Lucy didn’t think Elizabeth sounded fine. She imagined a guy with a two-day beard and a shaved head holding a knife to her daughter’s throat. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure, Mom. Everything’s fine. Go home.”

“I’m not going until I see you,” said Lucy. “Buzz me in.”

“No, Mom. That’s crazy.”

“Let me in, or I’ll call the cops,” said Lucy.

“You are stark, raving mad,” said Elizabeth.

“After all that’s happened, I don’t think I’m crazy to worry about you. I’m not kidding. I’ve got Girard’s number right here.”

There was a long sound of static, which Lucy thought was a sigh, and then the buzzer sounded. She yanked the bike through the door and stowed it on a rack with others, then started the climb up to Elizabeth’s attic apartment. When she reached the top floor, she found Elizabeth’s door open. Elizabeth was leaning against the jamb, her hair mussed and she was wearing a silky kimono. Her cheeks were flushed, and her lips were very plump and red.

“You’ve seen me,” said Elizabeth. “Now please go home.”

“You’re with a man!” exclaimed Lucy, genuinely shocked.

“And what if I am?” demanded Elizabeth. “I’m a big girl now.”

“Who is it?” demanded Lucy.

“It’s none of your business, Mom. Now, go on home.”

Lucy’s mind was reeling. She was embarrassed, horrified, appalled. She felt the floor tilting this way and that beneath her. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay,” she said, speaking in a very small voice.

Elizabeth was laughing. “Never better, Mom. Trust me.”

“Okay,” said Lucy, heading down the stairs. Halfway down the first flight she turned. “Is it that Serge?” she asked, but Elizabeth was gone and the door was closed.

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

When Lucy got back to the apartment, Bill was still sound asleep. She snuggled in beside him, but even though her body was tired, her mind was racing. She knew the usual advice for insomnia was to get out of bed and do something until you felt tired, but perhaps riding a bicycle through nighttime Paris wasn’t quite what the advice columnists meant, especially if it meant finding yourself in an excruciatingly embarrassing situation. She tried to tell herself that Elizabeth was a grown woman, capable of managing her own love affairs, but she didn’t quite believe it.