Lies Agreed Upon (52 page)

“We can’t wait to see how you’ve used Lillian’s donated items,” bubbled Mimi.

“Why don’t we take a quick peek inside before dinner?” smiled Tess and patiently escorted Mimi and Lillian to the restaurant. The old ladies promptly tromped upstairs “to see Josephine.”

Tess turned to leave but was stopped by the sight of another distinctive figure.

“Charmaine,” called out Tess.

Charmaine
, dressed in a bright purple dress, nodded and smiled briefly at her before resuming a moody study of the display case of Civil War items. “You think Miss Gloria ever felt guilty for what she done to Eddie Roy Haas?” she asked.

“I really don’t think so,” replied Tess. “I think Miss Gloria felt she’d done the world a se
rvice by removing him.”

“
It wasn’ up to Miss Gloria to decide. She shoulda lef’ it to the Law or the Lord,” said Charmaine with a stern glance. “Funny how it all worked out anyways. Thanks to Miss Gloria, the Cabreras got their stuff back.” Charmaine indicated the display.

“Really, it’
s thanks to you, Charmaine. You delivered Ben’s lost keepsakes,” reminded Tess.

“I scratched my head over that junk she give me for you. I
still think she lef’ you those trinkets ’cause she wanted you to find Eddie Roy and put him in a proper grave,” nodded Charmaine.

“I think you may be right,” agreed Tess. “But I don’t think it was because Miss Gloria had any regrets.
It was more like clemency for Eddie after his long years imprisoned here—you know, like a pardon at the end of her term on earth.”

Distracted by local VIP guests and opening jitters (which caused Lyle Beauvoir to gently but firmly escort her out of the kitchen), Tess did not reunite with her California friends until they were seated at a table in the upper gallery.

“How long do you think it will take her to make it over here?” asked Jen in a low voice, watching as Tess stopped at each table to welcome guests.

“
She only has a few more tables to work,” whispered Christina, craning her neck to see over the centerpiece of roses. “I hope she avoids those two old biddies who donated all the stuff. The little one is a nonstop talker!”

“Hey, guys, thanks for saving me a seat,” said Tess
a little later as she dropped down in the only vacant chair. “I hope you’re enjoying the food so far. I really recommend –”

Tess stopped speaking suddenly, and her expression shifted. A wide smile spread across her face. “Remy!” She stood up and waved him over to the table. They embraced briefly.

“Remy and his rock band The Exiles are going to be providing the music for the dancing tonight,” Tess told her friends. “I’m almost a band groupie since I’ve been staying with Remy for the last four months while I worked on setting up the Gardens of Eden.”

“Hey, Tess, I just wanted to dash up and congratulate you on a blockbuster event,” said Remy quickly. “The vibe and food are grea
t. See you on the dance floor.”

He grinned,
gave a quick wave to the group and loped downstairs.

“He seems upbeat,” commented Katie.

“Yes, money from the property really helped him,” nodded Tess, “especially with his dad’s assisted-living care. He used to have a tense look despite his easygoing smiles, but now he seems…free.”

“I wondered if you two would get together since you stayed at his place,” said Katie
with a wistful look.

Tess shook her head. “
We buried the hatchet over the inheritance, and Remy’s actually a great person. But when he’s tied down by money or duty, it eats at him. I didn’t want to tie him down now that he’s finally free to follow his creative bent. We’re good friends, though.” Katie and Christina exchanged glances as Tess looked pensively at a nearby framed photo by Remy.

Tess blinked and
clearly made an effort to shift back into an upbeat mood. “Well, let me check with Lyle in the kitchen and see about your soup and salad orders,” she said and hurried off.

For the rest of the meal, Tess anxiously came and went until her friends abandoned any effort to get her to sample her own excellent cuisine. As coffee and desserts were being served, Tess reappeared once more, this time with a well-dressed male at her side.

“Hi, guys, look who flew in from New York,” announced Tess. Joel, who had met most of the group in his occasional West Coast visits, smiled and shook hands
with the members of the group.

