When they reached Julianna’s home, the heat of the day was upon them. There was a breeze however and it made the high temperature at least tolerable.
“I’m going to get away from this heat and rest in my room,” Julianna told her. “Feel free to do the same, if you care to.”
“I think I’ll work on clearing up your correspondences first, if that’s okay with you?”
She nodded. “It is. I’ll be back down later.” She climbed the stairs to her bedroom and Valinda went to the office. Julianna’s filing system apparently consisted of tossing all the receipts and bills into a box and hoping they’d sort themselves. Valinda had spent yesterday separating the business receipts from those tied to the household, and the letters from various individuals. Some of the items showed dates of two years ago and Valinda smiled and shook her head as she sorted through them. As she worked, time passed, but she was pleased when she finally reached the bottom of the box and could begin matching like with like.
“Can I convince you to take a break?”
She looked up to see Drake in the doorway holding a glass of lemonade in each large hand.
She didn’t want to admit how happy seeing him again made her feel. “For lemonade you can convince me to walk across the Mississippi.”
“I think the gazebo will be far enough. It’s much cooler outdoors than in here.”
The perspiration on the back of her blouse and the skin above the high neck of her lace-edged collar were a testament to that, so she stood. He handed her a glass, she took a sip, and her hum of pleasure brought his eyes to hers.
“You need to stop doing that, you know.”
“I can’t voice my pleasure about the lemonade?”
“Only if you want me to wonder what else makes you purr.”
As if she weren’t already warm enough, heat from his words flashed over every inch of her body. “More pirate talk?” she tossed back more boldly than she felt.
“Yes, and it would be courting pirate talk, if you were free.”
She drew in a steadying breath. “Let’s go to the gazebo.”
Eyes sparkling, he stepped aside. “After you.”
With his overpowering presence making her insides resonate like a clanging bell she walked with him through the gardens to the gazebo. Due to her father’s control of her life back home that frowned on anything tied to socializing, parties, or fun, she had no idea there were men like Drake in the world. Men able to turn her knees into pudding with just a few words or make her heart race from a knowing glance. Even though she had no experience, she vowed to do her best to hold her own.
They sat in the gazebo as they’d done before, and she sipped, savoring the breeze and being away from the stifling heat inside the house. He sat back, watching her.
“You’re at an advantage here.”
“How so?”
“You’re accustomed to playful banter. I’m not.”
“It’s not hard to learn.”
“And if I don’t wish to?”
“Then I’ve overestimated you.”
“Meaning?”
“I think the hellion inside you likes a challenge, otherwise she wouldn’t have climbed trees, played baseball, or enjoyed whipping those boys at marbles. But I don’t think you’ve let her out to play in quite some time. She showed herself a bit the last time we were here. I got the impression that she liked the verbal swordplay.”
She didn’t respond.
“Does your intended prefer the hellion or the meek miss?”
“Why does that matter?”
“Because I see a woman settling for a small piece of cake when she can have it all.”
“By being with someone who I don’t love?”
He nodded.
“We’ve had this conversation.”
“And I’m still puzzled by your choice.”
“Which is none of your business.”
“True, but—”
“There are no buts. I’ve chosen Cole. He’s chosen me. We don’t need your approval or blessings.”
He sipped and smiled.
“Something funny?”
“Just pleased that you picked up your sword, cheri.”
She rolled her eyes. “You really are insufferable.”
He toasted her with his glass. “My apologies for making you angry. That wasn’t my intent, and you’re right, your choice of a husband is none of my affair.”
The sincerity in his tone soothed her ire. “He does care for me.”
“Then may you have a happy life.”
“Do you mean that?”
“If he is your choice, yes.”
Valinda didn’t know why she’d asked if he was being truthful. As she stated, she didn’t need his approval and yet . . . He’d rescued her during Creighton’s attack, stood by her at the cigar shop, even offered to build her a school. There were women who’d probably sell their souls for the attention of such a man. Before coming to New Orleans, she’d never doubted marrying Cole. Becoming man and wife benefited them both. She knew nothing about love or adoration, and still clung to the idea that neither were necessary, but the tempting, bearded mountain of a man sitting across from her had put cracks in the firm rock upon which she stood. She hoped Cole would agree to settling down in New Orleans because she dearly wanted to stay in Julianna’s and Sable’s spheres and learn all they could teach her about navigating life, but doing so would result in ongoing contact with Drake. She met his eyes.
“Problem?” he asked.
She shook her head and lied, “No. Just wondering if I’d be able to convince Cole to open a newspaper here.”
“You want to stay?”
“I do. I know the political situation is less than ideal, and I’ve had numerous setbacks trying to teach, but the city is growing on me.” She loved the food, the sounds, the smell of the Mississippi, the never-ending excitement in the air.
