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“Yeah?” Audrey grinned. “Would you rob a bank?”
“I have limits.”
“Good to know. Well, it’s probably better to get this over with.” Audrey rubbed her cheeks and swept her fingers through her hair. “How do I look?”
“Stunning, which is actually annoying given the night you had.” Grace walked to the door and opened it. Etienne stood there looking like he’d had a worse night than Audrey. His hair was messy and his skin was pale.
“Mrs. Porter.” He spoke in French, desperately trying to be formal. “I’m sorry for disturbing you, but I’m looking for Audrey. She’s not in her apartment, and she’s not answering her phone. I don’t know where she is. I’m worried about her, and it’s all my fault—” He looked so anxious Grace almost felt sorry for him, and then she thought about Audrey lying on the floor of the bathroom. Vulnerable. Alone.
What if she’d dropped her phone or hadn’t wanted to bother Grace?
What if she’d been too drunk to make the call?
She gave him the same look she used on her class of eleven-year-olds when they were misbehaving. “How can you not know where she is? Weren’t you together?”
He flushed awkwardly. “I went to fetch her a drink and bumped into someone I knew. I was only a minute and when I came back, Audrey had disappeared.”
“A minute?”
He eyed her. “It might have been longer than a minute. I’m worried, Mrs. Porter. When I came back she was gone. Someone said they’d seen her with an older woman. I know you and Audrey are close, so I thought maybe it was you—” His face drained of color. “If she’s not with you, then I need to call the police.” He looked so traumatized that Grace felt herself soften.
“She’s with me.” She opened the door. “You can come in, but—oh—” Her words were cut off as Etienne hugged her. She felt his gangly body and was reminded that he was barely more than a teenager himself. It was such a complicated age.
“Thank you for taking care of her.” He released her, clumsy, embarrassed. “Sorry, it’s just that I’ve been imagining—”
“Hi, Etienne.” Audrey stood there, her riot of russet curls emphasizing the pallor of her skin and the dark hollows under her eyes.
“Audie!” Etienne took two steps toward her and then stopped, unsure of his reception. “I’m so sorry. I went to get a drink, and when I came back you’d gone.”
“You were ages.”
“I know.” He looked mortified. “I got talking to some friends. I lost track of time.”
Grace gave him marks for honesty.
Knowing that she shouldn’t be listening, she cleared the table, took the breakfast things into the kitchen and closed the door.
A moment later the door opened. Audrey stood there, looking awkward and uncomfortable.
“I’m going back to mine to change, and then Etienne and I are going for a quick walk before he opens up the bookshop.”
Grace suppressed the urge to tell her to be careful. “Have fun. Is your phone charged? Take it with you.”
Audrey hesitated. “Will you be okay? It’s just that we talked about a lot of stuff, and—”
“I’ll be fine.” But she was touched that Audrey would think to ask.
“You’re not upset? What are you going to do today?”
“I don’t know.” And that, she realized, was nowhere near as scary a feeling as she would have thought. An idea came to her. “Why don’t I cover the bookshop this afternoon? Then you and Etienne can spend the afternoon together.”
Audrey shook her head. “You can’t do that.”
“I’d like to. I can carry on sorting through those boxes of books that have been gathering dust for centuries. I enjoy it.”
Audrey swallowed. “You’re the kindest person I’ve ever met. Seriously. I didn’t think people like you existed in real life.”
There was no sign of the prickly, defensive young woman she’d met on her first day in Paris.
