Aurelia swallowed the pills with a grimace and then pushed away the iced tea, preferring to get back to work. She gave a little grunt of frustration as the silky sleeves of her princess dress once again got in the way of her pencil.

Emily suppressed a laugh. Aurelia’s favorite outfits were not especially practical. Like her mother, she had an exceptional wardrobe: every day she chose from an array of exciting, colorful clothes, many of them covered with Disney characters, or sequins and fairy wings. Several outfits even came with matching crowns and long, shiny gloves. Some items were thick and cozy for cold weather, some light and thin for sunnier days, but everything without exception was long, long, long. True to her word, Nina covered as much of Aurelia’s skin as possible, making small concessions only when it was extremely cloudy.

Aurelia even swam in long clothes. Not once had Emily seen her in a bikini or even a one-piece: it was always long-sleeved rash vests and leggings. Today, for example, she was wearing her full wet suit, her big pink goggles hanging like jewelry around her neck. When she swam, she added a pink swimming cap and the look was complete: baby-alien chic. So cute. It probably didn’t feel great, though, and Emily often felt sorry for her, because really, the French coast was a strange place to raise a child with a sun allergy. It seemed almost cruel.

Emily put down her knife and wiped her hands on a tea towel. Sauntering around the kitchen bench, she pretended to browse through her own clothes. “Hmm,” she said, stopping to check out a green floral skirt she’d bought at a flea market. “I like this. Very stylish. Probably only worth two euros, though.”

Aurelia shook her head, her lips pressed tightly together. It had been a shock to discover that Aurelia was not just shy, as Nina put it, but completely mute, and Emily had been wondering for a while whether that was because she couldn’t speak or because she wouldn’t.

“Okay, three.”

Another head shake.

“Well, I can’t possibly pay more than five.” Emily produced a note from her pocket and placed it on the table.

Aurelia stood and pushed the note away. Avoiding eye contact as usual, she held up both her hands with her fingers spread.

“Ten?” Throwing up her hands in a show of outrage, Emily turned to Nina. “Can you believe this? I’m being robbed!”

Nina was watching from the kitchen sink. Emily gave her a reassuring smile. She hadn’t yet won Aurelia over, but she was getting there. The best approach seemed to be through play, but it had to be an activity in which Aurelia was already engaged. She liked to be in control of any given situation and could feel wrong-footed if Emily introduced something new.

“You certainly drive a hard bargain, young lady.” Emily stroked her chin, then pulled out another note. “Fine. But only if you throw in these flip-flops, too.” She threw the note on the table and took a step back. The other thing she’d learned was not to invade Aurelia’s personal space.

Aurelia’s face, streaked white with zinc, cracked open, and she laughed out loud, a sweet, full-bellied cackle straight out of a baby-product commercial. Momentarily stunned—I made her laugh!—Emily turned to give Nina the thumbs up, and then Aurelia was up and out of her seat, launching herself forward with her head down and her arms spread, throwing her full weight against Emily with the speed and accuracy of a rugby player.

“Whoa!” The impact sent Emily staggering backward into the table. She was so shocked—Aurelia was pawing and nuzzling at her like a dog—that it took her a moment to recognize the attack for what it was: a hug. “Oh my goodness.” She laughed. “What’s all this for?”

“Strawberry, let go, please,” Nina murmured from the kitchen.

“No, it’s fine!” Emily put her arms around Aurelia and gave her a squeeze. “And there I was thinking you didn’t like me!”

“Of course she likes you.” Nina frowned as Aurelia tightened her grasp. “Remember, honey, gentle hands.”

“It’s really okay,” said Emily.

But Nina was already hurrying over. “Come on, now, that’s enough. Let Emily get back to work.” An edge had crept into Nina’s voice, and Emily sensed that laughing might not help the situation, but she couldn’t help it. After weeks of avoiding any physical contact whatsoever, Aurelia was all but licking her.

Nina fussed at Aurelia’s back. “I mean it, Aurelia. Come away now.” She spoke firmly, as if her daughter was carrying a loaded weapon. We have you surrounded. Step. Away. From. The Help.

