by LETO, JULIE
Fueled by her desperation to make him understand, she took his hand again and pulled him to the clearing where she and Harper had first met, well aware that he was coming along only because she’d shocked him into submission.
When they reached the clearing, she stopped and looked up into the sky, trying to chart the direction of the portal to Elatyria from the position of the stars. But the moon caught her eye first. It was a half-moon—days away from the waning full that would force her return home.
Only she didn’t want to go home. She wanted her bond broken, yes, but she wanted to stay here, with Jack. And Harper. And Mrs. Bradley. And the Boudreaux family down the way. And the hamlet of Hastings and the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana. She loved everything about being here.
But mostly, she loved Jack.
Yet when she turned to face him, she saw nothing but confusion and fear in the hypnotic brown eyes she adored so desperately.
“I haven’t lost my mind,” she assured him.
“Really? Because I think you just told me that you come from some kind of alternate universe.”
“That’s one way to put it,” she conceded.
Jack’s face paled to the same gray whiteness as the surface of the moon that ruled her passage.
“Ana, are you playing some sort of game?”
She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. She hadn’t planned to, but she’d always been smarter than most—she knew she was seconds away from losing him forever. She had to take this now. It might be her last kiss before her whole world spun out of control.
He did not respond, but instead pushed her away. “This isn’t funny.”
She stumbled, but did not fall. “It’s not a game. It’s not a joke. I have absolutely no way to convince you that what I’m saying is true, but you have to believe me when I say it is. You have to give Harper your blessing to audition or by Friday, I’ll have to return to where I came from and I won’t be able to come back. Ever.”
Jack turned and stalked twelve paces in the other direction before he whirled and stabbed an angry finger in her direction. “You’re just like all the rest. Trying to get something from me. Something from Harper. I don’t know exactly what you want, but I’m not giving you a chance to take it before I can stop you. You stay away from my sister. You stay away from me. I’m not going to leave you out here in the middle of the night, but you go back to the house, stay in your room until morning and then I’ll drive you…somewhere. Anywhere. I can’t believe I was so stupid that I let you into my life. You’re nuts.”
She held her tongue, afraid of what might come out of her mouth if she opened it. She was furious. She was heartbroken. She was angry that he didn’t believe her, even though she knew that no rational man from this world ever could. She’d never planned to tell him the truth. She’d hoped to arrange the audition, gain her freedom and then continue to live with him and his family for the rest of her life—though she hadn’t realized until this moment that she had such a specific plan at all.
He didn’t leave right away, but stared at her long and hard, as if willing her to take back all the crazy things she’d claimed.
But she couldn’t.
She couldn’t deny the truth—just as she couldn’t deny that what she’d feared had come to pass. Jack no longer wanted anything to do with her and Harper had no chance of auditioning.
Finally, he walked away. Tatiana, however, did not follow. She didn’t have the strength. Instead, she dropped to the ground and surrendered to the tears burning behind her eyes. The last one didn’t drop until the sun broke over the distant horizon.
15
“IF YOU’RE looking for Ana, she’s gone,” Harper said, snapping at Jack when he emerged from the house just before noon. She halted her march across the hardwood planks on the porch and waved Ana’s cryptic note at him. “What did you do to her?”
Jack crossed his arms, looking every bit the imposing giant she’d often imagined him to be. Well, she was done listening to him, bowing to his proclamations and edicts as if he were some sort of king. Or her father. He wasn’t either. He was her brother and he’d not only taken away her opportunity to follow her mother’s legacy and sing on the stage, but he’d taken away the only woman who’d ever believed in her talent as much as she did.
“I didn’t do anything to her,” he replied, his voice raspy. “I don’t think she was entirely…stable.”
“Why? Because she thought I had talent? Because she believed in me? Because she had the guts to stand up to you and tell you you’re an overbearing, overprotective asshole who’s so afraid of living his own life, he won’t let his sister live hers?”
Harper gasped for breath and turned away. Wow. She hadn’t meant to say all that, but she meant every word. She knew how her mother had died—knew more details than Jack had ever told her. She wasn’t stupid.
“I’m not afraid for myself,” Jack insisted. “But yeah, I’m scared as hell for you.”
Harper ran her hand through her hair and down her face, surprised that she wasn’t crying. She was beyond tears, she supposed, having cried most of them out when she’d first read Ana’s letter, informing her about how to get in touch with the producers at the Hotel Monteleone and encouraging her to try and convince Jack on her own since Ana had not only failed to sway her immovable brother, but she’d somehow completely broken his trust in some unfixable way. Harper didn’t understand adults. If they made all of the decisions, why couldn’t they fix all of their mistakes?
“Then come with me,” she offered. “Come with me to New Orleans and if I pass the test, come with me to New York. You can work anywhere. Hasn’t it ever occurred to you to leave? Or do you prefer the swamp? Living far away from the real world? Would you rather stay up in that studio of yours and paint sexy portraits instead of, I don’t know, actually having sex with a hot woman like Ana?”
