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He chose a place on Chartres Street that specialized in both. At one time he’d been a regular. Now he couldn’t recall his last visit. This afternoon, it was important to him to share it with Abigail.
Since Christmas was only three days away, the area was crowded, so he double-parked, assisted Abigail from the vehicle and onto the curb, then told his chief of staff to find an open spot. At least the self-driving mechanism was something Bonds had perfected.
Unsurprisingly the restaurant lobby was packed, but once the owner saw him, she swooped in. “I’ll be! Hayes McCall! It’s been an age.” She enveloped him in a huge hug.” When she finally let him go, she waved a hand. “Come with me; come with me you two.”
He and Abigail followed the proprietress to a back staircase and up to a tiny room on the second floor.
“I’m glad to see you, Hayes. Christmas miracles do happen.” She swept him into a second hug before turning her eye to Abigail. “Who do we have here?”
Hayes introduced Abigail to Emilie.
“Welcome to Chaudière, Miss Abigail. I’m mighty pleased you’re here.”
“Thank you. My tummy started rumbling the moment we walked in.”
“You came to the right place. Oui. Now make yourselves comfortable, you hear?”
Hayes pulled back Abigail’s chair for her.
Seconds later, the server arrived with a basket of bread and informed them of the day’s special, the Taste of New Orleans platter, featuring four of their signature dishes.
“That makes it easy.” He glanced at Abigail who nodded enthusiastically. “We’ll go with the best of the best.”
“Something to drink?”
Abigail glanced at him.
“Unsweet tea.” A subtle signal of the direction he hoped the rest of the day would go.
Pleasing him more than words could express, Abigail followed suit. “Make that two.”
As they waited for their entrées, Abigail regaled him with stories of her preschoolers and their antics. And she talked about a couple of students who struggled due to issues at home. “Those break my heart.” Then, after shaking her head, she changed the subject. “How is your son coping with the changes to his life?”
“Trenton’s in kindergarten, and his teacher recently called us in for a meeting. He’s a little rambunctious, and he doesn’t seem as engaged as he was earlier in the year. Susanna thinks he’s not trying hard enough or other kids are distracting him.” Now he wondered.
“He’s got you. That makes him lucky.”
And maybe he had room for improvement.
Their meal arrived.
“I can’t believe the size of this.”
The sampler platter contained full-size portions of gumbo, red beans and rice, jambalaya, and crawfish etouffee.
When she took a bite of the chicken and sausage gumbo, she momentarily closed her eyes. “I may have died and gone to gastronomic heaven.”
“Gastronomic?” Unsure he’d ever heard anyone actually use that word, Hayes laughed.
“Culinary? Cajun?”
“Any of the above.”
“I can’t wait to come back here with my friends.”
“The balcony is a great place to people watch.”
“I definitely want to try that with a hurricane. Or two.”
