The Love Potion (26 page)

“Oh, yeah, they were shocked, all right,” Sylvie told Blanche. “Shocked to be caught in the act.”

“As you all know, Cypress has an impeccable record for environmental protection. Therefore, we were surprised and gratified to have these issues called to our attention
before
they were cause for concern. We are delighted to announce that the problem has been nipped in the bud.”

“God, I’d like to nip something of his in the bud.”

Next Luc spoke. “On behalf of the Southern Louisiana Shrimpers Association, we’re proud to announce the establishment of a Bayou Clean Air and Soil Fund, thanks to a five-million-dollar startup
gift
from Cypress Oil.”

Sylvie had to smile at his diplomatic choice of words.

“In addition, independent investigators will be given permission to spot-check soil and water samples in and near Cypress property for the next five years, without prior notification.”

All of the Cypress people pasted cardboard smiles on their faces as Luc outlined the terms of the agreement. To say they were displeased would be a vast understatement.

“Are you satisfied with this settlement?” one local anchorman asked Luc and the shrimpers.

The shrimpers shrugged, and Luc spoke for them. “Both sides compromised in this arrangement. It’s not all that we would have wanted. Five
years of inspections is nothing compared to the years of devastation in the bayou ecosystem, but it’s a beginning.”

“And what did the shrimpers promise in order to gain these concessions?”

Luc answered succinctly, “Silence.”

That prompted numerous questions, to which all parties remained mum. There were at least ten more minutes of interrogation, with everyone on the panel getting a turn. Sylvie was so proud of Luc and the way he handled himself. When push came to shove, The Swamp Solicitor was no slouch, that was for sure.

But then Sylvie’s attention was caught by a question from Matt Sommese, the
Times-Picayune
reporter. “Hey, Luc, let’s change the subject for a minute. I hear rumors that you’ve been under the influence of a love potion.”

Luc sat up straighter.

All the Cypress people exhaled with relief that the attention was now off them.

“Is it true?” Sommese persisted.

“Is what true?” Luc shifted uncomfortably.

“That you accidentally swallowed some love-potion jelly beans.”

Luc nodded slowly. “Yep.”

“Yep?” Matt and all the reporters stiffened, like hounds sniffing up the scent of fresh game. “Are you saying there’s such a thing as a real love potion?”

“Damn straight.”

“Oh, no, Luc. Please, just be quiet,” Sylvie pleaded to the TV screen.

No such luck.

As if on cue, Luc picked up a handheld microphone and stood, walking to the podium.

“You’d think he was going to give a bloody lecture,” she murmured. Which was exactly what he proceeded to do. And it was her lecture he was repeating. The louse!

“Sylvie Fontaine is a chemist at Terrebonne Pharmaceuticals who has invented an honest-to-God love potion called JBX, for you folks out there who don’t know about this.” She could tell by the ease with which he spoke that this was no impromptu announcement. He had intended to end the press conference in this way from the beginning.

“Oh, my God, Sylv! I thought you were putting a halt on JBX for the time being.” Blanche was clearly confused and dismayed.

“I am,” Sylvie cried. “Luc is ruining it all.”

“Now I see some of you guys smirking,” Luc told the reporters, as he leaned casually against the podium, “but really, think about it. If there can be a Viagra, why not a love potion?”

The reporters were nodding.

Sylvie put a palm to her forehead. She felt the birth of a world-class migraine, the kind that felt like razors across the back of the eyeballs.

“And there are lots of legitimate uses for a love potion, not just turning someone on…though that’s nice, too,” the Cajun fool continued, this time accompanied by a waggle of the eyebrows. “Like in marriage counseling. Or with people that have low sex drives, and stuff like that. The world needs to know more about male/female relationships.”

Sylvie felt like crying. Why was Luc doing this? To embarrass her? She’d told him over and over that she didn’t want to take the spotlight over JBX, that all she’d wanted was peer recognition. She would never live this down. Never.

“Let’s cut to the chase, LeDeux,” Matt Sommese called out with a laugh. “Did you get turned on by Sylvie’s love potion?”

Luc just grinned. The camera cut in close, and the last thing viewers saw before the commercial was that devilish grin, which said it all:
Boy, was I turned on!

