Nanette was silent for some seconds before looking at her sister. ‘I was thinking, coming here on the train, that maybe I do need to go – return to the scene of the crime, as it were. Being airlifted out so quickly left a lot of questions that in my mind have never been answered. There were also a lot of people I didn’t get to say goodbye to.’
‘Not many of them have been in touch with you since though, have they?’ Patsy demanded. ‘Not even he, whose name shall not be mentioned unless I’m blaspheming, despite insisting he was acting in your best interests at the time.’
Nanette flinched. ‘Perhaps by going I can finally close that particular chapter of my life and begin to look to my future. I can’t be Vanessa’s housekeeper-cum-childminder forever, the twins are growing up,’ she said quietly.
Patsy shook her head. ‘Oh, Nanette. If you feel like that, I don’t know what to say or suggest. I just don’t want you being hurt again. I’m afraid you’ll find going back a lot harder than you expect. Could you cope with any recriminations that might occur? If you do go and things get too difficult, promise me you’ll come straight back here, with the twins if necessary.’
‘Where else would I go?’ Nanette said quietly. ‘The thing is, what do I do if I don’t agree to take the twins to Monaco? I was so shocked I didn’t think to ask Vanessa what would happen if I said no. What if I refuse and the twins go to Monaco anyway, where does that leave me? My job and my home will have disappeared. I’ll have to find somewhere else.’
‘Oh, come on, Nanette. Vanessa has always treated you as part of her family. That’s not likely to change,’ Patsy said. ‘She’ll probably offer to find you a job in the office. She’s certainly not going to throw you out on the street.’
‘I guess you’re right.’ Nanette sighed, looking at her sister. ‘Are you all right? You look a bit pale,’ she asked, concerned.
Patsy put down her virtually untouched glass of champagne. ‘Excuse me – don’t know why it’s called morning sickness, mine comes morning, noon and night,’ and she disappeared in the direction of the bathroom. ‘Back in a mo.’ An ashen Patsy reappeared a few minutes later. ‘If you don’t mind, I’m going to go to bed. We’ll talk more tomorrow.’
2
Nanette followed her sister up the stairs, deciding to have an early night herself. Unpacking the suitcase in her familiar bedroom tucked away in the eaves of the farmhouse, she remembered the weeks she’d spent here with Patsy mothering and fussing around her after the accident. An accident that she herself remembered little about. All she could recall was the physical and mental pain she’d suffered on the flight back from Monaco, when both her body and her successful career lay in tatters. Her dreams of marriage and a family were all shattered too.
Vanessa had visited several times. On one visit, a couple of months after the accident, she’d arrived with a proposition.
‘You’re looking better than the last time I saw you,’ she’d said.
‘Considering I was still black and blue and various bits of me were swathed in bandages, that’s not so hard.’ Nanette had smiled. ‘How are the twins? Your business?’
‘Pierre and Olivia are fine and the business is really taking off,’ Vanessa had replied. ‘Mathieu has taken them to Disneyland for a few days. He was a lousy husband, but I have to give him credit – he does try to be a good father. I just wish he hadn’t decided to live in Monaco permanently. It makes access a bit complicated.’ She’d glanced across at Nanette. ‘Have you made any plans for your future yet?’
Nanette shook her head. ‘No. I’m trying to find the courage to face the world again, but I just don’t know where to start. My body has been battered and broken, I don’t have a job and my savings are rapidly disappearing. So, do I get fit before I start to look for a job to get back on my feet? Or do I stay here with Patsy and Bryan and try to find work locally. Or what?’ She’d looked helplessly at Vanessa. ‘On top of it all, I feel such a fool.’
‘Hey, you’re not a fool. You were holding down a very busy and stressful job when the accident happened. If Zac Ewart had an ounce of decency in him, he’d have supported you, made sure you had a job to go back to, not dumped you before the case came to court. Honestly, Nanette, I can’t believe he behaved as he did. Talk about putting the boot in when you were down. You were engaged, for goodness sake. He should have stood by you.’
Nanette had bitten her lip as she’d listened to her friend and vainly tried to stop the tears flowing down her cheeks. It was what she’d expected to happen too. Instead she hadn’t heard from her erstwhile fiancé since she left Monaco. Although she had seen the headlines about the accident, calling him a hero and her a reckless driver.
Vanessa, instantly contrite, had put her arms around her friend. ‘Nanette, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s just I get so mad on your behalf.’ There’d been a pause before she’d continued, ‘How do you feel about moving to Bristol and coming to work for me?’
Nanette had looked at her in surprise. ‘You need a PA for the business?’
Vanessa shook her head. ‘No. Caroline is doing a great job. What I need is a housekeeper and someone to help with the twins. I know it’s not what you’re trained for, but maybe a complete change for a while would be good? I have a very busy few months coming up and I need someone at home I can trust to look after the twins and generally take care of things.’
‘You’re not offering me a job out of pity?’ Nanette had asked.
‘Definitely not. I’m trying to juggle home and work and I’m desperate for some help. Being a single mum is difficult enough without trying to start and keep a business afloat. I need you, Nanette.’
‘What happens about getting the twins to Monaco to visit Mathieu? I couldn’t face taking them there. I can’t do the school run either now I’ve lost my licence,’ Nanette had added quietly.
‘Mathieu will have to collect them. We’ll sort something out so you don’t have to go. As for the school run, we’re only ten minutes away. Much better for them to walk anyway. I can’t pay you a fortune, but you’ll have your own room, your keep – although you’ll be in charge of the cooking! I thought it would help us both – you to get back on your feet and recover from recent events, and me, because I will have someone I can trust utterly while I concentrate on this business and make it work.’
‘Maybe we could try it for a couple of months? See how things work out,’ Nanette had said thoughtfully. ‘Have to warn you though, I’m not a brilliant cook.’
‘Great,’ Vanessa had said. ‘School starts next week, so how d’you feel about coming back with me tomorrow? You can settle in and have a few days to organise a routine.’
Patsy had fussed over her like a mother hen for the next twenty-four hours, worried that she wasn’t ready to leave the sanctuary of the farm, but pleased that there was to be some purpose in her life again.
The couple of months’ trial had gone quickly and Nanette, finding she enjoyed a domestic working environment more than she’d thought possible, had happily agreed to stay on permanently. It was certainly less stressful than her previous job as a PA to a Grand Prix racing driver. She adored looking after the twins and running the house, especially when Vanessa was away on one of her frequent business trips. It was like having her own home and children, something she’d always wanted – had imagined having by now, if only things had turned out differently.