Beauty and the Bayou

by Erin Nicholas

“Oh, more. For sure.” Yes, she tended toward the macabre, but she could keep it under control, for the most part. Liquor changed that.

  He nodded as if that was the right answer and gave another almost-smile.

  He took his hand off the door handle for a moment, seeming to be pondering something. Not going in? Not confronting his family and partners?

  “You do wear your seat belt, though, right?” he asked.

  “Of course. Unless I’m driving near water.”

  He opened his mouth to reply, but she cut in. “Just kidding. I wear my seat belt and always carry a multi-tool.”

  Sawyer seemed surprised, but she was certain he knew what a multi-tool was. A guy who lived and worked on the bayou, fishing, hunting, and boating for a living, probably had one of the handy metal tools that included everything from a knife to a can opener to scissors in one of his pockets at all times.

  “What if you can’t reach your purse when you’re in the car and it’s goin’ under?” he asked.

  The what-if from him made her smile. “I don’t keep it in my purse when I’m driving.”

  “What if you can’t reach your pocket?”

  “I don’t keep it in my pocket, either.”

  “Okay, where do you keep it?”

  “In the front of my bra.”

  His eyes, predictably, dropped to her breasts—okay, in fairness, to the front of her bra that she’d just mentioned—then came back to hers. “Oh? Think you can always reach that?”

  “I think I could shimmy it up to my mouth and then drop it to a hand if I couldn’t move my hands for some reason.”

  His gaze went back to her chest and she knew he was trying to imagine that.

  Yes, she’d practiced it. It took a lot of shimmying and some hunching and great neck range of motion, not to mention a certain bra, but it was doable.

  “I don’t have it in there right now, if you’re wondering,” she said, after a few seconds of him studying her breasts.

  “Oh, I was definitely wonderin’,” he said, his drawl a little lower and longer.

  She wondered what else he’d been wondering about. “I’m not driving right now,” she said, as an explanation.

  “You had it in there on your way down here?”

  “There’s a lot of water around here.”

  He just nodded, seemingly accepting that explanation. “Right.”

  “I know that seems like I’m a huge worrier.”

  “Just seems prepared to me.”

  She gave him a big smile. “Thank you.”

  Then he blew out a breath and grabbed the door again.

  “Well, as prepared as you seem to be for bein’ down here, I don’t think you could really be ready for what’s about to happen.”

  Juliet felt her eyes widen. “What’s about to happen?”

  “You’re about to meet my family.”

  She relaxed a little. “Oh, I’ve met them, remember?”

  He gave a short laugh. “Uh, no. Not even close.”

  Then he pulled the door open.

  It wasn’t even eight a.m., but the building was seemingly full of people. And it was loud.

  There was conversation and laughter, the clinking of silverware against plates, bowls, and cups, and the morning news coming from the two TVs mounted on the wall.

  But all the noise stopped, except for the TV, as everyone in the place turned to look at them. Juliet felt completely conspicuous, as if someone had just shined a spotlight on her. She swallowed hard and gave the room a wobbly smile.

  The place looked like a shed on the inside, too, but a shed that had a hodgepodge of paraphernalia on the walls—from a New Orleans Saints poster to a banner that read 1992 B League Fast Pitch Champs to a variety of photographs hung in mismatched frames. The only pattern to the wall décor seemed to be “stick it up wherever.”

  The room was full of tables and chairs, had a few booths on the west wall, and a wide wooden bar running along the east wall. Clearly there was more to it than this one room—there was a set of swinging doors that seemed to lead to a kitchen and an alcove at the back that likely led to restrooms—but it seemed very much like it had been a simple square building and whoever owned it had slowly added stuff to it as needed.

  The tables and chairs didn’t match, the light fixtures didn’t match, most of the bar stools did, but where the majority were covered in black vinyl with silver legs, there were three oddballs. One had a cherry red seat with silver legs, one had a blue seat with black legs, and one had a bright yellow seat with each leg painted a different color. All of the stools were occupied.

