by Liz Talley
* * *
NATE CLIMBED INTO THE car and looked at Annie. “Well, I didn’t exactly plan that well.”
“And you seemed the type to have a plan,” she said as they backed out of the lot. He belatedly glanced back at Spencer to make sure he was secured properly, but Annie had proven she hadn’t allowed the strange moment to affect her. Spencer was harnessed snugly in his seat. She may think she wasn’t good at taking care of Spencer, but she was.
“I actually had a plan. To observe then confront.” But it hadn’t been a good one. Too many unforeseen complications like janitors, kids and nosy school counselors. Not to mention, Annie had distracted him with the way she moved, smelled and laughed. Every moment on the way down had been bittersweet, remembering the feel of her skin against his, the way she moaned when he moved inside her, then knowing he could never feel that again. That thought had his head cloudy. He shouldn’t have insisted she come with him. If she’d stayed—
“It went very well.” She interrupted his thoughts. “What happened back there was a miracle.”
He felt her gaze on him. His emotions still thrashed inside him. It all felt too much. Too intense. Too gut-wrenching. Too euphoric… Too guilty. He hadn’t believed it could ever happen. He’d convinced himself his sister was dead. If he hadn’t believed that, maybe he would have found her sooner. There were so many questions to be answered, but for the moment all that reverberated inside him was he’d found Della.
“A miracle,” he repeated, his voice breaking with the words. Something washed over him again, turning him soft, but he couldn’t stop it.
He braked at a red light. He didn’t want to look at Annie, didn’t want her to see the raw emotion, but he couldn’t help himself. He glanced over and their eyes met. Something happened. Something as profound as the moment he’d shared moments ago with the sister he’d last touched when he shoved her to the ground and told her to get lost over twenty-four years ago. The moment between Annie and him wasn’t combustible as it had been the night before, more like an invisible hand brushing over them, smoothing, uniting, bonding them into something more than what they’d been before.
Annie’s lips curved and she laughed.
He’d never seen her laugh like that. Joyous. She felt what he felt and it caused something to expand inside of him, growing, filling places that had been hollow for so long.
Then it overflowed and he joined her in the laughter. “Holy cow, I found my sister, Annie. She’s alive.”
She wiped tears from her cheeks. “I know. I can’t believe I witnessed that. And that janitor—” She dissolved into giggles. He wiped his tears and allowed himself to enjoy the normally serious woman chortling over how amazed Clarence was. “He kept looking for cameras.”
A horn sounded behind them indicating that light change, and he pressed the accelerator, heading north.
Picou.
He sobered. How would he tell her? It would be shocking—but maybe not to Picou. She’d always professed to know Della was alive. And what about Sally Cheramie…or was it now Della? He’d left her shaken, conflicted and about as upside down as a person could be. He’d told her he’d be in touch later that evening, but where would they all go from here?
So many questions. So many things to think through.
But for the next few hours, he didn’t want to think. He wanted to celebrate the chains that had finally fallen off him. He wanted to feel free and there was no better thing to do than climb onto an airboat, strap in and feel the wind in his hair.
And no better person to do that with than Annie. And Spencer, too, of course.
He wouldn’t think about anything else—not Della, not the mistake they’d made the night before nor any case he worked. Just Annie, Spencer and the Louisiana marsh.
“What’re you going to do now?” Annie asked.
“Huh?”
“About your sister? And Picou? And your brothers? How are—”
“I’ll text Mom. Other than that, I’m not doing anything. Right now we’re going to take a break from the heaviness of life. I need that. I need to live in the moment for the next few hours.”
She looked hard at him, but said nothing.
“You understand?” he asked, glancing over briefly before refocusing on the narrow, curving highway following the curve of the bayou. “For a moment. That’s what I need. A moment to feel—”
He fell off because he didn’t know how to finish.
“Free,” Anne finished for him. “Actually, that sounds better than terrific.”
