Bare devotion, p.11
Bare Devotion, page 11
“We robbed ourselves of the fun parts.”
She took a step closer. “Define ‘fun.’” For her, they’d always had fun. In the bedroom and out, in the courtroom and out. And weren’t adults supposed to take things more seriously, anyway?
His eyes were as blue as the flame on their gourmet gas stove. “The little details. We’re really good at the big stuff, Sonja. The big careers. The big house. The incredible sex.” He ran his fingers through his hair, leaving the trademark conservative style rumpled and more...more like the Henry she was getting to know. The Henry she’d missed in the goal-driven life she’d lived for the past year.
“We were busy—”
“Wait—hear me out. We didn’t take the time to hash out the little details of our everyday life. I can only speak for myself, but I was only worried about the next case and meeting the projected dates for the house, and then the wedding planning.”
Sonja saw Henry’s obvious distress at what boiled down to their immaturity, and at the same time mentally scanned their financial picture. Neither of them could make it on their own, not until the house was done. And anything extra in the renovation was off the bottom line she needed to be able to make a clean break and start over.
But there would never be a clean break with Henry.
“Sonja, what is it? The morning sickness?” Just like that, his concern for her was forefront.
“No, not at all. Tell you what, Henry. You’re right. Let’s make the house better than it ever was. It’s an investment—we’ll get top dollar for a house that doesn’t look like every other McMansion.” And they’d have to work together on something that wasn’t work, wasn’t a wedding.
He flashed her the trademark Boudreaux grin, and it was as if they’d crossed another obstacle, post-un-wedding.
“That’s the Sonja I know.”
They spent the next hour wandering the store, taking photos with Sonja’s phone, figuring out the costs to make their house more their own. Sonja ignored the heavy corner of her heart that insisted she stop this immediately—the house was going to sell and what difference would it make, anyway?
For once, Sonja just let herself go.
Chapter 10
Henry did what he should have done at least a year ago. He hadn’t given his parents any warning that he was coming; they were always best confronted without any opportunity to plan their attack.
He pulled up to the front of the house, the circular drive covered in gumdrops that had fallen from the trees that lined the asphalt. The tall silhouette of his father at the front door didn’t surprise him—Dad liked to wander the house with his coffee cup on Sunday mornings, sitting wherever the mood and weather permitted.
Henry reminded himself that his sole purpose for the hour drive to Baton Rouge was to confront his parents and find out exactly what the hell they’d said to Sonja.
“Son.”
“Dad.” They nodded at one another, wary predators sizing up their prey.
“What are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you too, Dad.” He stepped up to the top of the marble porch. “Where’s Mom?”
“I’m here.” She walked through the open front door, her hair and makeup impeccable even at nine o’clock on a Sunday morning. But her eyes held a new weight he hadn’t noticed in the weeks after the wedding. “Hi honey.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. He gave her a brief hug.
“Look, you two—this isn’t a casual visit. We need to talk.”
His parents exchanged glances, but it wasn’t the usual we-know-best-just-ask-us kind of communication. His parents looked...weary.
“We’ve been hoping we’d have a chance to hash things out, Henry. Come on in.”
With a combination of stunned surprise and suspicion that his father was in the midst of some cover-his-ass stunt, Henry followed his parents into their fortress of a home.
* * * *
They sat around the high café table on the back deck. Henry had poured himself a cup of coffee, needing the bite of his mother’s custom blend.
“We’ve wanted to reach out to you sooner, son.” Hudson’s voice had a note of trepidation in it that Henry was unfamiliar with.
“Yet you didn’t.”
“We knew you needed time to heal.” Gloria offered him a tremulous smile. Not her usual smug mother-knows-best look.
“What the hell is going on with you two?” He’d come to get the dirt from them he knew existed—they’d said more to Sonja than she’d told him. But they were acting incredibly odd.
Hudson looked him directly in the eye. “It’s our fault Sonja didn’t marry you.”
He had to keep it together, play his cards close.
“Why do you say that?”
A sniffle. A goddamned sniffle from his mother. “We, we only ever wanted what’s best for you and your brother and sister. Sometimes that means we did stupid things.”
“What your mother’s trying to say is that I told Sonja we’d disown you if you two married.”
Holy shit. His parents were actually apologizing. Henry had never been a huge fan of cartoons but at the moment fully appreciated the vision of the top of his head blowing off.
“Why the hell did you do that?”
“It’s not that your father, that we, would really ever disown you.” His mother blew her nose. “But we’ve already blown it with Brandon, and now Jena is halfway around the world a lot of the time.” His mother’s red-rimmed eyes showed a rare vulnerability. “It’s hard to not see that you kids don’t want anything to do with us.”
“Jesus, Mom, you’re going to play the victim in this?” His imagination was spinning with the visual of his parents telling Sonja she was going to ruin his career and life, basically. They’d said that to Sonja. Fuck.
“Your mother is upset. We both are. I’ve made a huge mistake, Henry. There’s a lot about me you’ll never change. I’m a dyed-in-the-wool Southern man from a long line of attorneys.”
“Yeah, well, you didn’t keep the entire legacy of fighting for social justice for all, did you?”
