Read Online Second Hearts (The Wishes Series) by GJ Walker-Smith - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: GJ Walker-Smith
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jumped on the next plane to Australia.”
“Why did he do that?”
Cross-examining Adam’s brother weighed on my conscience a little but I figured none of it mattered any more.
“Who knows? It was a spur of the moment thing. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to hang out with cousin Gabrielle for two months. She’s the stuff of nightmares.” He shuddered, feigning horror, and I smiled. Anyone would think he was referring to a demon. There was a time I would have agreed with him.
“He ended up meeting some small town hick girl and it was all downhill from there. He fell in love with her and she stole his soul,” he said, theatrically. “The Adam who left New York bound for Spain was nothing like the Adam who returned from Australia two months later.”
“Why?”
Ryan frowned at me again. Embarrassed, I looked away.
“What’s with the twenty questions, Priscilla? Seriously.”
“I’m just buying time. I’d much rather hear your story than go downstairs and wait tables.”
“Fine.” He continued his tale. “She ended up cutting him loose and he came home sad and empty, which probably explained why he went straight back to dim Whit. She’s void as well.”
“Did Whitney ever find out about the other girl?”
He shook his head. “She has no clue. I told you, she’s dim. To this day, Adam is pathetically in love with small-town-hick-girl and Whitney doesn’t even know it. They’ll probably marry eventually and rear dull little children. It’s dismal really. So I’m going to stick with the Aubreys of this world. It allows a much happier frame of mind.”
“You might be right,” I falsely agreed.
“Well,” he said, lightening the conversation by slapping his hands on his knees. “Now that you know some of my family dynamics, can we go downstairs?”
I shook my head. “I’m not going down there. Paolo can fire me.”
“Paolo won’t fire you.” He spoke with absolute certainty.
“You don’t know Paolo.”
“Priscilla, not waiting on your table is a drop in the ocean compared to other things you’ve done. You haven’t been fired so far.”
The sinking feeling that overtook me when things weren’t quite adding up set in. “Yes. Why is that?”
A grin swept his face and his eyes drifted. “See that gorgeous old lady sitting down there?” he asked proudly, pointing at his family’s table. “That’s my grandmother, Nellie. I named the restaurant after her.”
“Oh my God.” I buried my face in my hands.
It was going from bad to worse. No wonder he ate there almost every morning. He owned the restaurant. And it was a sheer miracle that I was seeing Adam there for the first time. It also explained the rock star welcome from Paolo. What it didn’t explain was why Ryan hadn’t fired me in the first week. He knew every one of my criminal misdeeds. He’d even been my accomplice in a few.
I lifted my head, peeking at him through the gap in my fingers. “Why haven’t you fired me?”
“I like you, Priscilla.”
“You know my name’s not, Priscilla, right?”
He reached across, pulling my hands free of my face. “From the second I met you. Your faux nom doesn’t suit you well.”
I winced at the blatant reminder of who this man was. Fluency in the French language was not something the Décarie brothers had to practise. It was the primary language spoken in their home, even by their mother who was English.
“Elvis doesn’t suit you either. As far as I’m aware, Elvises aren’t French.”
“How do you know I’m French?”
“I know a lot of things about you,” I grumbled.
Smiling slightly, he launched in to a long, foreign monologue. I remained completely stone-faced.
“Well?” he asked, awaiting my verdict.
“You can take the boy out of Marseille, but you can’t take Marseille out of the boy,” I muttered.
“How do you know I’m from Marseille?”
I shrugged, adding to my illusion of apathy. “Lucky guess.”
“A hell of a
“Why did he do that?”
Cross-examining Adam’s brother weighed on my conscience a little but I figured none of it mattered any more.
“Who knows? It was a spur of the moment thing. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to hang out with cousin Gabrielle for two months. She’s the stuff of nightmares.” He shuddered, feigning horror, and I smiled. Anyone would think he was referring to a demon. There was a time I would have agreed with him.
“He ended up meeting some small town hick girl and it was all downhill from there. He fell in love with her and she stole his soul,” he said, theatrically. “The Adam who left New York bound for Spain was nothing like the Adam who returned from Australia two months later.”
“Why?”
Ryan frowned at me again. Embarrassed, I looked away.
“What’s with the twenty questions, Priscilla? Seriously.”
“I’m just buying time. I’d much rather hear your story than go downstairs and wait tables.”
“Fine.” He continued his tale. “She ended up cutting him loose and he came home sad and empty, which probably explained why he went straight back to dim Whit. She’s void as well.”
“Did Whitney ever find out about the other girl?”
He shook his head. “She has no clue. I told you, she’s dim. To this day, Adam is pathetically in love with small-town-hick-girl and Whitney doesn’t even know it. They’ll probably marry eventually and rear dull little children. It’s dismal really. So I’m going to stick with the Aubreys of this world. It allows a much happier frame of mind.”
“You might be right,” I falsely agreed.
“Well,” he said, lightening the conversation by slapping his hands on his knees. “Now that you know some of my family dynamics, can we go downstairs?”
I shook my head. “I’m not going down there. Paolo can fire me.”
“Paolo won’t fire you.” He spoke with absolute certainty.
“You don’t know Paolo.”
“Priscilla, not waiting on your table is a drop in the ocean compared to other things you’ve done. You haven’t been fired so far.”
The sinking feeling that overtook me when things weren’t quite adding up set in. “Yes. Why is that?”
A grin swept his face and his eyes drifted. “See that gorgeous old lady sitting down there?” he asked proudly, pointing at his family’s table. “That’s my grandmother, Nellie. I named the restaurant after her.”
“Oh my God.” I buried my face in my hands.
It was going from bad to worse. No wonder he ate there almost every morning. He owned the restaurant. And it was a sheer miracle that I was seeing Adam there for the first time. It also explained the rock star welcome from Paolo. What it didn’t explain was why Ryan hadn’t fired me in the first week. He knew every one of my criminal misdeeds. He’d even been my accomplice in a few.
I lifted my head, peeking at him through the gap in my fingers. “Why haven’t you fired me?”
“I like you, Priscilla.”
“You know my name’s not, Priscilla, right?”
He reached across, pulling my hands free of my face. “From the second I met you. Your faux nom doesn’t suit you well.”
I winced at the blatant reminder of who this man was. Fluency in the French language was not something the Décarie brothers had to practise. It was the primary language spoken in their home, even by their mother who was English.
“Elvis doesn’t suit you either. As far as I’m aware, Elvises aren’t French.”
“How do you know I’m French?”
“I know a lot of things about you,” I grumbled.
Smiling slightly, he launched in to a long, foreign monologue. I remained completely stone-faced.
“Well?” he asked, awaiting my verdict.
“You can take the boy out of Marseille, but you can’t take Marseille out of the boy,” I muttered.
“How do you know I’m from Marseille?”
I shrugged, adding to my illusion of apathy. “Lucky guess.”
“A hell of a
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