One Summer in Paris

Audrey was hovering. “So—er—you’re living here now?”

“Yes, and I have you to thank for it. I never would have thought of renting an apartment if it hadn’t been for you.”

“Er—you’re welcome? Although I don’t think I had much to do with it.”

“You had everything to do with it. And now we are going to do something about your French so that you can always handle the basics. We’ll start with greetings, so you can dazzle people with the warmth of your customer service the moment they walk through the door.”

Elodie finally smiled at Audrey. “I wait to be dazzled.” She gave Audrey’s shoulder a squeeze, perhaps more relaxed since she’d witnessed Grace’s affection for the teenager. “We will try this again, no?”

As the door closed behind her, Audrey stood with her arms folded, a wary look on her face. “So now what? I suppose you want me to get paper and pens or something.”

“No paper. No pens. No writing or reading, at least not to begin with.”

“I thought you were going to give me a French lesson.”

“I am. But that isn’t going to involve writing, reading or any of the other things you find hard. We’re tackling this a different way.”

Audrey’s eyes narrowed. “What way?”

“Are you always so suspicious?”

“Yeah, it’s called being street-smart.”

Grace wondered what her life had been like that she constant

ly felt she had to watch her back. “We’re going to have a conversation. And don’t tell me you’re not going to be able to do that, because I haven’t noticed you holding back when it comes to talking. For the rest of the morning, we are only going to talk in French.”

“In that case it’s going to be a quiet morning.”

Grace had a feeling Audrey was going to surprise herself. “First you’re going to learn to greet someone and ask how they are.”

“What if I don’t care how they are?”

Grace laughed. She’d laughed more since she’d met Audrey than she had in the entire six months previously. “You’re going to pretend.”

“What if they answer me and I don’t understand?”

“We’ll get to that. I’m going to speak and you’re going to repeat what I say.”

Normally before a lesson she made a detailed plan, but nothing in her life was the way it used to be. Later she’d think about techniques she could use to help Audrey, but for now the best thing seemed to be to just get started.

Audrey

“Oh, my God, the view is insane, although I don’t see what any of this has to do with learning French.”

It was five days since she’d almost lost her job, and she and Grace were at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Grace took a photograph. “You bought the tickets in French.”

“True. I’d forgotten about that. And mine cost less because I’m jeune.” It was weird, Audrey thought. With Grace, she learned without even realizing she was learning.

She peered down. The whole of Paris lay at her feet. “If you’re sick, how long do you think it takes to hit the ground?”

“Audrey!”

Audrey grinned. “Just seeing if I could shock you.”

“I’m easily shocked.”