“Your mother and I haven’t worked on knowing what’s important to you kids. And we’ve irreparably damaged your happiness.”
“You’re telling me that you’ve seen the light, that you’re no longer racists?” This was rich.
“We never thought we were. But I see now that my actions, professionally and personally, need to match what I thought was my good intentions.”
“What about staying out of my business?”
“About that, Henry. It’s never going to make up for my behavior, but I want you to take the firm where you want it to go. It’s yours. I’m going to retire and close the Baton Rouge office within the year.”
Henry wanted to tell his father to go to hell, to point out that he wasn’t really changing if he thought he’d buy his way out of the hurt he’d caused Sonja.
“We’d like a chance to talk to Sonja, too.” Gloria was looking better, probably because Henry hadn’t totally lost his cool.
“That’s not necessary.” He wasn’t about to tell them that he and Sonja were sharing the cottage again, or the biggest revelation—that they were going to be grandparents.
His parents needed to stew in their own sick past for a while. He was keeping the treasure of a future child to himself.
* * * *
With Henry out of the cottage it seemed too pathetic to stay there, so Sunday morning Sonja went to see Grandma Edwina for breakfast and then decided to do some mindless shopping. Just for fun.
She enjoyed meandering through a favorite craft store, not needing a hobby with her caseload and pregnancy but needing a distraction for when she was in the cottage with Henry. Grandma had taught her to bake and whip up a good roux, but cooking in the tiny kitchen wasn’t fun. Crafting wasn’t her normal gig, but maybe something new would help keep her from freaking out over her life at the moment.
The thought of going back to the cottage with the rest of Sunday stretched out before her was too much. She’d gone to church with Grandma and had a huge helping of sausage grits before driving around, looking for any distraction. Her appetite’s return had surprised her, but Grandma always had a way of making her calm down.
“I didn’t peg you as a crafter.”
The hair on her forearms stood up straight.
“Deidre.”
“Hey, Sonja.” The petite woman didn’t meet her eyes, shifting from foot to foot, her flip-flops sparkling with huge rhinestones. “Why aren’t you back home with Henry?”
Deidre’s knowing smile made Sonja grit her teeth. She should have filed a restraining order already, just like Henry told her to do. At least then she could call 9-1-1 and walk away. Instead she had to face Deidre and not allow Deidre to see her fear, her anxiety.
“I’m not with Henry. You were at the wedding, you saw that it never happened.”
“You were visiting him yesterday.” She’d seen Sonja’s car, thought Sonja was in the house with Henry. But Deidre thought it was a visit, not a move-in. Sonja wondered if the woman knew they’d seen her, or suspected she’d been the one to attempt the break-in at the river house.
“We have a house to rebuild and sell. You saw the flood damage for yourself.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to be around Henry all the time. You’re really cruel, aren’t you, Sonja? First you treat him like dirt, leave him at the altar, crush his dreams. Now you’re playing him like a fool.” Deidre’s expression was downright chipper while her voice was almost monotone and very, very sinister.
Sonja felt in her dress’s skirt pocket for her phone, which she pulled out and pointedly tapped on while Deidre continued her tirade. Forget what she’d said to Henry about Deidre being more annoying than dangerous. This woman was out for blood.
“Oh, so now you’re going to call the police? Have me arrested?” Deidre’s peals of harsh laughter grated on Sonja’s composure like metal on slate.
“Why would I do that, Deidre? I have nothing against you. It’s a free country. You can go wherever you need to.” De-escalation was key to handling Deidre’s cagey behavior. Just like she did with clients whose emotions got the better of them.
Deidre’s face went blank as though a switch had flipped. “No one likes me. They all think I’m bad. That I’ll hurt them. I’ve only ever loved Henry. No one can love him like I do.”
“I’m sure you’re right.” Sonja murmured as she texted Henry, letting him know exactly where she was and that Deidre had shown up.
“Stop that!” Quick as lightning, Deidre’s pale, thin hand flicked out and slapped the phone out of Sonja’s palm. The solid thwack of the movement foretold the definitive crunch when it hit the concrete floor.
Sonja saw red and leaned over Deidre. “Who do you think you are? You need to stop this right now. You have no business talking to me or following me. If you don’t stop, you’re going to be arrested. I promise. Do you think you’ll be able to be a doctor when you’re in jail?” Pure rage fueled her words, her pulse throbbing in her ears.
“Ma’am, step away.”
Sonja looked up and saw the security guard.
“She followed me here and is on record for stalking my, my—” What was Henry? He wasn’t her fiancé any longer, would never be her husband. Sonja stood motionless, staring at the security guard, unable to make sense of the tug of war in her heart.
“Ma’am. Step. Away. Now.” The strong voice broke through the cloud of her anger.
She immediately held her hands up and backed away.
“You’ve got this all wrong.” She pointed at Deidre. “She’s the one who’s the problem.” As she spoke, Deidre crouched in a cowering position.
The guard’s raised brow indicated what she thought. Holy hell, she thought Sonja was the aggressor.
“Please don’t hurt me. I didn’t mean to drop your phone.” Deidre whimpered, her dramatic performance as much impressive as it was chilling. Son of a bitch.
