Love Finds You in New Orleans(14)

“Now you know you not suppost to be sneaking around. And Agnes is not going to lie to your grandparents.” She gazed up and spoke to the sky. “Jesus, you know I am a faithful woman.”

“I’m not sneaking. I’m telling you where I will be, and I promise to be home before Grand-mère.” Lottie didn’t want to speak to the sky to ask Jesus about the difference between sneaking and waiting until her grandmother left the house. “The orphanage is just a few blocks away.”

“You not parading up and down the Vieux Carré without a chaperone. Miz LeClerc hear about dat and…” She looked skyward again. “She don’t want to know, Jesus, how Agnes would suffer for that.”

“Gabriel is meeting me here to walk with me. Rosette gave him food to deliver there.” The longer this went on, the less time Lottie had to spend at the orphanage and with Gabriel. They hadn’t seen one another in the weeks since Justine’s bonnet led to the remarks Lottie had made to her grandmother, followed by the discussion with her grandfather. Gabriel helped her make sense of her life. A life that, as she grew, became more confusing. And their latest decision about her coming-out party only added to it.

“Your chaperone here. You better hurry on.” Agnes waved her hands much like she did when she ordered Henri to “shoo” from the house.

Lottie didn’t know if Agnes’s face softened from growing tired of their conversation or from the sight of Gabriel as he swung open the black wrought-iron gate. Seeing him, Lottie’s anxiety gave way to joy and she smiled at her friend. His tan frock coat tapered from his shoulders over his brown trousers, and he walked with self-assurance, comfortable in himself. Gabriel and André were no longer annoying boys dragging disgusting creatures out of gutters, the streets, or the river and pestering her with them. Gabriel had become this confident, handsome young man who appeared before her, and Lottie felt a door opening in her heart. And he was stepping through it.

Holding both her hands in his, Gabriel stood back at arm’s length and looked at Lottie, his eyes appraising her from head to toe. “This is new, yes? I don’t recall ever seeing you in this color. Very pretty. It brightens your face.”

Her smile in response felt clumsy on her face. She didn’t want to tell him that what brought the flush of crimson to her cheeks was not the dress. Gabriel’s touch warmed her in a way it never had before. And even though she enjoyed her hands being enveloped by his, she wondered if perhaps she should. We fished together. Pushed one another into puddles. Am I supposed to feel this way? Do I want to feel this way?

“Just what she need for that orphanage.”

Gabriel must have been as startled by Agnes as Lottie was, because he released her hands so unexpectedly that she almost lost her balance. He walked over to Agnes, who stood with Grand-mère’s dress draped over one arm and the other bent at the elbow, fist on her hip, as if she dared him to move closer. Not at all intimidated by her scowl, one that could wilt bricks, he performed an over-exaggerated bow then tugged her fist from her side.

Agnes swatted his head as if a fly had just landed. “Go on. Don’t you think you can mind your manners after you already forgot them. Walk right past me.” She sniffed loudly—and if Gabriel had not glanced at her right at that moment, she might have continued the pretense. Instead, she let him hug her. Grand-mère’s skirt billowed between them until Agnes patted his back with her free hand and, in a voice that could rock an infant to sleep, said, “Honey, I understand. Some habits hard to break.”

Lottie realized what Agnes meant and shamefully wished she didn’t have to. In their social structure, it made no difference that Agnes had loved Gabriel as a grandson for years. Slaves were invisible until they were needed.

As soon as Gabriel let her go, Agnes wagged her finger at Charlotte. “You best be sitting on that divan when your grandmother open the door.” She shook her head and looked up at Gabriel. “Une tête dure, that one,” she said and tilted her head toward Lottie. “Too hardhead for her own good. She had best not be that for me.”

He nodded. “I understand,” he answered with his charming voice. The one that made Agnes grin.

Lottie walked toward the gate but stopped when Gabriel said, “Don’t forget your bonnet.” He laughed as she scampered past him into the house.



* * * * *


Finally on the other side of the gate, Lottie handed Gabriel a box. “Hold this, please, while I tie this ridiculous ribbon.” She looked up and down the street as she fashioned what seemed like miles of fabric into a bow that flopped underneath her chin and ear on one side of her face. “Where is the carriage?”