The Best Laid Plans (Brothers of the Bayou)

by Peterson, Renee

  He stopped in the middle of what appeared to be a large field, but with the moon their only source of light she couldn’t be completely certain. Beaux turned the ignition switch so that only the radio played quietly in the background. Wishing he had thought this out a little more, he suddenly felt unsure of himself. A distant thunder rumbled in the distance.

  “Have you ever sat outside and watched a storm roll in?” he asked and Lacy shook her head no. “The land is flat for miles so you can see it long before it ever arrives. When I was a boy, we had a screened in porch and at the first sound of thunder I would go sit out there. The rolling dark clouds approaching accompanied with the lightning and thunder enthralled me. I couldn’t help but wonder about this invisible force causing such a magical display in the sky. No one is able to control it and all they can do is concede to its power and enjoy its beauty.”

  Lacy held his gaze, not having words to describe how she felt. No words could describe the depth of attraction and love she was rapidly forming for this virtual stranger.

  “Will you watch this storm roll in with me Lacy?” he asked. It was such a simple request with a deeper pleading hiding behind it.

  Beaux lowered the tailgate, lifted her up and they sat side by side, hand in hand on the bed of the truck. Lacy laid her head on his shoulder as they gazed out at the coming storm. Flashes of light illuminated the black sky giving them a glimpse of the stars that dared to defy to clouds coverage. The radio still played and as a Garth Brooks’ song came on, Beaux gathered his courage.

  “I saw Daniella tonight.” Lacy jerked her head up at his admission. “I didn’t plan it. Jared and I went for a drink and she showed up while I was waiting.” He ran his free hand through his hair, deciding what to say next as the thunder drew closer and louder. “She made a play for me. I was so blind to never see her as she really is. All I could see before today was my wounded pride when she told me I would never be good enough for her. She tried kissing me and I wanted to be sick.” He trailed off not sure what Lacy’s action might be.

  She raised her fingers to his lips and whispered, “Shush Beaux. Let’s leave the past alone. For tonight, it’s just you and me, here alone with no memories except those that we are making.”

  He took her hand and kissed each fingertip individually then rested it against his chest. His eyes told her everything that she needed to know. In harmony with each other, their lips met with an urgency to convey what their hearts were feelings. They slid out of their clothes while never full disengaging from the most primal expression of love. Body against body, they explored each other, discovering pleasures they had long been denied. Beaux entered Lacy bringing her a gasp of pleasure. They met each other thrust for thrust and neither noticed as the rain began to fall. All they felt was their bodies molded together in a perfect fit taking pleasure in this gift they had been given. Tension built as they worked toward their release. When they came together there was a loud roar; maybe it was the thunder, or maybe it was the sound of two hearts becoming one. He remained on top of her taking in the splendor of her freshly satisfied face. She rubbed her hands along his back, relishing the feel of his bare body.

  Not until a lightning bolt flashed nearby did they realize the storm had reached them. Wet and naked they searched for their clothes, miraculously finding them under the truck which preserved their dryness. They jumped in the truck for shelter still naked and reluctant to end the feeling of bare flesh against each other. A slow song played on the radio, and again they engaged in their own love song, maneuvering their bodies to love even in the small space available. The raw urgency gone, they took their time in appreciating one another, exploring ways to increase their pleasure and savoring the feel of each plunge of passion.

  Hours passed and now they sat dressed prolonging the inevitable of returning Lacy to her home for the week.

  “Beaux?” He turned to look at the questions in her eyes. “What happened to no casual sex?”

  His voice choked with sentiment, knowing she needed assurance. “Ma chère, we could never have casual sex. What we did was making love.”

  She stared at him reading into his soul against a midnight backdrop. “I understand now Beaux. You are my invisible force in the sky.”

  That was all he needed to hear. She understood him and that was what mattered for now. He squeezed her hand tight and brushed his lips against her forehead. They drove in silence with Beaux again parking down the street. He walked her to the porch and made sure she was safely inside before leaving. Neither noticed the set of eyes looking out from a bedroom window.

