A Second Chance

me.”

“Well, you need to think these things through.”

“I have, and I’m really, really sorry. I cleaned up the paint, and I wrote a letter to Alain and every person who looked for me to say I was sorry. But Mama said that wasn’t enough. She said I can’t play my fiddle at the music festival.”

“Your mama’s a tough cookie. Believe me, I know.”

“Don’t you think it’s unfair?” She blinked her big hazel eyes at Luc, and he had to force himself to firm his resolve.

“I think maybe next time you hatch a plan like the last one, you’ll remember the consequences and think twice.”

Zara’s eyes shone with tears, but if she was hoping to play Luc against Loretta, it wasn’t going to work. She sighed. “Okay.”

“Zara,” Loretta said, “run and put your good black shoes on. We have to leave in a few minutes.”

Zara stamped out dejectedly.

“Did I do okay?” Luc asked.

Loretta smiled. “You did fine. But do you think I’m being too harsh, grounding her from the music festival? She’s been rehearsing for weeks, and she’s so good.”

“Like I said, you’re one tough cookie.”

“Maybe I should think of another punishment.”

They turned as one when they heard a noise coming from the house-soft, at first, then louder. It was Zara’s fiddle, and she was playing the most melancholy song Luc had ever heard.

“Oh, now that’s enough to break my heart,” he said.

“Zara Castille, were you eavesdropping?” Loretta demanded.

The music stopped and Zara peeked around the corner. “Just a little bit, by accident.” She ran back into the bakery, still barefoot, clutching her fiddle. “Oh, Mama, when you told me about Luc, you said everyone deserves a second chance. Don’t you think I do, too? I’ll do anything. I’ll scrub the bakery floor every day, you can cut off my allowance for a year, burn all my Harry Potter cards, but please let me play my song in the festival.”

Luc tried to keep a straight face. Only a stone could fail to respond to the child’s plea, and Loretta was no stone.

“Oh, all right,” she finally said. Zara hugged her and thanked her about ten times. “Now go put your shoes on!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

When they were alone again, Loretta looked at Luc, who was still trying to hide his amusement. “She’s your problem now, too, you know.”

He took her hand. “Everyone should be so lucky to have such a problem.”

DINNER WAS FESTIVE and full of laughter. Luc had baked some chicken breasts and rosemary potatoes, and Doc had contributed a spicy Cajun corn salad. Loretta brought some crescent rolls and Vincent and Adele an apple pie. Celeste selected a couple of bottles of very good wine from the stash she’d brought with her.

As Adele cut the pie, Luc knew it was time to make his announcement. He hoped everyone would be happy-but he wasn’t completely convinced. Now that Vincent and Adele knew he had a criminal record, they might not be too keen to have him as a son-in-law.

He drew in a breath, prepared to ask for everyone’s attention, when Celeste beat him to it.

“Since we’re all gathered here,” she said, “I have an announcement to make.”

Well, talk about stealing his thunder. Luc swallowed, almost grateful for the small reprieve.

“Luc, you have done an incredible job, not only with renovating this old cottage and bringing it back to its former glory, but in establishing the B and B and running it profitably. I confess, I expected you to fail. I was actually looking forward to it. I’m somewhat ashamed of my behavior toward you now that I see it in retrospect. You have proved yourself, more than proved yourself, and I am truly proud to call you my grandson.”

“Thank you, Grand-mere.” Here it comes, he thought. She was thanking him for services rendered, and now she was going to announce that she was taking over the B and B and he was out of a job.

“So I’ve made a decision. Several decisions, actually. I’m going to give you La Petite Maison. As a wedding present.”

Luc’s jaw dropped. He glanced over at Loretta, but she shrugged helplessly. “How did you know we’re getting married?”

“You’re not getting married,” Celeste said imperiously. “I’m getting married. Or rather, Michel and I are. That’s why Michel planned this dinner. Isn’t it?”

“I thought I planned the dinner,” Luc said. “To announce Loretta’s and my engagement.”

Vincent let loose with a hearty laugh. “Sounds like everyone’s getting married!”

Then the rest of what his grandmother had said sank in. “Grand-mere, you really mean it? You want to give me the B and B? Won’t the rest of the family object?”

“Anne and the girls are completely in favor of it. You’re a part of our family. Your father didn’t get a fair shake, and nothing can ever change that, but we all agreed you should have the B and B.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Thank you would be appropriate.”

Luc stepped around the table and wrapped his arms around his grandmother. She was stiff at first, but gradually she relaxed. “Thank you. You know, I was positive you came to Indigo to fire me and take over running the B and B yourself.”

“Good heavens, what an awful idea. I’ve never worked for a living a day in my life. Why would I start at age eighty-five?”

“This calls for a toast,” Doc said, refilling everyone’s wineglasses. “Best wishes to the brides…” He lifted his glass to Loretta, then Celeste.

“And the grooms,” Celeste finished for him, nodding toward Luc and Doc in turn. “Now doesn’t this just prove that anyone, even a cranky old woman, can turn over a new leaf and make a fresh start?”

More toasts followed, along with plenty of hugs and tears. For the first time since he’d left the Hotel Marchand in disgrace, Luc felt a part of something larger than himself-a family, a community. He had real ties now, ties that could never be broken.

“I almost forgot,” Doc said. “Who’s up for a boat ride?”

“A boat ride?” Celeste echoed. “With all the wine we’ve had, who among us would dare pilot the boat?”

“Oh, all right, we don’t have to actually ride in the boat. But we do have to go look at it.”

“Michel, have you lost your mind?”

But Doc wouldn’t be dissuaded, and they all abandoned their pie to troop outside and down the brick walkway. Luc grinned. With everything else that had happened the past couple of days, he’d forgotten this last surprise.

Loretta took his hand. “What’s going on?” she asked. “You look like you know something.”

“You’ll see.”

Luc’s boat, looking spiffy even in the dark, bobbed gently on the water next to the dock. Doc shone his flashlight on the stern, where his surprise became apparent. The Bitchin’ Mama was no more. Now the boat bore the name, Celeste.

“Oh, Michel.” Celeste giggled like a schoolgirl.

“It was all Luc,” Doc said.

“It’s my present to you, Grand-mere,” Luc said. “For giving me the chance to start over. I know it’s not much, but if you hadn’t sent me here, I never would have met Loretta or Zara, and I might never have known what it was to belong somewhere, to be a part of something bigger than myself, and to love someone more than life itself.”

Celeste dabbed at her eyes. “It’s one of the nicest presents I’ve ever received. I’ve always wanted to be immortal.”