He nodded, too, like that made sense.
“Me, too,” he said.
And somehow that made it better.
I threw my arms around his neck, surprising both of us, and he hugged me back carefully, like I was something breakable and precious.
“I love you,” I told him.
I didn’t know why I said it. The words just came out.
He froze for half a second, then squeezed me tighter.
“I love you, too, kid,” he said softly.
Later, Tante Ella told me they’d said the same thing to each other in the rain outside, after Papa took me home. That they’d known even though they’d only met days before.
Some things didn’t need time, she said. Just truth.
After that, everything changed again.
Tante Ella stayed in Paris.
At first, she thought she would live in Maman’s apartment. But everyone decided it was better if she stayed somewhere safer, somewhere people could help if trouble came back.
So, she moved in with Kane.
Papa said it was good because we could see her all the time now.
She and Papa talked a lot after the bad day. Quiet conversations in kitchens when they thought I wasn’t listening. About Maman. About secrets. About fear.
One night, Papa told her he thought Maman had been scared toward the end. That someone might have been following her.
Tante Ella cried when he said that.
She never told me exactly why.
But sometimes, when she thought I wasn’t looking, she stared out windows like she was thinking about roads and rain and things she wished she could change.
She promised herself she would ask more questions later.
She promised Maman she would understand.
But she also promised to be happy now.
And she tried very hard to keep that promise.
Everything felt different again the day my grandparents arrived from America.
They were nervous. I could tell even though they smiled a lot. Grand-mère Susan hugged me so tight I almost disappeared in her coat, and Grand-père Charles stood still for a second like he didn’t know what to do.
Then he knelt in front of me.
“You look just like her,” he said softly.
I didn’t know who he meant at first.
Then I saw his eyes get shiny.
