“LUC, TELL ME you didn’t christen this boat the Bitchin’ Mama.”
“No, it came like that,” Luc quickly reassured her. “Don’t worry, I’ll change it.”
“That should have been the first thing you did! Have you actually taken our guests out in this thing?”
Luc kicked a leaf off the dock. “I explained to them the circumstances.”
“Couldn’t you ink out the name with a Magic Marker? Cover it with duct tape? It’s…it’s an abomination.”
“I’ll scrape off the decal as soon as I can.”
“Today.”
“I have other work to do, Grand-mère. The B and B doesn’t run itself. I have cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping-”
“You’ve become quite domestic since you moved to Indigo, haven’t you.”
“That’s what you sent me here for, isn’t it?”
“I wasn’t complaining. Just that I think it’s interesting.”
So now he’d become her lab experiment. “I will try to work on the boat sometime this week, but I can’t today,” he said firmly. Aside from having to clean up after a full house over the weekend, he’d promised Loretta he’d make some phone calls for the VIP dinner.
And then he had a date with Loretta. Or, more accurately, with Loretta and Zara. Tonight was the night they were sitting down with Zara to explain the nature of their relationship. And when they’d done that, he was taking Loretta out to dinner-a fancy, romantic dinner complete with candles and wine and soft music. He’d found a historic hotel in St. Martinville that fit the bill. She’d promised to arrange for a sitter for Zara-probably Adele and Vincent.
This would be Luc’s first official date with Loretta. Maybe they’d gotten things a little backward, making love first, but no law said he couldn’t set things right now.
Celeste looked as if she wanted to argue, but Doc stepped in. “Now, Celeste, let the boy alone. He’s been running La Petite Maison just fine without anyone’s help for several months now, and doing a fine job of it, too. You can’t come roaring in here changing the order of things on a whim.”
“Wanting that name off my boat is not a whim,” she insisted mulishly.
“Why don’t you take a spin in her?” Doc cajoled. “The smell of the bayou, the Spanish moss, trailing your hand in the water…remember how you used to do that?”
“Until an alligator almost took my arm off,” she shot back, then laughed unexpectedly. “Oh, Michel, why don’t you and I go for a ride? We’ll just let Luc get back to his work.”
Doc looked at Luc. “I can take your grandmother for a test drive. And I’ll make her wear a life jacket.”
Luc nodded and handed the keys to Doc, then leaned in and whispered, “Keep her out as long as you like. She doesn’t have a curfew.”
Doc roared with laughter and Celeste glowered. She didn’t like anyone keeping secrets from her. But then she smiled and tilted her head at Doc. “Let’s see what the Bitchin’ Mama can do.”
Luc laughed all the way back to the house.
LUC DIDN’T HAVE a lot of belongings he could call his own. Moving around most of his adult life, he simply hadn’t accumulated much. But he did own a couple of good-quality suits and everything that went with them.
That afternoon, he washed his car, walked down to the barbershop and got his hair cut, then came home, ironed his favorite navy suit, and put it on. He cut some colorful chrysanthemums from the garden and wrapped them in wet paper towels and a plastic bag.
Then he wandered out to the veranda. Doc had spent the entire day hanging out with Celeste. They’d come back from their lengthy boat ride looking windblown, with ruddy cheeks and sparkling eyes. Luc wondered what they’d been doing besides taking in the local flora and fauna, then he’d immediately censored the thought. He did not want to go there.
“I’m leaving for the evening,” he said.
Doc whistled. “Whoever she is, she must be special.”
“You know who she is, and you know she’s special.”
“Why, Luc,” Celeste said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you looking so handsome.”
“Thank you, Grand-mère.” He could have said the same for her-that he’d never seen her looking quite so pretty. He gave her a courtly bow, then left for Loretta’s. He hadn’t felt this excited about a date since…maybe never.
As he drove up to the bakery, he realized he didn’t know where the front door to Loretta’s house was. He couldn’t remember seeing one. The sign on the door had been turned to Closed, and it was dark inside.
But then he saw movement through the glass, and Loretta appeared with an apologetic smile as she unlocked the door. “I should have told you to walk around back to the kitchen,” she said. “When I remodeled, I took off the whole front of the house so I don’t have a front door any- Oh, my God, you look fabulous.”
They stared at each other for a few seconds. Luc knew he should say something, but all his words were stuck in his throat. Loretta looked amazing. She was wearing a black velvet dress that showed a lot of leg and a lot of cleavage, and had tamed her usual spikes to a softer look, letting her hair fall into short tousled waves. She stared at him uncertainly. “Is something wrong?”
