Bayou Baby - Lexi Blake Page 0,103
he was a terrible liar.
“No, you weren’t, and Angie isn’t joking about anything. She’s gotten caught. You think I don’t know that look, my darling girl?” Celeste said. “What’s going on and what does it have to do with the boy? It’s a boy, right?”
“It’s nothing.” His stomach took a deep dive but he tried to smile. “She was ragging me because it turns out Sera broke up with me last night.”
That got Celeste’s brow rising. “Why would she break up with you?”
He shrugged, trying to play it off. “She decided I wasn’t a good bet.”
“You’re an excellent bet and she knows it,” his aunt countered. “I was with her yesterday. She didn’t show a single sign of breaking up with you.”
“Maybe that’s why she did it.” Angie seemed to find her spark again. She squared off with her mother. “Maybe you scared her away.”
Celeste snorted, a sound she managed to make elegant. “If it was easy to scare that girl away, I would have done it years ago. No, she was perfectly fine when I dropped her off at that old jalopy of hers. She was happy we found a dress we could agree upon. She’s got too much love for glitter, that one. I’m not having everyone at your wedding infected with glitter. Now, what’s this about Luc’s father, and if someone tells me it’s Darth Vader, I’m going to get really angry. Yes, I know about movies, and you weren’t talking about one.”
“She doesn’t think I would be a good dad.” He had to make this right, had to throw his aunt off the scent.
“That’s not what you said. You said Angie knew who Luc’s father is. Is he coming back to make trouble?” Celeste sighed. “Because you’ll have to deal with that.”
“He can’t . . . That’s not the problem,” Angie said with a frustrated huff. “Mom, it’s Sera’s problem, and now that she’s broken up with Harry, we should stay out of it. Why don’t you come out and see the gazebo? Harry finished it and it’s beautiful.”
“No.” Celeste seemed to be thinking the problem through. “I think one of you can tell me what’s going on or I’ll call Seraphina myself. Maybe that’s the best way to do this. Something’s wrong and you two are lying to me. Why would Sera break up with you over Luc?”
The situation was getting out of control. He heard the doorbell ring but ignored it because everything was falling apart. “Aunt Celeste, I need you to let me handle this. It’s my relationship on the line, and it’s a private thing between Sera and I.”
“How old is Sera’s son?” Celeste asked, her face going stony. “When was he born? I want the date.”
The door to the kitchen swung open and Annemarie walked in followed by the one person he didn’t want to see. Seraphina had a garment bag over her arm along with the shopping tote she’d brought in the day before. She looked weary but resolute.
“Mrs. Beaumont,” Annemarie said. “You have a guest.”
Sera seemed startled. She obviously hadn’t expected a crowd. “I’m sorry to interrupt. I was going to drop this off with a note. I didn’t think anyone would be home except Harry.” She turned to Celeste with a long breath. “Mrs. Beaumont, I want to thank you for the kindness you showed me yesterday, but I’ve decided it’s best I don’t attend any of the festivities. I’m going to finish my house and then perhaps we can talk about what a fair price would be. I’m probably leaving Papillon.”
She was leaving? He stepped up. “Sera, we need to talk.”
“No,” Celeste interrupted. “She needs to tell me when her son was born. I want the truth and I want it now. If she doesn’t tell me the truth, I can get legal.”
The bag dropped from Sera’s hand as quickly as the color left her cheeks. She turned his way. “What did you do?”
Lost it all. That’s what he’d done.
chapter fourteen
Sera felt a fine tremor in her hands. Celeste’s face was perfectly blank, but her eyes stared right through her.
“Sera, I’m so sorry,” Harry was saying.
She ignored him. It didn’t matter. She was here and it was everything she’d feared. Since the day she’d realized she was pregnant, she’d known she would have to deal with the Beaumont family one way or another. If Wes had come home, he probably would have used Luc to convince her to marry him, and that would have been a whole