Hattie burst out laughing. ‘I like you, even with the rudeness.’
‘You two look like you’re getting on. Care to share the joke?’ asked Luc, with a delighted smile. His genuine pleasure rang a distant alarm bell in her head which at that moment she chose to ignore.
‘Marthe was just checking that I’m not a gold-digger after all your money,’ said Hattie.
‘Moucharde,’ said Marthe, with an outraged smile and Hattie guessed she’d just been called a snitch.
With an amused snort, Luc put down the tray of coffee he’d procured and sat down to join them.
Over coffee, his aunt carefully allocated them one Florentine each from her precious haul. She seemed quite happy for him to talk in English, so Hattie could join in, not that she had much to add. She was happy to sit back and watch him. The affection the pair felt for each other was obvious. He treated her with respectful deference punctuated with teasing warmth.
Things were going well until Marthe said, ‘I’m pleased that your father talked you out of buying the wine press. It would be a waste of money.’
Hattie felt Luc stiffen next to her. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I spoke to him and he told me you were considering buying a wine press. I didn’t think it was a good idea.’
‘That’s a shame,’ said Luc. ‘We discussed it and I’ve bought it.’ He’d decided to go ahead and hoped that this show of commitment would help change her mind.
‘Bought it. But I told your father that we should sell the grapes.’
‘I don’t want to sell the grapes. I thought you wanted me to make champagne. What has changed?’
‘But where will you put it?’ Marthe ignored his question. ‘That will be a big upheaval in the cellar.’ Marthe’s face was flushed and her lips pinched.
‘I’m not sure yet but it would be sensible to make sure the floor can support the weight. And the building has never been surveyed.’
‘It doesn’t need surveying,’ snapped Marthe, her fingers fidgeting on her lap. ‘And what is wrong with sending the grapes out to be pressed? You are trying to run before you can walk.’
He frowned. She was contradicting herself now.
‘But—’
‘I don’t want to talk about it any more today.’
It was even more frustrating when the very next second an alarm went off and Marthe pulled a phone from the pocket of her cardigan. ‘You have to go now.’ Right on cue a nurse appeared to wheel her back into the house.
As she was wheeled away, she didn’t say goodbye or even look back.
‘What was that about?’ asked Hattie.
Luc sighed. ‘I really don’t know.’ He scowled with disappointment. ‘I think she’s finding it hard to adjust to change and no longer being in control of the winery. I’ll come and talk to her again. I’m sure she’ll come round.’ His words didn’t match the shadowed expression on his face.
ChapterThirty
Hattie took a slug of wine and then picked up the phone. It was time for tough talking. The wedding was a week and half away, for God’s sake, and everything was in place apart from final numbers. This was done with FaceTime. There was no one else around and she had an hour before dinner, so she slipped into the library. She’d texted her cousin earlier and by some miracle Gabby had agreed to speak to her.
Gabby picked up on the second ring.
‘Hi, Hattie, how you doing? What’s the weather like there? It’s done nothing but rain here for the last week.’
Hattie wasn’t about to be sidetracked. ‘Gabby. Numbers. I need numbers. We need to finalise the menu and the furniture order.’ And a dozen other things, although she’d already bought the wedding favours and was hoping that 150 would be enough. The flowers for the table centrepieces had also been ordered on the basis of fifteen tables of ten.
Gabby swallowed and looked stricken. Then Hattie noticed two things: one, that her cousin wasn’t wearing any make-up and looked tired and drawn, and two, she was sitting in front of a very familiar-looking picture.
‘You’re at Mum and Dad’s,’ Hattie said a touch indignantly. It seemed wrong that her cousin should be spending time with her own mum, which was completely irrational given that she had been deliberately avoiding them for so long. She hadn’t wanted them to know how miserable she’d been.
‘Yes. I needed … I just wanted a change of scene.’
