They stared at each other for a few seconds. Luc knew he should say something, but all his words were stuck in his throat. Loretta looked amazing. She was wearing a black velvet dress that showed a lot of leg and a lot of cleavage, and had tamed her usual spikes to a softer look, letting her hair fall into short tousled waves. She stared at him uncertainly. “Is something wrong?”
“No. Oh, no, it’s just that you’re so gorgeous you struck me dumb.”
“Oh, Luc,” she said, fluffing her hair self-consciously. He saw that she’d polished her nails for him-a dark, dramatic purple. She would probably have to turn around and remove every bit of that polish before she could do tomorrow’s baking. “I’m not very good at this fancy-dress stuff, really. You look like you were born to it.”
“I know how to clean up,” he said with a grin. “Where’s Zara?”
“I just sat her down with dinner. Are you ready for that talk?”
“Absolutely. Let’s do it.”
They moved from the dark bakery into the kitchen. Zara glanced up from her dinner of macaroni-and-cheese and broccoli, and her face lit up with pleasure.
“Luc.”
“Hi, gorgeous.”
“Mama said you’re taking her out on a date.” It was almost an accusation.
“Yes, that’s right, I am.”
Loretta pulled out a chair at the oak kitchen table and sat down, and Luc took that as his signal to do the same. “I know we both told you that we weren’t dating, but as it turns out, we’ve changed our minds.”
Zara looked down at her broccoli. “Okay.”
Luc had thought she might be a bit more enthusiastic, that she’d be ready to send out the wedding invitations. Her cautious acceptance of the news seemed out of character. But maybe, after her last disappointment, she was afraid to hope for too much.
“We decided we like each other too much to be just friends,” Luc added, though he was treading deep water here. “But we don’t want to mislead you. We’re not making any definite plans for the future.”
“We’re taking things one day at a time,” Loretta added. “There’s a very good chance Luc will be moving away from Indigo in a few months, so it doesn’t make sense for us to make plans-you know, for a future. Long-term.”
Loretta looked at Luc. He shrugged. He didn’t know how to explain it any better than she just had.
“So Luc can’t be my dad, ever,” Zara said, trying to sound adult and practical. But her voice wavered, making Luc’s chest hurt.
“Zara, if ever I was going to be a dad, I’d want a little girl just like you. No, let me say it stronger. I’d want you. But-”
“I know, you can’t make promises.”
“If you want to do some things together, just you and me, we can,” he said. “And we can all do things together, you and your mom and me. We can have a lot of fun. And later, if I do go away, we’ll have great memories.”
“I still don’t know why you want to go away,” Zara said.
“Maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll stay longer.” It was the first time he’d acknowledged, out loud, that he might stick around, and it surprised even him. “The point is, we don’t know right now what the future will bring. But we want to enjoy the time together we do have and not worry so much about what’s coming. Can you understand that?”
She nodded. “I think so.”
“Then could we have a smile?” Luc asked. “Let’s not be sad till we have a reason to be sad.”
Zara smiled. It was forced at first, but then seemed to grow until it was real.
“I’ll let you two visit while I finish getting ready,” Loretta said. “Zara, hurry and finish your dinner. You’re going to spend the night at Grandma and Granddaddy’s tonight.”
“On a school night?”
“Uh-huh. And I’ve told your grandma to let you stay up a half hour later so you can watch that doctor show you like. Since Luc is giving me a special treat tonight, I thought it was only fair you should get one, too.”
“Yay!” Zara dug into her macaroni with renewed vigor. She was lucky to have such a good relationship with her grandparents, Luc thought. His maternal grandparents had lived in Trenton, New Jersey, and Luc had met them only a couple of times before his grandmother had died and his grandfather had gone into a nursing home, where he’d died a short time later. And of course, he’d never met Celeste until a couple of years ago when he’d gone to work for the Hotel Marchand.
His mother would have liked grandchildren to dote on. But since he was her only child, it didn’t seem likely she would get any. Maybe he could take Loretta and Zara to Vegas sometime to meet his mother. She would enjoy fussing over Zara.
But immediately he realized how impossible that was. So long as there was no commitment between himself and Loretta, he would only be setting up more false expectations.
“Luc, do you know how to fish?” Zara asked.
“Actually, no.” Despite his affinity for boats, fishing was something he’d never tried. “Do you want to teach me how?”
“I don’t know how, either. Except for catching crawdads.”
“Maybe that’s something we can learn together. I have a boat, and the bayou is right outside my back door. Seems like it shouldn’t be that hard.”
“My friend Kiki’s mother’s boyfriend took her fishing on Lake Pontchartrain. Just her and him.”
“Does that sound like something you want to do?”
She nodded.
“Then we’ll do it. I’ll make it happen.”
“When?”
“How about the weekend after the music festival.”
She sighed. “That’s forever away.”
“I know, but things are a little crazy until it’s over. Your mom needs my help. And I’m not sure how my grandmother will feel about me taking an afternoon off to go fishing.”
“I like Tante Celeste. Maybe she could go with us.”
Oh, now, that he would like to see-Celeste baiting a fishhook with a worm. The mental image made him laugh. “I’ll ask her.”
A few minutes later, Luc and Loretta dropped off Zara at her grandparents’ house. Then they drove the five or so miles to St. Martinville. Luc wished he had one of those old cars with bench seats, so Loretta could snuggle up next to him. He settled for reaching over to hold her hand.
“How do you think we did with Zara?”
“Mmm, hard to tell. She keeps her cards close to her chest. But we did the best we could.”
“I promised to take her fishing. I hope that’s okay.”
“Fishing! That’s strange.”
“Kiki’s mother’s boyfriend took Kiki fishing.”
“Ah. I get it. Well, at least now we don’t have to hide anything. I don’t like keeping secrets from Zara-or from anyone, really. I’m not a good liar.”
“Speaking of keeping secrets, did you know there was something going on between Celeste and Doc?”
“I thought there might be. How lovely. Do you think it’s serious?”
“I don’t know. It’s just so…weird.”
“Because they’re senior citizens?”
“No, because she’s my grandmother. And because she’s Celeste. You don’t know her like I do. She’s usually all proper and snooty and looking down her nose at everyone. Now here she is, giggling like a schoolgirl and…and flirting.”
“Maybe she’s in love. Or moving that way. Love can be very transformative, you know.”
“So I hear.” Watching all his cousins fall in love when he’d been working at the hotel was one of the reasons he’d come to like them so much. He’d seen every side of them-seen them angry, vulnerable, hurting and ultimately very happy.
“Yes, love can make a huge difference in a person’s life. But it can also be destructive.” Like his father’s careless love for his mother. He’d given her just enough love to make her long for more-just enough to keep her from divorcing him, at least during those first few years.