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Chapter Twenty-three 14 page

“Mom, we’re going to have to get out. Mrs. Foret’s tree is blocking the road,” Bailey said, as if Tully hadn’t noticed the two-hundred-year-old oak lying across the street like someone had shot it. Its massive root system had taken part of the street and the sidewalk with it, the cement slabs tangled and hanging in the gnarled wood twenty feet in the air.

“Be careful where you step,” Tully said before she turned the ignition off and opened her door. The heat was overwhelming, as was the quiet once the echo of the slamming car doors ceased. They were only a block from their house, but they couldn’t see it yet because of the fallen vegetation.

“I always wondered how old that tree was,” Tully said as she finally stopped in front of their house.

The huge pin oak whose age Tully had just commented on had taken up a good portion of the corner of their front yard. It now rested in the master bedroom, the storm having pushed it over like a twig even though it was larger than the one they’d had to climb over in Mrs. Foret’s yard.

“I guess we’ll find out when they cut the damn thing out of there.” Finally fully realizing that the master bedroom was now part of the first-floor den area, she couldn’t help but laugh until tears fell from her eyes.

“Honey, you all right?” Libby asked.

Tully kept laughing. “I’m fine,” she said, glad she didn’t see a waterline on it. The Army Corp of Engineers was reporting that the most severely flooded sections of town would take about a month to dry out. “I’m not laughing at the new owners’ misfortune, but I was just thinking. Somebody gave us a pretty clear sign that we need to move out of this place. The room that got destroyed was the place that brought about all these changes in our lives to begin with. It’s truly over now, don’t you think?”

“Let’s go see what else is wrong,” Bailey said, holding her hand out to Tully.

The front door opened easily, but Tully made them all wait outside until she could check to see if it was safe. Upstairs she got as far as Ralph’s bedroom door before she started to see daylight from the hole in the ceiling. The massive tree limbs had stabbed through the floor, creating an indoor jungle effect in her office as well. After a quick walk-through, she discovered that only the pool house had escaped unscathed.

“I want to wait for someone to check and tell me it’s not going to collapse on us if we try to take anything out. It’s a good thing we were already packed and ready to go. Most of the boxes seem okay.”

“What now, Mom?” Ralph asked.

“Let’s go check out the new place and see if all those trees we thought were great a few weeks ago are still standing. Then we’ll probably have to go stay with your grandmother until the mayor’s office reopens the city for good.”

“What about Mama?” he asked.

“The police officer told me they evacuated them all, so it’s just a waiting game now. We’ll have to sit tight until she gets in touch with us from wherever she ended up, and that could be anywhere from Houston to Atlanta.”



“Mom, do you think Chase and her family are okay?” Bailey stopped walking before they reached the car and glanced in the opposite direction. Her friend’s home was about three blocks away.

“You guys up for a walk?” Tully asked.

It took them more than an hour to reach Chase’s house, and when they did Tully let go of Libby’s hand and grabbed Bailey before she made a run for it. All that remained of the two-story house was a pile of ash with a few wall timbers.

“Do you think they stayed?”

“I’m sure they got out, but I can’t let you go in there.” Tully held Bailey and tried to turn her away from the destruction.

“I can’t just leave, she might be hurt.”

“Promise me you’ll stay here, and I’ll go see.” Tully motioned both Ralph and Libby to hold Bailey. “I mean it, Bailey. I’ll be right back.”

Tully walked the property until she reached the back fence, which had held up surprisingly better than the house. The only other structure left standing was a utility shed with a barbecue grill in front of it.

“Hello,” she called, hoping someone wouldn’t shoot her because they thought she was there to steal something.

“Ms. Badeaux?” Chase emerged from the shed, shielding her eyes from the bright sun. “How’d you get here?”

“Bailey walked me over.” Tully walked closer and clasped Chase’s shoulder, ignoring the fact that she was sweating profusely and appeared a little shell-shocked.

“Bailey’s with you?” Chase ran her hand over her unwashed hair and blushed.

“She is, and I’m sure she’s going to think you’re as cute as the day you came to our house for dinner, so stop worrying.” Tully glanced past her to the door of the shed. “You aren’t here alone, are you?”

“My mom’s with me.”

