“Was?” Cameron questioned. “Mom’s still feisty and I’m glad she is because if she wasn’t you would’ve broken her spirit. And there may have come a time when I would’ve knocked the hell out of you for the way you treated my mother.”
“Once you started growing and putting on muscle I was afraid you would challenge me.”
“I didn’t because Mom warned me not to interfere because she didn’t want me involved in what went on between her and her husband.”
“I’m ashamed of how I treated her because my father had done the same thing to my mother.”
Cameron wanted to remind his father that his mother took the verbal abuse because she didn’t have any options other than being a housewife. “Have you had lunch?”
“No. Why?”
“I feel like celebrating and I need a partner in crime.”
Nathan laughed. “Say no more, son. Where are we going?”
“I don’t know. We’ll figure it out on the way.”
The older man picked up the phone and dialed his assistant. “Cameron and I will be out of the office for the rest of the day, and all our calls should go to Preston.”
Cameron patted his father’s back when he reached for his jacket off the coat tree. “When did you start playing hooky?” There was a running family joke that Nathan had two wives: Belinda LaSalle and Singleton Investments.
“I just decided today will be the first of many more to come,” Nathan said as he put on his jacket. “You just reminded me that you’ll be taking over the company in less than six months, so it’s time I prepare for the inevitable. I’m going to take my wife away for as long as she wants, and when we return I want to spend time with my grandchildren so they can really get to know their grandpa.”
“Don’t go and get sappy on me, Dad.”
“I do have a softer side, Cameron.”
“That’s okay as long as you don’t become a marshmallow.”
Nathan shuddered. “Please don’t mention marshmallows. I remember one time I put one in my mouth and someone bumped me and it got stuck in my throat. If my brother hadn’t punched me in the back I would’ve choked to death.”
“They do make the miniature ones.”
“Big or small I want nothing to do with them.”
Cameron placed an arm over his father’s shoulders and led him down the back staircase to the parking lot. “My car or yours?” He loved his two-door Porsche 911, while his father drove a Cadillac Escalade.
Nathan cut his eyes at him. “Mine.” Reaching into his jacket pocket, he tossed the fob to Cameron. “Your old man is going to relax until we get where we’re going.”
Cameron knew his father hated riding in his sports car because he claimed it was too low to the ground. “There’s a restaurant in Baton Rouge I want to try. You game, Dad?”
Nathan secured his seatbelt, and then closed his eyes. “Allons!”
“I’m going, Dad.”
He punched the Start engine button and backed out of the space. Nathan rarely spoke the Cajun French he’d learned from his grandmother, but every once in a while it slipped out unbidden. His LaSalle relatives were as fluent in French as they were with English, and there had been a time when Cameron could converse fluidly in both languages. Now he would have to search his memory for certain words.
The state capital was almost ninety miles from New Orleans. His father had fallen asleep and not having a distraction would give him time to mull over his conversation with Hannah. She’d accused him of being in love with Jasmine, and while he’d denied it, Cameron knew what he felt for Jasmine went beyond infatuation.
It was as if life had thrown him a vicious curve. Maybe karma was paying him back for all the times he stopped seeing a woman because she wanted marriage and he didn’t. Hannah had warned him to give Jasmine time to come around on her own. Well, he intended to give Jasmine all the time she needed in order for him to get what he wanted.
And he wanted her! Badly!
Chapter 11
Jasmine stared numbly at her parents. They were at a restaurant celebrating her belated birthday, and she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. “You’re kidding, aren’t you?”
Richard Washington slowly shook his head. “No we’re not. Your mother and I have been talking about selling the house and moving south for more than a year. We listed the house with a realtor and yesterday we got an offer from a couple with two small children. They’ve been pre-approved, so it won’t take long before we’ll have a closing.”
