They finally rolled to a stop in front of a small bar and convenience store that looked like it had been there for the last fifty years. In the dim light of the one streetlight, you could see the weathered wraparound deck that surrounded the small building. A boat dock and a few houseboats dotted the shore.
“Turtle’s Bar,” Grace said as they dismounted. “Sounds like Snapper’s.”
“It does,” Gabe said. “Wanna go in and have a drink?”
“Maybe tomorrow. I’m exhausted. Can we just get a couple to go?”
“Of course. Wait here if you want, and I’ll be back with drinks and a key.”
“Sounds wonderful.”
As Grace waited, she wandered the wraparound porch and out behind to the covered deck. Through the open window of the bar, she could hear the small crowd inside. Their voices mingled with the Lynyrd Skynyrd that played on the jukebox.
After dark, there wasn’t much boat traffic at the dock, but there were a few lights on the houseboats. The smells of Cajun cooking and BBQ floated on the breeze. Stars dotted the dark night sky.
“You ready?” Gabe said as he walked up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her close to him. When she leaned back into his embrace, he placed a light kiss on the top of her head.
“It’s gorgeous here,” Grace said.
“Yes, it is. The one to the far right is ours for the night. You wanna go check it out?”
“I do.”
Hand in hand, they walked down the dock to the small houseboat that was anchored there. Gabe unlocked the door and let them in. The houseboat was quaint and cozy, in true Cajun camp fashion. It was open, only the bathroom separated from the rest. No big city frills here, there was a small kitchenette and two beds covered in blue bedspreads. The walls were decorated with pictures of fishing, catching fish, or bodies of water.
Gabe set their bags down on one of the beds, then crossed over to where Grace was standing. He took her hand. “Come see.”
He led them through the door and out to the back deck.
The swamp stretched out in front of them. The water slapping against the boat and the chirp of crickets and other night creatures were the only sounds. The old cypress trees were dark shadows in the moonlight.
“Gabe, it’s perfect.” She turned to face him, and as she did, he lifted her chin to meet his kiss. It was a slow, gentle exploration. As his hands circled her waist, her hands wound their way up his back. Tender at first, the kiss became more demanding. Her hands roamed his back. He tangled his hand in her hair.
Finally, breathless, he leaned back, smiling. “Damn.”
She grinned back. “I agree.”
He took her hand and led her to one of the lounge chairs. He sat back and pulled her down, to cradle her in his arms.
“We’re going to need to talk eventually,” Grace said.
“I know,” he agreed. “But not tonight.”
“You’re leaving though.”
“I am. But I told you, I’m coming back. You aren’t getting rid of me that easily.”
Grace tucked her head under his chin. When she rested her hand on his chest, he threaded his fingers with hers. His other arm wrapped around her, holding her tight against him.
As she yawned, he kissed the top of her head. “Sleep, Grace.”
Closing her eyes, Grace smiled.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Grace
Grace was back on the beach, watching the flames devour those sheets. The air around her was as cold as the bottle of champagne in her hand.
In her other hand, she held pictures. Photos of her singing with Brent on stage. She took one last look at them and threw them on the fire too.
Grace watched the pictures curl up and melt away. Watched the sparks from the fire float up and away, disappearing into the dark night sky.
***
Grace took her normal spot on the houseboat. She hadn’t met with Noah the last few days. Not since her beach breakdown and her getaway with Gabe. But she needed it, her dreams were still haunting her, as evidenced by that morning’s nightmare. Gabe and Ryder were still leaving. Their goodbye party was tonight in New Orleans. Grace wasn’t going. As bad as she wanted to, she had the homecoming float to tend to that night. And it was New Orleans. Grace wasn’t sure she was ready for that yet.
What a wonderful night and morning she had spent with Gabe. She had woken up as the sun came out, still in his arms. When she stirred, so had he. They had made coffee in the small kitchenette, then spent the rest of the day exploring the area. They had brunch at a wonderful place in Breaux Bridge that featured a Cajun band. Grace had danced and eaten more than she had in weeks.
They had taken the long way home, through the coastal towns of Morgan City and Houma, avoiding I-10 and the traffic on the basin bridge.
He had dropped her off at Joey’s, and after a long, lingering goodbye kiss, had gone to his own house.
She heard Noah approach and waited for him to appear. Soon, he popped his head out through the sliding glass doors. Two mugs in hand.
“How did you know?”
“I just did.”
“Yeah right. You probably just made two cups anyway.”
Noah laughed. “Maybe so.”
“You guys still going to New Orleans tonight?”
“Yeah. It was Carly’s idea. I think she just wanted to go to New Orleans. The rest of us are going along for the ride.”
“Should be fun.”
“I think so.”
“We’re going to miss you in New Orleans,” Noah said.
“I can’t go, Noah. Not yet. And I have this homecoming thing.”
“I know. You’ll get there eventually.”
They looked out at the horizon for a while, sipping their coffee. Finally, Grace asked the question that had been gnawing at her since she woke up.
“What do you think it means when your nightmares start changing. Mine are different now.”
“I think it means that you’re learning how to heal. It means you’ve stopped running.”
