Follow Your Star, Jennifer Bohnet [best fiction novels to read txt] 📗

Deciding to have an early night herself, Nanette followed her sister up the stairs. Unpacking the suitcase in her familiar bedroom tucked away in the eaves of the farmhouse, she remembered the weeks she’d spent here after being flown back from Monaco just days after her body and her successful career had been shattered.

It was here Vanessa had come to find her nearly three years ago. Walking into her room to cajole her back to life she’d said, ‘You’re looking better than the last time I saw you.’

‘Considering I was still black and blue and various bits of me were swathed in bandages, that’s not hard.’ Nanette smiled. ‘How are the twins? Your business?’

‘Pierre and Olivia are fine and the business is really taking off,’ Vanessa said. ‘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.’

Vanessa glanced at Nanette. ‘How about you? 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 can’t decide which problem to tackle first: nowhere to live, no job and my savings rapidly disappearing.’ She looked helplessly at Vanessa. ‘I just don’t know where to start. And 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 bit her lip as she listened to her friend and vainly tried to stop the tears flowing down her cheeks.

Vanessa, instantly contrite, 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 was a pause before she continued, ‘Will you come and work for me?’

Nanette 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 to be away a lot in the next few months 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 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 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 said thoughtfully. ‘Have to warn you though, I’m not a brilliant cook.’

‘Great,’ Vanessa 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 organize 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 team.

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.

Mathieu, Vanessa’s ex-husband visited frequently much to the twins delight. Separated when the children were still tiny, he and Vanessa had managed to remain friends despite their differences and both did their best for the twins. Pierre and Olivia were now so used to the way their lives were divided between England and Monaco they simply accepted it as the way their particular family worked.

The sudden switching on of an outside light, brought Nanette out of her daydream and back to the present. Bryan was crossing the farmyard to do his final night-time check of the animals in the barn.

Thoughtfully, Nanette drew the curtains and turned to finish her unpacking. Could she really turn her back on everything Vanessa had done for her and refuse to help out in her current crisis? Besides, if she didn’t agree to take the twins to Monaco where would that leave her?

Patsy was right when she said Vanessa treated her like family, but relatives had fallen out over