  Lacy woke up the next morning feeling alive for the first time in months. Even with just a few hours of sleep, she felt rested and refreshed, ready to face the day. She ambled into the bathroom brushing her teeth and getting dressed, unable to wipe the smile from her face even if she wanted to. The smell of French toast wafted through the air and she went downstairs to find Sara in the kitchen.

  “Good morning sunshine. You look happy today,” Sara said as she handed her a plate.

  “This smells delicious. Thank you. I haven’t had French toast in years.”

  “You’re welcome. How’d you sleep?”

  “Best night’s sleep I’ve had in a long time,” Lacy answered. “How about you?”

  “Okay other than waking up every few hours to use the restroom. I thought that wasn’t supposed to happen until the third trimester, but from everything I’ve read it’s completely normal in the beginning also.”

  “I can’t believe you’re going to be a mom. I might just have to move here so I can see the little one grow up.”

  “Don’t tease me Lacy or I might just hold you to that. You know how much I would love to have you here.” Sara smiled. “I’m going stir crazy in this house. I can’t wait until the doctor says I can be up and about again. Of course, it’s a blessing at the same time because I am so tired lately. All I want to do is sleep.”

  “Sleep away then. You should rest while you can because you know the little bundle of joy will keep you awake once he arrives.”

  “Did Beaux and you make plans for today?”

  Lacy knew a dark crimson blush was moving up her neck into her face but she was powerless to stop it.

  “Uh, not yet. I’m supposed to call him when I’m up and about,” she mumbled staring down at her plate.

  “Hmm, I would have thought after spending half the night out with him you would have a plan. Or maybe you were too busy doing other things.” Sara teased.

  Positive her entire body was now crimson, Lacy coughed and sputtered until Sara let her off the hook.

  “I heard some noise on one of my many trips to the bathroom and saw you two outside. You don’t have to tell me what’s going on if you don’t want to, but I want you to know Justin and I would be completely in favor of you two ending up together. I’m not going to lie and say we haven’t talked about it. Beaux’s a great guy when he isn’t brooding and I can’t think of two more deserving people to be together.”

  Lacy wasn’t certain how much to share with Sara. Last night was so fresh and new she still wanted to keep it bottled inside while she processed it, but she felt she owed some explanation.

  “We got along much better than we anticipated yesterday. We just wanted to talk some more last night.”

  “Lacy, you’re forgetting that I’ve known you my entire life and Beaux for half of it.”

  “I know Sara I know.” Lacy laughed. She couldn’t help but being affected by her cheerful reprimand. Despite being separated for twelve years, Sara still knew her inside and out. Some things never change.

  “We slept together.” She didn’t mean to blurt it out, but then again she could use sisterly advice.

  “Wow.” Sara’s jaw dropped in surprise. “I never expected that so soon. I mean I knew something happened, but not that much. This is huge.”

  “I don’t know what to do Sara. There is so much you don’t know.” Just then Lacy’s phone rang. “Speaking
of the devil, do you mind?”

  “Go ahead Lace. This is important. No rush. I’ll be here all day.”

  Lacy tapped on the answer key and practically ran into the next room.

  “Good morning,” she answered shyly, memories of the night before flooding her memory.

  “Good morning to you too.” His smile came through the phone and she felt more at ease. A small part of her was worried he would regret last night or even worse, was just using her as a rebound against Daniella. Her heart knew better, but her mind loved playing tricks.

  “So I have a confession. I just told Sara what happened last night. She saw us come back together.”

  There was silence while Beaux thought about that then responded, “It’s probably for the best. I don’t like hiding anything from them anyway.”

  Could he be anymore perfect, she thought. “What do you want to do today? I thought now that Sara knows maybe you can come over for lunch and we can do something after that? I’d kind of like to stay here this morning and talk with her.”

  “We can drive around and I can show you some local things you wouldn’t find on a tourist brochure. There is a high chance of rain, so anything strictly outdoors is probably off limits.”

