Sweet Home Louisiana: Boys of the Bayou Book 2

by Erin Nicholas

  And that, of course, made her think of Owen as well. Because that guy wanted her. He’d pulled back the other day in the office, but he’d wanted her. Hell, he’d pulled back because he wanted her.

  She understood it. She knew that if they slept together, leaving would be even harder. She knew that it would complicate things. She knew that it would mean an even bigger chunk of her heart would be staying behind in Autre. All of those things should make her want to stay far away from Owen and his magic tongue.

  But it wasn’t working that way.

  The guy had always made her think “what the hell?” She had a very bad habit of not being rational when it came to him.

  His magic tongue was not making her want to be any more sensible.

  “Hey.” Kennedy snapped her fingers in front of Maddie’s nose. “You okay?”

  She blinked. “Sorry. Tired, I guess.”

  And frustrated. By her painting. By her thoughts of “what if I stayed in Autre?” By her horniness and the fact that this town sucked away her common sense.

  “Oh, good, you’re not feeling sick then?” Kennedy asked.

  Tori leaned in. “You’re feeling sick?”

  Maddie shook her head. “No. I’m fine.”

  Josh leaned in. “You’re sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure.” Maddie frowned at them all. “Do I look sick?” Maybe she was sick. Maybe that would explain her lack of concentration and motivation for her painting. It didn’t, of course, explain the fact that she seemed to have plenty of motivation at the tour company. Or that she could concentrate just fine on all things Owen.

  “You look beautiful,” Tori told her.

  Tori was sweet. Very sweet. She and Kennedy together were a funny combination, actually. It was like the angel and devil people sometimes pictured sitting on their shoulders. Tori was a veterinarian and almost any animal could win her affection and attention over most humans. Except Josh. Tori was pretty and kind and funny and had a tendency to overreact when she was showing affection. But that just made it so she fit in with the Landrys perfectly. It was definitely how much she loved Josh that made Maddie like her so much, though. Tori adored him. And vice versa.

  “Thank you.”

  Kennedy was studying Maddie with one eye narrowed. Maddie gave her a questioning look. “Yes?”

  “You do look beautiful,” Kennedy agreed. “You look a lot more relaxed than when you got here.”

  “Do I?” That actually surprised her. She didn’t feel more relaxed. She felt…frustrated. Except that feeling had really just started two days ago. Since Owen had wound her up and then walked away.

  “You do.” Josh reached for his beer. “I’m glad Owen didn’t give you whatever he’s got.”

  For just a second, Maddie’s mind went dirty and she thought about the things Owen had that he hadn’t given her. And how much she wanted them. But then the words really sank in. “Owen’s sick?”

  Kennedy nodded. “At home tonight all by himself. Didn’t even come in for dinner.”

  Maddie was up off her stool before she even thought about it. “No one’s been over to check on him?”

  Kennedy looked over at Tori and Josh. “I didn’t go.”

  “Me, either,” Josh said with a shrug. “But he just went home a little bit ago. And he’s got all our numbers.”

  Tori nodded. “And I’m sure Ellie will check on him later, right?”

  Maddie, Kennedy, and Josh all laughed at that. Tori looked at each of them. “No?”

  Josh shook his head. “She stayed away when we were sick. Didn’t want to catch it. She has to run this place and she’s never missed a day for illness.”

  Tori’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

  “She cleans this place top to bottom with some powerful stinky cleaning solution that she mixes up herself, and she bitches at anyone who comes in here with so much as a sniffle,” Kennedy said.

  Maddie nodded. “There were always other people around to watch us if we were sick and needed to stay home from school.”

  “Ninety-five percent of the time it was Callie,” Kennedy said. She glanced at Tori. “Owen’s mom. She did daycare for all of us from the time we were born until we were old enough to take care of ourselves after school. She was a single mom and everyone just grouped around her and figured out that they could take care of her by paying her to take care of all of us.”

  Tori’s eyes went soft—Maddie swore she looked like those stuffed animals with the huge, round, sweet eyes—and she sighed. “Oh, that’s nice.”

