AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It hits me then. His grandmother.
Oh, no. Has his grandmother passed away? Have I been brought here to go through her personal effects so that the family can grieve without being troubled by the practicalities of her passing? I had to do that when my own Gram passed. It was tough, so many memories in her tiny house.
No. Olivier has smiled way too much for it to be that. Besides, the passing of the matriarch of the Dubois family is something I would have heard of by now.
“Your grandmother…”
“Precisely.” He takes in a very, very deep breath. “You are here to attend to my grandmother’s every whim while she recovers from a fall. She is on bedrest for two weeks.”
“Oh! I see.” My heart does a little flip-flop in the best way. The situation is even better than I thought. It’ll be just like when I took care of Gram. I can listen to Olivier’s grandmother’s stories, hold her hand while we take lunch in the garden, and learn the lessons she has to share.
“I can totally do that,” I tell Olivier. “My French still isn’t great, but maybe she can help me.”
“Don’t worry,” he replies. “She speaks excellent English. Though you will probably wish she didn’t.”
I laugh. “It can’t be that bad.”
“No?” he says. “Then I think it’s time you met Grandmama.”
“With pleasure,” I say, folding my hands in front of me as a French lady would do.
As soon as Olivier is a few paces in front of me, I yank out my phone and send a rapid-fire text to my roommates in Paris in our group chat.
“Just found out my special project. You aren’t going to believe my luck!”
“I am sure Grandmama will be very pleased to meet you,” Olivier says but his voice is tense. He holds open the door to the house for me.
Just then there’s a series of shrill screams and a great smashing, like glass or ceramics breaking into a thousand pieces.
“Not the teacups again,” Olivier mutters.
A vase lands not far from where we’re standing, having been flung from a window above our heads. It’s followed by a woman’s voice rattling off French words that I am too polite to repeat.
“What was that?” I cry and rush through the doorway.
“That,” Olivier says, “is Grandmama.”
CHAPTER 16
Natalie
Yes, Grandmama speaks English.
In fact, she speaks it very well, from what I can tell by the four- and five-word commands that she barks at me. I can't even get her to make eye contact.
After an hour of ‘do this’ and ‘do that’, she stares out the window, looking helpless, and it's like I see my own Gram lying there. The time she broke her hip, I stayed with her for a few days, and then some cousins took over. My Gram was a feisty lady, but she also knew when she had to rely on others for help.
It seems Grandmama has never had to rely on anyone for anything before.
"Oh mon dieu, how have you folded the blanket? It should run the full width of the bed. That way it keeps my feet warm regardless of my positioning. And you must have understood that with my injury, it is very difficult for me to move positions."
Wow, she just said several syllables to me. This is promising. "I'm very sorry about that, Madame Dubois. Let me readjust it."
"Get me a washcloth. Cold water this time, not tepid."
"Yes, madame, and when that’s done?"
"Clear off the top of my bureau. I can't bear to see it covered in medications. Some of my greatest recipes were imagined at that desk. There is no place for common painkillers and muscle relaxants on wood that was cut by my father's own hand."
