“The last time I spoke to Jasmine she was just getting over the flu.”
Hannah laced her fingers together as she stared at the bright pink polish on her toes in a pair of sandals. “I’m not one to spread gossip, but the last time I spoke to my investment banker, he asked me about Jasmine.”
Tonya grunted softly under her breath. It was apparent Cameron had taken her advice to ask Hannah about Jasmine. “That’s what I told him. He’d asked about her at your wedding, and I told him if he wanted to know anything about Jasmine or Nydia, then he should ask you.”
Hannah grimaced. “I like Cameron, but not for Jasmine.”
“What’s wrong with him?” Tonya asked.
“He’s not what I’d call a dog—it’s just that he’s a serial dater. Cameron will take a woman out for a few months, drop her, and then it’s on to the next one.”
“I really don’t know Jasmine as well as Nydia, so I can’t give you my opinion one way or the other. What I did glean from sitting next to him at the reception is that he doesn’t need her money, and he’s willing to go after whatever he wants.”
“That’s because Cameron comes from a moneyed family. And I can testify that he is resolute when he decides he wants a woman. Even though I’m ten years his senior, he’s asked me out a few times.”
Tonya’s dimples creased her cheeks when she smiled. “I never took you for a cougar.”
Hannah waved her hand. “Even if I was younger I’d never trade St. John in for all the money in the world.”
“You really love him, don’t you?”
Closing her eyes and shaking her head, Hannah said, “More than you could ever imagine.” She opened her eyes, and they were shimmering with unshed tears. “St. John is good to me and for me. There had been a time when I agonized over wanting to open the inn in time for Mardi Gras, and he would tell me, everything in its own time. He was the one who suggested converting the guesthouses into eating establishments.”
“What was your original plan for them?”
“I didn’t have one,” Hannah admitted. “I couldn’t convert them for guests because that would increase the number of rooms from nine to thirteen and make the inn a hotel. And I wasn’t willing to repeat the process of filing new applications and licenses and wait months for them to be approved. The approvals for the restaurants are pending, and with the installation of the elevator I can project a fall completion. St. John and I have talked about opening on the same day as our wedding anniversary.”
“You’d really have a reason to celebrate twice.”
Hannah nodded. “That, and St. John can’t come up with the excuse that he forgot our anniversary.”
Tonya pushed to her feet, Hannah rising with her. “I’ve taken up enough of your time with my bitchin’ and moaning. I suppose I knew why I was being ambivalent, but I needed to hear it from someone else.” She extended her arms and wasn’t disappointed when Hannah hugged her. “Thank you. You’ve become the sister I wish I’d had.”
“That goes double for me, Tonya.” Hannah eased back. “The next time you talk to Jasmine, try and feel her out about going in with us. I don’t want to call her and have her think I’m trying to pressure her. Now that the workmen are beginning to renovate the second-story suites, I know as soon as the summer ends we’ll have to begin interviewing and hiring staff. And I can’t think of someone more qualified to do that than Jasmine.”
Tonya had to agree with Hannah. She and many other employees couldn’t believe that Jasmine hadn’t been promoted to director of personnel when her supervisor had been fired for leaking personal information on one of the vice presidents. It was a slap in the face when the board hired someone from the outside to run that department.
“Thanks again for lending me your ear.”
“Any time. I’ll walk you out.”
Hannah stood on the porch, waiting for her to get into the SUV. Tonya executed a U-turn and waved out the open driver’s-side window as she reversed direction and drove home. She marveled at how easy it was for her to think of the guesthouse as home when for most of her life, New York City had been home. It was where she was born, raised, and with the exception of spending some time in Rhode Island and abroad, the majority of her life she had lived in three of the five boroughs.
Now home was New Orleans, the Crescent City, NOLA, or Nawlins. Unconsciously she had settled into the predictable rhythm of getting up at dawn to bake bread, roast and grill meat and fish, and cut, chop, and sauté ingredients for gumbos, bisques, and other soups, while refining her expertise when it came to sauces, dry rubs, and seasonings.
Strolling through the Quarter reminded of Tonya of Greenwich Village with its historic buildings, distinctive architecture, funky bars, antique shops, art galleries, and sidewalk cafés crowded with tourists and native bohemians. She had become accustomed to the differing dialects, which, like the food and music, she found hypnotic.
She was four blocks from the house when Gage’s number appeared on the navigation screen. Smiling, she tapped a button on the steering wheel. “What’s up, darling?” The endearment had slipped out unconsciously.
“That’s what I should be asking you, babe.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Eustace.”
Tonya’s heart rate quickened. “Has something happened to him?” When she left him at the restaurant, he appeared to be all right.
“No. I just spoke to him, and he claims you were out of sorts today. He figured you may have been exhausted from yesterday.”
