Chapter 4
“Good to see you home brother. You have certainly gotten darker since I saw you last.”
“It is so hot there Scott. I always thought Texas was hot, but it was like that there, with no breeze, ever.” He was already smiling from the cool breeze in the house from the air conditioners. Henri knew there was a lot of guff about global warming, but there was nothing better after getting out of the hot sun and he questioned if a few less years on earth was worth it. At the moment he thought so.
“Hell it can’t be much hotter than here.”
“Trust me, it is. So what is going on here? I have been getting news that everyone is getting married. Are you next on the chopping block?”
Scott shook his head. His girlfriend had been pushing it more and more and he knew it was because everyone else in his family seemed to be getting bit by the bug. He was not and though she thought there was a chance, there was no way that Scott was going to go down that route. It wasn’t that he wasn’t ready, he just never really even thought about getting married.
“Nope, none of that for me. Mom’s guilt never worked on me.”
Henri just smiled. It was good to be back and be around family. “Yes, it always worked on me, so I am going to have to keep my distance. How is she doing?”
Scott shrugged. “She is doing good. There has been a lot of crazy stuff going on lately and she just takes it all on like a charm. You know how mom is. She is supposed to be down this evening.”
“Why?”
“Because Gemma told her that you were coming in for a while. She misses you and you have been running around in the jungles for months now. Besides, it is your sister’s wedding in a few days.”
Henri started to correct him, but there was no point. In his family’s eyes, he had been tromping in the woods eating leaves for the last couple of months. They didn’t want to hear about any new ways that they weren’t already doing. That is one of the reasons why he left. Henri was sick of the same old, same old status quo. He wanted to try new things and see new people.
“What about you, Henri? Did you find you a nice little dark-skinned beauty down there that doesn’t speak English?”
Henri just shook his head. His brother was a mess and it was kind of refreshing to hear that it hadn’t changed. They were now the last to be single and as long as Scott stayed single, at least he wouldn’t be the only one. Paul and Marcel had already gone down the very path that Elna had prescribed to them. Henri was sure that he and his brother would be the hold outs.
“No, still single. The women were afraid of me down there I think. They called me the crazy white guy, so I don’t think I had much of a chance even if one had caught my attention.”
“You should have showed some of that money you got. That seems to work everywhere you go in the world. Cash is king.”
Henri sighed and grabbed some more coffee. He decided it would be scary to be in that man’s brain. “Well I didn’t go that route Scott. It’s not that much different then here.” His brother was acting like it was the Red District everywhere, but since he didn’t travel, there was a good chance that it was exactly what he thought. He wasn’t the smartest brother, but he was always good for a laugh.
“Yeah, well I wouldn’t mind getting out of here for a while.”
“You are still dating that one chick aren’t you?” Henri felt bad that he didn’t really know her or her name, but Scott kept her away for a reason. He liked to keep his romance life away from the family, probably to stop all the pressure that seemed to come with meeting the Callahan brood.
“Chick?” He guffawed. “You sound as bad as me. Yeah, we are still together.”
“Maybe you will be the next to get married.”
Scott gave him a dirty look and was relieved to hear his sister coming in. Her fiancée was with her and she went straight for Henri. They had been close as kids, Gemma was close with all of her brothers, but she had always liked Henri. He was the free spirit of the family and even though she hadn’t had the guts to run around the world, a small part of her still wanted to.
“Henri, my, you are dark! How have you been?”
She practically jumped into his arms and he twirled her around for a minute before letting her down and meeting the man she was about to marry. She made the introductions and Henri couldn’t have care about the man at all, but the way his sister was beaming, he had a feeling that they were perfect for each other. There was a second that he wished a woman would look at him like that, but he was so happy for his sister to have finally found love. Henri’s mind went to Mary briefly.
“I’m good sis. How are you? Congratulations on the engagement.”
Gemma was practically glowing, walking on air and she just beamed back at him. Her fiancée was looking at her with love and Scott made a gagging sound in the back of his throat. Gemma’s smile faded and she pushed him back. “Don’t be jealous. You need to just on and marry your girlfriend.”
Scott scowled and moved to the other side of the kitchen and poured another drink. He asked if anyone wanted anything and only Gemma gave him a drink order of ice water and lemon. “I meant more for your new beau.”
She didn’t care and Scott got her what she wanted. Gemma was one of those people that was hard to say no to. Both brothers gave each other a look. They kind of felt bad for her fiancée, but as long as he gave her what she wanted, it would be okay. Henri still had the scar on his hand where she had stabbed him with a fork. All the brothers knew that Gemma didn’t play. To see her so happy was good for Henri, but he wondered how long until she was throwing utensils at her soon-to-be husband.
Gemma asked him a bunch of questions and true to form, he couldn’t not answer her. She had a way of asking a question and he had to answer. Henri had always been unable to hide much from her, even when he could turn the rest of the world off. His mother came in a little after Gemma and the old ranch house was getting louder by the minute. Then Marcel and his wife, as well as Leanna and her husband came down and Elna was in the kitchen whipping up a meal for them all.
Henri found himself on the porch drinking something a little stiffer than a sweet tea. It was still loud, the people laughing and talking behind him in the house. He definitely wasn’t on the little ranch in Venezuela anymore and Henri wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He had missed his family, but while he was back in their bosom, he missed the silence and solitude.
“I thought I would find you out here, Henri. You were always the one as far away as possible when we had big get-together.”
“It is just too much with them. It always has been. I don’t know how you can deal with them all the time.”
“I can’t, that’s why I moved out last year.”
“Why didn’t I know that, Gemma?”
“Because you are always on your next adventure and I can’t hardly keep up. You aren’t going to be staying long, are you?”
He shrugged. Henri had told Carlos he would be back, but he wasn’t sure. There was something that he wanted to see about, see how it all would work out. Henri had been thinking about the woman he had met on the plane ever since he left her earlier in the day. It was strange to him because he usually didn’t do that. Usually he didn’t worry about women too much.
“I don’t know. I was thinking I might go into Houston later in the week.”
“Really? Why?”
Henri wasn’t ready to say anything about the why and he just shrugged.
“Henri, did you meet a girl?”
“No, why would you ask that?”
“Because that is the only thing that has been thinking you would go to the city in the first place. It’s not for the business, so it has to be a girl.”
He looked at her as if she may in fact be a witch. Gemma read people so well sometimes that it made the person wonder if she was in their head. “I did meet a woman on the plane.”
Gemma smiled broadly. “See I knew it was a girl. You should give her a call, Henri.”
Again he wondered how she knew so much. “I was thinking about it, but I don’t know.”
She waved her hand at him, “Trust me. Call her. She is waiting for you to call her I bet.”
He wanted to ask her how she knew that, but Gemma was already moving off with her fiancée to dance for a little while. Henri wanted to believe her and though it was just him again, her words were still with him. The fact was that it was what he wanted to hear. He wanted to think that she was waiting for him to call.