right.”
Zep’s anger seemed to deflate. “So you’re just a dumbass? You didn’t pick your rich family over my sister?”
“I walked out on my rich family. I was never looking to make money off my relationships,” he explained.
“He’s serious about that,” Cal chimed in. “Mom offered him a cushy job with the company and he turned her down.”
Like he wanted to be at a desk all day. He couldn’t stand the thought of it. He wanted to be working on something he cared about. Like Sera’s house. Like building a family with the woman he loved. “What can I do?”
Zep sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know. She’s so upset, and she’s scared about money. If Celeste is already talking to a lawyer, we’ve got to find one for Sera. Everything Remy has is in the restaurant. Momma has the house we live in. It’s worth something. I’ve got a couple of thousand saved up, but that won’t go far. I’ll see what I can get for my truck.”
“You don’t have to sell your truck.” Cal looked to his friend. “I’m going to figure this thing out.”
“I can’t wait for that,” Zep replied. “We can’t take the chance that things don’t work out. Your mother has a lot of pull with people in this parish. She knows judges. We know shrimpers. Who do you think is coming out on top of that argument? No, we need a lawyer and we need a good one.”
“So what she needs now is cash?” Harry didn’t know any lawyers. Every word out of Zep’s mouth threatened to make him sick. Sera was somewhere terrified that she could lose her child and he was sitting in a motel parking lot drinking beer and being useless.
“I thought she recently came into a bunch of money,” Angie pointed out. “And I’m not with Cal on this one. I don’t think Mom will change her mind about the kid.”
Zep stepped up to the pool, staring down into it as though there were some answers there. “Sera can’t use the money Irene left her, and she can’t sell the place until it’s ready. It’s all written into the will. If she doesn’t follow the rules, she loses the whole thing. She’s in a bind.”
There might be something he could do about that. Sera had been moving slowly because she was trying to do as much of the work herself as she could. It would go much faster if she hired crews.
Or found a couple who owed a man who loved her.
“She’s not going to need anything because I’m going to talk to my mother,” Cal promised. “I have to go back to my place in New Orleans. There’s something I need to get. But I’ll fix this. I promise.”
“What do you have that could possibly fix this?” Angie asked.
“You’re not the only one who has secrets, sister.” Cal pulled his keys out of his pocket. “Come on, Zep. I’ll drop you back at home.”
He watched as Cal and Zep walked away and then got on the phone. It was time to do some work.
* * *
***
Celeste looked up at the clock and realized it was long past her bedtime. Not that she would sleep. The house was far too quiet.
Where was her daughter? Had she called her fiancé? Had Austin come to get her?
She’d been hasty. If what she’d said was true, Angie might have truly feared that Ralph could be bad for the child.
But why hadn’t Angie told her? Did her own daughter think she was such a terrible mother that she didn’t even deserve to know her grandchild?
Luc. It was not what she would have named him. Beaumonts had a set of names that were acceptable. They didn’t have Cajun names.
It was cute. What would Wesley have wanted? Wesley probably would have given in to whatever Seraphina demanded. Foolish girl.
But not a damn gold digger. No. She couldn’t even comfort herself with that. Sera hadn’t used her leverage to try to force Wes to marry her.
What had happened between them? What had gone so wrong that Wes had needed to put half a world between him and Sera Guidry?
It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except making sure that Luc Beaumont had everything he deserved, and it certainly wasn’t growing up in a family whose only asset was a bar.
She heard the security alarm go off and then someone put in the code to silence it. She stood because it was late and she wasn’t expecting anyone. Had Angie