“Do you think they’ll ever completely go away?”
“No. But they’ll eventually lessen in frequency. And you’ll figure out what triggers them, and that will help. Important dates, something you see on TV, a memory, those things all mess with my head.”
Grace took a sip of her coffee and considered his answer. He was right. Until that morning, she hadn’t had a nightmare since her beach episode. She attributed it to exhaustion, but maybe it was the float tonight, the music, that triggered the dream.
She nodded and smiled, staring out at the rising sun. “You know, Noah, I think I’m going to be okay.”
He reached out and placed his hand on hers. “Yes, you are. Now, one more cup of coffee?”
She held out her cup. “Yes, I need it.”
***
At the lot where the homecoming floats were parked, Grace walked past the other classes’ and organizations’ floats and the convertibles that would carry the queen and the rest of the court in all their finery. Much to her students’ amusement, Precious Mouton had not won her bid for queen, despite her “recruiting” efforts.
The students had done a great job. Grace never would have been able to do this on her own. She didn’t have a decorative bone in her body. The bottom was covered in black vinyl. The students had cut out and painted flames that rose up from the base. Two huge guitars crossed in the middle, surrounded by more flames. Rock On was in neon letters on the banner. The students riding would all wear costumes from popular acts of the day like Vanilla Ice, Gun’s N Roses, and Prince.
At the last minute, Grace had decided against the conservative slacks and shirt and pulled on the black skirt she had worn often on stage. She had pulled on her silver sequin tank, and huge silver hoops adorned her ears. She even teased her hair, just a little bit. She wasn’t going too overboard.
She looked down at her outfit and the black high heeled boots. She played with the char
m bracelet around her wrist.
Gabe, she thought as her fingers touched on the angel wings.
“Well, if it isn’t our little songbird,” came Officer Mouton’s grating voice from behind her. “This theme seems to fit you.”
“What are you doing here?” Grace asked as she turned to face him.
“It’s my job to check all the floats for safety before letting the kids ride them. Especially your little band of rebels. I’ll be checking this float for contraband.”
Grace stiffened. He was not going to insult her kids. “Leave my kids out of this and get on with your job. Go on,” she said when she saw his eyes lingering on her for just a little too long.
“Nice outfit,” he said. “Did you wear that on stage with Brent? He still talks about you. He tells me things. And I’ve heard our little songbird has lost her voice.”
Grace looked down at the bracelet again. She smiled at Noah’s Semper Fi charm.
“I really don’t give a damn. About Brent, or even you. Why should I care what some small town bully with a badge talks about? You can kiss my ass if you think I spend one moment even thinking about you. Much less talking about you. I have better things to do.”
“Ms. Delchamp! Get ’em!”
Shit, the students. Grace turned to see a group of them standing behind her.
To hide her embarrassment, she took a big bow with a flourish of her hand. The students clapped then got busy exclaiming over each other and their costumes. They took pictures together, some took pictures with her.
As the students filed in, so did parents, many exclaiming over the float. Some stopped by Grace to tell her how good everything looked.
“Great job,” one parent told her.
“Thank you,” Grace said.
“Ms. Delchamp. Are you aware that we have a strict faculty dress code? I would never get away with wearing a skirt like that.”
Grace slowly turned her head toward the speaker, eyebrows raised at the catty tone.
“Excuse me?” she asked, not surprised to see Ms. Benoit and her husband standing there. Mary’s eyes were wide with saccharine sweetness.
“I just meant, I could never wear a skirt like that.”
Grace cut her eyes sideways again.
Mary started to open her mouth again. “Don’t get me wrong—”
Grace snapped.
“Oh, I got you all right,” Grace said. “Maybe if you would wear a skirt like this every now and then, your husband wouldn’t be looking at me like he wants to see what’s up mine.”
Mary’s eyes widened as she inhaled a deep breath. “Well, I never.”
“That’s right. You never! But maybe you should. Life is about living, and enjoying it.” As soon as the words came out, Grace knew she was done with this job. At this point, if she was going down, she was going down in the proverbial flames. She was done with hiding. She was going to live again.
“Guess what?” she asked loud enough for the kids milling around to hear. “Looks like your Ms. Delchamp will be performing on this float. Let’s load up, kids. It’s time.”
She hiked her skirt up a wee bit more and went to the DJ stand manned by Mr. Benoit.
“I’ll take that mic,” she said.
While he readied the music and the float began to roll, Grace took the red lipstick she often wore on stage out of her bag and applied it. She added a dash of lip gloss and teased her hair a bit more for good measure.
When the first song began to play, Grace felt a flash of fear. She nodded her head in time with the introduction. Then, when it was time for the vocals, without hesitation, Grace began to sing.
The kids went wild. Two even jumped up to be backup singers. Grace handed them a mic. Phones came out as students started snapping pics. Grace smiled as members of the faculty and some parents glared at her from the crowd. She winked at Ms. Benoit, who had taken a sullen seat beside her husband.
