11Sunday morning at Chez Papa was always slow. No workmen came in for coffee before heading to work. Christophe, the new taxi driver, usually read the paper at the table in the corner while waiting for calls, but he slept in on Sundays. Alphonse, the owner of Chez Papa, wanted to keep the place open as many hours as possible because he believed that sometimes a friendly bistro was exactly what a person needed—whether in a moment of crisis or just everyday loneliness. Any accountant concerned with the bottom line would have told him to open his restaurant only when he was fairly certain of getting enough customers to make a profit, but Alphonse paid no mind to that.
“I’m sorry I have to work again,” Nico was saying to his girlfriend Frances, who sat at the bar scribbling on napkins.
“No p
