Tempting Fate (4 page)

Abby made a strangled noise, hugging her back mostly by reflex. “Why don’t you just have Jean take you shopping? Since he’s so devoted.”

“Abby!” Her mother’s voice was full of censure. “Can’t you be happy for your sister that she’s met someone so nice, instead of behaving so abominably?”

Mia let go of her sister and tried not to smirk. “Well, if you won’t let me borrow any of your things, I’ll have to go shopping, but you’ll have to lend me the money.”

Abby rolled her eyes. “Fine. You can borrow my clothes.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Mia hugged her again.

“Uch. That’s enough, Mia. Really.” But there was affection in her sister’s voice. “When will you and Dad leave, Mum?”

“First thing in the morning, I think.”

Mia grimaced. “You’re not still upset about earlier are you? Abby is fine! Clearly she didn’t need a doctor.”

“I still think you should get yourself checked out. And I’m not at all happy about this, Abby. Garrit is a very nice young man, but the rest of his family is so strange! They behave as if they own you.”

Abby pressed her mouth into a thin line, the corners of her mouth twitching, and Mia thought she was trying not to smile. “His family treats me as one of their own, that’s all. And I’m very grateful for their kindness. I’m sorry if something happened, but I’m sure that Juliette never meant to offend you.”

“They wouldn’t even let me in the room when you collapsed!”

“I’m sure they didn’t mean anything by it—”

“And then that Owen man,” she went on. “He wouldn’t even tell us if you were well or not! And you should have seen the way he looked at Mia.”

Abby frowned, glancing at Mia. “Lars Owen came to see me?”

“Juliette said he was some kind of paramedic,” Mia said, because Mama wouldn’t. “Jean will only tell me he’s a friend of the family. And that he’s gone, thank God.”

“Good riddance!”

“Mum, please.” But Abby’s forehead had furrowed again. “I know the DeLeons are unorthodox, but they’re my family—”

“We’re your family, too, Abby! And I’d appreciate a little bit more respect!”

“I’m sorry, Mum.”

Garrit joined them then, with a smile and an arm around Abby’s waist. “Are you enjoying the reception?”

Not a moment too soon, Mia thought. Not even Abby deserved to be lectured that much on her wedding day, especially about her in-laws. Mama murmured something appropriate and excused herself. Garrit raised both eyebrows.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“You didn’t,” Mia said.

Abby shook her head. “Mum and Mia were just telling me how long they’d be staying.”

“Oh?” Garrit looked from Abby to Mia. “And?”

“Mama and Dad are going home tomorrow,” Mia said. “But I was hoping you’d let me stay the month? I swear I won’t be in your way at all!”

Garrit laughed, light and easy, and Mia found herself smiling back. “I don’t suppose this has anything to do with my cousin?”

“I hope you won’t hold it against me,” she said. “But I am looking forward to getting to know my new brother, too!”

His face was straight, but his eyes laughed. “
Bien sûr!
” Garrit said, then he sobered and squeezed her shoulder. “We would be happy to have you, Mia. But would you mind terribly if I stole away my wife?”

“No! Of course!” Mia hugged Abby, and then Garrit too. “Thank you!”

She left them at the table, and went in search of Jean. If she got bored with him before the end of the month, she could always meet someone else in town. She was quite good at meeting people, after all. And now that Abby was married, she shouldn’t have to worry so much about the men she brought home falling in love with her big sister.

That was Jean’s biggest selling point, really. If he was going to fall in love with Abby, it would have happened already. Mia would never have to worry about finding out three months in that he was only dating her to get closer to her sister. After the third time it had happened in grammar school, Mia had stopped bringing boys home at all until Abby had left for university, and even then she only dated boys who didn’t realize she wasn’t an only child.

Everyone loved Abby. Every boy of any worth who ever laid eyes on her was instantly smitten, and Mia was sick of it. Abby moving to France had been the best thing that had ever happened for Mia’s social life. She wouldn’t have had to be half so determined a flirt if she had been an only child.

“Did you manage to get your sister’s blessing?” Jean offered her a glass of champagne. “Or do you have to stay all night in service as the maid of honor?”

“Oh, no.” She smiled. “I’m all yours.”

He flashed her that charming DeLeon smile and kissed her hand. Mia looked back, but Abby was dancing with her new father-in-law and didn’t see Jean guiding her toward the door.

She’d wait until morning to tell Jean she was staying. Just in case Abby had been right.

It turned out that Jean was delighted, and Mia celebrated the triumph over her sister’s assumptions by spending her nights in his bed and her days in his company. True to his word, Jean took her to see everything there was to see, including an overnight trip to Marseilles, richer in history than even the DeLeon family manor. Not that Mia cared so much about the history as she did about getting out of the countryside. Marseilles was a respectably sized city, and Jean seemed to know all the best places to spend their time.

“I don’t know what I would have done with myself, cooped up in the manor, if you hadn’t stayed,” he said.

They were lying together in the sun at Longchamp. Jean had insisted that she could not come all the way to Marseilles without seeing it.

“They could hardly keep you locked away,” she said.

It was a beautiful day, and Jean had brought a blanket for them. The warmth of the sun on her skin made it difficult to keep her eyes open. She could lie like this for the rest of the day and be content.

