Recovery (18 page)

Chapter 21

The limo pulled up in front of a
gray two-story cottage on the corner of Dumaine and Royal streets. On both sides of the front door were old-fashioned gas lanterns and two thick wood shutters painted a deep forest green. Every residence in the quarter had such shutters on the doors and windows at street level, harkening back to the days when New Orleans had been a very dangerous place to live.

A short, gray-haired man dressed in costume from the era when the house had been built came up to the limousine and opened the door.

“Welcome,” the gentleman said. He then stepped aside and waved us onward to the entrance.

Inside, the residence was furnished in rich mahogany and red velvet Napoleonic furniture with deep plush Persian carpets over well-worn oak hardwood floors. Above, twenty-foot ceilings with intricate plaster detail of grape vines and the Roman god Bacchus looked down over the guests. Standing about the living room were white marble statues that I recognized from Val’s place on the lake. At least she was able to salvage some things from the wreckage of the storm.

Formally dressed members of the city’s elite were scattered about while black-tie waiters and waitresses carried silver trays filled with Baccarat crystal flutes brimming with champagne. There was even a string quartet in the corner of the room playing softly in the background.

“There y’all are,” the vibrant voice called to us from the back of the room.

Val came forward wearing a bright red velvet dress with gold brocade woven around a plunging neckline.

“Val, you look amazing,” my father stated, kissing her cheek.

Uncle Lance laughed as he inspected Val’s dress. “You look like a red velvet cake.”

“I can always count on you, Lance, for comic relief.” Val kissed his cheek then she turned to me. “Holy crap!” she shouted when her eyes beheld my necklace. “Lord have mercy, Nicci, a person could go blind looking at that thing.”

I blushed and raised my hands to gently caress the diamonds and emeralds. “A gift,” I explained.

Val placed her hands on her hips. “From whom?”

“Me, Val,” Dallas said, and then kissed her cheek. “I thought she needed to look radiant tonight.”

“Dearie, that girl is putting out enough wattage to light the entire city of New Orleans,” Val declared, pointing to me.

Dallas smiled, looking pleased. “Why don’t you show us to the bar, eh?”

Val gave me one last worried glance and then said, “They’re next to the buffet tables out in the courtyard.”

We followed her through a small sitting area behind the living room and out a pair of French doors to an expansive red brick courtyard.

Along the edge of the courtyard were gardens filled with assorted green shrubs and some blooming poinsettias. There were three white linen tables with silver chafing dishes along the back wall, and on each side of the entrance was a bar. Bartenders, in uniforms similar to the doorman’s, waited patiently behind the bar for drink orders.

The second-floor porches above the courtyard were draped with white lights, vying with the stars up in the heavens for attention. People were milling about the buffet service or sitting around many of the small black wrought-iron tables set up throughout the area.

“Get something to eat and drink,” Val instructed, waving her hand about the courtyard, “and enjoy the party.”

My father, Uncle Lance, and Dallas started toward the bar. As I was about to walk away with them, Val grabbed my arm.

“He gave you that!” she all but shouted in my ear.

I turned to her and tried to smile. Suddenly the prospect of lying to the woman who had supported me in every endeavor, made my stomach churn. I felt as if I had become part of the devious society I had struggled all my life to rise above.

“Dallas surprised me with it today,” I said, avoiding her inquisitive stare.

“Nicci, men do not give pieces of jewelry like that to a woman unless they are real serious or really, really stupid.”

I shook my head while trying to come up with something plausible to tell Val. I knew I could not deceive her but, on the other hand, I had to protect Dallas and our cover. “It just recently got serious between us, Val. It’s all been happening so fast I haven’t been able to tell anyone.”

Her eyes seemed to fill with a fiery glow. “How serious? Because just two weeks ago you were telling me you weren’t sure what this man meant to you.”

“He’s asked me to move to New York with him.” I paused, trying to put some conviction behind my words. “He says he wants to marry me,” I added, hoping I sounded sincere.

“Marry you?” Val placed her hands on her hips and furrowed her brow at me. “Funny, I don’t see that kind of passion when he looks at you. I see a man putting on a good show, but his heart just isn’t in it.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “And neither is yours. It’s just like you were doing with Michael, but something is different this time.”

My gut twisted up at the mention of Michael’s name. I felt this would be a good opportunity to change the subject and hopefully distract Val. “Yes, well, I need to make it up to Michael for hurting him the way I did. That’s why I invited him tonight. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Mind, hell no. It will be the highlight of my evening to watch the moron drooling over you in that outfit. C’mon,” she said, taking my elbow, “let’s go get you a drink. I have a strange feeling you’re gonna need it.”

We were standing in the center of the courtyard sipping champagne when Hattie, Uncle Ned, and Colleen walked in.

“Hoovers are here,” my uncle whispered next to me.

Colleen was the first to come strolling over to our little group. She was dressed in a sophisticated dark blue scoop-neck gown without any ruffles, bows, lace, or ribbons. She appeared rather pretty without all of the extra trappings she usually wore.

