Lulu's Café

by T. I. Lowe

  Leah did as she was told and tried not to look at Crowley. The variety of wildlife drew her attention again. She wished she owned a camera to capture the stunning river landscape.

  Crowley slowed the boat to a stop. “Look,” he whispered. He pointed over to the riverbank.

  Leah gasped at the sight of a giant alligator sunbathing on the shore, motionless. She watched intently for any movement from the ancient-looking creature and found none. “Is it real?”

  “Oh yeah. Those suckers can hold considerably still. I’ve gone past some with my boat before and returned after several hours to find them in the same spot,” Crowley said.

  “The river is like a zoo without the barricades.”

  “It sure is,” Crowley agreed.

  He continued on down the river for about ten more minutes. He then cut the motor and set the anchor. He looked at Leah and waved a hand in the air. “Welcome to my favorite fishing hole.” He scooted to the back row of seats, where he began prepping the hooks.

  Once he had both rods prepped, Crowley handed one to Leah. He cast his out from the back right side of the boat and instructed Leah to cast out from the left side, staying in her seat. That way they wouldn’t get tangled.

  They sat quietly for ten long minutes. “I don’t think there are any fish here.” Leah pulled the fishing hat off to wipe the dewy sweat from her face and then replaced it.

  Crowley kept his focus on the river. “Patience, Lee. Fishing takes patience,” he whispered as he concentrated. With one small flick of his wrist, he began reeling in his line. On the end was a good-size bass. He didn’t hoot or holler as Leah expected he would. He just grinned.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Leah shook her head. “That thing is huge.” She set her pole down to get a better look at the fish while Crowley worked the hook out of its mouth.

  “It’s a bass.” He seemed to judge the weight of it before holding it out to her. “About five pounds, I’m guessing. Here, check it out.”

  Leah cautiously took the fish. The top was a yellowy green with a fat white underbelly. “Great day. This thing is heavy.” She handed it back to him and returned to her fishing pole. “It’s my turn now.” She recast her line, hoping for a better spot.

  Crowley lightly chuckled as he placed the fish in the live well. He baited his hook and recast. He stretched out his long legs and prepared for another wait.

  Leah let out an exaggerated sigh. “I must not be any good at this. I’ve not gotten a nibble in the half hour we’ve been here.”

  Crowley set his pole down and walked over to Leah. “Let’s reset your line a little deeper, okay?” he asked. Leah reeled it in and handed it over to him. He pulled the orange bobber up a good ways and gave it back. “Now try this.” He dug in the cooler and pulled out two bottles of water and handed one to Leah.

  “Thanks.” She took a refreshing pull from the cold bottle. “I’m surprised Lulu seemed okay with this Sunday trip.”

  “Why’s that?” Crowley asked after taking a long sip.

  “Playing hooky from church seems like a no-no in this town.”

  “We can and should worship God in all we do. People who limit that to only a designated time on Sunday mornings are missing out. I see him in everything.” Crowley motioned out over the water. “Look at the splendor and wonder of this river—how it works perfectly balanced. Man didn’t do a thing to be able to take any of that credit. God’s miracles are all around us. It’s such a shame to not take the time to witness it all.” He gazed out, deep in thought.

  “Wow. I think I just heard my sermon for the day.” Leah had great respect for this statement coming from a man who very rarely missed a church service. She watched him as he slumped lower into his seat and slid his cap over his eyes before resting his hands behind his head.

  “You know, Sunday is supposed to be set aside as a day of rest too,” Crowley mused. “Now I’m gonna honor God’s wishes for a little while.”

  A few minutes passed with Crowley napping and Leah intently watching her pole. She finally felt a small pull and excitedly reeled it in only to discover her bait had been stolen. She glanced back to see Crowley with his eyes still shut and then looked at the container of worms by his seat.

  She cleared her throat and quietly called his name, but it didn’t rouse him. She hesitantly pulled the worm container over and fished one out. Taking a deep breath, she studied the worm and quickly laced it onto the hook. It wasn’t the most favorite thing she had ever done, but she managed okay—she thought.

