Page 67 of The Little Provence Book Shop

Even if tomorrow didn’t work out the way she hoped, she had already begun to anchor herself, to find the missing pieces of herself and put them back together.

31

She looked in the mirror again. The woman who looked back was wearing a red summer dress, patterned with white flowers. It was something she’d ordered online, inspired by Monique’s unabashed love of bright colours – and she had to admit it looked pretty good on. But was it her?

She’d straightened her hair a little and used a bit of volumizing mousse on the roots; then brushed everything out and simply tucked it behind her ears, the way that felt comfortable to her. Then added earrings – something she hadn’t bothered with for a while.

And although she wasn’t always comfortable with the way she looked, even she had to admit that she’d scrubbed up quite well.

Even so, on André’s arm, she knew she’d feel nervous. As if she were simply waiting for it all to fall apart.

‘Can I come?’ A little voice in the background made her turn and there was Lili in her rumpled unicorn pyjamas, wearing a scowl.

‘Oh, baby. Next time. We’re going to a grown-up place,’ Adeline said, turning and leaning down for a hug.

Lili slipped out of her grasp, refusing to acquiesce.

‘Anyway, Monique’s coming round tonight!’ Adeline said, keeping her voice as bright as possible. ‘She’s going to play some games with you.’

Lili’s face brightened at the thought, before she remembered that she was angry with her mum and scowled again, with slightly less conviction.

Adeline laughed and ruffled her daughter’s hair. ‘I won’t be out for long anyway. We’re off on a train tomorrow, remember?’

Half an hour later, Lili was happily curled on the sofa with Monique, looking at the first of quite a pile of books Monique had brought over from the shop. Watching the pair of them snuggled together gave Adeline a sudden pang – remembering how her mum and Lili had often sat together, watching cartoons or playing snap or cuddling and reading just like this. Her stomach gave a guilty somersault as she thought about what she was going to do tomorrow. But it wasn’t a betrayal, she reminded herself. Mum would always be Mum – how could she not be?

Then there was a knock on the door and her stomach gave another kind of somersault – more from excitement this time, although she wished her innards wouldn’t react to every emotion she had and simply do their job of digesting the hurried meal of savoury crêpes she’d made for herself and Lili an hour earlier.

She felt both Monique’s and Lili’s eyes on her as she opened the door to André, who was grinning self-consciously on the front step. He handed her a flower, plucked en route by the looks of things, and she thanked him and laid it on the bureau before turning to Monique and Lili. ‘Be good,’ she said to Lili.

‘Ah, we will,’ Monique joked. ‘Go have fun!’ Then, ‘And look after her, André,’ she called as the two of them exited.

Adeline pulled the door behind her and grimaced slightly. ‘Sorry about that,’ she said to a grinning André. ‘I guess she’s quite protective of her staff.’

‘Don’t worry, it’s nice. And in any case, she has nothing to worry about.’

They walked in silence for a few moments; Adeline racking her brain about what to say. ‘How was work?’ she asked eventually.

André laughed. ‘Yes, very good – and yours?’

‘Yes. Good.’

He laughed again. ‘What?’ she asked.

‘Ah, nothing. I’m not laughing at you, don’t worry. But perhaps at us. Because we are so desperate to speak to each other properly, but it is hard to know what to say at first,non?’

And she laughed too. ‘Yes,’ she said. Then, ‘Sorry.’

André’s hand nudged at hers, finding its way in between her fingers until they were holding hands. His grip was warm, firm, comforting. ‘I do not think you are responsible for this,’ he said. ‘I think it is normal when you get to know someone new. But don’t worry. We have plenty of time to learn about each other. To find things to say. And sometimes, too, it is fine to say nothing at all.’ He squeezed her hand gently.

And she felt herself relax as she realised the truth in his words. This wasn’t a job interview, or the kind of date where you had to get everything right or risk rejection. It didn’t actually have to be a date, officially. Just an evening out; a drink. They had all the time in the world.

Later, when Adeline let herself into the house, Monique was alone on the sofa, curled up with a well-thumbed copy ofChocolat. Adeline realised it was her book, the one she’d brought with her when she came. Monique, hearing her, laid the book down, carefully marking the page with a bookmark and smiled at her.

‘So was it good?’ she asked.

Adeline smiled. ‘It was lovely, thank you.’

André appeared from the front doorstep behind her. ‘Good evening, Monique. I wanted to say goodnight. And thank you for helping Adeline.’

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