Crazy Rich Cajuns

by Erin Nicholas

  “You’re keeping her out of the kitchen at least some of the time, aren’t ya, Cora?” Owen asked.

  Cora gave him a wide-eyed innocent look. “Who?”

  Owen sighed. “Never mind.”

  Cora turned away, but not before Bennett caught her smile. So the Landry women also banded together. Another thing that was good to know.

  Sawyer pushed his plate away without even sampling anything. “You do have to fix this. That’s why we came to talk to you. Beyond the coffee and breakfasts and lunches, it’s now going beyond the family. Earlier today I had to smooth things over with a customer because she asked him if he’d ever fucking heard of Google when he asked her a question about the airboats,” Sawyer said.

  Oh, boy. Bennett ran a hand over his face. For the past few months everyone, especially Kennedy and Maddie, had been the ones doing damage control with customers when Sawyer had overreacted and been an ass. Now that Juliet had come to town, Sawyer was getting back to his usual, fun, laid-back self. But it had been rough there for a while.

  And now Kennedy was the one pissing customers off? He was sure the guy’s question had been innocent enough. Or maybe he’d been flirting with her. In which case, Bennett was fine with her being bitchy. But…no, he wasn’t. This was their business and she was the main one to interact with everyone. She needed to cool it. At least with the customers.

  “So tell me how to fix it,” Bennett said. “I’ve tried apologizing. I’ve tried talking to her and explaining. I’ve tried getting her to talk to me.”

  “Talk?” Josh asked.

  “Seriously?” Owen added.

  Bennett looked at Sawyer. “What?”

  “Landrys don’t really talk,” he said, lifting a shoulder.

  “That has not been my experience,” Bennett said dryly. It wasn’t just Leo who could go on and on and on. Nor did they have to be drunk for that to happen.

  “Nah, when it comes to big stuff, we show it,” Owen said.

  Josh nodded. “And you’re gonna have to make it big. That’s how we do stuff. Big. Loud. Like jackasses.”

  Bennett sighed. “I don’t have a lot of experience with that.”

  “We can definitely help you there.” Suddenly Leo was there, turning a chair around and straddling it, leaning onto the back of it as if to impart some great wisdom.

  Well, Bennett could use some of that. Kennedy wasn’t talking or listening. “So, how do I do this?” he asked.

  “It’s like when Tori stood up at her best friend’s wedding and declared her feelings for Josh in front of a whole congregation of people,” Owen said. “The hardest thing for her was putting herself out there with her emotions and risking that they wouldn’t be returned or that she’d made a fool of herself.”

  “Or,” Sawyer said, “When Maddie did the one thing she most did not want to do and got on an airboat, went out on the bayou, and pulled a gun on a gator for Owen.”

  Josh nodded. “Or when Juliet faced her fear of the water and went out on a tour with Sawyer and then hung off the end of the dock to rescue Gus.”

  They were all nodding.

  “You have to do something that’s huge. Even if it’s just huge for you,” Owen said. “You have to show her how you feel.”

  Leo made a snorting sound and Bennett looked over. “What?”

  “Did you notice the thing that all those stories had in common?” he asked.

  The guys all looked at each other.

  “Yeah,” Josh said. “Someone putting themselves out there for the person they loved.”

  “Yeah,” Leo echoed. “The girls putting themselves out there for you dumbasses.”

  Josh opened his mouth but then seemed to think about it and shut it again. Owen said, “Yeah, but…” He didn’t, however, finish that statement.

  Finally Sawyer looked at Bennett. “Yeah, maybe we don’t really know what to tell you.”

  Bennett sighed. Leo laughed.

  “I guess I just…” He looked around the table. He thought these guys really might get this. “Every couple needs a Leo, right?”

  No one looked confused. But no one said anything, either.

  “There has to be that one who is ready and able to build the life. Who can take care of things. Who gets stuff done.”

  Josh shrugged. “I think Tori and I figured that out together. Hell, we’re still figuring it out. We just know we want to be together. But we both take care of things. And each other.”

