Bayou Born(26)

She’d never, ever hit anyone before. Not even spanked her brother or sister when they were small. That day, she had launched herself at Steven, pummeling his chest and slapping him. Raking her proper-ladylike manicured nails down his face. Crazed, she roared and screamed like wild animal.

A hard crack against her cheek whipped her head to one side. Shocked, she crumbled to the floor in a heap. Tears welled, but she didn’t give him the satisfaction of allowing a single one to drop.

The sharp sting of the memory had faded, but her mind replayed the events as though they had happened moments ago rather than last October.

She touched her left hand to her cheek. The heat of the slap and the flush that followed, along with the reverberating sting, no longer emanated into her fingers as though it had just happened. And thankfully, now, the weight of Steven’s two-carat engagement ring no longer weighed down her hand.

After the slap, she’d pulled the ring off, then picked herself off the floor, rising with as much dignity as she could muster. She laid the ring on the marble-topped antique server in the foyer, and then walked out. Steven shouted for her. Ran down the steps after her. He had tried to stop her from getting in her car by grabbing at her keys and holding her hands firmly.

“Branna, don’t. Once we say our wedding vows, I promise, I’ll be faithful. Then I’ll be a husband. Right now, I’m just a guy. Guys are stupid, you know that. Surely you understand. Com’on baby-doll. Smile for me. Give me a kiss right here.” His finger pointed to the dimple in his cheek, the one she used to love.

Limp, she leaned against her car. Steven reached for her, tried to pull her into a hug. The moment he released her hands, she shoved him away hard. Scrambled inside her car and locked the door. She started the engine, and backed out of the driveway.

Steven shouted, “You’ll be back! You love me! You’ll be back. You know your family wants me.”

He was right. She had loved him.

Afterward, it took all the strength she had not to cave when their families got involved and pleaded his case. She never told anyone what happened. The shame was too much. Everyone chalked it up to pre-wedding jitters. Everyone took Steven’s side.

Camilla had pushed hardest.

Branna tightened her fists in her lap. In her world, men weren’t unfaithful to their fiancés or wives. An engagement was a commitment. An intention. If Steven couldn’t honor monogamy then, she had no illusions that he would be faithful during their marriage. A husband and wife, like her parents and all of her aunts and uncles, were a team who vowed to love and respect and honor. She had refused to marry Steven, no matter how much her broken heart nudged.

In the end, it was Camilla’s advice that made her stand her ground. “I know he’s been unfaithful. I know that’s why you won’t go through with it, but you have the greatest capacity to forgive. Forgive him. Besides, you always do what Momma and Daddy want.”

“Not this time,” Branna whispered as she stared out the window. There was only one way Camilla could have known about Steven’s transgression...but was her sister a willing participant, or an innocent victim of the calculating low-life?

Steven’s pursuit of her had lessened over the last two months. But how had he heard that she’d left Fleur de Lis? She never showed her face in town after the breakup. From where or from whom did he get her work number? None of her family would dare talk to him...except maybe Camilla.

Peaceful serenity filled her as she tore each message into tiny pieces. They fluttered like delicate pink snowflakes into the waste paper basket. Once she had finished, she slapped her together, happy to be rid of any evidence of her painful past.

She pulled out the roster for her first class to run through each of the names, practicing pronunciations, she hoped to speak them correctly in class. Half way through, the phone rang.

“Miss Lind,” she answered, then made a check mark by a name on the roster to keep her place.

“Hello, gorgeous. How’s my baby-doll?”

Branna dropped the receiver as though it had burned her hands. Jumping up, she rounded her desk and closed her office door. The last thing she needed was for Sadie’s sharp ears to overhear whatever would come next.

She took a deep breath, calmly sat in her chair, then cautiously picked up the phone.

“Branna? Are you there?”

“Yes,” she answered quietly.

“I’m calling to congratulate you on your new teaching job.” His enthusiasm made her wary.

“Thank you.”

“I could have gotten you a full-time position at the community college here. No more adult-education night school for you. You didn’t have to run so far from Bayou Petite.”

What could she say to that? If she said he had nothing to do with her leaving, he’d never believe it. She had never made a habit of lying, however, her life was none of his business. In fact, it was off limits in any discussion with him. “I have to go, Steven.”

“I’m sending you a gift today. Please let me know when you receive it.”

She could tell him she would refuse any gift, but it wouldn’t do any good. His ego wouldn’t hear of it. He had showered her with gifts for the first month after their broken engagement. She sent them all back. Each time he tried to see her, she’d refused. It had been a long uncomfortable seven months. Hearing his voice proved to her how much her heart had mended. She couldn’t be swayed by his charm. Standing up to him, even if it was only over the phone, inched her confidence up enough that she could scaled the Empire State Building without a superhero’s help.

“Good bye, Steven,” she said calmly and hung up the phone.

A second later, a knocked sounded at her door. “Miss Lind? I’m sorry to disturb you. I need a moment of your time.”

She rose from her chair and opened the door for Sadie, then stepped into the lobby.

“Delivery man—I mean person, it could be a woman—aren’t allowed to roam freely on campus. There’s a delivery for you at the front desk in the Admin building. Would you like to pick it up or shall I ask one of the grounds men to deliver it here to the office?”

“First, I need to ask. How do you receive calls for me—the messages?”

“Incoming calls go directly to your office number. They bounce to my phone if you’re not in your office to answer. Or you’re too busy and choose to let it ring back to me.”

“I see.” Sadie had to be the one to provide Steven with the information. “About the delivery, do you know what it is?” She searched Sadie’s face for a clue. Steven could be so persuasive. Could he have recruited Sadie to help him with his scheme?

“Yes, I do. Your caller, the one from the messages, told me to expect it. Told me several other things, too. Are you sure you don’t want to talk to me about what’s bothering you?”

“Sadie, thank you. I assure you, there’s nothing bothering me, other than I’m trying to learn my students’ names. If you know what the gift is, is it something that you’d enjoy?”

Sadie’s chin dipped, her eye lashes fluttered, and she smiled coyly. “I know you’ll love it. I certainly would.”

“Good. Have it delivered to you. I have a class. Whatever the gift, I don’t want it. I guarantee you that.”

“But Miss Lind?”

“No buts. Either accept the delivery for yourself or send it back. I don’t care.”

“All right.” Sadie sounded tentative. “I’ll go and get it myself.” The woman did an about-face like a well-trained soldier and left.

As Branna turned, she spotted James at his desk through the sidelight window of the office. With one elbow resting on the desktop, he held the phone receiver to his ear as he talked, all the while fingering a silver object on his desk. His eyes were closed.

She started to tap on the glass and wave, but his expression shifted to one of pain. A sharp stab hit her gut. What might she do to bring a smile to the lips that had sent tingles shooting all the way to her toes when they last touched hers?





Chapter 18

“Caroline, why are you calling me?” James demanded, wishing he’d never picked up the phone. Their relationship was years over, but their shared loss still connected them more than their family’s long relationship.

“James Dallas Newbern, that gorgeous house you bought would have been ours. You haven’t invited me over. We would’ve raised our little Katie there.”

He hated it when Caroline whined. She always used the Katie card when she wanted something. Caroline had not one nurturing bone in her body. That became crystal clear when she had demanded a full-time, live-in nanny for Katie, before the child had been born.

“That’s the past.”

“Only three years. Dr. Simpson says that people grieve in their own way and mine is taking longer than some, but not as long as some of his other patients.”