He nodded before glancing at Spencer in the rearview mirror. “Good. Ready to look for gators, Spence?”
“Yes!” the boy shrieked.
Both he and Annie smiled.
Yes, for the next few hours, he wanted to be a different Nate, the Nate he’d left behind when Della had disappeared, the boy who laughed easily, loved hard and grabbed ahold of life.
If only for a few hours.
Then he’d figure everything else out.
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE BOAT SCARED THE crap out of her and she didn’t want to climb up onto the high seats and strap herself in, especially when she saw the driver.
Caleb Lyles looked about sixteen.
Of course, he had a sort of swagger and knowledge of the environment surrounding them that told her he’d likely been doing this sort of tour for years. But that didn’t comfort her when he placed one muddy boot on the deck of the flat-bottom barge-looking boat, turned the cap he wore backward, looked at the eight paying customers on his tour and said, “Everybody ready to rock?”
Unfortunately, the huge propeller engines revving drowned out her resounding “no!”
He didn’t hear her because he floored the engine, leaving the launch and her breath behind as he careened down the tree-lined bayou. Before she could scream, they headed out into the vast yellow grassland. The boat skimmed the marsh as huge flocks of birds rose into flight, fleeing the deranged Cajun ransacking their world.
“Gators!” Caleb shouted.
Annie clutched her seat, peered around Spencer’s head and saw things rolling to the side as they shot through the waters. She couldn’t tell if they were gators, not in their panic to get out of the way.
“Where?” Spencer shouted.
“Up there,” she shouted back, refusing to relinquish the grip she had on the vinyl seat.
Annie’s hair whipped behind her, and she prayed her sunglasses wouldn’t be ripped from her face. They were hauling ass. She glanced over to Nate who sat across from her.
He looked so different.
The wind pushed at him, and it looked good on him. His T-shirt flapped behind him, pulled tight across his chest and stomach. His thick hair slicked back and the grin on his face warmed places inside her. Places she didn’t want to acknowledge at that moment. This man had gotten to her, no matter what she’d told herself.
Nate glanced over at her, and though she couldn’t see his eyes behind the sunglasses, she felt his smile. He looked ten years younger, as if the weight of the world had slid from his shoulders.
And she guessed it had.
She carried burdens with her—worry over selling the condo, carving a new career, oh, and a possible pregnancy—but never had she carried around the thought she’d been responsible for someone’s death. Obviously, Nate had. As silly as it seemed, he’d believed he’d contributed to Della’s death. And it must have sat on him like a stone.
But it had created the man he was.
A man she knew to be driven, burning with the need to right wrongs in a world all too often sideways.
So it pleased her to see him throw away his cares and revel in the simplicity of a boat, some water and a beautiful state spread before them in unique splendor.
And it was splendid. So different from anything she’d ever seen before. They carved a swath in the fabric of the marshland, hurtling toward a thick grove of trees.
Annie gasped and drew back as they flew into the wood
ed area. The light disappeared as branches grasped at the boat, lacy moss catching on the tarp serving as a canopy. She had no clue how Caleb knew where to turn. There were moments she was certain they’d crash into a tree, but he wove in and out as if he were a water moccasin navigating the bayou. And then suddenly they broke into a meadow full of water lilies.
Caleb cut the motor and the craft stopped among yards of floating flowers.
“Wow,” said one of the women sitting up front.
“Yeah,” someone echoed.
“But where are the gators?” Spencer asked.
Caleb laughed. “You didn’t see ’em scatterin’ outta our way, little man?”
Spencer shook his head.
Caleb stood and studied the plants trying to swallow the boat. No one paid much attention to him, but Annie tightened when he grabbed a net and scooped up something.
“Here we are,” he said, pulling something from the net.
In his hand he held the tiniest alligator she’d ever seen.
“Aww” was the collective response.
Spencer held out his little hands and Caleb moved his way.
