Page 26 of Home Again

“What? Whoa, when did you get strong?” Fergus asked as he stumbled across the kitchen.

Sebastian looked over at Bill. “Both of you need to leave now. Gianna and I will take care of Uncle Armand. Wanna thank you boys for taking such good care of him.”

Fergus let out a loud laugh and slapped him on the back. “Bring Gianna to dinner on Sunday. Ma will love to meet her.”

Sebastian narrowed his eyes as he continued to escort Bill and Fergus toward the front door. When the door was finally open, and Bill and Fergus were on the porch, Fergus turned to him. “Man, it’s really good to have you back. Hope you intend to stay for more than a minute. Some of us have really missed you.”

Sebastian felt some of the knots that had been forming in his stomach since he’d gotten on the plane to come to Louisiana begin to loosen. He’d forgotten some of the good things about home.

* * *

“Where’s Armand?”

“I sent him up to his room without supper.”

She watched as he scrubbed his fingers through his hair and gave her a frustrated look.

“Wanna tell me what in the heck was with the whole caveman attitude? I’m pretty sure I just met you yesterday.”

“I think I just regressed to my high school days with Fergus; it was a knee-jerk reaction.” He gave her a half-grin. Shoot, that grin sure was potent.

“So you guys were close? Is that why he mentioned his mother cooking you dinner?”

“Yeah.”

She thought about all she had heard from Jada today, and what a messed up life he’d had, what with losing his mom and dad and then living in this godforsaken house with Lazar. She was glad there were some good times for him. He slowly sat back down at the table across from her.

“How about you? Besides Jada, were you close with many people?”

She looked at him and felt a shiver run through her. It felt nice that this good-looking man would be asking her such a question. It felt so personal, like he really wanted to get to know her.

“Berea is a really small town, and a lot of people are poor and wear hand-me-downs. But the bad part is, everybody knows everybody else’s business. Even though I was being raised by my granny and Pawpa who was a deacon of the church, I was still considered trash because they knew my mom was a prostitute. Not a lot of parents would allow their children to associate with me, which is why I wanted to go to a big-city university.”

Sebastian nodded. “I could see that.”

“What about you?” she asked gently.

“You did your homework, right?” he asked.

“Yep, I know about your parents. They died within months of one another.”

“My mom was killed. Murdered. They never found her killer. She had custody of me up until then. Dad had me every other weekend and I hated it. I’d have to come here. The only saving grace was Philly. I have no idea why he even bothered with that custody arrangement since it didn’t seem like he wanted to spend any time with me.” Sebastian shook his head, lost in memory.

“What was your mom like?”

“She died when I was eight. She was strict, but in a good way. Made me eat vegetables and do my homework. We lived in Thibodaux, and she worked the main desk at a car dealership there. They loved her. She was beautiful, funny, and smart. At the dealership, she was the first person people saw when they came in. I sometimes got to come in and stay in the breakroom when she worked late.”

“She sounds wonderful.” Gianna reached out and covered his fist with her hand. He turned his over and twined his fingers with hers.

“We lived in this two-bedroom apartment, and now that I think about it, it doesn’t make sense. She should have been getting a hell of a lot more in child support. As an adult, there are a lot of things that don’t make sense.”

Gianna nodded. He was right; it didn’t make any sense. But this wasn’t anything that Jada had uncovered. Instead, she had pulled up the old police files on the unsolved murder. Pamela Durand’s car had been found in the parking lot of the long-term care facility where her mother lived on the outskirts of Thibodaux on one of the weekends that Sebastian was with his father. It was after she’d visited her mom. It had been unlocked, with her purse and phone inside. Three days later her body was found in a culvert near Raceland. She’d been shot in the back of the head.

“Did you ever look into things as an adult?” she asked.

Sebastian shook his head, his jaw tight.

“But that’s why you’re here now, isn’t it?”