Only when he was certain she was leaning against the wall with the water pouring over her, warming her, did he strip off his own clothes and join her. The hot water felt like heaven. Drake just let it seep into their bodies, driving out the terrible cold. When Saria’s teeth quit chattering, he shampooed her hair. She was unusually quiet and that worried him a little.

“Are you afraid of Armande or Charisse?” he asked, hoping she was just chilled.

“Of course not. Now their mother is an entirely different proposition. Why do you think they’re so close? A woman like Iris Lafont-Mercier—and believe me that is a hyphenated last name—is never happy unless she’s tellin’ everyone else what to do. You can imagine what she thinks of me.”

Her voice changed to a very strident imitation of what he could only assume was Iris’s voice. “That child is runnin’ wild and we have a civic duty to do somethin’ about it. I’ve called the truant officer on her repeatedly and if she doesn’t show up for school it will be child services.”

“That bad, huh?”

“You have no idea. I think she drove her husband to an early grave. He left everything to Armande and Charisse. Iris wouldn’t have cared if it had only been Armande, the darlin’ of her world, but she had no use for Charisse.”

“Why? I thought you said her daughter was brilliant.”

“Oh yeah. She is, but she’s strange. A little off. Different. And all that ability garnered her a tremendous amount of attention in school and from her father. That sort of took the spotlight away from Armande, who is extremely handsome and charming, but without her brilliance. Mama leopard did not like that one bit.”

Drake whistled softly. “She’s nothing like Pauline.”

“No. She’s a force to be reckoned with. She’ll like you, though. She’s very partial to males. Don’t be surprised if she flirts.”

“Flirts?” he echoed faintly.

“She’s quite beautiful and she knows it.”

“And she works at the post office?”

“You get all the local gossip at the post office. She knows everyone’s business and she could really keep an ear out on what her children were up to. All the other women couldn’t wait to tell her if Charisse or Armande did one wrong thing. My brothers always have felt sorry for Armande because they think he has to baby Charisse and his mother is always on him.”

“But you feel sorry for Charisse.”

For the first time in hours, Saria smiled. “I can totally identify with her. I hide from Iris Lafont hyphenated Mercier every chance I get. I get the same lectures Charisse does.”

“What would that be now?” Drake carefully rinsed her hair clean. “You’re out of school.”