False Pretenses Read Online Free PDF Page A

He’s really a sweetheart.”
    “I can see that. I was just caught off guard by his resentment of the British. Ethan and I will have to prove to Pierce that we’re all on the same side. I’d like us to be friends.”
    “Me, too,” Zoe said. “Actually he’s fond of you. And he’s nuts about Carter. His issues with the British go back generations in his family. It’s not personal.”
    Vanessa held out her hand to Carter. “Sweetie, we’d better go find a table and let Miss Zoe get back to work.”
    “I want to sit there!” He pointed to a table against the brick wall and took off running.
    “Carter, wait …” Vanessa sighed and looked at Zoe apologetically. “He hasn’t quite learned his restaurant manners yet.”
    “He said please without being told. I thought that was very polite for a four-year-old. Relax. Just enjoy your breakfast.”
    Zoe watched Vanessa get Carter situated at the table, at the same time admiring how the newly refinished oak floors accentuated the tan and ruddy tones in the brick. And the red and gold in the new tablecloths.
    Hebert tapped her arm. “Who dat p’tit boug?”
    “Carter Langley. Isn’t he adorable?”
    “Dat beautiful lady his mama?”
    “Uh-huh.” Zoe studied Vanessa: a perfect size six with long, dark hair and striking blue eyes. She felt a tinge of jealousy and dismissed it. “Her name’s Vanessa Langley. She and her husband, Ethan, inherited Langley Manor. They’re renting the apartment upstairs while the house is being renovated and converted into a bed-and-breakfast.”
    “Where dey from?”
    “East Tennessee. Ethan’s a psychologist and just got hired by a Christian counseling firm in Lafayette.”
    “Dat’s real nice. Hope dey work out.”
    “Me, too.” Zoe lowered her voice. “I just hope the folks in Les Barbes will accept them.”
    “They accepted me,” Tex said. “What’s the difference?”
    “Da difference”—Hebert licked the powdered sugar off his finger—“is dat it weren’t your uppity British kin who looked down dere noses at da Cajuns.”
    “But that young lady over there and her husband had nothin’ to do with that,” Tex said.
    “No, they didn’t.” Zoe shook her head. “And they’re not the least bit uppity.”
    “Good.” Father Sam wiped his mouth with a napkin. “So there’s no reason to punish them for the faults of their relatives. The plantation house has been vacant so long that most people here have never even met a Langley.”
    Hebert smiled, powdered sugar dusting his chin. “Guess dey will now.”

CHAPTER 3
    Early Monday evening Vanessa Langley waited with Ethan and Carter in the dining room at Langley Manor while sheriff’s deputies searched the premises. Through the window, beyond the live oaks draped with Spanish moss, she could see a hawk soaring above the cane fields and a huge billowy thunderhead forming in the eastern sky.
    “I wonder what’s taking so long.” Vanessa turned to Ethan, who was sitting next to her at the dining-room table. “At least they’re being thorough.”
    “We’ll eat out when we’re done here,” he said. “Don’t worry about making dinner.”
    Carter sat on the floor, creating something yet undefined with his building blocks. “I want a giant hot dog—with lots of pickle welish.”
    A grin spread across Ethan’s face. “I love it. We finally move to Louisiana, where we can order any delectable Cajun dish in the known world, and our son wants a hot dog.”
    The sound of footsteps echoed from the staircase, and then sheriff’s deputies Stone Castille and Mike Doucet came into the dining room.
    “We’re finished,” Stone said. “We’d like to visit with you for a few minutes. Is it all right if we sit here at the table?”
    “Of course. Tell us what you found.”
    “That’s just it”—Stone glanced over at Mike—“Deputy Doucet and I didn’t find anything that suggests forced entry. Or even a port of entry, for that matter. Your doors and