Bayou Born (Fleur de Lis Series) Read online

  “Love you, too,” she grumbled. So much for beauty rest and Saturday morning freedom.

  She padded to the kitchen for coffee. At home, Greta made sure it waited in the pot, and no one ever had caffeine withdrawal. How that happened, she’d never given it any thought. Until now.

  Brewed coffee produced a deeply satisfying aroma. She carried a mug on a plate with two chocolate-covered biscotti and wished for beignets. Making a mental note, she planned to check at the grocery store. Maybe they carried Café du Monde’s beignet mix.

  Snuggled in the covers, she relaxed. The call to Camilla could wait. She wanted to enjoy the serenity of her bedroom, which hadn’t happened by accident. She’d scoured magazines and websites for just the right decorating ideas. Modern mixed with traditional, rather than only period antiques, the décor that marked every single room at Fleur de Lis. And here, she had managed it all on a sliver of a budget.

  Restless, she sat up, adjusted the covers, then sipped her coffee. Waking up slow and unhurried was luxurious. Today, there’d be no household emergencies before any scheduled event. She could even go back to sleep.

  She dunked biscotti in her coffee and pulled the plate beneath her chin to catch crumbs before biting into the biscuit. The flavors melted together in her mouth, and she savored the texture of the melting chocolate. After setting the plate back on her nightstand, she pulled the sheet over her shoulder, turned on her side, and hugged her pillow close.

  For one summer, between her junior and senior year of high school, she had freedom. She split her time between her Lind relatives, who lived on the island south of Slidell, Louisiana, and the small beach house her parents owned in Biloxi, Mississippi. After that, college, and then Fleur de Lis always took priority.

  But this was her new life.

  She wiggled her toes, and then slowly pulled her hands from beneath the sheet to examine them. The quivering tingle every time she touched James was weird. Had the lightning strike at the bookstore somehow messed up her nervous system? She’d seen something on NAT GEO about a man and his oddities after lightning struck him. But she hadn’t taken an actual hit. Plus, there was the same sensation with the other guy, the pickup one. There had to be a reasonable explanation, right?

  She traced the lines in her palm with her right index finger. She’d had her palm read once by a woman in a caftan and turban outside St. Louis cathedral in New Orleans. The woman told her things, many of which she couldn’t remember. However, though she wasn’t a palmist, a fortuneteller or a medium, pure physics told her that she and James channeled some sort of weird current. An energy. Only, it made her want to touch James more.

  “Dr. Newbern,” she corrected. They were only colleagues. She had to remember his interest in her was merely professional. His job was to mentor her, and he was only doing his job. Maybe the whole thing was a test? Maybe because this was her first fulltime teaching job, Dr. Newbern was assigned to ensure her success? Or what if her success, or lack thereof, reflected on him? That could be a problem. She had to do well at work, not only for herself, but to make sure she reflected well on him.

  James. The man had danced her off her feet. She hadn’t played coy with him. Nor made excuses about her dancing abilities. He had no way of knowing that it wasn’t her forte and that she’d failed dancing lessons 101 with a big fat F. After that, her mother had finally let her take up piano instead. She should have warned him that her dancing partners usually wore steel-toed boots. Instead, she abandoned her inhibitions and let him lead her to the dance floor. For once, she enjoyed the delight of someone asking her to dance. That was part of the new and improved Branna Lind.

  “James Newbern, Doctor James Newbern.” She chuckled. “Are you what the doctored ordered?”

  His chocolate brown eyes had glinted with humor and tried to mask pain each time she stepped on his toes. Steven would have criticized once, then endured the rest of a dance in silence, always the gentleman he was raised to be when in the public’s eye. After that, he’d make excuses not to dance with her again. It became a running joke between them. Usually Camilla or Biloxi, if she happened to be around, kept him occupied on the dance floor. That man loved to dance.

  James, on the other hand, had been patient while she swallowed her embarrassment. The most magical moment of the night—when they danced until the drummer shimmered the cymbals to close out a song. James had twirled her one last time as if she were a princess at the ball.

