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Isabeau instantly smiled. Celine looked at her. “That girl’s a genius. She’s welcome anytime. We would love to help her out. Especially with our special ingredient.”

Here comes the hard part.

“Celine, Isabeau,” I said in a respectful tone. They bristled a little. “Don’t start with any of that lilac story.”

“Mind your own business, young man,” Isabeau said, and they started to laugh.

Celine shook her head. “When are your boys going to learn you can’t tell us what to do?”

“I know we can’t. It’s not my intention. But this thing you’re doing is—” I searched for the right word, but couldn’t come up with a softer one. “—intrusive.”

Isabeau narrowed her eyes. “Let me get this straight. Do you believe that lilac has powers or not?”

“No,” I said without hesitation, then realized I’d made a mistake. Both of them smiled triumphantly.

“Then what harm will it do if we give her a perfume with lilac? Poor girl truly does need some help in that department.”

Celine tapped her temple. She reminded me a lot of Mom when she did that. “You know what? Maybe we should addsomething for just all-around good luck as well, or something to repel assholes.”

I laughed even harder. My grandmothers rarely acted their age, and I hoped I was that way when I got older.

“There’s no talking you out of it, is there?” I asked.

“No, not at all,” Celine assured me.

“I do wonder what she has in mind for a collaboration,” Isabeau added. “But we’re open to anything. We have a wide range of products, but people always keep asking about more sophisticated things that we don’t make.”

“I already know a few products from Grace’s line that would sell like hotcakes in our store,” Celine said.

I was grateful that the two of them were so open to this.

“And besides,” Isabeau said, “maybe associating with LeBlanc-Broussard will do her some good.”

I narrowed my eyes slightly. “What do you mean?”

“After the whole debacle with her brothers, the family name has gotten a tad tarnished. We feel guilty about it, although we shouldn’t. Those boys weren’t good people, and it was high time everyone knew it,” Celine explained.

“So, tell us a bit more about Grace.” Isabeau took a few bottles from the shelf behind her and started mixing things.

“What do you want to know?” I asked.

“Whatever you want to tell us,” Celine said.

It was hard to believe the two of them were so at odds at one point that they almost sabotaged my parents getting married. Now they were inseparable.

“She’s a very hard worker. She’s honest. She’s been through a lot, and she’s fantastic.”

Isabeau smiled at me. “What an excellent recommendation. Now, since you’re here, would you like to replenish your stock of soap and shower gel?”

“After you’ve explicitly told me that you’re putting God knows what in them?”

Isabeau winked. “What harm did we do, really?”

Oh, Isabeau.I loved my grandmothers dearly, but they’d gotten a bit eccentric in their old age. Back when they were working as chefs, I didn’t remember them ever talking about such nonsense like plants having powers. Or maybe they did and I just zoned it out. Who knew?

I nodded. “Sure. I’ll take the lot.”

“Perfect.” She beamed.