“Oh, my goodness. I think I know why she dresses the way she does.” Amelie’s face lit up as if she’d just discovered gumbo. “Protective coloration,” she said gleefully.
“I beg your pardon.” I should cut this conversation short right now.
“Think about it, Rusty. You and I have both studied animals in college classes. Animals adapt to their surroundings as a defense mechanism, often by changing their color or fur to camouflage them in the wild.”
“And you think Charmaine does this to camouflage herself?” Dumb, dumb, dumb. Keep this conversation going, Dumbo. If Charmaine ever hears about it, she’ll cut off my tongue… or other body part.
“More as a defense.”
“Hmmm,” he remarked noncommittally. But what he thought was, Oh, yeah. Charmaine, the Cajun Chameleon. She would really appreciate that. “You might like her if you got to know her.”
“I doubt that, Rusty. I can’t imagine anything in the world we would have in common.”
“I can’t say that Charmaine and I are alike in many ways either, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like some things about her.”
“Like what? I mean, really, Rusty, what’s to like?”
Raoul didn’t understand Amelie’s persistence on this subject. It bordered on hostility toward Charmaine, which made no sense unless… He looked at her more closely and at the hand that still rested on his thigh. Holy crap! She’s attacking Charmaine because she considers her a threat. Amelie doesn’t look at me as a friend, after all. Have I really been that blind all these years? With a sigh, he said, “Charmaine has a good heart. She is generous to a fault. Although she had a rotten life as a child, moving around so much with her stripper mom and constantly being rebuffed by a dad who wanted nothing to do with her, family is very important to her. She would do anything for Tante Lulu or her half brothers. She even treated my dad as family, and you know how unlikable he was. And kids… man, you should see her with Jimmy. She even made him meat loaf, for chrissake. And yesterday she trimmed the kid’s hair so he’d look good for his overnight trip. As for the dumb bimbo image, you have got to give her credit for two successful businesses. She’s smarter than anyone gives her credit for.”
“Well, she can’t be that smart if she lost all that money and went to a loan shark.”
Raoul was beginning to regret having filled Amelie in on Charmaine’s recent history on the ride over here. “Lots of people have lost money in the stock market since the 9/11 terrorist attack. I’d be willing to bet your dad is one of them.”
She ducked her head sheepishly, which pretty much confirmed his suspicion.
“Going to a loan shark was dumb, yeah. Her pride probably got in the way. Thought she could borrow some money and pay it back quick without anyone knowing about it. And one more thing about Charmaine, she was Miss Louisiana a few years back. Someone must have thought she had the looks.”
Raoul suddenly realized just how much he had been expounding on Charmaine’s virtues. In the course of his speech, he had stood and was pacing in front of the picnic table. Amelie was looking at him as if he’d just laid an egg. Which he had.
Mon Dieu! What is wrong with me? “Don’t get me wrong, Charmaine has lots of faults, too,” he said defensively, but it was too late.
“You’re still in love with her,” Amelie accused him.
“No! Definitely not! I wouldn’t walk into that land mine again. Uh-uh!” His protests sounded hollow, even to his own ears. “Honestly, Amelie, I’ve been wondering lately if I ever was in love with her. Or her with me. We were really young, and we didn’t even know each other that well.”
“Okaaay,” Amelie said, obviously not convinced.
“I just don’t want you to think that any decision I make regarding your generous offer of a partnership has anything at all to do with Charmaine.”
She nodded. “And I want you to know that the offer stands, regardless of Charmaine. You’re a good vet, Rusty, and I would welcome your help.”