Page 34 of The Little Provence Book Shop

Adeline nodded, her fingers tracing the outline of some writing on their order book. ‘Yes, you’re right. And he surprised me really.’

‘You didn’t think he felt that way?’

‘No, not that. He… well, he bought me a DNA test. You know, one of those you send off in the post. And I suppose it surprised me that he could be so… generous. Not feel threatened about my finding out whether I have other relatives. Because I’m all he has.’ Hearing the words out loud made her throat feel constricted. Poor Kevin. She’d been so caught up in her own feelings she’d barely thought about him at all.

‘Yes, he is a good man for sure,’ Monique said, turning back towards the bookshelf she was dusting. ‘Not all men are so generous. Michel, he says he is my nephew, but he is very quick to criticise. Very quick to tell me I am doing the wrong thing.’

Adeline laughed. ‘Well, Kevin does that too. Definitely. But maybe that’s a way of showing love too.’

Monique snorted. ‘Perhaps,’ she said, not sounding convinced.

They worked silently for a few moments, Adeline ticking offorders in the well-worn notebook, Monique flicking her rather elaborate feather duster along rows of books.

‘This DNA test,’ Monique asked then. ‘How is it done?’

Adeline explained about the website, the envelope, the little vial of saliva. ‘I’m not even sure if I’ll find anything,’ she admitted. ‘It’ll only work if my mother – my birth mother – or someone she’s related to has done a test herself. And if she doesn’t want to be found…’ She let the words hang.

Monique continued her dusting, her brow furrowed. ‘And they have this in France?’ she asked. ‘This DNA service.’

‘Yes.’ Adeline was cautious. ‘Do you want me to write down the website for you?’

Monique shrugged. ‘If you want.’ She continued dusting, but something in her movements was sharper, more pointed.

Smiling, Adeline noted down the address on a scrap of paper. ‘And let me know if you need any more help with it,’ she said. ‘I’m happy to help.’ It would be wonderful if Monique could find something out for herself. Despite the fact she’d cut her mother out of her life, and didn’t speak to her sister either, Adeline sensed a similar yearning for connection in Monique. She wished she could say more; tell her what she knew, help her to open up. But with Michel clearly still in the doghouse, she didn’t want to make things worse for him by admitting she knew about Monique’s baby – just in case.

‘Well, I might do it,’ Monique said. ‘It could be interesting.’

‘Yes.’ Adeline agreed. ‘Maybe.’I am out with lanterns,she thought, remembering a line from Emily Dickinson,looking for myself.

Outside, the square was quiet, save for the odd figure walking past with a baguette. The only place other than the patisserie open this morning was the cafe – she could just make out its windows at this distance, the yellow light emanatingfrom inside. Adeline wondered what Lili and Kevin were doing, hoped the weather would remain bright for the afternoon, and resolved to put all thoughts of blood ties and adoption and saliva tests from her head for a little while. Because Monique was right – whatever she might discover down the line didn’t change anything between her and Kevin. He was her brother, and the least important part of that was his DNA.

17

‘So,’ said Kevin, when she arrived back at her little terraced rental three hours later. ‘Are you going to show me the sights and sounds of this big city?’ He was relaxed – or perhaps collapsed would be a better way to describe it – on the sofa after taking Lili for a walk, spending half an hour playing hide-and-seek in the house and its small back garden, then being forced to endure what Lili had called ‘a makeover’, which seemed to have consisted of Lili raiding Adeline’s make-up bag and applying liberal amounts of eyeshadow, blusher and lipstick to her uncle’s face. He looked exhausted and although he’d clearly tried to clean the make-up off post-glow-up, he still had a smudge of lipstick in the corner of his mouth. Adeline tried not to laugh. She’d wondered why they hadn’t come up to the shop to meet her, but looking at her crumpled brother, it was now easy to see.

‘Well,’ she said, eyeing his slumped form, ‘I was thinking of grabbing us a pizza at the Café des Sports if you think you can cope with leaving the house? Or should I call an ambulance?’

‘Ha ha.’ He sat up with a groan. ‘If you think a young manlike me can be worn out by three hours with a five-year-old, you’d… well, you’d be right,’ he admitted with an eye-roll and a shake of his head. ‘That girl has endless energy!’

‘Tell me about it.’

As if to prove them both right, Lili rushed into the room and thrust a picture into Kevin’s hand. It was a wobbly oval, coloured in with a multitude of different colours, one or two lines spilling over the edge. ‘Wow,’ Kevin said obediently. ‘This is amazing!’

‘It’s an Easter egg,’ Lili said. ‘My class is doing an Easter dance next week. In the square. Are you going to come?’

Kevin looked guilty. ‘Well, I have to be back at work by then. But how about your mum films it for me? I’d love to see it.’

Lili looked downcast. ‘You have to go?’

Kevin reached forward and pulled her onto his lap. ‘Yes, Lili. I do. But you know what? I’ll come back. And you can visit me in England. And you can show me your dance and tell me all about it.’

This seemed to appease Lili a little. She gave a small, curt nod, although her mouth remained downturned. Adeline felt a shiver of guilt, watching them together. Both at her past actions and at the fact that she’d chosen to take her daughter so far from her only known family.

‘I can getMamieto take pictures too,’ Lili said suddenly, her face brightening.

‘Yes,’ Kevin nodded. ‘Mummy will take lots of pictures, I’m sure.’

‘No, silly!’ she said, smiling. ‘Mamie. At the shop.’

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