daughter. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to postpone
things."
"Why? Just come in with Pearl," he pleaded. "No. I can't," I said.
"It's more than that, isn't it?" he asked after a
pause.
"Yes," I admitted, and told him about Paul. "Then he knows about us?"
"Yes, Beau."
"Gisselle has been very suspicious lately, too,"
he confessed. "She's even uttered some veiled threats
and some not so veiled threats."
"Then maybe it's best we cool things down," I
suggested. "We must think of all the people we might
hurt, Beau."
"Yes," he said in a cracked voice.
If words had weight, the telephone lines
between New Orleans and Cypress Woods would sag
and tear apart, I thought.
"I'm sorry, Beau."
I heard him sigh deeply. "Well, Gisselle keeps
asking to go to the ranch for a few days. I guess I'll
take her next week. The truth is, I hate living in this
house without you, Ruby. There are too many
memories of us together here. Every time I walk past
your room, I stop and stare at the door and
remember."
"Talk Gisselle into selling the house, Beau.
Start new somewhere else," I suggested.
"She doesn't care. Nothing bothers her. What
have we done to each other, Ruby?" he asked. I swallowed back the throat lumps, but fugitive
tears trickled down my cheeks. For a moment I