Amala walked into the village the following day to post the letter, soaking in the details of this place she’d grown to love but longing for her home in the English countryside more than she had since she’d run away from there. She’d actually lost track of how long she’d been gone. She felt no need to count the months and years; she simply felt it was the amount of time they had all needed. She wondered if Henry and Kat would have been able to discover their love for each other if she had been there; and she wondered if she would have wavered and struggled and caused more grief for Henry. And she absolutely knew she would have not been able to heal and make peace with herself had she not been given the distance from home in order to do so.

Feeling a light and peace inside of her that she’d not felt in a long time—or perhaps ever—Amala took her time wandering through the village and buying some odds and ends. When she came across some baby apparel, she found delight in picking out a beautiful crocheted gown with a matching bonnet. With the delicate purchase wrapped and put into a box to keep it safe from damage, Amala returned to the cottage to share with Paulina her thoughts and feelings of gratitude and peace and her anticipation of becoming an aunt.

* * * *

With summer coming on fully, Amala settled into what she knew would be her final stretch of time in Paulina’s idyllic French world. They had a set a tentative date for their return to England, with the intention of spreading the journey out so that traveling across the entire country of France would not be too cumbersome. Amala was truly beginning to feel confident that she would be emotionally prepared when the time came, only to have a letter arrive from her mother with a sincere request for her to return as soon as possible. The letter didn’t come right out and say that something was wrong, but Amala knew her loved ones well, and through the exchange of seemingly countless letters, she had developed a sense of what might not actually be written in ink.

Amala showed the letter to Paulina and asked for her opinion without saying anything at all to influence her. The moment she’d finished reading the brief missive, Paulina declared, “Something’s not right. It’s my guess that she doesn’t want to alarm you, but there’s a reason she believes you should be at home.”

“What should we do?” Amala asked, hoping Paulina would agree with her own feelings. It was rare when they weren’t in tune with each other.

“I think we should prepare to leave as soon as we can manage,” Paulina said. “What do you think?”