Summer Seaside Wedding (8 page)

There was excitement in the air and soon the community feeling that such occasions brought forth would take over with a local band in place and the revellers ready to enjoy themselves.

Leo had seen her arrive and his spirits lifted. So far so good, he thought. The moment he was free he was going to go over and ask if he might join her, and if Amelie said yes he would take it from there, and if she said no, well…

She was chatting to Ronnie and his family, who had just arrived, and the last thing he wanted was for her to be drawn into their circle.

Jenna and Lucas hadn’t arrived yet and surprisingly neither had Harry and Phoebe, but no doubt they were on their way. Then all the folks he enjoyed being with would be there, with his lovely French doctor top of the list.

The hierarchy of the Balfour family were expected, but would not be staying long as it might get too noisy for Barbara in her frail state. But she was insisting on attending, as anything that gave her the opportunity to be with those who were looking after her beloved practice in the same way that she had was a pleasure that didn’t come often enough.

As they’d been about to leave the headland to take the road into the village, she’d asked Keith to turn the
wheelchair round so that she could see the scene that was as familiar as her own face.

The sea bounding onto the golden sand with the same kind of power and purpose that she’d once had, and the cliffs rising towards them, worn by the sea and kissed by the sun with seabirds swirling above them, and in the distance the green and fertile fields of Devonshire.

‘I love this place more than life itself, Keith,’ she’d told her husband.

‘Yes, I know you do,’ had been his gentle reply, and he’d pointed the wheelchair towards the village once more.

‘When we get there, put me in a sheltered spot under a tree, will you?’ she asked. ‘I’m going to have a nap before everyone begins to arrive.’

‘Yes, anything you say,’ he told her, and thought he must have said that a thousand times in their long life together.

When they reached the main street there were lots of folk about and they waved or called across to them, and Keith thought Bluebell Cove was Barbara’s reason for living. It happened all the time when he took her out. The respect and affection that was always there went a long way to make up for her having to retire because of her lack of mobility, which had been followed by serious heart defects, but he knew more than anyone that inside she was the same old battling Barbara whose patients had been her life’s blood.

There was only a scattering of folks there when they arrived at the field behind the village hall. Soon there
would be lots of noise and excitement and then they would leave as it would be too much for his frail wife.

So he did as she’d asked, left her to rest in a secluded spot with the branches of an old oak tree protecting her from the rays of the sun, and went to have a word with Leo, who was helping members of the events committee erect the various kinds of amusements that would be there to entertain the picnickers.

There was no sign of Harry and Jenna, the other two Balfours, but both had young children to cope with and Keith and Leo were not unduly surprised. It would be unheard of for the members of that family not to be present on such an occasion.

As Amelie watched the two men chatting together, she had no idea that Keith had claimed Leo’s attention just as he was about to approach her, so she was envisaging spending the time with Ronnie’s family, who were lovely but not who she wanted to be with today.

Leaving her picnic basket on a nearby table, she began to stroll around the field, admiring the sideshows and carousel and taking note of the instruments, mainly guitars and drums, already in position on the stage.

As she came to the end of the field where there was less to see she gave a casual glance in the direction of the wheelchair and its occupant and paused. She’d only spoken to Barbara Balfour once, when she’d been invited to supper at Harry’s, and had liked the elderly doctor’s straightforward manner.

Feeling that she looked rather lonely there beneath the trees, Amelie went across to speak to her. As she approached it seemed that she was asleep with her head
back and eyes closed, but when she reached her side she saw that it wasn’t sleep that was holding her so still. She’d seen it so many times before in hospital.

By this time Keith had gone to talk to other friends and Leo, who had been observing Amelie’s progress around the field, was about to join her. He could see her at the far end, bending over Barbara, and thought it was good that the two of them were getting to know each other.

When she looked around her to call for help he was coming towards her, and she cried, ‘Leo! Come quickly!’ then turned back to the woman in the wheelchair. He was by her side in seconds and saw to his dismay that she was trying to resuscitate Barbara who, at a glance, had already passed on to another life.

‘It’s no use. You are too late, Amelie,’ he said sombrely. ‘It could have happened some time before you found her and with no one around to see, she probably had a massive heart attack and was gone.’