  Even on first glance, it seemed that the people inside the building were also a mishmash of styles and ages. Seemingly, everyone was in blue jeans and T-shirts, a few in flannel. There were only three women by Juliet’s count. Two sat at the far end of the bar and even they were a mix of styles. One, a pretty brunette, wore cutoff shorts and a baby blue T-shirt, and her eyes widened when she saw Sawyer and Juliet come in, giving them a big smile. The woman next to her was in a black tank, black skirt, black combat boots, and heavy black makeup around her eyes. She looked curious, even dropping her one foot from where it had been propped on the bar to sit up straighter. The only other female was behind the bar. She had snow-white hair that hung in a long braid down her back, deeply tanned and wrinkled skin, and bright eyes that Juliet could feel taking in every detail about her. She was also wearing a T-shirt that said: IOWA, for some reason you have to come here to be President.

  “This is a restaurant?” Juliet asked Sawyer, nearly whispering. The entire place had gone quiet when they’d stepped in.

  “My grandma’s place,” he said. “It’s mostly a bar, but they do food, too, and seems everyone in town comes in for breakfast before heading out for the day.”

  “Well, damn, Kennedy,” the man perched on the bright yellow covered stool said. “Guess you’re gonna have to be the next kid in the family to walk in here with a hot girl now that Josh, Owen, and Sawyer have all done it.”

  “I’ll see what I can do, Grandpa,” the woman with the goth look called back.

  “My sister, Kennedy, and my grandfather, Leo,” Sawyer said to Juliet.

  “I’m…” Juliet wasn’t really sure how to describe what she was at the moment.

  “I completely understand.” Sawyer put a hand at her lower back and nudged her further into the room. “Let’s get this over with.”

  “This?”

  “Them gushing all over you.”

  “They’re going to gush? They don’t even know me.”

  “That won’t keep them from it. I’m pretty sure they know a lot about you,” he said dryly.

  She let him lead her into the room. “They do? You didn’t.”

  “I’m probably the only one. I’m also sure that was very intentional. My family is a lot of things, but good at keeping a secret is not one of them. Just because they didn’t tell me you were coming, doesn’t mean they didn’t blab all about it.”

  Oh boy.

  Sawyer stopped in the middle of the room, his hand still on her lower back, and Juliet found herself inching closer to him for some reason. He smelled good. That was certainly part of the reason. Oh, and this incredibly intimidating collection of characters who was looking at her like she was about to say something astoundingly important and extremely entertaining.

  She wasn’t. Not at all.

  “Everyone, this is Juliet Dawson. Juliet, this is most of my family and a good portion of the work force in Autre, Louisiana.”

  “You already made her put a life jacket on?” Sawyer’s grandfather asked him.

  Sawyer moved his hand from her back to tuck it in his pocket. “This is how I found her.”

  The older man swiveled on his stool and looked her up and down. “Those hip waders yours?” he asked.

  Juliet nodded.

  “How about that hard hat?”

  She nodded again. They didn’t need to know everything was only about two days
old. Truth was, she probably should have owned a hard hat a long time ago.

  The man shook his head slow and gave a low whistle. “Wow.” Leo looked at Sawyer. “Don’t think I could have described your perfect woman until I saw Juliet here.”

  Juliet’s eyes widened. “Oh, no. I’m here to—”

  “We know why you’re here, honey,” the older woman behind the bar cut in. “Let’s just say the life jacket is kind of a cherry on top.”

  Juliet opened her mouth to reply but Sawyer sighed.

  “I’m sincerely offended that you all thought it would be this easy,” he said to the room at large.

  No one replied, but there were several looks exchanged.

  “What would be this easy?” Juliet asked him softly.

  He looked down at her. “Distracting me.”

  Juliet lifted a brow. “Distracting you? From what? With what?”

  “From being on their cases. And with you,” he said.

  His voice was lower and a little husky suddenly, and she felt another shiver dance down her spine. After a long moment, he lifted his head and looked around.

  “I’m kind of a hard-ass and I worry too much and I harass them—according to everyone here anyway. If I told them about the potential to accidentally hang themselves with a rope off the edge of the dock, they would just roll their eyes.”

