Bayou Born (Fleur de Lis Series) (18 page)

Steven shouted, “You’ll be back! You love me! You’ll be back. You know your family wants me.”

He was right. She
had
loved him.

Afterward, it took all the strength she had not to cave when their families got involved and pleaded his case. She never told anyone what happened. The shame was too much. Everyone chalked it up to pre-wedding jitters. Everyone took Steven’s side.

Camilla had pushed hardest.

Branna tightened her fists in her lap. In her world, men weren’t unfaithful to their fiancés or wives. An engagement was a commitment. An intention. If Steven couldn’t honor monogamy then, she had no illusions that he would be faithful during their marriage. A husband and wife, like her parents and all of her aunts and uncles, were a team who vowed to love and respect and honor. She had refused to marry Steven, no matter how much her broken heart nudged.

In the end, it was Camilla’s advice that made her stand her ground. “I
know
he’s been unfaithful. I
know
that’s why you won’t go through with it, but you have the greatest capacity to forgive. Forgive him. Besides, you always do what Momma and Daddy want.”

“Not this time,” Branna whispered as she stared out the window. There was only one way Camilla could have known about Steven’s transgression...but was her sister a willing participant, or an innocent victim of the calculating low-life?

Steven’s pursuit of her had lessened over the last two months. But how had he heard that she’d left Fleur de Lis? She never showed her face in town after the breakup. From where or from whom did he get her work number? None of her family would dare talk to him...except maybe Camilla.

Peaceful serenity filled her as she tore each message into tiny pieces. They fluttered like delicate pink snowflakes into the waste paper basket. Once she had finished, she slapped her together, happy to be rid of any evidence of her painful past.

She pulled out the roster for her first class to run through each of the names, practicing pronunciations, she hoped to speak them correctly in class. Half way through, the phone rang.

“Miss Lind,” she answered, then made a check mark by a name on the roster to keep her place.

“Hello, gorgeous. How’s my baby-doll?”

Branna dropped the receiver as though it had burned her hands. Jumping up, she rounded her desk and closed her office door. The last thing she needed was for Sadie’s sharp ears to overhear whatever would come next.

She took a deep breath, calmly sat in her chair, then cautiously picked up the phone.

“Branna? Are you there?”

“Yes,” she answered quietly.

“I’m calling to congratulate you on your new teaching job.” His enthusiasm made her wary.

“Thank you.”

“I could have gotten you a full-time position at the community college here. No more adult-education night school for you. You didn’t have to run so far from Bayou Petite.”

What could she say to that? If she said he had nothing to do with her leaving, he’d never believe it. She had never made a habit of lying, however, her life was none of his business. In fact, it was off limits in any discussion with him. “I have to go, Steven.”

“I’m sending you a gift today. Please let me know when you receive it.”

She could tell him she would refuse any gift, but it wouldn’t do any good. His ego wouldn’t hear of it. He had showered her with gifts for the first month after their broken engagement. She sent them all back. Each time he tried to see her, she’d refused. It had been a long uncomfortable seven months. Hearing his voice proved to her how much her heart had mended. She couldn’t be swayed by his charm. Standing up to him, even if it was only over the phone, inched her confidence up enough that she could scaled the Empire State Building without a superhero’s help.

“Good bye, Steven,” she said calmly and hung up the phone.

A second later, a knocked sounded at her door. “Miss Lind? I’m sorry to disturb you. I need a moment of your time.”

She rose from her chair and opened the door for Sadie, then stepped into the lobby.

“Delivery man—I mean person, it could be a woman—aren’t allowed to roam freely on campus. There’s a delivery for you at the front desk in the Admin building. Would you like to pick it up or shall I ask one of the grounds men to deliver it here to the office?”

“First, I need to ask. How do you receive calls for me—the messages?”

“Incoming calls go directly to your office number. They bounce to my phone if you’re not in your office to answer. Or you’re too busy and choose to let it ring back to me.”

“I see.” Sadie had to be the one to provide Steven with the information. “About the delivery, do you know what it is?” She searched Sadie’s face for a clue. Steven could be so persuasive. Could he have recruited Sadie to help him with his scheme?

“Yes, I do. Your caller, the one from the messages, told me to expect it. Told me several other things, too. Are you sure you don’t want to talk to me about what’s bothering you?”

“Sadie, thank you. I assure you, there’s nothing bothering me, other than I’m trying to learn my students’ names. If you know what the gift is, is it something that you’d enjoy?”

Sadie’s chin dipped, her eye lashes fluttered, and she smiled coyly. “I know you’ll love it. I certainly would.”

“Good. Have it delivered to you. I have a class. Whatever the gift, I don’t want it. I guarantee you that.”

“But Miss Lind?”

“No buts. Either accept the delivery for yourself or send it back. I don’t care.”

“All right.” Sadie sounded tentative. “I’ll go and get it myself.” The woman did an about-face like a well-trained soldier and left.

As Branna turned, she spotted James at his desk through the sidelight window of the office. With one elbow resting on the desktop, he held the phone receiver to his ear as he talked, all the while fingering a silver object on his desk. His eyes were closed.

She started to tap on the glass and wave, but his expression shifted to one of pain. A sharp stab hit her gut. What might she do to bring a smile to the lips that had sent tingles shooting all the way to her toes when they last touched hers?

Chapter 18

“Caroline, why are you calling me?” James demanded, wishing he’d never picked up the phone. Their relationship was years over, but their shared loss still connected them more than their family’s long relationship.

“James Dallas Newbern, that gorgeous house you bought would have been ours. You haven’t invited me over. We would’ve raised our little
Katie
there.”

