Untrusting Hearts: A Contemporary New Orleans Romance (13 page)

“Everybody will fall in love with Jade. She has the Broussard charm, along with the striking looks.” Ty emptied his glass and rose for a refill.

With the ease of an executive, Gage changed the subject. “I couldn’t help but notice the mountain of packages when I came in this evening. They practically filled the hallway and I almost tripped over one. Is anything out there for you, Maylene, or was Jade the lucky recipient of your generosity?”

“I bought myself a thing or two, though I’m not sure how it concerns you.”

“Put you in your place, hunh,” Ty mumbled. “About time, too.”

Jade felt a sense of the surreal wash over her. The outfits she had selected would hardly qualify as a mountain of clothes. In a quiet panic, Jade willed Maylene to change the subject.

Ty broke in, half inebriated already. “I guess the clothes you brought from home weren’t up to our standards here. In a place like Kansas, dressing for dinner probably means wearing Daisy Dukes and a black t-shirt, hopefully one long enough to cover any bellybutton piercing. Don’t get me wrong, though; I’ve got nothing against a pierced navel. I especially like the glitter of rhinestones myself.” He leered drunkenly at Jade. “You don’t have any piercings you’d care to show off, do you, darlin’?”

Gage’s features hardened. He set his drink aside and stood slowly, fists clenched.

Maylene blanched. She put a restraining hand on Gage’s sleeve, but glared at her nephew. “Ty Dubois! I’ll not have that kind of vulgar talk in my house!”

As Maylene spoke, Gage growled, “You’d better watch your step, Dubois. Jade isn’t one of your party girls; she’s a member of this family.”

“I was only joking around,” Ty said with a drunk’s loose, sly smile. “Doesn’t anyone in this house have a sense of humor?” He glanced at Jade and gave her a courtly, though uncoordinated, bow. “I’m sorry, cousin. No offense intended.”

Jade froze in her seat as prickles of embarrassment traveled over her skin. She struggled to keep her facial expression impassive. “None taken,” she managed, stung by the exchange and halfway shocked that Gage had been ready to jump to her defense, a move that struck her as hypocritical in the extreme. From the moment she’d stepped foot off the plane in New Orleans, she’d had to deal with Gage’s suspicions and innuendo, which had been difficult enough. Now, Ty seemed to be targeting her as well, and Gage didn’t like it. She watched him from under her lashes. His hands relaxed and he sat back down as the awkward moment passed.

She toyed with the idea of exploding, telling them just what she thought, and leaving the city on the first available flight. She didn’t belong here anyway; she belonged back in Kansas in the familiar comfort of her grandmother’s house.

But she didn’t leave. She held her silence and let the conversation around her fade into the background. Her eyes swept the room, resting on various elements of the space. A colorful cushion. The painting of Maylene’s country home that hung over the mantle. The twisting metal sculptures lit from behind that graced the shelves of a built-in cabinet. An ornate harp poised elegantly in a corner.

Her reverie was broken by the sound of a cell phone. Gage stepped into another room to take his call. Maylene was outlining her party plans to an apathetic Ty, who had retrieved the bottle of liquor from the bar and set it within easy reach on the end table.

Making the most of this opportunity, Jade muttered something vague about fresh air and made her getaway. Slipping down the hallway, she padded lightly over the thick rug to the solitude of the back patio.

After the air conditioned comfort of the house, the sultry night enveloped her like a warm bath. A storm was in the forecast but she didn’t sense any rain in the air. The sky was black, scattered with twinkling stars.

She leaned against the stone balustrade and gazed out over the lush gardens, softly illuminated by strategically placed landscape lights. The well-manicured hedges and shrubs were but shadowy denizens standing silent guard over flowerbeds and pathways. She could just see the outlines of the gazebo and the old carriage house that had been transformed into a modern garage sometime over the years.

Running her fingers idly over the smooth banister, she heard the French doors open and footsteps approaching. Without turning, she knew it was Gage. “Were you looking for me?” she asked.