  “I don’t know about that Beaux. I have to say I have an entirely new appreciation for outdoor activities in the rain.”

  “You’re killing me girl.”

  “I’ll see you around eleven okay?” She had to get this conversation back to neutral territory or she would never be able to face Sara.

  “’Until then ma chère.”

  Lacy put her phone away and went back to the dining room where Sara was still sitting. She opened up, telling her everything that happened with her father and Jeff, even the part of Jeff laughing in her face when she confronted him. Rehashing the story two days in a row was not her favorite thing in the world, but telling Beaux had given her the strength to release the pent up secrets and pain. By the time she finished telling the story up to her arrival in Louisiana, Sara had tears pouring down her face.

  “I’m so sorry Lacy. I wish I had known. We would have found a way to get you away from there.”

  “For years I’ve just wanted a place to belong. When your dad moved your family away, that was the end of any familiar security. I have to believe that everything happens for a reason. And maybe I had to go through that hell so it would bring me here.”

  “You sound so calm and at peace. How do you do it?”

  “If we were having this conversation yesterday it would be an entirely different conversation. I was a wreck and my life was falling apart. Neil cancelled all my accounts except the one that was strictly under my name, I failed one of my final classes and I couldn’t focus. That’s when I knew it was time to get away. Finding another guy was the last thing on my mind; I am sure you could tell Beaux and I were anything but happy about being thrown together.”

  Sara laughed. “I wish I could say I am sorry about that, but I’m not. I just knew deep down you two would hit it off given the chance, so I turned a blind eye to the friction.”

  “All things considered, I suppose I am obligated to forgive you anyway.”

  “So just how did you two go from barely speaking to sex in a twenty-four hour period?”

  Lacy gave her the g-rated version of events. “By the way he’s coming over at eleven for lunch before we head out for the day.”

  “You really like him don’t you?” Sara asked solemnly.

  “Do you believe in love at first kiss?” she answered Sara’s question with her own.

  “Yes. I very much believe in it. I knew the second I saw Justin he was the one I would marry. Did you know Beaux introduced me to him? I’ve actually known Beaux since we were fifteen years old and have been friends forever.”

  “I didn’t know that. All he has said was you were like a sister to him and that Justin and him went way back.”

  “I could tell you some stories of those two and their brothers.” Sara laughed at some story she was remembering.

  “Come on Sara. Let’s paint our nails and you can tell me the stories. I need something to tease Beaux about. That man is too sexy and perfect for his own good.”

  “I told you he was a hottie.”

  “Hot, sexy, gorgeous, fine. None of those words even come close to describing him.”

  And with that the cousins fell into girl talk and stories of a younger Beaux and Justin. They were still rolling with laughter when Beaux knocked on the door a few hours later. Lacy ran to answer the door, trying to catch her breath, but burst into laughter again when she saw him.

  “Uh, hi to you too?” Beaux greeted her; ignorant he was the cause of her laughter.

  Lacy gave him a kiss on the cheek and whispered something into his ear.

  “Sara!!” he bellowed. “You’re going to pay for that!”

  Sara’s laughter filled the house. “Give it up Beaux. She was bound to find out you have a Tweety bird tattoo on your ass once she see it in day light anyway.”

  “At least it’s not a New Kids on the Block tattoo.”

  “No way. You don’t really, do you Sara?”

  “I’m afraid so.” She lowered her pants leg to show off the NKOTB permanently etched into her. The laughter rolled again and the three collapsed into chairs until they could regain their composure.

  Sara was the first to calm down. “I have to admit, this is much more fun than dinner Sunday night. Too bad Justin’s not here to rat out his tattoo.”

  Beaux and Lacy continued to drive down the back roads of Acadiana. So far, she had seen the school Sara and him attended as teens, more cows than she knew existed in Louisiana, and striking scenery. Beaux gave her history lessons of the area as he pointed out areas of interest, thrilled at her enthusiasm for embracing this culture. Looking out at the cane fields, she tried to picture life here as it would be one hundred years ago. Life in Southern Louisiana was different than what she knew in Charleston. Both had rich histories rooted in fights for survival and preservation of tradition, but as Beaux told her the history of the early Acadians she felt herself connecting with them. Though centuries apart and a different set of circumstances, she could empathize with their plight.

