by Mina Carter
“You should get a chain to keep them around your neck like I have,” he teased. “So you don’t lose them.”
“Oh, there they are.” I spotted them on top of the demilune table near the front door. “That’s odd. I’m positive that’s not where I put them.”
“Wasn’t me, either. Must’ve been Old Josephine helping out,” he decided. Old Josephine was the B&B’s resident ghost, a benevolent one according to Mr. H. Hauntings were a common theme in New Orleans. Practically every household had some sort of supernatural activity associated with it. Some liked to call our city a psychic seaport. It was fun to pretend, though I sometimes got the feeling that Mr. H really believed that Josephine truly existed.
Chapter 4
You were made perfectly to be loved - and surely I have loved you, in the idea of you, my whole life long. - Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Thyme
Commander’s Palace was in the Garden District, too far for me to walk. I was running late so I splurged on a taxi instead of taking the street car. It dropped me off in front of the famous restaurant with its turquoise turrets and white gingerbread columns. I quickly ducked under the striped awning, checked in with the hostess, discovering that I was the first to arrive.
Stomach grumbling I crossed over the tile welcome mat and stood off to the side next to a couple to wait. I smoothed a nervous palm over the eyelet fabric of my sundress. It wasn’t long before strong hands suddenly slid around my waist. I leaned back into him inhaling his familiar evergreen scented cologne. His deep voice rumbled into my ear.
“Missed you, bébé.” Shane brushed his warm lips against the sensitive skin below my ear. As I turned around, he captured and kept my hands, arms outstretched as his gaze traveled the length of me. “You look beautiful.”
“So do you.” I threaded my smaller fingers together with his longer ones. His attire a step more formal than my own, he sported black tropic weight wool trousers and a light grey striped button down left open at the neck. His jet black hair was combed neatly back, accentuating his handsome face.
“I can’t believe my good fortune,” he said softly, his glittering gaze intense as it locked with mine. His eyes were so gorgeous. Mesmerizing as my river. The same shade of green as the Spanish moss that garlanded the old live oak trees in his Uptown neighborhood. “Prettiest girl in Vieux Carre’, and she’s all mine.”
I started to duck my head but he tipped up my chin. “Uh-uh. You always shy away when I compliment you. Don’t you know how hungry I am to see your face after staring down all that mind numbing paperwork at the registrar’s office?”
My lips lifted into a slow smile. “I missed you, too,” I admitted.
“I wanna taste those sweet lips, honey, but my parents are right behind me.”
“Thyme Bellerose!” Shane’s father’s voice boomed. Todd Lamar pressed between us hugging me hard as if he hadn’t seen me in years. Actually it was only the past Sunday when Shane and I had hung out with them at their place.
“Good to see you Mr. Lamar,” I said politely trying to disengage from the huge bear of a man. Demonstrative as always, he kissed both of my cheeks before letting me go. He almost stomped on Shane’s mother’s perfectly pedicured toes as he stepped backward.
“Careful, Todd. These are my Valentinos,” Crystal Lamar cautioned before focusing her disapproving gaze on me. “How’s your grandmother, Thyme?” she asked, disinterest unmistakable in her tone.
“Fine,” I answered flatly.
“Good. Good.” Crystal Lamar looked down her dainty royal nose at me. The queen of a recently renovated Mediterranean style mansion in Audubon Park, she hated me, and I didn’t like her much, either. She was one of only two points of contention between Shane and me. She didn’t think I was good enough for her precious only adopted son. Too much of the time I felt the same way, which made Shane furious, as much with me as with her.
Mr. Lamar checked in with the hostess who didn’t try to disguise her interest in my beau. I didn’t blame her. He was ogle worthy for sure, but he was mine. He never made me doubt it, either. He placed a comforting hand on my lower back, indifferent to the hostess as she escorted us to our table. Draped in a white table cloth, a delicate silver beaded lampshade in the center, it was nestled in a corner of the restaurant with floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the courtyard.
