The House on Prytania (Royal Street #2)(15)
Author: Karen White

 

“I didn’t know you had a cat,” I said.

 

“We don’t,” Mimi said. “It arrived on our doorstep a few days ago with no collar and no chip—just like Mardi. We didn’t feed it at first, hoping it would go away, but it took a liking to my back garden. And when no one claimed him, Sunny began feeding it. That very first day when I opened the door to bring out some food, the cat just walked calmly inside as if it owned the place and hasn’t left since. Lorda set up a bed and litter box in the kitchen and the cat seems to know what to do, so I suppose we have a cat now. Although it ignores the bed in the kitchen at night and heads to Sunny’s room to sleep on the pillow next to her. It’s the craziest thing.”

 

“Have you named him?” Jolene leaned over to see the underbelly of the cat. “Or is it a her?”

 

“Mambo,” said Mimi. “Sunny named him.” She squeezed Sunny’s hand. “It makes all of this so real. As if Sunny has always lived here and been a part of our family.”

 

“Do cats like to wear clothes?” Jolene asked. “I think a bow tie on Mambo would be very distinguished.”

 

“And then what happened?” I asked, as eager to drop the subject of cats wearing clothes as I was to hear the rest of Sunny’s story. To discover something in it that would stop my misplaced feelings of what I could describe only as resentment. After all, like Sunny’s, my story had ended happily. Eventually.

 

Mambo jumped up into Sunny’s lap, and she began stroking the cat beneath the chin. “In something like two days someone had found a news article from the Times-Picayune about my abduction along with a photograph of me from around that time. Compared to the photo my parents had taken, it was almost identical. There was no denying that I was Sunny Ryan.”

 

“And that you had a family in New Orleans who had never stopped missing you.”

 

“And looking for me.”

 

Sunny bent to kiss the top of Mambo’s head while Beau’s gaze met mine. Mimi had never stopped missing her, but she had stopped looking, although only to protect her one remaining grandchild.

 

“And that’s when you got the tattoo,” I said.

 

“Pretty much.” Sunny sank back into the sofa, pressing herself against Mimi.

 

Jolene used her napkin to dab at her eyes. “It really is a miracle. Just like that time my uncle Stubby’s prized sow gave birth to a two-headed piglet. You don’t see that every day, you know?”

 

“No, we certainly don’t,” Christopher said as he stood to refill my water glass.

 

Jolene placed her empty glass on a low table in front of us, then leaned her elbows on her knees. “What name did they give you?”

 

“Donna. Donna Marie Mathieson. But I think I want to go back to using Sunny. I think I feel more like a Sunny than a Donna. Even though I guess my real name is Jolie, so I better get used to signing both.” She offered a tentative smile.

 

Jolene thrummed her fingertips against her jaw, her elbows moving side to side with her knees. “Your mama and daddy don’t mind?”

 

“I, um, they . . .”

 

“They were killed in a car accident shortly before Sunny found us,” Beau said softly, his eyes on Sunny as she pressed her face into the cat’s neck.

 

“Oh, you poor thing,” Jolene said. “To lose both of your parents.”

 

“Twice,” Beau added. “Even though she doesn’t remember our parents, it’s still another loss.”

 

“Of course it is,” Jolene said, dabbing a napkin at the corners of her eyes. “You poor, poor thing. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through. But what a miracle that you made your way back to your other family.”

 

Sunny lifted her head, her own eyes moist. “I don’t know what I would have done without Mimi and Beau. They’ve really been my rocks, dealing with the emotional blow and helping me with my parents’ estate and all the paperwork.” She shrugged. “Mom always used to say that when a door closes, a window opens. I just wish she and Dad could be here to share this with me. We could all be one happy family.” She began crying in earnest, and Mimi pressed Sunny’s head onto her shoulder, muffling her sobs.

 

“I’m sorry,” I said, embarrassed to see that I was the only one not crying. Even Christopher had looked away to wipe his eyes.

 

I waited for the wave of sympathy, and it passed over me like a brief rain burst that was gone before a person had a chance to get wet. It wasn’t that I was completely without compassion. What had happened to Sunny was horrible. Maybe even worse than what had happened to me. Life wasn’t fair. I knew that. But some perverse part of me clung tight to the resentment that her family had missed her and had wanted her back. Before Jolene had a chance to slap me into next week (her words) if I didn’t behave, I doubled down on my efforts to be nice.

 

“What are your plans now?” I asked with my best kindergarten teacher voice.

 

Wadding a tissue in her hand, Sunny smiled at me with reddened eyes. “Beau has offered me a job at JR Properties, helping Jolene with some of the scheduling and paperwork, since she’s doing so much site work now. He said that I could help you with your renovations, too, sort of learn the ropes. Maybe go back to school and get a degree in preservation or something. I’m a quick study, and I’m really interested in learning.”

 

I managed to keep the smile on my face as I turned to Beau, expecting some sort of recognition or apology for knowingly overstepping into my life. Again.

 

Instead, he said, “Thibaut and Jorge have already given their two thumbs-up. I brought Sunny to the cottage to meet the team and they’re already like extended family. We figured she could do coffee and lunch runs while learning some of the basics, so it’s a win-win. Too bad she wasn’t there when you were tiling the upstairs bath. She would probably have pointed out that you were tiling yourself into a corner before it was too late.” A chuckle rumbled in his throat as he sat back against the sofa.

 

I took a generous swallow of water to prevent myself from saying what I really wanted to. “Excuse me for a moment, please,” I said as I stood. “I have a horrible headache and need some Tylenol.” I smiled briefly in Mimi’s direction. “I know where it is.”

 

Jolene reached down toward her feet, to the purse that matched her shoes. “I’ve got some right . . .”

 

I sent her a warning glance as I strode past her, hoping she would understand that I needed to leave the room. “I’ll be right back.” Walking quickly past the portrait of Charles Ryan, I felt his painted eyes following me as I ran up the stairs.