didn’t.
Mama pointed at the photo of her and Papa hanging on the wall. It was taken years ago, before I was born. Both posed with their arms wrapped around each other, their lips locked in a kiss. ‘Hear that, Albert? Your daughter thinks I’m old.’ Mama spoke with ease as if Papa could hear her, as if he wasn’t kilometres away in his own flat with nothing but his German wine and Pétain posters to keep him company.
‘You haven’t answered my question.’ I felt Marguerite’s stern brow on my face.
Luc looked at Mama while Mama looked at me, the boiling pot of stew spurting broth onto the counter.
‘I was meaning to tell you this morning, but you had enough on your mind.’ Mama took a cigarette from her case and lit it with the cloisonné lighter she had taken from her apron pocket. ‘After you left Lyon, I found myself in a position where I could help. And with your father gone I thought why the hell not?’ Luc had walked over to the window near the door to fix a split in the curtains before Mama blurted, ‘He’s from the Résistance.’
‘The Résistance?’ I whispered the words before I shouted them. ‘The Résistance!’
Luc put a finger to his lips to shush me, but I had already covered my mouth with my hand.
Mama glared. ‘Why don’t you shout it from the patio, Adèle?’
Luc moved past me, placing both hands on my shoulders even though there was plenty of room for him to pass. He sat down on a stool opposite me, across the kitchen cart that had now been set to function as our table, and rolled his sleeves up to his biceps before tucking into his bowl of stew, listening to Mama and me talk. He was sculpted in all the right places, and he looked strong, damn strong, as if those arms had muscled the yoke of a plane for many years.
‘Are you staying overnight?’
He nodded. ‘But you won’t see me.’ He looked at Mama, now talking to the both of us. ‘It will be like I’m not even here.’
I laughed. ‘You’re a little hard to miss.’
‘What do you mean?’
My stomach did a little flip when he looked at me this time, something I hadn’t felt in a long time. I rested an elbow on the cart that separated us, head in my hand, and thought about how his wavy hair complemented his warming smile. ‘What I mean is… you’re here now,’ I said. ‘And I can see you.’
‘Yes,’ he said, and then paused. ‘And I see you.’
*
After dinner, Luc slipped out the back door and into the barrel cellar while Mama and I cleaned up the dishes. I scrubbed the same bowl over and over again in the sink as I stared out the window.
‘I trust you saw Gérard today,’ Mama said, and I nodded.
‘And?’ Mama said.
‘I’m bringing him lunch tomorrow at the Hotel du Parc.’
She took a deep breath, nodding. ‘I knew you’d be successful.’
My eyes had never left the window, looking for any trace of Luc as he took shelter in the barrel cellar. ‘Where’s he going to sleep, Mama? In the dirt? Next to the barrels?’
‘Why do you care?’ she said. ‘Or, do I need to ask?’ She smiled to herself before taking a drag from her cigarette.
‘That’s not why I’m asking.’
‘Isn’t it?’ Mama said, studying me. ‘Don’t forget, Adèle, you have an important job to do. It takes a special woman to use her charms on a tyrant. Best if you keep your mind on your goal. No use in getting distracted. Gérard will sense another man’s touch on you,’ she said, placing more dirty dishes into the sink. ‘And I’m worried about you as it is.’
‘I know,’ I said.
‘Did the Résistance tell you it was going to be easy?’ Mama had lit another cigarette and was watching me as my fingers worked their way around the slippery, soapy bowl.
‘No, Mama. They did not.’
I thought about Luc’s face when I walked into the chateau, and how relaxed he was even after I waved a knife at his face. I winced, thinking how awful I must have looked.
‘He sleeps in a hidden room, Adèle,’ Mama said.
‘What?’ I looked at her, mid wash.
‘Dug into the ground, right under your father’s oak-bending machine,’ she said, smiling slyly. ‘Albert would kill me if he knew. But you should know, in case anyone visits us. Wouldn’t want you to stumble upon it.’
‘A hidden room,’ I repeated.
‘What did you expect?’