Page 22 of The House on Prytania
“That’s ridiculous,” I said.
“No.Keeping Up with the Kardashianswas ridiculous. This makes sense. People are obsessed with home renovations, and with true crime. Why not give them both, with the added bonus of highlighting a house with a history?”
“A house with a history? That would be the White House. Or Buckingham Palace. What you’re talking about is a whole different ball game.”
“Mimi’s point exactly. It’s a whole new concept in the DIY world. I think it’s an idea whose time has come.”
Because it was Beau, I would have preferred to find a headless cockroach in my salad than to say that he was right, so instead, I said, “Mimi might be onto something.”
“She definitely is. And I’m glad to hear that you agree. Otherwise, I’d be thinking that Mimi was just trying to distract me.”
His eyes were blank as he regarded me, making me wonder if he’d already guessed the truth about his grandmother’s subterfuge, but I decided to move ahead. I quashed my tinge of guilt by reminding myself that it was for his own good. Just like when I’d hidden Melanie’s doughnuts and replaced them with organic breakfast bars.
If I’d been the sort of person who could learn from her first mistake so she wouldn’t repeat it, I would have seen the opportunity then and confessed everything to Beau. But I didn’t. I could only hope that Sam, Sunny, and I could find the answers Beau needed before his own digging caught the attention of Michael’s family. Or at least before he discovered our complicity. I wasn’t sure which would be worse.
“You said you were here to ask me for a favor?”
He smiled in the way a nurse does before plunging in a needle. “Well, since we’ve proven that we work well together and both bring something to a restoration project, this might be a great professional relationship.”
I screwed up my eyes, trying to envision what he was seeing. “Like that snarky couple onLove It or List It?”
“I was thinking more like Chip and Joanna Gaines, but snarky could work.”
“Except they’re married, with about a ton of kids, and genuinely like each other.”
He drew back as if offended. “Harsh. It’s not my fault that I have the skills necessary to help you out of your occasional mishaps, but I’m always happy to be there. Even without an official thank-you.”
“If you’re wanting me to go along with your plan, you’re not saying the right thing. It’s notmyfault that you leap in even when your help is clearly not needed.” I shook my head to make him stop talking. “And who in the world even gave you the idea that we could work well together?”
“Sam.”
“Sam,” I repeated, wondering if this might be part of her grand plan or if she seriously thought Beau and I could make a nice, platonic team.
“Yeah. So, before you say anything else, why don’t we go check out the house and see what we think, okay?”
I tried to come up with a reason why this was a very bad idea, but there was nothing in my vocabulary that could translateI have a serious crush on you and I heard you tell your dead mother that you want me too much.“Sure. Just know that I’m not agreeing to anything except to look at the house.”
He smiled again, as if he knew exactly what it did to my knees. “Great.” He held out his arm. “After you.”
I walked into the hallway, then turned to face him. “Have you considered that the chance of there being hangers-on in these ‘murder houses’ is pretty high?”
Beau gave a sharp nod. “I’m aware.”
I frowned. “Are you prepared to deal with whatever repercussions that might mean?”
“Not yet, but I plan to be. Mimi has spent her life trying to helppeople with her gift. Could be that’s the only way I can come to terms with my... problem. Mimi has to be very careful with curating her surroundings so she can control who she lets in. Maybe that’s what I need to learn.”
“Why is this suddenly important to you?” I didn’t need to involve myself with Beau’s personal life. Yet our lives had run in tandem for so long, I couldn’t feign indifference.
His gaze skittered away from mine. “Honesty. With myself, mostly. But with others, too. I mean, I spend a lot of time debunking things I’m not totally sure aren’t real. And Sam goes along with it as my sidekick. Sometimes I find myself wondering if she and I...” He shrugged. “Anyway, I was hoping to talk to Melanie while she’s here. Hopefully get some pointers from her.”
I welcomed the abrupt conversation turn away from Sam and Beau. “You’d better start brushing up on ABBA lyrics. Especially ‘Dancing Queen.’ ”
“Whatever it takes.” He dug into his back jeans pocket and pulled out his keys before tossing them to me. “You’re driving.”
My satisfied smile at the image of him belting out ABBA music quickly died. He and Jolene had conspired to take me to the DMV to get my permit on a Saturday-afternoon trip to get beignets. “But Esplanade has a neutral ground. What if I go the wrong way?”
He moved toward me and gently pushed my back to propel me toward the stairs. “If you can’t tell your left from your right by now, you have more problems than not knowing how to drive.” I headed down the stairs, with Beau following close behind, as if he was afraid that I might bolt—a thought that had crossed my mind.