“Where’s your dad?”

“In Arizona the last time he called, I think. My parents are divorced.”

“Uh-huh. What happened to the house?”

“Lightning is the best we can figure,” an attractive brunette said from the door. “Are you a friend of Chase?”

“I’m the mother of Chase’s girlfriend.” Tully stuck her hand out. “Tully.”

“Dana.” The woman took her hand.

“Were you two able to salvage anything?”

Dana sighed. “Just the stuff we evacuated with, but we’ll manage.”

“Mom?” Tully heard Ralph scream from the front.

“Everything’s fine, Ralph. Just give me a few minutes,” she yelled back. “Come on, then. I brought backup with me.”

Dana took a few steps from the door and shook her head. “That’s really nice of you, but we’ll be fine.”

“The way I see it, you have two choices here.” Tully motioned Chase back to the shed for their things. “You can either leave with me willingly or I’ll carry you out of here. But there’s no way in hell I’m leaving the two of you here alone.”

“I’m sure you have enough to worry about.” Dana wiped the sweat from her forehead, appearing aggravated with the heat.

“Chase, pack up what you have,” Tully said when she just stood there. “You can carry the bags and I can carry your mother.”

“Okay, we’ll come with you, but only for a few days.” Dana threw her hands up. “I can’t believe it’s this bad,” she said as they walked past the burnt-out shell of the house. “I’ve been sitting next to my lawnmower for the last couple of days because I couldn’t bring myself to look at it.”

“I wish I could make it better, but I can’t think of anything to say except that you and Chase are fine,” Tully said. “You’re here together, so the rest will take care of itself.”

Chase broke out into a run when she saw Bailey, obviously overjoyed and yelling, “I’ve been so worried about you.”

Bailey drew back from the hug and examined Chase’s face. “Are you sure you’re all right? I’ve been trying to call, but once we left Lafayette, the phone was as useless as a rock.”

“Don’t look too close. The shed didn’t have any running water. Not that it’s running anywhere else.”

“My mom always says looks are only skin deep, babe. Of course, she’s dating Libby, so she can make cute comments about people’s looks since beautiful doesn’t begin to describe her.” She rolled her eyes and laughed. “Being a little funky isn’t going to turn me off, unless you’re going with this look once we get to my grandmother’s and you decide to take a pass on the working shower.”

Tully drove Libby’s car through more than one yard to make it around the fallen trees. She figured ruts in the landscaping would be the least of people’s problems. She let Dana drive the Land Rover and take the kids with her so she could lead them all out.

On the way to the Badeaux home, Libby asked her, “Are we stopping by the new place before we head out?”

“I guess we should, since we’ll probably be having houseguests for a while. We can offer the middle bedroom upstairs to Dana and Chase, if you don’t mind.”

Libby reached over the center console and took Tully’s right hand. “You’re a nice person for doing that, honey.”

“I figure it’ll keep my mind off all the hurricane damage and the other problems I’m going to have.”

“I don’t think they’re going to be that big a problem. Do you?”

“Not a problem having another two people in the house, no. But worrying about Bailey having sex before I think she’s ready will keep my mind humming for months to come.”

With a slap to Tully’s arm, Libby laughed. “You’re telling me that if we’d been dating at their age and were living under these circumstances, you’d be able to keep your hands off me?”

“Baby, I’m over forty living in these circumstances, and I can’t keep my hands off you. I saw the way that kid looks at my little girl.” She stopped at the corner and peered in the rearview mirror to make sure Dana was still with her. “Do you know any more about Chase and her mother than I do?”

“Think I’m keeping secrets from you, huh?”

“More like I think Bailey sees you as someone to confide in more than me with stuff like this.”

Libby slapped her arm again, then pinched her. “And you want me to tell you if she did? Shame on you, Counselor.”

“Not tell on her. More like drop a few major hints.”

“Before I give you anything, tell me what you were like in high school.”

“My mother used the word ‘driven’ a lot. I got good grades, played sports, and read for fun whenever I had time.”