“He’s a tiny fellow, but he still has teeth,” the teen said, holding the reptile in front of him. The small creature’s head bobbed, almost too big for its slender body, and somehow it was endearing.
Nate leaned over and studied it. “Can he hold it?”
Caleb eyed Spencer, and Annie could almost see the thought of lawsuit flip through the kid’s mind. Finally he nodded. “As long as I hold the mouth.”
Annie helped Spencer put both hands together and watched as Caleb placed the alligator on Spencer’s hands.
“Ooh,” Spencer said, his eyes alight. “He’s so cute, isn’t he, Annie?”
She nodded and even ran a finger down the creature’s back—to show her support for Spencer’s absolute fascination with the thing. It was surprisingly soft.
“Let me take a picture,” she said, rooting around in her bag. She withdrew her iPhone and snapped a photo. Spencer grinned bigger than a gator as she took several more. Then everyone wanted a picture.
And the whole time Nate smiled, making Annie’s heart thump crazily.
Later, after they docked at the Black Bayou launch, Annie combed her fingers through her hair, squirted some hand sanitizer into Spencer’s hands and thanked Caleb for such an adventure. Surprisingly, it had been one of the better activities she’d engaged in. She’d always liked nature, but rarely played in it. This little zip through the swamp had inspired her.
Nate unclicked the locks on the door and they climbed inside, Spencer chattering the entire time about the boat, the gator and his new best friend, Caleb Lyles.
Sweet contentment settled over her for the first time since she’d set foot in Louisiana, which was odd considering all she had on her plate, but it had felt good to live in the moment she’d shared with Nate and Spencer—almost like a commercial break from true life drama.
She glanced at Nate who stood outside the car calling his thanks to the Lyles family, looking windblown, broadshouldered and mouthwatering. Her fingers itched to touch him again, even if she’d convinced herself last night had been a mistake—a never-to-be-repeated mistake. At that moment, it didn’t seem to matter.
She wanted him.
Nate slid into the car, slammed the door and looked at her. As if sensing her hunger, he obliged by leaning over and kissing her.
Annie didn’t pull back, but instead slid her hand to his jaw and kissed him back. It felt wonderful, toe-curling wonderful, and against her better conviction, she drank him in.
He sighed against her mouth and pulled back. “Guess I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Probably not.”
“Couldn’t seem to help myself.”
“Understandable.”
Spencer’s head appeared between them. “Ooooh, I saw you kissin’.”
Then he laughed as if he’d told a joke—a very funny joke—before clicking himself into his booster and jamming his earphones on his head.
Nate ignored the kid and eyed Annie’s lips, which she unconsciously rubbed together. Hunger glinted in his gaze, but he didn’t kiss her again. “This has been the most unusual twenty-four hours of my life.”
“You think?” she said, pulling the seat belt across her lap.
Nate cranked the engine, backed out from the Cajun cabin and boat launch and set back down the road they’d traveled hours before. Yeah, the past twenty-four hours had come at her too fast, making all that had occurred hard to process. What she did know was that certain parts had made her inordinately happy. Maybe even joyful, but she couldn’t be sure because it had been a while since something so pure and good had welled inside her.
Not even Seth on his knee with a diamond ring had done the job.
Nor had passing the FBI exam.
Or getting the acceptance letter for the Academy.
Or—
Well, that was it for exciting things in her life. The rest of it had been kind of…boring.
Nate remained silent as he drove toward Beau Soleil, but contentment radiated off him. Soft snores from the backseat assured Spencer had dropped off to sleep, so she settled into the delicious softness of the leather and relaxed.
Nate’s hand crept over the console to capture hers, and she didn’t bother protesting. Mainly because she knew this was a moment that couldn’t last—a slice of time taken from the crappy reality of life, to be savored like fine chocolate. Wonderful but fleeting. Nate wouldn’t leave any trace of himself on her hips, but he might leave a piece embedded in her heart.
