Tonight I give myself this gift, the gift of quiet.

I wake with the early light of dawn, blinking awake as the sun catches something on the floor. Glinting up from the carpet, as if he pushed it under the gap of the door while I was asleep, is the key to the veil.

Finn has returned it to me.

I rise in the morning and eat with the rest of the family, even Finn, who makes Maxine’s stepfather laugh uproariously from the other end of the table. I mostly ignore him, but I feel such relief from the meeting with my father yesterday that his presence isn’t sickening, it’s just annoying.

Today no grapefruits are thrown at my head. There are no secrets whispered or questioning sidelong glances. I eat an omelet next to Nina, who tells me about how desperately she wants a puppy, that she’ll walk it every day. “Get the poor girl a puppy!” I say with a smile to Maxine’s mother. “Je’n parle pas anglais,” she says back, smiling.

“Yes, you do!” Nina whines. “You do speak English! You know exactly what Frances said!”

The warm summer sun pours in from the windows, and I brush aside the dull ache in my chest. Maybe good things are simply good things.

After breakfast, Maxine, Lena, and I take Nina to the carousel at the Jardin des Tuileries and make a picnic of crusty bread and soft cheeses on the grass surrounded by midsummer roses.

I’ll stop by my father’s office tomorrow and give him the key. For now, it jingles loose in the bottom of my handbag.

“You’re in a good mood today,” Maxine observes, passing me the butter knife across the checked blanket.

“Is that so remarkable?”

Lena and Maxine share a glance and utter, “Yes.”

“I spoke to my father about…” I eye Nina, chewing happily on the heel of a baguette. “About it,” I continue. “He says he’ll handle it.”

Their eyes go wide. “You what?” Lena asks, horror-struck.

“I was honest, isn’t that what everyone has been telling me to do? It’s a good thing. He wasn’t mad at all.” I know that I’m being a bit of a coward, but is that the worst thing in the world? I am so profoundly exhausted from being brave. If my father has said he will handle it, I will accept his gift. He abandoned me my whole life. If he can give me this, I will let him.

Lena looks baffled. Maxine looks mad. “But we don’t know if we can trust him, that’s why we went to all this trouble,” she hisses.

I shrug and pop a wedge of brie into my mouth. “I decided we could. Now we can enjoy our holiday. I still haven’t seen the Eiffel Tower. We should climb to the top.”

“Yes!” Nina shouts from beside me. “Please, Maxine, please?”