Julia seemed to sense that Aurelia was out of sorts—or maybe Antonia had warned her—and was on her best behavior that day. Feeling guilty for not being able to tell Julia what had her so distracted, Aurelia suggested that they find a double feature at the cinema to take advantage of the air conditioning before finding a spot for dinner. Julia eagerly agreed and changed into a dress that, to Aurelia, seemed more like the suggestion of a dress given how short and strappy it was. She kept quiet, however, and patted herself on the back for it when she saw how happy Julia was.
It was the first time they’d really been out together, just the two of them, in spite of all the time they’d been spending together in the shop. Although different from Antonia in many ways, Julia had some of her mother’s habits, so that at times Aurelia almost felt like she was with Antonia, back in their early twenties and running around the city on their old adventures.
There was the barest hint of a breeze alongside the Thames that night, so on their way home they bought ice cream from a cart and plopped themselves down on a bench.
They’d been talking about Julia’s friends back in Paris when Julia asked out of nowhere, “Tell me about you and Oliver.”
“What about me and Oliver?” Aurelia laughed.
“Like, how did you meet?”
“David and James introduced us.”
Julia was silent, clearly waiting for more details, so Aurelia obliged.
“We had this really terrible first date and we both behaved pretty badly. I kept yawning and not listening to him. And he seemed sort of cold, like he didn’t want to get to know me at all.”
“And then what?”
“He kissed me.”
“What?” Julia asked, scandalized. “I thought you said the date was terrible?”
Aurelia laughed, enjoying a rare moment of intriguing Julia instead of exasperating her.
“It was, but he surprised me with a kiss. We didn’t see each other for a while after that, but I remembered that kiss.”
“Was he a good kisser?”
Julia said the words quickly, as though she couldn’t believe her own daring at asking the question.
“He was. Heis.”
Julia looked like she was battling between disgust at the idea of her aunt kissing her soon-to-be uncle and interest in the world of dating that she hadn’t yet—to Aurelia’s knowledge—ventured into.
“So if he was a good kisser, why didn’t you go on another date?”
“Neither one of us was really ready to date back then. He had just broken up with someone, and I was still pretty upset about your gran and Aunt Marigold.”
“Then when you met again, you were both ready?”
“Well, he was, but I was still working on being ready.”
“How did you know when youwereready?”
Aurelia thought for a moment. How had she known? Wasn’t it when Elinor and the other characters had helped her to see that she was? And Kali had helped, too. Aurelia smiled, happy to think that, someday, Julia would have friends both in and outside the shop to help her navigate her own relationships.
“How did I know…” Aurelia said, still thinking. “Maybe it was when I realized that I’d rather be with him than risk losing him. I was still sad about your gran and Aunt Marigold, but I knew I’d be sad if I lost a chance to be with Oliver, too.”
“And when did he propose?”
“It was right before we came to visit you in Paris last year. So, a little less than a year after we started dating.”
“Thatsoon?”
“Oh—and we proposed to each other,” Aurelia added.
“He didn’t get down on one knee?”