Snickers and guffawing provided the background noise to the fade-out.

“Exactly what did you two do when you were gone?” Blanche wanted to know. “I mean, if you say that there was no love potion, and Luc is swearing that there is, well, something weird is going on. Are you sure he didn’t take the love potion?”

“I’m sure. He’s just repeating stuff I told him about the love potion.”

“But why?”

“I have no idea. To tease me like he’s been doing all my life. To put himself in the spotlight as some kind of lover boy. To cash in somehow if JBX ever takes off. To mortify me to death.” She threw her arms up in the air. “He’ll probably be filing one of his crazy lawsuits against me and Terrebonne Pharmaceuticals.”

“For
not
ingesting the love potion?”

“Oh, stop being so logical, Blanche. For making him think he took a love potion when he didn’t.”

“Is that illegal?”

“I don’t know,” Sylvie wailed, pulling at her own
hair in frustration. “All I know is I’m gonna kill him. I swear, I’m gonna kill him.”

The doorbell rang then, and they both went immediately alert.

“I’ll bet that’s reporters already,” Sylvie whispered. “Maybe we could pretend nobody’s home.”

“With all the lights on and the TV blaring?” Blanche asked, arching an eyebrow at her. “Let me get it. I can handle these newshounds.”

Sylvie went back into the den, where the news program had resumed. Luc was spouting off about something else now, but she was distracted by the sound of Blanche talking to someone with an indiscernible husky, male voice.

Then she heard two sets of shoes approaching and the low murmur of talking.

“Hey, Sylv, guess what? It wasn’t a reporter, after all.”

Sylvie looked up to see Lucien LeDeux standing in the doorway, wearing the same dark suit and white shirt as she’d seen on TV.

Glancing from him to the TV screen, she realized that the show must have been taped earlier.

“Sylvie,” Luc said tentatively.

“Uh, I think I’ll go home now,” Blanche said. “I have to work on tomorrow’s radio show.”

The traitor!
Before Sylvie had a chance to protest, Blanche was gone.

Sylvie stood, not wanting to be at a disadvantage, and clenched her hands at her sides. She needed to calm down before she started screaming.

Luc stepped into the doorway of the room. “You haven’t been answering my calls, Sylv.”

“I needed time to think through some things.”

“For a week?”

She nodded.

“And?” If she didn’t know better, she would think that was a vulnerable look of hope on his face. Thank goodness, he didn’t move any closer…just leaned against the doorjamb, ankles crossed, with his hands in his slacks pockets holding his jacket back on his hips. Any closer and she feared she would clamp her hands around his neck and do something outrageous…like kiss him.

Kiss him? Where did that thought come from? Kissing is out of the question
.

When she still hadn’t answered him, he prodded, “And why haven’t you called me back?”

“More things keep piling on—”

“Things?”

“Yeah, things that need…consideration.”

He shook his head in confusion. “Sylv, I found out that Tee-John isn’t my son. It’s a long story, but the gist of it is that my dad was the father all along.” She started to say something, and he held up a hand to stop her. “I know what you’re going to say. That my paternity wasn’t so much the issue as my lack of responsibility. Well, I can’t defend everything I’ve done, but, geez, Sylv, I was young and I tried my best to protect Tee-John.”

She waved a hand dismissively. “That’s the least of our problems.”

“We have problems?” His voice lacked its usual self-confidence.

“Of course, we have problems.”

“Then let’s talk them through, Sylv.” He walked into the room, and was about to pull her down on the sofa with him, but must have noticed the forbidding expression on her face. Instead, still puz
zled, he dropped to the sofa and motioned for her to sit in the chair across from him, which she did, needing something to hold onto. “Sylv, I love you. Please don’t close yourself off from me like this. Let me in. Tell me what’s wrong. Together…” He choked up. “Together we can work things out.”

“Oh, don’t you ever say that again, Luc LeDeux.”

“Say what? I feel like you and I are speaking different languages, Sylv.”

“Don’t you ever say that you love me again.”

“Why the hell not? I love you. I love you. I love you.”

He looked so gorgeous and childlike and fierce when he said those words that Sylvie felt herself melting. Still, she braced herself.