  Owen nodded. “Us, too. I’m maybe a little steadier than Maddie, but since she’s been back, she’s been pretty damned solid on what she wants. I think we’re maybe both Leos.”

  Bennett shook his head. He’d been making this case in his head and heart all along. It had to make sense. “But someone has to be the rock. The one who has it figured out. That one who knows who they are and what they want and can let the other one be the dreamer and the risk taker…” He trailed off. All of those words swirling through his head. “Holy shit,” he said a second later.

  Leo nodded. “There you go.” And he reached for a fry.

  “What?” Owen asked, looking from Bennett to Leo and back. “What is holy shit?”

  Leo looked at Bennett. “You got it?”

  Bennett nodded, feeling his heart pounding.

  “What?” Owen asked again.

  “I’m the Leo,” Bennett said.

  Leo grinned and grabbed another fry. Clearly, he wasn’t worried about what Kennedy might have done to it. Sawyer tentatively took his lead and also reached for one.

  Owen shook his head. “You’re the Leo? What the fuck does that mean?”

  “I’m the one who’s figured out what he wants. The stuff I’m doing might seem like a dream and a risk, but…it’s really not. Not for me. I know how to get it done. I’m the one who wants the steady, predictable stuff. Who doesn’t want the spotlight or the headline and can just be behind the scenes. I can be the rock.” He looked at Leo. “Right? Kennedy needs to be the Ellie.”

  Leo just smiled.

  Owen nodded. “Oh. That. Sure.”

  Bennett looked at him. “Really? Just like that? It’s obvious?”

  “Of course. We’re all that for our girls.”

  Josh nodded. “Yep. We’re…”

  “Home,” Sawyer filled in. He met Bennett’s eyes. “Our girls came here, needing something. They found it here with us. I mean, they balance us out, too, and give us plenty. Hell, Juliet’s already home to me.” He got a goofy grin on his face that Bennett would have never believed if he hadn’t seen it himself. “But yeah, we gave them a place where they could settle.”

  “It’s confusing,” Josh added. “Because Kennedy was the one already here and you’re the one who came in. But yeah. Now you’re gonna be the one she comes home to and that helps settle her.”

  Bennett swallowed hard. “She’s always seemed settled.”

  Owen snorted and finally gave in, reaching for a fry. “Nah. I mean, she’s always here but that’s not the same as being settled. Being content. Knowing that you’ve found your place. She hasn’t had that.”

  Bennett marveled at how laid-back these men were even when discussing big, deep issues like this.

  “That’s why she’s always turned me down when I’ve wanted her to do more with the business. Maybe buy in. Or go to school and get a degree. Or anything. She knew that Autre and Boys of the Bayou wasn’t everything she wanted,” Sawyer said, happily digging into the shrimp as well.

  Apparently, Kennedy hadn’t made this food. Or at least she hadn’t messed with it. Bennett wondered if that meant she was moving past the tormenting.

  “You tried to get her more involved here and she always resisted?” Bennett asked.

  “Sure. She’s as much a part of Boys of the Bayou as any of us. But she didn’t want to take more on officially. I think maybe she always knew that there’d be a time when she’d want to try something else.”

  Bennett blew out a breath. “This might not work out. This m
ight not be what she wants.” He wasn’t sure how he felt about it all, actually. Did he want Kennedy to become a successful politician? Could he be a politician’s spouse?

  But the answer was easy. Of course he could. Whatever Kennedy wanted, he’d be there.

  “It might not,” Leo agreed. “And that’s what Leos are for. To be the place you come home to no matter what happens.”

  “You think Kennedy will end up coming back and settling down again here eventually?” Bennett asked. For some reason that idea bugged him. He didn’t want her to settle for less than what she truly wanted. And he wasn’t sure he could just wait around for her to try all this new stuff out the way Leo had for Ellie.

  But Leo laughed. “No. That girl’s not coming back. At least not for good. Not back to the life she has now.”

  Bennett shook his head. “So…what do I do?”

  “Remember what I told you about the four categories of men in her life?” Leo asked.

  “I do.”

  “Be the fourth kind.”

  Bennett frowned. “The category you’re in?”

