The Pepper in the Gumbo (Men of Cane River #1)(53)
“I remember it. That was a bad one.” She looked down at the table, picking at a little hole in the plastic top. “Drunk driving, they said. His family blamed the wife and her family blamed him. Kids got caught in the middle. Shipped off to the grandma’s house and the grandma wasn’t as sane as she shoulda been.”
Paul shook his head. He couldn’t imagine that kind of change. His childhood had been ugly, but it hadn’t varied in its ugliness. “I’ve never met anyone like her, Mama.”
She nodded, waiting for him to go on.
“We’re both real shy. I mean, she can sure let you know when you’ve done wrong. The first day we met, we got into it over some old books. She’s tough as nails and twice as sharp.” He smiled at the memory. Paul could hear the way his speech was shifting from New York to Louisiana. Being with his mama always did that.
“Watch out for that, son. The drama is exciting for a while but it wears a body down. And some folks raised in it sometimes don’t ever know how to live in peace.”
“I know. And it’s not the arguing. I would love to never argue with her again. I just want to be near her. She’s like the antidote to all those years of cocktail party chatter. When she talks to me, I feel like she cuts to the heart of it all. Oh, and she speaks Creole about as well as anybody I’ve ever met. It’s like we’re just the same, deep down.”
“Except for the part where she hates your guts,” Andy said, dropping into a chair. He laid out the little paper containers of meat pies and removed bottled Cokes from under his arm.
“She doesn’t hate me. Not exactly,” Paul said hastily. “Just the company. And the new store. And what we do for a living.”
Mrs. Olivier had been in the process of picking up a meat pie, but she paused, the pie halfway to her mouth. “But she likes something about you well enough to be kissin’ you under the trees in front of the whole town.”
Paul grinned. “Yup, apparently so.”
His phone dinged and he reached for it automatically. An email showed on the screen and he tapped it, feeling his heart rate double at the sight of Alice’s name. Won’t be able to meet tonight. He read the note twice, three times. Hadn’t she understood when he quoted Elizabeth Barrett Browning? He thought she’d kissed him because he was BWK.
He leaned back, running a hand over his face. Alice had kissed him as Paul, the man she couldn’t stand. That news rocked him to his core. She must feel just as strongly for him if she could forget everything else that was happening, everything she’d vowed to fight. She didn’t seem to be the kind of woman who picked a fight for nothing. Or took a kiss lightly, either.
“Uh oh. That’s not a good look.” Andy was chewing slowly, watching Paul.
“No, everything’s fine. Just… took a step backwards when I thought we were going forwards.” Paul tossed the phone onto the table and picked up a Coke. “But I’m not going to worry about it now. Tonight,” he said, raising the bottle, “tonight we’re going to enjoy ourselves. Here’s to the new Natchitoches, Louisiana branch of the biggest and best company in gaming.”
His mama and Andy raised their Cokes in unison. They clicked the glass bottles together and drank, smiling.
Paul picked up his meat pie, letting Andy take over the conversation for a moment. Andy asked his mama about hiring someone to come cook for them. He smiled as his mama seemed to take it as her personal responsibility to find a good local chef to make them a few meals a day. She took that sort of thing very seriously.
He let the smile fade from his face as he thought of Alice’s note. He wasn’t going to give up. Now, more than ever, he needed to tell her the truth. Their online connection had been strong enough for him to seek her out in the real world. Their connection in person had overshadowed all of that.
Paul took a long draught of Coke and stared at the dancers on the stage. At this point, he could still walk away. He could find another place to rent, avoid any contact with her, and let that kiss live in his memory as one perfect moment.
He thought those words to himself but knew it was a lie. He was going to walk this road to the end, for good or bad. And he hoped with everything in him, it was going to be for good.
***
Alice trotted up the steps to the cathedral just as the bells started to toll. She was never late. Ever. Except for today. She’d tried on ten dresses and none of them looked right. Maybe Eric was right and she needed to take up running. She’d finally picked a pretty pink top with a black skirt. She probably looked like a waitress from one of the cafes. And her hair… there was no taming it. After thirty minutes of fixing, she’d given up. By the time she’d stopped trying to accomplish the impossible, she’d realized it was now or never. Well, now or take the car. She hated to drive just a few blocks. It was wasteful and finding a good parking spot was a bear.
She had just not been able to get herself in gear. It wasn’t just that she kept checking her email, wondering why BWK had not written her back. She hoped he wasn’t angry. But there wasn’t any reason for him to upset with her. They’d barely gotten to know each other. Just a few notes. Nothing real. Except that it felt a lot more real than her relationship with Eric.
Maybe she’d had trouble this morning because she’d slept so badly and then she dreaded trying to get down the hallway without running into Paul or Andy. She sighed. There was no way to come back from last night. The only option was complete avoidance. Then again, she’d said that before and it hadn’t worked out.