“You’ve just described the kid riding in the car behind us, and she’s crazy about your daughter.” Libby lifted Tully’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “You may not be ready for Bailey to be seriously dating someone, but you couldn’t have picked someone better for her to start off with. Chase will respect her and know what her boundaries are.” She kissed Tully’s hand again and bit gently on the tip of her index finger. “And more importantly, she’ll know what your boundaries are.”

“My boundaries involve a two-by-four to the head if she hurts Bailey. But I really am glad Bailey’s opened up like this. It’s nice to see her socializing after the rough time she and Ralph had at that damn school Jessica insisted on.”

“Speaking of, have you heard from her?”

“I tried the hospital a few times before we left Lafayette but didn’t have any luck, and now the phones are so sporadic that I’m really not getting through. We need to get in touch with her so Ralph and Bailey will stop worrying about her. They say they don’t care, but I know better.”

They drove down St. Charles Avenue, taking to the sidewalk every so often to avoid the streetcar lines that had snapped under the pressure of fallen trees. Because most of the city was still without power, Tully didn’t think anything would be hot, but she went slowly anyway.

The block where the new house was had lost a lot of old trees too, but the water hadn’t reached there either. The kids jumped out of the Land Rover before Tully had the chance to turn off the ignition and say, “Everything looks okay here.”

“Come on, Mom,” Ralph said, rapping his knuckles on the window of the car.

When they opened the front door, they could smell the musty air that came from the lack of ventilation, and from the kitchen window Tully could see a huge pine standing almost perfectly straight in the swimming pool, as if someone had come by and purposely planted it there.

The rooms were still empty, except for the master bedroom where the new bedroom furniture they had picked out and ordered was waiting for them. When Tully turned the faucet in the bathroom, the ferocious gust of air that had been trapped in the pipe made her jump back. Having no running water would keep them out of the city that much longer. If they couldn’t brush their teeth, the fire department couldn’t put out fires either.

“Looks okay in the attic, Mom,” Ralph reported. “We can move in if we want, huh?”

“Eventually, buddy, but until the utilities come back we might be out for a while.” With one last glance at their new bed, she pointed them to the door. “Let’s just hope it’s not a long while,” she whispered as she locked the front door. “I have a life to start on, and I want to get to it.”

 

Chapter Twenty-six

Tully shifted and sped up as they reached the Mississippi River bridge. The conversation Libby had kept going since they’d left the house was taking her mind off the empty streets. Considering it was just past noon, normally the streets would be filled with traffic and the sidewalks with tourists and locals. She couldn’t help but think what the lack of activity foretold—the wounded city would take years to heal.

Once they were over the bridge and out of the city, Libby finally contacted Alma, after fifteen minutes of trying. The state roads were just as empty as the city’s, so she told Alma they would be there soon and were bringing guests. The rest of the Badeaux clan had returned home at the first opportunity to check on their boats and property, so Libby had caught Alma in the kitchen preparing dinner for them, as well as her sons and their families.

“I’m sure she has enough for the whole town. Don’t look so worried,” Tully said when Libby hung up and started tapping the phone on her chin.

“That’s not what I’m worried about. I just want to help her out.”

Tully tugged her closer and kissed her temple. “The fact you’re with us is making her happy. You don’t have to do another thing.”

“Have I told you again how much your love of coffee changed my life for the better?”

They reached the overpass that would take them to the small fishing town that was located on the highest point for miles, and the spot at the top before the off-ramp was one of Tully’s favorites. Every time she had left home to drive back to college, she would stop and admire the sugar cane growing in the fields as far as she could see.

“Something wrong, Mom?” Bailey called from the window of the Land Rover.

“Just showing Libby something. Keep going to your grandmother’s if you want, and get everyone settled.” They waved as Dana drove by with Ralph in the front seat giving directions.

“The first time I left for Tulane I reached this spot just at sunrise. It was late August and the cane was almost ready for harvest. I sat on the hood of my car and just enjoyed the way it waved in the breeze.” The storm had flattened the crop so that only a few stalks were standing.

“We’ll have to come back so I can see that.”

“After that day I stopped here often and saw it as the part of the small-town girl I brought with me on the way to the life I’ve built.” Tully moved behind Libby and rested her chin on her right shoulder. “When my heart found you I realized something fundamental about myself.”

“What’s that, my love?”