  But the picture fixed in her mind based on Dr. Brown’s earlier glowing remarks, and the man last night, didn’t exactly fit. She’d thought Dr. Newbern was older and conservative, the tweed-jacket type.

  She’d know more in time. Meanwhile, she had the whole weekend to herself. A luxury extraordinaire.

  Rolling over, pulling the sheet over her shoulder, she drifted off to sleep.

  Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz.

  She jumped. Wading through the fog of sleep, she grabbed for the phone.

  “Hello?” she whispered.

  “Good morning. If you change into a pumpkin at midnight, what time do you change back?”

  “Uh? What?” she stammered. “Who’s speaking?” She tried to kick her brain into gear.

  “James Newbern.”

  She sat up and clutched the sheet to cover herself, then rolled her eyes. For Pete’s sake, he couldn’t see her.

  “What time is it?” she asked dragging her fingers through her hair.

  “About ten.”

  “I won’t become human again until noon.” She stuffed another pillow behind her and leaned back.

  “Wonder if the New Rag would be interested in an exclusive on you.”

  “Huh?”

  “Well, then again, maybe they’ll think I’m the crazy one for talking with a pumpkin.”

  “Ahh, a man who jokes before noon. I knew you were too good to be true.” She clamped a hand over her mouth. Had she actually said those words aloud?

  “You thought of me, too.”

  Her eyes grew wide. Was he flirting with her? Couldn’t be. They were colleagues. Crap! How did she reply to that?

  “I’m calling to invite you for a meal.”

  “Any meal or one in particular?”

  “I’m trying to be nice. Trying to live up to the hype Dr. Brown’s been feeding you about me. If you aren’t busy, I’ll give you a tour of the town. After all, its small, it won’t take long. Then, a quick run to the college.”

  She looked at the clock. She could shower, change, and meet him at noon. She could delay painting her home office until later that afternoon.

  “It’s all about southern hospitality.” His drawl drug out every syllable of every word.

  She snorted. “Are you mocking my accent?”

  “Now, why would I do that? Why would I insult you after inviting you out? I’m trying to be professionally sociable.”

  “I’ve been here for almost month. Whenever I came to campus, you were never around. So much for southern hospitality.

  “Hold on. Let’s rewind. My peace offering is food. I feel bad we didn’t meet before, but I wasn’t dodging you. I have a busy schedule. Very tight deadline. Let me make it up to you. Lunch?”

  “Well, maybe one o’clock?” She couldn’t refuse. After all, they had to work together. No need to get off on a bad foot, especially after she had mangled all of his toes last night.

  “Do you like bar-b-que?” he asked.

  “Not so much.” Just what she needed—up to her elbows in sauce and wearing it on her shirt.

  “Fried chicken?”

  “Um, well, yes, but too many calories.”

  “Well, how about a good ol’ fashion home style meal at the Magnolia Café?”

  She’d heard it was downtown on the square where old-timers hung out and rubbed elbows with the lawyers and judges in town.

  “Perfect. I’ll meet you there at one fifteen.” She hung up before he had a chance to change the time.

  Chapter 8

  James stood back
and looked at the room. It turned out how he’d envisioned. The first of the bedrooms to be painted, he was inspired when he started, but the spark had waned, and he was glad to be done. The information he found at the paint store recommended sea-foam green for calm, but calm came only after paint covered all the walls.

  He dropped the roller into the empty metal paint tray. The clatter woke Beauregard, who raised his head as if to question the need for noise.

  “Sorry, boy. I’m done. Feel free to go back to sleep.”

  He tried to force thoughts of Katie aside. They hit him every time he entered this room. Meredith had said it had been her nursery when she was born, then transformed into a pink palace for a little girl. He’d painted it a neutral color. All elements of “girl” had been removed. Though much of his grief over Katie had settled into sweet memories, occasionally, a painful one floated to the top. It always surprised him when some little reminder of his daughter grabbed him and wrung another pain from his heart. She’d been born three years ago, and lived for only five months.

  Quite possibly, the room would’ve been hers. Would she have loved it? Had she lived, he would have painted the room any color she wanted, and then filled it with books and toys. Caroline had dumped all of Katie’s things at Goodwill after Katie died.