“No. Oh, no, it’s just that you’re so gorgeous you struck me dumb.”
“Oh, Luc,” she said, fluffing her hair self-consciously. He saw that she’d polished her nails for him-a dark, dramatic purple. She would probably have to turn around and remove every bit of that polish before she could do tomorrow’s baking. “I’m not very good at this fancy-dress stuff, really. You look like you were born to it.”
“I know how to clean up,” he said with a grin. “Where’s Zara?”
“I just sat her down with dinner. Are you ready for that talk?”
“Absolutely. Let’s do it.”
They moved from the dark bakery into the kitchen. Zara glanced up from her dinner of macaroni-and-cheese and broccoli, and her face lit up with pleasure.
“Luc.”
“Hi, gorgeous.”
“Mama said you’re taking her out on a date.” It was almost an accusation.
“Yes, that’s right, I am.”
Loretta pulled out a chair at the oak kitchen table and sat down, and Luc took that as his signal to do the same. “I know we both told you that we weren’t dating, but as it turns out, we’ve changed our minds.”
Zara looked down at her broccoli. “Okay.”
Luc had thought she might be a bit more enthusiastic, that she’d be ready to send out the wedding invitations. Her cautious acceptance of the news seemed out of character. But maybe, after her last disappointment, she was afraid to hope for too much.
“We decided we like each other too much to be just friends,” Luc added, though he was treading deep water here. “But we don’t want to mislead you. We’re not making any definite plans for the future.”
“We’re taking things one day at a time,” Loretta added. “There’s a very good chance Luc will be moving away from Indigo in a few months, so it doesn’t make sense for us to make plans-you know, for a future. Long-term.”
Loretta looked at Luc. He shrugged. He didn’t know how to explain it any better than she just had.
“So Luc can’t be my dad, ever,” Zara said, trying to sound adult and practical. But her voice wavered, making Luc’s chest hurt.
“Zara, if ever I was going to be a dad, I’d want a little girl just like you. No, let me say it stronger. I’d want you. But-”
“I know, you can’t make promises.”
“If you want to do some things together, just you and me, we can,” he said. “And we can all do things together, you and your mom and me. We can have a lot of fun. And later, if I do go away, we’ll have great memories.”
“I still don’t know why you want to go away,” Zara said.
“Maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll stay longer.” It was the first time he’d acknowledged, out loud, that he might stick around, and it surprised even him. “The point is, we don’t know right now what the future will bring. But we want to enjoy the time together we do have and not worry so much about what’s coming. Can you understand that?”
She nodded. “I think so.”
“Then could we have a smile?” Luc asked. “Let’s not be sad till we have a reason to be sad.”
Zara smiled. It was forced at first, but then seemed to grow until it was real.
“I’ll let you two visit while I finish getting ready,” Loretta said. “Zara, hurry and finish your dinner. You’re going to spend the night at Grandma and Granddaddy’s tonight.”
“On a school night?”
“Uh-huh. And I’ve told your grandma to let you stay up a half hour later so you can watch that doctor show you like. Since Luc is giving me a special treat tonight, I thought it was only fair you should get one, too.”
“Yay!” Zara dug into her macaroni with renewed vigor. She was lucky to have such a good relationship with her grandparents, Luc thought. His maternal grandparents had lived in Trenton, New Jersey, and Luc had met them only a couple of times before his grandmother had died and his grandfather had gone into a nursing home, where he’d died a short time later. And of course, he’d never met Celeste until a couple of years ago when he’d gone to work for the Hotel Marchand.
His mother would have liked grandchildren to dote on. But since he was her only child, it didn’t seem likely she would get any. Maybe he could take Loretta and Zara to Vegas sometime to meet his mother. She would enjoy fussing over Zara.
But immediately he realized how impossible that was. So long as there was no commitment between himself and Loretta, he would only be setting up more false expectations.
“Luc, do you know how to fish?” Zara asked.
“Actually, no.” Despite his affinity for boats, fishing was something he’d never tried. “Do you want to teach me how?”
“I don’t know how, either. Except for catching crawdads.”
“Maybe that’s something we can learn together. I have a boat, and the bayou is right outside my back door. Seems like it shouldn’t be that hard.”
“My friend Kiki’s mother’s boyfriend took her fishing on Lake Pontchartrain. Just her and him.”
“Does that sound like something you want to do?”
She nodded.
“Then we’ll do it. I’ll make it happen.”
“When?”
“How about the weekend after the music festival.”