“Will he agree?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.” And how would she handle those occasions where Drake was present? She hazarded another glance his way and saw him watching her as if he’d read her thoughts and found her attempts to deny her feelings amusing.
“I wanted to wait until we were alone to tell you. I saw Creighton today before arriving at the convent.”
He went still. “Tell me what happened.”
She complied and when she finished, added, “His eyes are still so swollen from your punch, I’m surprised he could see me at all.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” he said softly.
She found that endearing. “You can’t be everywhere, and we were in the middle of the Quarter. He did scare me, but I wasn’t worried about him assaulting me with so many people about.”
“Still, he had no business approaching you, let alone making threats. He was warned.”
For a moment he observed her silently and she wondered what might be going through his mind. “Yes?” she finally asked.
“Creighton aside, just enjoying being with you.”
In spite of their small verbal dustup a few minutes ago, she was enjoying his company as well.
“Did my mother show you my tree house?”
“Your tree house?” she echoed warily. “No.”
He stood. “Come. Let me show it to you since you enjoy climbing.”
“I haven’t climbed a tree in decades.”
“Maybe this will re-spark the hellion.”
Amused and not sure what to do with him, she rose and followed him deeper into the trees.
It was a short distance away. She viewed the ramshackle remains of the broken slats and listing wood high up in the thick moss-covered boughs of a great oak. “That’s your tree house?”
“What’s left of it, yes. Granted, I built it when I was ten, but it served its purpose in those days.”
“Now, it looks like it’ll serve as a way to a hospital.”
“You wound me, cheri.”
The tar paper roof had large holes that matched
the holes in what had once been the floor. “Anyone foolish enough to go up there will be wounded, too.” She eyed the worn ladder nailed to the trunk. “Is that how you climbed up?”
“Yes. Our feet were smaller then, so the slats were shorter.”
Val took in the perch. “It’s pretty high up. I imagine you could see the countryside for miles.”
“I could. Being up there made me feel like the king of the world.”
“I did love being high above everything.”
“My brothers and I had many an adventure up there. One day we were pirates sailing the seas, and the next day balloonists floating to Haiti. We imagined being members of the Louisiana Native Guards and saving Andrew Jackson’s troops during the War of 1812.”
She was surprised by that.
“You don’t know about the Louisiana Guard saving Jackson’s bacon?”
“No.”
“It’s a celebrated part of the history of New Orleans. Remind me to tell you about it sometime.”
“I will.” She surveyed the tree house again. “It doesn’t look like you’ve played up there in quite some time.”
He nodded. “Once my brothers and I began growing it became too small to hold us, but we had fun while it lasted.” The fond wistfulness in his tone touched her, reminding her again of the strong ties he had to his family. He seemed comfortable expressing the feelings he had for them. She never remembered her father voicing such telling thoughts about those he was related to.
He added, “Julianna even let us sleep up there sometimes, until the night we were roughhousing and Phillipe fell to the ground, breaking his arm. That was the end. She did allow me to sleep there alone after though, because I’d built it.”
Val couldn’t imagine her father allowing her to have a tree house but could imagine how much fun it must have been. “Thank you for bring me here.”
“You’re welcome. I’m drawing up plans for a much larger one on the property near my new house. I have a couple of trees I’m deciding between.”
“Really?”
“Every boy needs a tree house.”
“But you’re an adult now.”
He grinned. “True, but I’m never too old for adventures. We could have tea.”
She laughed. “Tea?”
“Sure, why not? Maybe, if your intended agrees, I can invite you both when it’s finished. Do you think he’d accept?”
“I believe he would. We often climbed the trees together, and he was always the one daring me to go higher. When my sister told on me, that was the end.”
“You’re always welcome to climb mine whenever you like.”
She sensed he was referencing more than an oak and she suddenly found it difficult to breathe. “We should probably get back to the house.”
“As you wish.”
She asked, “Are you having fun?”
“Fun?”
“At my expense?”
“Never, cheri, but I am enjoying imagining all the fun we’d have together were you free.”
Admittedly, the idea of having fun as an adult was foreign. Her father would find the idea disgraceful. “I’ve never associated having fun with anything but children.”
“Then we need to change that.”
“How?”
“I’d build us a tree house we could have tea in, use to escape the heat of the day in, and sleep together in at night.”
Val’s eyes closed as the seductive wake of his words washed over her.
“We’d catch frogs and fireflies. Take one of Raimond’s boats and sail to Cuba to have dinner with my cousins, and then walk along the beach in the moonlight.”
She met his dark eyes.
“Then I’d kiss you until sunrise. . . .”
Trembling, she took in the intensity in his eyes. The air between them was as charged as an approaching summer storm. If he kissed her now, she’d be lost. “Please, don’t kiss me.”
“I won’t. Not unless you’re free to ask me to.”
She tried to convince herself that being attracted to him served no purpose, yet the urge to throw caution to the wind and walk that moonlit beach was strong.
