Page 62 of The Little Provence Book Shop

Adeline had nodded. ‘And have you… will you be able to forgive her?’ she asked.

Monique had fixed her eyes on Adeline then. ‘Oui,’ she said. ‘I have already done it.’

This seemed incredible after decades of no contact and Adeline’s face had obviously registered surprise.

‘My mother is old,’ Monique explained. ‘I have punished her with years of silence, I see that now. And before, when I ran away, I was a child. I saw only what a child would see. That my mother had stolen my baby and did not understand my pain. And I carried that vision of my mother for so many years; something I had constructed in childhood. But now I am a woman, and I have known pain, known life. And I looked in my mother’s eyes and I saw that I had hurt her perhaps just as much as she had hurt me. I understood that her decision had not been easy as I had imagined, but done with love. Because I was young, and times were different. And she hoped so much for me.’

‘Well, that’s really generous of you.’

Monique shrugged. ‘Perhaps the child inside me will never fully forgive her, but the woman I am now can build something new with what time we have left. My sister,’ she added, taking a big sip of wine, ‘is another matter.’

‘Oh dear.’

‘Oui, because she has watched the pain I have inflicted on my mother for all these years and she blames me for that. And of course she has petitioned me over and over again to visit to forgive, and I was stubborn and wouldn’t communicate. Iunderstand. It will take time. But we are not so old. There will be time.’

‘And the baby…’ Adeline had hardly dared mention this fact. ‘What are you going to do? Are you going to try to find her?’

Monique sighed. ‘It is hard to imagine her after all this time. For so many years, I imagined her as a baby who had her life taken so young. It is hard to imagine her as a woman. As someone I might meet, perhaps. Yes, I want to find her. But like you, I am afraid.’

The days that had followed had been strange. Monique had seemed shaken and exhausted, and while they’d spoken about books and the weather and their customers, they hadn’t broached the subject of the baby again. And Adeline had not been able to say anything to Monique about her mother’s message, or the fact that she’d responded; that she’d found her mother lived in Toulouse, just a few hours away on the train.

But she needed to tell someone. Someone who knew both her and Monique, both of their stories.

School had resumed the day before, and Lili had reluctantly sloped into the playground before seeming to remember that she actually loved her time in the little stone building with the other children, and rushing forward to see her friends.

By the time Stacey arrived in the cafe, hanging her coat on the hat stand and looking around before breaking into a smile as their eyes met, Adeline was almost jittery with a combination of nerves and over-caffeination. She’d taken the morning off work with Monique’s permission to ‘meet a friend’ but had felt so restless at home she’d decided to sit in the cafe with a book until Stacey arrived.

Stacey plonked herself down unceremoniously in the chair opposite and grinned. ‘How’s things?’ she said. Then, before Adeline could respond, ‘Actually, hold that thought. Can I get you another coffee?’ She gestured to Adeline’s empty cup. ‘I’m gasping.’

‘I think I’d probably better get something less… stimulating,’ Adeline admitted. ‘I’ve managed to get through three of these things already.’

‘Orange juice?’

‘Perfect.’

Stacey made her way to the counter to place their order and returned with a tray, bearing an enormous latte and a tall glass of orange juice, complete with paper straw.

‘Right,’ she said, propping her elbows on the table and lifting her cup to her lips. ‘Spill.’

‘Are you sure you don’t mind? We hardly know each other. I feel a bit… it’s just I didn’t know who else to call.’

‘Course I’m sure,’ Stacey said, smiling. ‘Believe me, I’m settled here now, but it was tough at first. And I had Matt and the kids to offload to. So! Out with it!’

‘OK.’ Adeline prepared herself, taking a brief sip through her straw and feeling her taste buds fizz as the tangy orange broke through their coffee coating. ‘Here we go.’

She relayed her story, as far as she knew it, and saw Stacey’s eyes grow wider with every revelation.

‘Bloody hell, it’s like an episode ofCoronation Street!’

‘Ha. I suppose it is.Coronation Street,en France.’

‘Sorry, I don’t mean to make light of it. It must be tough. Losing your mum like that, then finding out… and your boss having all that going on too.’ Stacey puffed out her cheeks in an expression of disbelief and expelled a noisy breath. ‘It is A LOT. I’m not surprised you needed to talk to someone.’

‘Yes. And, you know… Thank you, for listening.’

‘So you’re going to see your mum?’

‘My birth mum, yes. Soon, actually.’

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