Finally, she stopped, and as she wiped away the tears, she said, “Oh, Nora. Sweet, sweet Nora. I’m so sorry if I’ve talked too much about Paris. I thought you liked learning about it.”
“I do!” I said. “But I’m ready to go.”
“Do you know why I’ve waited so long to take you to Paris?”
“No,” I said. “I really don’t.”
“Because I didn’t want you to be too young, so that you’d get tired of lots of walking and get bored. I took your mother when she was eight, and I’m not sure she enjoyed herself as much as I thought she would. But you know what your answer tells me?”
“What?” I asked.
“It tells me you are grown-up, more so than I realized, and I think you are quite ready to go to Paris.”
I jumped up and ran around the table to give her a hug.
“When?” I asked. “When can I go?”
“It’s December now,” she said. “You turn twelve in how many days?”
“Ten,” I said.
“Yes. Not long at all. I’m scheduled to go to Paris for work in March. How about I take you with me then, for a belated birthday present?”
“March? Do I really have to wait that long?”
“Yes, I’m afraid you do,” she said. “Besides, winter in Paris can be rather dreary.” She picked up her spoon and stirred her remaining hot chocolate. “You do know it’s not a done deal until your mother gives her permission, right?”
I felt like a deflated balloon as I sank into my chair. I had forgotten about my mother. Things between my mom and my grandma were kind of complicated. Ever since Grandma Sylvia and Grandpa Ted got divorced a few years before, my mom hadn’t spoken to my grandma very much. The divorce had hit my mom really hard. When Grandma left Grandpa, Mom had begged her to change her mind and go back home. I could remember how I’d tried to make my mom laugh after she’d finished talking to Grandma on the phone one time, but she’d burst into tears and locked herself in her room. As time went by and it became obvious her parents weren’t going to get back together, my mom got angrier and angrier.
My dad had tried to make me feel better. He’d told me that underneath all of Mom’s anger was a lot of pain. She was hurt, and nothing would make it get better except time. I’d told him I didn’t understand why Mom was so hurt. Grandma wasn’t leaving her. He’d said there were things about the situation I didn’t know, and I had to try to understand that Mom’s feelings were Mom’s feelings, and she was entitled to have them, even if I didn’t agree with them.
So, while my older brother, Justin, and I spoke to Grandma on a regular basis, my mom hardly ever did, unless it had to do with the two of us. Mom hadn’t even visited Grandma’s apartment in Connecticut, where she’d moved after the divorce.
As I thought of my mom, I reached into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out the button I’d chosen that morning. It was a big, cheerful yellow button, because spending time with my grandma was definitely a cheerful occasion. I secretly rubbed the button in the palm of my hand as I tried to calm my nervous thoughts.
“It’ll be okay,” Grandma told me, reaching over to touch my arm. “I’m going to do my best to convince her. Don’t you worry.”
And she did, too. When Grandma asked her the following day, my mom said I could go. I was as happy as a kitty on a warm, sunny day. Grandma said she would buy our airplane tickets soon and we would start making plans. All kinds of plans!
For a month, it felt like I was walking on clouds.
And then, on January third, two days before I was supposed to see Grandma Sylvia again on the first Saturday of the month, the clouds vanished and I came crashing down to earth.
We received the news that while Grandma Sylvia was on a walk to the market just up the street from her apartment, a car hit her. She died instantly.
LISA SCHROEDER is the author of several books for young readers, including Sealed with a Secret, My Secret Guide to Paris, the Charmed Life series, the It’s Raining Cupcakes trilogy, and The Girl in the Tower. Lisa is a native Oregonian and lives in Beaverton with her husband and two sons. When she’s not writing, you will probably find her reading, walking the dog, or baking yummy treats—and online at lisaschroederbooks.com.
ALSO BY LISA SCHROEDER
My Secret Guide to Paris
Sealed with a Secret
Charmed Life:
#1: Caitlin’s Lucky Charm
#2: Mia’s Golden Bird
#3: Libby’s Sweet Surprise
#4: Hannah’s Bright Star
It’s Raining Cupcakes
Sprinkles and Secrets
Frosting and Friendship
Copyright © 2017 by Lisa Schroeder
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, SCHOLASTIC PRESS, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available
First edition, June 2017
Cover design by Yaffa Jaskoll
Cover photographs by Michael Frost, © 2017 Scholastic Inc.
Photos ©: Pisaphotography/Shutterstock Inc. (background); SZhenhai Li/Dreamstime (Statue of Liberty)
Author photo by Left Turn Studio
e-ISBN 978-0-545-90740-8
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Lisa Schroeder, Keys to the City
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