Read Online Chasing Sylvia Beach by Cynthia Morris - Free Book Online

at that bookstore Shakespeare and Company. Monique found out about it. I thought you’d like to go. You can get ideas for your writing. Get inspired. Have some fun.” Suspicion replaced fear as Lily listened. Her father wasn’t given to grand gestures and had never appeared interested in her passion for France. Maybe Monique was having a good influence after all. Maybe there was hope for a real relationship with her father.
    “Wow, Dad, that’s a pretty big present. Are you sure there isn’t some guilt motive? You aren’t about to drop some big news on me, are you?”
    “No, of course not. I’m just worried about you. You’re too young to be moping around a bookstore, spending all of your time reading. You’ve got to get out, live a little.”
    She thought of Daniel. She was getting out, finally. She was living a little.
    “Like you?”
    He ignored her snippy tone. He told her the details, offering to buy her plane ticket and reserve her a hotel room if she could pay the rest. “I’ll get you there, then you’ll be on your own to make friends at the festival,” he said.
    The thought of the festival both excited and scared Lily. She could attend lectures about literature and view films about authors. She’d sit in cafés with other writers, talking about books, crafting her own stories. It would be the push she needed to start writing. But too much was happening at once, and the thought of returning to Paris was daunting. That evening, drinking a glass of wine on Valerie’s patio in northwest Denver, Lily told her friend about her date and then sprung the news about Paris.
    “What are we supposed to do while you’re frolicking around Paris with the literati?”
    “I’ll only be gone for nine days,” Lily said. It had turned chilly, forcing Lily to pull her sweater on. “Let’s go inside.”
    Valerie ignored her. “What about the columnist job you applied for?”
    Lily slapped her forehead. “Ahh! I forgot about that. Do you think Susan will let me have the job even if I take time off to go to France?”
    Valerie shrugged. “I don’t know. Ask her. It’s a great opportunity. I wouldn’t blow it. It’s your big chance to break into print.”
    “You’re right. I’ll ask her about it when I send in my sample columns. The one about you is great. You’ll love it.”
    “I’d love to drop everything and run off to Paris,” Valerie said. She pulled a box of cigarettes out of her bag. “Don’t kill me. I only do it when drinking.” She lit up and pocketed the lighter.
    “Thanks a lot. That helps, smoking in front of me.” Lily helped herself to more wine and stood up with her glass. She stepped off the paved patio and away from the cigarette smoke. “Well, why don’t you?” she asked.
    “Why don’t I what?”
    “Drop everything and run off to Paris.”
    “Excuse me? Did you notice I’m running a bookstore here?”
    Lily pulled her gaze away from the stars and looked at Valerie.
    “Hello! I know you are running a bookstore. That doesn’t mean you can’t take a vacation every once in a while.”
    “I’d love to. I’d love to have the money to go somewhere. I’d love to be able to leave the store for a week. But I can’t. Enjoy it while you’re free, Lily.” She stubbed her cigarette out. Lily sat back down.
    “Why do people always complain about their circumstances, like they have no control over them? Everyone has the ability to change their lives.” Even as Lily said it, she knew she was wrong. She’d seen enough people limping along Colfax Avenue to doubt that everyone was capable of positive change.
    Val cleared her throat and spoke quietly. “Lily, I’m sorry to break it to you, but you’re one of the complainers. I love having you at the bookstore and I know you want more. What about your writing? Susan gave you that chance to apply for that column on the paper. Don’t blow it,” she repeated.
    Lily sipped her wine to wash away Val’s feedback. She was a