True to his word, Joel had patiently pursued Tess in Los Angeles and New Orleans. He seemed unfazed that, during his intermittent courtship,
Tess maintained close relationships with a number of men that her friends considered to be his rivals.

His sharp, amused gaze took in the assessing eyes of Tess’s loyal female posse. “I’m d
elighted to see how well the grand opening is going. Ah, I can smell the profits brewing.” He inhaled deeply, mimed euphoria and gave Tess’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

“That’s just the odor of some excellent coffee,” snorted Jen. “Would you like a cup? You probably need a little jolt if you plan to show your moves on the dance floor tonight.”

“Don’t harass one of my investors,” warned Tess, hooking her arm companionably with Joel’s. “Money from the property sale wasn’t enough to fund all this. Joel is the rainmaker who keeps those roses blooming.”

“It
was a fun project when I came down to check on my Marigny house renovation. And a great excuse to demand the attention of the project manager,” smiled Joel, looking down at Tess with wry indulgence. “I’m glad Tess let me get involved. I’ll have a reason to stop in New Orleans and smell the roses, literally.”

Tess saw the swift look that passed between Christina and Katie. They were baffled by her
friendship with the dominant, coolly self-possessed Joel. But, at least for now, Joel’s undemanding charm had its appeal. He had not pressed her for more than friendly company while she recuperated from Dreux’s assault. He had accepted a back seat when her garden project monopolized her energies.

When she earnestly asked him what he expected from his restrained wooing, he
responded, “I expect to make a profit from this garden restaurant investment. From you personally, I don’t
expect
anything, Tess. A woman’s choice is a privilege granted, not something stolen, won or even earned. So it pays to be patient—up to a point.”

His
message was clear. The time was coming when he would ask her to cross the line to a more intimate relationship. But not quite yet, she hoped. She didn’t want to commit to anyone for a little while longer. She had lost her romantic urgency of a year earlier. She was enjoying her new sense of self-sufficiency and the play of male attention. Oddly, the less she demanded of the men around her, the more she was offered.

Joel pulled an empty chair from a nearby table and joined the group as they finished their desserts. After taking a brief respite to converse and re-fuel with caffeine, Tess suddenly
stood up and motioned the group to follow. “Let’s go see the gardens at night before the dancing. You’ll get a whole different feeling.”

“Oh, it’s like a fairyland,” marveled Katie as they stepped outside. Tess had added subtle low-wattage lights along the stone paths, as well as
dramatic spotlights to highlight the statues, hedge arches and belvedere. Underwater lighting in the rose-garden channel and the basins in the side floral garden made the water elements glow and move like crystalline phantasmagoria.

The vibrant colors of the flowers were reduced to dark tones
in the nighttime garden, but their attar seemed stronger as other senses took the place of muted vision.

They had only walked a few feet from the restaurant, when a tall figure approached up one of the darkening paths. “Tess,” the man called, and they all halted.

“Jon,” Tess replied, and her face lit up. “I was getting worried. What kept you?”

“Sorry, I had to prep for a big court date. But better late than never.” Jon’s smile was weary.

“So, what do you think of the night garden, Jon?” Katie asked, curiously eying Tess’s soft eyes and warm smile.

Jon looked around, as if just noticing his surroundings. “It’s beautiful in a different way. It’s more surreal
.” He paused and studied the odalisque statue, which almost seemed to shift and gesture in the moving light and shadow. “The dying slave girl is kind of eerie though,” he commented.

“Josephine and Thérèse hated the poor thing,”
remarked Tess. “But I think she’s the perfect memorial to the many women in my family who fought being enslaved in one way or another. Guys, why don’t you go along to the dance floor? I’ll give Jon a quick tour and join you.”

Her girlfriends gave her speculative
looks but obediently departed.

“Come look at the cherub, Jon
,” Tess urged. “He’s lovely at night.”

