than Elodie and Heloise, respectively. After all, she was the only aunt they’d really gotten to know. However this time, the girls asked to stay home, Heloise because she wanted to work on her schoolwork and Elodie because she had some plans with friends. Only their parents didn’t know that what Elodie really meant by “plans with friends” was “having a party.”
“But of course we are happy now to be back home.” He winked at Shannon, who couldn’t help but smile at Francis’ gesture.
The four of them stood together in the living room exchanging stories about the weekend. Both girls were the spitting image of their father, from the dark black hair (and Elodie’s being particularly unruly, like Francis’s) to their slightly droopy eyes and sunken cheeks that made them look like they did not have a care in the world in the typical Gallic fashion, to their thin frames. Neither of them had inherited their father’s height though. Francis stood over six feet tall and was just as skinny as he had been when he and Shannon met all those years ago.
Only in the lips, nose and height did Heloise and Elodie even look like their mother. Shannon DeGarmo stood five foot five, but often with a few extra inches from all the heels and platform shoes that she wore all the time. However, these days, she was more inclined to go down to her regular height by wearing flats. Her strawberry hair usually hung in light waves around her shoulders with little freckles dotting her cheeks around her emerald eyes. The little freckles had eventually given way to light wrinkles, but Shannon had such a simple beauty about her that even in her late forties, she was still attractive.
After the usual hugs and bises, the family went about their usual routines. Francis and Heloise went over to the chess table and began a game that would last until the evening time, while Elodie called her friends to rehash the events of the night before and Shannon started writing up a draft for a new novel. Everything was back to normal.
Chapter Six
Another day done and gone. Heloise let out a sigh of relief as the last bell rang and all of her peers emptied into the hallways of her high school. She had been looking forward all day to seeing Noah at his locker so they could begin their usual after-school walk home. Her eyes drooped in fatigue and her heart raced inside her chest. More than ever, she was ready to decompress. All day long, she’d done her best to concentrate on her teachers’ lessons, taking notes and raising her hand at the appropriate time. However, the memories of Elodie’s party were still in her mind and it seemed that every time she joined the usual crowd in the hallway between classes, she saw Kyle’s face everywhere she looked. Any little thing that was said during class would remind her of a joke he’d made and her mind would be thrown off track. It was exhausting for Heloise and she felt like she would burst if she didn’t tell her best friend about her feelings.
She joined the throngs of students in the hallway, clutching her books to her chest as she scanned the crowd for Noah. Sure enough, there stood Noah in their usual place at the vending machines just outside the main gymnasium. The two of them waved at each other from across the hallway and Heloise eagerly approached her cousin, grateful for a familiar face.
“Ready to go?” Noah asked with a grin.
She nodded. “Let’s go. I’m tired of school and don’t want to think about it anymore today.” She couldn’t hide her fatigue anymore.
“Wow I never thought I’d hear you say that,” Noah commented, a look of confusion coming across his face. “Here, let me hold your books while you tell me all about it.”
“No thanks, I got it.” She opened her backpack and placed her textbooks inside, her chemistry and math books thumping against one another as they fell to the bottom of her bag. She hadn’t had time to put her books away in the bag before the
“But of course we are happy now to be back home.” He winked at Shannon, who couldn’t help but smile at Francis’ gesture.
The four of them stood together in the living room exchanging stories about the weekend. Both girls were the spitting image of their father, from the dark black hair (and Elodie’s being particularly unruly, like Francis’s) to their slightly droopy eyes and sunken cheeks that made them look like they did not have a care in the world in the typical Gallic fashion, to their thin frames. Neither of them had inherited their father’s height though. Francis stood over six feet tall and was just as skinny as he had been when he and Shannon met all those years ago.
Only in the lips, nose and height did Heloise and Elodie even look like their mother. Shannon DeGarmo stood five foot five, but often with a few extra inches from all the heels and platform shoes that she wore all the time. However, these days, she was more inclined to go down to her regular height by wearing flats. Her strawberry hair usually hung in light waves around her shoulders with little freckles dotting her cheeks around her emerald eyes. The little freckles had eventually given way to light wrinkles, but Shannon had such a simple beauty about her that even in her late forties, she was still attractive.
After the usual hugs and bises, the family went about their usual routines. Francis and Heloise went over to the chess table and began a game that would last until the evening time, while Elodie called her friends to rehash the events of the night before and Shannon started writing up a draft for a new novel. Everything was back to normal.
Chapter Six
Another day done and gone. Heloise let out a sigh of relief as the last bell rang and all of her peers emptied into the hallways of her high school. She had been looking forward all day to seeing Noah at his locker so they could begin their usual after-school walk home. Her eyes drooped in fatigue and her heart raced inside her chest. More than ever, she was ready to decompress. All day long, she’d done her best to concentrate on her teachers’ lessons, taking notes and raising her hand at the appropriate time. However, the memories of Elodie’s party were still in her mind and it seemed that every time she joined the usual crowd in the hallway between classes, she saw Kyle’s face everywhere she looked. Any little thing that was said during class would remind her of a joke he’d made and her mind would be thrown off track. It was exhausting for Heloise and she felt like she would burst if she didn’t tell her best friend about her feelings.
She joined the throngs of students in the hallway, clutching her books to her chest as she scanned the crowd for Noah. Sure enough, there stood Noah in their usual place at the vending machines just outside the main gymnasium. The two of them waved at each other from across the hallway and Heloise eagerly approached her cousin, grateful for a familiar face.
“Ready to go?” Noah asked with a grin.
She nodded. “Let’s go. I’m tired of school and don’t want to think about it anymore today.” She couldn’t hide her fatigue anymore.
“Wow I never thought I’d hear you say that,” Noah commented, a look of confusion coming across his face. “Here, let me hold your books while you tell me all about it.”
“No thanks, I got it.” She opened her backpack and placed her textbooks inside, her chemistry and math books thumping against one another as they fell to the bottom of her bag. She hadn’t had time to put her books away in the bag before the
Similar Books
