The day goes quickly. But Edith recalls Madame Moreau’s expression watching the ghost of her father and thinks of how difficult it would be to see an echo of her mother all the time, unable to touch or speak to her. Overcome with grief, she takes a break and leaves the bakery to call her father, crying. She considers going home but decides to stay, sensing that the Moreaus need her help.

After the bakery closes for the night, Madame Moreau invites Edith to dinner in her apartment. She explains that her daughter was meant to take over the bakery, but she and her husband died in a car accident 12 years ago, leaving Manu in her care. Now, the bakery is failing due to the accessibility of modern supermarkets and a declining interest in small independent shops. Finally, she offers to tell the full story from the beginning.

Madame Moreau’s parents were Romani, part of the nomadic Manouche clan that traveled around France. She loved her life living in a brightly colored caravan and traveling the countryside with her beautiful mother, Mirela, and her father who trained horses for wealthy families. Madame Moreau says the Romani people have always lived “on the edges of society” (192), treated with suspicion and derision, but when German occupation began the discrimination became much worse. One day, German soldiers took her father away to a labor camp, placing young Madame Moreau and her mother on a train headed for another camp.

At the train station, they slipped past distracted guards. Mirela saw a strange man at the station. Madam Moreau did not understand what was happening, or why her mother chose this man, but they ran to him. Mirela hugged him and thanked him for meeting them at the station. The man seemed to understand instantly what was being asked of him and welcomed them home like family.

Back in his bakery, Pierre considers the woman and her child. He knows it is a death sentence to harbor fugitives, but he cannot in good conscience send them away. Knowing that if they try to sneak out of the town they will be caught and killed, he offers them the safety of his home. The mother, Mirela, warily says she cannot give him anything and loves her husband, even if he might be dead. Pierre assures her that he does not see women that way and she understands. They are both marked as different and dangerous by the Germans and both are at equal risk if caught. Pierre offers to teach the little girl, Genevieve, how to make madeleines. Later, he tells the townspeople that he met and married Mirela in a neighboring village in a whirlwind romance.

In Madame Moreau’s apartment, she continues her story to Edith. Pierre was a kind, loving man who took care of her and her mother. For a time, they were almost happy. Then one day, German soldiers came to the bakery. Her mother distracted them, giving Madame Moreau time to run and hide in the woods outside of town. When she returned, her mother was gone and Pierre sat on the floor crying. He tried to stop them but failed. Madame Moreau did not understand at the time but now knows that the soldiers took her mother to the internment camp and then the death camps.

Pierre cared for Madame Moreau like his own daughter, and she eventually came to think of him as her Papa. When he died, he left her the bakery and promised to stay with her always. Edith guesses that is why his spirit remains in the basement. Madame Moreau explains that his presence used to be stronger—visible all the time. But it has faded over time and may be gone soon. In any case, it does not matter because she’s being forced to sell the bakery. She needed to take out a second mortgage to keep it open and is now behind on payments. The bank is repossessing the property and already has a buyer lined up. She cries and Edith decides she will find a way to save the bakery.

In the morning, Edith receives a text from Hugo saying he will be back in Compiègne the following week. Though she is excited to see him, she puts it out of her mind to focus on the bakery. She calls her father to ask for his advice and they decide they need a special hook to entice customers. He suggests fancy cupcakes even though he believes the gimmick is passé. Edith agrees to try. Knowing that Manu and Madame Moreau will not make cupcakes, she does it herself, using everything she’s learned from her father.

She presents Madame Moreau and Manu with her cupcakes, and they are impressed with her skill. She reveals that she borrowed some ideas from Pierre’s recipe book. Madame Moreau is stunned. She hid the book in the floorboards years before and forgot about it. Chagrined, Edith realizes she should have mentioned it sooner. As she eats the cupcake, Madame Moreau recalls a conversation with Pierre about love. Edith admits she used the vanilla liqueur, which she suspects is special.

Sometime later, Edith asks Manu if Madame Moreau will ever forgive her for using the vanilla liqueur. After revealing that she used it, she discovered that it was the very last of Pierre’s original supply, the supplier of the special vanilla beans having disappeared during the war. Madame Moreau has left it sealed for decades. Manu promises she will forgive her eventually.

