“Maybe you are, and you’re holding yourself back,” Anouk said. “Just a guess.”

Camille forced herself to stop watching Finn. “Of course I am,” she said. “I didn’t come here this summer looking for a man. I came to help my father settle some things, and to get Julie away from a situation at home.”

“And now you’re taking her back to that situation.”

“Yes.” Camille had talked to Anouk at length about the bullying. “It was always understood that this was for the summer only. I hope she’s better prepared to deal with the kids back home.”

“Your daughter has changed a lot over the summer. She’s turned from a girl into a young lady.”

“I noticed.” Camille felt a rush of pride. Julie had made friends; she seemed so confident in herself now.

“You’re not the only one who noticed.” Anouk gestured. “Isn’t that Julie up there?”

“No, she said she was going to the Cézanne museum in Aix today.” Camille turned and shaded her eyes. In the distance, atop the cliff, Finn held the end of a stout rope. As Camille watched in growing horror, he passed the rope to a couple of kids—a boy, and a girl who looked very much like Julie. She and the boy held the robe between them and ran to the edge of the cliff.

Then recognition dawned on Camille, as stark as her darkest memories, as her daughter took a free fall from the cliff.

Camille loaded the last of the luggage into the car, struggling to close the trunk. After a trip, she always seemed to bring home more baggage than she’d left with.

They didn’t need to head to the airport until much later, but she wanted to make sure everything was ready.

Finn drove into the courtyard and parked. He regarded the packed car. “You’re leaving,” he said. Not a question.

Camille’s heart skipped a beat. She had a brief, wild fantasy that he would beg her to stay—or vow to come to the States with her. And then what? “I’m taking Julie and my dad home,” Camille said.

“You’re supposed to be here another two weeks.”

“I changed our tickets.”

“Because of what happened yesterday?”

She winced, remembering the horrible, surreal moment of Julie’s wild leap into the sea. “Because of a lot of things. Watching my kid plunging off a cliff is only part of it.”

“She’s safe,” he said. “Nothing happened, except she had a great time. You ought to be proud of having a kid who’s adventurous. I know I would be.”

Finn didn’t get it. He never would. The only way to protect her daughter was to keep her away from risks—like Finn. “My God, you were there, encouraging her!”

“She didn’t need any encouragement. Camille, you can’t keep her wrapped in cotton all her life. At some point, you have to trust your own kid.”

“You don’t get to say when that is,” she lashed out.

“I didn’t have to. She’s brave and she’s smart.”