And when he took over? What would she do then? She was sick of the endless rounds of socializing, tired of always trying to look perfect, be perfect.
A CEO didn’t have to be perfect. He only had to be good at his job. That’s what Ralph always said. He left perfection to the women of the family.
But none of that mattered because her son would do what Beaumonts did. He would take over the company and then she would fade into the background.
She would concentrate on her home. That’s what Beaumont women did. They made perfect homes.
Perfection, in this case, started with getting rid of Seraphina Guidry.chapter six“What do you mean you rented the truck to someone else?” A fine edge of panic went through Seraphina as she looked at Jerry Nichols, who owned the local gardening center/feed store that also hired out a fleet of service vehicles. At least that was what he called it. Sera wasn’t sure a tractor, two backhoes, and an old moving van that still had U-Haul on the side of it counted as a fleet.
In Papillon, stores often served more than one purpose. Also in Papillon things went sideways on a daily basis, but she couldn’t have this go wrong.
“I didn’t do anything, hon,” Jerry said with an apologetic smile. “It’s my daughter. She set up this whole Interweb site thing. It’s newfangled nonsense if you ask me. I can take a reservation just fine on the phone, but she insisted it would work better this way.”
“It does work but only if you actually turn the computer on.” LaTonya walked in from the office, giving her father a tired shake of her head. “If you had looked, you would have seen the moving truck was reserved for today and won’t be back until tomorrow morning. Also, payment’s already been made in full. Dad can refund your down payment or we can shift your reservation to tomorrow when we will actually have the truck back.”
“The truck is still here. It’s out in the parking lot.” Tomorrow morning would be far too late. She held up the rental agreement. “But I have paperwork. And I have cash.”
“Yeah, Dad’s good with paperwork,” LaTonya agreed. She pointed to the computer monitor. “However, this rental agreement was signed and agreed to twenty-four hours before yours.”
“But the other person only talked to a computer,” Sera argued, desperation starting to sink in. “I talked to a person. People trump computers, right? I mean, I had the courtesy of actually coming in here yesterday and talking to you, Mr. Nichols. You remember how we talked about the Saints and how they’re going all the way this year?”
Mr. Nichols nodded. “I do and it was nice of you. People should communicate more. It’s why the world is going to hell in a handbasket. Computers. They’re the real problem. You can’t look a man in the eyes over a computer.”
She might still have a chance at this. “I agree. You don’t even know who rented the truck. It’s just a name on a computer screen. You don’t know that this person won’t drive away with the truck and never come back.”
“I promise to come back,” a deep voice said. “I was not going to flee with the truck.”
Sera groaned inwardly because she knew that voice. It was deep and musical and haunted her dreams lately. Harry Jefferys, of the gorgeous face and the handy ways. It had been a week since she’d told him it couldn’t work. One week since he’d kissed her like she was the most important woman in the world. She’d called him arrogant, but he was right about his skills. The man could kiss, and she hadn’t wanted him to stop. There had been a big piece of herself that had wanted him to keep kissing her and stroking her, and if they found themselves horizontal, then she could have blamed it on her emotional state.
He’d been a gentleman, and now she dreamed about his hands on her. After he’d managed to rewire the kitchen lights, she’d told him he didn’t need to come back in the morning, that she could handle it. And every single day he showed up during his morning run. Every single day she told herself she would smile and send him on his way. And every single day he ended up fixing something, and damn but that man was even sexier when he was holding a hammer.
He’d fixed the porch steps, making it possible for her to safely enter her new property and buying her ninety days with the city. On Tuesday she’d been smart and hadn’t been outside when she knew he would come through. He’d knocked on the door and explained that Shep really needed some water and could she help a puppy out? He’d then stayed four hours to work on the kitchen sink, which now gave her access to clean water and not brownish sludge. On Wednesday he’d caught her in town buying the wrong screws for the repairs to the light fixture in the living room. It threatened to fall on her head every time she walked under it. He’d helped her get the right ones and followed her back because he assured her it would be a two-man job. It hadn’t been. He’d handled it all by himself while she’d made a couple of extra sandwiches because the man could eat. By Thursday, she waited on the porch for him because that furniture wasn’t going to move itself. On Friday she’d let him help her fill the back of his truck with donations to the local women’s shelter, and when he’d claimed he needed lunch, she’d gone to Guidry’s with him and they’d eaten gumbo in the kitchen and drunk sweet tea.