BornontheBayou by Lynne Connolly Read Free Book Online

cry.”
    He stared at her, his eyes grave, his mouth set in somber
lines and they shared a moment of recognition. Something unspoken, something
she wasn’t sure she could articulate if she tried. “Then he’ll sort it out. I
gave my manager your number.”
    “How did you…?” She glanced at her purse. “Oh yes.”
    “Yeah, but I promise I didn’t pry. I just took one of your
business cards.” He dropped a quick kiss on her lips. “I’m truly sorry. You’d
do me a favor if you let me make amends.” Before she could comment, he released
her and started walking again.
    Her anger had subsided but her attraction to him had not.
That kiss tingled on her mouth.
    Five minutes later they’d reached a small boutique in a side
street. In the window stood a mannequin in a dress that was so perfect it took
her breath away.
    They entered the shop while she was still registering the
elegance. Their feet sank into soft carpet. Music played quietly in the
background, something classical, Mozart she thought.
    A woman came to greet them, smiling. She was almost ageless,
no lines registering on her face, but that might have been because of the
carefully applied makeup. If she’d had work done, it was discreet and clever.
    Her brows were plucked into beautiful lines that complemented
her rich dark eyes and she was so slender, Beverley thought she might make two
of her. She wore a flared skirt, almost but not quite peasant style, and a
blouse that had to be silk, in soft browns and fawns that suited her light
coloring and smooth blonde hair.
    “Hello, Jace,” she said, as if he dropped around every day.
“How are you?”
    Undeterred by her perfection, he swept her into a hug. “Hi,
Penny. You look terrific.” He took a noisy sniff. “Smell good, too.”
    “Thank you.” She stepped back and swept an assessing gaze
over Beverley, but unlike when the woman at the department store had looked at
her, she didn’t make Beverley feel self-conscious or dowdy. “You’re a friend of
Jace’s?”
    Beverley sensed no innuendo in her question. “Kind of. I’m
the manager at Great Oaks.” She paused. “I was until this morning, anyway.”
    Penny glanced at Jace, brow raised. “Was that your fault?”
    She’d never have thought that this man, so sure of himself,
could have looked so embarrassed, but he did everything but shuffle his feet
and go, “Aw shucks.”
    Instead, a flush spread along his cheekbones and he looked
away before looking back and meeting her gaze. “Yes it was, but I’m going to
make it right. Starting here. Someone drove off with Beverley’s luggage and I
promised to replace what she lost. Can you do that?”
    “Oh I think so. Go away and come back in an hour.” She
exchanged a conspiratorial smile with Beverley. “Make it two hours.”
     
    Jace found a hideaway, a café he’d frequented since he was a
boy dodging classes. That was where Penny had found him, but she’d been Mrs.
Thompson in those days, and taught him at high school. She hadn’t yelled or
turned her back, she’d talked to him. Penny was the first adult to treat him as
though he had a brain and he wasn’t rebelling from simple perversity or a
desire for attention. Although he realized that was exactly what he’d been
doing at the time.
    Penny had left the school, following her dream of opening a
boutique for women who needed to look their best for specific occasions, and
she didn’t just mean weddings. From that, she’d developed her business. She
worked with local artists on exclusive creations, as well as the lines that
earned her the money she needed to follow her dream.
    Sometimes if people followed their real desires it worked
out, although they needed a lot of courage to do it. And the support of a good
husband. That was something Penny hadn’t had, but she’d loved him and stayed
with him until he died. It wasn’t his fault he’d spent most of his life so ill
he couldn’t help. He’d drained what she earned, and if he