Shep stared up at him with accusatory doggie eyes, like he knew something had gone wrong with his world and exactly where to put the blame.
“I’m sorry.” He was even apologizing to the dog now. Those words didn’t seem to mean much. He might be saying them for the rest of his life. He hoped he had someone to say them to.
He checked his phone for the four hundredth time in the last couple of hours. Nothing. She hadn’t answered his texts or voice mails. If he didn’t give her some space, she might put a restraining order on him.
He dialed her number one last time. It immediately went to voice mail. “Hey, Sera. I know you don’t want to talk to me right now, but I need you to know that I’m here. I want to help you in any way I can, and if that means leaving you alone for a while, I’ll do that, too. Just know that I promise to keep my phone charged in case you need me.” He took a long breath because these might be the last words he ever said to her. “I love you, Seraphina.”
He disconnected the call and sat on the bed, utterly at a loss for what to do.
There was a knock on his door and he opened it, praying it was Sera since one of his many messages had left her instructions on where he was in case she wanted to talk to him.
Instead it was Angie. She had been true to her word, going up to her room only to grab the bag she hadn’t unpacked from her girls’ trip. She’d left everything but that one bag and her laptop behind. She was still dressed in the slacks and blouse she’d been wearing earlier, looking very much like the wealthy young lady she was . . . had been. She looked totally out of place with the singular exception of the six-pack of beer dangling from her hand. That beer was cheap, and she’d probably gotten it from the run-down convenience store across the street. “Hey, cos. You want to drown your sorrows with me? I got us a sweet spot right by the pool.”
“Ang, that pool is green,” he pointed out.
She shrugged and turned toward the tiny, filthy pool that sat in the middle of the concrete parking lot. “It’s said that when the fading light of day hits it just right, it’s a little like the aurora borealis of Southern Louisiana. I don’t think many of our citizenry know what that really is.”
He followed her because she was not in a place to make the best decisions. Three beers in and he might have to haul her out of said pool, and that would take a biohazard suit.
This town did need a nice B and B.
Angie lowered herself onto the rickety poolside chair and popped the top off the beer, holding it his way. He took it because he could use one, and no matter how upset he was, he couldn’t leave his cousin alone. She’d lost everything.
He’d lost everything.
“Why didn’t you fight harder?” Angie asked. “You know you didn’t willfully tell my mother a thing. She overheard us and made a calculated guess. You didn’t mean for that to happen.”
He’d gone over and over it in his head and come to one conclusion. “It doesn’t matter if I meant for it to happen. It doesn’t matter that I thought Aunt Celeste wasn’t in the house. I chose to follow you inside and continue the argument. It was my fault. If I’d backed off, she wouldn’t know.”
Angie sighed. “Or if I’d answered you instead of running. I guess it doesn’t matter now.”
“Have you called Austin?” Harry asked after she went silent. “You don’t have to stay here. I could drive you into New Orleans. It would give him something to do.
Angie shook her head. “No, I don’t want to interrupt him. He’s having a boys’ night with some of his friends. I’m not dropping this on his lap when he could be having fun. Let him have one more night before he realizes how screwed up my family is.”
“Are you worried he’ll be upset?” After all, Austin had thought he was marrying a woman with a powerful family and access to the Beaumont money. He seemed like a nice guy, but appearances could deceive.
“About the money? No. We’ll have to adjust some of our plans, but he really does love me.