  Breaking from her reverie she looked out in time to see the strangest looking creature crossing the road.

  “What is that?” she asked her eyes full of delight at seeing this unique animal.

  “That is an armadillo.”

  “Really? I’ve heard of them, but I had no idea what they looked like. I thought they were found mainly in Texas?”

  Beaux laughed, not mockingly, but out of merriment. “Ma chère, you know we are not even a two hour drive from Texas right? I doubt armadillos can tell where the state line ends.”

  She smiled back at him. “They are so ugly they are adorable.”

  “Is that what you thought about me?” he teased.

  “You’re incorrigible,” she replied, but snuggled in closer to him. Inhaling, she breathed his scent that she could not get enough of; pure man, earthy, musky and completely sexy.

  The light rain that had been falling all afternoon turned into a heavy rain that made seeing out the windows near impossible.

  “Do you want to go want to go back to my place and we’ll watch a movie or something?”

  “Or something,” she answered.

  “And I’m incorrigible?”

  Rain was still pouring when they got to Beaux’s house. Making a quick dash into the house, they still couldn’t escape getting soaked.

  “We really must stop meeting like this,” Beaux joked as he handed Lacy the robe from yesterday and stuck her clothes in the dryer.

  “Does it ever stop raining here?” she asked?

  “Sometimes. It doesn’t always rain like this, but I wasn’t joking when I said it rains everyday in the summer at some point.”

  Desperately trying to distract himself from last night’s dance in the rain, he offered her a drink.


  “Just some water would be good.”

  He grabbed two bottles of water out of the refrigerator and led her to the living room. Lacy took a seat on his worn, brown leather sofa while Beaux opened a cabinet revealing a slim collection of DVD’s.

  “What are you in the mood for? I don’t watch many movies, so I’m afraid I don’t have a lot to choose from.”

  Lacy walked over to the cabinet purveying her choices. Her mind and body were too distracted to focus on a movie, so she absently picked one and handed it to Beaux. He was feeling the same distraction, fumbling over getting the movie started then settled down, wrapping an arm around Lacy’s shoulder pulling her in close to him.

  Neither paid attention to the opening credits as they sat there enjoying the simple pleasure of being together. Lacy found herself wanting to know everything about this man who had stormed into her life unexpectedly.

  “Do you have any other siblings beyond Jared?”

  “Two. I have a sister, Mary, who lives in New Orleans. She is a junior at Tulane University and a little spitfire. She has a heart of gold, but being the youngest and only girl we always let her get away with anything and she never had to learn discipline. Plus she is naturally smart so she never had to work hard to get good grade which had been a double whammy now that she’s in college. My brother Rafe is in the Army currently serving overseas. He is the oldest of us and the only one determined to leave this area. The day he turned eighteen he left for boot camp and has only been back a handful of times. We keep in touch but we’re not all that close.”

  Lacy instinctively knew that bothered him. He was a man who valued family and cherished relationships. An admirable quality she had never seen before in a man.

  “I always wanted a brother or sister, but I’m glad I had Sara. We were both an only child and only a few months in age separated us. Losing her was like losing a sister. Sometimes I wonder what our parents were thinking. I still can’t believe our parents had an affair. They hated each other. Sure in public, they put up a good front, but behind closed doors they were vicious to each other. And not the “I really like you but will express it through hate” kind of hidden attraction, so the affair never made sense to me. There is a lot about the time that confuses me, but I guess as a young teenager I saw just a fraction of the whole picture. Anyway, Dad was livid when I reconnected with Sara, but there wasn’t much he could do to stop it in this age of technology. He doesn’t know I’m here now and honestly I don’t care. I feel he’s lost all rights to being my father.”