Antoine massaged the bridge of his nose. “Fine, sir. Thatyoungman upstairs is a person. He’s not a stock or startup or good piece of land.”
“Au contraire, my fine fellow. Heisa business investment, and yeah, he’s prettier than a Southern peach, but you remember this—he’s guaran-damn-teed to be as bad as Edison. That’s a nut that won’t fall far from the thieving tree. Don’t you forget it.” I knew I wasn’t being fair, and discomfort clawed in my gut, but I couldn’t let myself be deluded by an angelic face and adivineset of lips.
“At the very least, you need him cooperative for tomorrow,” Antoine said in a rush, resting a hand on my shoulder. “Please, sir.”
“He’ll walk down that aisle.”
Snorting, Antoine went to the table and lifted a plain manila folder. He flipped it open, flashing me a New York marriage license. It gave me an odd, delightful tingle to see that he would be Noah Bouchard when this was all over. “How did you accomplish this? Not that I doubted you in the slightest.”
“You can’t accuse me of being too noble,” he said snidely. “I had Paul and Burnwood go in with your license and the copy of his license. Very low-tech. No one batted an eye. Paul doesn’t even look that much like the boy.” Antoine glared at the marriage license.
“Nice.”
He sighed and snapped the folder shut.
“I could’ve gone.”
He fanned himself with the file as if his guilt was making him hot. “Why bother? It isn’t like you were taking the boy yourself, so why waste the time?” He shook his head and stared at the flurry of activity going on in the room. “Your mother called. That’s why I was coming to find you. Will you please give her your cell phone number? Every time she calls here, she insists on asking me how my wife is doing.” The dramatic sigh he let out had me laughing. “Could you at least tell her to ask about anything else? I detest small talk.”
“No. She thinks you’re my closest friend, and askin’s her way of being neighborly. She has my cell. She doesn’t trust us not to be overheard.”
He squinted at me, and I laughed. “I’ve tried to explain to her more than once they aren’t like CBs and walkie talkies, but she won’t hear it. I’ll go return her call in the office.” I slapped him on the shoulder, and he stiffened.
Back upstairs I plopped down in my black desk chair, feeling more guilt than should be possible as I dialed the first phone number I’d ever learned. Mama would be upset if she knew I was getting married and she wasn’t here to see it. She would want to walk down the aisle and have her place of pride. I ignored the part of me that always thought I’d do this someday with a man who’d snagged my attention. I’d figured he’d be another businessman, or maybe some guy I met out somewhere. Maybe a model to hang on my arm. I’d done the NYC party circuit, though, and LA to boot, and I’d never met anyone who meshed with my personality—even if they fucked like a demon. For a second, I stared at the mostly empty built-in bookshelves behind my desk. What did Noah like to read?
At the thought of the angel in my bed, my mouth went dry.
The line rang so long I began to think I’d have to call back later, then a breathless “Hello?” made me sit up straighter.
“How are you, Mama?” I smiled just saying her name. I missed her, but I’d been too busy to take a trip to Texas. I hadn’t been home since spring.
“Oh, Alton! There you are.”
I chuckled. “Yep.”
“Fine. Your daddy’s out in the back stretch of the property today with his new bush hog.” There was a fondness in her tone that had me smiling. “He was over the moon about his new John Deere mower.”
“Oh yeah? He likes it, then?”
“Bless his heart, you’d think he never cut grass in his life,” she said with a sigh, and I laughed. She talked for a long while about everything going on at home, her sister who was in the hospital, and everyone from church. She was on to the gossip about the neighbor on the farm next to ours when she said, “You’re never on the phone this long!”
“I took a day off.”
She laughed. “You? I always thought you’d work till noon on the day of your wedding and funeral.”
Her comment hit me strangely and I let out a nervous bark of laughter. “No, that would be crazy. I’ll at least take time off for the funeral.”
She giggled till she snorted. “I raised a hard-workin’ man, and I love you. I won’t eat up your whole day.”
“Take care, Mama. I love you. Tell Daddy I love ’im, too, and to be careful out there.”
We took another fifteen minutes saying goodbyes while she remembered random things she had to tell me, as was her custom, and then I was finally off the phone. I stared at the handset as I replaced it on the cradle. She really would be devastated if she ever found out there was a wedding she wasn’t involved in. She knew I was gay, and that hadn’t flown with a lot of people where I’d grown up, but she would’ve wanted to be invited, no matter what. I leaned back in my chair as guilt snapped its jaws in my belly. This was a sham wedding, though. I would treat Noah with a certain amount of care as my spouse, but there was already an end date hooked to the vows. I needed to keep that in mind, not let myself think silly thoughts about Mama.
Nodding, I got to my feet and stretched. “Antoine!” I yelled and wasn’t disappointed when there was a thump in the hallway. The door swung inward to reveal my assistant.
“Yes, sir?”
“Send a list of the underperforming companies in the Divine portfolio to Edison. Tell him that he’s cutting them. And then inform him he’s sending the profit from those sales to me to pay back some of his debt.Allof the profit. That’s not his money.” I gave Antoine a toothy smile.