“I’m on to you, buster. No more playing games. No more vows of love. No more bull.”

He bristled with indignation. “What in God’s name are you talking about?”

She pointed toward the TV screen. “Let’s talk about that show you put on tonight.”

“You watched?” His face brightened. “I did good, didn’t I?”

Oh, the gall of the man!
“The first part was great. I’m glad you got those concessions from Cypress Oil. René and his buddies must be pleased.”

“They are. I can’t wait to tell you all the details…how my dad almost had a stroke when—”

“It’s the other half of the program that made
me
almost have a stroke.”

“You mean the love-potion stuff?”

“Precisely.”

“I knew you wouldn’t toot your own horn, Sylv. So I did it for you. Now you’ll get all the recogni
tion you ever wanted. Your mother and all your uptight relatives will be so proud of you, they’ll probably burst their girdles.”

“Earth to Luc. Who died and named you my road-show manager? I distinctly recall telling you that I never wanted to be in the spotlight for JBX…that all I ever wanted was behind-the-scenes peer recognition.”

“Ooops.”

“
Ooops?
You just turned me into the laughingstock of the country…a spectacle…a freak…and all you can say is
ooops
.”

“Don’t you think you’re overreacting a bit? Okay, so you didn’t want to be the front man for the project. So, step back, and let Charles or some hired spokesperson take over. No big deal! The most important thing, Sylv, is that you and I are perfect proof that the love potion works.”

“I’ve put a halt on the JBX project,” she inserted brusquely.

“
What?
”

“You heard me. Your big announcement was for naught. There is no love potion project…for now.”

Her news clearly floored him, and he blinked with confusion. “But why?”

“I learned a few things while ensconced in your little love hideaway,” she said snidely. “Let’s just say that the love potion needs a little work, in my opinion.”

He waved a hand airily. “So, it’s just a temporary delay. You had me scared there for a minute. You and I both know what a great thing that love potion is. It brought us together, didn’t it?”

She glared at him.

But the fool just blathered on. “Look at us, honey. Two people who practically hated each other
—well, I didn’t hate you but you hated me—
and with the help of a handful of jelly beans, we fell in love. That’s important, sweetheart. And your invention did it all.”

“You are incredible.”

“I know. And by the way, you never actually said the words to me. Now might be a good time.” He smiled enticingly at her and patted the couch next to him.

“You couldn’t possibly be as thickheaded as you’re pretending to be.”

He stared at her quizzically, and she saw the moment that understanding dawned. “Spit it out, Sylv. What great sin have I committed now? I’ve been seeing that expression on people’s faces since I was five years old. Even when I tried to do good, it came out wrong. ‘Bad boy of the bayou.’ What did I do this time?”

She almost felt sorry for him. Almost, but not quite. “There was no love potion.”

“Huh?”

“You heard me. There was no love potion in the jelly beans you ate.”

He gaped at her, wide-eyed with wonder. “How…why…but you said…”

“There was a mix-up in petri dishes. I thought you ate the ones with my enzymes in them, but apparently you ate the neutral set.”

Then Luc did something she never expected. He began to laugh…and laugh…and laugh. He couldn’t seem to stop. He slapped his knee. He
swiped at his eyes. Every time he seemed to be over his bout of hysteria, he started up all over again.

“You think this is funny?”

“I think this is hilarious, and you should, too, Sylv. It means that I was in love with you all along, and I didn’t need any damn love potion to jump-start my heart.”

She gasped. “No, that’s not what it means. It means that you played a game with me from the moment I told you that you’d swallowed those jelly beans. It was just one more form of teasing Sylvie Fontaine. How you must have been laughing behind my back!”

“Sylv, you can’t possibly believe that,” he said, jumping to his feet and pulling her up with him.

But she was deadly serious.

Luc felt everything that was important to him slipping away. Yanking a resisting Sylvie into his embrace forcibly, he hugged her fiercely, whispering against her neck, “Please, please, please…”

He wasn’t sure what he was begging for. Understanding? A second chance? Forgiveness? What?

Then it occurred to him. All he wanted from Sylvie was love. Such a little thing, and yet so very much.