Bayou Sweetheart

“We’ve lost him again,” Brenna said, opening the trunk of her car to put away some folders. “Tomas, please don’t disappoint me. I want you to be at my wedding. I owe you a lot, you know. If you hadn’t bought this house, I wouldn’t have met Nick.”

“That’s true, sí,” Nick said, nodding his agreement. “Say yes, so she’ll quit pestering you.”

Brenna tilted her head. “My sisters are my bridesmaids. Callie will be wearing a pretty blue dress.”

That got his attention. “Ah, Callie. I met her the other day. She was...in the garden.”

“She loves that job,” Brenna replied, a twinkle in her eye. “She told Alma and me about how you’d caught her playing in the rain.”

He was sure she’d told them more—that he was brooding and scary and that she had a total disdain for his lofty lifestyle.

“She’s a very...interesting woman.”

Nick grinned and winked. “These Blanchard sisters, Tomas. Have to watch them.”

Brenna didn’t even bat an eye. “It’s Callie Blanchard Moreau now, but she is the last Blanchard woman standing. The strongest of us. You need to ask her to dance at the wedding so she won’t feel like a wallflower. Okay?”

“I don’t dance,” Tomas replied, already imagining Callie in a blue dress, in his arms. Definitely not a wallflower.

Brenna shook her head at that. “You might change your mind.” She was about to shut the trunk when Tomas stopped her.

“Wait,” he said, spying a painting lying in the trunk underneath a blanket. The blanket had slipped away to reveal long blond hair and one sky-blue eye. “May I see that?”

Brenna pulled at the blanket. “I painted it.” She beamed and sent a glance to her amused fiancé. “For Callie’s birthday, last December. Papa and I have been working on the frame. Only Callie is a bit embarrassed about it. She didn’t want people to think she’s vain so she asked Papa to keep it.”

Tomas lifted the painting and held it up. It was a portrait of Callie laughing in a garden. It reminded him of the other day. The day his heart had beat faster. “How much?”

Brenna frowned over at him. “Excuse me?”

“I want to buy this. How much?”

Nick cleared his throat. “Uh, that’s not for sale. Brenna gave it to Callie as a gift.”

“But she refused to accept it.” Tomas held tight to the painting. Brenna had captured her sister’s essence, the same essence he’d seen when she was in the garden. “I understand that and I appreciate it. But I’d like to buy this painting.”

Brenna started to speak, then stopped, then started again.

“I...I don’t know what to say. I mean, I worked on it for months, sometimes right here in the sunroom, before the house was finished. Papa said he’d like to hang it by our mother’s portrait.”

“How much?” Tomas asked again. “Name your price.”

Brenna dropped the blanket into the trunk. “But...what will I tell Callie? And Papa? Have you met my papa?”

“No. But I’ve met your sister. Just quote me a price.”

Brenna walked over to Nick. “Will you please explain to your boss that this portrait is not for sale?”

Nick grinned again. “I think Tomas has finally met his match.” He leaned close to Brenna. “And I’m not talking about you and your papa.”

Brenna smiled at Nick, a gleam in her eyes. “Tomas, I can’t sell you the portrait. But I’m flattered that you like it.”

Tomas put the portrait back in the trunk. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make demands. It’s just that—”

“This would be perfect in one of the bedrooms,” Brenna replied, her eyes lighting up.

“I had thought the sunroom.” Tomas shouldn’t have said anything. He didn’t like the feelings Callie seemed to stir. And he did not like the way Brenna’s eyes were gleaming now. She obviously thought he’d gone mad, or she’d sensed his hard-to-explain interest in her older sister.

“The sunroom.” Brenna’s eyes filled with tears. “Perfect.”

“I’m sorry,” Tomas said again. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No, no.” Brenna ran a finger over the painting. “Callie has been through so much. So much. I wanted to give her something that would make her smile. She was touched and embarrassed. So we compromised and agreed to display it at Papa’s house, maybe in her old room. But...you seem to see her as she is. She’s the sunshine in all of our lives.”

Tomas swallowed, wondered why he’d even suggested having the painting. “You have to give it back to her—to your family.”

Brenna took the painting out and ran her hand over the wooden frame. “My papa made this frame and Alma and I helped Julien and him mat it. Callie probably hasn’t even missed it.”

“You have to keep it. Because you’re family,” Tomas said again, a trace of regret in the words. “I understand. You all had a part in this gift.”

Brenna stared at Callie’s image. “Yes. But Callie would be so touched that you wanted it. She needs to know that someone wants—”

“I understand,” Tomas finished, feeling awkward now.

Brenna turned to Nick. “What should I do?”

Nick shrugged. He kissed her on the nose. “Remember you and me? Remember?”

“Yes.” She took his hand. “We’re so blessed.”

Tomas could see their love. But he wasn’t sure what they were saying. “Obviously, I’ve upset you.”

Nick held out a hand. “The Blanchard sisters lost their mother to breast cancer. They get emotional about things.”

“I’m sorry.” Tomas wished he’d never suggested buying the painting. He was usually better at handling negotiations. “Put it away, Brenna.”

“I don’t mind you having it,” Brenna said. “I think it’s a beautiful idea. But...Callie’s been hurt badly by a horrible divorce. Her ex-husband couldn’t handle it when she got sick.”

Tomas lifted his head and stared at Brenna, his heart hammering as realization hit him like a hot wind. “Callie? She was...sick?”

“She’s a cancer survivor,” Brenna replied. “But...”

“But you don’t want anyone to hurt her ever again,” Tomas finished. “I understand. That’s a family thing, too.”

“Yes. We’re close. Tight-knit. I’d have to explain.”

And he’d have to promise to honor that gift and the woman he’d met the other day. Callie...with cancer. He didn’t like thinking about that. He wasn’t sure he was ready for something so strong, so tightly woven.

How could he even begin to understand what Brenna was saying to him? She didn’t want him to make a mess of her sister’s life. He didn’t want to be in anyone’s life anyway.