by Jana DeLeon
“I’ll keep looking,” Tyler said. “He can’t hide forever.”
“I’m glad you’re there, man. I hate to admit it, but I’m running out of ideas. A fresh look by someone with a different perspective might open an avenue I hadn’t considered.”
Tyler nodded, pleased with Carter’s faith in him. When they were in high school—Tyler the quiet freshman and Carter the football-star senior—he’d always admired Carter and wished he could be more like him. He’d managed to develop a more outgoing personality and his own level of high school success before graduating and leaving for the Marine Corps, but his high opinion of Carter Trahan had held fast.
“So how are other things?” Carter asked.
“What other things?”
Carter grinned. “C’mon, I’ve seen Joelle. You’re a red-blooded American man, spending every waking hour with her at arm’s length. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed she’s a looker.”
The last thing Tyler was going to admit to Carter was that he’d noticed entirely too much about the way Joelle looked. “Aren’t you marrying her sister?” he asked.
Carter laughed. “That doesn’t mean I’m blind or dead, or that I’m too dazed to know a deflection when I hear it.”
“No deflection. I’m just there to do my job.”
“I see. It’s all a professional thing.”
“Exactly.”
“Uh-huh. It was a professional thing when I agreed to verify the heirs’ presence for the estate, and I ended up engaged to the first one I met.”
Tyler studied Carter for a moment. He was the last guy Tyler had ever imagined would be cozied up with a fiancée. According to William, they were about to break ground on a bigger house and possibly acquire a golden retriever. It was so incredibly domestic for the man he’d once thought was a superhero. But the strangest part of it all was how happy he looked about the entire thing.
“You’re really happy,” Tyler said.
Carter smiled. “Seems strange, right? If anyone had told me a year ago that I’d be back in Calais and living with a woman I planned to marry, I’d have called them crazy. But yeah, I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”
“It doesn’t seem strange—this pace after working for the New Orleans Police Department?”
“Not lately,” Carter joked, “but all Purcell business aside, it felt slow and dull for several months. Then I started developing a rhythm. I think my body and mind needed time to decompress.”
Tyler considered Carter’s words. Maybe his friend was right. Maybe he just needed some time to adjust, and then everything would feel right.
“You feeling restless?” Carter asked.
Tyler nodded, not the least bit surprised that Carter had picked up on his state of flux. Everyone swore that Carter’s mother, Willamina, was darn near psychic, and most thought Carter had inherited his mother’s ability to read people.
“I don’t know why, though,” Tyler said. “I couldn’t wait to leave Calais when I graduated high school. I did a good job for the Marine Corps—more than my share of overseas tours—and I have no regrets about leaving the military.”
“But?”
“It’s hard to explain.”
Carter took a sip of his coffee. “You feel like you can’t get firm ground beneath you. Like no matter where you go or what you do, you don’t fit.”
Tyler stared. “Yeah. That’s it exactly.”
Carter nodded. “I felt that way when I came back. My mom says it’s because humans are always looking for a constant, and life doesn’t have any. She thinks that when we accept that everything changes and that the only thing we have control over is ourselves, that the feeling of restlessness goes away.”
Tyler mulled that theory over for a minute. Finally, he shook his head. “Your mother is a genius.”
Carter laughed and clapped Tyler’s back. “Don’t tell her that. She doesn’t need any more people in this town telling her how great she is.”
Tyler smiled, a tiny inkling of what his life could be starting to creep through his closed mind. “Sorry, but I’ve always thought she was the bomb. I’m unable to hide it. Hey, did you ever wonder why our parents haven’t hooked up?”
Carter’s expression changed from laughter to slightly mortified. “No, I never wondered that. I don’t ever put ‘hooked up’ and thoughts of my mom in the same realm.”
“That’s because she’s your mother and a lady, but if William were your dad, what would you think?”
Carter’s brow scrunched for several seconds, then he sighed. “I guess I’d be wondering why he wasn’t chasing my mother. But can we leave that up to them? I love your dad, but I don’t want the visual.”
Tyler smiled at Carter’s obvious discomfort, but the question was one he’d wondered about for quite some time. Both his dad and Willamina had been widowed for a long time, and neither had established another relationship that he was aware of. They’d known each other since they were kids, seemed to enjoy each other’s company and planned to stay in Calais the rest of their lives. It was the perfect fit.
“Maybe I’ll ask my dad about it sometime,” Tyler said.
“Ha. Do that and you’ll be inviting your dad to point out that you’re currently living with a drop-dead gorgeous heiress. He spent some time trying to convince me that I needed to settle down. Pointed out every single woman under fifty, like I didn’t already know them all.”
“You’re kidding? Wow, I guess I’ll leave that door shut, then.”
“He’ll get around to it anyway. He’s just waiting for an opportunity.”
“He can get around to it all he wants, but it’s not going to happen.”
Carter took another sip of his coffee. “So you said.”