Regret for what couldn’t be sliced her heart as Tom Petty crooned on the radio and the sun dropped toward the flat horizon.
“Beautiful, huh?” Nate said, nodding toward the sinking sun.
“Yeah, but it won’t last.”
“No?”
She looked at him. “Last night, today, all this was—”
“—not a beginning?”
“No.” She shook her head, trying to stave away the sadness. Soon, she’d leave and he’d go on. Looking at Louisiana sunsets all by himself, or worse, with some other woman.
He released her hand. She looked down at her lonely hand and felt the emptiness. “Guess I forgot myself.”
“Me, too. But I will treasure this little piece of whatever it was we had. Sweet madness. A vacation from the shitty reality of life.”
“That’s how you see life? As shitty?”
“Sound bitter?” She felt his nod. “Yeah, I guess, but my life hasn’t ended up the way I wanted.”
“You’re a control freak.”
She stiffened.
“Hey, don’t be offended. I’m one, too. I can be an unbending bastard. It’s my worst fault, but life taught me a lesson today. Or maybe it was God.”
She nodded. Maybe God or karma or whatever had taught her something, too. Maybe she’d learned what it felt like to let go and embrace the wind, the water and the possibility of life rampaging out of her grasp…and it turning out okay. Perhaps she’d learned to hope for something more than putting all her eggs in the career basket. Maybe there was something more for Anna Mendes…
She looked at the man who’d turned her upside down in less than a week. “What did it teach you?”
“I can be dead wrong. Makes me wonder how many times I’ve stubbornly refused to see what was right before me? How many times have I whacked out a path in a direction I wasn’t meant to head and so lost my way in the process?”
She studied her hands. Mostly because she didn’t want to look at him, didn’t want him to see how his words scraped her raw. Wasn’t she the same? Forcing things. Seth and Mallory came to mind. Hadn’t she pushed and pushed in a direction she thought she wanted until she hated everything about who she was?
Where had it left her?
Right where she sat.
“I don’t have the luxury of wandering down a path right now, Nate.” Deep down, she wanted to lace up
her hiking boots and see where a relationship with Nate would go, but she couldn’t get distracted from the road she was on. “We both have a case to solve, and that must take precedence.”
He nodded. “True, but once we solve this—and we will solve it—then we owe it to ourselves to talk about this thing between us.”
She felt a finger of uncertainty trace her spine. She shouldn’t entertain thoughts of something more lasting with Nate. But… “Maybe.”
He studied her before putting his attention on the road. He didn’t say anything else for the next twenty miles.
The music changed from rock to zydeco. Annie leaned forward and turned it off. Nate didn’t react. Merely turned off the highway and onto the long, winding drive that would take them to Beau Soleil. The mood shifted again, and Annie knew the sojourn was over. Time to go back to Beau Soleil, her job and the unsteady agreement of “business only” between her and the man sitting next to her.
Spencer yawned. “Are we home, Annie?”
Not hardly. “Well, we’re back at Beau Soleil.”
“Is my mom here? Can I show her the picture of the baby gator?”
“Of course.”
The house appeared and with it a lone woman standing vigil on the front porch. Annie had been so wrapped up in her thoughts and fears she’d almost forgotten Della and the mother waiting for word, hoping for the impossible.
Nate pulled into the graveled parking lot next to the horseshoe drive, shut off the engine, took a deep breath.
Picou appeared like an eagle swooping upon prey. “Why didn’t you answer your phone? I’ve called half a dozen times. You know I waited to hear from you. A text that says ‘everything is okay’ is all I get? It’s been hours. Hours, son.”
Annie climbed out and watched as Nate took his mother by the shoulders and gave her a smile.
Picou lay her hands on her son’s forearms as if she might not be able to stand. Her eyes filled with something Annie could only describe as wonderful. “Really?”
Nate smiled wider.
Annie felt her heart flutter, and thanked the good Lord she got to witness this moment. She knew she’d replay it in her mind over and over for years to come.