  The thought of Callie Landry made Maddie smile. Callie had been the stay-at-home mom for them all. If they were sick, she was there. She greeted them with cookies after school. She showed up for their school programs and always went along on school field trips. She was actually the complete opposite of Ellie, her mother, in nearly every way. Which amused everyone. Including Callie and Ellie.

  “Anyway, if none of you are going to go check on Owen, I guess I will,” Maddie said.

  Ellie carried her food over just then.

  “I’ll have to take it to go, Ellie.”

  Ellie sighed. “You couldn’t tolerate these three even long enough for a meal?”

  “Your grandson is sick and I think someone should check on him.” She hadn’t noticed that Owen seemed sick but maybe it had come on suddenly. Or maybe he’d just pushed through it. It probably wouldn’t be good for business for the tour guide to act ill. Maybe he’d faked it for the sake of the tourists. Owen would totally do something like that. And that made her even more concerned. How bad was it?

  “He’s a grown man,” Ellie said, studying Maddie as she said it. “You don’t think he can take care of himself? Let us know if he needs something?”

  Maddie scowled at her. She actually scowled at Ellie Landry. “You know, I get the tough love thing and I know you actually care about all of your kids and grandkids, but once in a while it would be okay for you to show it. If you’re not going to hold hands and wipe brows, you could at least, I don’t know, make chicken soup or some damned thing, couldn’t you?”

  Ellie simply waited until Maddie was done, lifted a brow, pulled a take-out box from under the counter, and dumped Maddie’s food—the salad and the rice and beans all together—into the box. She shut the lid and slid it across the bar.

  Okay. Point taken. “Thanks.” She grabbed the box and Ellie turned and headed back down the bar.

  Maddie blew out a breath. “Shit.”

  “Wow,” Kennedy said. “So that was—”

  “Yeah, I know,” Maddie snapped. “I keep telling you all that I do things and say things here I wouldn’t and don’t anywhere else.” She sighed. “I’ll apologize to her.”

  “Tomorrow,” Josh inserted. “I’d wait ’til tomorrow.”

  Crap. She didn’t want to insult anyone. Least of all Ellie. Her second grandmother. She ran a hand through her hair. “Okay, well, I think she’d like me to leave and I get it, so I’m going to go check on Owen.”

  “Yeah, good idea,” Kennedy told her.

  Maddie thought she saw Tori elbow Kennedy in the side, but she couldn’t be sure.

  “And don’t worry about her too much,” Kennedy said. “She’s kind of pissy tonight for other reasons, too.”

  Maddie frowned. “Like what?”

  “She and Trevor had a big fight and he’s been staying at his place in New Orleans,” Kennedy said.

  Oh. Maddie wasn’t a huge fan of Trevor’s, mostly because she was a fan of Leo’s and it was weird to her that Ellie and Leo weren’t together. Even though they were kind of together. They saw each other every single day, fought like, well, an old married couple, and clearly cared a lot about one another. Maddie was positive they were still in love and she resented the younger man being in the way. But that was coming from a girl who’d missed their divorce and didn’t know Trevor at all. She’d met him once.

  “What did they fight about?”

  Kennedy shot Josh a grin. He roll
ed his eyes.

  “Trevor was trying to talk her into going to the Grand Canyon with him,” Josh said. “He’s never been.”

  “And Ellie has,” Kennedy said. “Told him she was there in 1972 and she was certain it hadn’t changed much.”

  “To which Trevor stupidly commented that he wasn’t even born in 1972,” Tori added.

  Maddie shook her head. “That really was stupid.”

  “Yeah, and then he tried to talk her into going so they could do one of those mule rides to the bottom,” Kennedy said. “Ellie informed him that she was surrounded by asses every day and she didn’t need to go clear to Arizona to ride one.”

  Maddie’s eyebrows shot up. “But she didn’t mean that like…it sounded.”

  Josh nodded. “She pointed right at Leo when she said it.”

  “Oh, no,” Maddie groaned. “That’s terrible.”

  “Well, anyway, Trevor’s been sleeping at his apartment for the past few days.”

