Between Dusk and Dawn (30 page)

“
Well I’ll guess that will
have to do since it’s obvious you’re going to Texas. Just stay away
from Orin Young. I hear he has a temper when he gets riled up.”
Chase finished his cup of coffee.

“
I’ll bet he
does.”

LaShaun gazed off in thought for
several moments. She hardly registered that Chase cleared the table
and loaded the dishwasher. He unfolded the Sunday paper and sat in
the family room off the kitchen. For the next half hour LaShaun
divided her thoughts between choosing the right outfit, and what
she knew of the Young family. Her instinct told her there was more
beneath the surface to uncover, and it could be unpleasant. Miss
Flora Lee didn’t mention warm memories of her family life with Orin
Young.

LaShaun was standing the walk-in
closet dressed in only a skirt and a bra, still sorting through her
impressions and bits of what she’d been told. Chase’s voice
startled her and she dropped the soft brown sweater she was
holding.

“
That skirt is pretty, but
the topless look won’t go over real big with mama. Besides you’re
gonna be chilly.” Chase leaned against the door frame.

“
Cut the comedy act.”
LaShaun picked up the sweater and held it to her chest. “What do
you think?”

“
You look mighty fine, as
usual,” Chase said with a grin and wink.

“
Right answer, but I’m
serious. I want to look...normal.”

LaShaun stepped to the full length
mirror on the open closet door. The skirt was a print of brown, red
and green leaves in a softly abstract fashion. Since the hem fell
to her mid-calf, LaShaun intended to wear light brown suede boots.
Chase appeared behind her.

“
I want you just the way
you are. If I can accept you, then so can they. “ Chase gazed at
her reflection in the mirror.

She turned to face him. “I don’t want
to cause any friction between you and your family. I’m used to be
isolated.”

“
Any conflict happened
before you came along,” he replied and turned away. “Now I better
get dressed myself.”

“
Okay.” LaShaun wondered
what he meant, and if she’d get a sense once she met his
family.

*****

Almost two hours later they pulled
onto the driveway of the Broussard home. The front of the two story
home had lovely rust colored brinks. A long porch stretched painted
white held huge planters and six rocking chairs. By its pristine
condition, LaShaun also guessed that porch didn’t get much use.
Everything about the property and house said that appearances meant
a lot. LaShaun glanced at Chase. He seemed to sense her gaze
because he gave her hand a squeeze.

“
Here we are; mama’s pride
and joy. And yes, the inside is just as perfect. There’s a wide
back patio where we hang out in warmer weather. A smaller screened
in porch is back there as well.” Chase parked his truck in front
near the end of the circular driveway.

“
It’s beautiful,” LaShaun
said. “Parking out here in case we need to make a quick
getaway?”

Chase laughed hard. “We’re going to be
fine. Now come on and let’s get this ordeal over with.”

“
What?” Her mouth fell
open.

“
I’m teasing,” Chase said
and pointed at her. “Gotcha.”

“
You--” LaShaun stopped
when the lovely stained oak front door swung open. A tall woman
with dark brown hair waved to them.

“
Y’all come on in,” she
called out and gestured eagerly. “Everybody can’t wait to meet your
friend.”

LaShaun looked at Chase. “Your friend?
You mean...”

“
We’re going to announce
our engagement today.” Chase swung open the driver’s side door and
pulled LaShaun across the seat. “Hey, mama. You lookin’ good as
usual.”

“
Go on. I put on ten pounds
this year, and my hairdresser is having a time covering all the
gray hairs.” His mother grinned as she patted her short
hairdo.

“
LaShaun, allow me to
introduce you to Elizabeth Graves Broussard. We call her ‘Queen
Bee’ cause she rules her house with an iron hand.” Chase bounded up
the porch and into her embrace.

“
Stop being a rascal,” his
mother replied and gave him a hug.

Chase held out his hand to LaShaun who
took it and joined them on the porch. “This beautiful woman is
LaShaun Rousselle. She’s as gifted as she is
good-looking.”