That afternoon, Edith bakes cupcakes in the basement while playing the Django Reinhardt music Johnny recommended. When Manu returns from school, he helps her set up a social media presence for the shop. They record videos for Instagram. Manu records Edith baking and speaking, but she is awkward and robotic. After several tries, she turns her music back on and dances while she works, easing her nerves and finding a comfortable flow, as if her “real personality ha[s] come out of hiding” (221). The social media posts help and, the next day, many local students arrive to try Edith’s cupcakes.

Hugo speaks to his father on the phone while driving toward La Retrait. He suggests that the company ends its efforts to buy the buildings on Rue de Paris, but Raymond threatens to remove him from the position if he cannot see the acquisition through. Hugo fears that he will disappoint someone no matter what he does. He has tried hard to take Stephane’s place, believing that it might make his parents happy, or at least lessen their grief, but he has failed at every turn. And now he fears that he will fail Edith too. She believes he is a good person, but he fears he is “just another soulless man in a suit” (224).

He visits his mother, who is agitated and anxious. Seraphine tells him that she knows what Raymond is doing in Compiègne, and they must stop him. She says that her father’s uncle, Arnaud, betrayed the Moreaus to the Germans during the war, destroying the family and breaking Pierre’s heart. Her family did not talk about it for years, but she learned about it later. She begs Hugo to make it right.

Edith feels optimistic about the bakery until Friday afternoon when Hugo walks in dressed in a suit. Madame Moreau furiously says that he has no right to be there, but he retorts that the bank has permitted him to survey the property. He explains to Edith that he became Chief Operating Officer of his father’s company after his brother died, and she finally understands that his company is the buyer taking over the building.

She accuses him of lying and tricking her and kicks him out of the bakery, slamming the door in his face. The customers inside clap for her, but she does not feel triumphant. That night, she lies awake feeling angry and betrayed. Hugo lied about his work and hid his involvement in the bakery even after knowing she lived and worked there. She reads a passage in Swann’s Way, but it does not comfort her.

Finally, she goes to the kitchen and uses a recipe in Pierre’s book, labeled “crepes for a broken heart” (232). She finds the process meditative and soothing. When she eats the first bite, she feels a “sliver of hope return and even some optimism for the future” (234).

Edith returns to work with renewed determination to save the bakery. Her first task is to visit Monsieur Legrand, the lawyer, who agrees to study the repossession paperwork and compose a letter to the bank on their behalf. On the way out of his office, she encounters Jacqueline, Nicole’s mother, headed inside. Edith suspects Jacqueline is interested in him but tells herself to stay out of it.

That night, Nicole and Johnny walk Edith home from Nostalgie. They sit in Edith’s apartment to discuss the bakery. While they talk, Edith plays more Django Reinhardt music. Suddenly, Madame Moreau knocks on her door. Edith is worried she is angry about the noise, but instead, Madame Moreau says she recognizes the music. She knew Django Reinhardt before the war because he was her mother’s cousin. He even visited Compiègne once and played at the bakery. Ecstatic, Johnny demands the entire story.

Django Reinhardt and his band were touring in the United Kingdom when World War II began. However, Django received word that Mirela and her daughter were living in Compiègne and came to visit. His local friends learned he was in the area and came as well. Before long, an impromptu concert broke out in the bakery.

Johnny suggests that they make Django’s visit a selling point for the bakery. Madame Moreau is doubtful, but Johnny insists that it will draw attention from music lovers and history buffs alike. Edith adds that Geoff might be willing to add the bakery to his tour stops because of its connection to the war. Johnny even offers to play at the bakery on the weekend to draw more of a crowd and invites Edith to sing with his band.

They set to work. Edith makes posters to spread the word about Django Reinhardt’s connection to the bakery. Monsieur Legrand devises a business plan for repaying the bakery’s debts for Madame Moreau to present to her bank. Edith feels optimistic about their chances. Then Hugo arrives at the bakery again.

He asks for a chance to explain his situation to Edith, who begrudgingly agrees. He explains that when his brother died six years ago, his uncle took over as COO of the family company. Hugo did not want to be part of the business. However, his uncle became ill, requiring Hugo to step into the role. He feels that he has always been a disappointment to his father and does not want to let him down this time. He adds that he did not mean to lie about being a photographer as that is where his real passion lies. But he must be realistic and make compromises in life. He urges Edith to face reality. His company has offered Madame Moreau a good price for the building and a nice apartment, so it is not as if they are throwing the Moreaus out on the street. Edith refuses to listen anymore.