  He peeled off the blue tape used to protect the baseboards and moldings from wet paint. Splotches of color smeared his hands as he rolled the tape into a ball. Katie’s sweet smile danced in his mind.

  The first year following her death, he’d visited her grave each month. She rested there with other Newberns in Pine Mount cemetery, behind the church his great, great grandparents had started. The church baptized, married, and buried generations of Newberns. He had paid extra to have a teddy bear carved on the back of the headstone. To his knowledge, Caroline had never seen it. The second year, after his mother suggested he might consider grief counseling, he visited Katie’s grave every other month. During the last year, guilt had lessened, and he only placed flowers there on special occasions.

  Ching. Ching. The doorbell interrupted his thoughts. He tossed a wad of tape into the trashcan, then wiped his hands on his jeans as he ran downstairs.

  “Delivery,” a uniformed man said, as if James couldn’t see the large crate the man had perched on a dolly on the porch.

  “Sign here.” The man handed over a tablet-sized pad with a stylus attached. As James signed, the man wiggled the dolly from underneath the crate, then took back his pad and started down the steps.

  “Wait,” James called. “I need help getting this inside.”

  “Sorry. That’s not what we do. Delivery is only to the front door.”

  “Shit. How do I get this inside?”

  The man shrugged and ran to his delivery truck pulling the wheeled dolly behind him.

  As if on cue, James’ cell phone vibrated in his back pocket.

  “Hey! Wanna go skiing?” Bobby Park, his best friend since childhood, could be counted on for a good time.

  “Can’t.”

  “Whatever it is, drop it. Let’s go.”

  “Got to find a way to get my gun safe from the front porch to the study inside the house.”

  “A problem?”

  “Well, it’s not like I’m used to pushing four-hundred pounds around with no help.”

  “I’ll come.”

  “Naw. It’s too far. Besides, I’ve got other work to do. It’s not like someone’s going to steal the thing. If they try, good luck to them. I’ll call someone in town to come help me.”

  “House work or work-work?”

  He shook his head. If he said he had a lunch appointment with a colleague, Bobby would ask with whom. If he told him, Bobby would call it a date, not work-work. Then, that news would be all over two counties before he could blink, with everyone taking bets on whether or not he’d make it to the alter with Miss Lind. Why did everyone think he had to get married?

  “Work-work. The new semester starts Monday.”

  “Have fun, Professor. Maybe we’ll ski and cook a pig over Memorial weekend. I can swing by tomorrow and help you.”

  “Great.” He closed his phone as Beauregard bounded down the stairs. At a fast trot, the dog cleared the front porch in a single leap and headed for the bushes. James looked at his watch. Noon straight up. He needed a shower before heading out to play tour guide. It wouldn’t look good if he was late for the meeting—a make-up for the one he’d missed when the department chair welcomed Miss Branna Lind to the English department.

  He owed her professional courtesy, but wondered exactly which virtues Dr. Brown had extolled about him. The older man was blind to all but his better qualities. He wouldn’t want to embarrass Dr. Brown by being less than advertised. Maybe he’d call to invite the good doctor to join them for lunch?

  “Beauregard, let’s go. Back inside, boy.”

  He waited for Beau to enter and climb the stairs. Following Beau up the stairs, he trudged upward with the phone to his ear.

  “Dr. Brown,” he said when the older man answered. “I’m taking Miss Lind to lunch, then for a tour of town. Would you and Vivian like to join us?”

  “We’re on the boat on the St. Johns. Maybe next time you’ll join us? Now, take good care of Miss Lind today. We want her to stay for a long while.”

  “Got it. Meeting her at one fifteen.”

  Walking into the bathroom, he shed his work clothes. Steam rose from the shower as he stepped inside. With hot water sluicing over his body, he contemplated his colleague. That’s how he had to think of her. It was too dangerous otherwise.

  What would it take to persuade him to move, as Branna had done? Away from home and family. Or what was she leaving behind and why? Was it to escape?

  He dried and dressed quickly. Downstairs, he rubbed Beau behind the ear. “Hey, fella. You’re on guard duty, but I don’t want to find any tail brushing on the wet paint in the room upstairs. I’ll leave the music on to keep you company.”

