the partially opened door and stepped inside. Even after five years, she still had not adjusted to the reality that every night her father slept alone and that their beloved mother was no longer with them. As the oldest girl, she’d stepped into the role of caregiver for her mother during her mother’s long illness and then the caregiver for her family—her father in particular.
“Hey, Daddy. Sorry, I got waylaid by those girls.” She laughed lightly and crossed the circular room to where her father sat on the edge of the king-size bed struggling with his cuff links. “Here, let me.” Her slender honey-toned fingers moved expertly to insert the onyx cufflinks and fasten them.
“You fix me up just like your mama, God rest her soul,” he murmured and affectionately patted Lee Ann’s hand.
The ache in his voice twisted inside of Lee Ann and settled where it always did—in the center of her heart. She leaned over and kissed her father’s cheek then sat back and adjusted his tie, turning her head right then left as she did.
Her father was one of the most powerful men in the state of Louisiana. Senior Senator Branford Lawson not only carried clout but respect across both sides of the aisle. Some of his closest friends were those who for the average person were only seen on television and in newspapers, but to her they were Aunt Hillary or Uncle Bill. At any given time, the Lawson mansion would become the epicenter for political gatherings. She remembered one day as a young girl waking up and seeing former president Carter sitting in the kitchen sipping coffee with her father.
It had been her mother, Louisa, who’d overseen the Lawson household and clan like the queen of England oversaw her country. She was the consummate Southern hostess, the nurturing but watchful mother and loyal and devoted friend. Lee Ann became the woman she was because of her mother.
Lee Ann pushed back the memories as they threatened to overtake her. With her mother’s passing, Lee Ann stepped into her mother’s role. It was a big responsibility, but she did it with love.
“Perfect,” she announced of her handiwork. “Now stand up and let me take a good look.”
Her father dutifully did as he was asked.
“Looking good, Daddy.”
He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “That’s what all the ladies say,” he teased. Then he looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. He frowned. “Why aren’t you dressed?”
Her right brow elevated. “That’s what I was doing when I was summoned.”
He pretended to miss her point. “Well, don’t stand around,” he said, flinging his hand in her direction to shoo her out. “Get yourself together. You know how I hate being late.”
Lee Ann shook her head and grinned. “Yes, Daddy.” She returned to her room, took her dress from the walk-in cedar closet and was wiggling into it when her brother Rafe came knocking.
“Now look at you,” he hummed in that tone he reserved for when he wanted something.
Rafe leaned against the frame of her door, a glass of bourbon in one hand and his other hand tucked into the pocket of his tuxedo slacks, as smooth and sleek as a panther and just as deadly to the ladies. Raford James Lawson, the eldest of the Lawson clan, was a notorious playboy not only in the United States but abroad as well, although he swore, with a wink and a smile, that those rumors weren’t true. At thirty-six, he was unattached, wealthy, handsome, smart and came from a powerhouse family. He’d been profiled countless times in major magazines as one of the country’s most eligible bachelors, sexiest man and heir apparent to his father’s Senate seat. Rafe would agree to the first two, but the last stood as a bone of contention between father and son. He’d rather spend his days traveling, loving women and playing his sax. Politics weren’t in his blood. But his father wouldn’t hear of it.
Lee Ann pursed her cherry-tinted lips and ran her hazel eyes along the long lines of her big brother. “A little early for bourbon, don’t you think?”
“Never too early for bourbon, cher,” he teased, raising his glass to her in salute before taking a sip.
“At least make yourself useful. Come zip me.” She turned her back to him and waited for his real reason for descending upon her.
“Listen, sis…”
Here it comes, she thought. “Yes, sugah, what is it?” She turned around to face him, looked up into his bottomless black eyes, framed by silky lashes, and knew without question what women saw in her brother. And no matter how much warning they were given they kept coming.
“About tonight…”
“Yes?” She buttoned the top button of his shirt then began fashioning his bow tie.
“I know Daddy wants to show me around like some prized pony and have me glad handing all night, but there’s this new blues club down in the Quarter. If I can get there before midnight, I can get in on the last set.”
His smooth face and midnight eyes literally danced with excitement and matched the almost childlike urgency of his voice.
“Rafe,” she cautioned. “You know how Daddy feels about that.”
“I know, baby sis. That’s why I need your help…to distract him while I get out of there,” he cajoled. He leaned down to her ear. “Please.”
Lee Ann playfully pushed him away. “Don’t start your foolishness with me, Rafe Lawson. I’m not one of your starry-eyed ladies.”
He chuckled. “You wound me, cher.”
She put her hands on her hips and then wagged a warning finger at him. “I’ll do this for you…again. But I’m warning you, Raford. You get yourself in any trouble tonight and you’re on your own. Understood?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He leaned down and put a sloppy wet kiss on her cheek.
“Aggg. You know I hate when you do that! Ruining my makeup. Get on out of here.”
Raford laughed on his way to the door. “Love you, too,” he called out.
Lee Ann shook her head in affectionate amusement, walked over to her dressing table mirror to inspect the damage then touched up her makeup.
“Lee Ann.”
She turned. Her younger brother Justin had his head sticking in her door, the spitting image of their mother with his sandy-brown complexion, tight curly hair and to-die-for dimples. Although he was still growing into his looks, Justin was one handsome young man.
“Daddy said if you aren’t down in two minutes we’re leaving without you. I’m to make sure you get downstairs,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes. They both knew that Branford Lawson was more bark than bite, and the last person he’d get on the wrong side of was Lee Ann.
“Coming. Don’t you look handsome?” She crossed the room and stood in front of him. Lee Ann was the only one who could make Justin blush. He, like his brother, towered over their petite sisters, and Justin, at twenty-three, beat his brother out by an inch of Rafe’s six-foot-three-inch height. By habit, she straightened his tie and smoothed her hands over his broad shoulders. “Let me get my purse and I’m ready.”
The family filed into the waiting