She sighed. “That’s forever away.”
“I know, but things are a little crazy until it’s over. Your mom needs my help. And I’m not sure how my grandmother will feel about me taking an afternoon off to go fishing.”
“I like Tante Celeste. Maybe she could go with us.”
Oh, now, that he would like to see-Celeste baiting a fishhook with a worm. The mental image made him laugh. “I’ll ask her.”
A few minutes later, Luc and Loretta dropped off Zara at her grandparents’ house. Then they drove the five or so miles to St. Martinville. Luc wished he had one of those old cars with bench seats, so Loretta could snuggle up next to him. He settled for reaching over to hold her hand.
“How do you think we did with Zara?”
“Mmm, hard to tell. She keeps her cards close to her chest. But we did the best we could.”
“I promised to take her fishing. I hope that’s okay.”
“Fishing! That’s strange.”
“Kiki’s mother’s boyfriend took Kiki fishing.”
“Ah. I get it. Well, at least now we don’t have to hide anything. I don’t like keeping secrets from Zara-or from anyone, really. I’m not a good liar.”
“Speaking of keeping secrets, did you know there was something going on between Celeste and Doc?”
“I thought there might be. How lovely. Do you think it’s serious?”
“I don’t know. It’s just so…weird.”
“Because they’re senior citizens?”
“No, because she’s my grandmother. And because she’s Celeste. You don’t know her like I do. She’s usually all proper and snooty and looking down her nose at everyone. Now here she is, giggling like a schoolgirl and…and flirting.”
“Maybe she’s in love. Or moving that way. Love can be very transformative, you know.”
“So I hear.” Watching all his cousins fall in love when he’d been working at the hotel was one of the reasons he’d come to like them so much. He’d seen every side of them-seen them angry, vulnerable, hurting and ultimately very happy.
“Yes, love can make a huge difference in a person’s life. But it can also be destructive.” Like his father’s careless love for his mother. He’d given her just enough love to make her long for more-just enough to keep her from divorcing him, at least during those first few years.
“But how could it ever work out for them?” Loretta asked. “Doc has lived in Indigo his whole life. He would never move to New Orleans.”
Luc was silent for a few moments as he thought about that. Then, he got it. Of course Celeste had a master plan. She hadn’t given him the task of renovating the cabin simply out of kindness or compassion for him, or guilt that perhaps she owed her dead son something. She’d had her own selfish reasons.
“Oh, my God. She’s going to move to Indigo.”
“You think?”
“It all fits! She had me renovate the cabin so she’d have a place to live. Now she’s going to watch how I run the bed-and-breakfast so she can do it herself-or hire someone else. The whole opera house/museum thing-she’s trying to ingratiate herself into the fabric of Indigo society so that when she moves here, she’ll already be an insider.”
“So you think she’s here to stay?”
What a scary thought. “I can’t live in that house with my grandmother for six months.”
“Six months? Luc, is there a timetable I’m not aware of?”
Yeah, the remainder of his probation. “I’d always planned on staying here two years,” he said carefully, not wanting to lie outright. “Next April will be two years.”
“You could always move in with me and Zara.”
The invitation hung in the air and an awkward silence filled the car.
“Sorry, scratch that,” Loretta said with a nervous laugh. “That was probably a bit premature. Considering this is our first date.”
But he couldn’t forget she’d said it. The fact she would even consider it, after he’d given her fair warning that he wasn’t the sticking-around kind, was amazing. But the really scary part was how attractive the prospect was to him.
If he moved in with Loretta and Zara, he might never want to leave.
Of course, it was all conjecture, anyway. He had to stay at the B and B and run it for the term of his probation-no way out of that, Celeste or no Celeste.
THEIR ROMANTIC DINNER was everything Luc had hoped it would be. They put aside all discussion of anything more serious than the merits of the wine and food. They lingered over dessert, and afterward took a walk around the historic downtown area, holding hands and whispering to each other like besotted lovers.
When he took her home, they made love, and for the first time it was slow, leisurely-and in the dark. Luc found that darkness added a whole new dimension to the experience, allowing his other senses to become heightened. He could focus for minutes at a time on the exquisite texture of Loretta’s skin, the smell of her hair, the way her soft sighs reverberated along his nerve endings.
It was less sex than it was worship. And when she finally pleaded for him to leave so she could at least get a couple of hours’ sleep before she had to get up and bake, he did so with a smile on his face. Even with all of the future’s uncertainties, he felt happier than he could ever remember feeling, like there was a balloon inside his chest. But he couldn’t escape the niggling sensation that someone, somewhere, was standing by with a sharp pin.