  Leah regarded Crowley’s large, dozing form stretched out across the back of the boat. She liked having the opportunity to finally get a good look at him without worrying about someone seeing. His hair was a bit damp from the humidity and was curling up along the edge of his tattered hat. His bottom lip was pushing slightly forward, giving him that boyish look. She was pleased to finally spot an imperfection on this beautiful man—even if it was only a slight imperfection. Crowley’s nose had a small bump that probably occurred from a busted nose at some point in his precarious life.

  She tore her eyes away and went back to fishing. Leah had no sooner cast the line than it came alive with excitement. She began reeling it in with great effort. Whatever she had hooked was playing a mighty game of tug-of-war with her. “Crow!”

  He hopped up to retrieve a hand net from a hatch and jumped over to her side. “You got it?”

  She kept on reeling in the line as fast as she could while she danced around—or that’s what it felt like with the force of the tension bouncing the pole all over. She must have hooked herself a pretty big monster. “Crow! Help!”

  “Keep reeling it in. You almost got it,” he assured her calmly as he leaned over and positioned the net for a quick retrieval.

  Leah was shocked when the creature finally made its way to the surface, almost causing her to drop her pole. The thing was slick, with skin that resembled a shark’s, and had long whiskers protruding out from both sides of its mushed face. Crowley reached over the side with the net and scooped it up with considerable effort.

  “What on earth is that ugly thing?” Leah wrinkled her nose and curled her top lip while trying to shake the tremble out of her arms.

  “Lee, you just wrangled yourself about a twenty-pound blue catfish.” He patted her on the shoulder. After getting it into the live well, he reached for her pole.

  Leah placed her hand over his. “I need a break,” she said as she gasped for air.

  Crowley laughed and checked his watch. “I reckon I could feed you an early lunch now.” He pulled out a pack of hand wipes from a compartment and offered Leah one, taking one for himself. “I can’t believe you just wrangled that big ole river monster all by your girlie self.”

  “I’m not Ana,” Leah said before she could stop herself. She felt her cheeks grow hot and looked away. She hated that she’d just sounded so negative about her friend.

  “No. You definitely are not.” Crowley nudged her with his bare foot. “But you’re still a girl.” He slid the cooler to the backseat with him and patted the seat beside his. “How ’bout you join me for some lunch?”

  Leah took the seat as she cleaned her hands with the wipe. She watched as Crowley pulled out two glass bottles of Coke and opened them. He handed her one and placed his in the cup holder by his seat. He then produced two honey buns and placed them on the seat in front of him. “I’m baking us dessert,” Crowley quipped, wiggling his eyebrows. Next came two small cans of Vienna sausages and two packs of cheese and peanut butter sandwich crackers.

  Leah eyed the small can as he offered it to her. “What is this?”

  “A true fisherman’s lunch,” he said, popping the lid off his can.

  Leah wiggled a petite sausage free and took a bite. She was not expecting the super-soft texture of the salty fare. Crowley had already eaten his entire can and was working his way through the crackers by the time Leah had eaten two sausages. She decided she liked them, but not enough to eat an
y more, so she passed her half-empty can over to him.

  “You didn’t like ’em?” he asked, popping a sausage into his mouth.

  Leah opened her crackers. “I liked them . . . in a strange way.” She made a face that caused Crowley to laugh. She took a long pull from her bottle of soda, then held it up to examine the tiny shards of ice inside. “Wow. Now that’s really good.”

  “It’s the glass bottle. Cans and plastic don’t hold a candle to it,” Crowley said.

  “Lulu would definitely not approve of this meal.” Leah gestured with her soda bottle toward the honey buns that were heating in the warm sunshine.

  “Eating like this every now and then won’t do any harm.” He brushed off her worry and handed her the warmed honey bun.

  The super-sweet treat melted in her mouth, and the taste was incredible when she washed it down with the remaining soda. “You’re a pretty good cook, Crow.”

  “You ain’t seen nothing yet, Lee. Wait till you see what I’m serving you for supper.”

  “Supper?”

