Nancy K. Duplechain - Dark Trilogy 01 - Dark Bayou (2 page)

“Lucas?”

“You mean you didn’t recognize me?”

“You … changed.”

He leaned in and gave me a big hug, but hesitated slightly before kissing my cheek. “I guess the army does that to you,” he explained.

“Were you in Iraq?”

“Yeah, but I’ve been back for a year.”

“I’ll bet it’s good to be back.”

“Yeah. I missed this little guy too much,” he said, playfully using his free hand to tousle his son’s mouse-brown mop. The little boy picked up his head and grinned again.

“He has your smile.” Lucas looked very grateful for me saying that

“I didn’t even know you were married.” Lucas’ smile faded a little, and he set his son down.

“Jon, why don’t you go find Miss Carrie?”

“Okay!” Jon ran off down the hall toward the kitchen where the refreshments were.

“His mom and I are divorced.”

“Oh. Sorry to hear that.”

“I’m not. You remember Tina Geautreaux? She was a couple of years older than you.”

“You married her?” I was shocked. Tina was his complete opposite. She was what my maw-maw politely called a
gep
, or in modern terminology, a
slut
.

“She was pregnant with Jonathan, and I wanted to do the right thing and take care of my responsibility. Anyway, I went off to Iraq when Jonathan was two. When I came back, she said she couldn’t handle being a mom anymore, so she just left. Actually, what she really said was that she couldn’t be the mom of a … a
retard
.” He whispered that last word, and I flinched.

“Lucas, I’m sorry—”

“Don’t be. He’s the greatest joy in my life.”

Yes, Lucas Castille had changed. He was no longer the boy who, along with my brother, would throw pinecones at me and my friends while we were trying to have an outdoor tea party. And he was no longer the boy who, out of pity, took me to my junior cotillion and groaned the whole time that he didn’t want to hang out with children all night. It was clear that the person in front of me was a man now, and from what it seemed, a good man.

Jon trotted happily back into the room, pulling a woman wearing a green dress by the arm. I recognized her petite frame and long, curly brown hair instantly. My best friend Carrie. Some best friend I was. I hadn’t talked to her in nearly a year. She came to visit me three times since I moved away nearly five years ago. I hadn’t come back at all. Jon pulled Carrie to me and then grinned up at his father.

“Did I do a good job, Daddy?”

“You sure did, squirt.”

Carrie instantly put her arms around me and hugged me with everything she had. I hugged back just as fiercely. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she said.

“It’s so good to see you, Care.”

We released our embrace. She was grinning, but the smile soon faded. Her large, brown doe eyes were full of sympathy. “I’m so sorry about David and Michelle.”

I nodded.

“Your maw-maw’s been waiting for you.”

“Where is she?”

“I think she was in the kitchen last.”

“I just left the chapel a little while ago, and she was there,” said Lucas.

“Oh,” I said, but I didn’t budge. I wasn’t ready to go in yet. Carrie took the hint.

“I’ll go get her,” she said and walked toward the chapel. I was grateful for that. It seems like best friends can always read your mind.

“Daddy, I need the bathroom.” Jon tugged at the back of Lucas’ uniform.

“Okay. Let’s go find it.” He held Jon’s hand and looked at me. “You gonna be okay?”

“Yeah. You go ahead. I’ll see you in a little bit.”

“Okay.”

Lucas and Jon walked off to find the restroom. I was alone again and I felt an opportunity present itself. I could leave now. Just walk out the door, get in my rental car and go back to Los Angeles. My heart started beating a little faster. I actually took one step back toward the lobby door. I stopped when I saw Clothilde’s five-foot, one-inch frame draped in a pale pink pant suit. A small matching hat donned her snow white hair; the auburn had faded long ago. I inherited that auburn hair, and I briefly wondered if my locks would one day be that beautiful shade of white.

She stepped out of the chapel and into the lobby. She scanned the room, but hadn’t seen me at first. Once again, I thought about making a getaway. Then her vivid green eyes found me. Mom always told me I had Clothilde’s eyes. I thought they would be accusatory and angry, but even from my distance, I could see the sorrow and regret in them. She hesitated for a second and then walked over toward me with a slow, uneven gait.
Weak knees
, I remembered. I put my head down, unable to look into those green eyes as she got closer.

“Leigh-Leigh,” she said. Her voice was heavy with grief. She reached up and lifted my chin with a gentle, withered hand. She didn’t have to lift far for me to look her in the eyes. I was a full eight inches taller than she was. My height was dad’s genes all the way.

I looked down on this old woman, a woman who loved me unconditionally even after I turned my back on the whole family. Her eyes were starting fresh tears. I was about to break when she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me. I hugged her hard and tight, knowing that no matter how hard I squeezed, it would never make up for nearly five years of lost time.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured.

“It’s okay, chère,” she said, her voice soothing. In the Cajun dialect,
chère
sounded like
shaa
. We released our hug, and she started toward the chapel. “They’re in here,” she said.

I didn’t move. She turned toward me. “Leigh-Leigh. Come.” I shook my head, no. “You’re not going to say goodbye to your brother and sister-in-law?” I remained silent and looked away. “I had them wait to say the Rosary today so you wouldn’t miss it last night and you’re not even coming in?” I could sense the anger building up in her, and I braced myself for an argument. But she just nodded and said, “Just like Lyla.”

“Where is she?” I asked.

“With Miss Ya. She didn’t want to come. I’ll be in the chapel whenever you’re ready.”

