Chapter 9
Sabrina went to meet Elodie and Luc Martin at the monastery the next day at four o’clock.
She had raced around all day getting things ready, and had gone to Biarritz to find a toy store and bought two teddy bears, two balls, a doll, some games, puzzles, and some picture books.
She bought food she thought they might like, including several kinds of ice cream and yogurt, and an assortment of things her own children had liked at that age.
She had picked a bedroom close to her own with twin beds, thinking they’d be happier in one room.
She was shaking when she walked into the monastery to meet them.
What if they hated her, or cried all night?
Her French was barely adequate to calm them down if they were upset.
Elodie looked very brave, with dark hair in braids and huge eyes as she stared at Sabrina when she walked into the room.
Luc was hiding in Sister Anne’s skirts. She had explained to them that they were going to stay with a nice lady in a pretty house.
Sabrina spent an hour with them, with Sister Anne translating, before she drove them away to Bonport.
She wondered if Xavier’s grandmother had been as frightened when someone brought her the first child she had hidden and sent to safety across France with forged papers right in front of the German occupying soldiers. This was a far easier mission.
Sabrina carried their small cardboard suitcase into the chateau herself, and they followed her up to their bedroom, where she had put the toys on a table and their beds.
Elodie took the doll immediately and held it close to her.
And Luc didn’t let go of the bear for the rest of the night.
Sabrina played with them for a while, then cooked sausages for dinner with rice and carrots, and ice cream for dessert.
They ate most of the sausage and all of the ice cream.
They were very quiet as she bathed them in the big bathtub in her bathroom, put them in clean pajamas, and put them to bed.
She sang them a song since she couldn’t read them a bedtime story.
Elodie named her doll Marie, and Luc had named his bear Thomas.
Sabrina showed them where her bedroom was, left her door open, and theirs, and left the lights on in the hall.
They were very docile, and when she checked on them a little while later they were asleep in one bed, curled up together.
She felt like a novice with them, although she had raised three of her own.
But conversation with them was limited, and when she held Luc on her lap, she could feel his heart beating next to her own, and realized how frightened they were.
Although there was a bathroom with their bedroom, they both wet the bed, and were up at six o’clock in the morning.
Sabrina bathed them and dressed them in the clothes they had brought.
She realized that she needed to buy them more clothes.
But they looked as though they had been well cared for, and they had brought a few toys with them.
She made them Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast, which she used to be good at, and they smiled when they saw them and recognized Mickey Mouse.
Sister Anne called after breakfast to ask how the first night went, and Sabrina reported on what they’d eaten and that they had wet the bed, which Sister Anne said was to be expected for the first few nights or longer.
The children played with the ball in the garden after that.
She made them soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, and the day went by quickly, with a nap and meals, bathtime, playing with their toys, and more playtime outside.
And the next day, she took them to Biarritz for a walk on the beach, where they saw other children, and some dogs, and watched the surfers with fascination.
She did all the things she would have done for her own children, and had.
She bought them both warmer jackets than the ones they had, which weren’t equal to the February weather, and the wind coming off the ocean.
When they got back to the chateau she showed them the horses, and Luc smiled broadly and Maxime gave the children apples and a carrot to feed them.
Sabrina was managing to speak to them better than she had feared she would, and Elodie set the table for dinner, while Luc watched, hugging his bear.
They had gone upstairs to get some of their toys when there was a knock on the door and Sabrina opened it to Xavier, standing on the back steps with a basket of apples from the orchard.
She smiled when she saw him. He followed her back into the kitchen and looked surprised when he saw the table set for three.
“I’m sorry, you’re expecting guests,” he said, setting the basket of apples down on the kitchen counter and ready to make a quick exit.
“Don’t go,” she said, happy to see him. “I have houseguests. I’d like you to meet them.” He looked even more embarrassed. He was wearing heavy work boots, jeans, and a rough jacket.
“I’m not civilized. I’ve been at the hotel all afternoon with Pascal, my partner in the great adventure,” he said, smiling.
Sabrina was wearing an apron over the heavy sweater she had worn to the beach.
Her blond hair was in a haze around her face from the wind, and she hadn’t brushed it since.
She’d been too busy with the children all afternoon.
She put the apples in a bowl, as Elodie and Luc appeared in the kitchen and were surprised to see Xavier as he stared at them.
Sabrina introduced them, and he looked at the two children and back at Sabrina, confused. “Where did they come from?”
“The monastery. They ran out of room for two new arrivals, so they’re staying with me for a while.
” His face broke into a slow smile, and he spoke to them in French, as Sabrina reheated the soup she was serving for dinner.
There was a chicken in the oven. “Would you like to stay for dinner?” she asked him, and he nodded.
“Yes, I would. Explain this to me. They’re staying here with you?” She nodded and checked on the chicken, which was a golden brown and smelled delicious.
“I couldn’t say no. I thought of your grandmother. I doubt she ever said no.” He was touched by the scene in the kitchen.
“You’re an amazing woman.” He sat down and chatted with the children and had them laughing in a minute.
He told them funny stories, and Elodie was giggling as he gently lifted Luc onto his lap and turned to Sabrina.
“I have Victoire’s old bicycle in the barn, that she rode at Elodie’s age.
I’ll get it out for you tomorrow. So these are your houseguests? You have delightful friends.”
They continued to chat with him in a steady stream of conversation. “What are they saying?” Sabrina asked him, as she carved the chicken and put it on plates for the four of them. It looked delicious, and she poured the soup into bowls. It had come from a can but smelled good too.
“They said that you bought them toys and took them to the beach today. You got them warm jackets and you’re very nice.
Elodie wanted to know if I live here too.
I said that I used to, but you live here now and we’re friends.
” It summed up the situation fairly accurately, as the children took the same places they’d had the night before and continued to chatter with Xavier.
They were more talkative than Sabrina had expected, but her conversation was limited in French.
“They wanted to know where you come from and if you’re English.
I said that you’re American, from California, and you live here now.
” The conversation was lively all through dinner, and Xavier translated everything Sabrina wanted to say to them.
Luc showed him his teddy bear, and Xavier played silly games with them to entertain them and made them laugh.
They seemed much happier than they had before he arrived, and he waited with a glass of wine and built a fire in the living room after dinner, while Sabrina bathed the children and put them to bed, and then came down to relax with Xavier, and a glass of wine for her too.
“How did you ever get yourself into this?” he asked her, still amazed that she had taken in two children that the monastery had no room for.
“I kept thinking of your grandmother and all she did during the war. How complicated can two children be? They’re very sweet,” she said, and he smiled at her as they sat in the warmth of the fire together, and he put an arm around her and looked at her tenderly.
“You are a remarkable woman, Sabrina Thompson.” And then he thought of something. “Are you adopting them?”
“No, the authorities are looking for their grandmother. They’ve been living with a neighbor for two years, but she had to move away suddenly.
Their father died at the beginning of the pandemic, and their mother disappeared two years ago and never came back.
” Like all of the children at the monastery, they had a story, and the nuns hoped to reunite them with their family, if they had one.
“I was afraid to take them in at first. I’d forgotten how easy children that age are.
I wish I could talk to them. I’ve been pointing a lot. ”
“They seem very happy. They like you, and Elodie says you’re very beautiful.
I agree with her.” For the first time, Sabrina felt more than friendship from him, with his arm around her, but it was so comfortable and warm, she didn’t stop him.
She wondered if she should have, but it was so cozy being there with him, she didn’t want it to stop.
And she was relieved to know that the children liked her.