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“And you run the shipping branch of the Orleans Conglomerate,” Celine pointed out, “which is not exactly related.”

“True, but my EMT background... You know what? Never mind. It wouldn’t be fair for me to guess Grace’s motives. But I wouldn’t count her out of the running. Felicia and Gaston certainly like her.”

Isabeau’s eyes actuallyglinted, as if lights had popped up in them. “What do you think? You like her too?”

“Sure.”

My grandfathers were sitting on the couch adjacent to the one where my grandmothers were sitting, and the two of them exchanged a glance. I could swear Grandpa David was fighting laughter. That meant they’d already talked about this.

“But that’s not relevant,” I added quickly. “We started off on the wrong foot, I’ll say that.”

“What do you mean?” Isabeau asked.

“I had Marcel look for information on her. It was the wrong thing to do. I don’t agree with his methods.”

“I warned you about him a while ago,” Xander said.

“That’s true. You did,” I admitted, turning to him. “The only problem with you, brother, is that you’ve warned me about so many things that I lose track.”

Xander shook his head. “He’s not a decent guy.”

“Yeah, I’ve learned that the hard way.”

“That poor girl. What did you do to her?” Isabeau asked, and I turned my head toward her. She was frowning.

“You don’t even know what happened, yet you’re siding with her?”

Isabeau shook her head. “You know I always side with the family. But I’ve heard from trusted sources that her ex-husband was a shithead.”

I jerked my head back, and Bella clapped. Chad groaned.

Isabeau had a very loose filter, but she kept the swearing to a minimum around Bella. She’d tried it while we grew up as well, but she gave up as we became teenagers.

She winced. “Sorry. Bella, that’s a bad word. Don’t repeat it.”

Bella didn’t even bother to nod. She was just grinning, and I knew she’d already added it to her vocabulary.

“Why do you say that?” I asked Isabeau. I had a feeling that Grace hadn’t told me everything. And why should she?

“He didn’t treat her right, and when they divorced, he put a detective on her. Then, when he couldn’t find much, he started to make things up. I really don’t know the whole story, but it didn’t bode well in the end from what I’ve heard.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck.This was a million times worse than what I’d imagined, and it explained why Grace had been so upset about Marcel.

I cleared my throat. “Well, it’s not the same thing, obviously, but Marcel called the owners of the ranch and implied that Grace wasn’t to be trusted.”

Isabeau crossed her arms over her chest. “I thought we taught you better than that.”

Mom and Dad came in just then. “Sorry we’re late,” Mom apologized. “That gallery event took longer than expected.”

“Don’t worry, Mom,” I said nonchalantly. “You’re not missing much. Just Isabeau giving me a hard time.”

“Oh, well, she’s always been very good at doing that, which made me look like the best mom on the planet.” And that had been true.

“Well,” Celine said, “whatever you do, just make sure you don’t give that poor girl more grief. She’s had enough to last her a lifetime.”

“It was a mishap. I’ve made sure it’ll never happen again,” I assured them.

“That’s what I was hoping to hear. Anyway, I heard she has great business sense. And that her family’s company increased their profits a lot in those years when she was involved,” Isabeau said, then glanced at her phone. “Julian just texted and said he and Georgie can’t make it. Means we’re all here. Celine and I are going to bring the food. Anyone want to help?”