Page 6 of The Unseen

L UCAS SWUNG ABOARD HIS H ARLEY -D AVIDSON CRUISER, PURCHASED after his father had died. He’d used a portion of his inheritance, along with some of what he’d made from financial investments, to open the first youth center.

Lucas had tried to talk himself out of it, reminded himself again it was bad to mix business with pleasure.

But the lure of seeing Nicole Belmond was too tempting.

He probably should have called first. She’d said Christian Villard was not her boyfriend, but that didn’t mean the lady didn’t have another significant male in her life.

He had his phone in a mount on the handlebars, a map with directions pointing the way.

In St. Francisville, he turned left on Commerce, left on Ferdinand, turned right onto Old Ferry Road.

It wasn’t much farther to Belmond Place, a paved one-lane road that came to a gravel drive on the left. He slowed and made the turn.

Cruising along beneath massive moss-draped live oaks, he spotted the white-columned house ahead.

Diva. Just like in the painting he had picked up from Anne Winston earlier that day.

The historic Greek Revival mansion was in major disrepair and, at the same time, still one of the most hauntingly beautiful places he had ever seen.

He followed the gravel drive around the side of the house and pulled to a stop across from the carriage house, the place where Sean had said he and Nicole lived. Her Audi convertible was parked in a carport off to one side, so he figured she was home.

When a knock on the door produced no results, he decided to take a quick walk around, see if she was painting somewhere on the property.

Sure enough, he spotted a lone figure in front of an easel next to a quiet pond out behind the house. As he headed in that direction, he remembered a painting of the pond he had seen last night at the gallery.

Afraid he would startle her, he called out as he drew near. “Nicole, it’s Lucas.” She looked up and he kept walking. “I’m interrupting. I’m sorry about that, but after last night, my curiosity got the better of me. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Lucas.” She smiled. “No, not at all.” She fiddled with the elastic scrunchie around her shiny russet ponytail. “Sean will be thrilled you decided to come for a visit.”

His eyes met hers. “I didn’t come to visit Sean. I came to see you.”

Color rose in her cheeks. “Well … okay, then. I don’t exactly know what to say.”

“Say you’re glad to see me. But only if you are.”

A bright, warm smile slowly curved her lips. They were wide and full and tempting. “I am, yes. I’m glad you came.”

He made a point of glancing around. “No sign of Villard. Anyone else I should be worried about?”

“No. No one else.”

He relaxed a little, moved a little closer to the canvas she was working on.

One of his eyebrows went up. “Not what I was expecting to see.” It was the beginning of one of her dark paintings, a bleak gray dawn, made even more grim by the weeping willow cloaked in shadow, hanging over the inky-black water in the pond.

“Where did this come from?” he asked, turning toward her.

Nicole’s burnished eyebrows pulled slightly together. “I don’t know. I came out to paint, and when I started drawing, this is what appeared on the page.” She shook her head. “I have no idea why, but I feel like there’s something I need to find out. Something I need to say.”

She looked up at him. “I’m sure that sounds crazy. Now that I’ve seen the expression on your face when you saw the canvas, maybe I should throw it away and start over.”

Lucas’s gaze returned to the painting. It was dark, but also compelling. He wanted to know what the painting would reveal when it was finished.

“No, I don’t think you should stop. I think you need to follow your instincts. Paint what you’re feeling. Tell the story that wants to be told.”

“Really?”

“Yes. But that’s just my opinion. I’m no artist. Maybe I’m wrong.”

She pulled off the elastic band holding back her hair and shook it free, setting off ruby highlights among the softly waving strands. He wanted to run his hands through it, let the ends curl around his fingers.

“I think I’ll take a break,” Nicole said. “Would you like some lunch? I’ve got stuff for ham and cheese sandwiches. I need to make something for Sean. Might as well feed you both.”

He smiled. “All right. A ham sandwich sounds good.”

He followed her back to the carriage house. She was wearing stretch jeans and a sleeveless pink knit sweater. Her arms were firm, her bottom perfectly round in the tight blue jeans.

His groin tightened. No more doubt about the attraction. He liked the way her mind worked, but along with that, he had an almost-uncontrollable urge to strip off her clothes and bed her in the lush green foliage next to the pond.

Lucas jerked his mind back from where it hadn’t traveled in months. He was no longer a priest, no longer celibate, hadn’t been for years. But he didn’t make a practice of sleeping with a woman unless there was something more to the relationship than just a means of physical release.

He walked into the carriage house, impressed with the way she had made the place into a cozy home. It was both elegant and welcoming. He sat down on a stool at the kitchen counter as Nicole took the ingredients out of the refrigerator and set them on the counter across from him.

“How are you handling the duties of motherhood?” Lucas asked. “From what Sean told me, you’ve never been married, never had children of your own.”

