He shrugged.
‘I just want you to do whatyouwant, that is all.’
‘Itiswhat I want. Léo, I was trying to do something nice for you, I don’t see what the problem is.’
He opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by her phone ringing. She snatched it up, then flicked the red icon furiously and threw it down again.
‘Bloody Toby!’
‘Is he still ringing? I don’t understand why you do not block his number.’
‘Look, I don’t enjoy it, all right? If I block his number, he’ll find another way to call, and at least this way I know it’s him, so I won’t answer by mistake. It helped for a while when you picked up, but not for long.’
‘He is very persistent, is he not?’
‘Yes…but he’s wasting his time.’
‘He surely thinks there must be some possibility you will change your mind, or he would not bother?’
Juliet stared at him for a moment.
‘Are you serious?’
He dropped his eyes.
‘I – I don’t know. I just want to be sure, Juliet, that I am not stopping you from what is best.’
‘And you thinkTobyis best? For goodness’ sake, Léo, you’vemethim. Do you really think he might be the best thing for me?’
Léo raised his eyes, filled now with tears, and stepped towards her.
‘Mon amour, please, I am sorry. I just worry, worry that I might spoil things somehow.’
She stepped into his embrace and laid her head on his shoulder.
‘Léo, I know that I was with Toby for a long time, but that wasn’t because it was good. It was…it was…well, more complicated than that. It’s hard to explain.’Hard to explain when I don’t understand it myself, and all I feel is shame for being such a fool.‘But just know that I would not make the same mistake again, and I know I am not making it with you. I don’t understand why you think I might.’Oh, how I hope I am not making it with you.
He lifted her chin and kissed her tenderly.
‘I am sorry,ma chérie.I trust in your wisdom. I just want to be good enough for you.’
‘Of course you are. Ofcourseyou are. Now let’s go down to dinner and enjoy ourselves. I think we needed a break more than I realised.’
The evening was wonderful and the food exquisite. Sitting in the candlelit orangery opposite Léo, chatting nonstop about everything from how much borage is too much to whether she should approach Frankie about her recent erratic behaviour, Juliet relaxed. They were so happy together; she mustn’t let her experience with Toby make her scared and defensive. No, it was time to move on, and who better to do it with than this funny, passionate, caring man?
The next morning, Léo was invited to work with the chef to discover how he planned his menus, so Juliet took the opportunity to catch up with Adriana over coffee in the magnificent, panelled library.
‘You’ve done amazing things here at Halebrook,’ she said. ‘Feywood is a lot smaller, and I don’t think we could manage things on quite this scale, but I’m glad we’ve got the cookery school – and I’ve even got some ideas about how we could build on it.’
‘You should. These massive old houses are incredible, and a privilege to own and to live in, but my goodness they come with problems – and responsibilities. Some members of the family were hugely against us opening up at first, but everyone understands now that it was necessary, and most of us enjoy sharing the place with others. You’re lucky that you have Léo – he really knows what he’s doing.’
Juliet smiled.
‘Yes, he does. I thought he was an arrogant know-it-all at first, but he’s just really…good.’
They laughed.
‘Good is good!’ said Adriana, offering Juliet a plate of lavender shortbread. ‘Looks like things are going well between the two of you, as well?’