“The part of me that wants nothing more than to leave here and conquer the world needs and wants the dreams of the kid who stood here years ago.”

Libby turned around and put her hands behind Tully’s neck, tugging her down. After what they had just lived through, they took their time and enjoyed the kiss until a truck driver speeding by blew his horn in obvious endorsement.

When they broke apart, Libby rested her hands on Tully’s shoulders just under her shirt. “Tell me what you need and I’ll try my best to give it to you.”

Tully sighed. “When I started my career I wanted more than anything to be successful, but I worked so hard at achieving my goal that I lost sight of my family.” She uncharacteristically felt tears swim in her eyes, though they didn’t fall. “Now I see that I’ll never find fulfillment at the office, but with you, Bailey, and Ralph. So all I need is you and them in my life, and I’ll be happy.”

“Don’t waste your wishes on things you already have.” Libby kissed the part of her chest she could reach through the opening of her shirt. “And you have me.”

 

The kids, Dana, and Alma were having iced tea on the front porch when they drove up, Libby laughing when Alma hugged and kissed her hello before Tully. “I have your rooms ready for tonight, and there are fresh towels in the bathroom.”

“Rooms?” Tully asked.

“Rooms, Tully Gaston Badeaux. You’re bunking with Ralph in your brother Jerrold’s old room at the end of the hall, and I put Libby in with Bailey. I don’t care how old you are, there’s things you have do besides give the girl a ring.” Alma had her hand on her hip and an expression that defied Tully to disagree with her.

“Honey, go take a shower and I’ll help your mom finish up,” Libby said with an affectionate rub to the small of Tully’s back.

“Before you make fun of me, kid,” Tully said to Bailey, who had her mouth open poised to make a comment, “I’m betting she put you in my old room.”

“So?”

“So, it has about five loose boards by the door. Just think about that if you’re contemplating sneaking out of there tonight for any reason.” Her eyes came up and met Chase’s. “And the fact that your grandmother sleeps like there’s a serial killer on the loose in the house and she has to be vigilant.” Tully ruffled Bailey’s hair and headed in for her shower and a restless night’s sleep, she was sure, in her brother’s old room.

The next morning Tully and Ralph joined her father and brothers as they inspected the boats and the canals they navigated to get out to their fishing grounds. It gave Libby the opportunity to spend time with Bailey and Alma as they prepared a huge family dinner. Around the table that night the rest of the family entertained Libby and their other guests with fishing stories from their youth. As they laughed and reminisced, Tully noticed how Libby glowed and realized that this was probably the first time since her parents’ deaths that she had been included in a family like this.

“You fell in?” Libby asked, wiping her face, which was wet with laughter after Walter Badeaux’s amusing story. She was sitting on Tully’s lap with her arm looped around her neck.

“More than once, if you believe these goons.” Tully glared at Walter and Jerrold, but promptly forgot about them when Libby kissed her. “Walter, how about you tell them about the time you dragged poor Jerrold back to the house in the shrimp net?”

“Not that one again,” Jerrold said with a bit of a whine.

“But when we finally fished you out, you looked so good wearing all that squid,” Tully said.

Their father laughed the hardest as he shook his head at some of the memories they were reliving, but he left them to their fun when someone knocked on the front door. “Stay put, Walt. It’s probably just Jimmy from down the way wanting me to square up my fuel bill before things get any crazier over this damn storm.”

Before he made it to the door their visitor started knocking again, louder this time, as if using a fist to pound on the door. “Hold your water, I’m coming.”

Judging from Gaston’s surprised expression, Jessica figured she was the last person he expected to see standing on his front porch. She stepped back when Gaston’s face registered a slight grimace. She, along with everyone else who had stayed behind at Children’s, had been literally trapped inside the hospital for just under a week without running water. Things hadn’t been much better when they returned to Kara’s apartment, but they didn’t have any place else to go so they’d stayed there until Kara was stable enough to travel. Jessica couldn’t blame Gaston for noticing their less-than-perfect living conditions.

“Is Tully here?”

“Come in.” He held the door open and waved her in.

“I just need to talk to her.”

Jessica turned to see what Gaston was looking at, but he obviously couldn’t see Kara, who was still asleep in the front seat, not moving.

