Free Paris Cravings: A Paris & Pastry Novel by Kimberley Montpetit Page B

just borrow some socks and put an apron over my skirt.
    I call Sera next, using the cell number she called me on earlier, even though I don’t know the owner of the number. I feel guilty I haven’t called her before now. Miraculously, she picks up on the second ring. She must have permanently borrowed that phone.
    “ Chloe ,” she says and her voice rises in a squeak. “Where are you?”
    “I’m sitting at a café in the middle of Paris. Where are you?”
    “Shopping for earrings with Stacy. And then we’re going to walk down this cute cobbled road to Leonardo da Vinci’s house. Did you know he lived in France until he died? He was a personal friend of the king’s. I never knew that.”
    “Um, cool.” Jewelry gets Sera really distracted.
    “So what happened to you , Chloe? I get on the bus and you just disappeared! Madame Sauvant is ticked off, and Robert isn’t speaking to anybody. He’s glued to his phone with the Tour office which is getting really annoying—but who cares about him ? Are you lost? Are you scared? Tell me what happened!”
    “I just fell and broke my shoe and my foot and I went to the hospital and everything was a mess.” My voice dies away and I realize that I just don’t want to talk about it.
    “So who helped you? Give me your address and we can pick you up when we get back into Paris tomorrow night. It’s going to be, like, midnight or something, but then you won’t have to find your own hotel and get a taxi to the airport. I’d be so scared if I were you.”
    “Actually, I’m not scared at all.” It’s true. Other than my clothing problem, I’m feeling perfectly contented enjoying Paris by myself knowing Jean-Paul and Madame Dupré are waiting for me back at the shop.
    “Okay, I’m ready to write down your address. Robert said he can find where you are on his maps. In fact, there he is now! Robert!” she screeches in my ear. “Robert, it’s Chloe! I have her on the phone right now.”
    Sera is yelling and I can picture her waving down Robert. I hear his deep voice in the background, and I can’t stand it. I don’t want to be found. Not for a few more hours.
    “Are you still there, Chloe?” Sera asks breathlessly.
    Before I can stop myself, I take the edge of my jacket and brush it against the phone as though I’ve run into major static. “You’re breaking up, Sera. I’m losing my signal. Are you there, are you there?”
    “Of course, I’m here,” she says clear as day, but I ignore that. “Where are you—tell me fast!”
    “What did you say?” I keep repeating through the cloth on the speaker. I can’t believe I’m doing this. But I have to. My heart is beating and my palms are sweating. “Sera, I think I’ve lost you . . . “ I punch the phone off and bite my lips, hoping she’ll never find out what I just did. It’s no big deal. I’m safe, and I have a plan to get to the airport. I’ll see her then.
    Rising from the table, I pick up the crutches and start my trip back down the street to La Patisserie , hoping no one is paying attention to a girl in a ruined salmon-colored skirt and blouse.
    Then I realize that I am being watched. A chill crawls along my neck as I dart my eyes up and down the street, trying to figure out who’s studying me.
    A guy wearing a white canvas hat, faded jeans and a brown blazer throws his cigarette to the ground, stamps on it, and approaches me from the open door of a taxi.
    “ Mademoiselle Dillard?” he asks in a perfect English accent, grasping my elbow.
    I jerk my arm back. “Who are you?”
    A wallet comes out of his back pocket, from which he extracts a business card. “Robert sent me.”
    He’s talking like James Bond even though he looks like a graduate student in need of a shave and double coffee after pulling an all-nighter.
    I take the corner of the card and try to focus my attention on the printed words.
    Educational Tours Company
    (ETC. We specialize in the details!)
    Gerald Polk, Tour Guide
    45 Rue