  “Yep. The one who simply hands her the tools she needs, keeps her company while she’s taking care of what she needs to do, and makes her push herself harder than she thinks she can.”

  Bennett stared at the older man. Slowly he started nodding. Yeah. He could do that. He could be Kennedy’s Leo.

  Kennedy felt her grandmother move in beside her.

  “You know I’m not going to let you keep ruining my food,” Ellie told her, plucking the clove of garlic out of her hand.

  “I’m not doing anything to the customers’ food,” Kennedy said. She’d never do that.

  “Yeah, well, I can’t have my customers sitting around listening to the guys complain’ about their food. It’s gonna start to rub off.”

  Kennedy set her spoon down. “I know it’s immature.”

  “It is. But if Bennett wants to have a life down here with you, it’s better he find out up front what it’s like when you’re not happy,” Ellie said, grabbing the spoon and bumping Kennedy out of the way with her hip.

  “I’m not always like this,” Kennedy said, abandoning her spot and leaning back against the counter next to the stove.

  “No. You’re very rarely scared,” Ellie said. “But when you are, look out.”

  Kennedy frowned. “Hey. What? I’m not scared. I’m mad.”

  Ellie looked over, her expression a mix of affection and Come on, girl. “You’re scared.”

  Kennedy crossed her arms. “I’m hurt. Bennett doesn’t think I’m capable of being something more than what he’s seen here in Autre. And he doesn’t want me to be anything else. He wants me to just be the receptionist at Boys of the Bayou and sit around in the office waiting for him to come flirt with me and take me on big fancy trips when he has time or a reason to go. He’s going to go out and make the world better and save the environment, while I’m supposed to sit here and answer the phone and order stuffed alligators and dust the fucking shelves.”

  It wasn’t until Ellie stepped in front of her and lifted her hands to wipe the tears off her cheeks that Kennedy even realized she was crying.

  “Of course he thinks that. Because that’s what you’ve been doing. Happily.”

  Kennedy sniffed. “He should think I can do more.”

  “It’s not that he doesn’t think you can. He didn’t know you wanted to.”

  “But—”

  “Because you didn’t know that until you went to Savannah.”

  Kennedy wanted to protest that, too. But she couldn’t. She sniffed again.

  Ellie cupped her face. “And now that you do know it, you’re scared. Because you can’t ignore it anymore.”

  Kennedy swallowed hard. “I don’t want to ignore it.”

  “You do. Ignoring it is easier. I know.” Ellie dropped her hands and took a deep breath.

  Kennedy watched her grandmother return to stirring the bisque she was making. She wasn’t sure she wanted to get into this. But she wasn’t sure she could resist.

  “I’ve been telling myself that I was afraid of being Leo. The one who just put up with everyone else’s bullshit. The one who lets everyone take him for granted.”

  Ellie smiled and nodded. “I know you’ve been telling yourself that.”

  Kennedy chewed on her bottom lip, watching Ellie. But Ellie didn’t go on.

  This fucking family. When you wanted them to shut the hell up, they wouldn’t. When you wanted them to talk, they wouldn’t.

  “But you don’t think it’s true,” Kennedy said.

  “Of course not.” Ellie looked at her. “You’re afraid of being me.”

  Kennedy had almost been expecting that answer. It still made her take a quick little breath of surprise.

  But she let the air out quickly. She’d realized this at some point over the past four days. Being back in Autre after the trip to Savannah had made her feel itchy. She’d felt restless and, yeah, pissed off. Because as she sat in front of the computer, answering the phone, interacting with the people the way she always had, she’d started to feel discontented. And that made her mad. She wanted to just be fine in Autre. She wanted to just be there for everyone else.

  But now she knew there was more. She could do more.

  She loved Boys of the Bayou. She was proud of it. It was a fabulous company run by people she loved with all her heart.

  But she could do more than answer phones.

  A fact that she’d been happily ignoring for a while now. A couple of years, if she was honest.

  Now she couldn’t ignore it anymore. Now she’d gotten a taste of the more. And now she was unhappy. Mad.

