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One month later…
* * *
Remy stood inside the Bayou Boat Factory building, looking around at what they’d accomplished in one month’s time with ten hard-working men, elbow grease and several giant roll-off trash bins full of junk hauled off to the recycle center and dump.
Most of the equipment left behind over the years had been inoperative and could only be salvaged for the metal.
By the time the sale was finalized, the building was clean, plans had been drawn up and construction would begin the following Monday.
The men Remy and Hank had hired to staff this branch of the Brotherhood Protectors stood around him, ready to begin their new adventure.
“I bet none of you expected to be hauling off junk, cleaning and painting as a part of your duties working with the Brotherhood Protectors. But thank you for your hard work and patience. The contractor will take it from here and make this a place to be proud of.”
“I don’t know about all of you,” Gerard said, “But I’m already proud of our new digs.”
“Damn right,” Lucas LeBlanc seconded. “Feels good to work with my hands.”
“We’ll be doing some of that when we get the boat manufacturing set up. It’ll fill the gaps between assignments.”
“I’m just glad to be back in Louisiana,” Sinclaire Sevier said. “I’ve missed the heat and the humidity so thick you can slice it with a knife.”
“Said no one ever,” Rafael Romero said.
“Hasn’t seemed to bother you, Romeo,” Valentin Vachon said. “You’ve already been panting after the pretty gift shop owner. Too bad she wants nothing to do with you.”
Romeo lifted his chin. “She’s a work in progress. She’ll come around eventually. What about you and the cute schoolteacher? I’ve seen you chatting her up every chance you get.”
Valentin frowned. “Nothing going on there. I’m just being polite.”
“Yeah, right.” Landry Laurent shook his head. “Keep telling yourself that. Before you know it, you’ll be married with two-point-five children in tow.”
“Never happen,” Valentin said and changed the subject. “Who’s up for a beer?”
All ten men shouted a resounding, “Me!”
“Crawdad Hole in ten minutes?” Beaux Boyette said.
The men dispersed, heading for their vehicles.
Remy was the last man to leave the building, turning to lock it before climbing into his air-conditioned truck. He would go to the Crawdad Hole but only stay a few minutes, preferring to be at home with his fiancée. They’d picked a date over a year out from their engagement, only to move it up eight months because they’d been a little careless about contraceptives.
Remy grinned. Shelby was pregnant.
They couldn’t be happier. As her sister had said more than once, they weren’t getting any younger. If they wanted as many kids as Chrissy and Alan, they’d have to get moving. And the competition was getting tougher.
Chrissy was pregnant as well, with their sixth, due around the same time as Shelby and Remy’s first.
Remy had come home. He had a big job ahead of him managing the Bayou Brotherhood. He had a good team and Hank Patterson behind him.
Now that they had the building cleared and the men had all either settled in the boarding house or other accommodations, it was time to take on the work they’d come to do.
Remy shifted into drive and started to leave the parking lot when a truck pulled in and came to a stop beside him.
A woman with sandy-blond hair and gray eyes lowered her window. “Are you Remy Montagne?”
He nodded. “I am.”
“I’m Bernie Bellamy of Bellamy Acres.”
