Beloved Counterfeit by Kathleen Y'Barbo Read Free Book Online Page B

Micah let his shoulders sag and his pace slow. “What is it?”
    “Thank you.”
    “I didn’t do anything,” he said, though when he turned to see what sort of response his statement might have garnered, Dr. Hill was gone. “Odd fellow,” Micah muttered as he stretched out the arm the man had patched back together after last year’s accident on the reef. “But a good doctor. That much I’ll give him.”

Chapter 6

    “Tea, no,” Emilie said. “I have a few visits to make. Though it would take little to see me staying long enough for you to read that letter.”
    Viola shook her head as she broke the seal. “I fail to understand how. . .” She read the first line twice before she fully realized whose hand had composed the words. “Remy?”
    “Yes.” Emilie moved into her line of sight. “He was a bit concerned about surprising you, so he came to me first and asked that I pave the way for a reunion.”
    Viola found the nearest chair and sank onto it, unable to remain upright. “That’s impossible. My father would never allow it.” She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I don’t doubt you. Tell me where I can find Remy, and please understand I still find it a bit difficult to believe it’s true.”
    “I think that story is best told by him. Shall we go, then?”
    “Yes, I’m anxious to see him.” Viola shook her head as she rose to find her bonnet and wrap. “When I left it seems he was barely out of knee pants.” She felt the tears sting her eyes but blinked them back. Some things that she’d left behind when she stepped aboard the ship with Isabelle and Emilie had caused her more pain than others, her relationship with her younger brother chief among them.
    “An exaggeration, to be sure,” Emilie said, “and yet when I posted my answer to his letter, he responded quickly and with great enthusiasm. It seems as though the law was not his forte, and neither was the prospect of joining Henri.”
    “Wait.” Viola stopped short and looked at Emilie. “He sent a letter to you? When? And why not to me?”
    “Some months ago,” she said, “and he asked that I not mention his desire to see you.” Emilie paused. “He has a particular purpose in coming here, but I will let him tell you that.”
    Viola thought of Remy, the gentle younger brother who called her Vivi because it irritated her. The scholar who, from a young age, was more likely to be found with his nose in a book than not.
    The lad whose interest in books was bested only by his interest in the fairer sex.
    “I wonder what he’s like. Is he handsome?”
    Emilie’s grin was her answer.
    “Of course he is. And what of his studies? I suppose he’s done with them now and is likely practicing the law, though perhaps he joined the family business. Does he have a wife with him?”
    Viola closed the door and joined Emilie. Together they turned toward the eastern side of Fairweather Key, where Emilie and Caleb’s cottage sat at the end of a narrow lane.
    “No,” Viola answered herself, “he’d likely be chasing away any potential wives and be miserable toiling away under Henri’s command. Henri is still in charge of the company, I assume. Do hurry, Emilie.”
    Emilie shrugged as she hurried to keep up. At the corner, they met several children on their way to the parsonage for some of Mary Carter’s afternoon treats.
    “Don’t be late, children,” Emilie called as Viola dragged her away. “We’ve a busy afternoon ahead.”
    “Henri always did fancy himself at the helm of Dumont Shipping,” Viola continued when she had Emilie’s attention again. “Even as a boy. I can remember while Remy and I were playing school, Henri would be ordering about the cats or the chickens or whatever else he could find. Later it became the servants and, I suppose, his wife and children. Surely by now he has children. And Papa? Likely he still lives.”
    “Likely.”
    That she did not know gave Viola pause. Another regret of leaving New Orleans