“Rene isn’t going to like that.”

A brow arched over her momma’s eyes. “Why? They’ve been close for years. He can’t expect his mother to be alone for the rest of her life. I know she’s been fragile since the cancer diagnosis, but she came through.”

“Rene has been through a lot of change in the last three years, and it’s been hard on him,” Sylvie admitted. “Rene views Louis as family and can’t think of him as a romantic partner for his mom. He used to call the man his uncle.”

Her mother snorted at that thought, a sound she always seemed to make elegant. “And he used to call your brother his brother, so maybe I need to explain the word hypocrisy to my son-in-law.”

“Don’t. Something’s going on with Rene, and starting an argument won’t help me figure it all out. I think he’s confused about a lot of things. Like I said, it’s been a hard couple of years for him. He’s still getting used to the idea of his dad not being around, and then he almost lost his mom, too. He’s faced a lot of death lately.” She’d thought about it on the boat ride back. Her husband was trying to find a way out of his dark places. If she could get him to trust her fully, she might be able to help.

They might have a real shot at making this thing work.

Her mother sighed, her expression softening to worry. “Baby, you know I love Rene, but I’m worried he’s going to break your heart. Not because he’ll walk away from you. I’m worried he’ll make you walk away from him. He’s always been reserved. He’s not cold, but he can be unemotional, and that’s not what you need. I know that you had to help him out, but if you’re sleeping with him, you won’t be able to hold your heart back.”

“He’s not exactly in touch with his emotions. That’s not the same as not having them.” Sylvie felt the need to defend him. Rene’s trouble wasn’t not feeling. It was feeling far too much and not understanding how to express himself. He’d been taught to be smooth and polite to a fault. He’d been trained to hold all strong emotion inside.

“And he’s suspicious,” her mother countered. “I understand that part. That family of his is toxic, but he won’t leave them. His father ingrained that responsibility in him from a young age. His father was an interesting man. He was generally known as a kind man, but he could be quite ruthless when it came to business. There are a lot of people who believe he married Cricket because he needed money.”