* * *
JOELLE CLIMBED OUT of Alaina’s car in front of the prettiest house she’d ever seen, not even the constant drizzle able to diminish its loveliness. It was Southern, with white siding and bright white columns across the front. The landscaping looked like something from the White House grounds and nothing she’d expected to see in the middle of the swamp.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” Alaina said as they walked to the front door. “Willamina should have been a professional landscaper.”
“She did all this herself?”
Alaina nodded. “She hires local teens for some of the manual labor, but the design is all hers.”
“It’s amazing.”
Alaina grinned. “Wait until you see the back.”
“Are you sure this is okay? It’s really early to visit someone, especially when she didn’t even know we were coming until ten minutes ago.”
“If Willamina found out you were at my house and I didn’t bring you to meet her, she’d never let me live it down. Besides, I’m fairly certain she’s a vampire. I’ve never once caught her sleeping.”
Alaina rang the doorbell and a couple seconds later, an attractive, silver-haired woman opened the door and waved them in. She gave Alaina a hug, then turned to Joelle with a big smile.
“You look like your father,” Willamina said. “He was a handsome man, but I think his features look even better on a woman. You’re absolutely gorgeous.”
Joelle flushed at the compliment, not used to people being so direct.
Willamina smiled. “And I’ve embarrassed you. How delightful!” She threw her arms around Joelle and squeezed her.
Joelle hugged her back, surprised that her discomfort level was quickly subsiding.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Joelle said when Willamina released her. “Alaina has told me so many good things about you.”
Willamina beamed at Alaina, and Joelle could tell how much Willamina adored her future daughter-in-law. “Alaina is a real treasure. I couldn’t have picked a better woman for Carter if I’d done it my
self, and don’t think I didn’t consider it.”
Joelle smiled at the thought of Willamina pushing a woman on Carter. That would be a battle worthy of box seats.
“I have quiche and blueberry tarts ready in the kitchen, and I’ve set up the patio for breakfast. We’re having mimosas and I don’t want to hear a single complaint about calories.”
“Woo-hoo!” Alaina said as she headed off to what Joelle assumed was the kitchen. “You’ll never hear me complaining about champagne for breakfast. Wait until you taste her tarts, Joelle.”
“We better hurry,” Willamina said, “or she’ll drink all the good stuff.” She linked her arm through Joelle’s and guided her through the house to the huge kitchen off the back. It had miles of granite countertops and top-of-the-line appliances. Huge windows and patio doors allowed light to stream inside, making the entire room bright despite the fact that the overhead lights weren’t even turned on.
“This is beautiful,” Joelle said. “Your entire home is beautiful and the landscaping is the best I’ve ever seen.”
Willamina beamed. “Thank you so much, dear. Cooking and planting are my two biggest loves.”
Alaina picked up a tray of tarts to carry outside. “It’s a good thing she loves manual labor, because with her cooking, a sedentary lifestyle would be killer. I’ve had to add an extra two miles to my daily run just to keep the pounds off.”
Joelle picked up the champagne glasses and followed Alaina out on a huge covered patio. It overlooked the well-manicured backyard that covered a couple of acres before ending at a line of cypress trees that formed the edge of the swamp. She could hear running water nearby and figured a bayou ran just past the line of cypress trees.
It was as lovely as the woman who cared for it, and Joelle understood why Alaina had insisted she meet Willamina.
“So,” Willamina said after they’d taken their seats and dug into the truly incredible quiche. “Alaina tells me that Tyler Duhon is your personal bodyguard.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Please, call me Willa. I’m not old enough to be ma’am yet. I’ve known Tyler since he was born. He was a beautiful baby, and seems to me that hasn’t changed.”
Joelle laughed. “Are you calling Tyler beautiful?”
Willamina smiled. “Heavens, no. You can’t say that about grown men, even if it’s true. What I would say is that he’s a fine specimen and just as handsome as his father was back in the day. Tyler’s got a much better body than his father ever did, though. I suppose the military did that.”
Alaina snorted and grabbed her napkin. “I totally got champagne up my nose. Willa, you’re awful!”
“I suppose he is quite attractive,” Joelle acquiesced.
Willamina shook her head. “Don’t play dumb with me. I know you’ve got better eyesight than that. Please tell me you’ve gotten a glimpse of him in some state of undress.”
Joelle felt a blush creep up her neck and Willamina hooted.
“I knew it,” Willamina said. “Tell all.”
Joelle was completely mortified, but knew she had to say something or Willamina would never let her off the hook. “I saw him when he came out of the shower last night. I hate to disappoint you, but he was wearing sweats.”
“Ah, but he wasn’t wearing a shirt.” Willamina nodded at Alaina, who just smiled at her future mother-in-law. “So is he a finely tuned machine under that cotton?”
“He definitely works out.”
Willamina rolled her eyes. “I can see that with the clothes on. Give an old widow a thrill.”
Joelle sighed. “He’s absolutely perfect. In fact, I’ve never seen anyone with such a perfect body except in magazines.”
“And they’re airbrushed,” Alaina pointed out. “So that makes Tyler even better.”
