She glanced over and her mother was standing in the kitchen, a smile on her face. Her mother liked it when her plans came together, and her daughter marrying the man she’d always loved had definitely been in her momma’s plans.
“That’s my baby,” her mother said, a spatula in her hand. “You rewrite history to suit yourself just like I taught you.”
Cricket had taken her son’s hand and led him to the couch. “It’s completely different. You and Sylvie have a long history. I married your father because I couldn’t have the man I wanted and my life was slipping away. I wanted a family. I wanted children. I wanted you. Sylvie didn’t marry you to have a family. She married you because she loves you. That came later for your father and me.”
Sylvie moved to the coffeepot and poured out two mugs. She looked to her mom, her voice going low. “Maybe we should give them some privacy.”
Her mother turned a bacon strip. “No. You need to sit with your husband and hold his hand. He needs you with him, and honestly, Cricket does, too. I think this conversation has a lot to do with you.”
“You loved Louis?” Rene asked quietly.
Sylvie set the mug down in front of him, holding her own in her hand. She felt Rene’s hand reach for her free one. Yes, her mother was right. He needed her to be here in this moment with him.
“I loved him when I was a girl. He was the son of my father’s best friend, so my brother Sebastian and I played with Louis a lot. I cared about him, but he stayed away from me. I tried to kiss him once when I was a freshman and he was a senior.” Cricket’s eyes went teary, but she gave them a smile. “He said I was too young.”
Sylvie turned to her husband.
Rene’s hand squeezed hers. “Dre thought you were too young. I was willing to take the risk.”
It was good to know she wasn’t the only one rewriting history.
“She was too young,” her mother said from the kitchen. “If you tell Dre I said this, I’ll put a whammy on you, but he was right. My Sylvie needed some seasoning, if you know what I mean. I want you to think about what your family would have done to her back then.”
Sylvie still thought she could have handled them, but she was willing to let it go. “The point is Louis didn’t come back for Cricket the way you did for me. In fact, I think it was Louis’s idea for Cricket to marry your father.”
The front door came open and Dre walked in, Louis following behind him. Dre carried a bag of groceries, and Louis stopped at the sight of Rene.
“Rene, I’m sorry. I was dropping off Andre. I’ll head home.” Louis looked tired, like he’d stayed up worrying all night.
“Come on in, man,” Dre said, walking through the living room toward the kitchen. “Rene got some loving last night, and he’s in a much better mood. He’s not going to punch anyone now. Well, except Charles. We’re going to take him out and feed his nasty ass to Otis. That way at least the bastard has done some community service.”
“By teaching Otis to eat human flesh?” It sounded like the start of a horror movie to Sylvie.
“Bad guy flesh,” Dre countered. “It has to taste different.”
Her mother’s eyes rolled. “You are not teaching that gator to eat your enemies.”
They were getting off topic. “Come and join us, Louis,” Sylvie said. “We’re going to sit down and have a lovely breakfast, but Cricket was explaining how you two managed to find your way back together. I think knowing that history would help Rene.”
Louis closed the door behind him and moved to sit next to Cricket. “She was my best friend’s sister. I cared about her, but she was off limits. It felt disrespectful to her brother.”
“Preach,” Andre said. “I should not have to watch my best friend horn in on my sweet, innocent sister. I hear you. Oww.”
“Next time I will use this spatula on your behind,” her mother promised her brother. “You know what I’m saying next.”
Dre nodded. “I’m going to sit and eat some food now. Y’all carry on.”
“Why did you introduce her to my father?” Rene ignored what was going on in the kitchen. “She was certainly not too young then. She’d been to college and was teaching at that point.”
“No, she was an incredible woman, but I had been kicked out of my family. I challenged my father one too many times,” Louis explained. “I took a job with your father and years went by. Cricket and I lost touch for the better part of a decade. I worked on my career at Darois. I admit I wanted to prove my father wrong. That was what I focused on in those days. I had a lot of anger back then. I wouldn’t have been good for her.”