So far they had been unobserved but now Keith was on his way back to check on his wife and something in the way they were bending over her made him quicken his step. When he stood looking down at the woman who had given her life to her patients and left only a little of it for her husband and child, he said soberly, ‘I think she knew it wouldn’t be long. As we were setting off to come here Barbara asked me to stop while she had what turned out to be a last look from the top of the headland at all the places she loved so much.’

‘Jenna and Lucas have just arrived. Will one of you go and fetch her? It will be a great shock, though again
maybe it won’t. I feel that Lucas, as Barbara’s cardiac consultant, will have prepared Jenna for this.’

‘I’ll go, Amelie, if you’ll stay here with Keith,’ Leo said, and she nodded gravely. Soon the field would be full of those out to enjoy the day. It was vital he get to Jenna quickly.

He found her chatting to friends with Lucas holding Lily in his arms, but his expression caused the chatter to dwindle into silence and into it he said gently, ‘It’s your mother, Jenna. Amelie found her a few moments ago down at the bottom of the field. She tried to resuscitate her but I’m afraid it was too late.’

Lucas passed the baby to one of their friends and with his arm around Jenna’s shoulders they followed him to where Keith was seated by his wife’s body on a chair that Amelie had found for him.

From that moment of extreme sadness the news began to filter around the field that battling Barbara Balfour had fought her last fight, that a failing heart had been the victor this time.

An announcement was made to say that Barbara had passed away and a minute’s silence was called for before the local undertaker and his assistants arrived to take her to the chapel of rest.

There having been three doctors present, one of them her cardiac consultant who had seen her in the last few days, it meant there would be no necessity for an inquest, and everyone present stood with heads bowed as the sad little procession left the field.

When the vicar would have cancelled the event Keith had said not to, that, knowing Barbara’s love of
Bluebell Cove and its inhabitants, she would want it to proceed, and with that thought in mind the band began to play again, the carousel began to turn, and children ran around excitedly, exactly how Barbara would have wanted it to be.

When the picnic was over Amelie and Leo walked back towards the surgery together. The events of the afternoon had made their differences seem minor. They’d managed the time together that they’d been yearning for, but under the worst possible circumstances, and still there was no sign of Harry.

‘Where can they be?’ Leo said as they sat in the garden of the house.

‘It will hit Harry hard, losing Barbara. From what he’s told me, the Balfours were good to him when his parents lost his little brother and were so wrapped up in their grief that he got pushed to one side. It was Barbara who persuaded him to come back to Bluebell Cove when he lost his wife, and it was here that he met Phoebe, who he adores.’

At that moment Leo’s mobile rang and when he picked it up Harry’s voice came over the line. ‘I thought I might find you at Amelie’s place,’ he said. ‘I take it that the picnic is over.’ His voice had a lift to it that had to mean he didn’t know that Barbara was no longer in the background of his life as she had been for so long.

‘Er…yes,’ Leo said uncomfortably, dreading what was coming next,

But Harry forestalled him by announcing jubilantly. ‘We have a daughter, Leo! Phoebe and I have daughter and Marcus a little sister. Did you wonder where we
were? She went into labour a couple of weeks early in the middle of the night, so we wrapped Marcus, who was sound asleep, in a blanket and drove to the maternity unit at Hunter’s Hill. The baby arrived just before lunch.’

‘That is wonderful news! Are they both all right?’

‘They’re fine and so is Marcus, who is trying to take it all in and wanting lots of love. I’m on top of the world, Leo, and must go as the obstetrician is due on his rounds any moment.’

‘Before you go, there is something that you need to know,’ Leo told him sombrely, wishing himself anywhere but at the other end of the line to the ecstatic new father. ‘Your Aunt Barbara passed away at the picnic this afternoon. I am so sorry to be the bearer of such sad tidings in the midst of your joy, Harry.’

There was silence for a long moment then Harry said chokingly, ‘What time did she die, Leo?’

‘The church clock had just struck one when Amelie found her under the trees in the wheelchair. Why, what are you thinking?’

‘That was the time our daughter came into the world. I had a feeling that it might be. As one life ended, another was beginning. Where are Keith and Jenna? I must speak to them.’

‘They are all back at the house on the headland. Hopefully your wonderful news will help to lessen their heartache a little.’

Leo’s expression was sombre as he put the phone down and Amelie thought that Antoine had done her a favour when he’d turned his attention to another woman.
If he hadn’t, she would now be living a mundane life with a mundane husband. Would never have met the man sitting opposite her who had just done his best to soften the blow he’d inflicted on Harry in the midst of his rejoicing.

