The Little Provence Book Shop by Gillian Harvey

Author:Gillian Harvey [Harvey, Gillian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Published: 2024-10-09T00:00:00+00:00

21

She’d slept fitfully the night before, so of course Lili had chosen that day to wake up early and bounce on her bed from around 6 a.m. Groaning, she turned over and pulled what she could of the duvet over her. ‘Lili, it’s early,’ she said. ‘Mummy needs a rest.’

But Mummy clearly wasn’t going to get a rest. Lili stopped bouncing, but wriggled and fidgeted so much, Adeline realised that there was no point at all trying to cling onto sleep. Instead, she shifted herself up so she was half sitting, and looked at her inquisitive daughter.

‘You’re awake!’ Lili said delightedly, as if she’d had absolutely no part in this.

‘Yes,’ Adeline replied, unable to stop herself smiling at the tousled, excited girl in front of her.

‘It’s the holidays!’

‘Yes, it is!’ Adeline said, trying to inject a similar excited tone into her own voice. She felt a little guilty, as Lili would be spending at least some of the holidays in the local playscheme, and some ‘helping’ her and Monique in the bookshop. Still, she supposed it would be exciting for her – probably more exciting than spending every day at home with her mum.

Today, she’d planned to visit the swimming lake 15 kilometres from St Vianne. The weather was warm enough to spend a little time on the sandy beach she’d been told was there, and maybe if they were feeling particularly brave, they could dip their toes into the edges of the water and have a little paddle. The taxi would cost them forty euros each way and she’d baulked at the expense, but with the majority of Lili’s holiday being taken up following her mum to work, she’d decided to splash out.

If she stayed, if she decided to make St Vianne her home, then she’d have to invest in a car – something small, modest, in keeping with the little cars people seemed to drive around here. But right now, with so few journeys and so much uncertainty hanging over her, it made more sense to pay the one-off taxi fare.

Two hours later, they’d washed, packed – ambitiously, she’d added her and Lili’s swimming costumes, but doubted she’d be brave enough to actually go in – and they were standing outside waiting for the taxi. Sunday morning started slowly in St Vianne, but the warmth had driven walkers and their dogs out for a morning stroll. She nodded to familiar faces and exchanged a few pleasantries with one of the regular bookshop customers.

Then their taxi arrived – a slightly dented white vehicle with a yellow light on top. They slipped into the back and, as Lili chatted to the driver, Adeline looked out of the window and watched the final houses of St Vianne slip past her and the countryside begin to take over. Views stretched over lower ground on either side, and a slight mist hung over the river that snaked forwards out of sight. The sky was a brilliant blue and the sunlight bright; although the

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