Bayou Beauty (Butterfly Bayou 4)

“Then I can go back to running campaigns.” She actually enjoyed being mayor. She could see herself staying for a while. There was a lot she could do here to help her city. But if they didn’t want her help, she wouldn’t stop or go into hiding. She had a thick skin and a good sense of self-esteem. It was required to do her job. “I assure you no one in DC will pay any mind to that rumor. In fact, if Charles wants to put it out there, he’ll find out that the congressman’s affair was with another woman on the campaign who was a colleague of mine. The original oppo research listed me because the man who did the investigation couldn’t tell the difference between two black women. Charles has bad intel, and it will hurt him, not me. But I love that you had faith in me. Rene, it’s going to be all right. No matter what Charles does. No matter what happens to the company. We’re going to make it through together. We have to rely on each other from here on out.”

“I’ll get a job. You’ll see.” He turned toward the road that led to her house. “We don’t have to worry about a place to live, and I’ve got money in savings, but I would like to save that for a rainy day. We need to be able to take care of Lady.”

She loved that he thought of the dog. Had she worried about him becoming a father? He was going to be a great one.

He really needed to talk to his mom. “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem, and I sincerely doubt you need to go take Zep’s old job at Guidry’s. Your mother said things she regrets, too. We’ll sit down with her tomorrow and hash this all out as a family. I know you think you need to be perfect to have people love you, but it’s not true. You can make mistakes and we’ll still adore you.”

“I’m glad you think so because we’re about to face one of those mistakes,” he said as he pulled into the driveway. “We’re not alone in the house, but I’m going to let you handle it. He told me I should do that as often as possible. It’s probably time to take his advice.”

“What are you talking about?” She didn’t give him a chance to come around and open her door. She wanted to know who was in her house. She knew Rene wouldn’t have gotten angry and brought a woman back with him, but she couldn’t think of who would be there.

Then she could because the door came open and her wayward brother was walking out. “Hey, that didn’t take long. I thought you were going to your place after you handled . . .” Andre stopped in the middle of the porch, his eyes going wide. Then her brother’s expression changed to the one he always wore when he got caught. “Now, Sylvie, I have a good explanation.”

“He got shot while he was on assignment and he doesn’t want your momma to know,” Rene explained.

Sylvie gasped, truly shocked. Andre had hidden at her house and dragged her husband into something their momma was definitely going to figure out. Nope. It was payback time for him telling on her when she was fifteen and snuck out of the church lockdown. She pulled her cell phone out of her purse and hit the speed dial.

Dre shook his head and held his hands out like she was holding a gun on him and he was begging her not to pull the trigger. “Sylvie, don’t. Sis, come on.”

“Momma, Dre is hiding at my house on the square and he got shot. You should come and pick up your baby boy. He needs to be nursed back to health.”

She hung up before her mother could reply.

Dre’s head dropped. “Cold, Sylvie.” His cell immediately buzzed and he sighed. He shook his head Rene’s way. “How could you?”

Rene went right back to the move that worked on her every time. He leaned over and picked her up. “We are going to break this house in. You do not need to hear what is about to happen. Go home, Dre. Let Marcelle take care of you while I take care of my wife.”

“See, I told you Sylvie would take care of things,” Dre said. “Just so you know, I was pulling for you. Don’t let Momma sage me.”

Ooh, there was such a sageing in Dre’s future, but she was still happy that he’d been here for Rene. “Did you take care of him last night?”

Dre followed them inside as his cell continued to ring. “We had pizza and Scotch and killed each other about a thousand times. I expect you to fix this, Sylvie. I did not become friends with Rene at the age of four so he can be poor now. I’m an artist. I need wealthy relatives.” He put the phone to his ear. “Hey, Momma. It’s good to hear from you. Yeah, it was noth— Sylvie’s exag— Yes, I’ll be home in ten minutes, ma’am.” He slid it into his pocket. “Cold, you two. So cold.”