‘I almost feel as if Hope came into my life for a reason,’ Mia said while taking out a box that looked different to the other seven she’d found beneath the floorboards of Hope’s House. ‘For a long time, I felt as if that reason was simply to reconnect all the boxes that had been left behind for your grandmothers, but now I’m wondering if it was to discover her story, too. And that little part of me wonders if Hope might have been adopted, or whether this was something she made herself.’ She took a breath, reaching for the box. ‘I found this, too. It had a name tag inside it.’
Charlotte leaned forward to touch it. ‘You think Hope might have had her own child adopted, if she wasn’t adopted herself? That she might have made this for her own baby?’
‘What better reason could there be for her to have had the idea for them in the first place? Maybe she wanted to create a keepsake for her child?’
‘Maybe she created what she wished she’d been able to leave her own son or daughter,’ Georgia said.
‘Perhaps it was the reason she started the house in the first place,’ Charlotte added.
Mia nodded. She’d thought the same, and although she knew they weren’t going to miraculously solve the mystery over drinks, it did help to share the clues with the women who truly knew how important they were to her. They’d been in her shoes already when they’d gone on their own journeys.
‘But there’s more,’ Mia said, reaching into her bag again. ‘There was another box found, and this one had a name tag that was so faded, it’s impossible to read. I wanted to show you both to see what you thought.’
Both Charlotte and Georgia stared back at her. ‘Another box?’
‘This was found by the builders just before the house was pulled down. I’d missed it, along with some other papers and a diary, when I did my final sweep. It was hidden behind a painting, placed in a small space in the wall.’
Georgia took the box and held it, turning it over in her hand. ‘What was inside it?’
‘Nothing was inside,’ Mia said. ‘That’s the thing, there are no clues other than this bottle and her diary. I had records to cross-check for all the other boxes, and you had your clues inside your boxes, but I feel as if I have nothing to start with.’ She sighed. ‘The only reason it was even given to me was because I’d asked for the paintings to be taken and wrapped, and I’d happened to tell the guys doing the job about finding some personal items in the house that I kept. So when they saw this, they saved it for me, just in case it was of sentimental value.’
‘So you do have something,’ Charlotte said. ‘It’s not a lot, but it’s something.’
‘You have a bottle and an address for a bartender in Paris,’ Georgia said, with more optimism than Mia felt. ‘I agree with Charlotte.’
‘It sounds like a wild goose chase if ever there was one,’ Mia groaned.
Charlotte laughed. ‘Honestly? There’s nothing wrong with just starting somewhere and seeing what happens. You won’t know until you start.’
They all sat for a moment, and Mia watched as Georgia set the box down in front of her. ‘I think Charlotte’s right. I mean,what’s the worst thing that could happen? You book a trip and have a few fun days or a week in Paris. If your search doesn’t lead you anywhere, then there’s nothing lost, right?’
‘Eat the pastries, flirt with gorgeous French men and soak up some sun,’ Charlotte added. ‘I think it’s the perfect recipe.’ That made them all laugh, and Mia looked between them, so thankful she’d been able to call on Georgia and Charlotte.
‘So you think I should go to Paris and start with finding this bartender?’ she asked.
Both women nodded, then promptly laughed at how synchronised they were.
‘I think you should be open to wherever your search takes you,’ Charlotte said. ‘Sometimes we just need to trust that the universe has a plan for us, and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t usually believe in stuff like that. Don’t overthink it—just see where the journey takes you.’
Mia leaned back in her seat, cocktail in hand, as she considered it all. They weren’t wrong. Going to Paris wasn’t a hardship, and if she was able to turn it into a work trip, then it made even more sense. If there was one thing that wasn’t in doubt, it was that she needed a holiday—it had been a long time since she’d got out of London.
‘You know, opening that little box and finding my way to Luca was the best thing I ever did,’ Georgia said, and Charlotte didn’t miss the tears shining in her eyes. ‘Just trust that it’s worth it. Even if you never know Hope’s secrets, maybe it’s more about the experience and the trip, anyway. You never know where it might lead you, and maybe you’re being pointed towards France for a reason.’
Charlotte held up her glass and grinned at them both, her smile contagious.
‘To all of our journeys,’ Charlotte declared. ‘And to meeting a gorgeous French bartender and then telling usallabout him.’
‘Hey, this Joe guy will probably be overweight and balding,’ Mia said, groaning. ‘Don’t get my hopes up!’
That made them laugh, and before Mia knew it, she’d tucked all her clues safely back into her bag and just let herself enjoy the rest of the night.
4
Mia sat in her bedroom the next morning, in her pyjamas with her hair tied in a knot on top of her head. It was time.
She’d put this off for so long, but it was like she’d left one final piece of the puzzle out, and it was time to put it in place.
The shoebox was nothing special—it was all she’d been able to find at the time—and she couldn’t even remember some of the things she’d put inside. It had never felt like the right time to look, and by the time she was feeling almost brave enough, she’d convinced herself that it might derail her if she took a trip down memory lane. But today, she was ready.
