Chapter 6
Three months later
Tonya turned down the street leading to DuPont House and then maneuvered through the open gates and along the winding path that led to the mansion generations of DuPonts had called home. She had driven from Daytona Beach to New Orleans after spending a week with her parents and managed to make the six-hundred-mile trip in less than nine hours. She had just removed her luggage from the SUV’s cargo compartment at the same time Hannah walked out onto the porch. The former corporate attorney was still tanned from three weeks of honeymooning in the South Pacific. Once she returned to the States, Hannah had downloaded dozens of photographs of her and her husband island-hopping from Bora Bora to Fiji and Tahiti. Tonya was looking forward to seeing them.
Tonya had not shared Thanksgiving with her daughter and parents, because Samara had opted to spend time with several classmates living in the Atlanta area. And when she told Samara she would see her for Christmas, again she was surprised when her daughter said she had secured a position tutoring because she wanted to save money for her graduate studies. Tonya was tempted to tell her daughter that she would be willing to subsidize her, but stopped herself just in time. After all, she wanted the college senior to become an independent, responsible adult willing to work and sacrifice for whatever she wanted or needed.
Hands resting at her waist, Hannah flashed a wide grin. “Let me take you to the guesthouse where you can rest yourself. You must be exhausted from all that driving.”
Tonya grimaced when encountering stiffness in her back after sitting for hours behind the wheel of her newly purchased Honda Pilot. It had been years since she had owned a car. Public transportation had become her mode of getting around, but living and working in Manhattan was different from living and working in New Orleans—a city that would take her time to learn to navigate.
“All I want is a cool drink, a warm shower, and a bed.”
Hannah hugged Tonya. “When you called to tell me you were driving straight through, I brought over something for you to eat. It’s in the fridge. You just have to heat it in the microwave. Speaking of food, you don’t have to do any shopping for a while. The kitchen cabinets are stocked and so is the freezer. And if there is anything you need, then just raid the pantry in the main house.”
She returned the hug, and then pulled back to look at the tall, green-eyed natural blonde. “Thank you. Marriage agrees with you,” she teased, smiling.
Hannah returned her smile. “That’s because being married to St. John agrees with me. I never thought I could be as happy and contented as I am now.”
“Good for you.”
“Come with me,” she said, picking up the large quilted weekender and leading the way along a flagstone path around the house to where two guesthouses stood several hundred yards from each other. “We’ll talk once you’ve had something to drink and eat. I would’ve invited you to come to the house in Marigny, but St. John has been hosting off-campus meetings with those in his department to discuss a few courses they either want to add or drop, and because of their different schedules, it’s almost impossible to meet on campus.”
Tonya watched as Hannah unlocked the door and stood to one side for her to enter. During her last visit she had surveyed the structure of less than one thousand feet of living space where she would live until the restoration and renovations to the main house were completed. There was a parlor, dining area, eat-in kitchen, two bedrooms, and a bathroom with a separate shower stall. The guesthouse had been updated over the years. A stacked washer-dryer was concealed behind the doors of a utility closet, which eliminated the need to use the laundry room in the main house. The wood floors gleamed with a coat of wax, and the familiar scent of lemon lingered in the air. Hannah told her the cleaning company had worked diligently to get the guesthouse ready before her arrival.
“How are the renovations coming?”
“Not fast enough, but I’ve decided not to stress out over it, because the approval for installing the elevator is still pending. Meanwhile, work will begin on the upstairs suites next week, now that all the furniture has been removed.”
“Where did you put the furniture?” DuPont House was filled with priceless antiques dating back several centuries.
“An adjuster from the insurance company catalogued them before they were crated and taken to a warehouse. I delayed emptying the suites on the first floor because my cousins don’t want to move in with me and St. John until the last possible moment. They claim they don’t want to encroach on the newlyweds.”
“They’re right,” Tonya said in agreement. “That’s why I suggested moving in here. Not only do you need your privacy, but also time to get accustomed to living with each other. By the way, how are your cousins enjoying their retirement?”
Shaking her head, Hannah rolled her eyes upward. “I rarely get to see them. If they’re not attending a home or away Saints’ game, then they’re cruising with a group of retired teachers who refer to themselves as the Wild Bunch. They’re gone so much that Smokey now lives with me and St. John.”
“Didn’t they just come back from a four-month cruise?”
Hannah nodded. “Right now they’re embarking on either weeklong or four-day cruises to the eastern or western Caribbean. They’ve been talking about taking theQueen Elizabeth 2world voyage next year. The ship leaves New York early January and doesn’t return until mid-May.”
It was Tonya’s turn to shake her head. “I like the ocean, but I’d rather sit on a beach and watch it rather than live on it for months.”
“I’m with you. Where do you want me to put this bag?”
Tonya flopped down on a chintz-covered loveseat and kicked off her running shoes. “Just leave it by the door. I’ll empty it later.”
Hannah folded her body down to a matching armchair and crossed her feet at the ankles. “The boxes you shipped are stacked in the smaller bedroom. I left remote devices to open the gates and another one to open the garage on the kitchen countertop. You’ll also find an extra set of keys for this place and the main house. Now that I’m living in Marigny, there’s room in the garage for your vehicle. I noticed you have New York plates on your SUV. Is it a rental or a lease?”
“Neither. It was my Christmas gift to me.” Within minutes of test-driving the Honda Pilot, Tonya fell in love with the spacious sport utility vehicle. “Once I moved to Manhattan I got rid of my car, because I didn’t want to get up every other morning to move it from one side of the street to the other. And it costs a small fortune to garage it.”
“You’re preaching to the choir, Tonya. It was cheaper for me to take a car service than have a car when I lived there. By the way, how’s Nydia?”
Tonya smiled. “She’s great. She loves the apartment and the neighborhood. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to sublet my place, because she’s quiet and fastidious. And I must say she’s quite the cook when it comes to preparing Latin dishes. She taught me how to make sofrito and mojito, which is a garlic dipping sauce that’s out of this world.”
Hannah nodded. “I couldn’t get enough of her rice and peas when she came down last summer.”
“I can make them, too,” Tonya said boastfully.
