by S. M. Butler
“Not dat way. Scrape dat egg mess in de can for pigs.” Grann said.
Luke shot Ysabeau an incredulous look. “You have pigs?”
She shook her head. “No. A little girl comes by and collects the food for her pigs. They eat almost anything.”
“Even your food, Mr. Carter.” Grann smiled.
“Thanks a lot,” he grumbled.
“Ah, Luke. I would eat your breakfast,” Ysabeau said sweetly.
He rubbed a knuckle down her cheek. “Then take a seat and I’ll try again.”
Grann plopped down beside Ysabeau at the kitchenette and “instructed” him on the best way to make the next batch of eggs. “Not like dat, Mr. Carter. More egg whisking, less looking at Ysabeau.” A short thirty seconds later she followed up with, “Dat’s not enough butter. You want dem eggs to stick to de pan?” And finally rounded out the instructions by saying, “Flip dem, Mr. Carter. Dem eggs are cooking way too long.”
Luke rolled his eyes and wondered if there were Voodoo dolls to ward off a bossy Voodoo priestess.
Ysabeau handed him a glass of juice. “Here you go. Mango and Papaya.”
“Yum. Thanks, angel.”
She lingered extra-long by his side, her eyes burrowing into his. “I’m going to be in the clinic most of the day. I’ll miss you,” she whispered.
“How much?” he whispered back.
“I’ll show you later.” She gave him a secret smile that revved his engines.
“Then I’ll think about that while you’re gone. I have work I can do here.” He pulled out her chair. “Breakfast, my lady, is served.”
When he placed her full plate in front of Grann she said, “All day? What kind of work, Mr. Carter?”
“Guardian business, Gran. Top Secret.” He wasn’t about to tell her he planned on spending the day calling in favors, cajoling, begging. He was gearing up to fight for a cause that suddenly meant the world to him. He knew he wouldn’t win, but he’d fight anyway. For Ysabeau.
“Hmpf.” Grann scooped up a mouthful of egg and bacon. “I’ve got confidential work too. Looks like we’ll all be busy before de ceremony tonight.”
“Ah hell.” Luke plopped down in his chair beside Ysabeau. “The Voodoo ceremony. I’d forgotten about that.”
Ysabeau gave his arm a gentle squeeze that turned his insides to jelly. “It’ll be okay, Luke. You’ll see.”
If she kept smiling at him, he could half-believe everything would be okay. Now if she kissed him like she did last night…
There was a knock on the door.
“Is it Deolina?” Ysabeau asked Gran.
Grann shook her head.
How would she know who was at the door without looking through the side window? Luke wondered.
“Bonjou. Anyone home?” A voice called from the entryway.
“Tico.” Luke grimaced.
The gangly young man ambled into the kitchen. “Smells like burned eggs in here.”
Luke gave him a withering look.
“Gran!” Tico’s big eyes widened in shock. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I know,” Grann said mysteriously. “Dat reminds me. Time to get Deo’s fat butt out of bed. We’s got work to do.” Grann picked up the wall phone and started dialing. In a moment she was speaking very quietly in Kreyòl with her hand cupped over the receiver.
Ysabeau shrugged. “Priestess stuff, I guess.”
Tico shuddered. “Grann gives me the heebeegeebees. I never know if I should get on my knees and kiss her toes, or run for the hills.”
“Unless you have something of mine, I’d suggest running,” Luke said.
Tico blinked and smacked his head. “Almost forgot. I brought you something. Be right back.”
The kid returned a few moments later with a dark brown leather shoulder bag in hand.
“You’re shitting me!” Luke cried in delight. “My computer!”
“Gross, Chief. I’m no cannibal. My cousin, Rudolpho might’ve tried it, on accounta he’s into head shrinking and stuff you don’t want to know about—”
Ysabeau clapped, clearly interrupting Tico’s tale of horror. “Luke, your computer! That’s wonderful.”
Luke was not impressed. “We’ll see if it still works.”
“Oh, it does. I tried it out myself. Emails and shit are all there.”
Luke nearly busted his jaw from grinding his back molars so hard. “You hacked in and read my emails?”
