Secrets of Paris_ A Novel - Luanne Rice [126]
“It is,” Lydie said, remembering that that was where she and Patrice had first met. They would sit in the shadow of Richelieu’s palace, gazing into the blue, October sky, and they would drink a toast: a farewell, but also a celebration. Lydie would raise her glass to Paris, to visions of forgiveness, to Michael, to Patrice, to Didier, to her father, to her mother, to the Seine, to the Salle des Quatre Saisons, to Madame de Sévigné, to the “Marseillaise” and the “Star-Spangled Banner,” to St. Patrick, to Kelly in the Philippines and Kelly in America.
They climbed into the car and Lydie started the engine. She revved it twice. She fastened her seat belt, watched to see that Patrice fastened hers, then shifted into gear. Lydie drove very carefully out of the airport parking lot. At the stop sign she looked both ways. Patrice found a radio station playing a French variety of rock and roll. Then Lydie pulled onto the Périphérique, hit the toggle marked “overdrive,” and drove.
LUANNE RICE is the author of twenty-eight novels, most recently The Deep Blue Sea for Beginners, The Geometry of Sisters, Last Kiss, Light of the Moon, What Matters Most, The Edge of Winter, Sandcastles, Summer of Roses, Summer’s Child, and Beach Girls, among many New York Times bestsellers. She lives in New York City and Old Lyme, Connecticut.
luannerice.net