I walk across to him, raising my hand to touch his cheek, fondly.
‘Aww… that makes me feel sad. It’s your home now and life is all about change. Try to see that as a good thing and take comfort from the happy memories you have of the times you spent here with her. I bet the summer breaks were lovely.’
‘They were. Life was a lot simpler then.’
My arms instinctively reach out and Ronan shuffles forward to close the gap between us.
‘I’ve never had a reason to think about making long-term plans before. But you’ve changed everything, Lexie.’
‘It’s crazy, isn’t it? I feel as if I’m standing on shifting sand and all I want to do is to go with the flow. That’s not me. Well, not the me I recognise, but a different version of me.’
I lay my head against his chest, listening to the sound of his pounding heart. It’s not just from the exertion of fetching and carrying; there’s a vibrancy to him that he didn’t have before. Before there was an us.
‘Well, I like this different version of you, Lexie. Sometimes we all need to let go a little and learn to rely on other people. Some things can’t be controlled, we simply have to allow them to happen.’
Ronan begins planting soft little kisses on my cheek, as he works his way across to my mouth. My body reacts before my brain can engage and I turn my face, my lips eager to show him that control is the last thing on my mind right now.
‘Mia will probably leave hospital in about a week’s time. It’s going to take me a few days to get her all set up at home and I don’t want to just rush off, if you can hang on a while longer. Her sister is going to come and stay for a week or two after I fly back to France. After that, her dad will come and collect her and she’ll spend a little time with her parents, so it’s all covered until we’ve finished filming.’
Elliot sounds as if he has it all sorted and it’s good to hear him sounding so upbeat, at last.
‘How is the budget going?’ he asks and I hesitate for a moment.
‘Okay. The good news is that we’ve kept up with the schedule and only had to change one of the slots. We did have to retake one of the intros, which was unfortunate, but we nailed it in a couple of hours.’ It’s time to change the subject slightly. ‘Um, there is one thing that has come up and I sort of committed us to it when I should have checked with you first. It’s not strictly business, more personal really.’
‘Well, I owe you a huge favour for holding it all together in my absence, Lexie. So, I’m hardly likely to say no, am I? Give me a clue, as now I’m curious about what I’ve missed.’
I’m relieved to have diverted his attention away from talking about our financial issues.
‘I’d like to film an interview at the home of one of the gardeners who was at Versailles in the sixties. Unfortunately, he had to take early retirement after being involved in a rather serious car accident. He’s a bit of a prickly character, but he knew my grandma. He might be the only person still alive who came into contact with her while she was over here. George blows hot and cold, and our last little chat didn’t end well. This isn’t just about her, but a much bigger story. However, my gut instincts are telling me that the next time he calls he’ll be ready to go on record. Whether it will throw up any material we can use, I have no idea, but it will be a one-off opportunity.’
‘That’s incredible, Lexie. I’m delighted to hear that because I know how much it means to you.’
‘Me, too,’ I reply enthusiastically.
‘The budget is blown, isn’t it?’ Elliot blurts out, seeing through my little ruse. ‘Otherwise you’d ask Ronan, because this would definitely be of interest to him. But you’d insist on paying him and that tells me everything.’
Awkward, because he’s right about the budget and he has no idea what I’m about to do. And now I have to explain a little about the situation with Ronan. I’d sort of hoped that would go over his head.
‘George and Ronan don’t really get on,’ I hedge.
‘Come on, Lexie. I know you’re holding back and as partners we need to be honest with each other.’
‘I will admit that the contingency fund is looking sad; we both knew that would happen if we hit any snags. I have two credit cards with nothing on them and an eighteen-grand line of credit. I know you’ve incurred a lot of costs personally and lost time on your other job, so I don’t want you to worry about it. I’ve applied for a business loan and we have at least another three weeks before the cash runs out. I thought I’d whack things on the cards and then pay them off as soon as the loan is approved.’
Elliot groans.
‘Jeez. I left you with all this worry. Look, I’ll phone around. We know there’s interest, all we need is someone to commit and back it up with an advance. Maybe I need to approach an agent to tout it around and add that extra push. Don’t sign on the dotted line until I’ve exhausted my enquiries. It will take me a day or two, to pull together a demo from what I’ve uploaded to our system, but it should swing it. Even unedited, I think it does the whole idea justice.’
‘Seriously, though, it’s not just the money, Elliot. George won’t speak to Ronan directly, because whatever he has to say involves Ronan’s grandfather, too.’ As worried as I am about money, I need to share this with Elliot. ‘Things have moved on and Ronan and I are involved personally, now. So, when the call eventually comes for this interview, it will have to be kept quiet. George might simply want to air old grievances, who knows? Oh, why do things have to be so complicated?’
‘Ronan’s a good guy, Lexie, and I’m not really surprised to hear the two of you have hit it off. I had noticed that little spark between you. Don’t worry about the George thing – we’ll get that done and think about the fallout afterwards. If necessary, we can file it away and forget about it. But, please, don’t sign that loan agreement until I’ve exhausted the other options. Neither of us are in a position to add monthly repayments to our outgoings and this is down to me, anyway.’
When I arrive back at the cottage, Renée is sitting on her doorstep and she gives me a wave. Seconds later, Solange appears in the doorway behind her.
‘Hi, Lexie,’ Solange calls out and they both come hurrying over.
Renée looks excited and begins talking very fast at me. All I can do is smile politely and Solange starts laughing.
‘It’s official,’ she says, holding up her left hand and waving around a beringed finger. ‘What Philippe’s grandmother is asking is whether you would mind if we had a little party in the courtyard the weekend after next. One of the other neighbours will be here and we’re hoping you and Ronan will come, plus a few family members and friends, to help us celebrate our news.’
‘Ah, that would be lovely! Of course, and if you need any help with the preparation, I’m sure both Ronan and I can make ourselves available.’
Renée is beaming, and Solange looks at her and nods. She throws her hands up in the air and does a little jig.
‘How are the preparations for the big visit coming along?’ Solange asks, stepping forward.