She knew she’d said too much the minute Jack’s face turned from fuchsia to red to nearly purple. Scared, she ran forward and punched him in the chest, reminding him to breathe.
He staggered backward. “You’re way out of line, little sister.”
Jack wasn’t going to drop dead like her father. He was strong and healthy, even if he was more stubborn than a mule. She took a deep breath and decided to go for broke.
“No, I’m not. First, yes, I’ve been in your studio. Many times. But I’ve never seen you paint anything so sensual until Ana came around. So, yes, I know you’re in serious lust with Ana. Who wouldn’t be? She’s a knockout. Besides, I saw you kiss her last night on the Boudreauxs’ porch, and though I haven’t seen many real-life kisses, it certainly didn’t look like your first one. It’s about time you got your game on again. I’m happy for you.”
“I’m not talking about this with you,” he insisted.
“Right,” Harper said. “And who else do you have to discuss it with?”
As if caught by some sort of magic spell, Jack walked to the edge of the porch and sat on the top step. He leaned his elbows on his knees and put his head down.
Finally. She’d never seen her brother beaten before, but she imagined this is what he’d looked like the few times on the sidelines when his team had not come out victorious. Defeat didn’t look so bad on him, really.
She joined him and put her hand on his shoulder. “You’re a big guy, Jack. Big and stupid.”
“Thanks,” he muttered.
“If you can’t rely on your little sister to tell you the truth, then you can’t rely on anyone.”
He turned his head to the side without sitting up. “You really saw my paintings?”
She blushed and shivered. “Yeah, but to be honest, I’d rather not talk about it.”
“Fine with me.”
“But I do want to talk about Ana.”
That put him bolt upright. “Not so fine with me.”
“You could love her, Jack. She’s smart and creative and wise and beautiful and—”
“Crazy,�
�� he supplied.
Harper shrugged. “Nobody’s perfect. But she believed in me, Jack. She believed in us. The whole time she was helping me with my audition, she said over and over that you needed to approve. I even wanted to go behind your back, but she said she’d done that enough just by helping me practice. She reminded me that from the very beginning, I’ve wanted to do this with your approval. She’s right. I can’t do this without you. But Jack, I really, really need to see if I’ve got the stuff to make it on Broadway without self-destructing. Mom couldn’t. But Mom didn’t have you watching her back.”
Jack’s eyes grew glossy and Harper pressed her forehead against his bicep, determined not to look at him if he was going to finally let loose after all these years. She might have cried herself out earlier, but she’d find a renewed store if her brother lost it.
“You really want to leave all this? Leave your childhood behind and go to New York?”
“I just want to go to New Orleans first and try. Maybe they won’t even like me.”
He wrapped his big, strong arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close. “Are you kidding me? They’re going to love you. You’re fabulous.”
“You really think so?”
“I haven’t told you, and that was wrong. But you’re more talented than Mom ever was. And you’ve got a better head on your shoulders. And you’re right, you have me. Where you go, I go, kid.”
Harper jumped to her feet and squealed so loudly, she thought she might have damaged her vocal chords. She clamped her hand over her mouth and did a little marching dance on the balls of her feet instead.
Jack laughed. When she finally took her hand away, she whispered, “Then I can do it? I can audition?”
He stood and wrapped her in his arms. “Yes.”
“I’ve got to tell Ana!”
“Now, Harper,” he said warningly. “I still think she’s lost her mind.”
“I don’t care if she escaped from a mental ward, I need her. She’s my good-luck charm. I’m going inside to call the producers and set up an appointment!”
Harper heard Jack start to argue, but she didn’t stick around. Whatever his objections were, she didn’t care.
Ana had done what she’d promised—she’d made Harper’s wish come true. Trouble was, unless Jack tracked her down, she might never know.
FOR THE second time, Jack was drawn to his sister’s location by the sound of her voice. A stale-water smell, not unlike the bayou, greeted him as he pushed inside the old Saenger Theater. Not yet under renovations since sustaining serious damage from Hurricane Katrina, the old structure appeared barely safe. The walls were mottled and chipped from the water damage and the once-bright and brilliant paint on the bas-reliefs had peeled and faded to a shade somewhere between beige and gray.
But the acoustics, apparently, were unharmed. Harper’s voice echoed through the emptiness, haunting and powerful. Her every word and enunciation was crisp and clear, despite the fact that he was in the lobby of the old movie house and she was on stage, a beautiful, fresh flower amidst the wilting decay of the theater.
He’d spent all morning trying to fulfill the promise he’d made to find Ana. Rather, Tatiana. Tatiana Starlingham, a woman Sean Devlin assured him had no birth certificate, no passport, no driver’s license, no green card—nothing to prove she’d ever lived anywhere in this world.
He’d enlisted the private investigator’s help, but Ana had disappeared like a whiff of smoke. He and Sean had searched every room in the bayou house and the grounds for clues to where Ana might have gone, but they’d come up empty. Jack had had no choice but to leave for New Orleans so he didn’t miss the audition that fulfilled his sister’s lifelong dream.