He was so special, she was so happy to be with him, and if they were going to continue as they had been without any possibility of a future together, at least she would have had the joy of knowing him.

Yet as he sat there dejectedly, having just turned Harry’s euphoria into grief, she couldn’t sit and watch and do nothing. Going across to him, she placed her arm around his shoulders and said softly, ‘Don’t feel bad, Leo. You had to tell him before he heard it on the village grapevine. Until now Keith and Jenna haven’t known where he was to tell him about Barbara’s passing. Better that it came from you.’

He nodded then, getting slowly to his feet, said, ‘You were wonderful out there, but what a shame it had to be you who found her. Though I suppose it was a blessing in one way. Keith and Jenna were spared the sharp, agonising shock that is part of a sudden death by having you and I around.

‘We work well together, don’t we? And today I was hoping we might have played together at the picnic, but the fates had other ideas. Playful was the last thing I felt after what happened to Barbara.’

‘So why don’t we go for a walk where it is calm and peaceful and we can unwind? Then find a nice restaurant for dinner, my treat,’ she suggested. ‘There is nothing more we can do here.’

T
O AVOID
going anywhere near the headland and the Balfours’ house, which was now in mourning, Amelie and Leo walked inland between hedgerows weighed down with flowers, and past Wheatlands, the biggest farm in the area, owned by the well-respected Enderby family.

While Amelie was observing its opulence, he said, ‘Some spread, isn’t it? Would you like to live in a place like that?’

She considered for a moment and then said, ‘No. I don’t think so. I’m not keen on large houses.’

‘You mean like your family’s chateau?’

She smiled across at him. ‘You have it in one. My parents took it for granted that I wanted to be married in the chateau when I was engaged to Antoine. In fact, that’s where the wedding was to be held.’

‘But you didn’t want to?’

‘No. And now I will never be married in that place. If I ever got close to marriage again, which I seriously doubt I will, I would choose to have my wedding somewhere small and beautiful.’

‘Like you,’ he said in a low voice, and she turned away.

‘Don’t make fun of me,’ she told him. ‘You’re the one with the looks.’

‘And do you think I care about that?’ he exclaimed. ‘I’d rather be downright ugly than the village catch.’

She was laughing now and he thought how easy she was to be with. How uncomplicated her attitude to life was, or had been until he’d begun to cause confusion in her mind.

She was happy to be with him if he would let her, like now, but knew that could change if his conscience began to pull at the strings of his integrity again.

‘So where are we going to eat?’ he asked as a restaurant with a thatched roof appeared on the skyline. ‘The place ahead is very popular. It is where Lucas proposed to Jenna over a clotted-cream tea on a cold day when the place was empty, or so she thought. Her family and friends were hiding in one of the other rooms ready to congratulate them when she’d said yes.’

‘How lovely, but supposing she’d said no?’

‘I take it you’ve seen Lucas Devereux?’

‘Well, yes, of course.’

‘There you have your answer, then, and in case you’re thinking that it wasn’t very romantic, being proposed to while eating a scone covered with jam and cream, surely we both agree that it is the people involved that matter rather than the location.’

‘Quite,’ she agreed demurely, ‘as long as it isn’t in the fish sheds down by the harbour, or on top of the refuse collection pile.’

If she’d been less confused about his feelings, she
might have rounded off the comment with
so do please bear that in mind
, but there was nothing in his manner to indicate that he’d changed his mind about what he’d said when he’d spelt out for her that they weren’t going anywhere together on a permanent basis.

The restaurant wasn’t as near as it had looked. When they were almost halfway there Leo said, ‘I know a short cut. No use when in a car but much quicker when on foot. It is through remote woodland for part of the way but will certainly get us there more quickly. Do you want to try it?’

‘Yes,’ she agreed. ‘I don’t know about you but I’m hungry.’
And not just for food, she would have liked to have told him.

The woods felt cool after being in the evening sun and everywhere was very still. After a while Leo said, ‘Shall we rest for a few moments, if you can get your hunger pangs to subside?’

‘Yes. I think I can,’ she replied. ‘Appetite will have to take second place to feet. We passed a stream only moments ago. I’m going to cool them off in it. Are you coming?’

‘No, I’m fine here. Don’t be too long or the place we’re heading for will be full.’

She was already removing the sandals she was wearing and walking carefully towards the edge of a narrow rivulet running through the woods.

