Chapter 8
Christophe
Tonight we’re meeting our papa’s mystery woman. He’s been acting weird all day and it’s kind of funny.
“Are you sure we should do a cookout here? Wouldn’t a restaurant be better?” Papa asks.
“Papa. Chill out. We’ve got everything we need for the cookout. You go shower and get ready.” Jér?me laughs.
Papa sighs and heads inside.
“I’ve never seen him like this before. He’s the head of the mafia for fucks sake.” Fran?ois snickers.
“I heard that!” Papa yells back at us.
“It’s the truth!” Fran?ois yells back.
Renee is on the side giggling at them.
“You guys are too funny. I’m going to miss your papa when we leave.”
“I know but we can come back at least once a month and see him.” I answer her.
Renee comes over to me and wraps her arms around me.
“Thank you for giving me a family. All of you. After I moved to Seattle I didn’t know how I was going to survive. Then I met Jonah and I thought my life was going to be perfect. When I lost him, I lost a lot of the hope I had. But now? I know my life is going to be okay.”
“You’re the one that’s made our lives so much better. The only thing that can make it even better is when we have our babies.”
Fran?ois
I was finishing up grilling dinner when my papa came outside with a woman on his arm. The smile on his face says so much. His smile is almost as bright as when he was with my mamma. And the way she’s looking at him? That makes me smile.
“Tanya, these are my boys, Christophe, Fran?ois and Jér?me. The only one missing is Fabien, he’s in Italy, you’ll meet him soon. And this is Renee, she’s the love of my boys life.”
We all shake her hand. Tanya is very pretty, she has dark brown eyes and light brown hair. She and my papa make a striking couple.
“you’re all as handsome as your papa. I’m so glad to finally meet all of you. Your papa talks about you all the time.”
“It’s really good to meet you.” Christophe says.
“Dinners ready.” I say to everyone as Renee helps me set the table.
My papa says a short prayer as we sit down to eat.
“What do all of you do?” Tanya asks.
“I’m an ER doctor.” Jér?me says.
“I’m the CEO of Laurent Enterprises.”
“And I’m the CFO”
“I don’t have a job yet. But once we get to Lake Renegade, I’m hoping to find one there.” Renee smiles.
“Are all of you moving to Lake Renegade?” Tanya asks.
We all nod.
“Jér?me was offered the head of ER for Lucciola Memorial Hospital. So we talked about going with him. After we met Renee, that decision was made for us. Where one goes, we all go.” I say to her.
“That’s really cute. I love that you’ll all have each other. Moving is so stressful, but having others with you makes it so much easier.”
“Are you from Illinois?” I ask her.
“No. I’m from New Mexico. I’ve been here in Illinois for about five years now.” Tanya answers me.
“Do you like living here?” Renee asks her.
“I do. It’s different from life back in New Mexico. I love how Sprite Lake is a small town and everyone seems to know each other. I lived in Albuquerque and that’s a huge city. It’s not as big as Chicago, but it’s still pretty big” she smiles.
It feels like she’s holding something back. I can’t pin point what it is but I know there’s something. I just hope it’s not something that will hurt my papa.
We spend the rest of the night getting to know Tanya. She seems to really like my papa, but that nagging feeling that she’s hiding something won’t go away. It’s making me a little crazy. I told Jér?me about my feeling and he agreed with me.