Finn dropped his hand and looked down at me. ‘You are trouble.’
I tilted my chin up and studied the wide, handsome smile.
‘You don’t seem too upset about it.’
He caught my chin with his hand and stole another kiss. ‘Not in the slightest.’
‘But you can’t tell Bella!’ I said as I related the morning’s exploits to Colette over a bottle of wine later that evening.
‘You know she’s going to find out at some point, don’t you?’ Colette pointed out.
‘I know. I just…’
‘Plus you knew him first.’ She took a sip of wine. ‘Intimately.’
I gave her a warning look.
‘Several times,’ she added, grinning now.
‘Shoosh!’ I flapped my hand at her, laughing as we sat in the bar.
‘Seriously though. She’s a big girl. She’ll get over it. You have to put yourself, and Finn, first. He’s definitely not interested in her?’
‘No. He says she’s too young.’
‘Ooh, an older man…’ She fluttered her hand at her chest. ‘Ooh la la.’
‘How old is Greg?’
‘Same as Finn. They were in the same class at school. Known each other since primary school.’ Colette rested her chin on her hand. ‘Isn’t that sweet? There’s something appealing about that. The loyalty. That bond.’
‘Yeah, I know what you mean.’ I didn’t know anyone from primary school. Or secondary to be honest and only kept in touch with a few people from university and that was sporadic. Even from an early age, I’d always found enough company in my books and studies, echoing my home life where my parents had little interest outside their academic circle.
‘Do you know anyone from back then?’
‘A few people, yes. We tend to get together when I go back to visit Maman and Papa.’
I nodded.
‘Do you think I’ve missed out?’
Colette put her glass down and concentrated on me. ‘In what way?’
‘I don’t know,’ I said, running my finger against the twisted stem of my wine glass. ‘I suppose my field of vision has been pretty limited most of my life. I don’t have a lot of friends…’
‘When it comes to friends, it’s about quality, not quantity,ma chérie.’ Colette laid her hand over mine, her dark eyes serious now. ‘Do you feel you’ve missed out?’
‘I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought about it until now. That’s just how it’s always been.’
‘And are you unhappy?’
‘No. I don’t think so.’
‘I think you think too much. Maybe just go with the flow sometimes?’ My friend’s accented voice was gentle.
I chewed the inside of my cheek.
‘OK, so with your work, you don’t always know the answer, right? You can make an educated guess about what might be in that tomb or this part of the country, right?’