“You weren’t hard to find. I saw you go down the hallway. We need to clear the air, Jade.”

A deep sigh escaped her lips. “About what?”

“About what? About today.”

“Haven’t you already excoriated me over that? Even you admitted there was no way I could have known what we were walking into.”

“I’m not talking about the Zulerha disaster. I’m referring to you traipsing around with Ty today and leaving Maylene here alone. After what she’d been through.”

“Oh, please. Maylene wasn’t alone. Ciana was here, as were the other staff members. In fact, you said yourself she’d probably nap all afternoon.”

“That’s no excuse. I hope your affection for her isn’t all pretense.” He stepped to the railing and stood next to her. “Remember when we went to the old plantation?”

She tried to ignore his nearness, the fact that his arm was just a few inches from hers. “You mean the time you lied to me and tricked me?”

“Yeah. That time I
lied
and
tricked
you.” His words were clipped, sardonic. “But do you recall what happened before you became unreasonable, had your little meltdown, and completely overreacted to the situation?”

Her back stiffened. “So that’s how you see it?”

“In retrospect, yeah.”

“Really.” She exhaled sharply. “Well, what about it?”

His tone leveled, softened almost imperceptibly. “We were having fun, Jade. We were close. And that day at the homestead? It was another beautiful instance. I thought we had really made a connection. I enjoyed our conversation and I was beginning to reevaluate my impression of you. While I was gone, thoughts of you kept popping into my head, so much so that it was hard to keep my mind on work. I kept visualizing your smile, reliving the feeling of holding you in my arms. Thinking I hadn’t been fair to you. Talking myself into giving you a chance.”

Jade felt brittle, as if any moment she would disintegrate into powder and blow away on the breeze. It sounded like Gage had started to have feelings for her, had possibly been on the verge of recognizing the extraordinary spark she felt so keenly. If so, how could he toss it aside over a simple mistake? Tentatively, she asked, “But?”

“But I’m confused. Regardless of how you make me feel personally, I have to look out for Maylene. I can’t let you take advantage of her.”

“And you believe that’s what I’m doing?”

“When the cat’s away...”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jade’s eyes burned into his in the dim light.

“While I was gone, you certainly got busy. Not only did you get a new wardrobe out of the deal, but you almost allowed Maylene to be swindled again.” His voice dripped with scorn.

“We’re back to that, huh? I thought we settled that issue earlier.”

“Not entirely. I’ve been thinking about it all day. You should’ve gotten her out of there the second you saw what was going on. You shouldn’t have let that woman say two words to her.”

“I did get her out of there, just as soon as it hit home what was happening. I did the best I could, even pretended to be sick in order to hurry her along. She
is
a grown woman with a mind of her own, you know. It’s not like I can physically carry her away.”

He went on as if she hadn’t spoken. “The sad thing is you didn’t have to go to such extremes. You’d already won. She’s already taken with you.”

Jade’s hurt transformed into anger. “Are you serious? You believe I took her shopping just to curry favor with her?”

“I don’t know what other motive you might have. Ever since I got here tonight she can’t stop talking about Madam Zulerha and the message she had for her. She believes Jean Pierre wanted to tell her how happy he is that she’s found you and warn her about some danger that might keep the two of you apart.”

“You blame me for what that crackpot might have wanted to tell Maylene?”

He shrugged a wide shoulder. “Who knows? Maybe you plotted with her ahead of time, slipped her a little cash in return for giving Maylene a reading favorable to your self-interest.”

“That’s really reaching. In fact, it borders on crazy. If that was my scheme, I wouldn’t have rushed Maylene out of the place. Besides, I haven’t heard Maylene mention the incident at all. If you think I could do something so evil, you don’t know me.” If he thought her guilty of such duplicity then they hadn’t a chance of working things out. Jade stared out at the back lawn and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter what I say at this point. You’ve made up your mind to distrust me and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“That remains to be seen.” He rested against the railing, too. “But if there is a repeat of what happened at that shop, you need to know I’ll hold you accountable.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Just making sure you understand me. If you hurt Maylene in any way, you’ll pay a dear price. I doubt you’re eager to see the inside of a courtroom.” He paused to make sure she got the point. “On a different topic, I have something to ask you.”