“
I’m so glad to
finally
meet you,” Mrs.
Broussard said.

“
Thank you for inviting
me.” LaShaun accepted the cool appraising glance that went with
Mrs. Broussard’s southern lady greeting.

“
Y’all come on in.” Mrs.
Broussard led the way through a wide foyer. A large round oak table
stood in the center of it with a beautiful tall vase filled with
fresh flowers. “We’re in the family room. No need to be formal I
thought, so I didn’t set the dining room table. You’re from Beau
Chene. My husband’s people owned land just outside of
town.”

“
Yes, Chase’s home and the
property around it are gorgeous,” LaShaun replied.

Mrs. Broussard paused in the archway
that led to the family room. Her perfectly arched eyebrows rose as
she glanced at her son. “I hope Chase hasn’t turned it into a messy
bachelor pad.”

“
Oh no, he’s quite the neat
housekeeper. You set a great example. I love your home.”

“
Thank you.”

Every piece of furniture or decorative
item positioned just so a bit sterile, but the compliment was
genuine. Decorated in shades of green, gold and blue, the home
could have been featured in a magazine. “Queen Bee” took great
pleasure in having everything just right. Mrs. Broussard described
several antiques inherited from both sides of the
family.

“
But I’m keeping y’all all
to myself when everybody is waiting to meet you,” She said after a
few minutes.

“
Everybody? We agreed it
would just be the four of us, mama dear,” Chase said in a measured
tone.

“
You know my house is like
Grand Central Station on a Sunday. Your sisters dropped in to see
what I cooked, and asked questions when they saw my special red
velvet cake that I only make for special occasions. Bruce, Jr. and
his family saw their cars and stopped after they left morning
mass.” Mrs. Broussard seemed not to notice Chase’s squinty
skepticism. “I always cook a big meal because my children love
Sundays at our house. It’s a tradition.”

“
Wonderful,” LaShaun
murmured. She stifled a giggle at the dark look Chase gave his
mother, which was totally wasted.

“
Here we are in all our
glory,” Mrs. Broussard said and swept out a hand to take in the
large family room.

Six kids of various ages scampered
about the room. Two older ones were engrossed in playing a video
game, a fast paced tennis match. The cartoon characters of the game
were displayed on a sixty-inch flat screen television mounted on a
wall. The den stretched the length of the house it seemed. An oak
dining room set sat at one end of the room. Two large L-shaped
sofas with chairs and two wide ottomans were on the other
end.

“
Baby brother!” A willowy
younger version of Elizabeth Broussard strode across to them and
wrapped Chase in a bear hug.

“
LaShaun, meet my sister
Katie,” Chase said with a wide smile.

“
So nice to meet you.”
Katie gave LaShaun a discreet, but thorough head to toe
examination.

Within minutes LaShaun and Chase were
surrounded by family members, all except the two tweens. They were
forced to stop playing the video game and be introduced. They made
polite noises, smiled shyly then scurried back to the more
interesting pursuit of competition. Bruce, Sr. had a warm
approachable manner. He seemed more laid back than his wife.
Chase’s other two sisters, Elaine and Sharon, came next with their
husbands. Finally his older brother, Bruce Broussard, Jr. stepped
forward to introduce his wife and baby girl. Bruce Jr. stared at
LaShaun until his wife poked him.

LaShaun wondered if Chase had prepared
his parents and siblings to be nice. Even after twenty minutes of
chatting to break the ice, no one asked about LaShaun’s family.
Under the circumstances someone should have had questions. As time
went on the LaShaun’s family and personal background became the
elephant in the room.

They ate delicious rotisserie chicken,
macaroni cheese casserole, green beans and yeast rolls.
Conversation over the meal continued to hover around safe subjects.
The weather, the Saints football season and decorations for the
Halloween party were exhausted. LaShaun wrestled with the powerful
urge to giggle when, after a period of heavy silence, Chase’s
sister-in-law went back to the weather. She covered her mouth with
a napkin and pretended to clear her throat when she lost the battle
not to laugh. Chase nudged her with an elbow.

