A Perfect Paris Christmas - Mandy Baggot Page 0,48

free vacation or not, there were many other things Rach could be doing with her precious time off from the estate agency…

Keeley put her hands in the pockets of her coat and tried to look natural. Easier said than done when your heart was thumping as if someone was bashing it like a Scottish pipe band drummer. Was Silvie here already? She scanned the diners for the vibrant fifty-something with a glossy handbag to match her hair she had conjured up in her mind.

There were quite a number of people enjoying the winter sunshine and the food. Others had simple coffees and an accompanying biscuit. Was there a woman sitting on her own? Would Silvie actually be on her own? What about Ferne’s father? She hadn’t thought to ask. Maybe this meeting wasn’t going to be just the three of them…

Then her breath caught in her throat as her eyes met with a woman seated in the middle of the arcade. She was wearing a taupe-coloured coat and had her fingers entwined in front of her on the table. She was nothing like the stylish icon of fashion Keeley had made up in her head. This woman had silver hair, smartly kept, modern, simple and her face was subtly made-up, a sheen of apricot colour on her lips.

Keeley didn’t know how she knew but she knew. This was Silvie. This was Ferne’s mother.

‘Rach,’ she whispered. ‘That’s her.’

‘What?’ Rach said, looking up from her phone.

‘The lady over there, halfway down… I don’t know why… I just… that’s Silvie.’

Keeley looked to Rach then and watched her friend narrow her eyes, as if tuning in to the potential Silvie with a truth-finding glance. Before Keeley could say anything else, Rach had taken a waiter by the arm.

‘Excusez-moi,’ Rach greeted. ‘We are here to meet Madame Silvie Durand.’

‘Oui, Mademoiselle. Just this way.’

And now it was happening. Before she had a chance to process further, Keeley felt her knee joints lock together as every step she took down through the rows of tables and chairs under this elaborate and regal ceiling led her towards the decision she’d made to do this. Her face flushing, her eyes almost too scared to leave the stone of the floor, she shrunk into Rach’s shadow letting her friend lead the way and take the initial impact of discovery.

It seemed to be taking such a long time to traverse mere metres. And she remembered the last time life had slowed like that. One moment she had been singing along to Dua Lipa, the next there was a horrendous squeal of brakes, glass shattering and shards of it were flying through the air along with her handbag, the contents of her handbag and her unsecured sister…

‘Bonjour.’

It was her. It was the woman Keeley had locked eyes with and she was standing up now, her expression warm and welcoming, her eyes kind.

‘I…’ Keeley began. She didn’t know what to say. It was like she had lost her ability to form any kind of sensible speech. How hard was it to say a simple ‘hello’? Just start with a smile and maybe the ‘h’. ‘I’m… Heeley.’ She shook her head, embarrassment painting its red hue all over her face. ‘I’m sorry, I… I’m Keeley.’ Her eyes were smarting with tears all of a sudden.

‘And I’m Rach,’ Rach said quickly. ‘It’s nice to meet you.’

‘It is OK,’ Silvie said gently. ‘This is a very… unusual situation, I realise. Please, both of you, sit down. Let us order some more coffees or perhaps something stronger.’

Keeley had to gather herself together. Except when you were about to sit opposite the woman whose daughter had saved your life as she left hers, it wasn’t quite so simple.

‘I could murder a beer,’ Rach informed, taking the seat on the edge of the table for three, almost between Keeley and Silvie.

For this, Keeley was grateful. It meant there was a little distance, the table between them and, for now, that felt right.

‘Keeley, would you like a little vin rouge?’ Silvie asked her.

‘I probably shouldn’t, but thank you.’

‘She definitely should,’ Rach replied before turning to Keeley. ‘You definitely should.’

‘You can order anything you want,’ Silvie assured her. ‘I am so glad you came all this way.’ She took a long, languid breath. ‘It really is so wonderful to meet you.’

Keeley felt herself calm a little bit, and as she moved her chair a touch closer to the table, her insides twitched in that way they sometimes did, as if in