Give Me Fever

by Karen Anders

  “Yes, he did.” She held the folded paper in her hand.

  “Then let’s look at it and go find the treasure.”

  She nodded. But made no move to unfurl the map.

  Tears pricked at the back of her eyes. The captain looked at her expectantly.

  “Something wrong?”

  “No, I can’t do this right now.”

  “What do you want to do?”

  Tally sprinted to the door of her town house, opened it and sped to the phone.

  13

  CHRISTIEN WAS JUST FINISHING up his shift when the police captain called from his office.

  “Castille, get over to number one Court du Chaud.”

  Christien came alert. He recognized the number of Tally’s town house immediately.

  “What’s up, Cap?”

  “There’s been a robbery.”

  Christien used his siren to get over to Tally’s town house as fast as he could. He took the stairs two at a time and opened the door as soon as he heard her say, “Come in.”

  He entered the foyer and saw her standing at her kitchen counter.

  “What happened?”

  “Someone stole my heart.”

  His body responded to that provocative voice, even while he wondered what she was up to.

  “Who?” he asked, playing along.

  “You.”

  “Is that so? When I heard about a robbery here, I guessed someone might have stolen your important map.”

  “This map?” She held it up. “I learned that some things are so much more important than money.” With those words, she set the map into a bowl and, with the lighter she used for candles, set it on fire.

  “Tally!” Christien jumped forward, but it was too late, the old paper had already burned to ash.

  There was a sudden ringing tone that settled throughout the house. And he realized what she was saying.

  She came around the counter and wrapped her arms around his neck. “The map doesn’t mean as much to me as you do.”

  What had changed and why? He intended to find out.

  Ever since she’d walked out of his office yesterday, he’d been distracted, his mind constantly thinking of Tally and wondering if he’d pushed her too hard and fast for a commitment. Wondering if he’d lost her for good because he wanted and needed her love like he needed nothing else in his life.

  And now here she was, taking the first step to contact him when he’d believed it was over between the two of them.

  He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. “What about the Blue Note and your plans?”

  “You mean my wonderful dreams? I’ll continue to save my money and hope that another lucrative property comes along that I can buy.”

  “Tally, what are you saying?”

  “I made a terrible mistake.” Regret infused her soft voice. “I was wrong not to embrace your love, so very wrong. I’m sorry if I caused you any pain.”

  “It’s all gone now.” A slow smile curved the corners of Christien’s mouth and he ran his hand through her loose hair.

  “I’m so glad,” she breathed, smiling with eyes full of passion and, dare he hope, love.

  “Circumstances might have brought us together, and this affair has been more than I ever could have expected, but when I’m with you, I feel like I’ve finally found the other half to my soul.”

  Christien’s hand stilled in her hair. His heart beating fast in his chest.

  “I knew I had to trust my feelings for you,” she said, a vulnerable catch to her voice.

  He pressed his forehead to hers. “And now?”

  “I’m ready to take a chance on you. On us.”

  “That’s no sucker bet,” he said. Adrenaline and elation pumped through Christien. “What changed your mind, Tally?”

  “I opened my mother’s letter and through her words, through my own soul-searching, I found the courage to forgive her for leaving me, for all the things she’s done in my life that have made me so fearful, because it’s also made me the person I am today and I’m proud of the woman I’ve become.”

  That revelation pleased him; it was high time she recognized what he already knew. “Ampère-heure, chère, bon pour vous.”

  “It is good for me. You’re good for me,” she said, her brown eyes shining with hope and affection and confidence.

  She held his gaze, her expression glowing with the kind of promises he longed for with this woman. “I love and trust you, Christien Castille. With my heart and soul, all of me.”

  She led him upstairs to her bedroom.

  They came together in a deep, heartrending kiss. When he finally lifted his head, they were both breathing hard and he couldn’t wait to get inside of her, be a part of her. He removed his shirt and then stripped off hers as well. She wasn’t wearing a bra and he cupped her breasts in his hands, caressed her nipples with the brush of his fingers over the hard tips.

  Closing her eyes, Tally sighed blissfully and arched into his touch. “I’m so sorry for what I put you through.”

  “It was all worth it. I love you, Tally. I want to be everything for you. I’m so happy that you let me in. I’ll be there for you. I promise.”

  “I’ll be there for you, too.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his mouth to hers in a silent confirmation of their need for each other. He laid her back on the bed and their kisses grew more passionate, more insistent and impatient as they fumbled with their clothing, until they were both naked and unbearably aroused.

  He moved over her, settling between her thighs, feeling her hot and wet against his shaft. So ready for him. But he didn’t enter her, not just yet. For the moment, it was enough just to have her beneath him, the tip of his erection sliding against her lush sex.

