She put a hand on Rene’s arm to keep him from going after his cousin.
“I’m sorry you found out that way,” Roberta said with a shake of her head. “I thought it was time it got dragged into the light.”
“His mother never got over Ross.” Marietta stood. “I always knew there would be trouble. Oh, well, if I’m not getting a yacht, I can have a couple of croissants. Do we really have to go through the boring old board meeting? Just let Rene do what he does.”
“Yes, we have to.” Roberta turned Ashley’s way. “Young lady, I want to be on the road directly after the board meeting.”
Ashley’s eyes rolled. “Good luck with that.”
“I’ll pay you double, and I’ll only insult you when it’s really necessary,” Roberta promised. “You’ve got some spine in you, little girl. There might be more to you than blond hair and long legs.”
“I’m not listening to old country music,” Ashley said, but she followed Roberta and the others out of the room.
Gabriel had a hand over his heart. “I think I’m too old for this.”
“It’s adrenaline,” Louis pointed out. “Take some deep breaths and it’ll pass.”
“Are you all right?” Sylvie stayed close to Rene.
He wasn’t sure. He turned to his mother. “Did my father have an affair?”
“He did not.” Louis took the file from Cricket. “I was your father’s best friend. I was with him almost more than your mother most of the time. He didn’t have an affair. Charles’s mother hated the fact that Ross didn’t marry her. She poisoned Charles against this whole family.”
“He thought we were brothers.” How much of Charles’s life had been spent hating him?
“He didn’t act like a brother,” Sylvie pointed out. “He could have talked to you, could have asked what you knew. Instead he chose to try to destroy you. You don’t owe him anything.”
But he owed her the whole world. He hurt inside for the years his cousin had wasted, and the fact that he would waste more. Rene wasn’t wasting another moment of time. “Let’s go and get our puppy and spend the day at the park. I’ve heard this town has a mayor who loves her parks.”
“And you have to be back to work on Monday, so we have to make the weekend count,” his wife said.
“I’m going to enjoy the fact that I don’t have to pack,” his mother announced. “Louis, I think we should spend a lovely weekend together before you go back to work, too.”
“I’ll be there on Monday, Rene.” Louis shook his hand. “But I’m retiring soon. I want to spend as much time with Cricket as I can.”
His mom would be in good hands. “Teach Gabriel everything you know before you go. I’m going to need a new right-hand man.”
“I will not let you down,” Gabriel promised.
“And I won’t let you go.” Sylvie pulled on Rene’s hand. “You’re all mine for a few days.”
He let her lead him out, because he was hers forever.
epilogue
Eighteen months later
“Let’s move into downward dog,” a soothing voice said.
Sylvie heard Hallie groan beside her. “Easy for you to say, lady who didn’t recently have a baby.”
“Shh,” Sera said. “It wasn’t that recent.”
“Says the lady who can bounce a quarter off her abs three months after having a baby,” Hallie groused.
Sylvie chuckled, though she kind of thought Hallie was right. It had been four months since she’d given birth to their daughter, and fitness was a challenge. But she moved into position and had the sweetest face looking up at her. Mommy-baby yoga was one of her favorite things to do in the world.
Especially since she knew her husband was walking their dog around the park, waiting for the moment she would be done and they would all head to the café for breakfast.
Marcelle Pamela Darois was smiling up at her. Little Marci was the light of her life.
And Marci already had friends. Sera had announced her pregnancy a few weeks before Sylvie found out about hers, and Hallie had been right behind them. Sera’s daughter had her blond hair and Harry’s smile. Hallie had been shocked when her precious second daughter had been born with a penis.
Though Ben Rayburn seemed to love the ladies. He was already trying to crawl Marci’s way.
“Hey, did Cricket and Louis get on the boat this time?” Sera asked as her daughter started grabbing her hair.
Cricket had put off her year-long cruise when she’d found out Sylvie was pregnant. Between her mother and her mother-in-law, they never wanted for babysitting. And her brother had turned out to be quite the diaper changer. “Yes, I convinced her two weeks visiting the Hawaiian islands wouldn’t be hard on Marci.” She moved to warrior one. “Cricket is loving her new grandma status.”
“Your momma and my momma are already planning to teach the girls how to speak to spirits,” Sera said, picking up Ella as they finished class.
Her mother was still a little crazy. “We should let them. The girls will need a career.”
Watching her mother with her namesake warmed her heart.
Hallie cradled her son as the women around them started to pack up. “Can Ben get in on that, because I do not want him following in his father’s footsteps.”
“Sure,” Sylvie said, catching sight of her husband. Rene was dressed for the day in a gray suit, and he looked so sexy walking their dog that she practically drooled.
“I heard Charles is moving to New Orleans,” Hallie said. “We saw him at the Fast Mart last night and he was telling anyone who would listen how he’s opening his own firm there.”
Because he’d gotten fired from his last firm. “His lawsuit against the company got thrown out,” Sylvie explained. “The bylaws are plain. I think he’s going to move away to get a new start. It’s a good thing.”
They were all getting new starts. Gabriel worked hard and was doing much of Louis’s old job now, while his sister was studying fashion design at a university in Houston. She often drove Roberta around, and they seemed to enjoy their constant bickering.
Sylvie herself had run a campaign while she was pregnant. Working while pregnant had been a revelation. It had pointed out all the services the city didn’t provide for women and children. She’d been reelected easily and promptly formed a committee to investigate how the city could help and put Seraphina at the head. They were going to change things for their daughters.