“Course not! You don’t know me at all, do you?” Tico had the wounded-lamb face on. Surprisingly, Luke no longer wanted to smash the lamb’s nose. Damn, was Tico growing on him?
Ysabeau draped her arm over Luke’s shoulders. “I’m so glad you have your things back. What great luck.”
Tico winked at her. “Yep, we’re good now. Right?”
“I won’t call the cops on you. For Ysabeau’s sake.” Surprisingly, he’d stopped thinking about calling the cops on Tico days ago. Sonofabitch, the kid really was growing on him.
“Righteous. I’ll see you at the clinic, Doc.” Tico saluted and smiled big. “See you tonight, chief.”
Luke shrugged. “We’re not buddies, kid. Just because I’m letting you walk this time, doesn’t mean I want to hang out with you.”
Tico grinned. “No, no. I’m not into ugly white guys. I was talking about the Voodoo ceremony. I hear you’re drinking the chicken blood.” Tico laughed like a maniac all the way out the door.
Luke wiped the sweat beading on his lip.
“It’ll be okay, Luke. Besides, I think you’re a cute white guy,” Ysabeau said with a gentle squeeze of his elbow.
Comments like that one would make things okay. “Hey, before you go to work, will you do something with me?”
She gave him a wicked look.
His pulse picked up a few beats. He liked where her mind was going, but that’s not what he meant. “On the computer. Sunny wanted to Skype with you and meet you face-to-face. We can call and wake her up.”
She pressed her hand to her heart. “How sweet. I’ve never Skyped before.”
“It’s easy. Come with me.”
Luke set up the computer on the desk in Ysabeau’s bedroom. He sent Sunny an email that asked her to be ready to Skype. The ping of the email on her iPhone would wake her instantly.
“Morning, Sunnygirl,” Luke said into the screen.
“Dad! You got your computer back!” Sunny rubbed one eye and made a big yawn. “What time is it?”
“Time for you to get your lazy bones out of bed and get ready for school. You’re going to need all the time you can get to straighten out that rat’s nest.”
Sunny ran her hand over the lump of hair sticking out on the side of her head. “No really, what time is it?” She peered at a clock on her desk. “Five-thirty! Dad, it’s too early. Call me in half an hour. I’m going back to sleep.” Like any good drama queen, she dropped her head on her arm.
“Well, okay. But I thought you might want to meet someone this morning.”
Her head popped up. “Ysabeau? Of course I do. Why didn’t you say so?”
Luke grinned. “Here I thought you’d want to talk to your old dad.”
“Yeah, yeah, I can do that anytime. Put her on dad. Oh, my gosh! Wait, where’s my brush? Where is it?” She scrambled around the room. Finally, resorting to combing her hair with her fingers.
“You look beautiful, sweetheart. I was just teasing about the rat’s nest.”
“Beautiful? Fathers have to say that stuff. It’s never true. Okay. Put Ysabeau on.”
“I’ll be right back.” Luke went to the door. “Ysabeau, are you ready?”
*
Ysabeau was as ready as she was ever going to be. Twisting her fingers, she walked into the room to meet Luke’s daughter.
“Sweetie, this is Ysabeau,” Luke said.
Ysabeau focused on the computer screen. “Nice to meet you, Sunny.”
“Wow, Dad was right. You’re gorgeous!” the teenager said.
Ysabeau breathed a sigh of relief. Sunny was thin, but looked much healthier than she did in Luke’s photograph of her. Her short, dark hair had grown out to be a luxurious bob that curved under her chin. One lump of hair stuck up from sleeping on it in the most adorable way. She had Luke’s amazing eyes, sparkle and all. “You are the gorgeous one.”
Luke stood behind Ysabeau with one hand on her shoulder. He fake-coughed. “What about me?”
“To be honest, Dad. You don’t look so hot. He’s usually much cuter than this, Ysabeau. Seriously. Just wait until you see him without that shiner under his eye and lump on his head.”
Ysabeau turned sideways to gaze at him. Luke’s dimples deepened and his eyes held hers. The bruise under his right eye was little more than a smudge now. Ysabeau thought he was growing more and more beautiful by the minute.
Turning back to the computer, Ysabeau shrugged. “I’m kind of used to the bumps and bruises.”
