There was nowhere to hide. If Caroline's grandmother saw us, the trip would be over. Well, that and other things. I threw my arms around her and turned us around so that my back was facing the platform. My heart started racing when I felt her head resting on my chest.

I wish I could hold her like this just because I felt like it, and because she wanted me to. I don't want this to end, but it feels like it's slipping away.

My stomach was in knots when I heard the elderly lady say, "Caroline Grace? Is that really you?"

Crap. It's over.

Caroline broke my embrace and stepped past me to face her grandmother.

"Bonjour, Grand-mère Charlotte," she said.

"Good morning, my love," she replied, adjusting the strap of the purse on her shoulder. "My, aren't we far from home on this fine day," she looked from Caroline to Sofia.

"Are you going to tell my father?"

"And who might these two handsome young men be?" Grand-mère Charlotte asked, examining me before turning to Liam.

"This is Liam O'Connor," Caroline replied.

"O'Connor?"

"Yes, ma'am," Liam nodded.

"Is that Irish?"

"Yes, ma'am, it is."

"But you don't sound Irish."

"Well, I'm Canadian, well both, ma'am" he chuckled, nervously.

"I see," she replied with a suspicious look on her face.

Grand-mère Charlotte paused and then turned to me. She gave Caroline a look that said she was waiting for an introduction.

"Oh, this is Javier-Javier Giordano," Caroline said, stumbling over her words. I don't think I've ever heard her struggle to speak before.

"Javier Giordano, that's rather unusual. A Spanish and an Italian name. How did you come by it?"

"My mother is Mexican-Canadian, and my father is Monégasque, ma'am."

"Interesting," she adjusted her glasses while looking me up and down. "Are you by chance related to Andrea Giordano, the surgeon?"

"Yes, ma'am, he's my father."

"You appear to have his stature," she said, stepping closer to me. "Kindly remove those sunglasses, young man, I want to see your eyes."

I slowly lifted them up and set them on my head.

"Thank you," she said, looking up at me. "Those dark eyes must belong to your mother."

I was about to respond when she started talking again.

"Now tell me, Javier, why did you embrace my granddaughter when you saw me coming? Was it perhaps an attempt to hide her from me?"

"I uh...I...uh..." I tried to answer, but I couldn't form a sentence under her piercing stare.

I'm in love with your granddaughter. That's what I wanted to say. But I felt like there was a whole bunch of gravel stuck in my throat, choking my words and making it hard to breathe.

All of a sudden, a smile crept across her wrinkled face. Then she turned to Caroline and said, "Very well, I'll be off now."

"Are you going to tell Papa?"

Caroline looked paper-white as she waited for her grandmother's answer. I slipped my hands in pockets, trying to keep them dry.

"Tell him what exactly?" Grand-mère Charlotte asked.

"That you saw me here."

"Why on earth would I do that? Telling him would mean that I saw you; which I did not. I am getting old, and no one expects old ladies to see anything," she winked.

Colour came rushing back to Caroline's face as she hugged her grandmother.

Thank God. I could feel air flowing through my lungs again.

Charlotte (she told us we could call her that) shook my hand and Liam's and said it was nice to meet us. I said something back to her, but I don't remember what; I was still pretty stunned.

"Be sure to take care of these girls," Charlotte hugged and kissed them. "They're very dear to me," she added before turning to walk away.

"Grandmother?" Caroline asked.

"Yes, love."

"What were you doing here?"

"Contrary to popular belief," she smiled, "I too know how to have fun. Now go enjoy yourselves." Then she paused, looked at Liam and said, "But not too much," making him turn beet-red.

Liam and I followed after Charlotte and offered to help get her suitcase onto the train, but she politely turned us down.

"Thank you very much," she said, "very gentlemanly of you both, but this is small enough for me to manage."

Charlotte waved at us and disappeared into the train.

Liam sighed as we walked back to the girls. "Dude, I thought we were toast for sure."

I nodded. "Yeah, me too."

"She turned out to be pretty cool for an old girl, eh?" he elbowed me.

We both started chuckling. I don't really know why, but I felt like I had just survived a near-death experience.

"What's so funny?" Sofia asked, reaching for Liam's hand.

He shook his head. "Nothing, we were just having a laugh about how cool Caroline's gran is."

"You mean, Charlotte," I corrected him.

Caroline smiled and pushed her hair behind her ear.

"We should get going," she tilted her head towards the stairs.

Liam and Sofia led the way while we lagged behind. A warm breeze started blowing as we silently wandered across the platform.

When we were almost at the bottom of the stairs, I said, "Are there any more of your relatives that we should be looking out for?"

But my lame attempt at a joke seemed to catch Caroline off guard. Or maybe she just got distracted. Either way, she overstepped the last stair, losing her left sandal in the process.

I immediately grabbed it, knelt down and held it up so she could slide her foot back in.

"Thanks," she said, looking down at me.

I smiled. "No problem."

Caroline's face turned red as she adjusted her foot in the sandal.

"We should probably catch up to Liam and Sofia," she said before hurrying off like a leaf blown away by the wind.

Great. I embarrassed her. I brushed my knee off and caught up to her, but this time I kept my mouth shut.