LORETTA AWOKE with her alarm at four. Though she’d had less than three hours’ sleep, she had no trouble bouncing out of bed and into the shower. Her “first date” with Luc had gone pretty well, all things considered.
She’d made a couple of serious gaffes. The first had been to talk about love. Guys sometimes ran for the hills at the mere mention of the L-word, even in casual conversation. At least, that’s what she’d heard. She had no practical experience, because Jim had declared himself in love with her less than a week after meeting her. Still, she’d known better than to tread on that dangerous ground when her relationship with Luc was so tenuous.
His response-that love could be destructive-could have sent the evening on a downhill spiral. But somehow they’d salvaged it.
Then she’d made an even worse mistake by inviting him to move in with her. She had no idea where that had come from. The words had bypassed her brain completely. But the thought that his grandmother’s machinations might drive him away from Indigo earlier than anticipated had panicked her. She’d resigned herself to the fact that happily-ever-after was not even a remote possibility for herself and Luc, but she’d been counting on having him around at least a few months.
The thought of losing any of that time…well, she’d just spoken without thinking. At least she’d had the sense to withdraw the offer and laugh at herself, no matter how much she’d been shriveling inside.
Amazingly, she hadn’t ruined the evening. And her sense of optimism about the future hadn’t dimmed, no matter what reality dictated. She felt fantastic.
Everything she baked that morning turned out better than perfect-a little puffier, a little sweeter, as if her good mood had infused the dough with a pinch of magic. She included three extra cranberry muffins in Luc’s order.
He greeted her at the back door with a sleepy smile. And when she handed him his basket full of goodies, exchanging it for an empty one, he grabbed her and kissed her and threatened not to let her make the rest of her deliveries.
“I have to go,” she said for the third time.
“Come back when you’re done,” he said.
“Luc, I have a business to run. If I keep closing the bakery every time I want to see you-well, it might just stay closed.”
“Stop for ten minutes. Long enough for a cup of coffee. I need my Loretta fix.”
“Last night wasn’t enough?”
“Not near enough. A hundred last nights wouldn’t be enough.”
She stopped herself before she asked him just how many would be enough. That was her insecurity talking, and she had to banish those thoughts if she wanted this one-day-at-a-time plan to be a success.
“Ten minutes-for coffee,” she said, making sure he understood and would not tempt her.
After her rounds, she dropped off free samples to three more prospective customers. She had learned that samples worked better than any other advertising she could do. Then she headed for the B and B, her heart fluttering ridiculously at the prospect of seeing Luc, even if it were for only ten minutes.
She was crazy. Or maybe she was in love. The symptoms seemed right. She wouldn’t have chosen to fall for Luc Carter, knowing the eventual outcome would be painful. But there wasn’t much she could do about it except go with the flow. Enjoy it while she could. Following Luc’s advice to Zara last night, she refused to be sad until she had a reason to be sad.
He was watching for her as she approached the pretty cottage.
“I missed you,” he said the moment he opened the door.
“You saw me a couple of hours ago.”
“I know. Just tell me to shut up. I’m getting a little crazy.”
“If you’re crazy, I’m crazy, too.”
He kissed her, then poured her the coffee he’d promised. They’d just settled at the kitchen table when the front bell rang.
“You expecting anyone?” Loretta asked.
“No, but maybe it’s a walk-in. The billboard I put up on the main highway has brought quite a few people in.”
Loretta followed him to the door. She enjoyed watching him deal with the public, and her time with him this morning was limited, so she didn’t want to waste any of it sitting alone in the kitchen.
Luc opened the door to admit a lone man, mid-twenties, in a brown suit and well-worn shoes. He did not look like your typical B and B customer.
“Hello, are you Luc Carter?”
“Yes,” Luc answered warily. “Can I help you?”
“I’m Isaac Belton.”
Luc looked at him blankly.
“I think you must have gotten a letter from the state, advising you that I’d be taking over the duties of your former probation officer, since he’s been transferred to New Orleans.”
Loretta’s coffee mug slipped through her fingers and landed with a crash on the cypress floor. Both men looked over at her, startled.
“Loretta-” Luc said, but he stopped there. What could he say, she wondered, to soften the shock of what she’d just learned? Nothing. There was absolutely nothing he could say.
And there was nothing she wanted to say. Bad manners though it was, she turned and fled without a word, without cleaning up the mess or apologizing for breaking Luc’s mug. She could think of nothing but escape.