  “And he’s pissed about not going to the Grand Canyon?” Maddie asked.

  “He’s still going. With some buddies,” Josh said. “Leaving next week.”

  Maddie didn’t know if the fight would lead to a true breakup or not, but she felt bad that Ellie was upset and that she’d been a bitch to her on top of it. “I will definitely apologize tomorrow,” she said. “But I might ask one of you to gauge her mood for me first.”

  “Good plan,” Kennedy agreed.

  Maddie picked up the box and started for the door. She’d just passed the end of the bar when she heard Ellie call to her and she turned back.

  Ellie was holding out a bottle of whiskey and two cans of ginger ale. “This is good for sore throats and coughs,” she said handing over the whiskey. “And this is good for upset stomachs.” She passed Maddie the ginger ale. “And they’re not bad mixed together if he’s extra whiny.” She shot a look at Leo. “He might have inherited that from his grandpa’s side.”

  Maddie hugged the bottle and cans to her stomach. “So mix them for him if he’s just whiny?”

  “Mix them for you if he’s whiny,” Ellie said.

  Maddie gave her a small smile. “Got it. Thanks.” Ellie loved them all. It was very obvious. Maddie had been out of line. Owen did that to her. “I’m just…” She blew out a breath. “Protective of him.”

  “I know.” Ellie held her gaze for a moment. “Take good care of him.”

  Maddie swallowed. Ellie didn’t mean just tonight. She didn’t mean soothing his sore throat—or whatever. She wanted Maddie to not break his heart.

  She simply nodded and turned on her heel before she made any promises that she couldn’t keep.

  9

  Once outside on the front walk, Maddie took a deep breath of sultry June Louisiana air. It frizzed her hair and made her feel like she was constantly sweating, but she’d already gotten used to it and had to admit that feeling the air touching her bare skin, almost soaking into her, felt better…or at least more real…than the air-conditioned air of the art gallery.

  Wow. She was getting used to everything, adapting, even liking things here. Exactly as she’d feared.

  She looked down at the bottle of whiskey in her arms. She could just take that back to Cora’s and medicate herself.

  But Owen was sick. That truly did concern her. She was going to go check on him because the only other person who might was Sawyer. He worried about everyone. Which probably meant that Owen, and everyone else, was keeping his illness a secret from Sawyer.

  Maddie turned in the direction of Owen’s house, thinking about all of the people in his life. His mom, Callie, would check on him, of course, but she was living in New Orleans with her new boyfriend, according to Kennedy. She’d apparently started dating again after Owen graduated high school. As a kid, rather than wanting Callie all to himself and scaring potential suitors off, Owen had always encouraged her to date. He’d wanted her to fall in love, not because he wanted a dad—he truly had several awesome men in his life, including her own father—but because he wanted Callie to have someone who doted on her like he saw all the other men doing with their wives. Josh and Sawyer and Kennedy’s mom and dad were a true love story and it was clear even now how crazy they were about each other. Maddie’s grandpa had been Cora’s soul mate. Maddie and Tommy’s mom and dad had been, obviously, a wild love story, too. Love—big, crazy love—was all around them here and Owen had wanted that for his mom.

  But she’d never even looked. Not until he was older. Maddie smiled thinking about Callie finally finding someone. She was happy for her. And for Owen. Kennedy said Owen really liked the guy and that made Maddie happy. Owen was as protective of his mom as he was everyone else and her being happy would make him happy.

  Maddie found herself standing on the sidewalk in front of Owen’s house a few minutes later. Nothing was very far from anything else in Autre, and nothing Landry was very far from Ellie’s at all. Maddie took a deep breath. She was just here to check on him. This wasn’t anything more than that. It wasn’t a booty call.

  He was sick. He couldn’t very well booty call with her while he was hacking and coughing. Or puking. She didn’t really know what was wrong with him, but whatever it was, if it was enough to keep him from Ellie’s, it was enough to keep Maddie’s clothes on.

  “You comin’ up here or what?”

  His voice came to her in the darkness and she jumped, gasping out loud. “Holy shit, you scared me.”

  “What are you doin’ just standin’ out there?”