Shane pulled back a chair for me softly trailing his fingers across my bare shoulders before he took his own seat. I shivered. I wanted him so very badly. It was getting harder and harder to control my impulses when around him.
We ordered drinks. An iced tea for me. Sidecars for everyone else. As they arrived Crystal swiveled in my direction.
“You’re getting so dark,” she observed. “You should mind that better. Maybe try a higher SPF sunscreen. You look like a colored girl.”
My spine stiffened. “I am,” I replied tersely. At least I was on my mother’s side. My father had been white, or so I was told. My mother had left him before I was born. “Though the term I prefer is black.”
“Crystal,” Mr. Lamar hissed. “You’re being rude.”
“And racist,” Shane mumbled reaching for my hand and squeezing it under the table.
“I was just trying to help her, baby,” she told her husband. “Shane’s too sweet a boy to tell her the truth.”
“The truth is, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the color of her skin. It’s beautiful,” he defended me. “And I don’t know how it could be, but she just keeps getting prettier every single day.”
He melted my heart this man. How had I gotten so lucky? I just knew that I was never ever going to let him go.
“Thyme created another new flavor this week,” he bragged. “Muscadines, peaches and cream. It’s delicious. It’s been selling out every day.”
My champion. I smiled at him.
“Congratulations, Thyme.” Shane’s father raised his tumbler to me.
“How delightful.” Crystal’s eyes nearly the same shade as Shane’s met mine. “Still working at the ice cream shop then?”
“Yes, ma’am. I love it.” My stomach tensed into an uncomfortable knot. This wasn’t the first time she’d belittled my chosen occupation.
“Not much of a long term goal, is it?” She tsked. “Never going to try to better yourself?”
I looked away from her, ignoring her jibes, but I could feel the tension in Shane’s fingers as they tightened around mine. This was the main source of my trepidation about our relationship. I was beneath him. He was going to be a doctor. I was always going to be what I was now, a high school educated girl who worked in an ice cream shop. Though I never felt as though I’d missed out not going to college. Not with all that I’d learned about business. I knew how to do the books. I knew all about our product. I even had a detailed business plan mapped out for the shop’s future.
“How’s your summer been, Thyme?” Mr. Lamar asked, not very subtle in his attempt to redirect the conversation. “How many miles you running now?”
“Ten, sir.”
“Every day? That’s fabulous. Good for you.” He cast about for another neutral subject. “You and your gran been keeping an eye on the forecast?”
“No.” I shook my head, wanting to smile. Was idle chit chat about the weather all that we had left to avoid having an argument at the table?
“Been an active season in the tropics,” he continued. “There’s a hurricane just crossing the Keys. Some think it might reform and get a good deal stronger out in warm water of the Gulf. The projected path shows it could hit anywhere from the Florida Panhandle to Louisiana. Governor Blanco issued a state of emergency just this afternoon.”
“That sounds serious.”
“Oh, Todd. You are so dramatic. Everyone knows they always oversell these things.” Crystal finished her drink, eyes swiveling to me. “I hope you make enough at the store this summer to tide you over until Mardi Gras.” There she went, right back at the financial crap again.
; “Yes, ma’am,” I said proudly. “In fact, we did better than last year.”
“That’s fantastic, Ty,” Shane praised. “You didn’t tell me that.”
“I don’t like to brag.” I looked directly at Crystal. “But Hotel Monteleone is even interested in featuring some of my cocktail themed sorbets in their restaurant for next summer.”
“Wonderful.” Crystal smiled, but her eyes lacked any enthusiasm.
Shane cautioned me time and again not to let her get to me. He swore he didn’t care about the things she did, or the differences between us that she so willingly highlighted. But when I saw how well he fit in with his parents and the well to do crowd that dined at places as expensive as the Commander’s Palace, I worried.
As his parents gave their orders to the waiter, Shane leaned closer. “What’s wrong, bébé? You look sad. You’re eyes have lost their pretty sparkle.”
“I’m not sad.” I didn’t want to let his mother ruin the evening for us. I needed to focus less on her pettiness and more on the joy he brought into my life.