  “Sure. With fishing, you get to eat your hobby.” He grinned and cleared away their garbage into a small bin. He then baited the fishing hooks. “Okay, back to business.”

  The sun was starting to loom heavily above when the two decided they were fished out. The live well was brimming full of the day’s catch, and Leah felt sun-kissed and pretty satisfied that she had caught the largest fish of the day.

  After the boat was moored back in its designated spot and the truck was loaded, Crowley drove the short distance to the garage and cut the engine.

  He climbed out of the cab and motioned for Leah to follow. “Come on, Lee.”

  “What are we doing?”

  He was quiet as he walked her to the pool’s edge. An intricate flagstone patio surrounded the oversize pool, keeping company with a large stone fireplace and outdoor kitchen.

  “Do you really think we should be here?” she asked. The fishing trip had left her sticky and sweaty, and the glittery pool seemed to be luring her closer. She slid off her flip-flops and cautiously dipped her foot into the water. No surprise, it was incredibly refreshing.

  “I keep an eye on things around here,” Crowley said. “Don’t worry. We aren’t going inside.” He walked into the pool house and returned with another cooler filled with ice. By now, Leah had crouched down and was swirling her hand in the water. She looked up as he stopped beside her.

  “Nice pool.” It had been over twelve years since she had been swimming.

  “Go for a swim,” he suggested.

  “No suit.” Leah shrugged as she continued to gaze over the inviting water.

  “Just swim in your unmentionables. I won’t mind.” Crowley winked at her.

  “No thanks.”

  “Okay.” He started to walk past Leah and bumped into her just enough to send her headfirst into the pool.

  She popped up immediately. “You jerk.”

  “You know you wanted to go swimming. Now you can. No need in calling me names, ma’am.” Crowley grinned and started back toward the truck, lugging the cooler along with him.

  “Wait. Shouldn’t I help you?” she called out as she swam over to the steps to get out.

  “You want to help me gut and scale fish?”

  She released the rail and started swimming backward. “You can handle that.” She then plunged deeper into the water. When she resurfaced minutes later, Crowley was still in the same spot watching her.

  “This pool doesn’t smell like bleach,” she commented while swimming to the side where he stood watching.

  “It’s a saltwater pool,” Crowley said as he turned to leave. Once his back was turned, Leah splashed his entire backside.

  “Wow. That felt good, Lee.” He laughed and left her to swim.

  An hour later, Crowley rejoined Leah by the pool. He had washed his face and hands, tamed his hair, and put on his hat, backward. A clean shirt replaced his dirty one.

  Leah was as wrinkled as a prune but refused to climb out. “You aren’t going to join me for a swim, Crow?” she asked. She continued to do laps around the large diameter of the pool.

  He smiled watching her swim around like a kid. No one had enjoyed the pool that much in quite a while. “Maybe another time. I’m going to start cooking you supper.”

  Leah swam over to the side.

  “You can keep swimming if you want.”

  “I think I’ve swum myself out.” She pulled at her soaked clothes. “I need to start drying out some.”

  “There’s a small laundry room in the pool house. You can toss your clothes in the dryer.”

  “And be left with no clothes?” Leah crossed her arms.

  “There are brand-new guest robes in the linen closet. Come on. I’ll show you.” He grabbed hold of Leah’s hand and pulled her gently inside the pool house. “The bathroom is through that door. Go ahead and I’ll grab you a robe.” When he returned, the bathroom door had crept slightly open. Without intending to, he caught sight of a jagged scar on her hip. Another wound she had endured. With a heavy heart, he wondered if the trail was endless.

  Clearing his throat, Crowley called out, “Throw your wet things into the hall and I’ll get them into the dryer for you. The robe is hanging on the doorknob.” The wet clothes slapped him across his shoulders, pushing away his concern. The woman always seemed ready to keep things lighthearted, and he liked that about her.

  After getting the dryer going, Crowley headed to the outdoor kitchen, where he started up a deep fryer. Leah padded out to join him as he pulled out some potatoes and onions for slicing.