“Come, cheri. Let’s get you back.” Placing a brief guiding hand on the small of her back, he gently steered her towards the path, and silently walked her to the house.
Chapter Eight
Julianna was seated in the parlor reading the Tribune, and as Drake entered with Valinda, she looked up, scanned them silently for a long second before asking, “Are you staying for dinner, son?”
“No. I’m going to see Hugh to firm up plans to complete my kitchen. I’ll be back later tonight.”
“Give him my regards.”
“I will.” After offering his goodbyes and sharing a final look with Valinda, he departed.
As he rode away, he thought about how he’d wanted to stay for dinner and share more of Valinda’s company, but he needed to distance himself from her and not be the man who wanted to find a secluded corner and kiss her until she melted. She belonged to another and he was undoubtedly being an ass for constantly voicing how he felt about her, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. In that moment back at the tree house, the urge to ease her into his arms and finally taste her lips almost blew past his defenses. Her softly worded plea not to made him grab hold of his faltering control. But going forward, should she offer him even the tiniest bit of encouragement, her intended might as well remain in Europe because Drake would not give her up.
Due to Henri’s welcome-home party, he’d have to cancel the outing to the theater he’d planned with his mistress, Josephine. That he had a mistress while wanting Valinda was fueling much inner debate, but he needed to see her before riding to meet with Hugh.
Josephine DuSable lived in the small cottage she’d inherited from her mother on the edge of the Treme. Her family’s founding matriarch, Mala, fled to New Orleans during Toussaint L’Ouverture’s rebellion in Saint-Domingue, and after a few months, caught the eye of a Frenchman. In those days, because of the small number of European women in places like New Orleans, Biloxi, and St. Augustine, the men of France and Spain took up relationships with both enslaved and free women of color like Mala, in what was termed mariage de la main gauche—a left-handed marriage. In exchange for the lady’s favors, the man paid for her home, fathered and educated their children, mainly in Europe, and in some cases, freed her and their offspring if they were enslaved. When the man died, the woman and children were often provided for in his will.
She and Drake had been together for two years. He was not her first protector, and more than likely not her last. For her, the relationship was not a left-handed marriage but a business transaction, nothing more. For Drake, after dodging Creole mamas and their marriage-focused daughters since the age of sixteen, he found her attitude refreshing. There was no talk of weddings or children. She was smart, funny, invested wisely, and could engage in conversation on everything from politics to opera. He enjoyed her both in and out of bed, but neither had any illusions about love. She valued her independence and knew her worth. When her beauty faded, she and her business acumen would probably end up owning half the city.
He rang the bell to her cottage. It was answered by her longtime housekeeper, Selma. The dark-skinned older woman had roots in Haiti as well. “Good afternoon, Mr. LeVeq.”
“Hello, Selma. Is your mistress available?”
“For you? Of course.” She stepped aside, and he entered. “She’s in the parlor.”
To his surprise the parlor was filled with crates of varying sizes. Gowns and hats covered the furniture. Shoes and handbags were lined up by the hearth. The statuesque, golden-skinned Josephine was standing in the middle of the chaos as if thinking.
“Josie?”
She turned, and her smile warmed him as it always did. “Hello, Drake.”
“What is all this?” He stepped farther into the room and saw books stacked on the floor, more shoes, bottles of perfume, bath salts, along with bed li
nens, china, and cooking pots.
“I’m moving to Mexico City.”
Somehow managing not to be blown over by the unexpected news, he replied, “Really?”
“Yes. I met a Spanish gentleman willing to make it worth my while.”
“You’re going to miss New Orleans.”
“I know, but with his money, I can afford to.”
His smile met hers. “Then by all means, do what’s best.”
“I’m sorry to spring it on you this way. I planned to tell you tomorrow when we had our theater outing.”
“That’s why I stopped by. Mother’s having a family dinner tomorrow that demands my attendance. Henri is coming home.”
“Ah. Then canceling works well for me. I need to pack.”
“When are you leaving?”
“Early next week. I’ve sold the cottage, but I still have to take care of a few items of business.”
“If I can assist in any way, feel free to call on me.”
“I will. Shall we have one last evening together?”
Valinda’s face floated across his mind’s eye and he shook his head. “No. I’ll let you get back to your packing.”
“No?” she responded with a dubious-sounding chuckle. “Are you ill?”
He smiled. “No.”
“Have you found someone new?”
“No.” He had, but Valinda wasn’t his, no matter how much he wished otherwise.
“I think you’re lying to me, Drake LeVeq,” she said playfully. “But it doesn’t matter. I hope she makes you happy.”
He walked to her and planted a soft kiss on her brow. “Godspeed, Josie. Enjoy your new life in Mexico.”
“Thank you, Drake. Thank you for all the good times, the gowns, and the rest. I will miss you.”
“I’ll miss our times together as well.” He bowed and made his exit.
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