“Um, Dad?” Sunny said. “Can you go out of the room now so that Ysabeau can tell the truth?”
“Hey!” Luke protested.
Sunny made a shooing motion with her hand. “Go on. We need to talk about you behind your back.”
Luke cocked an eyebrow at Ysabeau.
“It is difficult to do that when you are behind my back,” Ysabeau agreed.
“Women.” Luke threw up his hands and closed the door behind him.
“Shew, thought he’d never leave,” Sunny said.
Ysabeau laughed, feeling more at ease already. She liked this girl.
“I wanted to thank you for taking care of my dad. I know what a big pain in the butt he can be. So…thanks,” Sunny said.
Ysabeau smiled. “It’s been my pleasure. Your dad is…” she blinked struggling to find the right words. Amazing? Generous? Perfect? Sizzling-hot with lips that did the most exquisite things to her? “…a wonderful man.”
Sunny clapped her hands. “You like him, don’t you?”
Ysabeau sat very still. Her pulse pounded in her ears and her face raged hot. Had her emotions been that obvious to a teenage girl thousands of miles away?
Before she got a chance to put two words together, Sunny rushed on, “You don’t have to answer that. I realize you and my dad just barely met. But he cares for you. I can see it in that stupid grin on his face.” She rolled her eyes. “Maybe I can give you some dirt on him so that you can get to know him better.”
“Dirt?”
“Yeah, you know, secret information that no one but his kid would know.”
“I don’t know, Sunny. Your dad might not want you to tell me family information.”
“No. This is important, Ysabeau. Dad’s going to be coming home in a few days and you need to decide how you feel about him before he leaves.”
Ysabeau shifted in her chair. The girl had a point. “Okay.”
“Did you know my mom was the only woman my dad ever loved?”
Ysabeau winced. “I suspected so. I am sorry for your loss, Sunny. It must have been very difficult for you.”
“You have no idea,” Sunny said quietly. “But I didn’t say that to bum you out. I just wanted you to know where Dad is coming from. He falls in love hard, I mean, like a-ton-of-bricks hard. He doesn’t do anything halfway. When Mom got sick, Dad did everything he could to save her and now that I’m…well…you know…”
Ysabeau nodded. She knew and it broke her heart.
“Dad doesn’t care about himself. Like he’s not important and doesn’t matter. He’s wrong.” Sunny’s voice was charged with emotion. “Because he does matter. To me. He’s my daddy. I’d be lost without him.”
Ysabeau felt the girl’s anguish next to her own. Tears built behind Ysabeau’s eyes. “He matters to me too.”
Sunny whispered something that sounded like, “I knew it!”
Ysabeau dabbed at her eyes, “Pardon?”
“Nothing.” Sunny grinned. “Will you do something for me?”
Ysabeau was nodding before she knew she was.
“Find out if my dad is happy. That’s all I want. For him to be happy. If he is? Well, it won’t matter what happens to me, if he’s okay.”
Emotions clogged Ysabeau’s throat. This little girl battling death was the sweetest, kindest person she’d ever met. “I’ll find out.”
“Good. My dad is a really great guy. I hope you get a chance to know him. I mean, really know him.”
“I hope so too,” Ysabeau said quietly.
“I’ve got to hop in the shower and get ready for school. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”
Ysabeau wished she could reach her arms through the screen and hug Luke’s daughter. “I have enjoyed meeting you. It was my first time to Skype.”
“A Skype-virgin. You did great. Thanks again for taking care of my dad.” Sunny logged off.
Luke was leaning against the wall in the hallway, feigning boredom when Ysabeau walked out. “How’d the girl talk go?”
“She’s one amazing young lady.”
“Don’t I know it? She’s growing up so fast. Part of me just wants to swing her around in the air, like I did when she was little and part of me…” Luke gazed at the ceiling. “Just prays she gets the chance to grow up.”
“She’s worried about you too.”
“She is?”
“Sunny wanted me to find out if you are happy.” Ysabeau draped her arm over his shoulder. “Are you?”
He was taken aback. Happy? He hadn’t thought about that feeling in a long time. He grinned. “With you this close to me? Ecstatic.”