He laughed. “And have you seen Luc leave the manor at all since the wedding?
D’ailleurs,
have you seen anyone venture forth, even so far as Sospel?
Non.
I would have been imprisoned with everyone else, but for you.” He caught her hand and kissed her palm. “
Merci, ma chérie.
”

“Your family is so strange. Why on earth would they stop you?”

“Ah, but that is where it becomes
compliqué
, and I would not spoil your day with a headache.”

She sighed. There was always some reason why things couldn’t be explained. Mia wondered if Garrit was just as vague as Jean, and if so, how Abby could stand it.

“I almost didn’t think Abby would let us go,” she said. “If Garrit hadn’t been there I think she might have stopped us.”

“
Peut-être.
” He was silent for a moment. “I do not think I envy my cousin his marriage. Not that I do not love Abby, but it will be a difficult life for him.”

“Ugh. Everyone loves Abby.”

He laughed. “Jealous of your sister?”

“You would be too! She gets everything. A rich husband and a beautiful home, and Garrit is obviously completely in love with her on top of it all.”

“Would you marry a man who was not in love with you?” Jean asked, and she could still hear amusement in his tone.

“Well, no. But that’s hardly the point.”

“You do not strike me as the kind of woman who lives in anyone else’s shadow,
ma chérie.
Even if the shadow is cast by Abby.”

She frowned. “You can’t even begin to know.”

“
Non
?” He rolled to his side and she felt him leaning over her, his fingers playing with her hair. “
Peut-être
you would be surprised what I know.”

She opened her eyes. He wasn’t looking at her though, he was staring at something else, his forehead slightly creased. She caught his face by the chin and forced him to meet her eyes. “Maybe you should tell me, and then I can be surprised.”

He laughed, the lines disappearing. “Must you know all my secrets?”

“Do you keep many?”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t every family keep some? Mistresses and bastard children. What do you say in English? Something about bones in the attic?”

She laughed. “Skeletons in the closet.”

“
Oui.
That.”

“Does Abby know all your family secrets now?”

He grinned, his eyes dancing. “I would imagine so. All but one, though the last is so outrageous no one would believe it anyway. Especially not Abby.”

She sat up on her elbows, searching his face. “Tell me that one!”

“You could never even whisper it to your sister,” he said. “Or to anyone else. If
Tante
Brienne finds out I told you, she will have my head.”

Mia rolled her eyes. “Why would I tell anyone? Especially if no one would believe it.”

“But that’s the temptation of secret-keeping,
n’est-ce pas?
To share it with someone?” He raised an eyebrow. “Or else why should I tell you?”

“I think you should tell me as proof that you’re not in love with my sister.”

Jean threw his head back and roared with laughter, rolling onto his back. Mia glared at him, but he didn’t stop, and he had to wipe tears from his eyes, he was laughing so hard.

“It isn’t funny!”

“Oh, Mia,” he gasped. “
Tu vas me manquer.
”

She pouted. “You know I don’t speak French.”

He pulled her down next to him, still chuckling. “I’m going to miss you.”

“I’m not going anywhere for another two and a half weeks, at least.”

“Then we will have to make the most of it,
non
?” He tilted her chin up and kissed her, holding her against his body.

Mia kissed him back, and all talk of secrets fled her mind.

Five

Mia

Jean was caught by one of his cousins the moment he stepped through the door of the manor. He rolled his eyes at Mia while the man spoke urgently to him in French. Mia understood nothing beyond Garrit’s name, but by the way Jean responded, he wasn’t pleased, even if it didn’t show on his face.

“
Dans une minute,
” he finally murmured, and the cousin left. They were all interchangeable to Mia.

“What’s all that about?” she asked.

He called to one of the staff. The woman took his bag and Mia’s before disappearing again. “My cousin and
tante
have need of me, it seems. Apparently they have been waiting for our return. My parents are returning to Paris tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow!” Her mind raced. She hadn’t had nearly enough time. And what was she going to do by herself in this backwater with a newlywed couple? “But I thought you would stay for the month!”

He smiled and kissed her forehead. “
Je suis vraiment désolé,
Mia. Let me see what Garrit needs. Maybe he means for me to stay after my parents go.”

“Can’t you decide how to spend your own summer?”

Jean shook his head, his dark hair falling into his eyes. “
Non.
Not after what happened at the wedding.
Tante
Brienne will order all our lives for the foreseeable future.”

“What? That man? I thought he was only some paparazzi.”

“
Ma chérie,
if you were my wife, I would tell you everything, and you still would believe none of it. There is no sense in explaining it to you now.”

Mia opened her mouth, then shut it again. If she was his wife. But only yesterday he’d been talking about her as if they had only a short time together.

He smiled again, but it was humorless. “I should not keep
Tante
waiting.”

“Does my sister believe in it?” she asked, catching him by the arm before he could walk away.

He pressed his lips together, searching her face. “She married Garrit.”

“That doesn’t mean anything. I’m sure there are plenty of women who would put up with quite a bit they didn’t believe in themselves to marry a DeLeon.”

Jean laughed. “Like you?”

She dropped her hand. “That isn’t what I meant.”

He touched his finger to her chin, raising her face to his. “I’ve always appreciated the fact that there was never any pretense between us, Mia. You are a woman who knows what she wants and does not pretend otherwise, and I am not naïve enough to think my money has nothing to do with what attracts you, just as I’m sure you’re more than aware that your beauty attracted me.”