Rescue Me (13 page)

“And I told you I’m not taking one red cent from you. This little girl has always been hardheaded,” Lorna said in a stage whisper.

“I can hear you,” Renee sang.

Suppressing a smile, Alex said, “From what you’ve explained, I don’t think it would cost all that much to incorporate those changes. In fact, I just redid my daughter’s room with a huge walk in closet and storage unit I designed myself. We could drive over there right now and take a look at it if you want to. I’m only about fifteen minutes from here.”

“Really?” Lorna mused. She turned to Renee. “Honey, why don’t you go with Alex and check out the closet? You know exactly what I want.”

Renee frowned. “You know what you want more than I do.”

“Not really. You’re the one who suggested I put in the closet. I was just going to make do with what I already had.”

“No—”

“Don’t argue, Renee,” Lorna managed to snap while still smiling.

It didn’t take Alex long to understand the situation as he
looked back and forth between aunt and niece. He had witnessed his mother, the unofficial president of Matchmakers of America, operate long enough to spot another of her cohorts at work.

“Why don’t I just take pictures and bring them back for you both to see?” Alex suggested, though he already knew the opposition that was about to surface.

“Oh no. I think Renee needs to get a firsthand account. Pictures won’t do at all.”

The glare Renee shot her aunt should have scorched the ends of her hair, but Lorna Davis handled the situation with aplomb reminiscent of the great Margo Holmes. She steamrolled right over her niece.

“Go on, now,” Lorna said, ushering both Alex and Renee toward the door. “I’ll have your little football party ready when you get back, Renee. Alex, do you like football?”

“Yes, I do,” Alex answered.

“Renee loves football. She’s such a tomboy. But she can be a lady when the occasion calls,” Lorna quickly added. Renee’s eyes turned to fire, but her aunt forged ahead. “Go, go. I’ll see you two in about an hour.”

“I am so sorry about that,” Renee said as she walked alongside Alex on the way to his truck.

“Sorry about what?” he asked.

“As if you couldn’t tell what she was doing?” Renee said.

“Don’t worry about it,” Alex said as he opened the passenger door of his Ford F-150 and stepped back so Renee could get in. “My mother’s matchmaking would put your aunt’s attempts to shame.”

“That’s scary,” Renee said, buckling her seat belt.

Alex climbed into the driver’s seat and buckled up. “Actually, as I think about it, my mom’s pretty good at it,” he said. He put the truck in reverse and backed out of the driveway. “Both of my brothers have found the loves of their lives in the past year.”

“Are you the only one left?” Renee asked. “Or had you already found the love of your life?”

Alex glanced over at her, his muscles tightening up like the strings on a guitar.

“Your wife?” Renee prompted. “Jasmine’s mother? I heard she was killed in a car accident.”

“Uh, yeah,” Alex replied.

“I’m sorry, it’s none of my business,” Renee quickly apologized. “I had no reason to ask that.”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Alex said, even though he wasn’t sure how to answer, or even if he should. Chantal had been the love of his life when they were first married, but that love had vanished far too soon. He hoped God had someone else in store for him, but only when he was ready to open himself up to the possibility, which he was not right now. Or that’s what he thought.

“Chantal was killed about two years ago,” he began. “It hasn’t been easy.”

“I’m so sorry,” Renee said with genuine sincerity. “That must have been so hard for Jasmine. For you, too.”

“It was,” he answered, but wasn’t sure if he meant it. He hadn’t shed a tear over Chantal since the night of her funeral, and that was only because he’d spent that night holding Jasmine as she’d cried for her mother.

“What about you?” he asked, pushing away the emotions. “Is your aunt your only family?”

“You can say that,” she said. She looked out the window, but turned back to him a moment later. “My parents live in Georgia. Right outside Savannah. I don’t talk to them much.”

“I’m sorry,” Alex said. He couldn’t wrap his head around the concept of estranged families. He talked to his mother and brothers at least once a day, oftentimes more.

“Is it just you and your two brothers?” Renee asked. “No sisters?”

“Just the three of us.”

“I always wanted brothers and sisters,” she said.