  She pressed a hand to his jaw and smiled tenderly at him. “Move in here with me, Christien. Stay with me always.”

  Growing serious, he finally slid into her, a perfect fit, and gave her yet another promise to believe in. “I will. Truth be told, with you here, Court du Chaud feels like home to me.”

  GABRIEL DAMPIER STOOD in the kitchen looking down at the map Tally had burned and still couldn’t believe it. She’d chosen love over ambition. Stated it out loud. Said she loved Christien. He was halfway there; he felt just a bit lighter, a bit more insubstantial.

  “You’ve succeeded without even trying, Gabriel. Half the curse has been broken. Now you’ll be turning your interest to Bree.”

  “Let me celebrate in this triumph first, crone. Besides, as I told you, I gave up trying to coerce her into falling for the private eye.”

  “You manipulated her brother into taking the map. You whispered in her ear that she should confide in the man. I’d say you did your share.”

  “She also collected my artifacts, argued with a museum curator, and tried to get me my rightful place in history. These things I never asked for, yet she has done them.”

  “She’s a strong and deserving descendant,” the woman acknowledged.

  “She is worthy of the treasure.”

  “It’s a shame she’ll never be able to claim it.”

  Gabriel didn’t answer.

  THE NEXT MORNING, Tally pulled Christien out of bed to cook for her. “Come on, I’m starving.”

  Down in the kitchen, he started one of his favorite Cajun breakfast dishes. A Cajun cereal made with cornmeal. “Coche-coche is popular around my house. You’ll need to practice eating it.”

  “Why? Will there be a test later?”

  “As a matter of fact there will. My papère will be very impressed if you can eat it without choking. Anyone who has ever eaten coche-coche more than several times has gotten a little down the wrong pipe.”

  “I’m looking forward to visiting your family.”

  “All in good time, chère.”

  After it was cooked, he poured milk on it and set it in front of her. Taking a bite, she said, “Yum.”

  Christien saw something out of the corner of his e
ye. When he turned his head, a man stood between Tally’s living room and her kitchen.

  “Who the hell…?”

  Tally’s head snapped around and she choked.

  “Do you see him?” Christien asked her.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Don’t tell me….”

  “Captain Gabriel Dampier. Christien Castille.”

  Christien swallowed hard when the captain inclined his head.

  After a moment, the vision started to fade in and out. The captain stepped forward. “I don’t know what’s happening, but it looks like I’m out of time. Tally, the treasure is under the piazza.”

  “What?”

  “My treasure, all of it, is under the piazza. I built it myself with my own hands and I buried all my treasure underneath.”

  “Oh my God! I thought you couldn’t remember.”

  He gave her a cryptic smile. “Enjoy it, my sweet girl and remember me.”

  “I’ll never forget you.”

  And he was gone.

  IT TOOK TALLY WEEKS to get permission from the New Orleans historical society to dismantle the piazza with the strict understanding that every stone would be replaced exactly as it had been built. In between that time, she’d talked to Chuck at the Blue Note and had found out that the buyer who had wanted the club had pulled out. Chuck said if she wanted the Blue Note, it was hers.

  Now she had the permission in her hand to take apart the piazza. The press had gotten wind of the possibility of Tally finding Dampier’s horde and they were out in force, surrounding the piazza with cameras bristling.

  It took hours to clear away a fourth of the rock and as the captain had said, his treasure lay before her for the taking. Cameras whirred and a great murmur went up amongst the onlookers. With trembling fingers, Christien standing stoically at her side, Tally used the key she’d found to open the chest. Tally lifted the lid. A starburst of golden light stabbed Tally’s eyes as the metal caught the sun. There was a collective gasp, but tears pricked Tally’s eyes. It wasn’t the doubloons she saw, it was the strategic plans haphazardly placed over the gold that was the real treasure.

  She reached down and picked them up. There in Gabriel’s sprawling handwriting were his notations and signature, and below that were Jean Lafitte’s name and signature.

  Tally turned and threw her arms around Christien. “I’ve got proof,” she cried. “I’ve got it.”

  Two nights later, Tally, Christien and all their friends and family were packed into the Note. She’d persuaded Christien’s father to cook for her and their guests and to make the temporary position a permanent one.

  Later, after all were sated with food, Chloe came up to Tally and nudged her shoulder. “Told ya so.”

  “Still being a smarty-pants, Matthews?”

  “In my nature.”

  “Looks like the Court du Chaud love bug has bitten me after all.”

  “I don’t think that little devil is done yet,” Chloe said. “So, is it everything I said it would be?” Chloe bumped her shoulder again.

