by Ashlee Price
“What about you, Henri? Did you find you a nice little dark-skinned beauty down there that doesn’t speak English?”
Henri just shook his head. His brother was a mess and it was kind of refreshing to hear that it hadn’t changed. They were now the last to be single and as long as Scott stayed single, at least he wouldn’t be the only one. Paul and Marcel had already gone down the very path that Elna had prescribed to them. Henri was sure that he and his brother would be the hold outs.
“No, still single. The women were afraid of me down there I think. They called me the crazy white guy, so I don’t think I had much of a chance even if one had caught my attention.”
“You should have showed some of that money you got. That seems to work everywhere you go in the world. Cash is king.”
Henri sighed and grabbed some more coffee. He decided it would be scary to be in that man’s brain. “Well I didn’t go that route Scott. It’s not that much different then here.” His brother was acting like it was the Red District everywhere, but since he didn’t travel, there was a good chance that it was exactly what he thought. He wasn’t the smartest brother, but he was always good for a laugh.
“Yeah, well I wouldn’t mind getting out of here for a while.”
“You are still dating that one chick aren’t you?” Henri felt bad that he didn’t really know her or her name, but Scott kept her away for a reason. He liked to keep his romance life away from the family, probably to stop all the pressure that seemed to come with meeting the Callahan brood.
“Chick?” He guffawed. “You sound as bad as me. Yeah, we are still together.”
“Maybe you will be the next to get married.”
Scott gave him a dirty look and was relieved to hear his sister coming in. Her fiancée was with her and she went straight for Henri. They had been close as kids, Gemma was close with all of her brothers, but she had always liked Henri. He was the free spirit of the family and even though she hadn’t had the guts to run around the world, a small part of her still wanted to.
“Henri, my, you are dark! How have you been?”
She practically jumped into his arms and he twirled her around for a minute before letting her down and meeting the man she was about to marry. She made the introductions and Henri couldn’t have care about the man at all, but the way his sister was beaming, he had a feeling that they were perfect for each other. There was a second that he wished a woman would look at him like that, but he was so happy for his sister to have finally found love. Henri’s mind went to Mary briefly.
“I’m good sis. How are you? Congratulations on the engagement.”
Gemma was practically glowing, walking on air and she just beamed back at him. Her fiancée was looking at her with love and Scott made a gagging sound in the back of his throat. Gemma’s smile faded and she pushed him back. “Don’t be jealous. You need to just on and marry your girlfriend.”
Scott scowled and moved to the other side of the kitchen and poured another drink. He asked if anyone wanted anything and only Gemma gave him a drink order of ice water and lemon. “I meant more for your new beau.”
She didn’t care and Scott got her what she wanted. Gemma was one of those people that was hard to say no to. Both brothers gave each other a look. They kind of felt bad for her fiancée, but as long as he gave her what she wanted, it would be okay. Henri still had the scar on his hand where she had stabbed him with a fork. All the brothers knew that Gemma didn’t play. To see her so happy was good for Henri, but he wondered how long until she was throwing utensils at her soon-to-be husband.
Gemma asked him a bunch of questions and true to form, he couldn’t not answer her. She had a way of asking a question and he had to answer. Henri had always been unable to hide much from her, even when he could turn the rest of the world off. His mother came in a little after Gemma and the old ranch house was getting louder by the minute. Then Marcel and his wife, as well as Leanna and her husband came down and Elna was in the kitchen whipping up a meal for them all.
Henri found himself on the porch drinking something a little stiffer than a sweet tea. It was still loud, the people laughing and talking behind him in the house. He definitely wasn’t on the little ranch in Venezuela anymore and Henri wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He had missed his family, but while he was back in their bosom, he missed the silence and solitude.
“I thought I would find you out here, Henri. You were always the one as far away as possible when we had big get-together.”
“It is just too much with them. It always has been. I don’t know how you can deal with them all the time.”
“I can’t, that’s why I moved out last year.”
“Why didn’t I know that, Gemma?”
“Because you are always on your next adventure and I can’t hardly keep up. You aren’t going to be staying long, are you?”
He shrugged. Henri had told Carlos he would be back, but he wasn’t sure. There was something that he wanted to see about, see how it all would work out. Henri had been thinking about the woman he had met on the plane ever since he left her earlier in the day. It was strange to him because he usually didn’t do that. Usually he didn’t worry about women too much.
“I don’t know. I was thinking I might go into Houston later in the week.”
“Really? Why?”
Henri wasn’t ready to say anything about the why and he just shrugged.
“Henri, did you meet a girl?”
“No, why would you ask that?”
“Because that is the only thing that has been thinking you would go to the city in the first place. It’s not for the business, so it has to be a girl.”
He looked at her as if she may in fact be a witch. Gemma read people so well sometimes that it made the person wonder if she was in their head. “I did meet a woman on the plane.”
Gemma smiled broadly. “See I knew it was a girl. You should give her a call, Henri.”
