The Secret French Recipes of Sophie Valroux - Samantha Verant Page 0,111
Tour de Champvert, will you marry me?”
Grand-mère Odette had calculated and manipulated and connived, right up to her last breath. She’d never wanted to hold the ring again. She’d wanted to give it to Rémi so he could give it to me. And if that didn’t prove her love for me, I don’t know what did. I was ready for change, to ride on the wings of dragonflies and butterflies. I was ready to start my new life. No looking back, only forward, but just a little slower—one breath at a time, and I couldn’t find mine, so I didn’t say a word and stared at my feet.
Rémi lifted up my chin. “What? Too fast?”
I met his eyes and said, “Can we just be engaged to be engaged?”
“J’ai mal compris” (I don’t understand), he said.
“Yes, I want to be your fiancée, Rémi,” I said, hunching my shoulders. “But we really need to get to know one another better. Marriage is a huge, forever commitment. I want to be with you and want that for our future eventually, but can we take our time? Maybe we could take a vacation together first? I read somewhere that that’s the best way to get know somebody. You know, stuck in a room.”
“We’ll leave tomorrow,” he said.
“I can’t. The château is booked solid and there won’t be any breaks until after Christmas,” I said.
“You’re talking about schedules now? Bon Dieu, you really are Grand-mère’s petite-fille.”
My posture straightened proudly. “I am.”
After holding up his hands in surrender, Rémi pulled me in for a passionate kiss. “By the way, your grandmother also wanted me to tell you that rings are supposed to be worn on fingers, so when you’re ready, let me know, because it’s going on your left hand. Until then, wear it on your weird necklace, so I know I’m still in the running,” he whispered as he pulled away.
“Merci, Rémi,” I said, tears of happiness glistening in my eyes. “Thank you for understanding.”
“What’s to understand? Some people need more time than others. I get that about you, Sophie, but you’ll come around. Love always wins in the end,” he said. He wrapped one arm around me and pointed to the orchard with the other one, to flowering trees exploding with white blossoms dancing in the wind. “Cherries will be in season soon. Do you know what that means?”
“I do,” I said. “We can make Grand-mère’s clafoutis.”
It was then I realized that Grand-mère would live on through me, through her recipes, through everything she created at the château. She would always be here with me; she wasn’t really gone. She would always live on in my heart—the one I discovered outside of the kitchen, thanks to her. But Grand-mère had passed her dreams on to me. And I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about that, because I used to have dreams of my own.
Rémi clasped his hand around mine. “Ready?”
“For what?” I asked.
“To go back in,” he said.
Rémi kissed me, pulling me in close, his breath a whisper on my neck, before he opened the door. My thoughts melted like butter on a hot skillet. Aside from Grand-mère, didn’t I have everything? I was a woman. I was a chef. And I could have both love and success on my own terms.
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” I said.
Le Dessert
This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook—try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all, have fun.
—JULIA CHILD
discussion questions
1. In the beginning of the novel, Sophie is chasing her one and only dream, but it’s snatched from her grasp. Have you ever chased a dream that didn’t come to fruition? What did you do to make amends with yourself? How did Sophie pick herself up from the beginning of the story until the end? How did she change? How did you change?
2. Sometimes people come off as strong even when they feel quite the opposite. They put up a front. Sophie knows this about herself but then encounters her tipping point and finds herself facing a storm, not just with her conflicting emotions, but also with her past. Has this ever happened to you?
3. Sophie’s one true love is cooking, and she cooks with her emotions. As she spirals into depression, she ends up blaming herself and locks away most of her feelings, ending up with self-pity and wavering grief. How would you have reacted to the sabotage she faced? Do you empathize with her?