The Accidental Mistress (28 page)

Elliot shoved Christophe
off. "I tried to strike it off on my own. Be my own man. What have
you done? You're nothing but
Tante's
Montague toy soldier. At
least I tried."

Christophe turned and walked to the
door.

"You're a fucking hypocrite, Christophe. Do
you know that! I didn't want the Oasis for Montague, but neither do
you!"

***

The house was still. She walked to her
father's room with Joi in silence. The only sound to be heard was
the rain that seemed to follow them into Sainte Marie.

"What are you going to
ask
mère
?"

"The truth. I want to know what Detrick's
after. Why he's done this."

Joi grabbed her arm. "Does
that really matter? We know that Montague has been scheming to take
away the Oasis from
père
. You need to confront
Christophe."

"I will," Zuri mumbled. "But our problems
aren't the take over. If Detrick is stealing from us, we need to
prove it."

"Do you think he is?" Joi asked, her eyes
wide with fright.

"I don't know." Zuri opened the door and
found her mother sitting near her fathers' bed reading a book.
Nanette’s eyes lifted from the open pages. They brightened with her
smile. Joi rushed over to her mother, hugging her, forcing Nanette
to rise. Zuri couldn't take her eyes off her father. He slept
peacefully. He didn't look weak or feeble. He looked as strong and
powerful as he always was.

"
Qu'est-ce que c'est.
What are you two
doing here? You didn't call to say you were coming," Nannette
whispered.

"How is he?" Zuri asked. She circled his
bed. She wanted to touch him but thought she might disturb his
sleep.

"He was up today; I gave him something to
help him sleep. He's stubborn, frustrated, and worried about his
girls. He feels like he's let you both down. If I had known you
were coming I wouldn't have given him his medicine so soon."

"It's okay," Zuri smiled. "I just wanted to
see him."

Joi released her mother.
She joined Zuri at her father's bedside. "I'll stay with him you
and
mère
go
talk."

The sister's exchanged
looks. Zuri nodded and forced herself to leave her father.
"
Mère
, can I talk
to you, downstairs?"

Nanette smiled. She walked out with Zuri
following. She observed her mother. She looked tired, sad, not like
a woman waiting on her husband's demise, or plotting to destroy
him. How could she let those thoughts enter her head? Still she had
to know what they were dealing with, and something told her that
her mother knew more than either of them about Detrick
Chevalier.

Nanette extended her hand. Zuri loved
holding her mother's hand as a girl. She would do it often in the
house, in private. Often, Nanette would have to see to dinner and
her staff, always tugging Zuri by the hand. She never complained
and often held her hand until she fell asleep. Together they walked
down the stairs. It was strange, but the smell of rain as it blew
through the wild cypress and flowers about the Baptiste Plantation
was quite comforting. Each deep inhale filled Zuri with sweet
memories of her family.

"So, you wanted to talk to me, tell me of
this deal?"

"First I want to talk to you about
Detrick."

Nanette glanced at Zuri, her eyes
questioning.

"Your relationship with him."

Her mother frowned. She dropped Zuri's hand.
Slowly she lowered to the sofa chair. Zuri had never openly
challenged her mother. She never questioned her. Was Nanette's
silence shock, anger or guilt?

"
Mère,
I mean no disrespect.
But
—
"

"You think I would betray you father?"

"No. I don't want to think
that. I have to ask because Detrick is up to something. You keep
telling us to trust him, but Nanette can we really? I think he
betrayed
père
and
I think he did it because of his feelings for you."

Her mother aged before her eyes. She dropped
her gaze and Zuri's heart raced and her breath caught. She wanted
her mother to scream denial. But again she sat there in silence.
Finally, she lifted her eyes to Zuri. "I had hoped that he wasn't
betraying your father. This is my fault."

"How is it your fault?"
Zuri winced. "Did you betray
père
?"

"There are many forms of
betrayal,
ma chérie
," she said softly.

"What happened?"

Nanette rubbed her temples. Her silence was
torture. The idea that her mother could have an affair was beyond
Zuri's comprehension. “Detrick and I dated when I was younger.
Everyone said we were to be married from birth. I believed it too,
until I met your father. Claude was so handsome, smart, funny. He
didn't care how my family shunned him. He showed me his heart and I
couldn't help but want to love him, be his wife. When we were
engaged Detrick didn't take it well, but he eventually accepted
it."

"Does
père
know about Detrick's feeling's
for you?"

"He's not stupid. He knew Detrick cared for
me, but that was many years ago. Detrick has married and divorced
since then. And your father and he became really good friends."

"
Mère,
they have not. You had to know
that they weren't. At least from Detrick's point of
view."

"I didn't care about Detrick's point of
view. And your father is a very smart man. He established his
businesses with and without Detrick's help. I've not wasted my days
wondering of Detrick's desires or motives."

"Maybe you should have," Zuri mumbled.

"Excuse-moi?"

"Forgive me,
mere.
But I'm struggling
here to understand. What changed between you and Detrick Chevalier?
I feel like something changed. Am I wrong?"

Her mother rose. She wished
she could study her face for traces of shame or guilt. Nanette
gracefully stepped through the room widening the distance between
them. She stood at the large picture window staring out at the
rain. "You're a woman now
ma
amour
. So I'm going to talk to you like
one. Many times I've had men proposition me outside of Claude's
ears, but I've never had any man in my bed but your father. I do
not share these advances from other men with your father. A man
does not want to hear about how another man desires his wife.
Claude's pride and protective nature will make him act impulsively.
I've seen his temper before, though he rarely shows it. So the few
times Detrick was in our home, I discouraged his advances but I
never, ever said anything, and Detrick never crossed the line. At
first."

