The Pepper in the Gumbo (Men of Cane River #1)(52)

She groaned and dropped her head into her hands. There was no way she could go back out there. The night was ruined. She grabbed her cell phone off her desk and opened her email. Maybe he was out there, waiting. BWK deserved to know that she wasn’t coming.

Dear BWK,

I’m so sorry. Something has come up. I won’t be able to meet you tonight. You’re always welcome to come by my store on Monday.

Your friend,

Alice.



She wrapped her arms around herself. Maybe it was some sort of mid-life crisis, about twenty years too early. Maybe she needed to take a vacation and give herself a break. As soon as Monday came, she would start looking at weekend packages. Maybe a nice bed and breakfast somewhere. She would leave the phone at home and spend the whole time blissfully unaware of the world.

Alice stood up and headed for the back stairs. She would sneak into her place now before Paul and Andy returned. It might be possible to avoid an awkward meeting tonight. But the next time she saw him, she knew she wouldn’t be able to think of anything except those moments under the twinkling lights.





Chapter Fifteen


Getting information off the internet is like taking a drink

from a fire hydrant.―Mitchell Kapor





“What on earth happened over there?” Andy whispered loudly.

Paul took a moment to step around a dancing little girl with pigtails. “I told her I was Browning Wordsworth Keats.” He’d successfully merged his alter ego and his real life, and she hadn’t been angry at all. It wasn’t anything that he’d been expecting but he couldn’t say he was unhappy. Just the opposite. He felt like he was walking on air, his heart still beating out of his chest. The end was a little awkward, when she almost ran from the scene, but he was sure they could sort it all out.

“And that was her response?” Andy asked, his eyes wide. He glanced towards Paul’s mom as they closed the last couple of feet between them. “Now I’m sad that I don’t have a super-secret identity, too.”

“Who has a super-secret identity?” Paul’s mother reached forward and gave her son and hug with a big kiss on the cheek. “And where did that gal scamper off to? You didn’t bring her over to meet me and I find that a bit hurtful.”

“Mama, I’m really sorry. She had to go.” Paul searched for a place to sit. “Let’s get some meat pies and watch the dancing.”

“Oh, I was watchin’ already. I was right proud of you. All that practice sure paid off.” She stopped, giving Paul a serious look. “Maybe paid off a little too good, now that I think on it.”

“Mrs. Olivier, I’ll go get the food. Just point me in the right direction,” Andy said.

Paul picked a stand farther down the sidewalk and Andy headed down the packed walkway. Paul didn’t blame him at all for trying to get out of this conversation. He’d get out of it too, if he could.

“I just met her.” He stopped. That really wasn’t the way to get his mother to like Alice. “Come on, let’s sit down and I’ll explain.”

They walked for a bit and found a free table. Paul could see Andy in line at the meat pie stand, chatting with a girl in jeans and a cowboy hat. He smiled. Whatever Andy may think about this trip, he couldn’t deny he was being entertained. Their last business trip involved hours and hours at a hotel bar, watching most of their colleagues slowly get drunk.

“So, tell me about this gal.” Mrs. Olivier peered toward the bookstore. “Why did she high-tail it out of here like that?”

Paul paused, trying to think of how to explain Alice.

“Honey, the look on your face…” She started to laugh. He’d always loved the way his mama laughed, full-throated with her head thrown back. She looked so much younger than her years.

“It’s complicated, Mama,” he said. He hated that phrase,. but it didn’t seem as if a better term was available.

“Your cousin Jimmy says that every time he gets a new girlfriend and he don’t want us to harass her.” She glanced at the bookstore again. “Does she live there in that fancy place?”

“Above her shop. It’s a rare book store.”

“Oh, honey, I bet you just love her for that!” His mama reached over and grabbed his hand. “Is that how you met? Looking for old books? Did you tell her about your collection? You’ve always been such a reader, just like your granddaddy.”

“Sort of. We’re renting the apartment next to hers and…” He stopped at the look on his mama’s face. “I know what you’re going to say.”

“Do you, now?” She sighed. “You’re a big boy, Paul. I won’t be telling you how to live your life. But I know how hard it is to live right when the world is living all wrong.” She squeezed his hand. “Listen to me. All worried ‘cause you’ll be living next door to that pretty girl when you’ve been on your own in New York City for years.”

Paul wanted to remind her he wasn’t staying long, that Andy was his roommate, and that she was looking miles down a path he didn’t even know if he was walking.

“Who are her people?”

“Her family name is Augustine. She said her parents died in an accident.” He watched realization dawn on his mama’s face.