  Juliet looked around, too. “But that’s a pretty serious risk.”

  “The chances are about a million to one. Maybe more,” Sawyer said, looking at her again.

  “Still, there’s a chance.”

  He gave her a smile that almost tugged that other corner of his mouth up. “Exactly.” He glanced at the group again. “But they don’t see it that way, so they recognized the perfect opportunity to get my attention on the new girl traipsing around my boat dock with an electric saw she doesn’t even know how to use.”

  Juliet opened her mouth to protest but the truth was, she did have an electric saw and she did not have any idea how to use it. It was still in the box.

  “I’m sure they’re imagining me following you around and giving you detailed instructions with drawings on a white board and begging you to wear safety goggles.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “You carry a white board around?”

  “I would if I thought it would make someone listen.”

  “I have no intention of not listening,” Juliet said. “But I don’t need white board drawings and I already have safety goggles.”

  “Exactly,” he said. Like before.

  Then he gave her another very pleased look, but this time with a nearly full smile, and for a second Juliet found herself staring at his mouth. Damn.

  “They know me very well,” he said. “But they didn’t plan on you.”

  He seemed almost triumphant. Like maybe he’d won a round with his siblings and partners.

  She wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but she liked that he was smiling about it.

  “So how much do you know about building a boat dock?”

  “On a scale of one to ten?” she asked.

  “Sure.”

  “Five and a half.”

  He gave her a slightly amused look. “A half?”

  She shrugged. “I’ve done some research. I know the best woods to use for boat docks, I know that the closest place to rent a backhoe is Newton, I own an electric saw and safety goggles. But never having used that saw probably only gets me a half.”

  His eyebrows were nearly to his hairline. “You’re going to rent a backhoe and then do what with it?”

  They were just going to move past the never-used-a-saw-thing then. Okay by her. Juliet shrugged. “Dig stuff up. Move debris. Move dirt around. I haven’t gotten into the details of that.”

  “I can drive the backhoe,” Leo piped up.

  “No.” Sawyer shook his head. “Nobody’s driving any backhoes. I’ll handle any heavy machinery that’s needed.”

  Juliet fought a smile. Looked like his siblings did know him. If they wanted him distracted, all she had to do was throw around terms like “backhoe.” Imagine if she’d just had one delivered like she’d considered.

  “I’ve driven a backhoe before,” Leo told him.

  “You have a bus to drive,” Sawyer said. “Isn’t that enough?”

  Leo shrugged. “I mean, you can’t dig shit up with a bus.”

  Juliet grinned. It was obvious these people loved teasing, and teasing Sawyer seemed like fun. “What about pile drivers?” she asked. “I know that we’ll need those.”

  Sawyer groaned. “Definitely not. Good lord, if you can’t even take a video of the underside of the dock without almost breaking your neck, I can’t let you near heavy equipment.” He pointed a finger at her nose. “Don’t look anything else up about large pieces of construction equipment. I don’t want to hear about dump trucks or anything from you.”

  That was fine with her. She had no desire to drive a back hoe or a dump truck. She nodded. “I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.”

  “I like the sound of that.”

  For some reason, a wave of heat rolled over her at that. Why did the things Sawyer Landry said sometimes sound dirty?

  “You’re really going to help with it?” Kennedy asked.

  “With the big stuff,” Sawyer said with a shrug.

  “You’re really going to take a couple weeks off to hang out and…nail stuff?” Kennedy pressed.

  Juliet gave the other woman a quick glance. She hadn’t meant that the way it sounded, surely. Juliet looked up at Sawyer.

  He had simply lifted one brow at his sister. “Seems likely at some point.”

  That definitely sounded dirty and Juliet shook her head. What was wrong with her?

  “Really?” Kennedy’s expression shifted from sly to surprised.

  “Watch this,” he said. He looked down at Juliet. “I guess I could let you drive the backhoe. That could be something that might come in handy sometime.”