While she was gone he took a large clean handkerchief out of his pocket and when she came back and lay down on the grass beside him he began to dry her feet with gentle strokes.

She ached for him, Amelie thought as he bent to his task, but of his own free will Leo had taken desire out of their relationship because of something she still didn’t fully understand, so maybe it was up to her to bring it back.

He looked up and found her bright blue gaze on him. ‘What?’ he questioned. ‘What are you thinking?’

‘I’m thinking that not so long ago I accused you of having never kissed me or made love to me, didn’t I?’

His voice was flat. ‘Yes, you did indeed.’

‘So you dealt with one of the omissions that day in the lay-by, but so far haven’t done anything about the other.’

‘And you would like me to do so, is that it?’

‘Only if you want to, but I must warn you I am no expert. It will be a first time.’

Was she serious? he thought raggedly. Amelie had no idea of the workings of his mind when it came to his personal life or she wouldn’t have created this sort of situation.

It was another opportunity to tell her about Delphine, but to her it might come over as just another rejection, an escape route back to his life before she’d come on the scene.

The eyes looking up into his were wide and questioning. ‘You don’t want me, do you?’ she cried, humiliated beyond reason. ‘Why does my mouth always have to be ahead of my mind when I’m with you?’

He had no answer to that. Instead he said in the same flat tone, ‘I think we should be on our way if you are as hungry as you said.’

‘I’ve just lost my appetite,’ she told him. ‘Food would choke me.’

‘You might change your mind when we get there,’ he said placatingly. ‘So up you get and off we go in search of it. Just one thing before we go, Amelie. You have just put yourself amongst almost every woman I meet. They all want me to bed them.’

‘And do you?’

‘You mean am I the local stud? I can’t believe you’re asking me that. I thought you were different, but it seems I was wrong.’

She was up and running, wanting to get as far away from him as possible so that he wouldn’t realise just how much he’d humiliated her. But he was moving fast behind her and when he caught up said, ‘Watch out for tree roots, Amelie,’ as if they’d never had that dreadful conversation.

For the rest of the evening they were so polite to each other it was nauseating. But all the time the thought was rocketing around her mind that once again she had been the unwanted. And, she thought shamefully, she’d even mentioned her virginity like some sort of special offer.

She couldn’t wait to get away from him so that her shame might be a more private thing. The moment they’d finished eating she went to pay for the meal, in keeping with her promise when she’d suggested they go for a walk and she could tell from his expression that he wasn’t pleased about that either.

‘I’ve asked them to order us a taxi,’ he said when she
returned to the table. ‘I didn’t think you would want to walk back the way we came.’

‘How right you are,’ she said quietly. ‘I never ever want to set foot in those woods again.’

‘I meant no hurt by what I said,’ he told her. ‘You are young, vulnerable and enchanting. Can we just leave it at that and be friends?’

‘If you say so,’ she said bleakly, not to be comforted or given back her self-respect. At that moment they were told that their taxi was outside and she hurried towards the means of escape from her folly.

When it pulled up outside the house she didn’t give Leo the chance to make any further comments, she had its door open and was running up the drive with door key at the ready once again. By the time he’d paid the driver she had disappeared from sight and he thought grimly the chances of her opening the door again if he rang the bell were slim.

So he made his way to his apartment and spent the next hour going over the awful events of the day that had started with discovering that Barbara Balfour was no longer with them, and ended with his refusal to do something he’d been aching to do for weeks—make love to Amelie.

The incident had been catastrophic in many ways. She’d taken him by surprise, for one thing, and another reason of a more irksome kind had been that it had been she who had done the asking.

It was clear that she hadn’t been remembering his words of wisdom with regard to cooling their
relationship at that moment. So where on earth did they go from here? Was he still so tied to the heartache of the past that he couldn’t make love to Amelie when the opportunity was there?

He’d felt as if she was expecting him to jump at the chance when she’d made the request and had seen red. Of course he’d wanted to, but not under those circumstances.

When the phone rang he was praying that it might be her, but it was Jenna on the line with details of her mother’s funeral and also with the news that Ethan was coming over from France for it on his own as both Ben and Kirstie were now at school there and after the upheaval of the move he and Francine didn’t want to have to disrupt their education again.

‘How is your father taking it?’ he asked. and was surprised by her reply.

