Serene has changed next to nothing about my childhood home. (With the exception of the amount of ancestry portraits in the hallway. But that should’ve been done a long time ago.)
“What could be takin’ her so long?”
“I told her to rest, so my guess is, she’s resting.”
“She’s been restin’ for over fifteen hours.”
“Interrupting weddings can be exhausting.”
I don’t have to be in the room to know that Serene finished her words with a smile, and with Étienne probably frowning.
“Livingston was right,” Étienne says after a beat of silence. “She has changed.”
Serene doesn’t immediately reply. “I haven’t talked to her long enough to know that, but I think it’s fair to say life will change us all at some point.”
“Life changed me, Livingston, and Nathalie the moment we lost half our family. What else can life want from her?”
“I don’t know. I wish I knew the answer.”
The two of them become quiet for a moment, with only the sound of their forks scraping against their plates.
“What do you think happened to her at Brignac House?” Serene asks out of nowhere.
Étienne doesn’t respond immediately; when he does, his voice sounds drained. “I don’t know.”
It’s not what happened, but how life began for me that’s important because there, they’ll see I built a house out of my love for Asa. One so large and grand it rivaled the likes of Belgrave. Each room stored a time of my life I held dear. Some happy, others filled with heartbreak. If they ever discovered this house, and inspected each floor, it would lead them closer to the truth and the final resting place of my heart…
CHAPTER THREE
1899
Nathalie
“Do you think clouds can sleep?”
Asa looked over at me. “No. Why do you ask?”
Unlinking my fingers from behind my head, I pointed above me to the vast blue sky. “Look. The clouds haven’t moved.”
Frowning, Asa focused his attention to the sky. “They’re movin’. We simply don’t notice because we’re not carefully lookin’ at them.”
Squinting, I peered at the clouds with a dedicated concentration. I thought I saw a cloud inch forward, but I didn’t know if it was because I desperately wanted it to. “I suppose you’re right. But I still want to believe they can sleep.”
“Perhaps.”
“Clouds can cry,” I stated confidently. “Did you know that?”
At that, Asa frowned and looked at me peculiarly. “Surely you jest.”
“I do not. When you see the clouds buildin’ and rain fallin’ from the sky, those are the clouds cryin’ for us.”
Asa was quiet for several seconds as he mulled over my explanation. It made sense to me, but what would he think? At some point, he nodded. “That is certainly a very interestin’ thought.”
I could tell he didn’t hold my words in high regard. But Asa was a profoundly serious person.
“I believe it’s true,” I said.
“If you believe in somethin’ enough, it will happen.”
I smiled widely.
I thought this might be the greatest day of my entire life.
Out of all my brothers’ friends, Asa had always been the kindest to me. My thoughts weren’t unimportant to him. He was kind and listened to me. When my brothers told me to go, he said it was okay if I stayed because I didn’t make much noise. Not like Rainey. And so they agreed with him, because it was Asa. And Asa was reasonable and calm. And perfect.
Just so perfect.
He could speak French fluently. Actually, he could speak three different languages. Daddy was quite impressed and said he had a bright mind.
But not even Asa was willing to lay in the grass and look up at the sky with me for this long. However, last week, he broke his foot. I overheard my brothers and Miles saying that if Asa could hold his drinks better, he wouldn’t have fallen halfway down the stairs at our house.
What had they meant by that? I drank sweet tea and cow’s milk every day. Was I at risk of getting a broken foot too? I asked Daddy yesterday, and he merely coughed into his fist and told me no, it was a different kind of drink. A magic drink.
If this magic drink incited injuries, I didn’t believe I ever wanted a sip.
However, if there was one benefit to Asa’s injury it was that he had to sit and rest. Since that was nearly impossible to do at Belgrave and around my brother’s, he was stuck with me.
It had been heaven for me. For Asa, I thought he was merely tolerating me, counting down the weeks until his foot healed, and he could resume his regular activities.
“How is your foot?” I asked.
Asa sat up and I quickly did the same. “It’s fine. Still broken since the last time you asked me earlier this afternoon.”
Sheepishly, I shrugged and looked at the ground.
“Thank you for askin’, though,” he said.
When I looked at Asa, he gave me a kind smile. My heart swelled with happiness. I knew that tonight, when I was lying in bed, I’d be repeating this moment in my head over and over.
Not even the sound of my brothers and Miles approaching could dampen my spirits.
Livingston, Étienne, Julian, and Miles took no notice of me. Miles was telling my brothers a story that required animated hand gestures. Something he said caused Livingston to break into laughter, but only brought a small smile to Étienne’s face. From my spot, I could hear Julian say he didn’t understand why they were laughing.
Once they saw me sitting next to Asa, they quieted down. Julian was in good spirits and waved at me. Of course, he was happy. Livingston and Étienne allowed him to stick around them the entire day. Julian was living his dream and I was living mine.
“Nat, are you keepin’ this invalid company?” Miles asked with a smile.
Asa frowned and stared intently at the ground. I knew Miles, Étienne and Livingston were his best friends, but right now, I had nothing but anger directed toward them for needling at Asa.
Rising up onto my knees, I clenched my fists. “He’s not an invalid! Don’t say that.”
Their smiles vanished. Even Asa looked at me, confused.
“They know that, Nattie,” Julian said gently.
“It was a simple jest,” Étienne chimed in.
My anger dimmed, and slowly, my fists unclenched. I sat back on the ground and watched Livingston approach.
“Is your friend gone?” he asked.
His eyes furtively moved toward the trees at every little sound. Étienne walked behind him, and a branch cracked beneath his feet, causing Livingston to jump. Miles, Asa, and Étienne laughed at him.
“My sister isn’t here,” Miles said around his laughter.
Livingston sniffed and looked around the tree before he leaned against it. “You can never be certain about that. Le savauge always manages to appear in the most unexpected of places.”
“It sounds to me as though you’re scared of her,” Étienne remarked.
Livingston scoffed. “I’m not scared of a little girl. The truth is, I’m goin’ gentle on le savauge.”