Page 59 of Right With You
I super did not want to dance with him. What would we talk about? What would I say when the last thing he’d said to me was essentially I wasn’t good enough to join his family?
“No, I’m sorry. I’d like a few more minutes with my fiancée.”
Luc’s expression was neutral, but I could feel the tension in his body that hadn’t been there before.
His grandfather said something in French, to which Luc nodded, then Mr. Devereaux walked away.
“He said we should come have a drink before dinner. There’s an open bar. I agreed, but if you’d prefer to find friends, I’d be happy for you to do that and not deal with him.”
Apology laced every syllable, like he regretted I’d have to interact with his grandfather at all.
“That’s why I’m here, though. I can handle him, really.”
It wasn’t false bravado that had me saying this, either. Gérard Devereaux had caught me off guard these last few nights, no doubt, but I wasn’t about to cow to him. I’d spent enough time being degraded by men who thought they were better than me, and in the last twenty-four hours, I’d learned I could handle it. Heck, in the last five years, I’d learned the same.
Anything that man had to say about me, he could say. If he needed to belittle some woman he’d never met, a person his grandson had, to his knowledge, fallen for and proposed to, then he had problems. And they weren’t about me.
This odd little adventure with Luc had forced me to confront more than one of my fears—my mother, my past relationships, and even my education and work choices. And tonight, surrounded by the one percent of society in Silverton and beyond, I felt more settled and proud of who I’d become through those trials than ever before. I wasn’t done, but I was still growing. Still learning. Not stopping.
“I just don’t know how far he’s going to take all of this. But if I can speak to him alone, it might help.”
The determined glint in his eye clarified it for me. “Okay. Why don’t you have a drink with him, and I’ll go say hi to Liz and Eddie. Oh, and I see Calla and Jenna over there. Maybe I can just introduce myself?”
He stopped our dancing and gave me a look I couldn’t decipher, then kissed my forehead.
The action was so soft and slow, it shouldn’t have startled me the way it did. It was just that I wasn’t sure anyone had done anything so purely sweet, and it made me feel a little bit like my heart was breaking.
“She’ll love it. I’ll come find you in a few minutes,” he said, that…somethingstill there.
I cleared my throat of the emotion that’d suddenly jumped there and pressed a hand to his perfectly close-trimmed beard. “Perfect. And, hey?—”
He gave me his full attention, right here in the middle of the bustling room with glitz and glamour and his grandfather’s expectations crowding around us.
“Be honest with him like you’ve been with your friends and me. Help him understand you. He’ll have no choice but to be proud of you.”
I hoped my suggestion wouldn’t be off base. I didn’t mean to tell him things between us were fake, of course, but more that he wanted his grandfather’s approval so much. He even seemed to miss the man in some capacity. I wanted him to have some healing in all of this, if possible.
His eyes glittered in the low light, and he dropped a kiss to my temple, then squeezed my hand. “Merci.”
We parted ways, a stupid longing clogging up my chest as I moved to the side of the dance floor and finally registered just how busy it’d gotten. The ambient noise levels had ratcheted louder and there were bodies everywhere. Mercifully, I caught Liz’s eye where she stood a few feet behind a group of people.
She was working even though she’d just gotten back into town, but that was Liz. She might’ve changed her whole career path, but the woman loved work. So many of the Saint people did. I wondered if Luc felt the same, though I had to believe he did, too, since it seemed he probably didn’t have to work a day in his life to pay the bills.
“Psst. Is it illegal for me to talk to you?” I asked, sidling up next to her and bumping her shoulder.
She laughed. “No. It’s not illegal. But I shouldn’t chat long.” Her gaze cut to meet mine, then dropped to take in the dress. “You look absolutely fabulous.”
I beamed. “Thanks. Ifeelit. I thought I’d feel like a joke walking in here, but I actually feel great.”
She’d been surveying the room while I spoke, but her eyes came back to mine. “You belong here if you want to. There’s no other qualification.”
She might not have known my whole story, but Liz was smart and observant. And she’d recently fought a battle within herself trying to decide whether she belonged in Silverton or if she had to stay the course and do what she’d always planned to do, even if her dreams had changed. I was so proud of her, and I understood she wasn’t just throwing out a trite statement.
“Thank you. And on that note, I’m going to go be bold and meet the woman my fiancé is spending all day every day with.” I flared my eyes a little, both at thefiancéand the other part.
She winked. “I can promise you it’s possible to guard an extremely attractive, charismatic person and still want to go home to the one you love.”
Our gazes turned right as her person tonight, Jack McKean, threw his head back and laughed at something Julian Grenier and his wife Quinn Darling-Grenier were saying.
