He forced himself to move, to put one foot in front of the other. The B and B was illuminated by warm lights, the sound of music coming from the patio, where he could see his family was gathered. His mother would be at home with Sylvie, likely cursing his very name. He moved to the front of the house, because if he could avoid a big scene, he was going to.
Get in. Save Sylvie. Get out.
He went in through the open front door. Sera had a table to the side decorated with flowers and pictures of the family. Where she’d gotten them, he had no idea. There were presents for his aunt stacked up, but it was the framed photos that made him stop. He picked up the first one. It had been taken in the backyard of Darois House, the gardens in full summer bloom. The family was gathered in their Sunday best, all staring at the camera with smiles on their faces, but there was no joy there.
Except his mother. She stood off to the side, holding her son’s hand and beaming at the camera. She didn’t belong there. She was a bit of sunshine that had been taken into the gloom. He himself was the only one not staring at the camera. He held his mother’s hand, but his gaze was somewhere off to the left.
A sudden memory pierced through him. He’d been nine years old and suffering through that yearly reunion his father insisted was necessary to keep everyone happy. No one had been happy to be there, least of all him. But Miss Marcelle had come out that day. She and Delphine had offered tarot readings, and Dre and Sylvie had come with her.
It was Sylvie he was looking for in that picture, Sylvie who had given him the smile on his face. Sylvie had sat between the rows of roses and begonias. She’d stuck her tongue out at him and then smiled, and he’d known he wasn’t alone.
The memory pierced through him, so bittersweet it nearly brought him to his knees.
“Rene?”
He forced himself to put the picture down and turned.
“I didn’t think you were going to come.” Gabriel wore a perfectly pressed suit. Rene had noticed that his cousin had started dressing better in the last few months, showing up in suits with good loafers almost everywhere he went.
He was starting to look a bit like Rene himself.
“I’m not here for long. I’m just popping in. Is your sister all right?”
Gabriel’s face went grim. “She’s struggling. I am, too. I have a confession to make. I . . . I don’t know quite how to tell you this, but I can’t let you fire Louis.”
It was funny how heartache could make anger seem like such a useless emotion. “You’ve been working with Charles. You stole the bids.”
Gabriel looked down at the floor. “Yeah. I’m sorry. I can’t let you think it was Louis. He didn’t know. He trusted me and I went and made copies of the bids he was working on, and I was the one who handed them over to Charles.”
“Can I ask why?” There was always a why, and with Gabriel he didn’t think it would be pure greed.
“I told you my father left us in debt, but I didn’t tell you how much. My mom went a little crazy for a while. She drank a lot, and we had to put her in rehab. That was when Ashley had to come home,” Gabriel admitted. “She doesn’t know what to do with herself. She was told all she had to do was be pretty and find a husband. Turns out she doesn’t like men all that much and feels pretty worthless. She’s drinking too much, and I’m worried I’m going to lose them both.”
It was odd how far empathy could go. He’d thought he would find out who had betrayed him and rage would take over, but all he could manage to do was to feel for Gabriel. He wasn’t even twenty-five years old and had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He didn’t have the tools he needed to navigate these deep waters. Gabriel only knew if he didn’t do something, he would lose the people he loved.
Yeah, Rene knew what that felt like.
“What did Charles offer you?”
Gabriel’s eyes came back up, and his right hand wiped off a stray tear before he answered. “Money, obviously. Five thousand per bid, but only if the opposing bid was accepted. It got the creditors off us for a month. I’ve got the house on the market, and Ashley turned in her car.”
“And when he takes over, you’ll get a better position?”
Gabriel nodded. “He hasn’t told me which.”
“I hate to tell you this, but Charles is going to fire you. He won’t trust you now.” Rene thought about the situation. “How much do you need to get out of debt?”
Gabriel had gone a pasty white. “Seventy thousand.”
“The house will cover that, but you’ll need a place to stay and a job. And you need to put Ashley in college. She needs to start figuring out what she wants to do. Tell her to go to my mother and ask for a scholarship. There’s nothing my mother loves more than to send a young woman to school. I’ll let Mom know Ashley’s coming. Tell Ashley to stop the tough-girl routine and be nice.”
“Your mom would do that?”
“Yes. She’s done it many times. It’s one of the joys of her life.” He had no doubt his mother would continue to help people who asked her.
Gabriel stared at him, obviously confused. “But I hurt you.”
“And if it hadn’t been you, it would have been someone else. Charles would have found a way. At least you did it to help your family. I’ll put you in touch with some people I know who might be able to help you find a job.”
“Why would you do that?”
Because punishing Gabriel wouldn’t fix a thing. Because he had no idea what he would have done in the kid’s place, so he wasn’t going to judge him.
“It’s hard to be the head of the family, and when you are, you cannot allow your decisions to be made in anger. Are you angry at your mother?”
“So angry. How could she put all of this on me?”
“She was supposed to protect you. She was supposed to be the strong one, but she left it all in your lap right when you were barely out of college and should have been starting your life. Of course you’re angry. But you’re trying to find a way out because no matter how angry she makes you, she’s your family and you love her. That’s what it means to be the head of the family. That’s why Charles is going to fail. He works from a place of constant rage, and you cannot guide an organization like that, much less head a family.”
“I’m going to be the reason you lose your house,” Gabriel pointed out.
Rene knew the truth. “No. Charles is. Throw that guilt away. It’s not going to fix anything, and it will only bring you grief. I believe Charles is going to try to sell the company. Hold on to your stock. Don’t let him buy it. He’s going to offer to buy stock from anyone who needs cash, and that’s how he’s going to bring the entire company down. At least hold on through his sale so you get as much as you can.”