The Pepper In The Gumbo: A Cane River Romance (23 page)

            His
words dropped into the middle of the room like stones down a mine shaft. He
watched Andy’s face go from amusement to incredulity and then worry. “You’re
serious.”

            “Yeah.”

            “Wow.”
Andy slumped into the chair. “Wow.”

            “I
know it’s a crazy idea but―”

            “No,
it’s a good idea. I bet it would work.”

            “So,
you agree?”

            Andy
looked over at him. “If I said not to, you wouldn’t listen to me.”

            “I
would.” Paul fought the disappointment. He’d wanted Andy to be on board.

            “No,
you wouldn’t. You’re a goner. This girl has…” He shook his head. “I don’t know
what she did but you’re sunk. Nothing I can say would change that.”

            “I
just want to help her find her necklace.”

            “Why?
What’s so important about it?” Andy burst out. “You can’t fix the entire world,
Paul. People lose things. It happens. What about the time I left my favorite
watch in that London hotel room and I never got it back. You didn’t offer an
early-access pass for that.”

            “Her
parents’ wedding rings were on the necklace.”

            “They
divorced?”

            “They
died in an accident when she was little.”

            Andy
dropped his head into his hands. He let out a low sound.

             “If
I can help, I want to. It won’t change anything between her and me. I’m not
doing this so she’ll…” Paul didn’t know how to finish sentence. Love him? Stop
fighting him? Give him a chance?

            Andy
grabbed his laptop and logged in. “Let’s get it started.”

            He
grinned. “You’re sure?”

            “Hey,
just remember who came up with the idea when it all goes bad.” Andy shook his
head. “I have to give you points for originality, though. Most guys just bring
flowers.”

            “Funny,”
Paul said. He rummaged for a pen and started preparing to do what they did
best, causing a firestorm in the gaming world. This time, it wasn’t just for
profit. It was to bring back something that was lost, something precious. He
didn’t want to think too closely about why he was going to this much trouble
for a woman he’d just met, but he knew with everything in him that it was the
right move to make.

                                                            ***

            Alice
looked up at the sound of the brass bell and blinked at the sight of Alphonse
DeCote. He wasn’t wearing a cowboy hat today but his jean shirt was nicely
pressed. He wore a wide smile and greeted her with a hug. Alice wasn’t a touchy
person but she leaned into him, not able to keep the smile from her face.

            “Hey,
there. I’m surprised to see you,” she said.

            “How’s
that? I made you a promise.” Al gave her a wink. “I came down to see my
brother, T-Bear. I thought maybe we could go to lunch, if y’all aren’t too busy
here.” He looked around at the empty store.

            “I’d
love to, but I’m the only one here right now.” Alice smoothed back her hair.
She did like the idea of a lunch with someone completely unconnected to the
drama of the past week. It didn’t seem like there was a person in the whole
city who hadn’t heard about the new store or the handsome tech billionaire.
“But I’ve got someone coming in about ten minutes.”

            “Well,
I s’pose I could sit a spell until you’re ready.” He smiled and Alice noted two
perfect dimples. He really was the most handsome Creole man she’d met in a long
time. Paul was handsome, but in a boy-next-door way. Or maybe he was more like
the nontraditionally handsome guys, like Tom Hanks, that sneak up on a woman.
Alice pushed back the thought and tried to focus on Al.

            The
door opened and she looked up, thinking Bix was in a few minutes early. She
caught her breath at the sight of Paul.

            Paul
walked forward, taking in the two of them standing there. He held out a hand to
Al. “You played at the zydeco festival, right?”

            “I
sure did,” Al said, grinning. “Name’s Al DeCote. And I managed a little dancin’
before our set, too. I live in Lafayette but I got myself back here to see if
my pretty partner would allow me to take her for hushpuppies or somethin’.” He
gave Alice a wink.

