The Secret Ways of Perfume by Cristina Caboni Page A

couldn’t really explain this, since she’d never previously thought of the house like that. It had never been a place where she’d felt truly at ease. Jasmine had been wonderful to her; at herhouse Elena had breathed in love and been happy, but she’d also understood precisely what she didn’t have. That big old palazzo had always been her grandmother’s home, not hers. She’d only gone back there because, after the split with Matteo, she didn’t have anywhere else to hide. But she had done so very reluctantly.
    Catching her off-guard, the warm feeling she’d felt on the first night crept up on her again. She knew that sooner or later she’d have to sort herself out and deal with her feelings. But this wasn’t the right time.
    Matteo had just brought her belongings back. Five boxes piled in the middle of the hall to remind her of a year of living together and a heap of stupid dreams that, it would seem, he had never shared. Stubbornly and blindly, she’d poured all her needs and desires into that relationship, fooling herself that she and Matteo had a connection that worked.
    â€¢Â Â Â â€¢Â Â Â â€¢
    â€œYou made an error of judgment, Elena. You forgot the one thing a woman should always bear in mind,” Jasmine had told her on the phone a little earlier.
    â€œHave you been talking to Monie?” Elena asked the one person who, for all these years, had been a mother to her.
    â€œ
Oui
, it’s not good to keep secrets. Don’t be cross with her.”
    â€œYou know I won’t,” she replied.
    â€œNot even if I tell you I’m happy that idiot is out of your life?”
    Elena smiled through the tears. “
Non, maman
.”
    Jasmine’s happy sigh prompted more tears. Elena sniffed them back.
    â€œGo on,” she urged in a shaky voice.
    â€œYou can’t put all your eggs in one basket,
ma petite
. Circumstances mean you have to diversify. They call it Plan B. You have to have one, Elena: a girl always needs a Plan B.”
    â€œAnd what if I don’t even have a Plan A?”
    â€œRubbish! You’ve got a beautiful house full of incredible objects. You’ve got a vocation: whether you like it or not, you’re a perfumier. You know how to create perfumes, you know how to recognize them, and if you don’t want to make them, you could always sell them like Monique, don’t you think? And what’s more, my girl, you’ve got us—a family that loves you.”
    More tears, and this time Elena couldn’t hide them.
    Jasmine sighed again. “I’ve never heard you cry so much, not even when you were a little girl. Are you sure you’re all right? Why don’t you come and stay with us in Grasse for a few days? A change of scene would do you good.”
    Elena dried her face. “You know I can’t do that.”
    â€œWhy? Ever since his accident Maurice never leaves the house, so you wouldn’t even see him. As for your mother . . . I don’t think it’d hurt to see Susanna again. You know it would make her happy, deep down.”
    â€œYou really think so? I wouldn’t be so sure. She’s never been to see me.”
    â€œTrue, but you know why that is. She feels responsible for Maurice; she doesn’t want to leave him on his own in his condition.”
    â€œThat’s ridiculous; it wasn’t her fault,” Elena whispered. “It was an accident—it could have happened to anyone.”
    â€œBut it happened to Susanna. And regardless of anything else, Maurice was badly injured saving her. She’ll never forget that.”
    A thoughtful silence came over them, and then Jasmine added, “I’m not condoning the way she treated you, let’s be clear on that, but perhaps it’s time you put your resentment aside. Susanna made some bad choices, and she’s paid dearly for them. But she is still your