"Did Detrick do something?"

"
Oui
. He did something and my silence
caused of all of this."

"What? Tell me,
mère
, please."

Nanette glanced over at her daughter. It was
then Zuri saw the tears in her mother's eyes. She looked so sad and
ashamed. "Tell me what he did. What’s your secret?"

"Do you remember the Vaval, right after your
graduation from college? We had a huge celebration for you. The
costume party."

Zuri nodded. She remembered how excited her
mother was in planning the event. They invited everyone. The
plantation was filled with partiers all night. She tried to recall
the details around that event but she couldn't. She barely saw her
parent's that night. She spent most of it necking and kissing
Jean-Paul then dancing under the moon.

"Detrick was invited. It was shortly after
his divorce, so he was quite depressed. Claude felt sorry for him.
So did I. He visited frequently those days, and sometimes he would
sit with me and talk. I wasn't encouraging him, Zuri. I just
reminisced over the days when we were kids. I thought I was being a
friend."

"But he saw it differently?"

Nannette eyes returned to
her daughter. "Your father and Detrick were spending a lot of time
together; Claude had decided to bring Detrick in to help him manage
several business investments. The night of the
Vaval
, Detrick and your father could
pass for brothers. He wore the same dark slacks and silk shirt your
father wore. We joked about them being so close they thought alike.
I gave them different masks so guests could tell them
apart."

Zuri's stomach churned. "What happened?"

"What always happens
during
Vaval
? We
drank, danced, entertained. I had too much. Claude suggested I
retire as the party neared dawn. He knows me so well. And you know
your father, he always kept things going into sunrise. So I went
upstairs with him in tow and we danced together alone in our room,
before he helped me undress and put me to bed." Her sad and small
smile touched her lips and her profile concealed her eyes but Zuri
saw enough to know how much her mother loved her father still. "I
told him to come to bed as soon as he cleared the house. I was
sleep or halfway sleep when I felt him join me in bed. But it
wasn't him. It was Detrick."

Zuri rose and went to her mother. Nanette
continued to look out of the window.

"How far did it get?"

"Further than it should. And when I realized
what was happening I stopped him."

"Did he force himself on you?"

"Yes, he only stopped when I began to scream
at him. With the noise of the celebration and the drinking, no one
heard us. I should have told your father. I was so humiliated,
ashamed of what happened. Detrick swore he was drunk. He begged my
forgiveness. I asked him to stay away and never to speak of it
again. Then Claude came with his idea to buy a resort from under a
French businessman in Forte de France with Detrick's help. I
thought I should tell him, but how could I? This is my fault.
Whatever he's done to your father I could have prevented if I had
told Claude."

"
Mère,
you did what you thought was
right. None of it was your fault. You protected
père
from it all. I understand why.
He would have killed Detrick if he knew that he hurt
you."

Nanette took Zuri's hands
and squeezed them. She managed a smile, though it didn't reach her
eyes. Something changed between them in that moment. Zuri couldn't
claim the same innocence she felt with her mother before.
"
Combien mauvais est-il?
What has he done?" her mother asked.

"I'm not sure, but I'm going to stop him. I
fired him."

Her mother let go a tight breath. "Then
Claude must be told. He's getting stronger. He’ll suspect."

"Okay. We'll tell him.
First I have to find out what Detrick has done. Can you keep him
from
père
. No
visits no calls. Okay?"

Nanette gave a brief nod. Zuri hugged her
mother and relaxed. Though she felt horrible for what Detrick had
done, there was hope now that she knew her mother had not betrayed
her father. Their love was the foundation of what she built her
life on. It was why she saw love with Christophe despite how they
began.

"
Je t'aime
mère
."

"
Je t'aime de tout
mon coeur Zuri
.
I love you with all my heart."

***

Christophe found the waiting unbearable.
After the rain, he grew even more restless. He walked the beach
until sunset, and drank at the bar until a conversation with a trio
of vacationing blonde beauties bored him. He tried to call Zuri on
her mobile number and she didn't respond. The later it got the more
worried he became. Had she learned of Elliot's schemes and blamed
him?

The reasons for her delay plagued him so
much he returned to his room. He considered trying to reach her
again, but his pride stopped him. So he decided to do some work.
There wasn't much more to fill the night and he was a master of
loneliness. Occupying his mind with work always helped.

A knock came to his door before he sat down.
To his surprise his heart leapt in his chest. He was losing control
and that troubled him. Christophe opened the door to find a very
angry Zuri. She wore a pair of jean shorts and white
halter-top.

"Hi."

"Can we talk?" she asked.

"I've been waiting," he said holding the
door open.

She breezed inside. Her hair was a bit puffy
and frizzy, probably from her time out in the rain earlier that
day, still she looked as beautiful as he last saw her. Christophe
noticed how she paced instead of sitting and his suspicions were
confirmed. She knew about Elliot.

"I want you to tell me the truth Christophe.
What is your relationship with our attorney Detrick Chevalier?"

"Mine? Montague's or Elliot's?"

She stopped. Her eyes stretched. "You knew?
You've been working with him behind my back!"

"No. I've never met the man. I found out
about him today. Elliot's been trying to buy out your resort with
his help."

"Why?"

"He was part owner of the Antillean. He lost
a lot of money in the deal when it was sold to your father."

"And Detrick? Detrick helped him?"

"How involved is Chevalier in your
finances?"

"Joi and
mère
think he was some
kind of financial advisor, maybe an accountant as well as attorney.
He and
père
were
friends. My father trusted him."