He hated it when Caroline whined. She always used the Katie card when she wanted something. Caroline had not one nurturing bone in her body. That became crystal clear when she had demanded a full-time, live-in nanny for Katie, before the child had been born.

“That’s the past.”

“Only three years. Dr. Simpson says that people grieve in their own way and mine is taking longer than some, but not as long as some of his other patients.”

“I’m sure he appreciates the weekly paycheck.” He figured the doctor would announce Caroline was healed or recovered or whatever as soon as her money ran out. He also heard the pout in her voice and could picture her stomping her foot. In the early stages of their relationship, he’d found her little pout cute. However, he’d grown to hate that about her by the time Katie was born.

“There’s no need for sarcasm, James. After all,
we
were Katie’s parents.”

It seemed so long ago, a different life. When they were a couple. A different time. He was a different man back then, and set on disproving the old saying, “You can take the man out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the man.” For the life of him now, he couldn’t remember why he thought that. There was nothing wrong with being successful, and being a country boy, too. He still wanted it all, career, family and his own home in the city, though he didn’t admit it to anyone.

And, he’d mistakenly thought he’d have all of that when Caroline walked into his life, or rather she backed into it.

Women drivers. He had backed out of a parking space, then she backed her car into his. It was during his college years. The campus police said they were both at fault. He’d offered to buy her a pizza to get her to drop the whole thing, there was barely a dent in either car. Her coy grins brought out the apples of her cheeks and showed off her dimples. Long curly blonde hair, crystal blue eyes. Everything to like. Their family had attended church together for years, but until then, he’d never really looked at her. That day, she batted her long lashes at him, and his hormones answered. After that, his obsession for her was beyond anything he understood.

Looking back, if someone suggested the connection between them was the result of her being a vampire
and
his maker, he couldn’t argue with that. She had sucked the life out of him.

Within a month, he’d bought a one-carat solitaire engagement ring. When he proposed, she said yes, but wanted a bigger diamond before the wedding. He promised her one as soon as he could afford it. Her mother insisted it would take a minimum of a year to plan a proper wedding, and pointedly suggested he have the new ring by then.

The night of their engagement party, after they dined with a hundred well-wishers, he’d taken her to the river. Under the stars at the water’s edge with the soft lap of the water, they made love.

What came next shouldn’t have been a surprise.

Caroline waited until she was more than three months pregnant to tell him or their family. Her mother, the devout Southern Baptist, wanted to move up the wedding date, no grandchild of hers would be born out of wedlock, but Caroline’s will proved stronger. She demanded a couture gown in white and a wedding she’d always remember. She wouldn’t get married until
after
the baby was born.

He always wondered if she’d done that to keep him dangling.

The months were torturous. Caroline grew more contentious and demanding as her body changed and grew. At first, he chalked it up to hormones, pregnant women had those problems, but she acted as though she wasn’t pregnant. Whenever he tried to talk about their baby, Caroline would change the subject. She never even admitted her waist had spread. Denial. At a level he’d never seen before. Pregnancy brought out the worst in her. And, she never let him touch her again.

Then Katie was born. Caroline wouldn’t even look at her.

Yet, he was in love the minute the nurse put Katie in his arms. That first contact lasted a few moments, but he had bonded with her. He never wanted her to feel alone. He never wanted her to feel unloved. Never wanted her to have an apathetic mother. Maybe Caroline really couldn’t help it. According to her shrink, she was a complete narcissist. Caroline somehow misconstrued the diagnosis and considered it a high compliment.

He and Caroline never married. Her true colors glowed during her pregnancy. He suggested counseling before they considered taking another step in the direction of marriage. Their pastor insisted on counseling, but Caroline refused.

The worst of it was the day Katie came home from the hospital. Caroline acted as though she’d dropped a watermelon in a field and after that, it was someone else’s responsibility. Instead of a wedding, he and Caroline worked out a custody agreement with Katie living with him.

His little Katie had almost made it to her first birthday.

“James? Are you listening to me? James?”

He picked up the polished silver rattle on his desk. Light glinted. A reminder of his daughter. Hard to believe Katie would have started preschool this year.

“No, Caroline, I’m not. Not anymore.” He hung up. Katie might be gone, but he had other kids in his life. Kids with hopes and dreams. That’s what he loved about teaching. Helping others take another step on their journey.

He grabbed a binder and a pen and left his office. In the past, the first day of classes always lifted his spirits. Maybe today it would be the same. He looked around. Sadie wasn’t at her desk. Usually, he let her know where he was headed. It was odd that she wasn’t there, but maybe she slipped away to make copies or visit the ladies’ room. He scribbled a note and left it for her.

As the class before his let out, he slipped between small groups of students. Waving to the instructor wiping the white board clean, he took the middle seat in the back row of the room and waited.

Students’ nervous chatter came with the first day of classes. For most, his class would be their first taste of college ever. He enjoyed the newbies, though the freshman that delayed starting college until fall often appeared more attentive. Something happened between high school graduation and their first day of community college that washed away half of their arrogance. Fall-starting students seemed to embrace a fresh view of the world.

The incoming students found seats and paid him no attention, an old man in a class of late-aged teenagers. It didn’t surprise him that not one student sat in the front row. He tracked the time on his watch since the classroom clock hung on the wall behind him. When his watched showed a minute past nine fifteen, he stood up.

“This is Communications 101, an entry-level first-year class,” he said. All eyes turned to him. He took his time making his way to the front of the room. The thud of his boots echoed in the silence as he walked behind his desk, then paced in front of the white board. He had their attention.

When he turned to face his audience, they looked back with surprise, curiosity, and a few challenging stares.