She looked across the counter to where he sat. “It was difficult at first. I had no experience with kids. Sean was deeply grieving. I had no idea how to handle it. I took him to a psychologist, but Sean disliked the man, practically on sight. I tried a woman, but it didn’t go any better.”

Nicole set bread out on paper plates and spread mayonnaise and mustard on each slice. “I’m almost glad Sean got into trouble. It forced him to get the help he needed. The center changed his life.”

She looked up at him. “You played a big part in it. I want to thank you for that.”

“I can’t take the credit. It’s the counselors who do the work.”

“He admires you … admires the way you turned your life around. Your story gave him the courage to change the direction he was heading.”

“I’m honest with them about my past. At least for the most part.”

Her eyes found his across the counter. “What do you mean?”

He never went further, never told people how bad it really was, yet he found himself speaking. “I was raised in Lafayette. My family had money. After my mother left, my father lavished all his attention on me. He gave me anything I wanted. Fast cars, too much money, not enough supervision.”

She said nothing. She was no longer making sandwiches, just listening.

“Being in a gang was a high without the drugs—although drugs were often involved. I wasn’t the leader, but I was Butch’s right-hand man. I’d always been strong and athletic. I was a real tough guy back then. The worse we behaved, the better I liked it.”

“What happened? You changed schools and entered a seminary. I read that in the Advocate. Something must have happened.”

He could see it in the eye of his mind. “One night, we got into a fight with a rival gang, younger guys, not as experienced. They were trying to get street cred by taking us on.”

He looked at her, but instead of Nicole’s pretty face, he saw images of what happened that night, felt again the horror and pain.

“One of the guys in the other gang, a kid named Bobby. He was young. Should have been home with his family. Bobby got knifed in the heart. Dropped dead right at my feet.”

He heard her quick intake of breath, then felt the warmth of her hand cover his on top of the counter. He looked up to see her big green eyes luminous with tears.

He swallowed. “I wasn’t the one who killed him.

But it didn’t matter. Bobby was dead, and in a way, I was responsible.

None of us were ever caught, but I was through with all of it.

I asked my father to get me transferred to another high school.

As soon as I graduated, I went into the seminary.

I became a priest, hoping to find forgiveness for some of the things I’d done and for what had happened to Bobby that night. ”

As Lucas scrubbed a hand over his face, Nicole came up behind him. He turned and she enveloped him in a brief, warm hug.

“I’m glad you told me,” she said softly, stepping away. “I’m glad Sean has you in his life.”

Lucas shook his head. He could still feel the warmth of her arms around him. “I have no idea why I told you that. It isn’t something I share very often.”

“Thank you for trusting me.” She gave him a watery smile and mercifully changed the subject. “Sean’s outside in his man/boy cave. It’s in the building a little farther down the drive. Why don’t you go get him, bring him back for lunch?”

“After what I told you, are you sure I’m still invited?”

Her smile was wide and warm. “Absolutely.”

Lucas left the carriage house. As he stepped outside, the air felt fresher, the sun a little brighter. He had no idea why he’d told Nicole about the night that had changed his life. Perhaps because he had read the deep understanding revealed in her paintings.

Whatever it was, he was more attracted to her than ever.

He needed to decide what to do about it.

Lunch was over. Lucas was gone. Sean was back in his man/boy cave, and Nicole had returned to her easel in front of the pond.

She tried to focus on the canvas, but all she could see was Lucas, the look on his face as he’d told her the story of his past. She had sensed the darkness inside him. It was there beneath the warmth and compassion that masked the pain he still felt.

There was more to his story. She wanted to know why he had left the priesthood, why he had decided to make another life-altering change.

Along with the intriguing mystery he posed, she was wildly attracted to him. Just being near him made her heart race and her palms go damp. She wanted to see him again, spend time with him. It was a bad idea, though.

She figured Lucas must know it. She had Sean to consider. How would her brother feel if she got involved in an affair with the man who ran his school? What would the other kids say if they found out?

Add to that, she was a dismal failure at relationships. The few times she had tried had been disasters.

On the other hand, exploring the attraction she felt to Lucas might be worth the risk.

After his appearance at the gallery last night and his unexpected visit today, maybe it was Nicole’s turn to take the next step.

She could invite him to dinner during the week when Sean wasn’t at home, give them a chance to get to know each other.

But if that happened, Lucas’s honesty would require her to be equally up front. Nicole wasn’t ready to talk about her past.

She glanced down at the painting, at the gray dawn spreading over the canvas, which suddenly matched her mood.

Picking up a brush, she began making long strokes over the surface of the black pond water.

Something was emerging. Something shadowy that pulled her in.

She couldn’t tell what it was, but it seemed urgent that she find out.

Her hand trembled as the painting continued to draw her into the grim world she was creating.