One Summer in Paris(49)

Etienne frowned. “That isn’t so easy to do. There is pride for a start.”

“So it is better to steal?”

“She borrowed it,” Etienne said emphatically, and Grace was relieved to have that extra voice of support.

“Some translation would be good here,” Audrey muttered, but Grace sensed that Elodie was wavering and made a final plea.

“She is eighteen. Didn’t you ever do anything you regretted when you were eighteen?”

Elodie met her gaze and there was a flicker of something in her eyes. She gave a reluctant smile. “Perhaps, but overlooking the money incident doesn’t change the fact that she can’t communicate with any of the customers. Even if she has French lessons, I can’t leave her in the shop on her own.”

Grace thought quickly. “If I do it with her, she won’t be on her own.”

“I can’t afford to pay two people.”

“I would be a volunteer.” She had to be mad, surely? Who chose to work on their vacation? On the other hand, this was the strangest vacation she’d ever been on and it might be good to do something she would never normally do. “I can help Audrey when there are customers, and when there are no customers I will teach her French.”

Elodie looked curious. “How do you know each other?”

Grace told Elodie everything, and it was obvious that the other woman was surprised by the story. Etienne was, too.

He grinned at Audrey. “You did that? Incroyable.”

Elodie seemed less enamored. She gave Audrey a long, assessing look. “We will try it again.”

Grace felt a rush of satisfaction and turned to Audrey, finally ready to translate. “It’s all fine. We will both be here in the mornings, and I am going to teach you French.”

Audrey looked uncomfortable. “You can’t spend your mornings here. You’re on holiday. You want to explore Paris.”

That was what she’d planned to do with David, but Grace didn’t want to do the things she would have done with him.

“Working in a bookshop has always been a dream of mine.”

Audrey muttered something about some people having weird dreams. “But thanks. I mean, really. Thanks.” She looked at Elodie. “Sorry about the money.”

Elodie tightened her lips. “We will forget it and make a fresh start, no?”

She could have been describing Grace’s life. She was starting fresh, too.

“I’ll begin right away.” Grace put her bag behind the desk. “I’m going to spend some time exploring the shop, so I have a feel for where things are shelved.”

It felt good to have a purpose, and there was no doubt that the bookstore was charming.

“Our older books are in the rooms toward the back. Fiction on the left, nonfiction on the right.” Elodie stood up and smoothed her skirt over her legs. “Newer volumes are at the front. We have some first editions locked in the cabinet. They are valuable, so we never let anyone browse without supervision.”

Grace strolled through the small rooms, examining the shelves that were at eye level and lower. They were carefully labeled, with each book in alphabetical order.

She tried to picture her flamboyant grandmother spending hours here, and failed. It just didn’t seem like a place Mimi would fall in love with. It made no sense to her. What was she missing?

“Does the name Mimi Laroche mean anything to you, Elodie?”

The woman shook her head. “Should it?”

It had been too much to hope for. “My grandmother was born in Paris. She spent a great deal of time in this bookstore, particularly after the war.”

“In that case she would have met my grandmother, Paulette. She was still coming here and spending half a day with the books until the week before she died. That was five years ago.” Elodie gestured to an old photograph on the wall. “This was taken in 1960.”

Grace studied it and pulled out her phone. “Could I take a photograph of it? I’d like to send it to Mimi.”

“Of course. And if she has any stories to share, I’d love to hear them. Is she still a keen reader?”

That was the strange thing about this. Grace had never seen her grandmother pick up a book. “Her eyesight isn’t as good as it once was.”

“My grandmother had the same problem. Fortunately she didn’t lose her hearing, so she fell in love with audiobooks.” Elodie reached for her bag. “You are sure you don’t mind staying here this morning? I would love to talk a little more, but I’m trying to rent the apartment upstairs and it is proving more challenging than usual. I have a lovely couple who want to take it from the end of August, but I can’t afford to let it stay empty until then. I am going to talk to a few rental agencies. If you have any questions you can always call me.”

“We will be fine.” An idea blossomed in Grace’s head, wild and totally unlike her. Could she really do something so unplanned? So impulsive? “Your apartment—I don’t suppose you’d like to rent it to me, would you?”

Elodie looked surprised. “You’re looking for an apartment?”

She hadn’t been, but now the idea had come alive in her brain, she realized how much she wanted to do it. So far she’d been following a path she’d planned to take with David. She felt his absence everywhere. If she was ever going to move on, she had to find a way to deal with that. She was no longer half of Grace-and-David. She was 100 percent Grace.