But Aurelia held on, her skinny forearms locked like a vice. Emily winced as Nina grabbed at Aurelia’s hands, trying to break them apart. “I said, that’s enough!” she yelled, and pulled hard. And suddenly it wasn’t funny anymore. Nina was furious, and the tussle was becoming awkward. Her efforts to forcibly remove Aurelia were causing them all to lumber around like a three-headed dancing elephant.

Aurelia’s grip was now becoming uncomfortable. “Oof,” Emily said, as the breath was squeezed from her lungs. Her head began to swim. They lurched again and crashed into the table.

“Aurelia! Get off!” Nina gave one more gigantic pull, and they all broke apart with such force that Aurelia flew backward and landed on her bum.

“Well,” said Emily, panting. “That was—”

But she didn’t get to finish, because at that moment Aurelia lifted her fists to her temples and let out a yell so loud, so ferocious that the air between them seemed to vibrate. Her face went red and her knuckles turned white. Then she scrambled to her feet and ran.

Nina hurried after her.

Emily stared at the half-finished lunch, unsure of how to proceed. She didn’t know if either of them would be coming back to eat, but there didn’t seem any point in wasting it, so she gently lifted the fish from the grill, the whole thing peeling away neatly in one piece. Placing it on a platter, she covered it to keep it warm, then seasoned the mango salsa and the rice before covering them, too. Next she wiped down all the surfaces and packed away Aurelia’s “shop,” folding all the clothes and stacking the homemade labels into neat piles.

Feeling terrible about causing another drama, she fussed and straightened and polished until everything looked just right. When it came to Aurelia, even though Nina had urged her several times not to take things like this personally, Emily felt that she was causing more problems than she was alleviating. The noise the kid made was just awful, like nails on a chalkboard—but it was a relief to know she had a voice at all. Whatever caused her muteness, there was nothing wrong with that voice box.

After half an hour or so, Nina came jogging back down the steps, her face flushed. “God, I’m so sorry about that,” she said, one hand pressed to her forehead. “I don’t know what happened. The medication is supposed to calm her down, not wind her up.”

“No, she was fine,” Emily said, absentmindedly touching her bruised waist. “Who doesn’t like a hug?”

Nina frowned, hands on her hips. Then she shook her head. “Look, I know it must’ve seemed like I overreacted, but Aurelia doesn’t know her own strength. And honestly, it freaked me out. I’ve never seen her do that before. Not with anyone outside of the family.”

“Oh, please. I used to do things like that all the time when I was a kid,” said Emily. “I was worse, though. I used to walk up to strangers and ask if I could go home with them. Juliet was mortified.”

Nina laughed, the tension draining from her face. “Far out. That’s probably how your parents think you ended up here. You just walked up to your boss one day and asked if you could live with him.”

“Ha. Probably.”

Nina looked like she was about to say something else but stopped, noticing the kitchen. She raised her eyebrows in approval at the spotless sink, the countertop, and the beautifully set table.

“Oh, yeah. Lunch is served.” Emily smiled modestly. It was a novelty, this feeling that something she had done, even if it was just putting food on a table, might be worthy of admiration.

“Nice work,” Nina said. “I can’t wait to taste that salsa. Do you mind if we wait for Aurelia, though? She’s just up in her room taking a breather. I’ll give her some space, then go get her in a few minutes.” Drifting away to the edge of the pool, she dipped her toe in the water.

“You know,” she said, after a quiet pause, “despite what just happened, Aurelia’s actually been a lot calmer since you’ve been here. Things have been easier. I’ve had more time for lessons, exercises, activities, games. She’s been loving it.”

Emily joined her. “That’s good.”

“I’ve been more relaxed, too. Actually, that’s probably got a lot to do with it. We spend so much time together that we’ve become like E.T. and Elliott: one always feels what the other is feeling.”

They stood contemplating the horizon. The ocean threw a gentle breeze at them, cool and salty.

Emily stretched her arms to the sky and stifled a yawn. “So what’s on after lunch?” she asked. “Shall I head up to the guesthouse and crack on with the painting?”