When Colleen saw my necklace, she stopped dead in her tracks. “Jesus!” Colleen stood motionless for a moment. “Nicci, where did you get that?” She pointed to the necklace, drawing stares from a few people around us.

Dallas put his arm around me and smiled at Colleen. “I gave it to her, along with the dress. I wanted her to look like a princess tonight.”

Colleen’s eyes were all over Dallas. “You gave her that? But I got the impression that—”

“Oh, my God, girl!” Aunt Hattie was at my side instantly buzzing like a hummingbird to nectar. She was dressed in a snug red and white striped gown that reminded me more of a candy cane than a dress.

“Where in the world did you get that?” Aunt Hattie was also pointing to the necklace.

“Dallas gave it to her,” Colleen said while giving me a questioning look.

“Oh, my goodness.” Aunt Hattie pulled out her glasses from her purse and inspected the piece. Then she put her glasses down and turned to Dallas. “You have exquisite taste.” She looked over to Uncle Ned standing behind her. “How come you never buy me anything like that?”

“Because we’ve been married for fourteen years, Hattie, that’s why.” Uncle Ned came forward and gave me a peck on the cheek. I noticed his eyes lingered on the necklace as well. “I didn’t realize architects did so well,” he commented as he raised his eyes to Dallas.

Dallas cracked a smile. “Coming from a wealthy family helps.”

Uncle Ned nodded approvingly. “Yes, it does.”

“Well, Michael will be simply heartbroken when he sees you and your architect are so in love,” Aunt Hattie said as she kept staring at my necklace. “His mother, Ginny, told me you had invited him tonight. He apparently has not stopped talking about you ever since he saw you at BeBe’s party. I think he’s coming here tonight to try to steal you away from this young man.” She motioned to Dallas.

“He won’t be able to do that.” Dallas all but laughed. “Nicci and I are very much in love. And after I get over my injuries during my respite in Hammond…” Dallas nodded to his sling, “…I’ll be taking Nicci back to New York with me.”

Colleen raised her eyebrows, my aunt smiled radiantly, and Uncle Ned frowned.

Uncle Ned was the first to speak up. “That’s moving rather fast, isn’t it?”

Aunt Hattie waved off his comment. “Oh, hush up, Neddie. I think it’s marvelous that the two of you have hit it off.”

Colleen was watching me, her arms crossed over her chest. “Well, I think it’s absolutely amazing,” she scoffed.

I looked over at Colleen and smiled. I could feel Dallas tighten his arm around my waist, giving me encouragement.

“Well, I will just have to tell everyone here how happy the two of you are.” Aunt Hattie’s voice rose higher and she started wiggling her finger at me. “And perhaps sometime soon we will be hearing wedding bells for my dear niece?”

“Aunt Hattie!” I almost dropped my glass of champagne. “Jumping the gun a bit, aren’t you?” I questioned, feeling more and more uncomfortable with the entire situation.

“Is she, dear?” Dallas chimed in beside me.

I looked up into his face, begging him with my eyes not to say another word.

Dallas quickly turned from me to my aunt. “We just thought that we would give it a little more time before we made a formal announcement, Aunt Hattie.”

Colleen rolled her eyes at Dallas. “Why wait? If you two are so in love?” she added sarcastically.

Aunt Hattie ran up to my father and kissed his cheek. “Aren’t you just delighted, Bill?”

“Over the moon,” Dad replied, smiling.

Uncle Lance raised his glass of champagne. “I should think a spring wedding would be best. Spring is best for weddings.”

“You should know,” my father joked.

“Oh, definitely, Lance, you are right,” Aunt Hattie all but squealed with excitement. “Spring is best. At St. Louis Cathedral with a horse-drawn carriage draped with flowers. We could have a procession through the French Quarter with a jazz band to take them to a reception at Arnaud’s or maybe Antoine’s.” She paused and reflected for a moment. “I’ll call next week and get prices.”

I almost spit out the mouthful of champagne I was trying to swallow.

Dallas reached over and lovingly patted my back. “You all right, sweet cheeks?”

“Fine,” I groaned.

Aunt Hattie pointed across the courtyard. “Oh, there’s Alicia McAllister. I have to go and spread the good news.” She turned and was off to the other side of the courtyard, heading toward a tall, slender woman with a long nose and pointy chin.

Colleen peered disapprovingly into my eyes. “I need a drink,” she announced and then headed to the bar.

“I think I’ll join you,” Uncle Ned added, turning to follow behind Colleen.

Once they were out of earshot, I turned to Dallas. “Colleen doesn’t believe us. And why did you say anything to Aunt Hattie? She will tell everyone at the party we’re getting married, Dallas.”

He took a sip from his champagne and then turned to me. “Lower your voice. Coming from your aunt it will sound a hell of a lot more convincing.”

Uncle Lance came up beside me. “Dallas is right. Looks better coming from Hattie than you.” He nodded toward Aunt Hattie jabbering away with a group of people at the other end of the courtyard.

“With that dress and those rocks around your neck,” my father said, “everyone will believe you two are very, very serious. So just go along with the program, Nicci. And don’t worry about Colleen. She and Ned may have their doubts, but they’ll keep quiet.” He winked at me. “Dallas knows what he’s doing.” He walked away and headed over to a nearby buffet table.

