Lucky's Lady (32 page)

“Have you gotten over me, Serena?” he asked, his voice soft and smoky.

Serena tried to turn her head away, but he caught her chin with one hand and tilted it up so she had no choice but to look at him.

“No,” she whispered, trembling inside. A lone tear teetered on the barrier of her lashes, then spilled over, washing away her last hope of keeping her pride intact. “No.”

“Then what the hell are you doin' here with another man?”

The jealousy in his tone was unmistakable. Serena's eyes widened. “David? He's just a friend. We work together.”

“You're not lovers?”

“No!” she snapped in annoyance. “Not that it's any of your business.”

Lucky took a step back from her, jamming his hands at the waist of his trousers. His scowl darkened from black to bottomless. “It damn well is my business,
chère
.”

“Oh, is that right?” Serena said sarcastically, one brow rising in mocking inquiry. “And why is that?”

“Because I love you!” Lucky roared.

The night seemed to go perfectly still. Serena stared up at him, unable to speak, unable to move a muscle. Lucky stared back, his chest heaving.

“I love you,” he said again softly, without the anger.

Slowly Serena rose from the bench, never taking her eyes off Lucky. “I'd given up hope on you,” she murmured. “I waited and waited for you to come back.” She shook her head as tears flooded her eyes and blurred her vision. “Say it again,” she whispered as she went into his arms. “Please say it again.”

“I love you.” Each word was a kiss against her temple as Lucky held her close and gloried in the feel of her against him. “
Je t'aime, ma chérie. Je t'aime
.”

He crushed her to him, finding her mouth with his and kissing her deeply, roughly, with all the hunger pent up over the long months without her. His tongue rubbed against hers, drinking in the sweet taste of her, then he pulled back a fraction of an inch and kissed the tears from her cheeks and lashes.

“Don' cry,
chère
. Don' cry,” he said. “It's all right now.”

Serena couldn't help herself. The rush of emotion was too strong, her control too fragile. She pressed her face into Lucky's broad shoulder and cried as the flood of feelings swept through her. She clung to Lucky, welcoming his strength, thanking God for the pleasure of having his arms around her again.

“Marry me, Serena,” he said, his voice tight and smoky with emotion. “I need you so. I can turn my life around a hundred eighty degrees and it still won't be worth a damn without you in it. Marry me.”

Serena lifted her head from his shoulder and managed a tremulous smile as she looked up at him. He was a hard man, stubborn, proud; life with him would never be easy or dull, but life without him hardly seemed worth the effort. She loved him beyond all reason, but then, reason had nothing to do with love. Her heart had looked beneath the surface and seen a man worth reaching out to. Now he was reaching out to her.

“Marry me, Serena,” he said again.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Have my children.”

“Yes.” Her smile widened as she took his hand and drew it around to the slight swell of her stomach.

She didn't have to say a word. Lucky read the message in her eyes. Warmth flowed through him as he pictured her holding their child, nursing a dark-haired baby at her pretty breast. Suddenly the life he had nearly thrown away seemed worth living. He pulled Serena close and held her for a long moment as the power of the love he felt swept through him like a cleansing wind, blowing away the last traces of darkness from his heart.

When he leaned back from her, Lucky brushed the last of Serena's tears away with his thumbs. His expression was a mask of concern. “I don' know what kind of a husband I'll make for you,
chère
,” he admitted. “I've been alone a long, long time. Longer than you know.”

“It's all right,” Serena said, lifting a hand to touch the smooth, hard plane of his cheek. “You won't be alone anymore.”

“I'll have my lady with me.”

“Always.”

Author's Note

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE SETTING OF
LUCKY
'
S LADY
AS
much as I enjoyed painting a picture of it for you with words. South Louisiana is a unique environment with a unique history and a unique and rich mix of cultural backgrounds. I have tried to portray some of this cultural diversity to the reader through the use of local dialects—in particular, through the use of a number of Cajun French words and phrases.

Cajun French differs from standard French much as Elizabethan English differs from the English we speak today. The language evolved separately from its mother tongue and has retained many antiquated words and phrases as well as incorporating new ones from other languages. There are many subdialects because this language was passed on for generations only orally. About sixty percent of the words in the Cajun vocabulary can be found in a standard French dictionary. The rest are unique to the patois.

Only recently have any attempts been made to preserve the language by writing it down, and those attempts have been embroiled in controversy. Arguments abound over how to go about saving the language, which dialect is the most correct, and whether or not the language should be saved at all. There are those who look upon it with disdain and call it simply “bad French.” Personally, I look upon it as a unique part of a unique heritage, something that deserves to be preserved.

My sources for the Cajun words and phrases used in
Lucky's Lady
include
Conversational Cajun French
by Harry Jannise and Randall P. Whatley as well as translations of various Cajun folksongs performed by the group Beausoleil (translations by Sharon Arms Doucet, Barry Ancelet, and Ann Savoy). My thanks to these people for their work in keeping Cajun French alive.

Glossary of Words and Phrases
Used in This Book

Bantam Books by TAMI HOAG

Dark Horse

Dust to Dust

Ashes to Ashes

A Thin Dark Line

Guilty as Sin

Night Sins

Dark Paradise

Cry Wolf

Still Waters

Lucky's Lady

Sarah's Sin

Magic

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Kill the Messenger

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