There is enough sadness in the world without our contributing to it.'
'I knew you would think like that,' he said, smiling. 'Your sister . . .' He shook his head. 'She's gone wild, and with that boyfriend of hers . . . they're conspiring against me. I need your help, Ruby.'
'My help? You ask for my help?' I nearly laughed aloud.
'You were always the more reasonable one,' he said. 'And now that you are very well off yourself, you will understand. Daphne and I had certain arrangements,' he continued. 'Oh, we never put them in writing as such, but we did. She and I discussed what we would do should something happen to one of us, and we agreed that the other should be granted sole power of attorney. If you will have the estate lawyers draw up the papers . . .'
'For years you and Daphne were the conspirators, Bruce,' I said with ice in my voice. 'The two of you conspired against my father. You embezzled, you deceived. Only apparently you were partners in crime with a much smarter second half who wrote you out of most of your spoils,' I said, gazing at the pile of documents. 'I feel sorry for you, but I won't lift a finger to help you,' I said. 'Take what you've stolen successfully and leave,' I advised him. His mouth dropped open.
'But . . . La Ruby, you know I always fancied you, and stuck up for you whenever Daphne was too harsh.'
'When?' I snapped. 'You never had the courage to oppose her, even when you saw her do mean things to me, to my uncle Jean, even to Gisselle. Don't look to me for favors, Bruce.'
His eyes narrowed. 'You two won't get away with this. I have lawyers also, you know, high-paid, important lawyers and business associates.'
'Frankly, I don't care, Bruce. I'm going to leave those battles up to Gisselle.'
He smiled wryly. 'She stole your boyfriend, you know.'
I felt the heat in my face and knew I had turned crimson. 'I'm married, Bruce.'
His smile widened. 'We'll see who gets the last laugh here,' he threatened, and returned to the desk.
I went to the dining room and told Gisselle about my conversation with him. She shrugged.
'I'm leaving all that to Beau and our attorneys,' she said. 'But I was thinking I would buy out your share of this house and the New Orleans properties. You have so much, why should you care?' she added before I could offer any resistance.
'That's fine with me,' I said.
She smiled. 'I just knew we would get along fine during this difficult time. We have to do what we can to comfort each other, don't we? What are you going to wear to the funeral? Did you bring something appropriate? I have a closet full of new clothing. You can borrow anything. Just look through my racks and racks of garments. You're a little wider than I am in the hips since you gave birth, but most everything should fit,' she said.
'I brought something of my own, thank you,' I said. We both turned when Bruce appeared in the doorway. He hugged a bundle of papers in his arms.
'I'm leaving for a while,' he said. 'Going to the offices of my attorneys.'
'Don't think you can destroy any papers, Bruce,' Gisselle said. 'I know Mother kept copies of everything with Simons and Beauregard, who are now our attorneys.'
He spun around angrily and, in doing so, dropped some of his documents. Gisselle laughed as he fumbled and knelt to gather them up. Then, fuming, he pounded his way down the corridor and out the door.
'Good riddance,' Gisselle called after him. She smiled at me. 'I was thinking of closing the house for a month and traveling. Maybe to London. Aren't these oysters and artichokes delicious? This large pastry shell is called vol- au-vent,' she said pedantically.
The food was good, but I wasn't in the mood to enjoy anything. After lunch, Gisselle went to call some friends and I wandered through the house. Little had been changed or added. I sighed deeply and walked on through the house until I came to what was once my studio. Nothing had been taken out of it, but the room had obviously been kept closed. There were layers and layers of dust on everything, and even cobwebs around the windows and in the corners. Paints were dried and brushes hardened. I gazed at some of my aborted drawings and stood by the easel.
The memory of that day with Beau returned, the day he tempted me into drawing him nude. I looked at the sofa and envisioned him there again, that soft, impish smile on his lips and in his eyes. My heart had been pounding the whole time, but somehow, I had managed to get into my art and had drawn a picture so lifelike and realistic that later, when Daphne discovered it, she had no trouble realizing who it was and what had happened.
It was later that day, after I had worked on his picture, that Beau and I first made love. The memory of his kiss, his touch, our passionate embraces, swept over me and even now stole my breath away. Mesmerized by my own recollections, I approached the sofa slowly and gazed at it as if I could see us together again, a replay of those moments of ecstasy, the two of us joining in an act of love so complete, we lost ourselves in each other and pledged a love we thought could never die.
I sat quickly, feeling my legs soften and threaten to give out from under me. For a while I remained there, my eyes closed, my heart thumping against my chest. Then I took a deep breath and turned to gaze out the window at the sprawling oak trees and gardens, recalling how excited I was when I first set out to draw and paint in my own studio.
'Penny for your thoughts,' I heard a soft voice say, and turned to see Beau standing in the doorway. His shock of shiny golden hair still fell wildly over his smooth forehead, and his dark complexion still made his blue eyes glimmer that much more. He wore a dark blue blazer and khaki pants with his shirt opened at the collar. His handsome face was so familiar to me: his sensual and perfect mouth, his perfectly straight, Roman nose, and his strong chiseled-looking chin.
I was speechless for a moment, unable to move under the radiance of his warm and attractive smile, which quickly turned into a soft laugh.
'You look like you're gazing at a ghost,' he said. He came to me quickly and took my hands, guiding me to my feet. We embraced and then he stepped back and held my hands up to look at me.
'You haven't changed, except to look more beautiful,' he said. 'Well?' he said. 'Say something.'
