The Pepper in the Gumbo (Men of Cane River #1)(80)

“Mornin’ Alice,” she said.

Alice nodded. She adjusted the front of her blouse and smoothed her skirt over her hips.

“You look lovely. Are you going out?” Mrs. Olivier might have just been asking an innocent question but Alice was almost positive she suspected Alice had a lunch date lined up.

“No, I just thought it was…” She looked down.

“Pretty? But you always look pretty.” Mrs. Olivier smiled. “Now, I’m sure you know why I’m here. You hear that?”

Alice shook her head.

“It’s the perfect silence of a building not being constructed.”

“Oh, yes. The petition.” She felt her cheeks go warm. She never should have gone over to dinner. Now it felt as if she were repaying their hospitality with a stab in the back.

Mrs. Olivier reached out and took her hand. “Alice, dear, I understand you love this neighborhood, but so does Paul. He would never hurt it in any way.”

“It just doesn’t fit here, Mrs. Olivier. I’m sorry.” Alice straightened her spine. Paul couldn’t love this place as much as she did.

Mrs. Olivier took her hand back. “He’s heard that a lot in his life, you know. That he doesn’t fit somewhere. He doesn’t belong. I think that was his plan, in the beginning, to come back and prove that he really did belong.”

Alice wanted to clarify that she’d said the store didn’t fit, but really, Paul and his store were linked. She tried to imagine Paul being denied entry anywhere, and she couldn’t. To her, he seemed to own the world. “I can imagine it was a shock to learn he couldn’t just smile his way into this historic district. Well, he did for a while. But there is a reason we have these laws. A store like his doesn’t fit here.”

“I want to be honest with you.” Mrs. Olivier seemed to be choosing her words carefully. “But first I want to say how much I like you. On any other day, in any other season, I would be forcin’ you two together. I woulda hand-picked you out of a crowd of pretty girls.”

Alice felt her face go warm.

“You think that stopping his store will save Natchitoches. You think it will keep our people speaking Creole, keep our kids from movin’ away. But it doesn’t work that way, honey. The more you fight to keep ‘em, the faster they run away.”

“I can’t just give up and forget everything my family had,” Alice said. “I owe it to them to carry on our traditions.”

“I know, Alice. But that has nothin’ to do with Paul’s company.” She sighed. “Let me put it another way. What are you doing to help keep our ways alive?”

Alice blew out a breath in frustration. She’d always thought she was a mentor to Charlie, but that hadn’t really worked out. She was running a bookstore and wasn’t that enough? But that didn’t have much to do with Creole culture. And that was the heart of Alice’s gripe with technology. It was smoothing out all the edges of her people, blending them until they weren’t any different than any other.

Mrs. Olivier went on. “Paul thinks we need to keep people here, if we want Natchitoches to stay Creole. The kids leave for the city and never come back. The schools here just don’t have the equipment. Our kids are leavin’ school without the basics they need. Paul met up with an old teacher and now he’s fixin’ to fund a grant for the schools, for computer and science labs.” She held up a hand at Alice’s look. “You think I’m just braggin’ on my boy, but I’m tryin’ to explain. You can’t waste all your energy on petitions and lawsuits. You got to do some good.”

Alice clamped her mouth closed. Mrs. Olivier made it sound as if Alice was litigious and petty, while Paul was out educating children of Natchitoches.

“So, we’ve got that outta the way.” Mrs. Olivier took a deep breath. “Now, this part isn’t real nice, either, but it needs to be said. I know my boy, inside and out. He’s a good man. And you know I like you. But he deserves a woman who will commit to him and support him in everythin’ he does.”

“I― I agree.”

“Well, then. You can see why I’d be here askin’ you to stay away.” Something in Alice’s expression must have touched Mrs. Olivier because she leaned close again and gripped her hand. “I can see why Paul loves you. But this isn’t good for him. It’s tearin’ him up inside.”

I can see why Paul loves you. The words echoed around Alice’s brain. She wanted to object but she couldn’t seem to get back on track.

“So, I’d like you to give him some space.” She let go of Alice’s hand and smiled. “Maybe after this has all blown over, we can go out to coffee and chat. I met your mama and daddy a few times. They were real good people and they’d be right proud of you. I’d like us to be friends, Alice. But not right now. Not while you’re standin’ in the way of all the good things my boy is trying to accomplish here.”

She turned around and left, the little brass bell jingling one more time. Alice lowered herself into her desk chair and tried to catch her breath. Did she just get dumped by the mother of her not-really-boyfriend? That was a first.

She reached out and ran her fingers through Van Winkle’s fur. Mrs. Olivier mentioned a grant for the schools and Alice wished she could dismiss it as crazy mama bragging, but knew it was true. It was just like something Paul would do. He was generous and kind. If he knew the schools were struggling in the sciences, then he would help any way he could. The kids might know how to post to Facebook on a smart phone, but they wouldn’t know anything really useful, like Excel, or go even further into real programming.