Willamina nodded, then patted Joelle’s arm. “See, that wasn’t so hard.”
Willamina’s obvious delight was so clear that Joelle couldn’t help adopting the lighthearted mood. These were good women—one of them her sister. If she couldn’t speak honestly with them, she couldn’t with anyone.
“I didn’t want people to get the wrong idea,” Joelle said, trying to explain her hesitation.
“Honey,” Willamina said, “I’ve got all kinds of ideas for the two of you, and none of them are wrong.”
“No!” Joelle stared. “I have no intention—”
“Neither did I,” Alaina said and smiled. “And you see how that turned out.”
The last vestige of holding out fled from her and Joelle laughed. “You win. I took one look at his bare chest and my mind went places it had no business going. His backside is just as perfect, by the way. But even if I was interested in a relationship, I get the idea that it’s the last thing Tyler wants.”
“Why is that?” Alaina asked.
“He’s distant. Don’t get me wrong, he can be very nice and surprisingly intuitive, but the instant I try to turn the conversation to anything personal, he clams up and bolts.”
The smile faded from Willamina’s face and she nodded. “William is worried about him. I have to agree that he’s not the same man who left here eight years ago, but how could he be? We can only imagine the atrocities he faced overseas. He needs some time to shed the worst of them, but that doesn’t mean he’s not still a red-blooded man.”
Joelle’s mind flashed back to several hours before, when she’d stood in the kitchen, her damp T-shirt leaving nothing to the imagination. “I don’t know about the red-blooded part,” she said, then told them about her grossly embarrassing T-shirt mishap.
Willamina waved a hand in dismissal. “That’s just manners. If he had stared, his mother would have popped straight up out of her grave and given him the what for.”
“Maybe,” Joelle said, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that his failure to respond like the average male was due more to disinterest than manners.
“You aren’t serious with anyone, right?” Alaina asked. “I mean, the other night, you said you were single, but you seemed to hesitate when you said that.”
“I’m single,” Joelle assured her. “I guess I’m still a bit aggravated because that’s the case.”
“Was there someone before you came here?” Alaina asked.
“Yes. Brad. We met in college and dated for over five years. I thought we were on our way to white picket fence territory, but apparently that hinged on whether or not I’d change jobs.”
“What difference does that make?” Willamina asked.
“Brad never understood why I took a master’s degree in psychology and chose to become a social worker. He pictured me with a private practice, maybe even a home office, and couldn’t understand why I’d put myself at risk to help battered women and children. When I started volunteering with the underground railroad, it was the final straw for him.”
“Good riddance, then,” Willamina said. “You’re providing an incredible service for people in awful situations. How can that be a bad thing?”
“Intrinsically, it’s not. But Brad worried about my safety, as well as his own or that of our kids, in the future. He’s not wrong, really. There’s always the element of risk that an abuser will take things to a personal level. Look at Brant.”
Alaina sighed. “No, he’s not wrong. I’ve seen enough horror in the legal system to know that the danger is very real. But people live with it all the time. Every law enforcement officer, every member of the legal system—”
“Every politician,” Willamina interjected.
“Got that right,” Alaina agreed. “They’re all at risk and yet most of them marry and have families and live without anything untoward happening.”
“I know,” Joelle said, “but it was still his choice to make, as it was mine to choose to remain doing a job that gives me purpose.”
; “I still say he was a fool,” Willamina said. “That’s my choice to make.”
Joelle smiled, marveling at how comfortable she felt with Carter’s engaging mother. Willamina was everything she wished for the women she helped—strong, independent, intelligent and not the least bit afraid to speak her mind.
“You would be a great influence on the women I work with,” Joelle said.
“Me?” Willamina seemed surprised. “Oh, I don’t think so.”
“She’s right,” Alaina said. “If Jackson wasn’t so far away, you could do group therapy with them. Just talking to someone with your fortitude might make a difference.”
Joelle nodded. “Maybe you won’t have to come as far as Jackson.”
“What do you mean?” Willamina asked.
“Ever since I talked to William, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking...about what happens when this is over and the estate is distributed. I think I’d like to open a home for women, where they could live with their children while they learn a job skill and transition into a new life. Give them a safe place to stay and the training they need.”
Willamina’s eyes misted up. “That’s such a wonderful thing to think of.”
“What else am I going to do with all that money? I’m not the private-island-and-servant kind of gal.”
And it gives me a chance to use my mother’s money to help other women in situations similar to hers.
But Joelle wasn’t willing to talk about her childhood memories, so she left that part unsaid.
Chapter Twelve
It was almost lunchtime when Tyler pulled through the circular drive in front of the house. Looking up at the depressing structure, Joelle sighed, already missing the company of Alaina and Willamina, who were thoroughly interesting and entertaining.
“We didn’t have to leave Calais,” Tyler said, apparently cluing in to her less-than-enthusiastic demeanor.
“We have to come back sometime. And it’s not as scary during the day. Depressing...but not scary.”