Page 32 of Passion’s Song

She nodded and followed him out to his car. When they arrived at her brother’s house in Metairie, there were already at least a dozen cars parked in their short driveway and along the curb surrounding the house. They parked two houses down, in front of a bi-level-style structure that was repeated every fourth home.

“When did Jason move to Metairie?” Damien asked as he helped her out of the car.

“After Katrina,” April answered. “Their house in New Orleans East flooded. He realized the commute was about the same for both him and Shelby, so they moved out this way.”

“Do they enjoy living in the suburbs?”

“According to Jason it’s better, especially now that they have kids. Even though the houses are all pretty cookie-cutter, he likes having a bigger house and backyard for less money.”

“That’s interesting,” Damien said with a nod. “That’s something I’ll have to take into consideration when it comes to the project I’m working on, although I never really pictured families with young children living there.”

“Really?” April asked. “I would have thought they would be your ideal resident. We need families with young children back in the Ninth Ward.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Is that D-Dawg Alexander?”

She and Damien both turned at the sound of Savion’s loud voice carrying from the front door. He jogged up the walkway and reached out to Damien, bringing him in for a one-armed hug.

“What’s up with you, man?” Savion greeted. “It’s been a minute since I’ve seen you around here. Well, except on the covers of magazines, Mr. Bachelor of the Year.”

“Top Ten Bachelor,” April corrected.

“Oh. Excuse me,” her brother said. He squeezed her in a too-tight hug, kissing the crown of her head. “If I’d known you were coming I would have brought you a couple of bottles of my new beer,” Savion said.

Damien’s forehead creased in a frown. “I wanted to ask you about the beer since I noticed it in your fridge the other day. Since when did you start drinking beer?” he asked April.

“She drinks my beer,” Savion said.

“My brother fancies himself a craft-beer maker,” April explained. “I bought him a home-brewery kit for Christmas and now he has all these ideas about opening up his own fancy sports bar that only serves craft beer.”

“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” Damien said. “Something like that would fit right in with the type of places I want occupying the retail space of the property I’m planning to build in the Ninth Ward.”

April swung around to face him, her brows dipping in confusion. “It does? But I thought—”

“We can talk business later,” Savion interrupted. “Right now, both of y’all need to grab a plate of the barbecue the Knight brothers are cooking up. It’s off the chain.”

They bypassed the house, heading straight for the gate that led to the backyard. There were at least two dozen people seated around the folding tables that Jason had set up in the backyard. April walked over to the one underneath the awning stretching out over the rear patio. Covered with a plastic pink tablecloth and trimmed with garland made up of paper crosses, it held a cake in the shape of the Holy Bible with a picture of her two-month-old niece, Naomi, airbrushed in sugar.

Her sister-in-law came up to her, followed closely by Jason, who held the swaddled baby in his arms.

“Hey there,” April greeted. “How did the christening go?”

“She cried. As usual.”

“Oh, hush,” her sister-in-law said. “She’s a baby. Of course she cried.”

“I was talking about you,” Jason said. Shelby swatted him on the arm. “Hey, hey, hey, careful now,” her brother said. “I’m holding precious cargo here.” He leaned over and placed a kiss on April’s cheek. “Thanks for stopping by.”

“Of course I came. I’m sorry I missed the service,” April said.

“Don’t worry, he recorded the entire thing on his phone.” Shelby rolled her eyes as she took the baby from Jason’s arms.

Jason held his phone up. “I’ll upload it to YouTube and send everyone a link after the picnic.” He looked past April, his eyes squinting. “Damien Alexander? Is that you?” Jason asked.

“Long time no see.” Damien extended a hand and brought Jason in for the same kind of one-armed hug he’d shared with Savion.

“You’re damn right it’s been a long time. How have you been, man? How’s Kurt doing?”