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“Right. It’s a historic shotgun. It was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. I got it at a county auction and just had to pay back taxes. I gutted it down to the joists and started almost from scratch. It’s beautiful now. Well, it was ten years ago. I’ve neglected it.”
“Do you want to do it again?”
“I would absolutely do it again.”
“Okay, well, you know I’m stayin’, so I need a place to live. Start looking for a house for me. For us eventually, but you know what I mean.”
“I do know what you mean.” A large, lighted parking lot loomed ahead. “Here we are.”
He pulled into the parking lot of the store. They grabbed a cart and, once inside, went from aisle to aisle, loading up on all the linens they’d need. Just in case, they got a cooler and two bags of ice. Then they did a little food shopping.
“I don’t think the refrigerator in the boat has been turned on since my dad died. I’ll have to get that taken care of.”
He paid for everything, which made her nervous.
“I’m going to stay in the boat. I need to take responsibility for what I need and not let my rich girlfriend pay the bill.”
That made her howl out a laugh. “Oh god, is that what I’m going to be called?”
“Once my friends find out, it’ll be a cross I have to bear. You’re smarter, more successful, better educated and better looking than I am…”
“Wait up. You are definitely better looking than me,” she said, laughing. “And I’m not sure I’m smarter.”
They teased each other on the way back to Cypress Cove. In the marina parking lot, they hauled their purchases and her bags out of the truck and lugged everything down the dock to the boat. After getting on board, they wrestled the bags down a set of teak stairs to the cabin below.
“Oh, this is really nice,” she said, looking around in awe. “This is what I imagined it to be. We can fix this up nice so you’ll be comfortable.”
“I hope living and working in the same place won’t be too onerous.”
“You just used one of my favorite words.”
“I probably heard it in an audiobook,” he said, chuckling. “If I was to read it, I wouldn’t know how to pronounce it.”
“I mispronounce words and names all the time,” she said. “It doesn’t mean anything. People who correct grammar are awful.”
“Ha! Agree.”
“Do I take over or let you decide what we do first?”
“Take over. I’ll be your beast of burden.”
She looked at him sidelong and, with her eyes half closed, started to hum the Stones tune. “That song means instant sex.”
“I have it on my phone! Just a minute,” he cried, teasing her.
“Never mind! I’m kidding,” she said, laughing at him. “At least I’m kidding tonight.”
“Right, because tonight we’re going to behave,” Alphé said, pulling her close.
Kissing her neck, he smoothed his hands over her back, moaning when he got to her waist and edged her just a little closer. Threading her arms around his shoulders, they found each other’s lips and began to kiss like they had not kissed before.
On Tuesday morning at five thirty, the alarm on Alphé’s watch went off.
“Oh my god, are you kidding?”
“Ha! You stay in bed. I’m going to go see my kids and then go to church. When I return, we’ll head out, and I’ll get you back to Bayou Cottage. You’ll have to deal with Pierre.”
“I don’t mind Pierre. Do you want coffee?”