Stay cool.
“Look, we can clear this up.” She had to dig for her attorney professionalism.
“Take your phone and leave the store.” The guard looked at her as if she were a criminal.
Sonja fought against her instinct to put the uniformed woman in her place, to explain the entire situation. That would be the biggest mistake.
Sonja did what she knew how to do best. She left without looking back.
* * * *
“Where are you now?” Henry’s voice came over the BMW’s hands-free system, and she fought the usual response she had to it. As if her DNA was wired especially for him and attuned to the timbre of his voice as no other.
“On the bridge, heading hom—back. To the cottage.”
“You should have called 9-1-1 instead of texting me from the craft store.”
“Have you heard anything I’ve said? There wasn’t any time. Deidre was strung out. And that wasn’t the scariest part.” She still couldn’t shake how quickly the woman had switched from threatening her so viciously to playing the victim. And the security guard bought it, of course.
“Let me guess. The security guard assumed you were the perpetrator of the altercation?”
The short laugh left her throat with force. “Spoken like the white boy lawyer you are, Boudreaux. As a matter of fact, yes, the guard was white, and female. Was there a racist vibe? Maybe, but that wasn’t the bottom line. The security guard assumed I was to blame because of how well Deidre played the part of the wronged party.” But now that Henry brought it up, yes, the whole situation was rife with ugliness from racism to possible psychosis. She expelled a long breath, compelling her mind to stay present in the conversation with Henry.
“Are you okay to drive? Maybe you need to pull over.”
“Where? Into Lake Pontchartrain?”
He profusely swore, and it echoed through the car.
“You wanted me to call you and have you come get me, but that would have only thrown oil on her crazy, Henry.” She looked out at the sparkling water on either side of the miles-long bridge. “You’re right—I can’t file a restraining order soon enough.”
“It won’t stop her.” Frustration saturated his reply. “I told you that after the wedding I filed a new one. It’s like gas on fire with her right now.”
“You never told your parents about her obsessive behavior. That I don’t get.” He hadn’t told her, years later, that was one thing. But his parents had been there in his life at that time.
“I was a college kid, and you know Hudson and Gloria. If I told them, they’d have been on the phone with her folks, the dean, the authorities, God knows who else. It would have been a bigger mess than it was.”
“You had nothing to hide, though. It’s not your fault that the girl you thought you’d marry turned out to be an obsessive bitch.”
“My parents have their reasons for a lot of things. As a matter of fact, that’s where I’m coming back from. I talked to them, Sonja. They’re going through their own changes.”
“You mean like some kind of epiphany?” Of course they’d be all apologetic now, they’d gotten what they wanted. Their son wasn’t going to marry her.
Silence.
“Henry?”
“I’m here. And I don’t want to have this conversation like this. Get home safe.” He disconnected.
Henry never cut her off like this. He was always the epitome of a Southern gentleman. Until she’d jilted him. It was as if some layer of gentility had peeled off when she’d left the cathedral. And it wasn’t just Henry who’d begun to reveal a different side of himself. Her insides were raw, too.
* * * *
Sonja parked the car in the main drive and walked through the overgrown path to the cottage, where Henry immediately enveloped her in a hug.
“I’m so glad you’re okay.” She allowed him to embrace her, allowed the security of being in his arms to soak in. Just a little bit couldn’t hurt, could it?
“Me, too.” She pulled back and looked up at him. Into those impossibly blue eyes. Would their baby have them, too? “Henry, maybe I’m being a wimp about this. Deidre is a doctor with a full life—she’s just screwing with us. She wouldn’t really hurt either one of us, would she?”
“Don’t know.” He caressed her cheek. “And I don’t want to talk about her. She’s another distraction. We have to keep the focus on us. So tell me, do you really feel okay right now?”
She nodded. “I do. Just run-of-the-mill, vanilla pregnancy hormone stuff. I was scared in the store, of course, but not for long.” She’d been more angry than anything.
His eyes narrowed. “Is that what happened with us, Sonja? Did it get too humdrum, too vanilla?” His voice coaxed as his fingers made her skin tingle where he touched her.
A tight curl of lust coiled low in her belly and shot a jolt of sizzling awareness between her legs.
“It was never about that.” Her breathy reply bared her need for him.
Henry traced her cheek with his finger, as tantalizing as if he’d pressed himself up against her, spread her legs and ground his pelvis to hers. She bit her lower lip to stifle the moan that started deep inside, in the place that only Henry could reach. She heard his harsh intake of breath, and he lowered his half-lidded gaze to where her teeth sunk into her flesh. He moved with the grace of a predator, his thumb pad tugging at her lower lip as he closed the space separating them.
“We can’t, Henry.” Her voice didn’t even sound halfway convinced of what she needed to protect her heart.
“Oh, but we can, Sonja. Don’t you think it’s okay for two consenting adults to get some pleasure in the midst of incredible pain?”
Her mind fumbled over all the reasons she’d fled her own wedding. But the ruins of their relationship weren’t enough to smother the desire that raged inside her.
“This time it’s your turn.” She placed her hand on his chest, hissing when she felt his heartbeat. “You took care of me yesterday.”
