Night Jasmine Read Online Free PDF Page B

to meet his eyes.
    â€œMy Aimee, she is a stubborn girl.”
    â€œShe takes after you, I suspect.”
    Roubin chuckled, the sound rich with age. “But we Cajuns, we would not have made it so far if we were not so.” Roubin shook his head and lifted a gnarled finger. “But you, mon ami, you are not innocent in this matter. Non. ”
    â€œNo,” Hunter agreed, the truth of that twisting in his gut.
    â€œYou are prepared to make this matter right?”
    â€œAs best I can.” Hunter made a sound of frustration. “It’s complicated.”
    Roubin raised his eyebrows, mocking him. “Not so complicated, eh? You have a son.”
    â€œI love you, daddy.”
    Hunter drew in a sharp breath. “It appears that way.”
    â€œI hear Aimee, what she says to you in there.” Roubin shook his head again. “Sometimes, my Aimee, she is too emotional as well as too stubborn.” The older man lifted his face to the sky as a bobwhite called out above them, then turned back to Hunter, his gaze thoughtful. “And I think, too, you hurt her very much.”
    Hunter thought again of the woman Aimee had been and the one she had become. And of his own part in that transformation. Remorse curled through him. And guilt. “It wasn’t intentional.”
    â€œBut only a monster sets out to hurt another.”
    â€œLook…” Hunter made a sound of frustration. “…I’m not giving up. I intend to make amends for this situation. Aimee refused my help, so I’m going to have to come up with something. I’m just not sure what.”
    Roubin paused, then as if coming to a decision slapped his hand on the chair arm. “There is a room at the back of the store. I sometimes rent her to hunters. She is clean, the bed is firm. I will rent her to you until this matter is resolved. Fifty dollars a week, meals included.”
    Hunter heard the screen door open and looked up. Aimee stood there, her cheeks bright with anger. Without a doubt she had heard her father’s offer, just as certainly she wanted him to refuse it.
    Hunter looked back at Roubin. He would have to make arrangements with his partners, would have to have the other doctors cover his patient load. There would be appointments to be canceled and rescheduled, a handful of events and meetings that could not be rescheduled. It would be damn difficult.
    Hunter nodded. “Thank you. Yes, I would very much appreciate the room. I’ll get my things in New Orleans and be back tonight.”
    â€œBon.” Roubin nodded and rolled his chair away from the car so Hunter could open the door.
    Aimee watched as Hunter climbed into the car, started it and drove off. When it had disappeared from sight, she turned to her father. She curled her fingers into fists. “How could you?” she asked. “You know how I feel.”
    He met her gaze solemnly. “But how could I know, chère? ”
    Aimee lowered her eyes. “I didn’t lie to you, Papa. Not really.”
    â€œNot really?” He laughed without humor. “There is truth and there is untruth. Black or white. So, chère, which did you tell me when you came back home?”
    She and her father had seldom seen eye-to-eye. Why had she expected anything different now? “It’s not always that way, Papa. Not this time.”
    â€œOh?” He maneuvered his chair around to face her fully. “So, tell me. How can you call this not black, not white?”
    She took a deep, painful breath. She didn’t know which hurt more, recounting the past or facing her father this way. She stalled the inevitable one more moment. “Shall I wheel you up?”
    He nodded, and she descended the ramp, then pushed him slowly up to the gallery. “Oliver is still with his cousins?” she asked.
    â€œOui.”
    â€œGood.” Aimee leaned against one of the gallery’s unadorned cypress columns and stared out at