11. Anthony
ANTHONY
I was supposed to be at the bar in half an hour but was running late.
After I got dressed, I checked my phone and realized I’d missed a call from Isabeau. That was strange, since she preferred meeting in person, so I punched her number right away.
“Hi, Isabeau.”
“Anthony! Did I catch you in a bad moment?”
“I’m going to the jazz competition, but I’ve got some time.”
“That’s in the French Quarter, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Do you mind paying us a visit beforehand?”
“What’s wrong?” I asked, suddenly worried.
“We’d like to talk to you.”
“I don’t have that much time. Is everything okay? Is this urgent?”
“Yes, yes. Are you meeting Daisy tonight?”
“Yeah, she’ll be there.”
“Then yes, it’s urgent.”
That stopped me in my tracks. “I don’t understand.”
“I’d explain it on the phone, but you know I prefer talking face-to-face. ”
That was Isabeau to a T. She liked to see your expression as she told you what she needed.
Oh well, a detour to their shop wouldn’t take that long.
“All right. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“Excellent. We’re waiting for you.”
I couldn’t even begin to guess what they wanted to talk to me about. And why had she brought up Daisy?
When I arrived at Fragrant Delights, the sign on the door said Closed. It was only a little after seven o’clock. They were supposed to be open another fifty minutes. Damn, so this conversation required no interruptions? It had to be important.
I went inside and found both grandmothers behind the counter. “Hi! You closed early.”
Celine held up a small bottle. Her smile was wicked. “We needed to finish this and that so we could fully focus on you when you got here.”
Isabeau was more outspoken, but Celine was extremely powerful in her own way. She was quieter, but that only meant she could observe more.
“What’s this about? I told Isabeau I don’t have a lot of time.”
Celine nodded. “We won’t need too much.”
“Why did you ask about Daisy?”
“She was here today,” Isabeau replied.
I blinked. “All right.”
“She came with her friend Annelise. She bought a standard fragrance for her mother and wanted a custom one for herself.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I was ready to make her a concoction with freesia,” Isabeau informed me.
“That means nothing to me,” I admitted.
“True, we didn’t explain,” Celine said. “Remember that we spoke about an antidote to lilac?”
Again with that damn lilac!
“Yes.” I fought to keep a poker face as I leaned against their counter .
Celine beamed. “Freesia is the antidote.”
I frowned. “Do I want to know how you two figured this out?”
Isabeau shook her head. “Absolutely not. Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to.”
“I still don’t understand why I’m here.”
“Because we don’t think we should give Daisy freesia,” Isabeau said.
“She’s more of a lilac candidate,” Celine added quietly.
I straightened up. “What did you do?”
“Nothing! For once we did nothing. That’s why we called you. We wanted to chat about this,” Isabeau told me.
“Right.”
“What’s your opinion of all this?” Celine inquired.
I looked down at the floor, carefully considering my words, but there was no way around it. I looked back up. “That it’s all a bunch of horseshit.”
Celine gaped. Isabeau just shook her head.
“Oh, when will you boys learn? Well, then, if you’re so convinced that this doesn’t matter either way, then you won’t mind taking this to Daisy, will you?” Celine came to my end of the counter, handing me a dark green bottle with a gold cap.
I raised a brow. “What’s inside?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Isabeau replied sarcastically.
“Yes, I do. That’s why I’m asking.”
“But see,” Celine said, “since you think it’s neither here nor there, or horseshit—isn’t that what you said?—then it doesn’t make sense for you to know.”
“I pissed you off. I’m sorry.”
“Nice try,” Isabeau said, smiling sardonically. “Still not telling you what’s inside.”
“Who says I’m going to take it with me, then?” Two could play this game.
“Because we promised her that we’d give it to you to give to her as soon as it’s ready. ”
Clearly Isabeau was much better at this game.
“You two will be the death of me,” I said.
Isabeau laughed. “Oh, far be it from us to want that.”
Celine came over to me too. “We just try to look out for you boys. You all fight love so adamantly. It’s such a shame, considering your parents and even us old toads have such happy marriages. We figured we’re setting a great example.”
“Yes, it does make me wonder where we went wrong,” Isabeau said.
The corners of my mouth twitched. The truth was, they were right. They were solid role models. I had no idea why most of us—all of us, initially—were hell-bent on being bachelors for life.
“I’d like to continue chatting, but I don’t have that much time.” I took the bottle of fragrance, hoping I wasn’t making a mistake, and said, “I’ll give this to Daisy with your compliments.”
Celine nodded. “Yes, please do.”
“I still want to know why you changed your mind with the whole lilac versus…”
“Freesia,” Isabeau finished.
“We’d tell you,” Celine said sweetly, “but you’re not ready to hear it.”
This was exactly what I’d meant about Celine. She might be quieter than Isabeau, but she paid a lot of attention.
“And besides, since you don’t believe in all this horseshit ,” Isabeau said, emphasizing the word, “I don’t think it matters either way.”
Right. We were starting to go in circles, and I didn’t want to be at odds with my grandmothers. I held them in high esteem.
