Free A Billion Reasons Why by Kristin Billerbeck Page A

wonderful and mighty Luc DeForges. Your mother can make some other worthy girl queen of the castle. It’s a position I no longer covet.”
    “Katie.” He dropped his chin, pained that she could believe such things about him. But what had he done to prove his love for her? She didn’t know the truth. She couldn’t know the truth, or it would only put her father’s death more into question. He clutched the box in his pocket again and wondered how he could protect her from the truth and still manage to explain why he possessed her grandmother’s wedding ring.
    He hadn’t thought this through. He’d never give that engagement ring to Poindexter. He hadn’t held on to it for eight years to give it to Katie for a loveless practical marriage. He’d had his suspicions about her engagement, but meeting Dexter Hastings only confirmed his thoughts. Katie had given up on love, and Luc had no one to blame but himself.

Chapter 6

    E ASY L IVING
    A wall of hot, thick, moist air assaulted Katie as she stepped off the plane. Her forehead sprang moisture before she’d reached the second step. She’d forgotten the sluggish weight of the summer weather in New Orleans. How a simple exercise like breathing required more effort. She had, in fact, lost her gills. She slid her heels back on before she stepped onto the tarmac. Raising her arms above her, she embraced the steamy heat. She closed her eyes and stepped back into the memories, when she smelled the sweet jasmine and raced to suck on cherry popsicles before they won the battle and melted, draping her in a sticky mess.
    “You okay?” She felt Luc’s hand in the center of her back.
    “I’m home,” she yelled over the noise of the tarmac. “It’s been eight years!” Her mind filled with thoughts of food. There were delicacies that could only be found in New Orleans, and when her feet hit the ground, dreams of oyster po’ boys and blue plate mayonnaise made her lick her lips. “Can we eat now?”
    “You’re home in style.” Luc waved a hand toward a waiting limousine. “A triumphal entry. Did you notice how quiet my jet was compared to all the rest?”
    “Luc, sweetie, you have the biggest trophy and the best.”
    “I only meant—”
    She slipped into the car. “My mother will say I’m putting on airs.”
    “That she will. Wait until she gets a load of the feathers.”
    “Where do the pilot and Linda stay while you’re gone?”
    Luc touched her face. “You always did make sure everyone was taken care of, didn’t you?”
    “I’m not a doormat any longer, if that’s what you mean.”
    The driver appeared at the door, slammed it shut, and came around to the driver’s seat. He was a fat black man with an affable smile and a silver front tooth. “Where y’at?”
    “I’m good, Leon, how are you?”
    “Oh, you know, I’s all right. Who dat ya got wit ya?”
    “This is Katie, but she’s no tourist, Leon. She’s from the Irish Channel. It’s been eight years since she’s been home.”
    “No kiddin’?” Leon whistled. “Eight years. You ain’t gon believe the changes. What street? You gon yo momma’s?”
    “My momma moved,” Katie said. “To the Upper Garden District.”
    “Too bad. Master DeForges, you’ll have to take her by the new Irish Channel. She won’t believe her eyes. All them new shops and restaurants.”
    “Katie’s dad owned my first shop. That’s how I got my start.”
    “The one on Magazine Street? No kidding. Well, ain’t that something. Where you live now?”
    “California,” she answered. “Northern California.”
    “That’s a right shame.”
    “It’s not home, that’s for certain.”
    Naturally, the Irish Channel would be up and coming once her mother moved away. If there was a way to lose money, her family had always been gifted with the ability. If Luc was gifted with an ability to turn vegetables into gold, her mother was gifted with the ability to melt precious metals into useless minerals. Fortunately,