AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I prefer to call it sharing. It’s what you do when you’re a couple.”
Audrey shifted in her seat so she could look at Grace. “Are you a couple?”
Grace sighed and withdrew her arm from Audrey’s shoulders. “In the sense you mean? I don’t know. But we have a daughter together, so we’ll always share that no matter what happens. David has gone to Sophie, and we had another call telling us that her friend Chrissie is recovering. I spoke to Monica, Chrissie’s mother, and she is flying over so she’ll be there soon, too. David is going to bring Sophie back to Paris. I’ll meet up with them there in a few days, whenever we decide to go back.”
“I don’t think I’ll be going back.”
“Let’s see what happens. Elodie is covering the bookstore for a few days, and she’s holding both the apartments for us. We can make a decision when we know more. That’s your phone ringing. Aren’t you going to answer it?”
“I can’t. It’s Etienne. He’s gone to stay with his family for a few days. I don’t want to lie to him, so I’m ignoring his calls.”
“There’s an alternative,” Grace said, “and that’s that you take his call and tell him the truth.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“I called you, too, but your phone kept going to voice mail.”
“I was probably trying to call Ron.”
“So what do you know? What details?”
“Not much. I mean, I know the hospital, but not much else.” She felt an ache spread across her chest. “She probably fell because she was drunk. You do get that, don’t you? This isn’t going to be pretty.”
“Life isn’t always pretty, but friendship gets us through the ugly bits. I’ll be there with you. And if you don’t want me to come with you to see your mother because she doesn’t know me, I’ll wait in the corridor and you can come and talk to me whenever you need to.”
The fact that Grace was willing to stand in a cold, impersonal hospital corridor for Audrey almost tipped her over the edge.
“I can’t believe you did this. No one has ever put me first before.”
“We’re friends. And in the spirit of friendship I’m pointing out that you could do with putting on some makeup or your mom will be the one worrying about you. You look like an extra in a ghost movie.” Grace reached for her bag. “Did you eat before you left? If not, I’m going to pay a visit to the buffet car.”
Audrey hadn’t even thought about food. “I don’t think they sell anything green in the buffet car. Unless it’s mold on bread.”
“That doesn’t sound appetizing. Maybe I’ll buy chocolate bars.”
“Grace Porter, that doesn’t sound like a good choice.”
“It doesn’t, but I know you love chocolate and we can’t all make good choices all of the time.” Grace squeezed her hand. “Stay there. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Audrey watched her go. She was still anxious about her mum, but now she had Grace there she felt stronger. She’d been worried she wouldn’t be able to cope, but now she thought she probably would.
The train arrived in London and she was so glad to have Grace there because she took over. It was raining, but somehow Grace managed to get a cab. Audrey texte
d Ron to say they were nearly there and when they arrived at the hospital there he was, waiting for them at the entrance dodging the flow of people going in and out of the hospital.
He hugged Audrey awkwardly and shook hands with Grace after Audrey introduced them.
“Thanks for coming with her, Grace. Decent of you. I didn’t expect you to get here so quickly, Aud.”
“I jumped on the first train.” Audrey hauled her bag onto her shoulder. “How is she?”
“She’s out of surgery. The operation went well, although she’ll be out of action for a while because she broke her leg and her arm.” Ron scratched his head. “She was sleeping, but I know she’ll be pleased to see you. I thought you might like a cup of coffee first. Then we can have a bit of a chat.”
A chat?
He was going to tell her he was leaving.
Audrey’s pulse rocketed. Her heart skipped in her chest and she couldn’t breathe properly.
