Page 9 of Home Again

God, he has pretty eyes.

Gianna bit her lip. Time for more lies. “I wanted someplace really out of the way. No tourists, hopefully no people. I drove my Papaw’s tent trailer out here and was staying in it when Neil ran across me.”

Sebastian rubbed his chin and she could see he was trying to cover a grin. “Tent trailer? In hurricane season?”

“Granny and Pawpa have had it for decades and they’ve never had any problems with it,” she said huffily. “Anyway, Neil found me parked under a shade tree near a river. I’d passed some boat launches about two miles back, and Neil explained that was a private launch that belonged to the Durand farm.”

“So you didn’t want complete privacy,” Sebastian said with a smile.

“Knowing that there is a little bit of civilization is just good sense, for goodness sakes.”

“Yes, it is.”

“What are you two whispering about over there?” Armand asked as he shoved back his chair and weaved his way over to them. Sebastian had to steady him before he fell down.

“Armand, we’re not whispering,” Gianna smiled at him, then sighed. She felt both sad for him and disgusted. After weeks of talking to him, she’d realized just how privileged his life had been and how he’d squandered it away. The fact that he still felt that he’d been marginalized dumbfounded her, yet she knew he was hurting.

Armand shrugged out of Sebastian’s hold and reached out for her. Gianna easily sidestepped him so that he ended up falling against the counter.

“What, now that Bastian’s home, you’re going to ignore me?” he glared at her.

“What are you talking about? We’ve talked about you drinking too much. You know I don’t like to see you like this. I think you should go on up to bed.” Gianna tried to keep her voice positive.

“Come give me a kiss goodnight.” He held out his arms.

“No.”

“Tomorrow night then, when I’m not drinking,” he tried to cajole her.

Gianna hid her distaste. If she didn’t need him so much, she wouldn’t be putting up with this crud.

“Go to bed, Armand.” She peeked over at Sebastian to see what he thought of all of this. She noticed that he was watching the interplay with intense concentration.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, sweet thing,” Armand said as he lurched toward the kitchen door leading to the hallway.

“Seems like you have an admirer,” Sebastian said after the swinging door closed.

“He’s harmless,” Gianna said as she rinsed out the washcloth and hung it over the faucet to dry.

“Don’t be so sure.” Sebastian sounded serious.

She laughed up at him. “Trust me, I can take care of myself.”

“Lady, you’re barely five feet tall and all soft woman. I’m not seeing how you can take care of yourself if you’re here alone with a drunk man who gets it in his head he wants something you don’t want to give.”

There was a definite bite in his tone.

“Did you not see the way he couldn’t even walk? He’d trip over his own feet before he’d be able to catch me,” Gianna said heatedly. “Anyway, he’s harmless, and most times your grandfather and Ophelia are here. This whole conversation is moot.”

Sebastian didn’t respond, he just stared down at her from his lofty height. Now here was a dangerous man. If he wanted to take advantage of her, there would be no stopping him.

His gaze softened and he slowly smiled. “I would never hurt you, or any woman.”

Gianna nodded.

“I can get you some letters of recommendation if you’d like. I’d start with Ophelia, then there is my friend Braxton’s mom and his four sisters, they’d write letters. I could also get my next-door neighbor, Mrs. Crabtree, to write a letter. She really likes me because I mow her grass when I’m in town.”

Gianna couldn’t stop her smile. “How old is Mrs. Crabtree?”