They might have a real shot at making this thing work.
Her mother sighed, her expression softening to worry. “Baby, you know I love Rene, but I’m worried he’s going to break your heart. Not because he’ll walk away from you. I’m worried he’ll make you walk away from him. He’s always been reserved. He’s not cold, but he can be unemotional, and that’s not what you need. I know that you had to help him out, but if you’re sleeping with him, you won’t be able to hold your heart back.”
“He’s not exactly in touch with his emotions. That’s not the same as not having them.” Sylvie felt the need to defend him. Rene’s trouble wasn’t not feeling. It was feeling far too much and not understanding how to express himself. He’d been taught to be smooth and polite to a fault. He’d been trained to hold all strong emotion inside.
“And he’s suspicious,” her mother countered. “I understand that part. That family of his is toxic, but he won’t leave them. His father ingrained that responsibility in him from a young age. His father was an interesting man. He was generally known as a kind man, but he could be quite ruthless when it came to business. There are a lot of people who believe he married Cricket because he needed money.”
That wasn’t how her husband had explained it. “According to Rene, they loved each other, but they weren’t very demonstrative.”
Her mother nodded. “I would certainly say they were restrained. That’s the funny thing. A marriage can look one way on the outside and be different behind closed doors. I would hate to have you in that position.”
“I assure you he didn’t marry me for money.”
“No, but he did marry you for the company’s sake,” her mother said.
She’d started to doubt that. Not that he hadn’t taken advantage of the situation, but that he’d truly only married her to save his position. “He claims this has been his plan for a while. Oh, and also, Dre knows he’s wanted to explore this relationship with me since I was in college. I’m having a talk with big brother if he ever comes home.”
The surprised look on her mother’s face let Sylvie know her brother hadn’t been talking. “Yes, I have some questions for that boy, too. But I want you to think about what I’m saying. Sometimes we fall into habits we learned as children. Rene learned to distance, and you learned to never give up on something you want. That’s what I’m worried about. I’ll keep your secret. And Delphine and I will talk about how to handle Charles. Boy needs a spanking from fate. That’s the best kind, and it’s been coming for him for a long time. I’m going to get some of his hair next time I see him. You know the best spells have some DNA in them.”
Her mom started up the stairs, and Sylvie shook her head and followed. She walked into the big entryway, and Rene, Cricket, Delphine, and Louis were all in the front parlor. There was a tray of coffee someone had placed on the sideboard, the smell of chicory calling to her.
“Louis was telling us all how he went out to look for us this morning.” Rene stood at the sideboard. “He took his boat out earlier, but he didn’t see hide nor hair of us.”
“I made him go out as soon as it was safe to do it. I was terribly worried. I cried all night.” Cricket was still in her clothes from yesterday, her eyes tired, but she smiled as she opened her arms. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m so glad you’re all right. I couldn’t rest thinking about the worst things that could happen to you.”
“I told her that you two would be perfectly fine,” Delphine announced. “It helped that Louis knew where you had gone. The two of you grew up here. You wouldn’t let a little storm take you out.”
It hadn’t been a little storm, but Delphine was right about one thing. “Rene knew exactly where to go when it became obvious we couldn’t get back to the marina safely.” She hugged her mother-in-law. “It wasn’t comfortable but we survived. Rene took excellent care of me.”
“I bet he did,” her mother said under her breath.
A slow smile spread over Rene’s face as he crossed the space between them, a mug in his hand. “I did indeed. I made it my main priority to make sure Sylvie had exactly what she needed last night. And this morning. One sugar, no cream.”
Just how she liked it.
Cricket moved back to her place on the sofa. “Well, I raised my boy right. He knows how to take care of his wife.”
It was a good thing she hadn’t taken a sip of that coffee because she might have coughed it out. She managed to take the mug as Rene leaned in.
“So your mother already knows everything? You do wilt fast, love. If you meet me upstairs, I’ll make you melt for me, too.” His lips brushed her cheek and then he was right back to perfectly smooth. “Yes, Mom had a rough night, but Louis was here with her. Well, he was until he went looking for us.”
Louis was more casual than he’d been at the office, wearing khakis and a button-down shirt. “I went out to the marina and realized your boat hadn’t made it back. They wouldn’t let me go out myself until right before dawn.”
“I wanted to go with him, but he wouldn’t let me.” Cricket was frowning up at Louis.
“For which I am eternally grateful,” Rene said with a shake of his head.
“I’ve been on the water before. I know how to operate a boat,” Cricket argued. “And I can swim. I should have been able to look for my own son. Armie didn’t go out until hours later because there was a big wreck on the highway he had to deal with. We could have taken two boats and covered more ground.”
“Momma, you don’t drive a car anymore,” Rene argued. “I do not like the thought of you trying to drive a boat after a storm. It could be dangerous, as Sylvie and I found out.” He turned to Louis. “I thank you for looking for us. I guess we missed you. We fell asleep after the rain stopped, but I should have been able to hear a boat.”
“I went out to the cabin,” Louis explained. “I was sure you would try to make it there, but I didn’t see the boat and the lights were off. I checked the second dock and decided to look around some more. I was hoping I’d missed you in passing. When I got to the marina and realized you hadn’t made it back, I got real worried, but I was out of gas and I ended up falling out of the boat at one point. I had to go home and change. I’ll be honest. I might be getting too old for a rescue mission.”
“You are not old.” Cricket looked over at Louis. “You were a hero to even try.”
“Well, I’m sorry you had to worry about us,” Sylvie said, trying to break up the odd tension in the room. “It was my idea to have a picnic date. I think next time we’ll go to the movies or something.”