  She stood beside him, wrapped in the white robe, watching. “Can I help?”

  “You cook and wait on me almost every day of the week. You do a mighty fine job at it, I might add.” He looked at her. “I’d like to wait on you for a change.” Their eyes held each other’s for a moment before he focused back on slicing the potatoes and onions.

  Leah sat on one of the stools at the stone counter to watch him. “Okay. But I’m telling you, this feels pretty weird.”

  Crowley reached into a small refrigerator under the counter. “Would you like some house wine of the South?”

  Leah shifted around on the stool. “I don’t drink alcohol.”

  He held up a pitcher. “Neither do I, but I love drinking iced tea.” He poured two glasses and handed one to Leah. Once she accepted it, he raised his own. Before he could stop himself, he said, “Happy birthday.”

  Leah’s eyes widened. “How’d you know?”

  Crowley stood frozen for a moment and slowly set his glass down. “Don’t look at me all suspicious.” He played it down coolly. “When I brought the food and pharmacy stuff up to your apartment that first night, your license had fallen out of your bag. I checked it out.” He shrugged. “You know you have to renew them things when they expire.”

  “You were the one who brought all that stuff to me?” she asked, looking embarrassed.

  Crowley went back to slicing onions. “It’s no big deal, so let’s not make it one, okay?”

  “Why didn’t you tell me you knew it was my birthday?”

  “I sort of hoped you would tell me, but when you didn’t . . . there was no way I was going to let your day not be celebrated. I know you’re a private person, so I thought I could celebrate it privately with you.” He placed his hand over hers and waited for her to look up at him. “Please don’t be upset with me.”

  She gave him a smile. “I’ve had the best birthday. Thank you.”

  He patted her hand and let go. “It ain’t even over yet, ma’am.” Crowley breathed a sigh of relief. I’m a lawyer, for crying out loud, and I just gave away information. . . . Stupid . . . stupid . . .

  Crowley served up a country boy feast of fried catfish nuggets with fried potatoes and onions, along with some coleslaw and iced tea. They sat by the pool, happily eating their meal as they watched the day fade into night and the evening settle around the plantation.


  “That was delicious,” Leah said as she leaned back in her chair, propping her feet on the opposite one.

  “Glad you liked it,” Crowley said while striking a similar pose. “You know, Lulu is going to be upset with you when she finds out today was your birthday.”

  “I know. It just felt sort of egotistical to announce to her that my birthday was coming up like it was some holiday or something.” Leah shook her head. “She would know if she ever bothered making me fill out a work application.”

  Crowley let the subject go—glad it had resolved so easily. They relaxed in quiet as crickets crooned out their night serenade and fireflies sparkled gracefully over the darkened field. Neither one seemed uncomfortable with just sitting in the stillness of the silent conversation between them. When they heard the dryer buzzer sound, Leah followed Crowley inside the pool house to retrieve her clothes.

  Crowley reached down and opened the door to the dryer. Leah’s pink panties fell out onto the tile floor. Leah quickly snatched them up.

  He grinned. “I see you took care of your unmentionable problem.”

  Leah rolled her eyes and grabbed the rest of her clothes before stomping off to dress.

  By the time Leah made her way back out, Crowley had all the food put away and the few dishes washed and dried. “Wow. You work fast, Crow.”

  He shrugged and rejoined her at the table, where he’d left their glasses of tea. “I thought we could give Lulu the rest of your catfish so she can make us some fish stew one day next week.”

  Leah sat down. “Sure.” She smiled when he referred to it as her fish. “This has been a day filled with firsts.” Leah gazed at the pool.

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. First time on a plantation, first boat ride, first time fishing, first time swimming in a saltwater pool, and first time eating catfish nuggets.”

  “Wow, Leah. Where have you been all your life? Locked up in a closet or something?” Crowley laughed but stopped when he saw her expression.

  Leah cleared her throat and stood up. “Thank you for this day, Crowley. I need to be heading home now.” After a curt nod in his direction, she headed over to his truck and pulled her bike out from the back. She threw her bag into the basket and took off.