“No, you don’t. They’re a pain in the ass,” Alex said.

“I’m sure they can be,” Renee laughed. “But I was lonely as an only child. My parents were … overprotective. They were always afraid I’d fall in with the wrong crowd. I wasn’t allowed to have friends over or anything. That’s why I loved visiting my aunt Lorna here in New Orleans when I was growing up. At least she would let me hang out with the neighborhood kids.”

Alex had to ask the question that had been lingering in the back of his mind. “You said you moved to New Orleans to help your aunt rebuild. Does that mean once the house is completed you’re moving back to… where did you say you were from? Florida?”

“I was teaching in Tampa,” she answered. “I’m still up in the air about whether or not I’ll go back any time soon. I enjoy working with the younger kids much more than I thought I would. After teaching college aged students, I wasn’t sure I would be able to adjust, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised.”

“What did you teach before coming to St. Katherine’s?”

“European history.”

Alex whipped his head around. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong with European history?”

Nothing, other than the fact that it was the one class he was close to flunking the hell out of in school. A germ of an idea started to bloom in Alex’s brain, but he was unsure if he should allow it to grow. Although he
had
considered hiring a tutor to help him get past this European history hurdle.

“How would you feel about doing a little tutoring?” he asked.

Even the puzzled glance she sent his way looked good on her.

“I’m working on my business degree through this online school,” Alex explained. “This quarter, I’m taking European
history, and I’m having a much harder time than I thought I would. I usually eat that stuff up, but Europe has a long history, and—”

“I find it all fascinating,” Renee interrupted. “But some parts are more interesting than others.”

“Would you mind looking over a paper I have to turn in tomorrow?” Alex asked.

“Of course not,” she said. “I think it’s wonderful that you’ve gone back to school.”

“No one knows about it,” Alex said.

“As in your family?”

“As in everyone in the world except for myself, my professors, and the eight other participants in the online class.”

He’d kept the fact that he was working on his degree from his family. He’d thought about coming clean, but Alex remembered how upset his mother had been when he’d dropped out of school to help support the family after his dad’s death. He’d always told her it never bothered him that he’d never gotten his degree, but it had. He didn’t want Mama to feel any of the guilt she’d felt after he left school.

They pulled up to a stoplight.

“I respect your privacy, and I’ll be more than happy to help, especially after everything you’re doing for my aunt.”

“That’s not why I asked,” Alex said. “Don’t think I wouldn’t continue to help your aunt if you’d said no. You don’t have to—”

“Alex.” She put her hand on his forearm. Alex looked from the soft brown hand resting on his arm to her soft brown eyes. “I’d love to help you,” she said.

Her touch was warm and delicate and light as a feather, but it had the effect of a three hundred pound weight pushing down on his chest. Air became a precious commodity that seemed to be escaping his lungs at an alarming rate.

“Uh, okay,” he said. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she answered. “Are you going to drive?”

“What?” Several horns blared from the cars behind them. “Oh, damn. Sorry,” he apologized for his language. “I’m only a couple of blocks away,” Alex said. A minute later he turned into the driveway of the huge wood frame home he’d bought a year after he and Chantal had been married. Alex had completed so many renovations on the house that it hardly resembled the original.

He got out of the truck and walked over to open her door, but she’d already gotten out.

“This is beautiful,” Renee exclaimed as she rounded the front of the truck.

“Thanks,” Alex said. “It’s probably bigger than we need, being just the two of us.”

“It looks like the perfect house to raise a child.”

“Jazzy loves it here, especially since I added her own suite.”

“Her own suite? We should all be so lucky.” Renee smirked.

“I figured she was growing up and needed a bigger space,” Alex explained with a shrug. “That’s where the closet is. “C’mon.” He motioned for her to follow. “I’ll show you the design. You can determine if it’s close to what your aunt was thinking of doing in her room.”

Renee grabbed his forearm again. “Alex, I think I should warn you about something before we go any further. The minute my aunt saw you, her agenda changed. She couldn’t care less about the closet.”

“I recognized what she was up to,” he confided. “I told you about my mother. I can spot a matchmaker from a mile away.”