            Paul
looked as if he didn’t know what to say. “Oh, well, sorry to get in the way,
but I wanted to remind Alice about the cable crew coming today.”

            “Do
you know what time? I was hoping…” She glanced at Al, then Paul. Awkward.

            “I’d
be glad to supervise, if you trust me with it,” Paul said.

            “Of
course I do.” She tried to keep her voice light. “As long as they don’t wire up
my apartment with some big screen and a lot of gadgets.”

            Darcy
jumped down from the top of the nearest range and Al clapped a hand to his
heart. “Why’s there a big black cat in here?”

            “Oh,
sorry, he’s harmless, really. He’s just curious.” Alice stepped forward, trying
to shoo Darcy away but he gave her an icy stare and walked between them.

            “He
crossed my path,” Al said in a strangled tone.

            “Depends
on which way you’re going.” Paul pointed toward the door. “If you go now, I
don’t think your paths would technically be crossing. No telling what would
happen if you stayed.”

            Alice
shot Paul a look. If she didn’t know better, she’d say he was jealous. “About
those cable guys, I’m okay with you handling that.”

            He
nodded, not smiling. “Well, have a good time. Nice seeing you again, Al.” He
turned and left without another word.

            Alice
tried to shake off the feeling that she was caught doing something wrong. Sure,
they’d shared a very unplanned kiss, but they both knew there couldn’t be
anything real between them. It was impossible, considering he wasn’t even going
to be around very long. Of course, Al lived in LaFayette, which wasn’t exactly
next door, either.

            “That
a friend of yours?” Al jerked his head toward Paul.

            “I
rent out the apartment upstairs to him. Just let me sort a few papers before
Bix gets here,” she said. “You’re welcome to pick out a book and have a seat.”

            “Oh,
I’m not much of a reader.” Al shrugged. “I think I read half of some book
called
Grapes of Wrath
in high school.
Made me depressed. I prefer music.”

            Alice
forced a smile. “I’ll be right back.” She angled behind her desk and pulled a
few papers out from under Van Winkle’s furry body. She pretended to study them
until Al wandered toward the chair.

            She
reached up for her parents’ rings and felt the shock of their loss all over
again. Maybe she would never get used to it. She closed her eyes for a moment. It
was odd how quickly a person could become attached to a situation and how long
it took to relearn it. A week ago, she would have loved to go out to lunch with
Al. Even now, it sounded like a pretty good idea. But the reality was that since
Paul had taken up residence in her head, she couldn’t help comparing every
other guy to him.

            Stacking
the papers with a little more force than necessary, Alice straightened her
shoulders. She would go to lunch and have a wonderful time. The best way to get
Paul out of her head was to give herself some space from the store, from the
building, and from Paul.

                                                                        ***

The internet is a telephone system
that’s gotten uppity. ― Clifford Stoll

            “We
need to be wired for several routers,” Paul said.

            The
cable guy pushed his cap back on his head. “Sure, we can get ya set up, but
we’re gonna have to make some holes. We’ll bring it up the side of the building
and drill right about here.” He pointed to an area near the windows that faced
the river.

            Paul
glanced around. The exposed-brick living room wall wasn’t going to make setting
up their gaming gear very easy but it had to be done. They’d been here almost a
week and had been limping along with tablets and 4G hotspots. Even getting into
his email was painfully slow unless he used his phone. “Do what you need to do.
It had to be updated sometime, I guess.”

            The
man nodded and went downstairs to start the rest of the crew on the outside
work. Paul wondered if Alice had considered having her apartment wired at the
same time. It would be silly to have them come back. But he didn’t have a key
so it wasn’t going to happen right now. He supposed he could try to call her
cell phone but he was pretty sure it wasn’t anywhere near her, especially as
she was out on lunch date.

