“Yeah, my mom and dad had lots of plans for when he retired.” She didn’t like to talk about her father’s passing, but somehow it seemed right to do it here and now. There was such a warm intimacy between them. Like this was where they always should have been. “I think she would have sold the salon if he’d lived. But when he died, she couldn’t stand the thought of being alone in the house all day. With me working all the time and my brother usually halfway across the globe, I think she finds the salon soothing.”
“I can’t imagine your mom not at her salon. Unless she’s road tripping with Delphine,” he said with a grin.
“They are planning a tour of craft fairs this fall. I think they enjoy selling hoodoo in the suburbs.” Her momma had never minded causing a ruckus. Delphine had lost her husband early on in their marriage, and she hadn’t dated. She’d raised her kids and built a life for them, and now she was Sylvie’s mother’s regular companion. They got into trouble and had fun adventures. They’d become each other’s soul mates when their own had passed.
If you’re not getting in trouble, you aren’t living, baby.
Was she getting into trouble with Rene? He was so polite and buttoned up, and he held the world on his shoulders. Would he let her truly take part of his burden? He said he wanted a partner, but most of the week he’d refused to talk about work. He’d listened and focused on her, but he didn’t share the troubles of his day.
She would bet he was modeling their marriage after his parents, despite the fact that he said he didn’t want that. People tended to act in habitual ways.
His parents had married later in their lives. They hadn’t been forced to build a business together or support each other in building careers because they’d already had their places in the world.
“Have your parents told you how they met?” Sylvie asked.
His hand kept moving over her skin like he couldn’t force himself to stop touching her. “My mom knew my father’s best friend.”
“Uncle Louis?” He’d always been around Darois House when they were kids. He’d been a nice man who always took the time to throw a ball with the kids. He would take them out for ice cream from time to time.
“I don’t call him ‘uncle’ anymore,” Rene murmured. “I stopped when I started working at the company. My father and Louis were in the same fraternity in college. Louis introduced my mother and father. She and Louis were childhood friends in Dallas. Their families ran in the same circles. Louis had a falling out with his family. That’s why he came here to work for my dad, but he kept up with my mother. At some point my dad and Louis went to Dallas and had dinner with my mother, and they were married six weeks later.”
“Louis never married?”
“No.” Rene sighed. “I wondered over the years if he wasn’t in love with my mother. He lights up when she walks into a room, like he’s delighted to see her. He’s often said she’s the loveliest woman in the world.”
“Does he still see her?”
“Yes, he comes around every few weeks and takes her out to dinner.”
That was such a sweet thing to do, and she wondered if Louis was going to finally make his move. The idea of the poor man longing for something he couldn’t have for years made her heart ache. “How would you feel if they got together?”
That stopped him in his tracks. “Why would they do that?”
Had he not thought about this? “They’re old, Rene. They’re not dead. Humans need companionship. They need love and affection, too.”
Rene turned and sat up. “She’s recently come off a round of cancer treatments. I don’t think she needs to start dating. Certainly not at her age.”
She frowned at him. “She’s not even seventy years old. She could have another twenty years.”
“Which is precisely why I hope to give her a couple of grandkids to love.”
It was such a good thing he’d put on that condom. She suddenly didn’t feel so comfortable being naked in front of him. The moment before, it had seemed normal and natural, but now his words brought doubt creeping back in. She reached for the sheet. “I should go take a shower.”
He sighed. “I did not marry you just to have children.”
“No, you married me because I can save your company and your house, too. A house you claim you only want because it’s your mother’s.” He had the weight of the world, but it seemed like he wouldn’t even consider shifting an ounce of it.
He stood, his hands on lean hips, the candlelight illuminating how stunning his body was. “Sylvie, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did, but I’ve honestly never thought of my mother dating at her age. Much less the man who helped raise me, who is still my right-hand man. He’s like family to me. How am I supposed to process that?”
She felt her eyes widen. “Probably the same way my brother will have to.”
His jaw tightened. “It’s not the same. Dre’s always known how I felt about you.”
That was news to her. She’d been close to her brother growing up. “You told him? Because he’s never mentioned it to me.”
“Who do you think convinced me to let you get through college before I tried to date you? The problem was you didn’t come back to Papillon after you graduated.”
She was still reeling from the thought that he’d talked to her brother. But not to her. Oh, he’d talked to her, but only to let her know he’d decided not to move forward with the relationship. “Is this how it’s going to be with you?”
“What does that mean?” Rene asked.
“If I stay with you, will I spend my life waiting to be told what you’ve decided?”
“Decided?” His face went blank for a moment. “Are you still upset about college? I explained that.”
His explanation was the problem. “You should have explained it to me then. You apparently explained it to my brother. Will you please get dressed? It’s hard to have this fight with your . . . with you swinging around like that.”
He didn’t seem even slightly self-conscious, but then she likely wouldn’t, either, if she looked like a Greek god. Rene’s body was lean and sculpted, and even his scars were sexy. It was incredibly distracting.
He simply stared at her. “Well, as I don’t want to have a fight at all, I think I will stay as I am.”
If he didn’t want to even talk about the problem, she wasn’t sure what she was doing. Her heart had softened seeing him get emotional, and for a moment she’d thought maybe they had a chance. What she had to remember was that Rene was excellent at casting a spell, as her momma would say. “I’m going to take a shower. I know it’s going to be cold as hell, but maybe that’s what I need.”