Louisiana Saves the Library (19 page)

“Since your ex is in town, I thought you might want to go out to dinner.”

“I'd love to. He wants to take the kids tonight. I can hardly stand him and his perfect fiancée. She was here two hours ago using her powers of blond gorgeousness to destroy my self-esteem.”

“I got the impression this visit wasn't going to be a whole lot of fun for you.” He produced a red rose from behind his back. “I know it's not Valentine's Day, but I thought you needed it. I grew this in my greenhouse. Tell you what, it's not easy to grow roses here. I don't even know why I planted them. Maybe I was just hoping I'd meet someone I wanted to give them to.”

Louise took the rose and stroked one of the soft petals. “Thanks. I should tell you that I have a bad history of killing plants. Not on purpose.”

“Don't worry. Just put it in some water. I think Hope has a vase back there in the kitchen. And enjoy it.”

“It's beautiful.”

“Not as beautiful as you.”

Just like that Julia was gone from Louise's mind. She was going to focus on the positive, especially this incredibly handsome farmer in front of her.

C
HAPTER
28

L
ouise and Sylvia went out to the parking lot after work and stood in the late-afternoon sunlight.

Sylvia put on her sunglasses and leaned against the door of her SUV. “I still can't believe you're dating the hot farmer. I love Jake a lot, but I'm still going to live vicariously through you.”

“God, please don't call him the hot farmer to his face. Hunky Strawberry Man would be much better.” Louise scanned the street for Sal's car. He was going with her to get the kids from school and bring them back to her house. Brendan and Julia were supposed to come by later and take them to dinner. She didn't know where they were going, but she wasn't giving advice unless he asked. Which he wouldn't. “I can't believe he is actually interested in me.”

Sylvia looked at Louise over the top of her sunglasses. “Shut up! Why not? You're cute, funny, interesting, personable when you want to be.”

“Yeah, that's why Brendan left me for the leggy blonde with the Einstein brain.”

“He left you because he is a jackass. Besides, you and Sal have been dating a few weeks now and things are going well, right?”

“Yeah. It's just that having my ex around makes me miserable.”

“Well, he's not as cute as Sal, I'll tell you that. That farmer is smart, funny, good-looking, and crazy about you. Forget about stupid what's-his-name.”

“I'm trying, but him being around all the time isn't helping. Maybe I'll get used to him. Like an ache in my toe.”

Sal's truck pulled into the library lot, and Louise felt a little rush of excitement. Seeing him did make her almost forget about Brendan.

He rolled down the window and leaned out. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah. What about the truck?”

“I'll leave it here for now.” Sal got out of the pickup and followed Louise to her van.

After waving good-bye to Sylvia, Louise buckled herself in and tried to relax while Sal adjusted the seat to accommodate his long legs.

“I hate seeing Brendan. He always made me feel bad about myself. Here I am with a PhD, working in an outdated library in the middle of nowhere with two kids I can barely handle. I'm a complete failure,” Louise said. She adjusted the mirror unnecessarily.

“You can't let him make you feel that way,” Sal said.

Louise started the van and pulled onto Route 1. “I know. But I can't just turn it off. He also makes me feel short, fat, and ugly. It doesn't help that he left me for Miss Tall, Blond, and Stunning.”

“He's an idiot. I can't imagine she is prettier than you.”

“Thanks. I'm sure you're the only person in the world who thinks that.”

“Sometimes I pretend to be someone else. Like the Rock. Or Superman, I don't know. An actor following a script. It doesn't always work, but it's worth a try.”

“It's hard to imagine you feeling weak or insecure.”

“Because I'm a big, strong man.” He took off his hat and ran his hand through his flattened curls. “Right. How do you think I felt coming back to Alligator Bayou after being a lawyer in Chicago? I knew everyone would think I was a failure. That I couldn't hack it.”

“But you chose to be a strawberry farmer. I got laid off and now I'm underemployed.”

“So what? You like your job, right?”

“Yeah. This hick backwater grew on me. Who knew?”

“So don't worry about what Brendan thinks.”

Louise turned into the day care parking lot and stopped. “Why did you come back to Alligator Bayou, really?”

“Family, partly. But there is something special about small towns. I'll bet you never lived in one before.”