  “More,” Tally agreed, looking at Christien with love filling her soul. “So very much more.”

  “Looks like you’ve gotten everything you dreamed of.”

  “Dreams. They’re wonderful things.” She had gotten her due way beyond her expectations. Mark was going to a wonderful college to study music, she’d arranged for a wing in the museum for the captain and set up a society in his name to help anyone who wanted to attend college.

  The treasure she’d found had totaled in the millions, but it wasn’t the cold hard cash she’d cared about. Helping other people realize their dreams was now Tally’s focus. She’d been so blessed with the Blue Note, a place to celebrate food and music with tourists and New Orleanians alike.

  Christien’s suspect had been convicted of the attempted robbery, but evidence had been discovered against him in a rash of robberies in Baton Rouge and he was going to stand trial there.

  She’d talked to a pirate ghost, battled with a grandmother ghost, found a hidden treasure, forgiven her mother and in the process set her own heart free to love and be loved.

  Then there was Christien. Beautiful, wicked, tender Christien. All she would ever need or want in a man.

  “Now all we have to do is get Bree hooked up,” Chloe said.

  Tally searched for her sister and found her talking to Christien across the room. She could only hope that her sister would find the kind of happiness Tally now enjoyed.

  But that would be her choice and her journey. Tally realized that the captain had had something to do with pushing her and Christien together by having Mark take half the map. She had to wonder if the captain had something in mind for Bree, too.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an accordion. Christien’s father stood up on the stage playing a Cajun dance tune. Soon Mark was at the piano banging out the rhythm and everyone got to their feet and danced.

  Christien found her then, his dark eyes filled with the passion and love they both shared in their hearts.

  He took her hand and pulled her onto the dance floor and she laughed so hard, tears rolled down her face when her brother started playing the Jerry Lee Lewis song, “Great Balls of Fire,” using his feet to play the piano and belting out the words.

  When Mark finished his rendition and took his bows to a clapping, laughing crowd, he stood up and started clapping, too, calling out Tally’s name.

  Tally took the stage of her very own place, rich in much more than currency. She met Christien’s eyes as he sat comfortably sprawled at one of the tables. The band started up and Tally sang to him, her eyes never leaving his. She sang of fever and longing, her voice thick with it. She had the experience to go by.

  In the years to come, that fever would never dim as long as she had Christien by her side.

  When the song ended, Christien walked up to the stage and took a black box out of his pocket. Getting down on one knee, he captured her eyes and in front of everyone said, “Tally, will you marry me?”

  “Yes,” she said simply as everyone clapped. Courage, she thought, was facing your fear and knowing what was worth it.

  He slipped the ring on her finger.

  This was so very worth it.

  Thank you, Gabriel, she said silently and thought she heard his deep voice reply, You’re welcome. She looked into her future husband’s face and whispered as she embraced him, “Christien, I love you.”

  Epilogue

  CAPTAIN GABRIEL DAMPIER WALKED across the courtyard, his step much lighter as he made his way to Café Eros.

  He turned to look at the twins who had emerged from their respective town homes, Tallis and Breanne Addison. He watched them walk toward the café.

  Just recently, he’d had the opportunity to view both their auras, which were lifeless pewter-gray, a gray heralding the sad fact that true love had never touched their beautiful souls.

  Now Tally walked and talked with animation, her aura a gorgeous blue shot through with red. A woman with happiness and passion in her soul. A woman who loved and was loved in return by the simple act of forgiveness.

  In her ability to offer that forgiveness, she’d given him part of his redemption. His eyes shifted toward Bree, her aura still dull pewter-gray.

  It was time for him to turn his attention her way. It was time for Breanne to find her own love. It was time for him to go to his eternal peace.

  All he had to discover was who would be the right man for her. This man would have to be strong to handle one of the Addison twins, strong in character, mind and body. Nothing less would do for one of his descendants.

  But he had no worries. Bree would choose her own man.

  And he’d just give her a little push into love.

  ANNABELLE GUINEVERE DUBOIS also stood and watched the twins move across the court. Her heart softened when she saw the look on Tally’s face. These women who so reminded her of her beautiful Madeleine. Perhaps she could find it in her heart to forgive
the pirate for what he’d done.

  “No,” she said, her voice hardening. “I’ll not go all maudlin because one of my precious descendants has been foolish enough to fall in love.”

  She focused on Bree. Gabriel wouldn’t be free until Bree found her true love.

  She intended for that never to happen.

  No matter what it took.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-5754-6

  GIVE ME FEVER

  Copyright © 2005 by Karen Alarie.

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

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