‘Well, budget version? What we did was get the bit of disaster wall repaired, then left the rest of the wallpaper in situ and just covered it with about twenty coats of paint.’
‘Oh!’
‘Yeah. I mean, I know the wallpaper is not to everyone’s taste – and it’s quite an undertaking to cover it up – but in Limousin, some of this sixties wallpaper is load-bearing.’
Lily laughed. ‘I can imagine.’
‘Yep. More important than some of the beams in keeping the house together, I reckon!’ Sam winked. ‘Derek! Come here. No. Don’t touch that. No! Not the stairs…’
‘Right, perhaps I’ll follow your advice,’ Lily said. ‘And thank you. You’ve really saved my life.’
‘Don’t be silly.’
‘I mean it. You hardly know me, and you’ve no idea how much better you’ve made me feel,’ Lily said with a watery smile. She tried not to think about how many times she’d already welled up in front of this practical stranger, and was astonished that Sam still seemed to want to know her despite her seemingly constant misery.
Sam smiled and touched her arm briefly. ‘Don’t worry, we’ve all been there.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes. That’s one of the reasons I go to those expat gatherings. Almost all of us are out here, away from family. We’re all missing that sort of backup – parents or sisters or uncles we can call. So we sort of step into the void for each other.’
‘Oh.’
‘Yeah. I suppose that’s why I excuse the flat-earthers and the conspiracy theorists. Because they’re like sort of great-uncles, or crazy aunties. They’re family. You tolerate it at least, tackle it sometimes. And you stay in touch. You stay around for each other.’
‘That sounds… well, it sounds really nice,’ Lily said, warming to the idea of a sort of substitute family, especially as even back in the UK she had few relatives to call her own.
‘It is… I mean, we’re all completely different. But we have that in common. That need for someone to call on. It’s not something anyone talks about. But you’ll find out – people do a lot more for each other than they might do for neighbours or friends at home. Because we’re all in it together in a strange way.’
Lily smiled. ‘Thanks, Sam.’
‘Ah, this is nothing. Wait till you try to do anything with the electrics or plumbing.’
‘Call in the experts?’
‘Definitely.’
‘Anyway, what do you reckon?’ Sam said then, gently brushing down a few of Claudine’s loose curls. ‘Want to help us build a few sandcastles?’
‘I’d love to.’ Lily smiled. ‘Just got to make a couple of phone calls first.’
‘Join us in a bit?’
‘Definitely.’
‘I’ll get you a coffee.’
‘Thank you – see you in five.’
As soon as Sam had bundled her children back up the garden path and into the car to drive to the lakeside car park, Lily scrolled through her phone to find Frédérique’s number. After all, the property was still his she reasoned. She ought to tell him what had happened. And he’d probably know someone trustworthy to make the repairs.
She waited for the number to connect, then listened to it ring out before going to answerphone.
‘Hi, Frédérique. It’s Lily. Can you call me when you have a moment?’ she said. ‘A wall in the house has… well, I think it needs to be repaired.’
As she hung up, a thought struck her. That, rather than needing to speak to Frédérique, she’d wanted to.
Of course it was sensible to inform the homeowner when you’d ripped half a wall down by mistake. It was just, she realised, that wasn’t the only reason she’d raced to dial his number. Although the wall looked unsightly, it wasn’t going to actually fall down. There was no urgency in having to call him. She’d calmed down talking to Sam and knew what she needed to do.
In reality, she probably should have downed tools and gone to the beach with Sam immediately. Switched off for a bit. Built a sandcastle if the urge had taken her. And embraced some of the calm that came with being close to the still, cool water and lush green trees.
She didn’t even need to ring Frédérique to find a suitable artisan to help her make the repair. There was Sam – who’d literally been right there – and Chloé. Each probably knew one or two people. All things being equal, a rational decision might have been to leave Frédérique alone – after all, he’d already tackled a rogue gang of squirrels for her, and was trying to manage the reputational damage from Emily’s drunken exhibition.