“I do now and I'm still not sure I fit in.”

“You don't have to fit in. Just be yourself. It's going to be great. You'll see.” Sal smiled, reminding her exactly why Alligator Bayou was great. Because he lived there.

 

The look on Brendan's face when Sal opened the door of her house was priceless. He stood on the porch and stared at Sal. Even Julia glanced up from her smartphone and actually acknowledged Louise. It was just a moment of eye contact, but enough to let Louise know that she was impressed.

“You must be Brendan and Julia,” Sal said, putting on a convincingly good-natured grin. “Please come in. I'm Sal.”

Zoe ran up to Louise and hugged her legs, trying to hide. Thinking about leaving the kids with these two made Louise's stomach hurt. She didn't like the idea of Brendan and Julia even setting foot in her house, let alone watching her children. Sal put his arm around her waist and whispered, “They'll be fine.”

He was right. Brendan and Julia would not let anything happen to the children. The likely worst-case scenario was that all four of them would be unhappy for a few hours. Louise stood up straighter. “Y'all coming in?”

Brendan ignored her. “Is this really Zoe? She's so big.”

“She was barely a year old last time you saw her,” Louise said, reaching down to try to loosen the girl's grip on her knees.

“Yeah.” Brendan examined his daughter, no doubt looking for Louise's parenting failures. His critical eye would zero in on any flaws, from plaque on her teeth to delayed language development.

Julia put her smartphone back in her purse. “Let's get going. Where's their stuff?”

Louise stepped out of the way, and Brendan and Julia finally came inside. Louise had packed one backpack for each child, and Max was wearing his. He ran out of his room, saw Brendan and Julia, and immediately retreated again.

“Max, it's me. Daddy.” Brendan started toward Max's room.

Julia put her hand on his shoulder. “Don't. He'll come out when he's ready.”

“But he should remember me. I'm his father.”

“He's three. He doesn't understand that.”

Louise gaped at Julia. Along with all her other skills and attributes, this impossibly perfect woman understood children.

Julia saw her expression. “I have five siblings. The youngest one is twelve now.”

“Oh.” Louise felt stupid again. She should be glad that Julia would be able to handle Max and Zoe. But it was just another thing for Brendan's fiancée to be better at. Not that she was trying to compete.

Sal went into Max's bedroom and patiently told Max that he was going to spend some time with his father. Brendan sat on the couch and tried to convince Zoe to get onto his lap.

“No,” the girl said. She walked over to her play stove and started banging pots and pans around.

Somehow, the action seemed very adult. Zoe was looking more like a girl and less like a baby every day. She also tried to repeat everything her mother said. Louise had never been sad about Max growing up because the older he got, the easier her life became. But sometimes she dreaded Zoe's milestones.

Sal and Max emerged from the bedroom. “This big guy is going to have dinner with his dad. Right, buddy?”

Max nodded.

“I'll switch the car seats,” Louise said.

“We went ahead and bought some,” Brendan said. “Julia installed them already. I'm hoping you can keep them here for us after we leave.”

“Yeah, sure,” Louise said. Julia was now choosing and installing car seats for her children. She'd probably managed to get them in right the first time too. When Louise had first installed a car seat, the operation had used up twenty minutes and she'd been covered with sweat by the time it was done. Julia was proving to be superior in every way.

“How is the house-hunting going?” Sal asked.

“We found a nice place in University Heights,” Brendan said. “We have a few more to look at tomorrow, but I think that might be the one.”

“I'm just going to check out your new car seats,” Louise said. Zoe followed her outside and ran her hand along the door of Brendan and Julia's rental. Naturally, the seats were the right ones for the kids' sizes and Julia had installed them correctly. The straps felt tight when Louise pulled on them, and the installation indicators on the sides of both seats were green.

Louise opened the door, and Zoe climbed in. She put her in the seat and kissed her cheek. This was worse than leaving her at day care. Much worse. Now, she was going to have another car seat, another family, another house.

Sal came up to the car with Max trailing behind. “Let's strap these guys in before they get too hungry.”

Louise shut Zoe's door and returned to the house, leaving Sal to get Max into his seat. She was angry at Brendan, at herself, at the world. He was taking her children, and she was letting him do it.