“
Are you okay, dear?” Mrs.
Broussard raised an eyebrow at them both.

“
Yes, ma’am,” LaShaun
managed to get out. She grabbed her glass of iced tea and
drank.

“
We really appreciate y’all
being so polite, but really you can ask us any burning questions,”
Chase said. He took LaShaun’s hand and glanced around the
table.

“
What burning questions are
we supposed to ask?” one of the two older children asked. Jessica
had intense brown eyes and dark brown hair to match. The other
children grew attentive.

“
Let’s clear these dishes,”
Chase’s father said. “That way we’ll get to dessert quicker. Your
mother baked her red velvet cake, kids. And we’ve got homemade
vanilla ice cream.”

“
Yaaay!” came a chorus of
childish voices. The older kids forgot to be too cool to join their
younger siblings and cousins. When LaShaun attempted to help the
rest of the adults clear the table Mr. Broussard
intervened.

“
No, no. We can’t have
guests carrying dirty dishes. You get this one freebie since this
is your first family gathering. After this all bets are off.”
Bruce, Sr. winked at her. “You won’t be a guest the next
time.”

“
I won’t insist then,”
LaShaun replied with a smile.

Jessica hovered near her grandfather
listening in. “She won’t be guest, paw-paw? What will she
be?”

“
I’m guessing from that
rock on her finger, she’s going to be family for sure,” he said
with another wink.

“
Gee thanks, dad,” Chase
muttered.

“
What?” His father blinked
at him.

Then Bruce, Sr. noticed the adults had
all frozen in place between the table and the archway leading to
the large kitchen. Mrs. Broussard still held the now empty large
casserole dish when she came back. She stared at LaShaun and then
sat Chase. Hard. Her thin lips pressed together.

“
Ooo, let me see.” Sharon,
Chase’s youngest sister, pushed her husband aside and hurried to
LaShaun.

“
Well...” LaShaun glanced
at Chase for direction. When he nodded she extended her
hand.

“
Yes, we’re engaged,” Chase
said. He put a protective arm around LaShaun’s waist.

“
My oh my,” Bruce, Jr. said
softly, which earned him another poke from his wife,
Adrianna.

“
Congratulations. More
reason to celebrate with cake and ice cream,” Adrianna said with a
wide smile and hugged LaShaun. “Now I won’t be the only
outsider.”

“
Nonsense, Adrianna. You’re
part of this family,” Mrs. Broussard replied quickly, with a trace
of tartness in her tone.

“
Of course, Mrs. B, I meant
the only one of the family that has lived outside Louisiana. I grew
up in Colorado.” Adrianna smiled at her widely as Chase’s sisters
exchanged glances.

“
Thank you, Adrianna.”
LaShaun filed away a memo to have a chat with Bruce’s wife
later.

“
Yes, congratulations on
finding the right girl,” Bruce, Jr. said with a chuckle. He seemed
not to notice the way his mother glared at him.

Bruce, Sr. rubbed his chin. “Sorry I
stole your thunder, son. Guess you wanted to make a formal
announcement.”

Katie put an arm around her father’s
shoulder and kissed his cheek with a laugh. “Daddy, clueless and
lovable as always.”

“
So when is the big day?”
Mrs. Broussard wore a smile that threatened to crack the lines in
her face.

“
We haven’t picked a date
yet, probably in the spring. Don’t you think, babe?” Chase said and
looked at LaShaun.

“
Yes, spring,” she
echoed.

“
That would be perfect,”
Sharon blurted out. “What about April? It will be just cool enough
we won’t swelter in the heat outside.”

“
Outside?” Chase and
LaShaun said at the same time.

“
Yes, under the oak tree on
the family property where our great-great grandfather proposed.
Such a romantic story.” Sharon grabbed LaShaun’s arm and led her to
the seating area of the den. “He was dirt poor, but adored
Marguerite. He promised her father that he would one day have his
own property and treat her like royalty. He made good on that
promise and...”