it was ugly, too.
After all, she was a city girl. She’d lived
in clean, modern surroundings all her life. The idea of giving up
her downtown condo and moving to France to set up housekeeping had
been wildly appealing to her imagination. Until she arrived and
reality hit her with all the force of that smell.
“It’s probably just mice,” Luc said as he
switched from pushing to pulling Jo inside. They stopped to stick
their heads into the main living area.
It was a large, empty room with a blackened
stone fireplace. Double doors opened out onto a barren patio.
Shivering in the dampness of the November morning, Jo fumbled for a
light switch. When she flicked it, nothing happened.
“If we take it, the power will be up on
Monday. The landlord will hire a fumigator and a cleaning crew.” He
turned to her and softened his voice, putting his arms around her
to warm her. “Don’t look so worried. We’ll throw up some paint,
bring in new furniture, and it’ll be fine.”
Mute, she leaned into him and nodded against
his chest.
Okay. If you say so….
“At least we’ll have lots of space,” he said
with what she thought was a forced cheerfulness.
He released her and disappeared into the
gloom at the end of the hall. “Kitchen needs a bit of work. But
that’s okay. I can probably do most of it myself,” he called back
to her.
Jo’s heart sank in her chest. For weeks she’d
been visualizing her new life with Luc. In her mind, their first
home together would be a cozy little stone cottage covered in
roses. Reality was offering her a rural Gothic nightmare.
She sighed. Ah, the things we do for
love…
Then she remembered her dog, and went back to
the front porch. He hadn’t followed her into the house. The last
she saw him he was pursuing something at warp speed through a bank
of straggly shrubs.
“Sammy!” she called. “Come on, boy!” She
whistled dispiritedly.
A bush trembled but no Sammy appeared.
Sighing again, she decided to leave him to it and went back inside
to follow Luc up a flight of decrepit stairs to the second
floor.
The bedrooms were each austere and musty, but
at least the smell wasn’t so bad on the top floor. Jo forced open
the warped wooden shutters in the largest room and let in a pale
drizzly light.
“No closets. But the floors are good,” she
said, looking at the wide oak planks, gouged and rutted by
centuries of domesticity. “And nice high ceilings.”
She must have been wearing her feelings on
her face, as usual, because Luc turned to her and enveloped her in
a bear hug. “I know it’s not much, mon amore. But you know
it’s just temporary. The year will fly by.” He nuzzled her neck for
emphasis.
Not only was this the only rental house
available, it came with the condition they sign a one-year
lease.
He lifted her chin and kissed her, hard.
That kiss killed her doubts instantly. Luc
could talk her into anything, she knew. She’d live in a barn, if he
wanted it.
And this place isn’t far off from being a
barn….
When she came up for air she looked at him
and said, smiling, “I know. You’re right. We’ll make it work.” She
raised a hand to touch the corner of his lip, swollen from her
overly-enthusiastic exertions of the weekend before. After weeks of
separation, she’d been wild to see him.
“Does it still hurt?”
He grinned that charming grin, the one that
always threatened to buckle her knees. “Only a little. Not like the
gaping wound you gave me in Rocamadour.”
They both laughed at the memory of their
first time, and she hugged him fiercely. He was an extraordinary
man, and she was still head over heels. She believed in him
completely.
And for a few moments she also believed what
she’d just said to him.
Of course we can make it work. We can do
anything, as long as we’re together.
But her doubts returned as soon as she tried
to get her dog through the front door.
A movement in the yard had caused her to peer
through the wavy glass
After all, she was a city girl. She’d lived
in clean, modern surroundings all her life. The idea of giving up
her downtown condo and moving to France to set up housekeeping had
been wildly appealing to her imagination. Until she arrived and
reality hit her with all the force of that smell.
“It’s probably just mice,” Luc said as he
switched from pushing to pulling Jo inside. They stopped to stick
their heads into the main living area.
It was a large, empty room with a blackened
stone fireplace. Double doors opened out onto a barren patio.
Shivering in the dampness of the November morning, Jo fumbled for a
light switch. When she flicked it, nothing happened.
“If we take it, the power will be up on
Monday. The landlord will hire a fumigator and a cleaning crew.” He
turned to her and softened his voice, putting his arms around her
to warm her. “Don’t look so worried. We’ll throw up some paint,
bring in new furniture, and it’ll be fine.”
Mute, she leaned into him and nodded against
his chest.
Okay. If you say so….
“At least we’ll have lots of space,” he said
with what she thought was a forced cheerfulness.
He released her and disappeared into the
gloom at the end of the hall. “Kitchen needs a bit of work. But
that’s okay. I can probably do most of it myself,” he called back
to her.
Jo’s heart sank in her chest. For weeks she’d
been visualizing her new life with Luc. In her mind, their first
home together would be a cozy little stone cottage covered in
roses. Reality was offering her a rural Gothic nightmare.
She sighed. Ah, the things we do for
love…
Then she remembered her dog, and went back to
the front porch. He hadn’t followed her into the house. The last
she saw him he was pursuing something at warp speed through a bank
of straggly shrubs.
“Sammy!” she called. “Come on, boy!” She
whistled dispiritedly.
A bush trembled but no Sammy appeared.
Sighing again, she decided to leave him to it and went back inside
to follow Luc up a flight of decrepit stairs to the second
floor.
The bedrooms were each austere and musty, but
at least the smell wasn’t so bad on the top floor. Jo forced open
the warped wooden shutters in the largest room and let in a pale
drizzly light.
“No closets. But the floors are good,” she
said, looking at the wide oak planks, gouged and rutted by
centuries of domesticity. “And nice high ceilings.”
She must have been wearing her feelings on
her face, as usual, because Luc turned to her and enveloped her in
a bear hug. “I know it’s not much, mon amore. But you know
it’s just temporary. The year will fly by.” He nuzzled her neck for
emphasis.
Not only was this the only rental house
available, it came with the condition they sign a one-year
lease.
He lifted her chin and kissed her, hard.
That kiss killed her doubts instantly. Luc
could talk her into anything, she knew. She’d live in a barn, if he
wanted it.
And this place isn’t far off from being a
barn….
When she came up for air she looked at him
and said, smiling, “I know. You’re right. We’ll make it work.” She
raised a hand to touch the corner of his lip, swollen from her
overly-enthusiastic exertions of the weekend before. After weeks of
separation, she’d been wild to see him.
“Does it still hurt?”
He grinned that charming grin, the one that
always threatened to buckle her knees. “Only a little. Not like the
gaping wound you gave me in Rocamadour.”
They both laughed at the memory of their
first time, and she hugged him fiercely. He was an extraordinary
man, and she was still head over heels. She believed in him
completely.
And for a few moments she also believed what
she’d just said to him.
Of course we can make it work. We can do
anything, as long as we’re together.
But her doubts returned as soon as she tried
to get her dog through the front door.
A movement in the yard had caused her to peer
through the wavy glass
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