“Then one day, out of the blue, we ran into each other at the Petroleum Club, where my brother was having a reception. Louis was with Ross, having dinner.” A ghost of a smile came over Cricket’s face. “I ended up sitting down with them, and we went out for a drink after. We spent most of that weekend together, the three of us. I was surprised when it was Ross who called and asked if he could see me the next time he was in Dallas.”
Louis had flushed slightly. “Ross needed a wife. He’d been so absorbed with business that he didn’t date much. His brother was starting to talk about how a family man should be in charge.”
“Like father, like son,” Rene said under his breath.
“A bit.” Louis sighed, a weary sound. “Don’t we learn from our fathers? I know you’ve been questioning yours lately, but he loved you. He loved Cricket, too. He just couldn’t find a way out of the trap he found himself in. He was raised believing it was his job to rule over the company and the family like some kind of king. It sounds good, but there’s so much responsibility. It weighs a man down. Your dad raised you the only way he knew how, but you had your mother to balance him.”
“I had you, too.” Rene’s hand was back in Sylvie’s. “You would take me to ball games when my dad had to work. You always had candy in your pocket, and you never made it hard to talk to you. I know I said a lot of things yesterday, but I haven’t forgotten how much you did for me growing up.”
A sheen of tears hit Louis’s eyes. “I loved you, Rene. Still do. I love you because you are the product of my best friend and the woman I’ve loved for decades. I supported their relationship because I thought I had nothing to offer her. I didn’t have a grand house. I couldn’t give her the life she grew up with.”
“She didn’t need it,” Rene said. “She needed you. She would have built a life with you.”
“I can’t go back.” Cricket put her hand in Louis’s. “I wouldn’t go back, son. I wouldn’t for all the world because you are my pride and my joy. But it’s time for me to move forward. I thought about this all night, and I believe you’re worried for nothing. You think I spent my whole marriage pining for another man. I didn’t, but that’s not the point. You’re worried that your marriage to Sylvie started the way mine did to your father. Sylvie is not me. She’s not going to be dreaming of some man she loved but couldn’t have.”
Sylvie turned to her husband, taking in that straight jaw and soulful eyes. He was the one she’d pined for, compared every other man to. “I only ever loved you.”
Rene brought her hand up to his lips. “And you’ve always been the only woman for me.” He turned back to his mother and Louis, seemingly more confident than he’d been before. “All right. You don’t need my support, but you have it. And I’ll call off the private detectives. We will need to figure out where you want to live, because I pretty much gave away our house last night.”
“Don’t you worry about that,” his mother said with a wave of her hand. “If we get kicked out of Darois House, we’ll build another. I actually think Louis and I will be traveling a bit. We’re talking about taking that year-long cruise I always wanted to do. It would be good for us to get out and see the world, make us feel young again. Would you have a problem with us staying at the New Orleans house while we figure it all out?”
“Mom, it’s your house.” Rene relaxed back but didn’t let her hand go.
Cricket looked up at Louis, who nodded her way. “No, it’s yours. Louis and I talked last night and we think you should have a trust fund. You have worked all these years and you should have your own money. You will also have control of the charity fund the family has run since your great-grandfather set it up. Of course, you’re my sole heir. My will is not going to change even if Louis and I get married.”
“You’re my heir, too,” Louis admitted. “Though don’t get excited. It’s not much, but I’ve saved over the years. I’m not listening to stock tips anymore, though.”
Cricket flushed. “I’m sorry about that.” She looked back to Rene. “I’m taking half of everything we have now and putting it in a trust for you, and you will be the sole owner of most of our properties. I don’t want to keep up with them. You’re doing all the work so I would like for them to be in your name. We’ve got to go over everything with a lawyer, of course, but this is what I want. What we want.”