I moved so I could place a soft kiss on his freshly shaven cheek. “I love you.” I brazenly blew in his ear settling back in my chair. His eyes deepened to a more vivid green, and his focus dropped to my lips. He brought our joined hands to his upper thigh so I could feel what I’d done to him. And here was the second point of contention between us. While I wanted to take things to the next level physically, somehow we had yet to consummate our relationship.
He cast a quick glance at his parents before his gaze returned to me. “You mean more than anyone else in the world,” he said leaning close, his voice vibrating with sincerity I could feel. My heart melted more for him.
After a divine dinner and dessert, Shane pushed back his chair and held out his hand.
“Come for a walk with me outside.”
“Alright.” I set my napkin in my chair.
As we stood, Shane’s father gave him a meaningful look. Crystal glared.
“Are you sure about this, Shane?”
“Yeah, Mother. We talked about this. You know I am.”
“What was she talking about?” I asked as soon as we were out of earshot.
“I’ll show you outside.” His mossy eyes were burning with an intensity that made my heart start skipping. Hand in hand, he led me across the concrete patio and into an enchanting romantically lit garden. When he dropped to one knee in front of me, my hand flew to my mouth.
“Shane!” I exclaimed.
“I talked to your mamere. She gave her blessing. As did my father. So then, Thyme Avens Bellerose…” He pulled a black velvet box out of his pocket and opened it. “Would you do me the very great honor of being my wife?”
Tears sprang to my eyes. “Nothing would please me more.” I held out my trembling left hand, fingers spread wide as he slid on a lovely, no doubt wickedly expensive, multi carat princess-cut pink diamond solitaire.
Chapter 5
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. - Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Thyme
“You like it, huh?” Shane’s obvious pride made his deep voice even deeper.
“I absolutely love it!” His arm was draped over my shoulder, his strong hand resting warm on the bare skin above my knee. I held my own hand out in front of me turning it side to side letting the fire inside the stellar diamond catch the light as the taxi sped us back to my side of town. “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”
“I have,” Shane said before lowering his head to my upturned face and putting his mouth on mine. “Mmm.” His heavy groan slipped between my parted lips just before his tongue did. Hot familiar need that was becoming harder and harder to contain pulsed through my veins. Shane’s tongue rubbed against mine, and the kiss turned hotter and more carnal. Our mouths, lips and tongues moved in unison along the same heated path straining for the same pleasurable conclusion.
“Shane,” I begged, tearing my mouth from his, my head falling back against the headrest of the taxi while he rained firm, warm, moist, tempting kisses along my exposed neck and above the swell of my cleavage. “Can’t we please,” I lowered my voice to a quiet, husky, for his ears only whisper. “Isn’t it time that we were truly together?”
“No, Ty.” He spoke the refusal against my skin, turning his head away so I couldn’t see his face when he withdrew his arm and scooted to the other side of the taxi. “When we’re married. It won’t be long now.” He maintained the distance between us until the cab pulled up in front of Chantelle Glace.
When we got out, the sultry sound of saxophone from a club up the street spilled into the humid night and lingered soulfully. Shane paid the driver while I stood on the banquette waiting and frustrated, getting angrier about the all too familiar rejection.
When he turned around and saw my face, he frowned. “Bébé.” He took a step my way arms reaching for me, but I took a backed away. “Don’t be mad.”
I turned my head crossing my arms over my chest, arms brushing over nipples that jutted against the cotton, my breasts heavy and achy, needy and revved up just like the rest of me. “I’m tired of this dance we keep doing, Shane. We’ve been a couple for eighteen months. I don’t want to keep waiting. We love each other. That’s what matters. So what if I get pregnant? I don’t care.” My voice rose louder than I probably should have let it. A couple of heads in a group of late night revelers turned our way as they stumbled drunkenly past us.