That grin on her was
so
sexy. Alex should just accept defeat. The struggle to keep his attraction at bay was too much to withstand.

“I just didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable,” she said.

“I’ve become a pro at handling meddling family members,”
Alex reassured her. “But since we’re here you might as well have a look at the closet, right?”

“Of course, let’s go in,” Renee said, holding her hand out for him. “I would love to see your home.”

Renee barely contained her gasp. The structure was gorgeous from the outside, but when she entered through the seven foot, double oak doors, Renee was blown away. The entry opened to a massive family room with high ceilings and a bank of tall windows along the right wall. The sun streaming through them cast a honeyed glow on the richly polished hardwood floors.

“Jazzy’s room is this way.” Alex motioned for her to follow him through the family room and down a hallway. Renee halted at a picture of a young, petite woman with model quality features that hung next to a mirror. She had long, curly jet black hair that stood out starkly against her creamy skin. Her light, hazel eyes seemed to hold a secret, along with the slightly curved smile.

“Is this your wife?” Renee asked.

Alex looked back. Renee noticed the surprise on his face when he realized she wasn’t directly behind him. She pointed to the picture on the wall.

“Your wife?” she repeated.

Alex nodded. “That’s Chantal.” He walked back up the hallway and stopped beside her, staring at the portrait.

“Jasmine looks just like her,” Renee commented. “She was beautiful.”

“Yes, she was.”

“Do you miss her?” she asked. His brow drew downward in a frown. “I’m sorry,” Renee said, shaking her head. “I usually don’t bombard people with nosy questions. And the fact that I hardly know you makes it even more improper.”

“I wouldn’t say we hardly know each other,” Alex said. “I have seen you naked.”

Renee burst out laughing, then sobered the instant she remembered that she was standing in front of a picture of the man’s dead wife. “I’m sorry. Can we please take a look at that closet?”

“Follow me.” He led her down the hallway toward the back of the house. They passed the open door of a room that had a definite masculine feel to it with its shades of brown, blue, and green, and Renee realized it was most likely his room.

A pool of something warm and tingly settled into her stomach at the sight of the rumpled linens. The image of a sleeping Alex wrapped up in those sheets filled her mind’s eye.

“Here we are.” Alex opened a door directly across from his bedroom.

This time Renee could not contain her gasp. It was as if she’d walked into the pages of a fairy tale. The room was magical, adorned in pink and cream with shimmering gold and iridescent accents. A huge canopied bed took up the far corner of the room, which was made to look like a castle, with towering Grecian columns flanking either side of the bedposts. Catty corner to the bed was a vast sitting area with the bay window that was straight out of the design Renee had envisioned for her aunt’s master bedroom, but Jasmine’s seating area also held a padded rocker, and a dainty chaise made of the same pattern as the comforter set on the bed and the curtains.

She stepped farther into the room, her amazement increasing tenfold.

The other half of the suite was straight out of every little girl’s dream. An arched entryway, with
Jasmine’s Play Land
stenciled in dramatic script across the top, led to a deep alcove filled with every toy one could imagine. A huge wooden dollhouse, big enough for the six year old to step into, took up the back wall of the alcove. Dolls, stuffed animals, princess costumes, tiaras, and child size furniture filled the area.

“I’m in awe,” Renee admitted as she stood in the center of the room and turned in a circle. “This is absolutely amazing.”

“It was my project this year.”

“So this is all new?”

“Yeah, it added another seven hundred square feet to the house. It came out pretty good.”

“Pretty good?” Renee turned to him. “If you call this pretty good, I’d hate to see what you call spectacular. It’s every little girl’s dream room.”

“I only built it. My cousin, Indina, decorated it. C’mon, I’ll show you the closet.”

They walked over to double beveled doors that opened into a walk in closet that rivaled the size of Renee’s entire apartment in Florida. The pungent fragrance of fresh cedar imbued the air. Shelves lined either side, followed by deep drawers with brushed gold knobs. As they forayed deeper into the closet, Renee marveled at the racks of shoes, and hair ribbons hanging from a specially made spool holder. The entire back wall of the closet was compartmentalized for hanging shirts, pants, and dresses.