Chapter 21

Lola worried about Jason, not knowing how best to comfort him. She'd hoped that he would return to her grandparent's with her, but he seemed keener to spend the summer with his cousin, which she could understand given that this was his only cousin. In the meantime, although she had been dreading the time away in her parents, things had not been quite as bad as she feared, at least not in the beginning. It helped that Grandma and Grandpa haven't had any fuss lately, and the weather at St Patrick was lovely. There was also Madame Jane's Provençal Cooking, which could never be underestimated. Emelia had come to join them for few days, too, so all was going well until Grandmother received a letter from Nathalie Murdoch. "N" for notoriously nattering, nitwit Nathalie who wrote to inform them (never asking, always announcing) that she and her husband would be visiting over the holiday. Grandfather was delighted (typical). Mother was furious.

Mr Murdoch had been grandfather's fri