Lie to Me (Pearl Island Trilogy #4)(57)

Chloe’s eyes stung. How would it feel to have a grandmother like that? Oh Luc, you’re so lucky, she thought.

Suddenly he straightened, as if something, a sound perhaps, had caught his attention. He glanced around at the tourists, the artists, the street musicians. Chloe shrank back to partially shield herself behind a banana tree. Fortunately, he didn’t turn enough to see her. His grandmother frowned up at him and asked a question.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Luc shook his head.

His grandmother cocked a brow and glanced around. Her gaze brushed over Chloe, hesitating for the barest fraction of a second before moving on. Returning her attention to Luc, the woman motioned toward the empty chair. Luc shook his head, but she pointed at the chair more emphatically. With a sigh, Luc sat and his grandmother picked up a pencil to draw him.

Chloe’s curiosity grew. So many emotions shifted over the woman’s face as she drew: sympathy, sorrow, encouragement. What was Luc telling her?

Finally, Luc rose and stood beside his grandmother so he could see what she’d drawn. He nodded as if saying not bad, then pointed out something she could have done better.

Laughing, she swatted at him.

He laughed as well as he bent to kiss her cheek. Straightening, he checked his watch. He needed to go. This time his grandmother let him, but her gaze followed, filled with concern.

When Chloe was sure he’d moved on, she stepped from her hiding place. Strolling as casually as she could past the artists, she turned to see the drawing on the woman’s easel. She didn’t know what to expect, a caricature or a more serious drawing, but she caught her breath at the color portrait of Luc looking straight at her. His grandmother had captured his face with a few talented strokes. He wore a look of bemused patience, but sadness lined the edges of his eyes.

That sadness hadn’t been there during the two days they’d spent together.

Had she caused it?

“He’s a handsome boy, isn’t he?” someone asked.

“What?” Chloe startled out of her thoughts.

Luc’s grandmother turned in her chair and smiled at her. “Handsome, don’t you think?”

“Yes,” Chloe agreed. “Very. Didn’t he want the drawing?”

“Oh, my grandson has enough of my doodlings. But him? Now, there’s an artist, if you want to know the truth.” The grandmother beamed with pride, a hint of Cajun coloring her voice. “He’s blessed with a lot more talent than I have. He’s a good boy, though, to take time out of his busy day to sit for me.”

Questions crowded Chloe’s mind, but she couldn’t ask any without giving away that she knew Luc. That would lead to the grandmother telling him that Chloe was in town and had asked about him. She wasn’t sure he’d appreciate that any more than an out-of-the-blue phone call from the woman who’d destroyed his artwork.

“Would you like to have your portrait done?”

Chloe started to decline since it was such a touristy thing to do, but stopped herself. Sitting for a portrait would give her a chance to ask questions about Luc and help her decide whether to contact him. “I would, actually.”

“Well, have a seat.” The woman waved her into the chair. “Make yourself comfortable.”

Chloe settled into the chair, debating what to ask first. “You said your grandson is also an artist?”

“In a way.” The woman clipped a fresh piece of paper to the board on the easel, then picked up a colored pencil. “He creates whole worlds of art, but on the computer. Since he’s happy, I can’t complain.”

“Is he happy?”

“For the most part. Until recently, anyway.” The woman looked straight into Chloe’s eyes with an unsettling directness, as if she knew who Chloe was and blamed her for Luc’s unhappiness.

Chloe squirmed, not sure if she should feel guilt or hope. Could Luc be as miserable over their break-up as she was? If he was, wouldn’t that mean he had honestly cared for her?

Since she couldn’t blurt out any of the questions hounding her, she searched for a way to change the subject. “Have you been drawing portraits long?”

“For money? No.” The woman sighed as she worked. “Before Katrina, I had the joy of being a fortuneteller. Sadly, I lost my sight.”

“I’m sorry,” Chloe said, swamped with even more sympathy than when Luc had told her what had happened. “I didn’t realize that was possible. I thought if a person had the gift, they always had it.”

The woman gave her another of those unnerving looks. “All things happen for a reason.”

Her statement seemed so accepting. What would it be like to live with such certainty that everything had a purpose, that every step she took was leading her to the place she belonged? She wondered how things would have played out for her and Luc if he had told her about the necklace right away. She would have been upset, but at least she wouldn’t have felt like he’d manipulated and used her.

But would she have been upset enough that she wouldn’t have gone out with him? That was a distinct possibility, considering she was the one who’d asked him out. If he’d told her right away, they wouldn’t have had that date. And she wouldn’t have had two days to discover everything she liked about Luc before she learned he was keeping something so important from her.

“There, all done,” the woman announced, turning the easel so Chloe could see the drawing.