Threads of Steel (Bayou Cove)

Copyright 2012 Bayou Books LLC

Published by Bayou Books LLC

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This work is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and places portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination and are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or
dead,
is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

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CHAPTER
ONE

“Elvis Presley slept here, Anna Marie, right here in this hotel.”

Anna Marie
LaFaire
remembered her mother’s words as she drove down the winding road to the hotel where the King of Rock and Roll stayed in his early years on his road to fame.

“I know who he is,” a young Anna Marie proudly told her mother.

“I know you do, Sweetie. He stayed right here every time he came to the coast, but now rich people stay here, and we have to remember to use the service entrance.”

When she was seven, using the service entrance wasn’t a big deal, but as Anna Marie got older, she understood she wasn’t part of the clientele who made their way to the golf resort. Today, at thirty-four, she was going back to that hotel. It had become her retreat when she returned to her home town of Bayou Cove to visit the only two people here she still kept in touch with.

Tomorrow she would bury one of them.

She drove to the entrance of the renovated 1930’s hotel. Nestled under large oak trees with its back lawn touching the slow moving water of Mossy Bayou, it had a quaintness she loved. White rockers with bright red cushions and baskets of petunias hanging between huge stone columns welcomed guests. Because her mother had worked part-time as a cleaning lady and kitchen help during the peak golf season, Anna Marie was never allowed to sit in these rocking chairs. Things were different now. On her infrequent visits she would sit in one of the rockers and look up, knowing her mom smiled down on her.

Today the peace this resort usually brought to her was nowhere to be found. For a moment she sat alone in the quiet interior of her car, hoping she could handle the emotional ups and downs she was sure to face during this visit.

A tap on her window pulled her out of her reverie.

“Nancy!” she screeched. She threw the door open, then leapt out of the car and threw her arms around her friend. “You’re here.”

“Of course, I’m here. Did you think I’d let you get all melancholy by yourself?”

The two old friends hugged before Anna Marie looked down
.
“And look at this little darling.” She stooped down to coo at Nancy’s youngest, strapped in an umbrella stroller
.

“Harry had plans to meet some of the guys at the Elks Lodge. I didn’t think you’d mind if I dragged along Little Harry. My daughter’s at dance class and both my boys are at ball practice.”

“He’s getting so big and changing every time I see him.” Anna Marie ran her fingers through soft, silky blonde hair. His huge blue eyes were just like Nancy’s. “I think I see both of you in him now.” She stood up. “I’m so glad you brought him. I don’t get to see many babies.”

“Hang around at my house. When my friends visit, we have babies in every shape and every size and every age.” Then Nancy smiled. “It’s great.”

“I’m envious of you and your family. You know that, don’t you?”

Nancy chuckled. “Yeah, sure you are. I can see where you’d want to give up that glamorous life in the city to change diapers, do four loads of laundry a day, and run kids around at their calling.”

Anna Marie grabbed her purse off the seat. “Things are not as glamorous as you think they are.”

Nancy rolled her eyes. “Come on. Let’s get you checked in,
then
find some place to sit. I’m
pooped.”

Within minutes Anna Marie had her room card, paid a valet to carry her bags up,
then
followed Nancy out the back door to the wide veranda overlooking a small portion of the black waters of the bayou. The waterway that separated the resort from the coastal cities started at the wide salt water channel leading to the Gulf of Mexico then wound its way into the deep seclusion of inland woods.

“Whew,” Nancy exclaimed, gaping at the view. “Now this is the life.”

Anna Marie smiled. “It is, isn’t it? I love it here.” She’d left the area after her divorce nearly thirteen years ago, and now this secluded hotel provided the escape she needed whenever she came to town.

“What’s not to love?” With a loud sigh Nancy turned, positioned the stroller next to the table,
then
handed the baby his bottle. “I miss times like this. It’s hard to remember quiet spots actually exist when you have a car full of arguing kids or screaming babies.”

“I understand. My schedule is so hectic I feel the same way, only I don’t have the kids in the car.” Anna Marie watched Nancy help the baby with his bottle and then looked back to the bayou
.
“I always feel so fortunate when I can get a room here, but I wish I was here for a different reason.”

“I know what you mean. I can’t believe Miss Ellie is actually gone. When I found out about her accident, I sat down and boohooed.” Nancy’s voice softened. “It doesn’t seem possible. I guess in my mind I thought she’d be with us forever.”