“Not to worry, kid,” Uncle Lance assured. He turned and followed my father, leaving Dallas and me alone.

I turned to Dallas. “I don’t like this. It’s getting out of hand.”

“It’s supposed to look that way, Nicci. Hattie has her ammunition to spread all over the party. I’m sure once Eddie, Michael, and Sammy find out about our impending nuptials they will be at your side bending your ear about how you are making a mistake with me.”

I scanned the small crowd gathered in the courtyard with the sinking feeling that I was going to be the center of a great deal of unwanted gossip for weeks to come. “You know, there is just one problem with all of this. When this is over and you’ve gone back to New York, I’ll be the one left behind answering questions about what really happened between the two of us.”

Dallas just shrugged. “By then, we will have caught a killer. People have always preferred murder and mystery to tales of romance and heartache.”

“Then you definitely don’t know the book market, Dallas. Half of the books sold today are about romance, not intrigue. People prefer to read about lovers and lust. Murder they can see every day on the news.”

We mingled with the other guests, holding hands, sipping champagne, and looking into each other’s eyes. Dallas would lean over and kiss my forehead when he knew others were watching. Aunt Hattie seemed delighted with the whole performance. Colleen and Uncle Ned watched from the bar, their skepticism written all over their faces.

It didn’t take long for Sammy and Eddie to show. Sammy came dressed to the hilt in silver and sapphires. Her long blonde hair was down, curled around her shoulders, and had strands of silver woven throughout. Eddie was next to her, wearing another expensive designer tuxedo. But when he walked into the courtyard, I felt a twinge of panic when I saw who was on his arm.

“Oh, no,” I said quietly to Dallas. “Emily Thorne.” I nodded to the round-faced, blond, dressed in a very low-cut black dress clinging to Eddie’s arm.

“Who’s that?” Dallas asked as he inspected Eddie and his date.

“A problem.” I turned to see Colleen had just spotted the same problem from her vantage point at the bar. “Emily and Colleen are not what I would call the best of friends,” I added.

Dallas looked over to watch Colleen’s reaction. “Because of Eddie?”

“No, because of Colleen’s previous boyfriend, Parker Roy. She caught Emily and Parker in bed together,” I explained, dreading how my impetuous cousin would react to the entire situation.

“This should get interesting.” Dallas raised his champagne to his lips. “What do you think Eddie will do?” he asked, hiding his words behind his glass.

“Rub Colleen’s nose in it.”

A red-faced Colleen was already storming her way over to the couple before I had even finished my sentence. Dallas and I stood frozen, watching as the two young women exchanged some heated words, none of which we could hear. Then the volume of the argument quickly escalated.

“You little slut!” Colleen shouted loud enough for the entire courtyard to grow quiet. “Can’t wait to jump into bed with another one of my leftovers, can you, Emily!”

“Leftovers!” Emily screamed. “Parker was so sick of you, he couldn’t wait to get away!”

Positioned in the middle of the all the yelling, Sammy stood holding out her arms to keep the two women apart.

“All we need now is some mud and a whistle,” Dallas cracked.

I glared at him, deciding I had better refrain from telling him where he could shove that whistle. I made a move to run over to Colleen but Dallas held my arm.

“No, Nicci,” Dallas said firmly. “Let Ned handle it.”

Then I saw Uncle Ned move from his spot at the bar to Colleen’s side in the middle of the courtyard.

It wasn’t long after that the two women went for each other. As each girl grabbed at the other’s perfectly coiffed hairdo and tried to rip shreds from her opponent’s gown, Sammy wrapped her arms around Emily just as Ned reached for Colleen.

I pulled against Dallas, eagerly wanting to go and help my cousin.

“Don’t even think about it,” Dallas murmured as he tightened his grip on my arm. “I need you to be seen and remembered with me, not breaking up some silly brawl.”

“She’s my cousin. I can’t just stand here and do nothing!” I pleaded with him.

“When Eddie sees you,” Dallas said as he lowered his head to me, “he will come to you. And you need to be next to me when that happens.”

I noticed Eddie was standing by watching the fight from the sidelines looking completely unflustered as the girls bared their claws and yelled insults at each other. Then he spotted me with Dallas across the courtyard and walked away from the skirmish heading right toward us.

I looked over at Dallas. “But how did you know he would—” I never got to finish my sentence because Eddie was instantly in front of me.

“Nicci,” Eddie beamed as he took in my outfit. “You look beautiful.”

I watched over Eddie’s shoulder as the insults continued and was amazed how he showed not the slightest interest in the catfight taking place in his honor.

“Thank you.” I looked back into his pale face as I motioned to Dallas on my right. “Eddie, you remember Dallas.”

“I love that dress,” Eddie said, ignoring Dallas as he continued to stare at me. “It makes you look so, so beautiful.”

“I think you said that already, Eddie,” Dallas cut in. “I would suggest, my friend, that you go back to your date and help break up that little scuffle.” Dallas glanced over Eddie’s shoulder as Colleen reached out to grab a few strands of Emily’s hair.