Trouble in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law, #1)(39)
“The biggest mistake of my life was marrying your son.”
Helena stared at her for a moment, then shrugged. “Okay, then the second biggest mistake of your life.”
Maryse turned around in her seat and glared at Helena. “And why in the world would taking up with a good-looking, successful doctor be a mistake? Can you tell me that? I’ve known Christopher since we were kids, and all I ever wanted was a healthy relationship with a man. I got cheated the first time around.”
Helena snorted. “Healthy relationship? You’re barking up the wrong tree, honey. You might have known him as a kid, but one of you has changed. And it’s not you. First of all, that doctor does not have ‘relationships.’ He has conquests. How do you think I knew where you were eating? I used to eat here several times a week, and your perfect doctor was always here with a different woman.”
“I don’t believe you,” Maryse said. “Besides, what’s wrong with dating other women? He didn’t come back to Mudbug until a week or so ago. I could hardly ask for anything exclusive before we even reconnected.”
Helena rolled her eyes. “You weren’t interested in anything exclusive. You just wanted to get laid. You’re not even wearing underwear.”
Maryse felt her blood boil. “I never wear underwear!” she shouted, at the exact same moment Christopher opened the car door.
Maryse whipped around in her seat, trying not to groan. She could feel Christopher staring at her, but he didn’t move. Finally, he sank into the driver’s seat and started the car. As he pulled out of the parking lot, he leaned over and whispered, “Good to know.”
Maryse just nodded and tried to smile, although she was certain it came out more like a grimace. She turned slightly and glanced at the backseat, hoping at least for the opportunity to give Helena the finger behind the headrest, but the backseat was empty.
What should have been the perfect date with the perfect man was ruined. Even worse, instead of fantasizing about her night with Christopher, the only thing she could think of was Luc LeJeune’s kiss. It was all his fault she’d gotten into this mess to begin with. Maryse sank back in her seat with a sigh, feeling sexually frustrated for the first time in, well, forever.
And there wasn’t a single battery-operated device in her nightstand to handle the job.
Chapter Nine
Unless Helena learned to fly, Maryse figured it would take her at least an hour to get to Maryse’s cabin. Relieved to be rid of the ghost and frustrated that her date with an eligible doctor had ended with her thinking of Luc LeJeune, Maryse reached for the tequila bottle and poured herself a shot. She gritted her teeth as the bitter liquid burned her throat. She was a lousy drinker. A cold beer was one thing, hard liquor was another.
She poured another shot but couldn’t get it past her lips. Disgusted with herself, Helena, and her night, she walked into the kitchen and began to make a peanut butter sandwich.
She didn’t even care whether Christopher called her again. Which was good, because despite the intriguing underwear comment, he probably wasn’t interested in being embarrassed in a fancy restaurant again anytime in this life. She took a bite of the sandwich and pulled a beer from the refrigerator.
She went back into the living room and plopped down on the couch, trying to ignore the fact that the reason Dr. Christopher held no appeal to her was because Luc LeJeune held entirely too much. Damn that man! Why did he have to go and kiss her? She was doing a fine job of pretending she didn’t find him sexy as hell, and then he crossed that line. And once you crossed that line, there was no going back. Oh, she could pretend it didn’t affect her, but she wasn’t going to fool anyone—especially not Luc.
And all of this thrown at her when she really, really needed to be concentrating on finding that plant for the trials. Whatever Blooming Flower had brewed up for Maryse’s dad had been working. The cancer was moving toward remission, and he hadn’t experienced a single side effect—something that could rarely be said for the radiation treatment he’d refused. Then Blooming Flower had died without revealing her secret. The secret Maryse was still searching for. She took a long swallow of beer and flipped the remote to some boring talk show.
It was over an hour before Helena showed up. Maryse was about to go to bed when the ghost popped into the living room, walking straight through the wall and the television. For a moment, Maryse thought she was having a hallucination that someone had stepped out of the television set, but then her vision cleared a bit, and the pink polyester seemed to glow in the dim living room light.
“What took you so long?” she asked. “Couldn’t catch a ride?”
“You know good and well no normal person’s coming out into a swamp in the middle of the night.”
Maryse glanced up at the clock on the wall. “It’s only eleven. Hardly the middle of the night.”
“When you’re my age, eight o’clock is the middle of the night.”
Maryse shook her head. Something else in life to look forward to. “Look, Helena, I’m a little drunk, and I’m tired. I’m in no mood to deal with you, especially after that stunt you pulled tonight. I know you might find this hard to believe, but I don’t want to live alone on the bayou with only a cat for company the rest of my life. I’m an introvert, not a hermit. Snagging a doctor isn’t exactly the worst way to go, regardless of whether you think I could have landed him or not.”