“More questions? How exciting,” she said dryly.

“I need to drive up to Baton Rouge for work next week, nothing that will take long. I thought you might like to come with me. We can do some sightseeing.”

She stared at him, mouth agape. “You’ve got to be kidding. You just threatened to take me to court, now you want me to go on a trip with you! Are you insane or is this your idea of humor?”

A wide grin lit up his face and revealed the charm behind his usual cynicism. “Actually, it was Maylene’s suggestion. But I like it.”

“You like it? You are too much.”

“Does that mean no?”

“I wouldn’t go with you if you handed me a gold-engraved invitation,” she huffed.

“Don’t be so quick to turn me down. You know, you might like Baton Rouge. It’s a fascinating place. Lots of history.” His tone had softened.

Her traitorous body responded to his voice with a rush of pleasure, in spite of their animosity. She recalled the sensuous press of his mouth on hers. If she rode with him to Baton Rouge, she could indulge in the thrill of his nearness, lose herself once more in fiery passion. And she wanted to, regardless of the storms between them. He had mentioned longing for her. Did he realize she longed for him, too? He had confessed having feelings for her. Would their time alone in the car rekindle those feelings? Perhaps. But if so, it would be with reluctance on his part, and she’d didn’t want it, not that way.

“I can’t go,” she said, somewhat stiffly. “I have something else planned.”

“Is that right? I can guess what it is.” His mouth tightened. “You’d better think twice before getting too involved with Ty Dubois. He’s not the man you think he is.”

“You don’t know what I think of him.”

“Whatever your opinion is, it’s bound to be uninformed. Your naiveté is truly alarming. Even his parents can’t tolerate him. They shoved him off on Jean Pierre and moved to New Zealand. I think they were hoping Jean Pierre could straighten him out, help him get serious about making some kind of life for himself. So far, that hasn’t happened.”

“Here’s what I’ve observed about Ty. He seems to live down to the low expectations you have of him. Maybe you should try a different approach. Maybe you should show some trust in him for once.”

“It’s pretty hard to trust someone who keeps screwing up. Oh, he’s smart, no doubt about that. And I’m sure you’d agree he can be likable when he wants to be. He has the potential to be instrumental in the running of JP’s if he’d give it a serious try. But he’s flighty and unpredictable. Unreliable. Top-level executive one minute, clueless beach bum the next.”

“Beach bums can be cool. They tend to be laidback and easygoing. Fun to be around.” She didn’t know why she wanted to aggravate him. He ought to just leave her alone; they had nothing more to discuss.

“Where were you and Ty today?” he asked in a hard voice.

Jade lifted her chin defiantly. “If it’s any of your business, he gave me a tour of the neighborhood.”

“Did he bring his friends with him?”

“What friends?”

“Oh, you know. Jim Beam. Johnny Walker. Jack Daniels.”

She was none too happy with Ty’s drinking either, but she chose to ignore the dig. “We had fun together.”

“That much was obvious when the two of you finally wandered in, you especially. You were fairly glowing.”

She dismissed his statement with a wave of her hand, and tried to inject some enthusiasm in her voice. “He has exciting plans for us tomorrow evening.”

“I’ll just bet he does.” He reached toward her face and she pulled back with a jerk, giving him a foul look as she did so.

“I was just going to brush your hair back,” he said, approaching more slowly this time. His fingers were gentle against her forehead.

“I’m not sure I want you touching me right now.” She worked to keep her tone even.

“Ah, Jade. I suppose I deserved that, but I want you to know something. While I was gone, I kept looking forward to seeing you again.” He was close enough she could smell his aftershave, feel his masculine vitality. He spoke quietly. “You probably don’t believe this, but I really missed you.”