Ghost Town
Page 25
“I didn’t want to tell you.”
I look over at TB who’s still not meeting my eyes. I dread hearing the truth but I ask anyway, “Tell me what?”
“The LSU Cable Network was running highlights from the fall season that night and the hotel carried it. You always used to make fun of me for watching old football games, since I had seen them already and knew how they turned out. So, I didn’t tell you.”
The eighteen-wheeler parked on my heart pulls away. I can’t help but grin broadly. TB thinks my wide smile is because of the stupid LSU games so I pull my arm through his elbow and lean slightly in his direction. I still don’t know how he feels about Cookie but for now, he’s here, and all is right with the world.
Without thinking, I say, “I thought you left to go see Cookie.”
TB grins but it’s a hesitant one. “I kinda wanted you to think that.”
There’s a buzz happening at the bayou, kids run down to the stage, and the musicians stop playing. It’s close to the rising of the moon.
“Your landlord’s here,” TB whispers to me.
“What?”
TB points to my right and I look over to find Reece and his two kids playing at the bayou’s edge. He’s wearing neat and pressed jeans and a Polo shirt, a little too preppy for my tastes. He’s always perfect like that, I realize, reminding me of Eric.
Reece notices me and waves. I wave back.
“If you want to head over there, that’s fine.”
I look back at TB. “What do you mean?”
The announcer begins the countdown, starting with ten.
“I’ve seen the way you look at him, Vi. I get it.”
Nine.
“What way?”
Eight.
“I’ve seen the way he looks at you, too.”
Seven.
“He’s married, TB.”
Six.
“Last time I spoke to him, he said it wasn’t working out.”
This is news.
Five.
I shake my head. “You’re mistaken.”
Four.
“I told you before, I understand.”
Three.
“Vi, the moon is rising.”
Two.
“So, it is.”
I stare at my ex-husband — who’s really not my ex — as the announcer counts down to one. I smile tentatively. And the blue moon rises.
Author’s Notes
Blue Moon Bayou and its Blue Moon Rising festival honoring the rising of the blue moon is completely born of my imagination. “Blue Moons” are real, however, an extra full moon within a calendar year. Since lunar months are 29.53 days, there will occasionally be two full moons with a calendar month. Despite the saying, “once in a blue moon,” blue moons happen frequently, usually once every two to three years. Sometimes, they occur within a couple of months of each other, which is what I used here. In 2018, for instance, there will be two blue moons, on January 2 and 31 and on March 2 and 31.
I base Blue Moon Bayou on Breaux Bridge, a delightful Cajun town that’s home to boutiques, restaurants, antique shops, and Café des Amis, which, until recently, hosted a zydeco brunch every Saturday morning, in addition to fabulous food. Today, Buck & Johnny’s of Breaux Bridge offers the zydeco brunch.
I mentioned Curley Taylor and Zydeco Trouble, both of whom are real and worth notice; check them out. The Mortuary Bed & Breakfast next door with its plethora of ghosts does not exist (except in my fictional town), but you’ll find this unique establishment in forthcoming books.
Lorelei Lake and Fontus Springs are also figments of my imagination, although I got the idea after reading about Hot Wells, Louisiana, a hot springs resort in the center of the state. Like Fontus Springs, Hot Wells, located near lovely Cotile Lake, experienced periods of growth and decline, but as far as I know the mafia wasn’t involved, nor was it haunted. General Eisenhower did participate in the Louisiana Maneuvers, which trained men and women in the center of Louisiana for combat overseas, but he never visited the springs nor offered the quote to the Alexandria Town Talk newspaper that I have included in this book.
To read more about this real-life ghost town, I recommend Hot Wells: A Louisiana Ghost by Larry Jorgensen.
There is also no Hi Ho bait shop and café, no Courtyard Hotels chain, and I fabricated the Louisiana Department of Water Quality.
Grapevine, Texas, is a real town and home to many hauntings, including several at Cross Timbers Winery. The Diamond Grill in downtown Alexandria, Louisiana, exists, an elegant restaurant inside an art nouveau/art deco building that used to house C.A. Schnack’s Jewelry Store. It wasn’t opened at the time of Viola and Elijah’s visit, so I took some liberty there; it opened a few years later. The TV series Ghost Hunters visited the Diamond Grill in 2011, searching for a former employee named Stella who likes to hang out in the dining room. The show’s staff members experienced high electromagnetic readings behind the bar, moving doors with assistance, and a dark black mass during their investigation in Season Seven, Episode One.
In the nineteenth century, the New York Foundling & Orphan Asylum, run by the Sisters of Charity, sent New York orphans throughout the country to Catholic homes. In Louisiana, more than two thousand orphans arrived, including at Lafayette, Opelousas, and New Orleans. The system ended around the time of the Great Depression, but the Louisiana Orphan Train Museum in Opelousas tells its story.
Peigneur Lake at Rip Van Winkle Gardens in South Louisiana did disappear one fall day in 1980 when a Texaco oil rig drilled into the side of the underlying salt dome. As far as I know, there is no salt dome beneath or beside the waters of Cotile Lake.
For more information on Japanese scientist Masaru Emoto and his experiments with water, I’d recommend reading his The Hidden Messages in Water, The Healing Power of Water, and The Secret Life of Water.
Finally, I’ve had three family members suffer from Parkinson’s Disease, my father, my brother and, most recently, my dear husband Bruce. It’s a neurological disease in desperate need of a cure. Portions of this book’s profits will be donated to my brother Quentin Dastugue’s Team Fox Louisiana, part of the Michael J. Fox Foundation’s grassroots community fundraising program.
Acknowledgements
It takes a village to write a book, although in the most unusual ways. Most people never realize how important they are to the lonely business of novel writing.
Thanks to Barbara and Jim Lambert for the use of their lovely lakeside home for a writer’s retreat. The experience not only gave me quiet time to start this novel, but fodder for Fontus Springs and Lorelei Lake. I appreciated the visit more than you know. And thanks to Jan Risher for inviting me to participate.
To my sister-in-law, Penny Dastugue, for explaining to me complicated property transfers in Louisiana.
To David and Christee Atwood, for giving me an ear to vent and for always making me laugh. Y’all keep me sane.
To the three greatest critics and fans, my mother LilyB Moskal, and sisters Danon Dastugue and Roxane Moskal Berglund. You all kept me going with your enthusiasm and support. I can’t thank you enough.
And to the men I love more than life itself, my husband, Bruce, and my sons, Taylor and Joshua, the water on which I stay afloat.
About the Author
Cherie Claire is a native of New Orleans who like so many other Gulf Coast residents was heartbroken after Hurricane Katrina. She works as a travel and food writer and extensively covers the Deep South, including its colorful ghost stories. To learn more about her novels and her non-fiction books, upcoming events and to sign up for her newsletter, visit her website www.CherieClaire.net. Write to Cherie at CajunRomances@Yahoo.com.
Also by Cherie Claire
Viola Valentine Mystery Series
A Ghost of a Chance
Ghost Town
Trace of a Ghost
The Cajun Embassy
Ticket to Paradise
Damn Yankees
Gone Pecan
The Cajun Series
Emilie
Rose
Gabrielle
Delphine
A Cajun Dream
The Letter
Carnival Confessions: A Mardi Gras Novella