Jon and Tess strolled companionably to the sleeping
cherub. In the indirect glow of the lighting, the plump buttocks looked soft and vulnerable, and the little feathered wings seemed to stir in the night breeze. “On the handout map, I see you called it Solange’s Cherub. It took my grandfather’s funeral for me to realize I’d seen a twin of the little guy on the family tomb,” chuckled Jon.

He turned a suddenly earnest gaze her way and added, “I hope you realize how important this ‘project’ is for my family. My dad is so excited to finally spread his wings with a gourmet menu. I’ve never seen him happier. Grampaw’s gotten the credit he deserved for his beautiful legacy, and I know he’s smiling somewhere to see the Beauvoirs publicly recognized as equals of the Cabreras.”

“I made a promise to Sam. I couldn’t fail him,” murmured Tess.

“So are
you
pleased with how this has all turned out?” asked Jon.

“Well, I still need to make a profit, and so does your dad,” Tess teased and then turned serious. “You know, Jon, after I learned that my mother and grandmother had hidden so much from me, I came here hoping to learn the truth about my family. I appr
oached it like solving a puzzle. I thought I just had to find facts and use logic. But every character in the drama turned out to be a bundle of contradictions. I had to accept that people lie and self-deceive. But I discovered something important anyway, maybe what I was really meant to find.”

“What do you mean?” asked Jon.

“I found my real inheritance,” Tess answered. “My grandfather and your grandfather left me this beautiful garden full of demanding ghosts. And my mother left me her unrealized commitment to justice. I had to ask myself how to make sense of both legacies. Sam pushed me to find the answer. I realized that I had the right solution when I woke up in a hospital bed courtesy of Dreux. This place is my effort to both honor and atone for my heritage.”

“I envy your confidence,” said Jon wistfully. “I’d worry about throwing money away on dreams.”

Poor Jon, he seemed incapable of risk-taking. A year ago, Tess would have seen him as a kindred soul, but now it was a trait that made her hesitate. She sometimes thought it was the reason their relationship continually teetered on an emotional threshold, like the awed moment before Sam led them into the secret garden’s overwhelming beauty.

Lately, they had moved from platonic friendship to cautious intimacy, a sexually diffident minuet that had not been fully co
nsummated. Tess had blamed first her slow recovery from Dreux’s attack and then the demands of her garden project and grand opening. That excuse was gone now, so would tonight mark a new phase of their courtship? Did she want that?

Tess avoided Jon’s gaze and was clearing her throat for a noncommittal r
emark when an amplifier squealed and an upbeat voice broadcast in the distance. “Welcome to the Gardens of Eden. Are y’all havin’ a good time?” A muted roar responded.

“I think the music has started,” smiled Jon and held out his hand to Tess. “Let’s join the party.”

They strolled into the rose garden just as Mimi and Lillian descended the restaurant steps. Each of the old ladies held a red rose stolen from the table centerpieces, making them look like withered debutantes. Mimi waved cheerily and Lillian nodded, and Tess heard Jon sigh in resigned patience for the inevitable encounter with the duo.

Indeed, Mimi trotted up with a purposeful look, but then amazed Tess and Jon by clutc
hing Jon’s arm and pressing her stolen rose into his surprised hand.

Mimi whispered quickly, “You may have a better use for this than I. Perhaps you can give it to your true love tonight.” She then smiled impishly and tripped merrily away toward the exit,
trailed by the silent Lillian. “Thank you for a lovely evening,” the little woman called over her shoulder, and Lillian echoed, “Lovely.”

“What a weird old dame,” remarked Jon as they strolled around the side of the restaurant and onto the shadowed path that led from the burbling fish fountain to the lighted dance pavilion. He held up the overblown rose. “I look silly holding this. I think you should take it.”

“Mimi told you it should be given as a token of ‘true love.’ Is that how you’re offering it to me?” rebuffed Tess. She had developed an almost superstitious respect for Mimi’s “signs.”