“The second option,” Camille said, lowering her voice so that it didn’t carry to the man approaching them on the sidewalk. “But I’ll meet you at the fair, six-thirty tomorrow night.”
Mark’s smile broadened. “Good deal. I’ll see you then.” He spun and nearly ran into Landry. “Sorry.” He stepped around Landry and hurried toward his dark gray pickup, climbed in, waved and drove away.
“Holy hell. What did I just agree to?” Camille muttered under her breath.
“Getting back into the saddle?” Gisele offered. “Retiring B.O.B?”
Landry chose that moment to step up in front of her, turning to shoot a glance toward Mark and his disappearing SUV. When he faced Camille, he cocked an eyebrow. “Customer?”
“Something like that,” she murmured, questioning her sanity. She’d just agreed to go out on a date with a man she knew nothing about and for whom she had no particular feelings. And she’d foolishly done it because she’d gotten flustered at the approach of the man currently standing before her. She was an idiot.
Camille’s cheeks burned. She fought for composure, pasted a smile on her face and asked, “Mr. Laurent, did you come back for more Bayou Bark?”
He shook his head, his full focus on her. “As magical as it was, that’s not why I’m here.” His gaze met hers and then shifted as Ava came to stand in front of her mother. “I came to see if you two ladies would like a ride home.”
“Yes, please.” Ava’s face lit with a smile as she glanced up at Camille. “Can we, Mama?”
Camille’s pulse quickened, and more heat rose into her neck and cheeks. “That’s nice of Mr. Laurent, but we usually walk.”
Gisele snorted behind her and whispered, “Take a walk on the wild side, girl.”
Landry dipped his head toward Gisele, his lips curving on the corners. “I’d heard you liked to walk home from the store and expected you to say as much. So, I parked my vehicle at your house and came to walk you two home.”
Camille laughed. “What if I’d accepted your ride home?”
“I would’ve asked you to be patient as I ran back to your house to retrieve my SUV. Then I would’ve come back to give you a proper ride home.” He stepped through the door.
Gisele, Camille and Ava exited the shop.
“I’ll leave you two to your walk,” Gisele said with a cocky tilt of one eyebrow. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“Don’t worry, we won’t,” Camille insisted.
Gisele tsked. “Such a shame.” Then she grinned and hurried toward her shop and the apartment where she and Rafael were living until renovations were done on their forever home.
Landry waited while Camille closed and locked the shop.
Suddenly nervous, Camille tried to fill the silence with, “You know it’s not necessary to walk us home. You were only supposed to stop by near sunset and check the locks.”
“Would you deny me the pleasure of taking a leisurely stroll through town and out toward the bayou. It’s a beautiful evening and will be even nicer with the company of two lovely ladies.”
“Wait.” Ava quickly shucked her backpack again and stuffed her doll and Fuzzy inside.
Landry helped her settle the pack on her back.
As soon as his hands were free, Ava took one of them and smiled up at the man.
Camille’s heart skipped a beat. She couldn’t tell her daughter to let go of the man’s hand without disappointing her. And, since he’d already parked his vehicle at her house, he had to go there to get it. Which meant she was stuck walking with him all the way to her little house on the bayou.
Stuck might be the wrong word, since she was pretty sure she’d enjoy walking with him more than she cared to admit. They could exchange pleasantries, talk about the weather and tell each other about their life histories.
Then Mr. Laurent would be reminded that he was only needed to check window and door locks, not get involved with the ex-wife of a convicted felon.
Yeah, any new relationship would be stopped cold in its tracks with that kind of revelation. Not that a relationship with Mr. Laurent was even a possibility.
When she’d divorced Richard, she’d sworn off any relationships with men, not just because she didn’t trust them. It was more a factor of not trusting her own judgment when it came to men. How could she have been so blind that she’d had no clue her husband was a thief?
As they started down Main Street, Ava reached for Camille’s hand. Every so often, her daughter would hold on tight, kick her legs out and swing between the two adults.