  But not at Bennett. Not exactly. Yes, she’d been a little hurt by his surprise that she was going to start working with Charles. But she’d realized what Ellie had just said out loud on her first day back in Autre. Bennett had been surprised by her interest in politics.

  But not as surprised as she’d been.

  And she was mad at herself.

  She didn’t like feeling insecure and restless. She’d liked feeling like she was the Leo of the group. The settled one. The wise one who saw the big picture and could appreciate the simple things in life. The one who was there to help support everyone else.

  She wasn’t Leo. Not deep down.

  She was Ellie.

  “Do you know why I’m scared of being the Ellie?”

  Ellie paused, then took a deep breath. She gave the pot another stir and then set the spoon to the side. She turned to face Kennedy.

  “Because I upset everything and everyone when I decided to change things up.”

  Kennedy nodded. “But that’s not all of it.”

  “Okay.”

  “Because it didn’t work out.” Kennedy took a deep breath. “You upset everything and everyone. But we…adjusted. Kind of, at least. And then—” She shrugged. “It didn’t work out. You came right back to where you started. It was all for nothing.”

  “Oh.” Ellie moved in close. “Honey, is that what you think happened?”

  “Isn’t it?”

  “No.” Ellie gave her a small smile. “Not at all.”

  “You…were with another guy.”

  Ellie nodded. “Trevor was…mostly a mistake. But he was a mistake I had to make. I just made it…out of order.” She shook her head. “I didn’t make a lot of mistakes…” She frowned, as if thinking. “I didn’t make any mistakes before I met Leo.”

  Kennedy tried not to laugh, but she couldn’t hold back the soft chuckle. “Seriously?”

  Ellie grinned. “Seriously. Mistakes are what happen when you try new stuff and take chances. I didn’t do that before I met Leo. So, I started thinking that maybe I hadn’t lived enough before I settled down. Because I hadn’t done anything big and crazy and hard on my own. So I took those classes in New Orleans and met Trevor and made new friends and—”

  “Classes?” Kennedy interrupted. “What classes?”

  �
��I took those business and marketing classes. At the community college. Oh, and the burlesque classes.”

  Kennedy shook her head. She’d known about Ellie’s fascination with burlesque and had even gone to one of the clubs in New Orleans with her a couple of times. “You were taking college classes?”

  “Yeah.”

  “But…” Kennedy frowned. “You didn’t change anything in the business afterward?”

  “I didn’t.”

  Kennedy frowned. “Why not?”

  “Because I learned that I liked what we were doing and how we were doing it.”

  Kennedy shook her head. “So…”

  “Okay, I know that sounds like that was another thing I tried but then ended up in the same place I started.” Ellie moved in and took one of Kennedy’s hands in hers. “But that’s not really true. I realized that if you never do anything new, you never learn anything. And learning things changes you. Even if those things aren’t what you intended to learn. You’re never the same after an adventure, Kennedy.” She tapped a finger over her heart. “In here you change. And in here you change,” she said, tapping her temple that time. “I had to learn some things—make some mistakes—on my own. I thought.” She gave a soft laugh. “The thing is, once you have Leo Landry in your life, you’re never really on your own again.”

  “But I’m not Leo. I’m you.”

  “And now you can try new things and learn new things and have some adventures,” Ellie said. “Because your Leo is finally here.”

  Kennedy instantly felt her eyes stinging with tears. She sniffed again. “I’m not sure Bennett wants to be Leo.”

  Ellie laughed outright at that and squeezed Kennedy’s hand. “Bennett wants to be Leo badly. He just didn’t have an Ellie. Until now.” She leaned in and kissed Kennedy’s cheek. “I love you, girl. And now it’s time for you to go out and make some mistakes.”

  Kennedy laughed and sniffed. “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah, you haven’t made a lot of those in your life yet.”

  Kennedy had to admit that Ellie had a point. “I’m scared.”

  “I know. Good thing Bennett will be there for you.”

  Kennedy gave Ellie a hug. “Okay.”

  Ellie nodded. “Okay.” Then she moved back to the stove. “And of course the rest of us, too.”