Brutal.’
‘You think?’ Confusion clattered across his thoughts – he thought Penny would be pleased. ‘Does it make it any better if I tell you she agreed?’
‘Does it make what any better?’
He sighed. ‘You’re not going to make things easy for me, are you?’
A sly grin edged onto her face. ‘What are you trying to say, Harry?’
‘I wanted to do right by Sophie. I needed to sort everything out with her first. You understand, don’t you?’
‘Sure. You’ve broken things off with her. And?’
Harry huffed with exasperation. ‘When I saw you heading into the chateau yesterday, to search for Fran, I realised I couldn’t bear to lose you – either in the smoke, or ever. I realised something I’ve been trying to deny for a while now.’ He moistened his suddenly Saharan-dry lips. ‘I think I’m falling for you, Penny, and I wonder if you’d—’
Harry didn’t get to finish the sentence, because Penny had pressed her lips against his. To finally feel the soft warmth of her mouth against his was easily the finest moment of Harry’s life. And as she slid her hands around the back of his neck and he pulled her close, he reckoned it was just the first of many finest moments all yet to come.
Eventually, Penny broke away, her gaze fixed on his. ‘Thank God. You do realise you nearly drove me out of my mind, don’t you? I’ve never had so many mixed messages from a bloke in my entire life. But I’m glad you finally came to your senses.’ Penny winked and Harry rolled her eyes at her remark – he guessed he deserved it. ‘What do you think about moving on from here soon, maybe seeing if we can get work on one of thosesuperyachts on the Mediterranean? What an adventure it could be!’
‘I’m happy wherever we go, as long as I’m with you,’ he said.
‘Oh my God, so soppy. But absolutely the right answer,’ Penny said, pulling him close and kissing him like he’d never been kissed before.
Although Johnny had been ready to leave Chateau les Champs d’Or several times during his stay, actually saying goodbye that afternoon turned out to be far more difficult than he could have imagined. With everybody packed up and luggage stowed in the hire cars, he suggested they might enjoy a bite of lunch in the bar before they headed for the airport.
Johnny needed time to work out how to explain to Ricky and Ed what would be happening to Taylor Made Wine over the next few weeks. The way their stay at Chateau les Champs d’Or had panned out, only a fool wouldn’t have picked up on the tension, but they deserved a careful and frank explanation.
If it were at all possible, Johnny had decided that Noel should carry on with Taylor Made Wine on his own. Hopefully there would be enough revenue to keep the two employees on, but that would be something to be sorted out alongside the finances. With the strong likelihood of an investment package for Chateau des Rêves from Bill Wilding, it might be possible for Johnny to extract his stake from Taylor Made Wine over a longer timeframe, rather than taking a sledgehammer to the business and destroying everyone’s jobs.
Noel seemed to have accepted the inevitable and Johnny felt a pang of sadness for his brother. At the fact that Noel would be left clinging to what had been, like driftwood on the ocean, while Johnny could finally put all his energy into moving forwards.
Maybe one day he would be able to re-establish a relationship with Noel, because a forever without his brother was somethingJohnny wasn’t sure he really wanted. Denying Estelle her Uncle Noel, when Johnny knew how much she loved him, that seemed wrong, too. But for now, Johnny needed space.
The idea of showing Estelle around Chateau des Rêves gave him a buzz every time he thought about it. Although that would be some time off, yet. The dilapidated chateau had escaped the fires, much to his relief, but there would be a few months of work needed before the place was ready for any special visitors.
Beaufoy Wines vineyard had also been spared, and when Johnny had seen Madame Beaufoy earlier that morning, and had explained his plans for Chateau des Rêves and its proposed links with Beaufoy Wines, she had taken his face between the palms of her hands as she offered him her best wishes.
Leaving Fran was the biggest wrench. Even though they had plans to meet with her father in London, to spend time working on the details of their chateau escape, Fran was going to have to sort out her flat, to decide if she could bear to give up the tenancy taken on by her mother twenty-seven years previously. She would come to Chateau des Rêves when she was ready, and Johnny was only too willing to allow her the time she needed.
Johnny didn’t envy her the decision. A permanent move to the Loire would involve a massive change for him, too. Time away from Estelle was going to be especially challenging.
With little time spare, if there was any chance of them making their flight back to the UK, Johnny kept his farewells brief and upbeat. After all, as far as the people who mattered to him most were concerned, this was nothing more than a farewell. Anadieu. It was certainly not goodbye.
The intention of a quick hug for Fran fell by the wayside when he wrapped her in his arms and caught a hint of her perfume. She hugged him tight, and he wondered if there could be something more between them, but just as quickly shewas pushing him away, thanking him again for Red’s tree and reminding him not to be late for their meeting with Bill Wilding.
