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“Okay, well, take a deep breath. You’re safe there for now, aren’t you? I mean, he’s not going to come back and hurt you, is he?”

“No. I’m okay here.”

“I’ll call Katrina right after we hang up. Can I tell her what you told me about Steve?”

“Yes,” she said, and for the first time, Maggie would hear weeping.

“Oh, Annie, I’m so sorry.” She felt a little responsible for introducing them. Maybe she’d call Steve. “Do you mind if I call him?”

“No, I don’t mind. I don’t know what good it will do. I really don’t want him if he doesn’t want me.”

They chatted a bit more before hanging up, Maggie promising to call back as soon as she spoke with Katrina.

Staring out at the water, the reflection of the moon lighting a path to the horizon, a feeling of suffocation was trying to overtake Maggie. A true friend offers help, as she was doing for Annie. Annie had been there for Maggie duringherdivorce. Was going home to her mother and father in Pensacola even an option for Annie? Maggie would bring it up in the next conversation. If Annie waited until the baby was born, the caveat would be that Steve might try to legally prevent her from moving across a state line. They were issues that Maggie didn’t have the will to help Annie navigate. The only thing that was in her control was letting Annie stay at Bayou Cottage.

Picking up her phone again, she keyed in Katrina’s number, but it went to voicemail.

***

After dropping Annie off at home, Katrina went to the marina and waited for Alphé to return. Sitting in her car in the parking lot, she watched the sun slip below the horizon completely, the glow on the headland encompassing the marina and the dockmaster’s shack, the dusty and dark road that disappeared into the trees that was the way to Bayou Cottage when the water receded. This was where she wanted to live out the rest of her life, alone or with Alphé. Checking the time, she decided to run over to Spencer’s Grocery to buy something for their dinner. Strolling up the wooden pathway to Main Street, the feeling of ownership, that this was her town, dominated all other feelings, even the excitement of seeing Alphé.

It was at that point that she recognized that his ex-wife was going to be in her life if she chose Alphé. Dealing with the aftermath of Lola might not be suitable for a weaker person, but Katrina knew she was up to the challenge. She’d use energy that might be better used for something more important, but that would be the trade-off. Time would tell.

Walking up and down the aisles, she picked out items that didn’t require any preparation. She wasn’t even sure there was a microwave on the boat to heat up food. They were having rotisserie chicken, potato salad, a mixed green salad from a kit, and tiramisu. When she chose the dessert, she laughed out loud. Alphé was so lean, she doubted he ate sweets. She’d eaten so much king cake, pecan pie and every other sweet dessert, she knew she shouldn’t succumb, but she felt like planning a meal to eat on the boatwaskind of special, and she could eat dessert for that. It was a treat she could have at the beginning of a relationship.

Arriving back at the marina at the same time Alphé’s boat entered the canal, she recognized the thrill seeing him gave her as an indication she’d made the right decision to jump in. Being busy people meant they didn’t have a lot of time for shenanigans. The time spent together so far had been focused on getting to know each other. All the intrigue of his marriage hadn’t been the main topic of conversation like it had been in past relationships with men who had ended marriages. She was sure to get a lengthy diatribe of every flaw and sin of their ex. Not so with Alphé.

As soon as the boat entered the marina, Alphé recognized Katrina; she was hard to miss even in the dark. Bright marina lights reflected off her auburn hair. That tall, lanky body encased in an expensive suit was impossible to miss. And balanced with grocery bags, her gait coming toward his boat was unmistakable. Like she was on a catwalk, there was a slinkiness about her that went right to his groin.

“Pierre, no offense, but get lost, will you? I have a date tonight.”

“Pas de soucis, je ne gâcherai pas ton style, lothario,” he said, meaning in English,no worries, I won’t cramp your style, you lothario.

Laughing, after Pierre left, tipping his hat as he walked by Katrina, Alphé jumped off the boat onto the dock. He ran to meet her, kissing her unabashedly in front of the other fishermen, and grabbed the bags from her with one hand so that she giggled, not used to such gallantry or consideration.

“God, I missed you today,” he said, placing his arm around her shoulders. “I thought about you all day.”

He helped her on board. “I have to run to see my kids,” he said. “Will you be okay for about an hour?”

“I’ll be just fine. You don’t have a microwave on board, do you?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. Look in the pantry.”

He led her to the galley and helped her unpack the food.

“You go,” she said. “I’ll be fine doing this.”

He kissed her again and left the boat. She didn’t mind, knowing that his kids would probably always come first. She would shower and get into comfortable clothes and prepare for the next day while he was gone. It was all good.

The sound of Alphé’s truck pulling up to the house where his children lived was a welcome disruption for Angela, Noel, and the two younger children, Pris and Rumor. When their father walked through the door, they literally jumped him, screaming his name. But then something happened that changed the tone of the visit; Rumor started weeping, his arms around Alphé’s neck, and it started a chain reaction of emotion for all the children.

“Where’s Mommy?” Alphé asked, furor building after they’d chatted for a while, catching up.

“She’s out again,” Angela said, no longer feeling like she needed to protect Alphé. He could handle it.

“Come with me,” he said. “Pack up your pj’s and electronics. We’re going to the boat. I want you to see the bunks set up, two on each side of the corridor. You’ll be so cozy there when you come to stay.”

Excitedly, they went to their rooms, Alphé helping the younger children pack bags. He wrote Lola a note; she didn’t deserve a text, that he was taking the kids to the boat for the night and would have them back in the morning for school.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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