Free BAYOU NOËL by Laura Wright

CHAPTER 1
     
     
    Paris, 2005
     
    Night had just fallen when Garrick Loriot
strode into his opulent Parisian apartment with a scowl on his
lean, starkly handsome face. After months of delicate negotiations,
he’d at last reached a tentative deal to purchase an apartment
building in Montmartre to use as a safe house for Pantera
Diplomats, only to have the negotiations fall apart when it was
declared a historical landmark.
    Seriously. Was there anything in this city
that wasn’t a fucking historical landmark?
    His pissy mood, however, swiftly disappeared
when he flipped on the light and caught sight of the envelope that
had been slipped beneath his door.
    It was from her. He could just catch the
scent of vanilla mixed with earthy cypress. His heart did that
familiar leap as he bent to grab it off the priceless Parisian
carpet.
    He always looked forward to hearing from
Molly. Especially this time of year. With his father deceased,
these letters were his one and only connection to the Wildlands and
the mother who had never fully recovered from a near-fatal
accident.
    Like both his parents, Garrick was a born
Diplomat which meant he never knew where he would be from one week
to another. He depended on those letters to keep him connected to
his home.
    Unlike those of the previous Nurturers who’d
cared for his mother, Molly’s letters weren’t dry reports of
medical facts. Hers felt like family, and were filled with wit and
humor, and captured his mother’s spirit, making him feel as if he
were there.
    And after his shitty day, he could use a
pick-me-up.
    Tearing open the envelope, he dropped into a
chair near the window, his six-foot-plus frame dressed in one of
the Armani suits Molly always called his “stick up his ass armor.”
And by the white glow of the Noël lights strewn on buildings,
lampposts and even the Eiffel Tower in the distance, he read:
     
    Dear Mr. Loriot:
    I am writing to inform you of my resignation
as caretaker to your mother, Virginia Loriot, effective December
24.
    This was not an easy decision for me to
make. These past five years have been very rewarding, but it’s time
for me to move on. I have accepted a position at Medical, and will
be starting straight away.
    Thank you for the opportunity to work with
your mother. I wish her nothing but the best. You’ll be pleased to
know I’ve found a suitable replacement. Virginia has met and
approved her.
    Best regards,
    Molly Cochell
     
    What. The. Fuck.
    It was as if all the air had been pulled from
the room. And the lights, which had only a moment ago twinkled
merrily behind him, dimmed. Garrick crushed the letter in his fist,
wondering if it was some kind of sick joke.
    No. It
couldn’t be. Molly didn’t play cruel jokes. It wasn’t in her
nature. She was kind and sweet. Too damned sweet .
    So what the hell was going on? She’d seemed
happy and content the last time he was there. When was that now…?
Nine, ten months ago? Had something happened while he was gone? Had
someone made her unhappy? What was this new position she’d found?
At Medical…
    His jaw tightened.
    At Medical, with all the other Nurturers.
Females, yes. But many single males, as well. Christ, maybe she was
looking for a mate…
    The thought had him out of his chair and
heading toward the phone to order a car before he even realized
he’d made the decision to leave.
    Screw the negotiations.
    It could wait. Everything could wait.
    He was going home for Noël.

CHAPTER 2
     
     
    Molly glanced around the room that had been
her home for…
    What was it now? Five years.
    God almighty.
    How had time passed without her ever
noticing?
    It seemed only yesterday that she’d arrived
at the elegant, rigidly formal house near the center of the
Wildlands. As a newly trained Healer she’d been eager to prove her
worth by tending to the infamous, always acerbic Virginia Loriot.
The female was considered one of the finest Pantera Diplomats ever
born.
    Of course, Virginia was the reason