Page 99 of The Match
She stopped talking, looking at Grace with a quick glance.
“It’s about my brother, isn’t it?” Grace asked, wincing.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring it up like that. But you know what? I actually owe it to him that this one started to play a knight in shining armor and pretended to be my boyfriend. Gave me a smoking-hot kiss right in front of Kyle.”
“Oh, I bet he was seething. Serves him right.” Then Grace sighed. “On behalf of my brothers, I am sorry for all the ruckus they’ve caused.”
“Oh, nonsense, girl,” Isabeau said. “You do not apologize for the sins of others.”
“I quite agree with that statement.” I pulled Grace closer to me and kissed her shoulder.
“So, I just wanted to say with everyone here,” Celine started, “that I think the match between our perfumes and lotions and your creams is made in heaven, Grace. People are truly enjoying them. We’ve even had some of the neighboring shops ask if we could put them in touch with you so they can carry them too.”
My grandmothers truly were saints. I smiled at them.
“Sure. You can give my email to everyone. I’ll respond personally,” Grace said.
“We’ll do that.”
“And if I don’t reply to them within a few days, they can also call me. Some of my emails do land in spam, especially from unknown senders.”
“We’ll relay the information,” Isabeau said.
I was surprised at the affection in her tone. The two of them clearly had a soft spot for Grace. It made me happy, but I just didn’t expect it. Celine and especially Isabeau were notoriously suspicious of strangers. Winning them over wasn’t very easy, though they’d softened over the years.
But her mentioning emails made me think about Gaston’s again. He hadn’t even replied to my offer. I was of two minds to discuss it with Grace, see if she’d changed her mind about us both going into business together. But there was no point in bringing it up right now. Gaston would eventually answer, and then we could both sit together and have a good talk.
“I’d love to carry your products too,” Georgie said. “They don’t fit with the whole Books & Beads vibe, but I carry miscellaneous products from time to time.”
“That would be amazing. I’ll send you a kit of my most popular items.”
“Great, I’m happy to display them for you.” Georgie beamed
The fact that even my brother’s fiancée was embracing Grace like this made me a thousand times more grateful for my family than I’d ever been. I knew for a fact that not everyone’s family was like that. Growing up, going to the schools I did, I realized most people’s families were simply interested in appearances.
“Now we have another question,” Isabeau said. “Which of the dishes is your favorite?”
“That’s a trick question, so be careful,” Anthony said.
“Nah, dude. That’s fine. If anything, I think Isabeau is starting to like Grace more than us. She hasn’t even asked us which one’s our favorite,” Beckett replied.
Isabeau looked at my brothers in exasperation. “That’s because I already know which one it is. Hasn’t changed over the past thirty years. I don’t expect it to change for the foreseeable future.”
“Right. That does make sense,” Anthony conceded.
Grace grinned from ear to ear. “I’m biased because I’ve always been a fan of gumbo, but it’s the gumbo. I think it’s the best I’ve ever had, just as the jambalaya from LeBlanc & Broussard is.”
Scarlett beamed at her, hoisting Simone higher up on her hip. “I’d take credit for the compliment, but I’m just following the recipe that Isabeau and Celine left at the restaurant.”
Both my grandmothers were about to burst with pride. Yeah, they were looking at Grace as if she was practically a LeBlanc already.
I swallowed hard. Damn, how did my mind go there so easily? And yet now that it had, I couldn’t help but linger on the thought. Damn it, this woman was turning everything I knew about myself on its head. I never truly set out to be a bachelor forever; I simply took things as they came. Yet now that I was thirty, I’d never even seriously considered taking the next step with a woman, let alone how her name would sound with my last name. I wasn’t going to question things too closely now either. I was happy with Grace. That was all that mattered.
Once we all finished eating, our grandmothers had us move to the sitting area so we could eat dessert.
“Should I come to the kitchen and help?” Grace asked.
“We’re going to need everyone’s help,” Isabeau said. “It’s a lot of plates for the two of us to bring.”
