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The lights from a vehicle rolling down Main Street illuminated the road and the rain that was still falling softly to the ground. The car began to pass by the office and then stopped suddenly and backed up.
It was dark so he wasn’t sure he recognized the make or model, but it pulled into a parking space in front of the office, right next to his own Benz.
She huffed over the line. “They have a bad reputation. Those cousins of hers are in and out of jail all the time.”
“So is Paul. Maybe someone should warn the Cardets not to have anything to do with us.”
“It is not the same,” his mother insisted. “Your brother is fine now. He had a spot of trouble when he was younger, but he’s from a good family.”
His brother had been a whole eight months younger when he’d last gone into rehab, but his mom acted like it was years and years ago.
A massive white dog appeared, pulling on its leash as though ready to run as fast as it could, and then there she was. Jayna caught up to what had to be Luna. She had a big bag slung over her shoulder, and her hair was plastered to her face. She knocked on the door.
What the hell was she doing out this late?
“I have to go.” He hung up over his mother’s vociferous protests and strode to the door, unlocking it and throwing it open.
Jayna looked more vulnerable than he’d ever seen her, makeup off and in her comfy clothes. She was shaking from the chill as she looked up at him with big, glorious eyes. “I got kicked out. I was hoping I could stay here for the night. I know it’s crazy, and I’ll be out by morning.”
He stepped back, allowing her inside. He didn’t like the idea that she would beoutby morning. What did she mean byout? “What happened, Jayna?”
He didn’t want to think about how much he cared about the answer to that question. She walked in, still shivering, with her dog beside her.
Luna immediately shook her big body, sending the water that clung to her coat everywhere.
“I am so sorry. Luna, stop.” Jayna shook her head. “This was a dumb idea. I’m going to go.”
He got the feeling that if she left, he wouldn’t see her again. That might be for the best if he took into account the conversation he’d had with his friends and the fact that his mother would disapprove and potentially cause trouble for Jayna.
He couldn’t stand the thought of not seeing her again. Even if he never made a move on her, he wanted to get to know this woman. Something deep inside told him that no matter where the relationship went, it could be important. “Don’t go. Let me get you a towel.” Luna was staring up at him. “A couple of towels. And maybe some tea.”
That was when one of the strongest women he’d ever met burst into tears.
He didn’t care that she was soaking wet. He hugged her,half expecting her to shove him away. “It’s okay, Jayna. Whatever happened, it’s going to be okay.”
Her arms wrapped around him and despite the fact that the world always seemed to depend on him, for the first time in a long time, he feltneeded.
chapter five
Jayna accepted the glass of Scotch Quaid passed her. “This is a whole apartment. What did your dad do up here?”
Shortly after she’d completely fallen apart, he’d guided her to the stairs that led to the second floor of the building. She’d noticed them earlier but had thought they likely led to a storage room. Nope. No utilitarian storage spaces for the Havery family. Despite the fact that their palatial estate was only twenty minutes outside of town, Quaid had explained they’d kept this two-bedroom apartment for decades and he’d offered her one of the bedrooms as shelter for the night.
“It goes back to my grandfather. He and my grandmother lived separately toward the end of their lives. The Haverys do not have a long history of happy marriages.” He had his own glass in hand as he sat down across from her. “My dad spent a lot of time here, too. He claimed he kept this place up because he often had to host some of the lawyers he worked with or negotiated with. It’s a long drive back to New Orleans, so they would often stay here, and at the time there wasn’t a B and B.”
“Why wouldn’t they stay at your place? It’s big enough.” She felt calmer now that she was here, and she rather thoughtit was more about the man than the fact that she had a roof over her head.
Quaid snorted as though the thought was ridiculous. “Because my mother won’t allow what she calls ‘shop talk’ in the house. Not at the dinner table. Not at her cocktail hour.”
Okay, that was a ridiculous thought. She didn’t know a single person in their profession who wasn’t obsessed with their job. “And she married a lawyer?”
“Oh, yes. And it wasn’t like my father didn’t have an office at home, but if he was working on a case with someone from out of town, they stayed here. He avoided a lot of arguments with my mother that way. Sometimes I think she was lonely. We live outside of town, so we didn’t have close neighbors. There’s also the fact that my mother was a debutante and only wanted to associate with certain kinds of people. She still believes there are ‘good families’ and, well, she would never call a family bad, but there are families that supposedly don’t belong in her sphere.”
“So she’s a snob.” She shouldn’t have said that. Quaid was being wonderful to her, and she insulted his mom. “I’m sorry. That was rude.”
“Not at all. It was honest, and yes, she’s an awful snob,” Quaid agreed, seemingly not offended at all. “She splits her time between here and her sister’s place in Biloxi. That’s her hometown. I sometimes wish she would move in with her sister. I think she’d be happier. She enjoys what she calls ‘society.’ I’m afraid society here isn’t high enough for my mother. Oh, she’ll spend time with the Junior League and she’ll go to all of Celeste Beaumont’s teas, but I believe she still thinks it’s all beneath her.”
“Then why marry your dad? Also, I’ve never been able to figure out what a Junior League does,” she admitted, sipping on Quaid’s very fine Scotch and running a hand overLuna’s once-again-puffy fur. She’d looked like a large drowned rat before she’d shaken all that rain off onto their savior.
