'I'm sorry,' I said. 'I couldn't help it, but I haven't really been able to cry for Daddy since I came home from school. Daphne's made things so hard for all of us. Poor Paul,' I said, smiling through my tear-soaked eyes. 'You have to be the one to endure my flood of tears.'
'No. I'm glad I was here to bring you any comfort. It must have been horrible. I remember your father well. He was so young and vibrant when I last saw him, and he was very kind to me, a real Creole gentleman. He was a man with class. I understood why our mother would have fallen in love with him so deeply.'
'Yes. So did I.' I took his hand and smiled. 'Oh Paul, it's so good to see you.' I looked at the front door and then turned back to him. 'My stepmother won't let me have visitors in the house,' I said, leading him to a bench over which was an arch of roses. 'She's sending us back to Greenwood tomorrow,' I told him after we had sat down.
'So soon?'
'Not soon enough for her,' I said bitterly. I took a deep breath. 'But don't let me focus only on myself. Tell me about home, about your sisters, everyone.'
I sat back and listened as he spoke, permitting myself to fall back through time. When I lived in the bayou, life was harder and far poorer, but because of Grandmere Catherine, it was much happier. Also, I couldn't help but miss the swamp, the flowers and the birds, even the snakes and alligators. There were scents and sounds, places and events I recalled with pleasure, not the least of which was the memory of drifting in a pirogue toward twilight, with nothing in my heart but mellow contentment. How I wished I was back there now.
'Mrs. Livaudis and Mrs. Thibodeaux are still going strong,' he said. 'I know they miss your Grandmere.' He laughed. It sounded so good to my ears. 'They know I've kept in contact with you, although they don't come right out and say so. Usually they wonder aloud in my presence about Catherine Landry's Ruby.'
'I miss them. I miss everyone.'
'Your Grandpere Jack is still living in the house and still, whenever he gets drunk, which is often, digging holes and looking for the treasure he thinks your Grandmere buried to keep from him. I swear, I don't know how he stays alive. My father says he's part snake. His skin does look like he's been through a tannery, and he comes slithering out of shadows and bushes when you least expect him.'
'I almost ran away and returned to the bayou,' I confessed.
'If you ever do . . . I'll be there to help you,' Paul said. 'I'm working as a manager in our canning factory now,' he added proudly. 'I make a good salary, and I'm thinking of building my own house.'
'Oh Paul, really?' He nodded. 'Have you met someone then?'
His smile faded. 'No.'
'Have you tried?' I pursued. He turned away. 'Paul?'
'It's not easy finding someone to compare to you, Ruby. I don't expect it to happen overnight.'
'But it has to happen, Paul. It should. You deserve someone who can love you fully. You deserve a family of your own someday too.'
He remained silent. Then he turned and smiled. 'I really enjoyed your letters from school, especially all the things you've told me about Gisselle.'
'She's been more than a handful, and I just know things are going to get worse now that Daddy's gone, but he left me promising to look after her. I'd rather look after a barrel of green snakes,' I said. Paul laughed again, and I felt the weight of sorrow lift from my breast. It was as if I could suddenly breathe again.
But before we could continue, we saw Edgar approaching. He looked glum.
'I'm sorry, mademoiselle, but Madame Dumas wants you to come into the house and go directly to the parlor now,' he said, raising his eyebrows to indicate how sternly she had given the command.
'Thank you, Edgar. I'll be right along,' I said. He nodded and left us.
'Oh Paul, I'm so sorry you've come so far to spend so short a time with me.'
'It's all right,' he said. 'It was worth it. A minute with you is like an hour back home without you anyway,' he added.
'Paul, please,' I said, taking his hands into mine. 'Promise me you'll look for someone to love. Promise me you'll let someone love you. Promise.'
'All right,' he said. 'I promise. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you, Ruby, even fall in love with someone else, if I could.'
'You can; you must,' I told him.
'I know,' he said in a whisper. He looked like I had forced him to swallow castor oil. I wanted to stay with him, to talk and remember the good times, but Edgar was standing in the doorway as a way of showing me Daphne was being very insistent.
'I've got to go inside before she makes a scene that embarrasses us both, Paul. Have a safe trip back and call and write to me at school.'
'I will,' he said. He kissed me quickly on my cheek and hurried to his car, forcing himself not to look back. I knew it was because he had tears in his eyes and he didn't want me to see them.
I felt an ache in my heart when he drove off, and for a moment I could see that look in his face again on the day he learned the truth about us, the truth we both wished had been buried in the swamp with the sins of our fathers.
I sucked in my breath and hurried to the front entrance to see what new rules and orders Daphne wanted to lay on my sister's and my head now, now that we had no one to stand between her and us and protect us anymore.
She was waiting in the parlor, sitting back in her chair. Gisselle had been wheeled in and she waited too, fidgeting and looking very unhappy. I was surprised to see Bruce seated at the dark pine secretary. Would he be