‘Very well, considering. He has amazed us all by saying that now Mum has gone he’s going to sell the house and travel the world, something he has always wanted to do but never got the chance. So what do you think of that?’

‘Good luck to him. Do you think he will have any trouble selling Four Winds?’

‘He might. The market is unpredictable at the moment.’

‘If he goes ahead with his plans, I can find him a buyer.’

‘Really! Who?’

‘Me.’

‘He would be happy about that, Leo. You and Amelie
were so kind to him when Mum died, and he has always liked you. If he does keep to what he is saying you will be the first to know, and now I must go as Lily is fretful tonight, almost as if she knows that her grandma isn’t here any more.’

As he rang off he couldn’t believe that he’d just said he would like to buy her parents’ house if it came up for sale, and more unbelievable still that he’d had Amelie’s love of Bluebell Cove in mind when he’d said it.

The apartment was good enough for him on his own, but it was not the sort of place he would want to bring his bride to if the church bells ever pealed out over the village for him. Acquiring the house might be easy enough, but as for the rest of it he was losing his sense of direction.

In the house across the way Amelie was weeping tears of humiliation and regret. She’d known it had been a big mistake to say what she had to Leo the moment the words had come out of her mouth.

While he’d been drying her feet, desire had risen in her in a hot tide. She’d craved his touch like a thirsty person for water, with disastrous results, and as if asking him to make love to her hadn’t been awful enough, she’d told him about the icing on the cake!

The right thing to do would be to go back to France, she kept telling herself, but she was committed to working at the practice for six months and didn’t want to break her contract. There was some time to go before it would be up, so all she could do was to continue avoiding Leo as much as possible.

It was the picnic and what had happened to Barbara Balfour that had thrown them so much into each other’s company again, and those moments in the tranquil woodland setting had tempted her to say what was in her heart, but the vast waters of the sea would freeze over before she ever did that again.

She was halfway up the stairs on her way to bed when she caught sight of Leo through the landing window, striding across from the apartment, and quickly shrank back out of sight.

The day was almost over. It had been a ghastly one, and much as the sight of him always warmed her heart, enough was enough. She was too spent for any further conversation between them and what he could possibly want of her after the way they’d separated when the taxi had dropped them off she really didn’t know.

Yet one thing she could be sure of—he wasn’t coming across because he was having second thoughts about his refusal to do what she’d asked.

She was right on that count. Leo was coming to tell her about Jenna’s phone call. To inform her that Barbara’s funeral was to take place on the coming Friday and that if they could both be spared from the practice, he felt they owed it to Keith to be there, having been with him when he’d discovered that his wife had died.

But there was no answer when he rang the bell and when he looked up, the curtains had been drawn in the master bedroom. So the excuse he’d been going to use to see Amelie for just one more time before the day was
done was not going to work. With measured steps he returned to his apartment.

She had heard him ring the bell from up above and was lying with her head beneath the pillows to shut out its noise. When it stopped she pulled the covers up around her and, too exhausted to even think any more, turned on her side and slept.

She awoke to a room full of sunlight and the sound of the church bells pealing not far away, and thought thankfully that it was Sunday. She had twenty-four hours to gather her wits before she and Leo came face to face again.

It was not to be the case. He came as she was finishing a mundane breakfast of cereal, toast and tea. This time she had to let him in. He’d seen her seated at the dining table as he’d walked up the drive and his first words when she opened the door to him were, ‘Are you all right after yesterday?’

‘Yes, I suppose so,’ she told him, and before he had the chance to say anything else she added, ‘Have you heard when the funeral is?’

‘Yes, Jenna phoned late last night. I came across to tell you but there was no answer so I presumed you had gone to bed. It is on Friday at half past two for a private family service at the crematorium, followed by a public thanksgiving service in the church for Barbara’s life and her dedication to those she served so well in a medical capacity. I spoke to Harry a few moments ago and he said the church service is to be relayed to anyone who
can’t get inside, indicating that a large attendance is expected.

‘They’re talking of changing the name of the surgery to the Balfour Medical Centre, which I feel would be very fitting, don’t you? Especially as with Harry in charge there is still a Balfour involved.’

‘Er, yes,’ she agreed, taking in the image of him, drawn looking around the eyes but dressed in a smart top and jeans as if the events of the previous day had never taken place, while she was huddled at the table in an old T-shirt and shorts. But maybe that was because she cared and he didn’t.