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“I am Remi, Margot’s older brother,” he said and held out his hand.
Quinn shook it. “I’m Quinn.”
Remi smirked. “Ah, yes, Margot has told us about you.”
“Remi,” Margot hissed and slapped his arm.
Quinn raised an eyebrow at her. Margot blushed and smiled sheepishly at him. “Nothing bad.”
Quinn hummed. He wasn’t quite sure he believed her. Then the younger girl stepped in front of him, holding out her hand. “I am Colette, Margot’s sister.”
Quinn shook her hand, also. “Quinn.”
Colette looked Quinn up and down, murmuring something to Margot in French that had Margot blushing harder, and her brother rolling his eyes. Quinn hated being left out, but he probably didn’t want to know what she said.
“Where is Maman?” Margot asked.
“She is upstairs with papa’s things,” Colette sniffed.
A female voice said something in French from behind him. Quinn turned to see an attractive older woman with short dark hair coming down the stairs; he could see who Margot and her siblings looked like now. Margot told him on the plane that her mother spoke very little English, so she would have to translate for her. She handed Quinn her crutches and hopped on one foot the couple of feet to reach her mother. They hugged each other tightly and spoke quietly to each other. Margot turned and held out her hand for her crutches.
Quinn stepped forward and handed them to her. She stuffed them under her arms, took Quinn’s hand, and tugged him forward. She introduced him to her mother in French. The only thing Quinn understood was his first and last name. The older woman’s eyes flicked to him. She blatantly looked him over and Quinn tried not to shift uncomfortably under her shrewd gaze. She then held out her hand.
“Bonjour, Monsieur Beck,” she said.
Quinn took her hand and gently shook it. “Bonjour, Madame Leclair...” he said, then repeated what Margot had taught him, the ‘I’m sorry for your loss’ in French.
Margot’s mother smiled sadly and nodded. “Merci,” she said gratefully.
Margot had Remi show Quinn the bedroom that they would be staying in, while she stayed behind with her mother and sister. When Quinn walked into the small room, he couldn’t help but smile. It was Margot’s old bedroom and it was sooo Margot. The walls were a bright florescent pink, with lime green accents all over the room. Obviously, her mother never touched anything. There were pictures still tacked to the walls of a young smiling Margot with friends. A couple of posters were still on the walls of young men that Quinn couldn’t name. They were probably actors or musicians who were famous in France. Then Quinn saw the bed and almost groaned aloud. It was only a double - Margot would have to sleep on top of him, or he was going to have to sleep on the floor. He wasn’t sure if he could handle Margot sleeping on top of him, yet. Quinn glanced at Remi who was standing by the door with his arms crossed over his chest and a smirk on his face.
“Would you like me to get some extra blankets for the floor?” Remi asked knowingly.
Damn Margot. She must have told her brother about his issues with touching. “Yeah, sure.” Quinn sighed in resignation and dropped the bags in front of the closet door.
Remi chuckled and left the room. Quinn took the opportunity to look at some of the pictures scattered around the room. On one section of the wall, there was a bunch of pictures from what looked like high school. Margot looked cute and a bit nerdy, but had a huge smile on her lovely face in each one. On her nightstand was a picture of her with her arms around the neck of an older man. The love and adoration in Margot’s eyes for the man she was with was apparent.
Remi returned with a stack of blankets and an extra pillow. He set them on the bed and turned to Quinn. He held up the picture. “Is this your father?” he asked Remi.
Remi nodded. “Oui,” he said.
“Margot said he was a great guy,” Quinn murmured quietly and looked back down at the picture.
“Oui, he was. I think he would have liked you,” Remi said with a small smile.
Quinn glanced at him and frowned. “How can you say that when you barely know me?”
“One trait that I share with my father is that he knew a good man when he saw one. I can see that you are a good man, Quinn, and my father would have seen that, too,” Remi said sincerely then turned and left the room.
Quinn stared at the now empty doorway. Wow. He didn’t expect that. Quinn returned the picture frame to the nightstand and headed downstairs. He found everyone in the kitchen, sitting at the table. Feeling like an intruder, Quinn shoved his hands in his pockets and stepped into the kitchen. Margot waved him over, pulling out the chair next to her for him to sit in. She gave him a small tired smile that had a tinge of pain in it. That’s when Quinn remembered that she hasn’t had her foot propped up at all today. It would start to swell and become more painful as the day went on if she didn’t prop it up at all. Quinn reached over and turned her and her chair so that she was facing him. He reached down and grabbed her calf, brought her leg up, and propped her wrapped ankle in his lap.