“I know you do, but it appears as if you might need a shower and some of Alma’s chicken stew. Come in and join us, Jessica. I promise it’ll be all right.”

“You might want to check with Alma first.” Jessica twisted her hand in the bottom of her scrub shirt as she laughed.

“Gaston is smart enough to know that I’d skin him if he sent away someone in need of some comfort,” Alma said from behind him. “So why don’t you take that shower before you go in and see the kids. You remember where everything is upstairs, don’t you?”

“I didn’t come often, but yes, I remember. Thank you, Alma.” Jessica stepped closer and put her hand on Gaston’s arm. “Thanks, Gaston.”

She climbed the stairs, holding the small of her back with one hand and clutching the rail firmly with the other. After driving out of the city and leaving that chaos behind, Jessica felt the stress drain from her body, leaving her just bone tired.

“It’s been forever since she’s seen the kids, and she asked for Tully first?” Alma said.

“How about we wait and see why she’s here, honey, before we go making judgments.”

“It’s a question, not an accusation.” Alma backhanded Gaston in the belly softly, her eyes still on the stairs even though Jessica had made it all the way up.

“Mom’s right,” Tully said from the doorway that separated the front foyer from the living room. “After this long, I should’ve been the last person on her mind.”

“How long you been standing there?” Gaston asked.

“Long enough, but you were handling things so well I decided not to interrupt.” Sensing Libby behind her, Tully lifted her arm up so that she could press against her side. “Is the party moving in here?”

“It would seem that way,” Libby said. “Everything okay?”

“Jessica just got here and is upstairs taking a shower.”

“Bailey and Ralph will be thrilled. I know they try to blow it off, but they’ve been worried.”

Tully sighed and nodded at her parents as they left to join the others. After they were alone, she didn’t say anything for a long while, content to just hold Libby. “She didn’t ask about them, though. She asked to speak to me.”

“You’re not surprised by that, are you?” Libby was obviously trying to sound incredulous, but Tully noticed the haunted look in her eyes. “Of course she’d ask for you first.”

“You think she’s back here for me?” Tully was surprised. “I love you, darlin’, but that’s nuts.”

“Nuts was leaving you in the first place.”

Just then Jessica emerged from the bathroom. Her hair was wet and slicked back, but she still wore a rumpled scrub suit. “Everyone does nutty things in their life—the real pain comes from not being able to change or take them back,” she said as she made her way down the stairs. After a moment’s hesitation she took another step toward them. “Hello, Tully.”

“Jessica, I’m glad to see you made it through the storm all right.”

It was the first time she had looked at Jessica and felt nothing. This woman who had given her a family and shared so many years with her had always evoked some emotion, but now Tully felt no love, no anger—not one thing.

“Could I talk to you alone for a minute?”

Tully tightened her hold on Libby, who tried to move away. “You do remember that the kids are with me, right? I’d think you might want to talk to them. They’ve been worried about you, so I’ll get them if you want me to.”

“Please, Tully, just a few minutes.”

Libby stood on her tiptoes and kissed Tully’s cheek. “Honey, you just sit in here, and I’ll go stay with Bailey and Ralph. Just call when you’re done.”

When Libby was far enough away that she couldn’t overhear, Jessica said, “You’ve finally found the one who’s going to adore you, haven’t you? I always thought that’s what you wanted from the person you’d end up with.”

“Am I supposed to respond, or was that just an oversimplified observation on your part?” Tully pushed off the doorway and moved to take a seat. “Libby is many things, but an overzealous puppy isn’t one of them.”

“I’m sorry, that was out of line. She just seems too good to be true.”

“Why are you here, Jessica? I’d love to sit and…” She put her hands up and shook her head. “I take that back. I don’t have time for this anymore, so just say what you have to and be done with it.”

“I have to leave for a while, and I want to know that you’ll take care of the kids.”

“Where are you going, and why?”

“I don’t really want to talk about it, but I have to leave.” As Jessica let out the breath she was holding and sat next to Tully, she almost relaxed as she felt Tully’s body heat. “I know I hurt you, but I need more time before we can start over and move on.”

“Start what over and move on to where?” Tully sounded as if someone had woken her up out of a deep sleep and demanded she do calculus in her head.

