Chapter 21 – Vacation

“If I’d known Enzo would be this late, I should’ve gone to Metz with the others.” 

Sasha said, her voice tinged with regret. Grandma Rollo, walking ahead, turned back at the sound. Sasha, wearing a sailor-collared blouse and carrying a basket of beach supplies on one arm, walked across the sand.

“Did everyone head to Metz this year? The village has gotten quiet now that the young people have left for vacation.”

“Half went to Laurent, Grandma.”

Sasha spoke, sounding a bit down. Sensing Sasha’s loneliness at being left behind in Manolie, Grandma Elodie asked knowingly,

“I guess you’re feeling bored since your friends who graduated together have gone.”

“A little. But it’s alright. It can’t be helped. Besides, about half are still in Manolie.”

“Eloise went to Laurent, didn’t she?”

At the mention of her close friend who left for a factory in Laurent right after graduation, Sasha fell silent. She was worried about how Eloise was doing. She still hadn’t received a reply to her last letter. Maybe the address had changed?

Grandma Elodie, watching Sasha carefully, asked gently,

“Don’t you want to go to Laurent?”

“I’m not sure. Even if I did, could I adapt to a city where I don’t know anyone?”

Sasha had considered, like her friends, the option of going to Laurent, but it still felt too soon for such worries.

“You have Eloise. If you live with a hometown friend, it might not be so bad.”

“I promised Eloise I’d visit once she’s settled. Though I don’t know when that’ll be.”

Just then, Grandma Rollo called out from a distance.

“Sasha. It’s best to lay the mat around here.”

Sasha hurried over and took the beach mat from her basket, spreading it out on the sand. The grandmothers set up their parasol behind her.

“At least one good thing: this summer, you can have the sea all to yourself and swim as much as you want.”

Sasha nodded, agreeing with Grandma Elodie’s comforting words. She changed into her swimsuit and ran straight into the sea. Rollo and Elodie, settled in the shade of the parasol, watched their granddaughter swim freely like a dolphin.

“Sasha’s going too far out.”

When Sasha didn’t return even after a long time, Grandma Elodie murmured with concern. Sasha, floating like a red flower petal on the sea, seemed to drift farther from them.

“Let her be. At that age, you swim until you’re exhausted. As long as she doesn’t cross the current, she’ll always be able to come back.”

Grandma Rollo replied casually, but Grandma Elodie couldn’t relax. She used the opera glasses Enzo had given her to watch her granddaughter, making sure Sasha didn’t sink or get swept away by the waves. After a while, Sasha, tired, began swimming back to the sandbar. Grandma Elodie sighed in relief, and Grandma Rollo pointed to the opposite beach.

“Look, Elodie, someone’s coming from over there.”

Grandma Elodie turned her lens toward the beach. A handsome gentleman in a shirt, tie, and vest was walking over. It was Mr. Robert, the caretaker of Hawthorn Mansion, returning to Manolie after four years.

* * *

After a pleasant swim, Sasha walked out of the sea, her body wet. She felt she was too far from the parasol, but didn’t have the strength to swim back.

‘If only I could have a glass of cold lemonade with lots of ice.’

Her bare feet squirmed, tickled by the warmth of sun-heated sand. Shivering as she shook off the water, she saw someone standing there. When their eyes met, Sasha froze.

“Hello, Mr. Robert.”

Hot sunlight sizzled on her legs, still wet with droplets. She couldn’t tell if the strange sensation was from the sun or from being conscious of his gaze.

“Yes, hello, Sasha.”

Robert finally spoke. He seemed about to say more, but stopped. Sasha nodded slowly at his greeting. She wanted to run off and hide somewhere. As she stepped back, she nearly stumbled, and Robert reflexively caught her, then almost immediately let go.

“Be careful.”

“I’m sorry.”

Sasha apologized in a small voice. He was elegant and perfect, like a prince from a kingdom. His skin was flawless, smoother than any girl who cared about her appearance. And his eyes—their color was as vivid as the sea when the sun hit the shallow shore, just as Sasha saw while swimming every day. If she could find paint of that exact color, she’d spend all her savings on it.

“Were you swimming in the sea?”

“I was just about to stop.”

Mr. Robert looked so refined, while Sasha stood before him in a red swimsuit, feeling awful. All the freckles she’d gotten from swimming every day since summer started felt so rustic.

Overwhelmed by embarrassment, Sasha took off her hat. Her thick hair, trapped under the hat, tumbled down in curls, at least covering her bare shoulders.

“I’ve grown a lot, haven’t I? I shot up suddenly in the winter when I turned eighteen. Everyone was surprised, saying they didn’t recognize me.”

“It’s not that unrecognizable.”

Sasha couldn’t help but burst out laughing. She denied it, but he seemed a bit flustered too. Still, he probably thought she was much shorter than him.

“I thought you might not recognize me. It’s been so long since you came.”

She wondered if her voice sounded too resentful, but fortunately, he didn’t seem to notice.

“How long will you stay this time? Will you spend the summer here and return to Laurent, like last time?”

“Probably.”

Sasha smiled even brighter at the good news, showing her neat white teeth. She was excited at the thought of spending summer with him again. With everyone else gone for vacation, the man returning to Manolie was the perfect guest for her summer.

“Were you out for a walk? When did you return to the mansion?”

“I arrived last night. The sun had already set when I got off the train.”

“Lucky you. Everyone’s gone to the city for fun, so carriages don’t run late in summer. If the train had come a bit later, you’d have had to spend the night at the station.”

He didn’t answer, just stared at her. As silence settled, the awkwardness she’d tried to hide surfaced. Sasha squirmed her toes in the warm sand.

“Should I help you if you’re tired?”

“No, it’s not that bad.”

Sasha quickly shook her head.

“Then walk slowly. I should go back to the grandmothers first.”

Before Robert could stop her, Sasha ran off, using all her strength. Toward the parasol where her grandmothers waited.

Left behind, Robert stood on the sandbar, watching the traces of Sasha Vinoche as she moved away. Her small, round, red heels left deep footprints in the white sand.

* * *

Grandma Elodie put down her opera glasses as she saw Sasha running toward the parasol. Sasha, who hadn’t stopped once, was panting as if she might throw up.

“How must I have looked? I shouldn’t have gone swimming today.”

Sasha almost scolded herself for coming to the beach today, wishing she’d stayed home. Grandma Elodie shrugged as she cleared peaches and grapes to make space on the mat.

“You looked pretty, Sasha. I think you look very pretty right now.”

“Please don’t tease me. I must have looked awful.”

But Grandma Elodie was sincere, not teasing. The red swimsuit clung to Sasha, showing long, slender legs beneath her round hips. Her cheeks, naturally reddened from swimming in the sun, were lovely, and she radiated a burning vitality.

“I’m not joking. If I were a man, I’d surely have fallen in love with you today.”

Even with Grandma Elodie’s comfort, Sasha was panicking, as if she might faint. Grandma Rollo stepped in.

“Calm down, Sasha. It’s just a swimsuit. You’ve swum with other boys before.”

“But Mr. Robert is different from them.”

Sasha mumbled, almost crying. She didn’t even realize what she was saying. Grandma Rollo, certain Sasha didn’t know herself, didn’t ask what made Robert different from other friends.

Meanwhile, Sasha hurriedly dried herself with a big yellow striped towel, and without even taking off her swimsuit, threw on her clothes. Just as she managed to look decent, Mr. Robert, walking slowly as she’d said, arrived in front of their parasol.