“Bébé, you know that waiting’s hard on me, too.” A sucker for his conciliatory tone, I turned back to him when he tried again, arms outstretched toward me. Closing the distance between us, he gently wrapped his fingers around my upper arms and pulled me into him. “You know how I feel.”
“Do I, Shane? You say the words but then you push me away.” Sometimes he’d even stay away for days after I’d pressed against the physical boundaries he set for us. It didn’t seem right. He was my protector, but when he took off like that without explanation I felt abandoned instead.
He sighed, looking almost as frustrated as I felt. “This is my last year of medical school. After that I’ll have a salary albeit an intern’s one,” he added wryly. “But I’ll be completely on my own. Out of the dorm, making my own way, able to provide for you. Those things are important to me.”
“As important as I am?” I pouted.
He brushed a soft apologetic kiss across my pursed lips. “It’s all wrapped up together for me, Ty. I love you. I couldn’t possibly love you more.” His eyes searched mine under the flickering light from the gas lanterns. His heartfelt proclamation melted my anger. I fell back under the spell of his enchantingly familiar gaze. The way I always did.
He tucked a strand of loose hair behind my ear. I shivered as his fingers brushed against my ear. “I’ll never forget the first time I saw you.”
“I was just a kindergartener,” I mumbled.
“Yeah.” He grinned and his dimple winked at me. “Even then. You had these cute pig tails and such beautiful eyes. You never said a word but your eyes did. So expressive. So much pain. I just wanted to be the one to take it all away. To make you smile. To be your hero.”
“You are. You always have been.” I tipped my face up for another one of his sweet addictive kisses. “You always will be.”
His hands were chaste, disappointingly still where they rested on my hips. He canted his head toward my door. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” he queried.
“I guess.”
“I’ve got stuff to do for my dad.” He part timed some weekends at his father’s law firm. He never took for granted the things he had. Never acted like a child of privilege. So unlike his mother.
“And I’ve got a double shift tomorrow.” I had ice cream to make in the morning and I was working the counter till closing.
“Go out with me afterward? I’ll ask Kip and Monica to go along. A double date. That sound good?”
I nodded, though inwardly I balked. His friends from Uptown weren’t my favorite. They
were nice enough but we came from completely different worlds. I didn’t really have a lot in common with either of them.
Shane took my key opening the door for me, the white scar on the inside of his wrist flashing briefly as he handed it back. He was such a throwback. So old fashioned, such a gentleman. I mostly loved it, except as it applied to our romantic relationship, for obvious, extremely frustrating reasons.
I moved toward the door. I could feel him watching me so I added a seductive sway to my hips just to torture him a little. A year was a long time to keep waiting. If he thought I was just going to go along with that plan without trying everything I could to change his mind, he was sadly mistaken.
I peeked into the shop. The chairs were up on the tables, everything quiet and in order. I took the stairs up to the apartment unlocking the door and letting myself in. Slipping off my heels and tiptoeing on the old floorboards that creaked as I crossed them, I checked on Gran. She was snoring softly, a romance book with a racy cover across her chest, her lamp burned brightly.
I smiled. She’d been waiting up for me. My heart swelled with love for her. My mom might be gone, forever out of the picture, but I certainly had never missed out on unconditional love.
I transferred the book to her nightstand, careful to save her place, kissing her soft cheek. I switched off her light.
“Je t'aime. I love you, Mamere,” I whispered before heading down the hall to my bedroom.
I flipped on the switch inside. My skin prickled with awareness as if someone were watching. I moved to the French doors that opened onto my half balcony and peered out. There was no one there, but I frightened a black crow off its perch on the wrought iron railing as I closed the doors, latching them and drawing the inside curtains together for complete privacy.
Locating the remote, I flipped on the air conditioning unit and undressed quickly, tossing my dress and underthings in the hamper. I was tired. The run and working on Mr. H’s basement had worn me out. As I pulled on an old Tulane t-shirt of Shane’s, I stepped under the soft glow from the crystal chandelier, a fixture original to the apartment that had been in Mamere’s family since her great great-grandfather, a French plantation owner purchased it.