  Juliet did not want to drive a backhoe. Her usual lack of coordination already had her nervous about things like power tools and sharp edges, honestly. A piece of heavy machinery that was often used to knock stuff down? That was not a good idea.

  “Yeah, but what if I end up taking out one of the other docks and then we have to rebuild two?”

  Sawyer gave her a satisfied grin. “Exactly.” He looked at Kennedy. “I think it’s going to be okay.”

  Ah, they’d just played the Yeah, But game. Juliet felt like she’d just passed some quirky test.

  Kennedy looked downright stunned now, but she nodded slowly. “That’s…great.”

  “Okay, time for a partners’ meeting,” Sawyer said, looking toward the back table where Owen and Josh Landry were sitting with a couple of other guys.

  “Oh, good,” Ellie said. “Cora!” she called. “Partner meeting.”

  “No,” Sawyer said, steering Juliet toward the bar. “I’ve got something better for you.”

  “Oh?” Ellie asked.

  “Her.”

  Ellie’s eyes lit up as she focused on Juliet. “I can feed her and ask her everything I want to know?”

  Juliet looked up at Sawyer and saw him nod. “Yep.”

  She turned wide eyes on Ellie, who looked like Sawyer had just given her a shiny new toy for Christmas.

  “Juliet, this is my grandmother, Ellie. Ellie, this is Juliet.”

  He nudged Juliet forward, and the men at the bar, in a seemingly choreographed move, all shifted one stool over, leaving an empty one dead center.

  Juliet dug in her heels instantly.

  Sawyer noticed her resistance and gave a low chuckle she could feel at her back almost more than she could hear it.

  “Smart girl to be cautious around this bunch,” he said, his voice low. “But once you taste Cora’s sourdough bread with her strawberry-rhubarb jam, you’ll be thanking me.”

  “Cora?”

  “Ellie’s best friend and business partner. She does most of the cookin’.”
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  “Okay, now, for fuck’s sake, let’s get you out of all of…that,” Ellie said, waving her hand up and down to indicate everything Juliet was wearing. “I’m sweatin’ just lookin’ at ya.”

  Come to think of it, she was a little hot. “I don’t have any shoes on under these.” The guy at the sporting goods store had told her she could buy this kind, with the built-in boot, or buy the kind that went over boots—and then buy the boots separate. She’d thought these seemed easiest, but they didn’t fit as well as she’d like. Her right ankle was a little wobbly sometimes, especially on uneven terrain, so she was going to have to be careful in them. Once she took them off, though, she’d be without support at all. She rarely went barefoot and the bayou seemed the last place to start.

  “That’s okay,” Ellie said. “The health department won’t cite us if you go barefoot in here for a bit.”

  Juliet hadn’t even thought of that. “You sure?”

  “The last time the health department was down here was 2004,” Leo said. “And the guy said he’d forgive anything as long as he could have a third helping of Cora’s red-eye gravy and grits.”

  Well, okay then.

  Juliet braced a hand on the stool to remove her boots. She always liked to have something solid nearby in case she wobbled. She was really very steady and rarely had falls. If she got tired or too hot or was sick with the flu or something, she noticed her weaker right side more and had to be more careful, but most of the time she was fine and no one around her could tell she had about thirty percent less strength on her right side compared to her left. But she was always prepared and didn’t push her luck. Standing next to solid objects when she would be partially balancing on one foot was just smart.

  Juliet pushed the top of the left boot down first, keeping her right foot booted and therefore more stable. It wasn’t until she’d pulled her right foot out of its boot that she noticed there was very little conversation going on around her. She looked up to find everyone watching her. Was she doing something wrong? Was there a wrong way to take boots off? She glanced at Sawyer. He was also watching her, unblinking, a weird look on his face.

  Juliet glanced down. What the hell? She was wearing shorts and no socks or shoes, as she’d told them. She figured out quickly that the boots would be a hundred times more comfortable with socks on and would definitely add them next time, but the guy at the store hadn’t mentioned that. She looked back up to Sawyer, frowning slightly. “What are you staring at?”