  Hitting the button on the stereo, it sent out strains of Keb ‘Mo picking on a Dobro guitar. Last October, he’d traveled to Austin, Texas to hear the man play. The Dobro had a sound all of its own, at least in the hands a master like Mr. Moore. Locally, country music trumped the blues, but that didn’t matter to him. He’d never been one to follow the pack, preferring a solitary path, yet another reason he never dated anyone from work.

  But he’d enjoyed Branna’s company last night.

  Was spending more time with her tempting fate?

  Chapter 9

  Branna arrived early for lunch with James. She parked her car in the lot behind the café and followed a stone path between two brick buildings. Flowerbeds trimmed the buildings’ edges. She pictured a fairy world amongst the lush growing plants. Fragrance from hyacinth blooms tickled her nose. Taking in a deep breath, she allowed the scents of spring to renew her. A gentle breeze ruffled the skirt of her sundress as her flats tapped against the stone. She slipped her hair behind her ears, then adjusted her sunglasses without dropping her clutch. A perfect almost-summer day. She welcomed the new sense of freedom.

  Ahead, a large sign loomed on the corner. She paused to read about Main Street’s closure. The city’s re-urbanization project revived the old square by closing the road to vehicle traffic. Brick replaced asphalt, making the historic street a pedestrian mall with old-fashioned gaslights. Aged wooden barrels filled with pink flowers and trailing greenery lined the sidewalks, giving the place an old, country-town feel. The effect was charming.

  “Ahh, sweetness.” Aromas of frying dough lifted to her nose and triggered hunger pangs. Her stomach grumbled loudly. Two biscotti and coffee hadn’t lasted very long, but she had fifteen minutes until the scheduled appointment with James. Maybe window-shopping would take her mind off food. Maybe.

  Branna gazed down the street. Two-story brick buildings with second-floor wooden balconies covered and shaded the sidewalk below. It gave the town even more of a bygone-era feel, a familiarity after livin
g in an antebellum home.

  “Jewelry store. Children’s Shop. Lovely Ladies dress shop.” She recognized the L L logo. “Designer shoes. Bookstore. Donut shop. Bakery. The oldest Drug Store in town,” she itemized aloud. The sign advertised an old-fashioned soda fountain with malts and shakes.

  Her mouth watered as her stomach growled like an angry hound. She had no one to blame but herself. She was responsible for selecting the hour of their meeting.

  A small milkshake would stay her stomach hound. It was a short walk to the drugstore. She peered inside like she had done as child whenever her mother took her to town, only now she didn’t cup her hands to shade her eyes and push her nose to the glass. An empty counter with evenly spaced stools, bright red seats against shiny chrome, stretched the full length of the long sidewall. A man stood behind an antique cash register wearing an old-fashioned paper hat, a throwback to black and white photographs she’d seen of soda jerks from the fifties.

  Across from the counter, three rows of long shelves held twenty-first century sundries. The theme of the store might be vintage, but the items for sale were contemporary. In one of the aisles, a teenaged girl stood in front of a nail polish display with her hands folded in prayer. The earnestness on the young face touched Branna with an aching tenderness. She removed her sunglasses for a better look. Then, looked again.

  It was the girl who had run out in front of Meredith. There couldn’t be two girls in town with the thick long braids that bumped their butts, could there? She looked maybe thirteen, fawn-colored hair, peaches and cream complexion, and a pink cupid’s-bow mouth. The girl would grow into a beauty. Her flowered t-shirt hung over an ankle-length faded denim skirt that looked like hand-me-downs from the sixties. Maybe a thrift-store find. Either her parents were old hippies or she wanted to stand out in a crowd. An unusual trait when teenagers usually tried painfully hard to fit in.

  The girl unfolded her hands, then glanced around skittishly. She turned and positioned her body with her back to the cash register.

  Curious, Branna watched. The girl opened a bottle of blood-red polish, painted a swath on her pinky finger, and then capped the bottle quickly. She reached her hand away to admire her single red nail. Branna looked on with fascination, it was like watching a sweet coming-of-age movie.