Again he wondered how she knew so much. “I was thinking about it, but I don’t know.”
She waved her hand at him, “Trust me. Call her. She is waiting for you to call her I bet.”
He wanted to ask her how she knew that, but Gemma was already moving off with her fiancée to dance for a little while. Henri wanted to believe her and though it was just him again, her words were still with him. The fact was that it was what he wanted to hear. He wanted to think that she was waiting for him to call.
Chapter 5
When he finally did pull his phone out and give her a ring, she didn’t recognize his voice and his hopes of her waiting were dashed. “Who is this?”
“This is Henri.” He was now wondering why the hell he had called her at all. She did not even remember him.
“Oh, Henri, hey. I was wondering if you were going to call me or not. I figured I wouldn’t hear from you for a while. Don’t guys have rules on that kind of thing?”
“I don’t. I was wondering what you were doing this weekend?”
“Ah, called me for a date in days. Well I guess I like anticipation. Nothing I suppose. What are we doing?”
“I was hoping you would like to come to this little gathering I got to go to. It would be nice if you were there.” Henri couldn’t muster up a better answer. He was flummoxed by her not recognizing his voice. It was the first time that he cared and that bothered him. Henri had learned that caring could get him in trouble. He wanted her to have been waiting for the call, but it just wasn’t the case and he was having a hard time getting past that.
“What kind of gathering? What do you rich people do?”
He sighed. “It’s just a ceremony thing. Fancy dress. Dinner, dancing, that sort of thing. I understand if you don’t want to go.”
“Of course I would like to go.”
He let go of the air that he didn’t realize he was holding. There had been a fear that she was going to refuse. Henri didn’t mention that it was actually his sister’s wedding, but Henri didn’t want to go alone. I
f he did, he would be set up with a number of ladies from his mother and sister. Beyond that, Henri really just wanted to see her again. He had been thinking about her since she had walked away and now that she had agreed, he was feeling a bit of elation.
After giving her the address and the time, he hung up before he said something stupid and she decided against seeing him. He didn’t want her to change her mind. When she called back, he was afraid to answer, sure that she was going to tell him that she had done that very thing.
“Yeah?”
“Well I was actually going to see if you wanted to do a photo op?”
“Like before?”
She giggled a little and he really liked the sound of that. There was something magical about the way she sounded to him. “No not like before. One of my clients is a writer and now he is doing one on cowboys. He saw the picture I took of you on the plane and he is convinced that you would be perfect for it. I told him that I doubted you would.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“I don’t know. I guess because you don’t need the money, but I told him that I would at least ask.” She was nervous and talking faster and faster the longer he stayed silent on the other side. Why couldn’t he just say something, she thought to herself?
“That sounds good, Mary. Why don’t you come here on Friday and we can do it then. There is plenty of room at the ranch if you want to just stay the night.”
His suggestions caught her off guard, but it sounded like a good plan. There was nothing more that Mary would like to do. “Sounds good. I will see you in a couple of days.”
“Okay, see you then.” Henri hung up with hope back in his heart and Scott made a comment about the stupid grin on his face when he went back in.
“What the hell are you grinning like an idiot for?”
Henri just shrugged. His brother was the most unromantic of them all and Henri doubted that his brother would understand it if he tried to tell him. Henri didn’t even know if there was an explanation that he had. She was the type of person that drove him crazy and made him wonder why he hadn’t gone to the next level. With Mary, he could see himself going to a level that he hadn’t thought of before.
“Nothing, Scott. You wouldn’t understand.”
He looked at the back of him a bit bewildered. Scott was starting to wonder if everybody around him was going crazy. He blamed it on all of the love in the air. It seemed to be cutting off the oxygen to their brains and everyone had lost their damn mind. If he was honest with himself, he knew that it was their mother’s fault for putting it all in her heads. Shaking his head, Scott went back inside to the impromptu party calming down. Davina and Marcel had already gone home because she was pregnant and ready. Leanna and Gemma were talking about the next new addition to the family as they left and Henri was already upstairs. Scott sighed to himself and called his girlfriend up to see if she wanted to go out.
“Don’t worry Scott. It will be your turn before you know it.”
Scott tried to hide the grimace behind a smile as Elna smiled back at him. She had the same look that Gemma got sometimes when she was deciding what was best for him. Scott nodded and went up the stairs. Why did it sound like a threat?
***
Mary got off the phone and smiled to the empty apartment around her. She had not expected him to call her so quickly and he had agreed so readily to help her. Mary wondered if he wanted something in return or if he just wanted to see her again. She hoped it was the latter. Pushing the small cat from her lap, Mary got up and sighed at the view she had been missing. Prices were high in the city, but at least she got a view.
After her meeting with the author, Mary had gotten some mail that was being held for her and just relaxed. It was later in the evening when Henri had called. It made her think about him as she went to sleep that night. There was something about the cowboy that she really liked. When she heard the ringtone for her ex, she didn’t even bother to answer. He had been what she had thought of before she had met Henri, but now there was only Henri to think about. No one else would compare. Mary was starting to think that it was time for her to try something new as well.