Grace finished the parade and handed the mic over to one of the students standing behind her. After a few more pics and hugs, she smiled, waved, and walked away. She was going to New Orleans. She was going to go find Gabe.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Grace ducked into the popular French Quarter bar. It was a Friday night and the place was already close to full. She made her way through the crowd, past the worn mechanical bull that some drunken tourist was about to take a turn on. Carly and crew were stationed by the DJ booth, the front of an old red car. The DJ was positioned behind the windshield. Another guy walked through the crowd with a mic, walking out of the bar and onto Bourbon Street to entice customers inside, occasionally holding the mic out for customers to sing along with the song.
Carly, Joey, Emily, Noah, Kevin, and Gabe were nestled in the corner. Ryder was leaning against the railing of the bull riding area. He had a beer in one hand, his long, lanky form bent down, one leg resting on the bottom railing. Grace grinned, knowing he was smiling. Later, she was sure, he’d have his try at the bull, after a few people had been thrown. He would wait until he had a full audience, preferably full of good-looking women.
She walked up behind him and placed her hand on his back. He turned slowly, and seeing her, he rewarded her with one of his smiles.
“I thought you had that parade thing?” he said.
Grace laughed, and he smiled back. He leaned down and kissed her forehead.
“It’s been too long since I heard that,” he said.
“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later.”
“You bet your sweet ass you will.”
He lit a cigarette and took a long drag, looking her up and down. Satisfied that all was finally well with her, he winked. “Gonna join me on that dance floor later?”
“You bet. We got to show these tourists how it’s done.”
“You’re damn right.”
“Let me go say hello to the others,” she said. “To Gabe.”
He gave her another quick peck on the forehead. “Good deal. Try to talk Carly out of that fool idea to ride that damn bull.”
Grace laughed. “Yeah right. I’ll just get my camera ready.”
Carly’s eyes widened in surprise as she saw Grace walk up. “Grace, what are you doing here?”
Grace smiled at Carly, but her eyes never left Gabe’s. Her heart beat faster as she saw his face light up when he spotted her.
“It’s a long story,” she said.
Carly pulled a stool up and patted it. “Have a seat. I wanna hear all about it.”
She sat next to Gabe, whose hand immediately reached for hers. He leaned in close to whisper in her ear, “I’m so glad you came.”
“Not right now, but soon,” she said to Carly. Then whispered back to Gabe, “Me too.” She squeezed his hand.
“Okay. Wanna shot?”
“Why not? We’re celebrating tonight.”
“Celebrating? Is there something else you aren’t telling me?” Carly asked, raising a brow.
“I’ll tell you later. I thought you were getting those shots?”
“Right. I need that liquid courage anyway. I’m gonna ride that bull later.”
Grace just shook her head. Once Carly got an idea in her head, it was almost impossible to change her mind.
Carly left to order the round of shots, and Grace greeted the rest of the group. Instead of returning to the stool Carly had pulled out, Grace went to stand beside Noah, who was there with Kevin, leaning back against the bar like he did. Never would Noah have his back to a room. He always had to see what was going on.
“You’re leaving, aren’t you?” he asked, taking a sip of his beer.
She nodded. “I am.”
“With Gabe?”
“Yes.”
He nodded and smiled. “Good. You telling the others?”
“Not yet, but soon. I probably should tell Gabe first.”
Noah laughed, then said, “Yeah, probably so.”
“You going to talk your sister out of riding that bull?”
“Of course
not. I’m smarter than that.”
After greeting Kevin, she asked him, “Are you thinking about running against Jacque Mouton in the next election?”
He nodded.
“Good,” Grace said. “If you do, I’ve got some information for you. It’s time those Moutons paid for their actions.” Grace was going to sing like a bird on Brent and Denis Mouton.
“I agree.”
Carly’s voice rose, and they looked over to see Joey and her in a heated argument. Joey’s stance was tight, his features rigid. Grace shook her head on that one. She’d already tried to push the two together to no good result. It was up to the two of them to find their own way.
She rejoined Gabe at the bar. She sipped the drink he pressed into her hand, and looked at these people who had meant so much to her the last few months. For all her life really. If she didn’t have them, who knew where she’d be right now.
A spirited country song started playing, and Ryder was by her side, hand extended. She took it with a smile, and he led her to the dance floor.
The song was a fast one, as were their steps and twirls. Grace followed Ryder’s complicated shuffling steps to the beat, the quick twists and turns leaving her half dizzy, breathless, and feeling more alive than she had since the festival in Lafayette.
Soon, the two had attracted the attention of the bar and the DJ.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have some real dancers on the dance floor. Check them out.”
The crowd in the bar formed a semicircle between the dance floor and the mechanical bull area. Some clapped along with the beat, and some hooted in appreciation.
Grace’s smile widened when she heard Carly’s whistle over the sound of the crowd and the music.
The song ended. Grace and Ryder turned to the crowd, giving a breathless half bow. Grace walked back to the group at the bar, knowing Ryder would want to stay behind and talk to his new groupies.
As Grace walked up, Carly was doing a shot. She slammed the plastic glass down on the wooden bar. “It’s settled. I’m doing it.”
Joey shook his head and sighed. “Fine. Find Ryder. That’s his arena.”
Running On Empty (Fleur de Lis Book 2) Page 17