“Sorry I phrased it like that. That was very impolite of me.”
“Yes, it was,” Isabeau said. “But we appreciate your honesty.”
“Do you?”
“It’s good to know where we stand,” Celine replied .
I gave them both a kiss on the cheek. “I need to go. I don’t want to be late.”
“Sure.”
“You two have plans for tonight?”
“We’re holding a workshop,” Celine said.
“When does it start?”
“In two hours. Your grandfathers and Beckett are on the boat out in the bayou. They’re coming back very late, so we decided to stay here until then.”
“Do you want me to pick you up once it’s over?”
Isabeau laughed. “I like how everyone in the family is doting on us. Don’t worry. Your dad already offered.”
“Great.”
After leaving their shop, I went directly to the jazz competition.
The venue was on the very outskirts of the French Quarter, nestled between two redbrick buildings.
Rousseau’s was a speakeasy decades ago. These days, they hosted a lot of stand-up comedy shows.
The only downside was that it wasn’t a bar, so Julian was supplying everything for the duration of the event.
The jazz competition was famous in New Orleans.
The first year, we had fifty artists sign up.
This year we had 1,250. My team had to weed through all the applications first, which was a shame.
I was considering holding the competition twice every year so we could include as many artists as possible.
It was a party inside all right. The hall was huge, but it had excellent sound.
A saxophonist was onstage, and he sounded fantastic.
Then again, most people who played here were professionals, which was why it was so difficult to actually pick winners.
But I invited recording label execs every evening for the entire duration of the event.
We had quite a few participants sign deals each year, even if they didn’t win the competition.
Julian waved at me from behind the bar.
“What are you doing here tonight?” I asked when I reached him. “I figured you’d just be supplying everything. ”
“You know me—I like to be on location the first night to make sure everything runs smoothly.”
“Thanks a lot for doing this.”
“No problem. It’s fun. Daisy’s at the other end of the bar, by the way,” Julian said.
“Good, she’s already here.”
“Yes. I like her, so don’t run her off, brother.”
“I’m not planning on doing that.”
“You never do, but you end up doing so anyway. Although, when she speaks about you, she doesn’t sound as if she wants to off you, so I’m assuming you’re making progress.”
“That’s right.” I grinned. “I’m going to join her.”
Daisy was watching the stage with a daiquiri in her hand, tapping her foot to the rhythm of the musician.
What was that she was wearing? Had she come straight from the office?
But that couldn’t be right. It was Sunday evening.
Everyone else—including myself—was dressed casually, but not Daisy.
She looked stunning in that black dress, though.
She didn’t notice me coming, so I used the time to drink her in. She kept her iPad close to her chest.
“I see you’re becoming a fan of daiquiris.”
“Oh. Hi, Anthony. It’s nonalcoholic.”
“I see. Any reason you’re not drinking?”
She held up her iPad as if to defend herself. Then she put her glass on the counter. “This is amazing. I’ve seen three performances so far, and I’d sign every single one of them.”
“That’s why I invite the execs to hang out the whole time, not just to see the finalists at the end.”
“You’re very clever,” she said, sounding in awe. “By the way, I’m supposed to go to the back room to pick up the gifts for today’s participants, but it’s locked.”
“I have the key. Let’s go together.” I glanced around. “Bella, Chad, and Scarlett might drop by, but they’re not sure. I did tell them that opening night is usually crazy and full. ”
“Julian spoke with Chad earlier. They’re coming but running late.”
“Then let’s get the gifts.”
The back room was a combination office and supply room. There was a desk, a chair, a couch, and dozens of boxes. Someone had put the gift bags right next to the door.
“Before I forget, I have something for you,” I said and took out the small bottle from my pocket. “My grandmothers send you their regards and your perfume.”
“Oh, it’s ready.”
She licked her lips, and I barely bit down a groan. Something about her dress was making me lose my mind even faster than usual.
“Did they tell you what the ingredients are? Today they weren’t sure about the contents.”
I cleared my throat. “I don’t know.”
It was the honest truth. There was no point filling her in on the freesia and lilac madness. I hated to admit it, but even I was very curious to know what was inside.
She uncapped it and inhaled lightly. “Wow. I love this. It’s the first perfume since I discovered Coco Mademoiselle that I actually want to wear. Want to take a sniff too?”
“Sure. Why not?”
I tilted my head and was suddenly dangerously close to her forehead and her lips. The perfume was great, and I couldn’t wait to smell it on her skin.
“Want to put it on?” I asked her.
“Of course. Though I’m not sure how to apply it. I’ve always had those that you can just spray on. This is perfume, not eau de parfum.”
I cleared my throat. “Like this.” I took the bottle from her and grabbed her wrist. “You apply a bit here.” I put her wrist on the bottle and then turned it upside down for a second before taking it away. “And then you rub your wrist on your neck. ”
I lifted her hand, bringing it to a spot under her ear. She rubbed it there briefly.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
It was all I could do not to lean in and smell that spot.