I found myself alone again, but not for long. I was soon joined by Jonathan who ran up to me with that same smile spread across his face. “We found the bathroom,” he said a little too loudly.

“Glad to hear it,” I said and forced myself to smile back at him.

Lucas came up behind him and grasped his son’s shoulders with gentle hands. He noticed that my mood changed. “Jon. Why don’t you go hang out with Miss Carrie for a little while, okay?”

“Okay.” Jon ran off to find her.

Lucas motioned to the back door down the hallway that went past the kitchen. “Wanna join me outside for a minute?” I nodded and followed him out the door.

He took off his uniform jacket, sat down on the top step and motioned for me to do the same. I sat next to him as he draped his jacket across his knees. Perspiration was already creeping across our foreheads, and it was only 10:30. Lucas dabbed at his forehead with the back of his hand.

“Don’t get this kind of humidity in California, do you?”

I laughed a little. “No. Not in my part of the state, anyway.”

“Do you ever miss it here?”

If Clothilde had asked me that, there’s no doubt it would have been a loaded question. But with Lucas, I felt that was exactly what he meant. “Sometimes,” I answered. And it wasn’t a lie, exactly. I missed home whenever I thought of it, but I always intentionally made myself too busy to think of it.

“Clothilde’s been a rock through this whole thing,” he said after a reflective moment.

“And you?” I asked.

“Me? Don’t worry about me.”

“You and David were best friends, not to mention partners.”

He nodded. “I’m holding it together.”

And he was. I had been in California so long that a man crying in front of a woman wasn’t so unusual. Not that I ever minded it. But there was something to be said for the strong, silent types that breed so well in the South.

“I’m more worried about you,” he said.

“I’m okay.”

He nodded again, I’m sure knowing too well that I wasn’t fine, but allowing me to be strong and silent myself. The humidity was killing me at this point, but I wanted to stay outside with Lucas. It felt good to be with someone who didn’t want to pry. I felt comfortable with him, but that wasn’t exactly a good thing. I think that deep down I wanted an excuse to leave.

I broke the momentary silence. “What exactly happened? I mean, I know it was a car accident, but what caused it?”

He was quiet for a moment, composing his thoughts. “They were driving home from my house. We had a barbecue and Lyla and Jon played in the new pool I got. One of those above-ground pools, but a good sized one. We had a great time. They headed home around eight P.M. You know how dark it is on highway 167. They just went off the road. No skid marks. I guess it happened so fast there was nothing he could do.” After a thought he added, “It was strange.”

“Doesn’t sound so strange. Things like that happen all the time.”

He glanced at me, looking like he was struggling to tell me something else. “But Lyla—”

“She’s fine.”

“Exactly.”

I furrowed my eyebrows at him.

“She didn’t have a scratch or bruise on her.”

“That’s a good thing.”

He shook his head. “Leigh, you didn’t see that car. We had to cut it open to get David and Michelle … It wasn’t pretty. Lyla was in the backseat, crying and screaming …” He stopped, visibly shaken from the memory. “I was the first one on the scene because it was so close to my house. As soon as I heard it on the scanner, I didn’t even want to wait for the sitter to come. I grabbed Jon and left. When I got there, I told Jon to stay in the car. I ran over to the culvert their car smashed into and managed to get one of the back doors open. Lyla wouldn’t stop screaming. I reached in and felt for a pulse for them, hoping for one, but knowing they were already gone. I’ve seen enough of those accidents to tell. I got Lyla out, brought her to my car just as the ambulance was getting there and a couple of other squad cars. I held her, and they examined her. No blood on her, not even David’s or Michelle’s. I’ve never seen anything like that. She should’ve … she should have been dead, too, but she was fine. Physically, anyway.”

“What are you telling me? It was some miracle of God or something?”

“That was my first thought, but something else happened.” He struggled again, but harder this time. I thought for a second that he wasn’t going to tell me at all and, later, I deeply wished he hadn’t. “You’re going to think I’m crazy, but you deserve to know everything that happened that night.”

“Go on,” I said.

He licked his lips and stared down at the sidewalk that led up to the steps where we sat. “I had the ambulance take Lyla to the hospital to get her x-rayed. I went back in my car to follow them to the ER. When I got in, Jon wanted to know what happened. I told him there was an accident with Uncle David and Aunt Michelle. And he asked, ‘But Lyla’s okay?’ I looked at him and said, ‘Yeah.’ Then Jon looked out the window toward the wrecked car. He said, ‘Who’s that man, Daddy?’ I looked where he was looking. I thought it was one of the guys cutting open the car. I told him that. He said, ‘No. The dark man behind the trees.’ I looked over and didn’t see anyone there.”

“Okay. So you’re telling me that there was some angel or something that saved Lyla?” I was very skeptical.

“Not an angel. Jon said that the Dark Man was looking at David’s car and smiling. Look, I’m not much of a holy roller or anything, and I’m not superstitious, but when Jon said that, it gave me a chill. Even now, I want to shiver thinking about that night. And Jon has been having nightmares just about every night since, always about the Dark Man.”

“So, it’s the devil—?”

Lucas smiled. “I knew you’d think I’m crazy.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s a little hard to swallow.”

“I know. But you have to admit that Lyla not having a scratch on her is pretty miraculous.”

“Yeah, but things like that have happened before. Jon was probably just traumatized from seeing the accident. And Lyla being okay … it’s just luck.”