The House on Prytania (Royal Street #2)(96)
Author: Karen White

 

 

 

• • •

 

The following week was spent working on my cottage, replacing termite-ridden baseboards and patching the existing floors to hide places where we’d moved walls upstairs. I never went alone, making sure that Thibaut and Jorge were there, and then leaving when they did. I didn’t make the mistake of mentioning Antoine’s name, but his presence was a palpable one, felt most strongly on the stairs where he’d murdered his daughter and in the upstairs hallway outside the closet where the clientele book had been hidden.

 

The discovery of Jeanne’s secret letter had been anticlimactic. Not because we already knew the truth, thanks to Mimi’s ability to read the Maison Blanche door, but because I hadn’t been allowed to be a part of telling Mimi that we had proof. Nor had I been able to discuss with Beau why Antoine was still haunting my house even after the incriminating evidence had been found. It seemed that the more answers we discovered, the more questions we had. And the more questions I couldn’t ask.

 

Sarah’s photos from the cemetery had finally downloaded, and I’d forwarded them all to Beau without even looking at them first, because he’d made it clear that he didn’t want me involved anymore. He hadn’t responded, and I told myself I was okay with it.

 

I’d been hoping to hear from Beau about starting work on the Esplanade property, or at least to get an answer about when I could show it to Cooper, but there had been no word from him since he’d unceremoniously dropped me off in the driveway of my apartment and driven away with only a curt “Good-bye.”

 

I was home early on a Tuesday afternoon because Thibaut and Jorge had begun the process of sealing the wooden floors and needed them to dry overnight. I’d gone as far as opening the front door, just to peer inside to check on their progress, but I was met with a foul smell that had nothing to do with the wood stain, and with a heavy feeling that drew my attention up the stairs to a large black shadow masquerading as a water spot on the upstairs ceiling. I’d slammed the door and locked it, then headed home to my apartment.

 

Beau’s absence from my life meant that I had a lot more free time on my hands than I was used to. Cooper and I were supposed to meet for dinner, but he’d texted me to say that he was swamped at work and had asked to move our dinner plans to the following night. By the time I’d fed Mardi and taken him outside for a walk and played fetch with Eeyore, it was only five o’clock.

 

I changed into my sweats and seriously contemplated using one of Jolene’s face masks, but when I looked at her vanity, I was too confused by the vast array of tubes and bottles. I briefly considered heading into the kitchen and surprising Jolene with dinner for a change, but I realized that I was in over my head as soon as I stepped into her domain and was faced with a fridge full of food I didn’t recognize and an array of Wizard of Oz kitchen gadgets I wasn’t sure how to use. Instead, I headed toward the couch, flipped on the Investigation Discovery channel, and opened up the pizza delivery app on my phone.

 

Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang and I raced downstairs without looking at the door camera, assuming it was my pizza. Instead, Sunny Ryan stood on the doorstep, wearing her customary yellow and her bright smile, and holding a dressmaker’s mannequin.

 

“Is Jolene here yet? I’m a little early.”

 

“Not yet, but I’m sure she’s on her way. You and your friend can come on up and wait. I think I ordered more pizza than we need, so you’re welcome to stay for dinner, too.”

 

“Thanks,” she said, moving past me with the plastic torso. “Molly and I will be happy to accept.”

 

“Molly?”

 

“Molly Mannequin,” Sunny said as she continued up the stairs, the torso tucked under an arm. “Jolene said she’d help me make my costume for the fund-raiser.”

 

I closed the door and ran up the stairs behind her, then had to wait for her to greet Mardi and play fetch a few times before I could ask the questions burning in the back of my throat. “Jolene’s going?”

 

Sunny plopped down on the couch. “Uh-huh. I just told her today. Mimi wants her there because she’s always a fun addition to any party. I told her she could invite a date, but she said she’d probably be going solo.”

 

“Oh,” I said, trying not to sound hurt. “I haven’t talked with Beau, so I don’t know what’s going on, but what did Mimi say about inviting the Sabatiers?”

 

“She’s all for it. Beau was still on the fence, but I was totally all in, so she agreed.”

 

I found her nonchalance about the ordeal of her childhood surprising, but then again, she’d been a toddler and then raised in a happy home. I told myself that there was no reason she’d want to hang on to a trauma that she didn’t feel was part of her life.

 

“I really think it’s a step in the right direction,” Sunny continued. “I’m super excited about meeting them.”

 

“I’m glad.” And I was. I was just surprised at my disappointment at being excluded. I felt as if I’d just planned a fabulous two-week vacation but was being left behind on the dock when the ship set sail. Maybe I could convince Jolene to bring me as her date.

 

“And now that Jeanne’s secret letter is out in the open, we can close that chapter, too,” Sunny said. “I can’t tell you how happy I am that all that messy business is behind us. It’s the one thing that’s been dragging on my happiness since I came back, you know? I’d like to just enjoy being with my family now.”

 

“I totally get it.” And I did. But nobody seemed to want to address the literal black shadow on the wall. It was still there, lurking, and nobody seemed interested in acknowledging its presence or initiating moves to get rid of it.

 

Sunny slid to the edge of the couch. “Do you still have the clientele book and any of the stuff in the hatboxes that you didn’t already get rid of?”

 

I had to think for a moment. “I guess I do—I haven’t taken anything out of it. And Sarah sent back the book after she discovered the hidden letter. I brought it over to Christopher to give to Mimi.” At her raised eyebrows, I added, “Beau isn’t speaking to me right now, so I didn’t want to run into him at the house.”

 

“Ah, well, that explains it. I figured something was up since I hadn’t seen you. If it were up to me, I’d destroy all of it. So that whole situation is erased. If you want, I could take it back to Beau and let him deal with it.”

 

I considered saying yes but quickly changed my mind. “Before we do that, let me double-check with Beau. I’ll have to wait until he’s willing to speak with me again, but I don’t want to do anything without his permission. Been there, done that. I don’t think there’s any rush, so let’s just leave it all here for now.”