Brendan was standing on the steps. He reached out to touch Louise's arm as she passed, and she instinctively recoiled.

“Thanks for doing this,” he said.

Louise backed up farther and studied her ex. He wasn't joking.

“I mean, you didn't have to. I did everything wrong. I abandoned all of you. So, thanks for giving me another chance to have a relationship with them.”

“Yeah. You're welcome.” Louise felt some of the resentment lift, but not all of it. Not by a long shot.

 

Louise felt lost driving to the restaurant without the kids, almost like she'd left one of her limbs behind.

But then she glanced over at Sal. His flannel shirt was unbuttoned over a faded T-shirt, and his arm rested comfortably against the van window. At least she wasn't alone.

“Take a right here,” he said, indicating the street that led to the courthouse.

“Where are we going?” Louise asked. Until that moment, she'd been so distracted by Brendan and Julia taking the kids that she hadn't thought to ask.

“My favorite restaurant in Alligator Bayou, if that's okay with you.”

“Sure. The only places I know are Anthony's and that gas station that sells fried chicken.”

“Yup, the chicken at the Stop 'N' Gas is pretty good, but the atmosphere leaves something to be desired.”

They passed the post office and the town hall. Up ahead, there was another gas station and a yellow clapboard building with a lot full of cars. The sign read, “Main Street Café.”

Sal took off his hat and put it between the seats. “This used to be the grocery store, before the Pig went in. Then, Stephanie bought the place and turned it into a restaurant. As far as I can tell, she and her daughters do everything.”

Louise was glad that the Main Street Café looked casual, almost shabby. Fancy restaurants made her nervous. Brendan had liked going to places where all the menu items had prices in the double digits, but Louise hated the fussiness of it all.

Sal held open the screen door for Louise. At first, she had the crazy idea that he'd arranged a surprise party even though it wasn't her birthday. She knew almost everyone in the restaurant. Ms. Trudy waved from her table in the corner; Regina, the police jury secretary, occupied a spot by the window with a man Louise assumed was her husband; and a few other library regulars sat at the other plain wooden tables. Seeing them made Louise think about the library. She and Sylvia were concentrating on providing programs and services that people wanted. Ms. Trudy had started a Friends of the Library group, and she was raising money as well as spreading the word about everything new at the library. It seemed to be working since the library was becoming the center of life in the town. People came for the cooking classes, teen programs, new books and multimedia materials, book clubs. Louise was working harder than she ever had, but it didn't feel arduous. It was fulfilling.

Sal chose a booth in the back, waving and exchanging greetings with the people he knew. “Only problem with a small town,” he said as they finally took their seats. “No anonymity.”

“That's okay,” Louise said. She picked up the menu, a laminated card listing the dishes she'd come to expect at almost any restaurant in Louisiana: gumbo, red beans and rice, crawfish étouffée, crab cakes, catfish po'boy.

“I always get the special,” Sal said. “It's listed on the chalkboard over there. Thin fried catfish topped with crawfish étouffée today.”

An African American woman with hair clipped military short appeared at their table. “Hi, darling.”

“Hi, Stephanie,” Sal said. “How's business?”

“Can't complain. We got some nice catfish today. You know how I feel about deep-frying, but this come from my cousin's brother's farm and there's no other way to do catfish right.”

“Well, I'll take some for sure.”

“How about you, Louisiana? You ever had thin fried catfish?”

Louise had ceased to be surprised when people in Alligator Bayou knew her name, even her given name. “I'm not sure. I've had fried catfish.”

“This is special. You'll like it, honey. I hear you bought that place by Sal's. You met Mrs. Pettigrew yet?”

“So far, I've just been watched through her window.”

Stephanie put her pad in her apron pocket and rested her hand on her hip. “Let me give you some advice. Make you some cookies or a cake or something and bring it on over there. Take the children with you. That's all you gotta do.”

“I will,” Louise said.

“All right. Beer?”

“Yes, please.”

A minute later, Stephanie returned with two sweating pint glasses. She hurried away when a table of seniors with walkers parked next to their chairs signaled for more drinks.

By the time their food arrived, Louise had drunk half of her beer. She knew that if she finished it, she wouldn't be able to drive.