He’d been so angry and confused last night. If only he’d listened more closely. Asked more questions. But he’d surrendered to fear and anger and had likely destroyed any chance he’d ever have at winning back a woman who might be insane, but who had definitely found a way into his heart.
The plush red velvet seats that had filled the auditorium before the flood had been removed, so five folding chairs were lined across the slanted floor, each occupied by, Jack assumed, the Broadway producers. The theater still didn’t have electricity and the stifling heat had caused two of the men in the group to remove their jackets and the third to lean forward as if he was about to melt on the spot. Mrs. Bradley, who had driven Harper into the city, sat in the center seat. The fifth seat, he assumed, was for him.
Harper’s gaze met his and with a tentative step forward, she continued her a cappella performance of a song their mother had once sung in a performance of On a Clear Day, You Can See Forever.
He’d heard the lyrics a hundred times. His mother had often sung it to him as a lullaby. He’d even seen Streisand interpret the song on film, and yet, Harper took the music to a new level. She’d added a bluesy swagger, and as she approached the big finish, her voice rose to octaves he wasn’t sure he’d heard her hit before. The producers had literally shifted to the edges of their seats. Mrs. Bradley was weeping with pride.
For his part, Jack couldn’t move. The desperation in Harper’s lyrical question echoed throughout the cavernous theater. A woman wondered why she couldn’t win back her lover’s love—questioned what she’d lost that he’d once found so irresistible. If only Jack had found Ana, he’d have what he’d never had before—a sister who had just run for a game-winning touchdown and a woman he could love.
He clapped first and loudest, even adding a whistle that probably made every dog in the Quarter run toward the theater. Harper beamed with pleasure, ignoring the producers entirely—her eyes were trained only on him. After a few seconds elapsed, her smile disappeared. She’d realized that he was alone.
Unfortunately, he’d taken a lot longer to figure out just how alone he’d been—too long to win Ana back.
16
HARPER and Mrs. Bradley watched from the truck as Jack lifted his fist to knock on the Boudreauxs’ door. By the time he’d discussed all the details regarding Harper’s debut in the Broadway revival of Once Upon a Mattress, the group had been together for hours. Though he’d desperately wanted to resume his search for Ana, he couldn’t politely refuse the producers’ invitation to dinner to celebrate.
He’d been firm in his negotiation of terms, and the producers had agreed to everything—including paying for a full-time tutor of Harper’s choosing. Jack could have afforded this, of course, but the only tutor Harper wanted—Tatiana Starlingham—was someone he didn’t want as his employee.
He wanted her as a lover. A partner. A friend. Unfortunately, Jack didn’t have a clue where to find her.
It was Mrs. Bradley’s suggestion that they contact the Boudreaux family, since they were the only other people Ana had spent time with during her brief stay. Paul must have heard them drive up because he opened the door before Jack could touch the splintered wood with his knuckles.
“Knew you’d show up here,” he said, rubbing his stubbled chin with bemusement.
“Excuse me?” Jack asked.
“Looking for that pretty lady that was here last night, are you?”
Jack’s chest tightened. “Have you seen her?”
“Sure I seen her. She showed up here early this morning, all torn up.” Paul Boudreaux puffed up his lean chest, attempting, Jack supposed, to match him in size. Well, that wasn’t going to happen, but the censure in the man’s piercing eyes was still powerful and effective. “I suppose you think you’re some sort of big man, breaking her heart, huh?”
“No, sir,” Jack replied. “We just had a misunderstanding. I need to find her and tell her I believe her.”
Jack didn’t know where that came from. Ana had been talking gibberish during her big confession, and while he’d tried to rationalize that her sudden bout of insanity had been brought on by extreme pressure from their argument over his sister, he hadn’t quite managed to buy that explanation. And yet, she’d been right about Harper. She’d been right about him.
He hadn’t been hiding only his sister in the bayou—he’d been hiding himself.
“You believe that she’s a fairy godmother trying to work her way out of the fairy-tale world?” Boudreaux asked, eyebrow arched.
Jack blinked. He hadn’t imagined she’d share that nutty story with anyone else.
“Um, yeah?” he answered tentatively.
Fairy godmother? Okay, now Jack really had stepped into the Twilight Zone. Especially since Boudreaux looked like this declaration was no different from Jack claiming that he used to play for the New York Giants—which he had.
Boudreaux laughed and slapped him on the back. “You’re smarter than you look, boy. Crazy story, I know, but there are stranger things happening here in the bayou, that’s for sure. Take your womenfolk back home and get them tucked into bed. Then come back here and I’ll tell you the rest of her story. She spilled her guts to the lot of us. Poor child. She’s crazy in love with you. At least she was. Now that she’s back in that weird world o’ hers, she won’t remember a thing about you.”
“Won’t remember?”
Boudreaux grabbed his arm and, for a little guy, had a surprising amount of strength as he pushed Jack off the porch. “Go on now. When you get back, I’ll help you find her.”
“Find her? You know where she went?”