Page 17 of More Than A Feeling

I winked at him. "Come on, you like Bubba's. Admit it."

He laughed then, and I felt like I had won the lottery. Making him laugh became a habit, and I did it as often as I could.

It was all going so well until Sabine rained on my Mardi Gras parade.

"That guy keeps looking at you," June whispered.

I turned to see who she was talking about. I was about three cocktails down, and I was afour-limitgirl, after which I would fall asleep on the bar counter or climb it and dance to Beyonce'sSingle Ladiesas I took all my clothes off. The line between sleep and 'go nuts' was a thin one, which was why June kept me at three drinks and, after that, just served me tonic water with bitters.

The buzz I had disappeared when I saw the man June pointed to. Malone Collins. Damn it. I thought he'd moved to Houston or some place in Texas. What was he doing back? He didn't know me, but I knew him. But he probably knewofme because, after all, I was Sabine's sister.

"That's the guy," I told June tightly.

June raised both eyebrows. "The guy?"

I nodded.

"You know, I still think you need to tell your parents and Callum the truth. I don't understand why—"

"Seamus made me promise, June. I can't…Iwon'tbetray him."

Poor Seamus. I wondered if he lost control of his car because he was so upset to have found out what he had. It broke my heart that his last moments had been filled with anger and grief.

I'd just walked into my parents' new house in the Garden District when I heard Seamus and Sabine going at it loudly in the library off the living room. Sabine had been livid, especially when Seamus had told her he'd be divorcing her fine ass.

I was there to drop off the papers for my grandparents' home in Uptown that they had agreed to sell to me. I was so excited. My grandparents had passed away when I was six but my happiest childhood memories were when I visited with them.

Seamus saw me when he walked out of the library and talked to me. It was obvious that I had overheard their conversation.

"I'll deal with this my way," he told me. "You tell no one, ever. Got it?"

"Got it."

"I mean it, Fleur."

"I know. I won't tell anyone."

Seamus kissed my forehead. "You're a good kid, you know that?"

I shrugged, though it made me feel really nice to hear him say that.

"Your family is shit to you, though."

I groaned. "Well, they think I deserve it."

"You don't." Seamus smiled at me, and I saw his eyes fill with emotion. You're a good person—a really good person. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, alright?"

"Promise."

That was the last time I saw him alive. He got into his car and a drunk driver killed him.

And now one of the key cast members of that whole drama was in the same bar as me while Sabine had starting dating Seamus's brother. What were the chances?

"You think he wants to talk to you?" June asked.

"I hope not, June. I'm not supposed to know anything, remember?"

"He's not your parents or Callum."

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