“Given our history together, we could eventually repair the damage we’ve done to our relationship by messing around with Kara and Libby and begin again.”

“Sure we can, but I really need to know where you’re going.” Tully was trying to sound sympathetic, but the only conclusion that made any sense to her was that Jessica had started taking drugs with Kara. It was the only plausible explanation for the way Jessica was talking.

Libby, coming to offer Tully some coffee and Jessica something to eat, couldn’t help but overhear Tully’s last remark, which stopped her cold. She leaned against the wall in the hall and willed herself not to cry. As Jessica started talking again, Libby quietly returned to the kitchen and sat silently next to the kids.

“I need to head to Texas with Kara for a while. It’s nothing serious, but this hurricane and the stress of the hospital have really taken their toll, so she wants to go home for a little while and regroup.”

“I see.” Tully leaned forward and pressed her fingers together in front of her lips. “This is how I see our future. You can take all the time you need, wherever you need and with whomever you need to make your life complete.”

“But you just said we could go back.” Jessica reached out to touch her, but the expression on Tully’s face made her drop her hand to her lap.

“That would be the definition of sarcasm in its purest form. I’d rather fill in the Mississippi River with a spoon and a pile of sand than to try and go back to something that was broken long before Dr. Nicolas ended up in our bed. I won’t keep you from Bailey and Ralph, because I think keeping you out of their lives is wrong, no matter how I feel about the subject on a deep personal level. But I won’t agree for you to take them out of the state, not now, and not while you’re with Kara.”

“What you mean is that you can have someone in your life, but not me. She’s a child, for God’s sakes, compared to you, and she’s really involved with our children. But the high-and-mighty Tully won’t extend me the same courtesy because it’s your ego we’re talking about. I slept with someone else. Get over it.”

“You want to compare our lives now, Jessica? Is that what you really want?”

The tone Tully was using sent warning bells off in Jessica’s head. “What are you talking about?”

“I promised you a court date, and I’m planning on delivering. It’s time we finish our business. When that day comes I’ll be happy to have Libby sit next to me and explain exactly what she means to me and how she fits into my life. I don’t care why or how our relationship ended, but because it did, I had a chance to truly be happy. Feel free to do the same, but I’m going to make Kara answer for Evangeline, so tell her not to get too comfortable wherever it is you’re going.”

Jessica laughed until she was holding her sides and crying from the humor she found in what Tully had said. “Have you been back to the city? While you’ve been here in Alma’s special little world, New Orleans has been destroyed. As sad as that is, I’m rejoicing over the fact that you and your ilk are out of business for a long time to come. No more destroying lives, no more parading and performing for the juries you love so much, Tully.”

“According to the courts, it shouldn’t take more than two weeks for business to resume in Baton Rouge. If that’s accurate, then I’m going to fast-track both court dates.” She stood and glared down at Jessica. “Since Dr. Nicolas is so tied up in both issues, I’ll need to know where in Texas you two will be. I’m sure neither one of you is going to extend me that courtesy, so I’ll be contacting the hospital to make sure I know exactly where Kara Nicolas is.”

“She needs to rest,” Jessica said softly.

“She needs to be in court when she’s summoned. Beyond that, I could give a good goddamn what she needs. I’m going to get the kids so you can talk to them before you leave. Your priorities are obviously with Dr. Nicolas and getting her to a better place, but for twenty minutes why not pretend you give a shit about the kids.”

Jessica grabbed hold of Tully’s wrist before she could move away. “That’s not fair.”

“Tell me honestly that you stayed behind because of your job, and I’ll apologize.”

“Not totally for my job, no, but I won’t feel guilty for my choices. I knew the kids would be all right with you.” Jessica let go of Tully and fell back in the seat.

“Then I think I’m being more than fair. Just stay put and I’ll send them in. Take all the time you need. They’ve been worried about you, so it’s good that you’re here.”

 

She stepped into the hall to find a visibly red Libby, clearly embarrassed at having been caught since she’d gone back to see if Tully was all right. Instead of saying anything where Jessica could overhear them, Tully just took Libby’s hand and led her to the back of the house where the kids were watching television with their cousins.


Date: 2016-01-03; view: 537


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