11
Simon Valette got up that Sunday, had coffee, and went straight to the crumbled outbuilding next to the house, which he had been working on since the first day they arrived in Castillac. It was milder so he did not dress warmly, knowing that lugging the heavy stones would put him into a sweat before long. Lately the Sunday routine had been for the girls to go into the village on their own, to Pâtisserie Bujold, where they would, with much discussion and solemn judgment, pick out pastries for each member of the family. On their return, all of the Valettes would sit down to a leisurely breakfast.
Simon believed the worst was over, and his family was at long last settling into life in Castillac, finding friends, and getting used to the village. It hadn’t been easy moving from Paris and l