She kissed him, gently, sweetly. He could taste salty tears on her lips. Emotion overpowered him like a rogue wave and he pulled her closer to keep from going under.
“Hey, none of dat. I am trying to digest my overcooked eggs,” Grann called down the hall.
“Talk about bad eggs,” Luke mumbled, pressing his forehead to Ysabeau’s.
“I have to go to work.” Ysabeau pulled away and gave his arm a gentle squeeze as if to say, “Later.”
At least that’s how he chose to interpret it. He’d fantasize about “later” all day long.
After Ysabeau left for the clinic and Grann mysteriously vanished, Luke got to work on the phone. He spent hours trying to drum up interest in Ysabeau’s clinical trial. If a few investors would take the bait, he might be able to leverage that interest toward other investors and maybe, just maybe save his ass. It was a long shot with a-million-to-one odds that had to work. For Ysabeau. For them.
That afternoon, as he showered and shaved, he started having major second thoughts about taking part in a Voodoo ceremony. What in the hell had possessed him to agree to it? He had to be out of his flipping mind.
He heard voices from the living room. Ysabeau. His heart did a little leap-frog jump and he hurried to tuck his shirt in. His palms were sweating and he was probably marching off to some pins stuck in his look-alike-doll-doom, but hell, he was excited to see her. He ran.
She was a vision in virginal white. The scarf tied around her head, the long apron-dress and the tennis shoes were all pure brightness. Not a speck of color. She looked like a Haitian priestess straight off a Hollywood set. This was no movie. It was real life, complete with the animal sacrifices, spirits, and who knew what else waited for him. A shiver of foreboding crept up his backbone.
Next to her were the gruesome priestess twins. Grann gave him the evil eye and Deolina with hands on her hips glared at him with undisguised loathing. One day he’d figure out why they hated him.
“Luke!” Ysabeau’s face lit up when she saw him. She opened her slender arms and came to him. “I missed you today. How’re you feeling?”
Holding her soft body against his, he stopped thinking about Voodoo and focused on how great she felt in his arms. The amazing way her breath softly whispered against his neck only confused things further. Want flushed through his system and suddenly he imagined untying her apron-dress. With
his teeth. Followed by kissing the softness of her belly and licking the syrupy sweetness of her delectable skin.
“Ahem.” Grann cleared her throat. “Ready, Mr. Carter?”
This would have been a good time to say, Hell no!
But Ysabeau linked her fingers with his and smiled. “I’m proud you are open to experience this part of my culture. We don’t let many foreigners see this sort of ceremony. Do you feel lucky?”
“Yeah. Lucky,” he said as they followed the priestesses to the car. “Because I’m with you.”
Her eyes were heavy with feeling when she rose up on her toes and kissed him softly on the lips. “Good answer, Luke Carter.”
“I’ve got plenty of those.” He ran his thumb across the fullness of her lip. “Go ahead. Ask me something else.”
“You two coming?” Deolina called from the driveway. “We don’ wanna keep dem spirits waiting.”
She pulled him close and whispered in his ear, “Thank you, sweet man. For doing this for me.”
He winked, feeling mighty brave for a man on his way to meet his doom.
Ysabeau drove. Grann sat in the front seat and droned on in words Luke couldn’t understand. Deolina sat next to him in the tight backseat and closed her eyes, seemingly asleep. Luke did a few shoulder rolls trying to shrug off the heaviness that had settled between his shoulder blades.
“She is giving instructions about the ceremony,” Ysabeau said to his reflection in her rearview mirror.
He leaned forward, poking his head between the two seats, “Anything I should know?”
“I’ll fill you in when we get there. Don’t worry yourself, Luke.”
“Who’s worried?” He sat back and looked out the window.
After a fifteen-minute ride in close quarters, Ysabeau turned into a public parking lot and pulled into a spot. “We’re here.”
Luke studied the white two-story building, especially the mural bursting with color that spread across a long wall. In one corner of the painting, a group of young people were bent and toiling in fields. Some crying, most dying. Skulls poked out of the ground like sprouting cabbage. Military guards stood by, bayonets in hand, boredom on their faces. Black crows flew overhead. Crosses, candles, and other religious symbols were sprinkled throughout the graphic scene. The whole thing gave him the creeps.
