Second Chance

At East Virginia University in 1969, Bishou Howard is a female Yankee graduate student in a Southern man’s academic world. It is a rough life, but no rougher than living at home. Her parents are ill, and she and her twin brother Bat (Jean-Baptiste Howard, a retired Vietnam vet) are raising their younger brothers and managing the rest of the family almost by themselves.

Because of her French-Canadian background as well as her tight budget, Bishou accepts a job as an interpreter for an attendee at a university conference. Louis Dessant, a French-speaking visitor from Reunion Island, is attractive, wealthy, lonely, and somehow vulnerable.

Why is Bishou sensing something wrong with him? What is his dark secret, and why is she drawn to him nonetheless? Is Louis’s attitude to her simple gentlemanly courtesy, or is he falling in love? Bishou finds it more and more difficult to remain professional about him. As Bishou unravels the secrets of tobacco millionaire Louis Dessant’s life, she feels drawn to him, the people who staunchly support him, and the beautiful island he calls home.

Bishou takes the risk and travels halfway around the world to see Louis’s tropical island. Can Bishou and Louis find a place in each other’s lives? Will Bishou be welcome there, or has this all been a mistake?