I pulled up after cruising onto a long drive that felt smooth, tall, old-fashioned street lamps now illuminating the way. The chateau doors were open, a light on in the hallway. Jesse had phoned ahead to let them know of our delay and give an approximate time; Carina, the owner, hadn’t been fazed at all. Her response was, “We’ll still be drinking wine then! It’s been a long week.”
She did indeed meet us at the door with her wife, Suzette, and her son, Gideon, who, after gawping at the car, grabbed our suitcases.
“Bonjour!” Her accent was definitely not French. “Welcome to Chateau de la Lumière! I’m so sorry you were delayed in Paris.”
Jesse smiled and shook his head. “That is not your fault. I’m sorry you’ve been kept up waiting. This place looks spectacular.”
“It will be once it’s finished. We had the spiral staircase installed last week — it runs up four floors and, honestly, I could’ve bought four kidneys for less money. Most of the rest of the house is still a work in progress slash disaster, but we are on schedule with the restorations, which is a miracle.” She inhaled, walking up into the hall, which was where the staircase was, a combination of dark wood and metal contrasting against white walls and a tiled patterned floor. “Shall I take you up to your bedroom so you can freshen up? Suze has got a light supper ready for you and we have wine, of course.”
“That would be great, thank you.” Jesse either hadn’t picked up on the mention of the single bedroom or had chosen not to mention it. “Supper would be good too.”
We hadn’t eaten since we’d grabbed a snack at Charles de Gaulle, and by snack, it hadn’t exactly been the finest French cuisine.
“Follow me.”
The chateau was half a modern architectural masterpiece and half a construction site, although it seemed like most of the heavy building work had been completed and they were now onto the end pieces, the part where it would all really come together. The stairs we went up I knew had been lifted into the building with part of the roof removed, the story of which had been documented on their social media.
“This must be an incredible project to be part of,” I said to Carina as she led us away from the stairs and along a corridor with rooms leading off both sides.
“It is. We’ve basically lived in a building site for three years, so in another twelve months, we’re hoping to be finished. While you’re here, you’ll be able to use the pool that was signed off just yesterday, and tomorrow night we have a friend of ours who’s going to cook. She’s a chef, and we’re looking at her coming out here to offer cookery school holidays.” Neva had moved over to talk to Genny. She was that combination of tired and excited, and I had a feeling she’d been in that state since she’d moved over here. “Here’s your room. I’ll let you find your own way down when you’re ready — we’ll be in the dining room with the doors that lead out into the garden.”
I glanced up at Jesse.
“Is it just the one room?” he said, flicking a gaze at me. “We’re not a couple — just friends.”
“Oh.” Carina looked mortified. “Fuck. I’m so sorry. I just assumed — ” She put a hand to her forehead. “I’ll sort out another room. My son’s here at the moment, as are his two friends — we’ve got them labouring as a summer job, and I have a room set for Simone and her husband Jack for when they get here tomorrow. Let me see if — ”
I stopped her. “We can share. Is there a sofa in there?”
She nodded. “There is, but — ”
“I can sleep on that for at least a night. Don’t worry.” I looked at Jesse, worried at his reaction, because there was every reason for him to really not want us to stay in the same room.
“Jerrica’s right, we can manage.” He put his hand on the door handle. “Honestly, Carina, don’t worry. We’re both tired from travelling.”
She smiled. “Lots of wine and you won’t care who’s in bed with you when you sleep!”
The room was gorgeously luxurious. A huge carved four-poster bed was in the centre of the room on a massive plush grey rug, wooden flooring underneath. Two large windows looked out over the gardens from what I could make out in the night, a decent sized sofa in the middle of them. Adjoining was a bathroom with a brass-coloured bath in front of another large window, planned so you could look out, but no one could see you. A walk-in shower dominated the back wall, and there were two sinks, along with the toilet.
I looked around there first, working out what to say to Jesse.
Humour. Always humour.
“This is a romance trope, you know.”
He had been looking out of the window. “What’s a romance trope?”
“Like single dad, or enemies-to-lovers. This is the one-bed trope.”
His lips curved into that beautiful smile. “Does this mean you’re going to jump my bones in that bed?”
I tipped my head to one side. “Do you want me to?”
He looked away. “Of course I want you to, Jerrica. I just don’t think we should.”
“Oh.”
He looked back. This time, his eyes had darkened and there was an expression on his face that made me feel like I was prey for a hunting tiger.
