One Summer in Paris

“No.” Audrey caught her eye. “Well, kind of, but not really. I was borrowing it, that’s all. I’ve got a job now, but I’ve only worked there for a couple of afternoons and they don’t pay me until I’ve been there for a few weeks so it’s been tough.” She poked at the remains of the egg on her plate. “I tried to explain. I had money saved, but then—well, something happened, and now I’ve got nothing spare to fall back on. But soon I will. I’m good at washing hair so the tips should be good. I tried to tell her I was going to pay her back, but she didn’t want to hear it.”

Grace opened her mouth to ask what had happened to the money, but Audrey’s face was so pale she decided not to. She stood up. “Are you done eating? Let’s go upstairs so that you can freshen up, and then we’ll go together.”

Audrey didn’t move. “What if she has me arrested?”

“She won’t.”

“You’d better be right. Otherwise you’ll be visiting me in prison.”

They walked up to the suite, and Grace opened the door. There was something about this hotel room that depressed her. Maybe it was because David was missing.

The moment she saw the place, she started to laugh. “I don’t believe it.”

Audrey peered over her shoulder. “What?”

“I was trying not to be so organized and tidy. I left a few things strewn around the place, even though it almost killed me to do it. And they’ve tidied it away. Again. They keep doing it. Every time I drop something, they clear it up. I left shoes on the floor and a shirt on the bed.”

Audrey looked bemused. “You want to be untidy?”

“Not untidy exactly. Just less fixated on controlling everything about me.”

“I don’t get you, Grace.”

“You’re not alone,” Grace said sadly. She waved her hand in the direction of the bathroom. “Make yourself at home. Take a shower if you like. There are plenty of towels.”

“Want me to drop them in a wet heap on the floor when I’m done?” Audrey nudged her. “See? Maybe I do get you.”

Grace laughed. “Maybe you do. Go ahead and drop the towels wherever you like.”

“I will. And if you need help learning to be messy, I can probably help. Come and see my place and you’ll see what messy really is.”

While Audrey vanished to the bathroom, Grace packed her bag for the day.

She pushed the phone into her bag, along with cash and other items she thought she might need. Her passport was safely locked in the hotel safe.

She could hear the sound of the shower, so she messaged Sophie and checked her emails.

There was an email from Mimi, including two photographs of the garden.

Grace felt a pang of homesickness and then remembered that the home she’d loved didn’t really exist anymore.

Audrey emerged from the bathroom, her face scrubbed of makeup and her hair damp. “I almost drowned in your shower. There are like forty different jets hosing you down at the same time.”

“You look great,” Grace said. “Let’s go.”

They left the hotel together and walked across the river in the sunshine.

As Grace walked into the bookshop, Audrey hung back. Grace had a feeling she was ready to run.

A woman, presumably Elodie, sat behind the desk talking to a young man.

“No way,” Audrey muttered. “We’re not doing this. That’s Etienne. I don’t need him to witness my humiliation.”

“We’re doing this.” Grace caught her hand and tugged her toward the door.

Elodie glanced up as the bell rang. Her welcoming smile lasted until she noticed Audrey hovering behind Grace.

“I’m Grace.” Grace stuck out her hand and switched to French. She explained that she would be giving Audrey French lessons, and asked if Elodie might consider giving her a second chance.