The next morning she got up with the sun and took a couple pictures of the sunrise. It was something that she had done most of the days when she was in town. There was an idea in the back of her head to make it a time lapsed video, but she was still working on the prints. After a shower and breakfast, Mary had an appointment down at the Herald. They had a couple of assignments and Mary was always in need of just one more job. She was always waiting for the moment people realized that photographs were easy to do and she would be out of work for good. It hadn’t happened yet, but Mary still found it hard to turn down a job.
When she finally made it to the paper, she was running a little late from traffic and was feeling a little like just turning around and rescheduling. Mary persisted though, knowing she needed the money. She left her name with Belinda’s secretary that was new and waited to be called back to the office of the person she had always coordinated with. “She will see you now Miss.”
Mary thanked her and followed her back down the familiar hallway. It had been a couple of years that she had first started to freelance for the paper when she was fresh out of college. Mary had seen the Herald as a starting to point, but it had instead become her plateau. Mary was sure that she just needed one big break and she would be flooded with orders. The time just hadn’t come yet.
“Good to see you, Mary.”
Mary nodded at the tall Russian woman that nodded her towards a seat. Belinda was intimidating by any stretch of the imagination. She had a no nonsense way about her and as she looked back at Mary, she swallowed hard. She felt like she was in the Principal’s office and she didn’t know what she was there for. Even when the woman was being nice to her, it didn’t feel that warm.
“Good to see you too, Belinda. I was surprised to hear from you guys so soon.”
“Well we have gotten a lot of good reviews on your pictures and we were hoping that you would like to come on for a more permanent position.”
Mary was a bit stunned. She had not seen it coming and though it would solve a lot of her problems with money, she didn’t like the idea of having a boss again. It had been years since she had had to answer to anyone with her time and effort and her head was shaking no before her brain could really process the question.
Her eye brow shot up. “You don’t want a job with us?”
“It’s not that Belinda. I just have freelanced for a while and though I love the assignments, I don’t want to be weighed down with the obligation.”
She rolled her eyes and muttered something about millennials. Mary didn’t comment either way, but she was sure that the rest of the conversation was not going to go well. “I just have other clients that I couldn’t let go of. I always appreciate the work.”
Mary was trying to smooth things over and it seemed like Belinda was taking it for all it was worth. Belinda smiled back at her, the first time she had seen it in person and she wondered if the woman’s face was going to crack. “Well I wasn’t expecting that answer, but I can see your point. What else are you working on right now?”
She was hesitant to tell her more, but she did tell her about her author client and his new job.
“That sounds like fun. Who are you photographing for the cowboy set –up?”
Mary told her and the older woman’s eyes started to widen. “Henri Callahan? Is that so?”
Belinda’s mind was working and it wouldn’t have been the first time she was trying to get the inside scoop on the Callahan family. They were like royalty in Texas and Belinda had been hearing rumors. “How do you feel about doing an assignment on him for me as well? You should go down there and see what is going on at that ranch. A lot of strange things have been happening there, but no one knows the truth. You could get the truth and help one of our reporters write the story.”
She shook her head as if she had gotten a better idea. “E
ven better, why don’t I send Carl down to you as like an assistant and he can write the article, all you have to do is bring him with you and he will take care of the rest?”
Mary was a bit thrown off with the idea of spying on anyone, especially a nice guy like Henri. She knew that there were a lot of people that were interested because he made a lot of money, but it had been clear to her how much he just wanted to be left alone. Her mind couldn’t wrap itself around the idea. “No I am sorry, but he is a very private person. I couldn’t do that to him.”
Belinda nodded her head like she understood, but she was already making a plan as to how she was going to get what she wanted. Mary would get her the scoop whether she knew it or not, even if she didn’t want to help her. “You’re right. Don’t worry about it Mary. It was just a thought. When are you going down there?”
Mary gave her the dates and the two women talked about another couple of jobs that were less traitorous. Belinda had a look in her eyes when she had found out who Mary was supposed to be photographing that weekend. Mary didn’t know what it was that she wanted from him, but her eyes had widened with glee. It gave her a bad feeling, but Mary still needed the job and the extra money. Her client list was looking bare and the loss of the Herald would be painful.
She left the woman’s office a little perplexed and wondering what it was that Belinda or the paper was so eager to get out of the Callahan family. There was always a need for new information and scoops that would sell papers. The family didn’t like the spotlight and that just made everyone else want to know more. Henri was the most reclusive of them all, being out of the country for so long. Mary walked towards her car with a bad feeling in her stomach. There was no reason for it. It didn’t make sense, but it was there.
Chapter 6
Henri took the next day to spend it how he wanted. It wasn’t to talk to family and friends, getting far more than enough of that the day before. All he had really wanted to do was take a nice long ride on a horse that he was familiar with and just go.