  She headed up the walk. “What are you doin’ out here?”

  “Sitting on my porch, having a beer, and enjoying the night.”

  She frowned as she climbed the steps to his porch. “You are?”

  It was dark, more so on the porch, but she could see he was sitting on the porch swing, swaying gently, one foot crossed over his opposite knee, a beer resting on his bare foot. He was wearing athletic shorts and a T-shirt, looking completely relaxed at the end of a long work day. And not sick.

  “You’re feeling okay?”

  “Yeah. Just enjoying some quiet time.”

  She propped the bottle of whisky on her hip. “You like quiet time?”

  “Well, if you hadn’t noticed, the airboats are kinda loud. As are the tourists. And, of course, my family. So yeah, I like quiet time once in a while.”

  Maddie felt herself smile. She personally loved quiet time and it was a small thing to have in common maybe, but she liked that he appreciated it, too. Or maybe it wasn’t so small. In a typical day at the art gallery she had a lot of quiet, but since coming to Autre she’d found herself feeling like she needed it. It recharged her and then each morning she was ready to go back to the dock. That was interesting, too—in spite of the hubbub that surrounded her at Boys of the Bayou, she was ready to go every morning. Huh.

  “You have to lie to people to get this quiet time?” she asked him, taking a step closer to the swing. Maybe he wasn’t sick and was just wanting to be alone. Did that mean she should go?

  “Nah. No one uses my front door, so I’m safe up here in the shadows,” he said.

  “Why don’t people use your front door?”

  “Usually they’re bringin’ food or beer or something over so they come in through the kitchen,” he said. “And everyone cuts across the yards. It’s closer than comin’ around front.”

  She’d followed the sidewalks so had naturally ended up in front, but what he said made sense.

  “Everything okay?” he asked when she didn’t say anything for a few seconds.

  “Yeah. I—” She looked down at the stuff in her arms. “I brought you stuff.”

  “Stuff?”

  “Yeah. Depending on what you need. I’ve got whiskey and ginger ale.”

  “What’s in the box?”

  “Uh…red beans and rice. And salad.”

  “That for me, too?”

  She shook her head. It wasn’t really for anyone now that it was all mixed together. “M
y dinner.”

  “So why whiskey and ginger ale?” He seemed amused.

  “For your throat, cough, or stomach. Again, depending on what’s going on.”

  He stretched an arm out along the back of the swing, angling his body more toward her. “What would be going on?”

  “Kennedy and Tori said you’re sick. I came to check on you. Your grandma gave me this stuff to help.”

  There was a beat of silence and then he chuckled softly. “Ah. Well, I guess I don’t know what best treats typhoid.”

  Maddie froze. “Wait. What?”

  “Typhoid is kind of a stomach thing from what I understand.”

  Typhoid. Right. He had typhoid. Supposedly. Maddie groaned. “Those bitches,” she said softly. She shook her head. “So everyone knows about that? You know about that?”

  “That you told some girls that I had a very contagious, and kind of disgusting, disease to keep them off my boat?”

  He said boat with the same inflection the girls had used and Maddie felt herself frown.

  “Yes, I know about it,” Owen said. “I also know that you don’t get typhoid from rats. That’s bubonic plague. Or rabies.”

  “You looked it up?” she asked.

  He grinned. “I just knew it.”

  Thankfully those girls hadn’t.

  “And rats? In my house? Really, Maddie?”

  She tipped her head back. “Oh my God. Kennedy and Tori and Josh knew I’d come over to check on you if I thought you were actually sick. They totally played me.”

  He chuckled again. “Well, I’m not gonna deny that you showing up to make sure I’m okay makes me feel a lot better. But then, so did you getting jealous enough to scare some girls off.”

  She could argue. She could insist that it wasn’t jealousy. That she’d been concerned for some other reason. But he wouldn’t believe it. Because it wouldn’t be true. “Why did I come up with a stupid story like that, though?” she asked. She set the box down on the floor of the porch but carried the whiskey and ginger ale to the swing. She sat next to him. “Because you make me crazy,” she said, answering her own question.