Perfect Together by Kristen Ashley

At his age, his father’s jaw was not as firm as it used to be, but it was so solid right then, none of the grenades his mother was launching were going to shake it loose.

Colette scooted to the end of her seat and looked to her son.

Fantastic.

He was next.

“Did you enjoy tonight, Remy?” she inquired.

“Yeah, Mom. It’s always great spending time with the crew. Thanks for organizing it,” Remy replied.

“My pleasure,” she said quietly then let him off the hook, or purposefully didn’t bait him on it, and looked back to Guillaume. “I’m tired, darling.”

Guillaume sipped his port and replied, “Then I’ll see you when I go upstairs.”

Colette’s face froze, and Remy caught Manon giving wide eyes to her mother.

But he turned to his son. “How about you walk your grandmother upstairs?”

“Sure,” Yves readily agreed, popping up from his chair. He walked to Colette, offered his arm, and with exaggerated gallantry, did a small bow and said, “My lady.”

His mother sat on the edge of her seat, staring up at her grandson, and Remy felt his chest tighten as her upper lip began to quiver.

She rallied, wrapped her fingers around his arm and replied, “Kind sir.”

“I’m gonna stay up there after I see to Grandma. After being dragged out of bed this morning then dragged through New Orleans, I need to hit the sack,” Yves announced as he helped his grandmother out of her chair and started them to the door.

And again, as Wyn said something to their son, Remy was tense.

She was trying to hide it, but his mom was going slowly, looked stiff, and a night she could easily face and then go to their club and have a nightcap after, had clearly tired her out.

“’Night, everyone. Thanks for a fun party, Pépé,” Yves called.

“Ravi que ça t’aie plu, Yves,” Guillaume returned.

(I’m so glad you enjoyed it.)

“Welp!” Manon cried after they left the room, gracefully moving from lounging on her hip on the floor in front of the fireplace to her knees. “Even though no one dragged me out of bed at oh dark thirty to take a run, I’m going to go up too. You don’t look this fantastic without good sleep. It was a great night, Pépé. You’re the best.”

Like her mother would do, she had no issue moving from any position to the next, even in that long dress, which was what she did, taking her feet.

She then went right to her grandfather to kiss his cheek, and Remy felt Guillaume’s enraptured expression in the back of his throat before their daughter came to her mom and dad to do the same thing.

“Hold up, honey, I’m going to call it a night too,” Wyn declared before Manon disappeared.

He began to move, turning to her, starting, “I’ll—”

“No, you won’t,” she said under her breath, her eyes darting to Guillaume and back to Remy.

He sighed, accepted her kiss and watched her after she rose from beside him go to Guillaume and bend to peck his father’s cheek.

“Good night, gents,” she called on her way out, linked arms with their girl and smiled largely at the men. “I’ll see you both at breakfast. Stuffed full of beignets. I missed the House this morning and I’m all over it tomorrow.”

She gave an elegant wave, and with their daughter, disappeared out the door.

Remy turned to his father. “Another drink?”

Guillaume looked him right in the eye. “I know what you’re doing, and it is far from your job to make me feel better, fiston.”

“I didn’t leave Wyn for another woman,” Remy announced.

Not smooth, but Guillaume shut his mouth so fast, Remy could convince himself he heard his teeth clatter.

“I can’t deny I had buried some issues about how I grew up, they affected me and our marriage to the point I did something mindless and stupid. But it wasn’t about another woman.”

“But…we had heard you were living with someone, and you told me yourself there was someone else.”

Remy nodded. “Yes. My mindless stupidity lasted three years and Myrna was a part of that. I regret it for a variety of reasons. She felt there could be something more, even if I was clear I didn’t feel the same. I was so deep in my head, I didn’t realize she’d never let that idea go. It got messy. That’s on her, but it’s also on me. She asked to move in, I shouldn’t have said yes. Allowing her to move in was a statement I didn’t mean to make. And now I see how she could misinterpret it.”

It took a beat before Guillaume asked, “Do you know now why you said yes?”

Remy lifted and dropped his chin. “Yes and no. I know I was lonely. I was lost. I knew in my gut I’d fucked up, but that was buried so deep, it didn’t occur to me to sort my shit. But I never should have involved yet another person in that. I’d already hurt my family, I didn’t need to drag someone else into it. So I don’t exactly understand why I did that last. I just know it’s over.”

“You seem to have a handle on all of this now,” Guillaume noted.

Remy shrugged. “Someone said something that hurt Wyn. She came to a family meeting, and I saw she’d been crying. Things got a lot clearer after that.”

Guillaume turned his attention to his glass and smiled into his port. “J’imagine que oui.”