Anna Marie nodded. “She never failed us when we needed her, did she? I got a letter from her just last week. She was the only person I ever wrote to by hand. I’ll treasure her letters forever.”

“I saw her a couple weeks ago. She loved for me to bring Little Harry.” She pulled a deep sigh. “I’m glad she went fast and didn’t suffer, but the idea of that man running her over makes me sick. She rode her bicycle everywhere in this town. Everyone knew to watch out for her.”

“Have they figured out who was driving the car?”

Nancy shook her head. “Some out-of-towner, I guess. No one recognized him, and he didn’t have identification on him. Not even a driver’s license. I heard his toxicology screen will be back today, but he had to be drunk. Why else would he run over a poor old lady?
”

“I can’t think of anything more tragic. I can’t wait until his name is spread across the newspapers. What a shame the town can’t string him up by his toes.”

“I’m sure his name will be all over the front pages, but don’t count on stringing him up. I hear he’s on life-support while they figure out who he is.
Doesn’t look good for him either
.
After he ran over her bicycle, he ran smack into a telephone pole.”

Anna Marie grimaced. “I didn’t know he was dying. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Why? Everyone in town feels the same way.” Nancy threw her head back and changed the subject. “I feel like my body belongs to someone else.”

“You might be dead tired, girlfriend, but you look great. I don’t know how you keep up with four kids and still manage to keep a husband happy.”

Nancy’s blonde, bobbed hair partially covered her face as she leaned over to wipe a drool off of Little
Harry’s
chin. “Running kids around takes a lot of energy, but you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to keep a bunch of kids happy.” Smiling, she brushed a finger across the chin of the baby,
then
added softly. “Keeping a husband happy is another matter.”

“Now that doesn’t sound too good.”

Nancy played with the baby’s bib before answering. “Oh, it’s not bad. Just, uh, not perfect.”

Anna Marie touched her arm. “That’s not what I want to hear. You and Harry are the epitome of the perfect family. In fact, your marriage is the only good one I know.”

Nancy laughed. “Humph, watch who you put on that pedestal. It can be real unsteady up there.” Her laughter died and she shook her head. “I shouldn’t have said anything. Things are fine with us. I’m tired today. That’s all.”

“Of course that’s all.” Anna Marie wasn’t sure she believed her own words. She and Nancy talked often on the phone, but it had been quite some time since she’d actually sat down with her. The black circles under her eyes and lines of fatigue hadn’t been there the last time they’d visited. Could her friend’s marriage really be in trouble
?

“Guess who I saw last week?” Nancy asked, apparently eager to get past the awkward moment.

Just as glad to change the topic, Anna Marie shrugged.

“
Doti
.
Doti
Smith Daniels.”

Anna Marie’s breath hitched. “I really don’t want to hear about
Doti
.”

Nancy waggled her eyebrows and leaned forward, elbows propped on the table. Her eyes twinkled and her face became animated as she forged into her story.

Anna Marie groaned. She knew the signs of Nancy’s gossip mode. She’d hear the story whether she wanted to or not.

“I had Billy at the doctor’s office with tonsillitis—again. I almost ran into
Doti
coming out of the office across the hall, an oncologist’s office. She looks awful. She said she had a bad cold, but I could tell it was worse than that, and she wouldn’t have been at that office with just a cold. She looked thin and pale—almost gray. You know, like she’d been sick a long time, and, I swear, I think she was wearing a wig.”

Anna Marie frowned. “That doesn’t sound good. Is that all she said?”

“Yeah.”
Nancy sat up straight and squinted. “If I were a betting woman, I’d bet she has something awful.”

Anna Marie let that thought settle. “
Doti’s
had a pretty tough life. She’s still dealing cards at the casinos, isn’t she?”

“Oh yeah.
I think she’s worked at every casino on the coast. You know
Doti
, still looking for greener grass.”

Anna Marie knew all too well how her former friend searched for greener pastures in her job—and in her men—but there was no need to rehash what they both already knew. “Doesn’t surprise me, but, still, I don’t want her to be sick.”

Little Harry yawned and stretched his chubby arms overhead.

“Can I pick him up before he falls asleep?”

“Anna Marie! Don’t try to change the subject.”

“I’m not changing the subject. I want to hold him, but you’re right. I don’t want to talk about
Doti
.”

Nancy unstrapped Little Harry. “You still hate her, don’t you?”