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“It’s a potato leek soup. I got the recipe from Inez down at the pharmacy. It’s got a little lemongrass in it. Let me know what you think.”
I tasted the soup. “Mmm, it’s good. Unusual, but good.” I think that almost anything would’ve been delicious right now. I was starving. The warm bread and melted butter made my brain go fuzzy. But I knew I would be leaving shortly to go and meet up with Jo and Sue for oysters.
“You look exhausted. Tough day?” Momma frowned at me.
“Long day. Or it felt like one. We have a lot to do to get things running like they need to be. Website, social media, and all the other things that will make Tanner’s law firm show up to the public when they search for attorneys in the area. It takes a while for the algorithms to catch up on the internet once a new business is entered.”
“Sounds like a lot of work, and it sounds complicated. Glad he’s got you to help him with all those things, darling.” Nana puttered in the kitchen while I finished my bowl of soup.
“Thanks for the soup. I’m gonna run upstairs and change into jeans before I head out to meet my friends.”
“Oh, okay.” Nana would never say if she thought I shouldn’t do something, but I could tell she was concerned that I’d had a long day already.
Before I’d managed to leave the room, Momma spoke. “I guess you’ll be glad to know we’ve decided on the date of our vow renewal.” Momma wasn’t to be ignored. “June twentieth will be the big day. We’ll invite around a hundred people. Not too big, but not a tiny event either.”
I tried to retain my patience. Momma knew I wanted to go upstairs and change, but she delayed me anyway. This was information I could get anytime between now—and anytime. But I took a deep breath and indulged her.
“It sounds pretty big.” I knew my input wouldn’t be taken with any real weight.
“You know we couldn’t get away with inviting any less than that. Feelings would be hurt.” Momma’s idea of hurt feelings meant that if the event were any smaller, it wouldn’t make a dent socially. And if she went to the trouble of having an event, it should be noticed in town.
I controlled the eye roll. I wished Leah was here to back me up.
“I’ll add it to my calendar.”
“You, Leah, and Allison will be my attendants.”
“Your attendants?” This was sounding a lot like a traditional wedding. I was getting a bad feeling about my part in this thing. And my sisters’ parts.
“The only way I could get Allison home was to include her in the ceremony.”
“Youextortedher?” This didn’t surprise me in the least.
“Well, I wouldn’t call itthat.” Momma sounded only slightly ashamed.
“Did you consider that Allison might not want to come back right now?”
“I don’t think it’s too much to ask that she be included in our ceremony. She’s my daughter, after all.”
I shook my head in sympathy for my new sister. She was getting the “baptized by fire” treatment into the family. Allison would learn about Momma’s need to get what she wanted from her daughters by emotional manipulation, or by any means necessary really. Her love often came with strings. I’d hoped she wouldn’t do that to Allison, even though in some twisted way, Momma believed she was doing all this in Allison’s best interest.
Leah and I should reach out to Allison and give her permission to decline the summons back to Cypress Bayou for the vow renewal and give her the heads-up that it was all a ploy to bring her back to town. It would level the playing field so that Allison could make her decision to return based on whether she wanted to come back.
“I’ve gotta go. I won’t be late, Nana.”
CHAPTER SIX
“So, what onearth made you want to come back here? Aren’t there much better opportunities in Baton Rouge and New Orleans?” Jo asked me once we’d gotten seated and started on our first round of oysters.
“It felt like the right thing to do for now. Leah’s back home and I’m tired of being four hours away from home. But I do have some feelers out in the bigger cities, so I guess we’ll see how things go in the longer term.” I laughed. “I did get a job with Tanner Carmichael, so that’s something, I guess.” Since he’d officially broken off with Carson, the secret would be out.
“Getout! The one and only guy you’ve ever shown any real interest in your entire life?” Sue whooped and slapped her thigh. “Score!”
“It’s not like that. We’re both attorneys and he’s just starting a solo law practice and needed an associate. It kind of…worked out.”
“I’ll say itworked out.” Jo managed a smile then. “You’re like a cat, aren’t you? Land on your feet every time.” The smile wasn’t exactly a warm and friendly one, I noticed.
“Are you upset with me, Jo? I know I didn’t exactly keep in close touch while I was living in Baton Rouge, but did I do something I’m unaware of?” I had to ask or let this fester further.
