Page 66 of After The Storm
Or the other million and a half things she’d done that would probably make him want to run for the hills as soon as his work with her ended.
Turning back, she pushed that night back into the recesses of her mind and knocked on the door again. “Yeah, he comes from wealthy stock.”
Roman chuckled and repeated the words wealthy stock. “As opposed to good stock?” he asked.
Smiling, she thought about if Jasper and his family could be considered good. They’d fought on the side of the Confederates, but that wasn’t anything shocking in New Orleans. He’d once told her his great-great uncle or someone like that had been good friends with Huey Long back when he was governor and Jasper’s relative was an illegal alcohol bootlegger during Prohibition. Even that didn’t fall into the bad category in Louisiana. But some of the other, more unsavory stories she’d heard of the Carrollton family would probably land them somewhere in the grey territory of good versus bad.
For someone honorable like Roman, though, she suspected those things would make them bad, so she simply smiled and said, “It’s all ancient history now. Jasper’s just…well, Jasper.”
She didn’t explain that the sliding scale of morality might put even her friend into the bad column.
Raising her hand to knock once more, she saw him appear at the back door, smiling like always. She’d never met anyone who always seemed happy like Jasper.
He threw the door open and spread his arms wide at the sight of them standing there. “Katybird! Honey, get in here and hug my neck!”
For a moment, she felt Roman’s body tense up against hers, but she ignored that and stepped forward to give her friend a giant hug. He’d be fine once he got to know Jasper.
“It’s been too long, you. From now on, you have to spend at least a whole month at home once in a while so your friends don’t end up missing you so much.”
Jasper held her at arm’s length and let his gaze travel up and down her body. Frowning, he said, “You look like you’ve been slogging through hell lately. What’s going on with you?”
“I’ll tell you all that in a minute, but first, I want you to meet Roman.”
She looked back at him and saw the most skeptical look she’d ever seen anyone wear on his face. Clearly, he wasn’t impressed.
Thrusting his hand out, Jasper took a step toward Roman and smiled. “How do you do? Any friend of Katybird’s is a friend of mine, so welcome. Come in, please.”
It was the most restrained hello she’d ever heard from her friend, but then again, he knew how to read people, and Roman’s face told the story that he didn’t like what he’d seen so far.
For his part, Roman shook Jasper’s hand and in his serious way said, “Thank you for letting us come here tonight. We appreciate your help.”
So far, so good. A little somber, but Kate didn’t mind Roman’s style. She rather liked it.
“My pleasure. Let’s go inside and sit down. Katybird, you need to tell me all about this business you need my help with,” Jasper said as he escorted them into the house.
They walked through the chef’s kitchen with every appliance a cook could ever want or need and through the formal dining room with the long cherry wood table and chairs for eight guests that looked like it belonged at some state dinner. As they made their way, Jasper pointed out things about the house to Roman. Kate had the sense it was equal parts bragging and pride.
“Above the dining room table on the ceiling is the crystal chandelier that was one of the first electric run lights in all of New Orleans. The Carrollton family always liked to be on the cutting edge, and anything to show up the neighbors,” he joked.
Roman’s face remained stony as it had been from the moment Jasper opened the door, but she saw the hint of a smile at that last remark. As they walked into the TV room, she touched his hand and gave it a squeeze. He looked down at her and that hint of a smile blossomed into a full-fledged grin.
“Okay, after we talk, I’ll give you the full tour, but I’m pretty sure you don’t want to see rooms like the salon, which still looks like it did when my great-grandmother designed it. Take a seat and tell me what you want to drink. You name it, I’ve got it, so the sky’s the limit,” Jasper said as they headed toward a large white couch flanked by brown leather chairs around a large rectangular teakwood coffee table.
“I’ll have a white wine,” Kate said, suddenly thirsty for alcohol.
“Nothing for me,” Roman said with a smile that looked a little like it was forced. “Not driving, but one of us needs to keep our wits about us.”
Jasper didn’t seem offended, thankfully. “White wine for Katybird. I’ll be right back. Make yourselves at home.”
He disappeared a moment later, leaving them alone to talk. Curious what Roman thought, she turned to him and said, “This place is something else, isn’t it? You know, he hasn’t worked in forever. Thank God he comes from money or who knows what would happen to him.”
Roman didn’t respond but merely nodded, so Kate nervously continued talking.
“This house really is incredible. That stuff he told us about the chandelier is really true. This was one of the first houses in New Orleans to get electricity.” Looking above at the ceiling where a far more rustic antique brass chandelier hung over the seating area, she asked, “What do you think?”
“Of?”
Kate leveled her gaze on him. “The house. My friend. Any of the half dozen things I’ve told you about the place. Pick one.”