“I’m sorry I had to deal with them this evening. After Charles showed up at the courthouse this morning, I should have expected they would descend on Papillon.” He passed her a glass. She was still in the dress she’d worn this morning but she’d kicked her shoes off the minute they’d hit the library. She’d sunk down onto the sofa his grandmother claimed had come over from France after World War I and put her feet up. Like most of Darois House, the furniture had a history. Every room had some story of the ancestors he was supposed to live up to. He couldn’t walk on a damn carpet without remembering a lecture about how his grandfather had done such and such great thing so it could be in this house.

But she looked right sitting there, like she’d always belonged there, like that soft, sweet woman was what had been missing from this fussy room all his life.

“They seemed like a lot to deal with.” She took the glass and examined the liquid for a moment before bringing it to her nose and taking a whiff. “This smells delicious.”

He’d been surprised when she’d asked for bourbon. He’d always seen her drink wine. Apparently his family had driven her to the harder stuff. “It’s a ten-year aged in charred American white oak. It’s not the most expensive, but I love the flavor.”

Bourbon was something he appreciated. Not too much, of course. He didn’t overindulge, but it was a comfort at the end of a long day.

She would be a comfort to come home to.

“Sometimes it’s not about the cost. It’s about what you love,” she said, taking a sip. “Ah, there’s the burn. I know it’s weird, but I like that little burn you get.”

He sat down across from her and took a sip of his own. “I usually have a drink down here in the evenings. You should join me. I would like the company. And I truly am sorry about tonight. I didn’t want to get you dragged into that mess.”

He’d tried to avoid it. He’d sent her off with her friends rather than keeping her close where she could hear the never-ending battering of his relatives. He’d done what he always did when he was at a family function. He’d left his mother with someone who would be kind to her. In this case, it had been Marcelle and Delphine, and Lisa Guidry had taken care of all them, helping his mother to the buffet and getting her a glass of sherry to sip. His mother had a wonderful time.