            Paul
walked to the window and looked out. There wasn’t any reason that Alice
couldn’t date someone else. They’d never even gotten close to that
conversation. Al looked like just the kind of guy Alice would choose. Besides
being pretty good looking, he was local, clearly steeped in Creole tradition
and played in a band. Wasn’t playing in a band like some sort of super power?
Women just loved that, more than a secret book seller.

            He
rubbed a hand over his face. That wasn’t really fair to Alice. She obviously
loved books, too. He turned and paced the living room. Being jealous wasn’t a
great feeling and it had been a long time since he’d been jealous over
something other than another company’s graphics.

            The
cable guy came through the front door, barking into his walkie talkie. “Yer
gonna have to drill it!” He looked up. “These old places are a pain and a half.
We was gonna run the cable right up the front but I remembered Miss Alice said
she don’t want it seen from the banquet.” The man clarified. “Ya know, from the
sidewalk. So now we gotta go ‘round the side. Takes a lot more time and
manpower. But nobody wants to pay the extra fees. Everybody’s got champagne
tastes on a beer pocketbook.”

            “I’ll
cover any extra time and equipment. We just need to get some decent speeds in
here,” Paul said.

            “Gotcha.
And what about the inside? Where’s your flat screen gonna go?” He walked to the
fireplace. “It would look real nice right up here.”

            Paul
considered the room. They hadn’t bothered to set up the couch or chairs in any
particular way, but the man was right. “Sure. Let’s do that. We might have
another screen over on this side, but we can get a stand for it.” He pulled out
his phone. “I’ve got them waiting in a warehouse near here. I’ll have them come
and deliver the equipment now so we can get everything hooked up and working.”

            “I’ll
go down and get my tools. I hope the bricks aren’t real crumbly. Sometimes the
drill don’t make much of a punch, but then the bricks start to fall apart. We
might have to put in some spacers,” he said, walking through the front door.

            Paul
looked around at the apartment. He didn’t want to have piles of wires and
cables hanging out in the open but this place wasn’t his New York City
apartment, with the temperature, lights, and security controlled from any room,
by voice.

            Andy
walked through the door and dropped his laptop on the couch. “Please tell me
the cable guys are here to bring this place into the twenty-first century.”

            Perching
on the arm of a chair, Paul opened his arms to indicate the whole room. “Soon
to be ScreenStop gaming central. No more ten-inch screens and dropped
connections and music sounding like it’s coming from a toilet paper tube. The
gear should be here anytime.”

            “That’s
a relief. I was about to join the Amish because it at this point it wouldn’t
even be a hardship.”

             “I’ve
always wanted to live in one of these old places but I would have to make some
serious renovations,” Paul said.

            “Well,
we’ll get ya started today.” The cable guy had come back through the door. “So,
tell me how we’re gonna do this. All rooms? Or just the one?”

            “All,”
said Paul and Andy at the same time, then both laughed.

            “Man,
I miss watching TV in bed,” Andy said.

            “Each
room could function like a private office while we’ve got games running out
here.” Paul glanced around. “This would make a great office building. Lots of
character. They’d probably tear out the dividing wall and keep one kitchen,
just updated as a break room.”

            There
was a knock at the door and two delivery men stood there, black uniforms
pressed and clean, the ScreenStop seraph clear on the breast pocket. “We’ve got
equipment for Mr. Paul Olivier?”

            Paul
came forward and signed the clipboard. “That was fast. The warehouse is fifteen
minutes away.”

            The
shorter of the two cleared his throat and said, “We might have broken the speed
limit just a bit. Mr. Olivier, I just want to say what a huge fan I am. I’ve
got every game you guys have ever designed and I’ll be at the grand opening.
I’m gonna camp out in line a few days before to make sure I get in.” His blue
eyes shifted from Paul to Andy and back. “You guys rock. Seriously.”

            Paul
smiled and took two cards out of his wallet. He scribbled something on the back
of each and handed them over. “Show this at the door and get in without waiting
in line. For you, plus a guest.”

            They
both looked stunned. “Thank you so much,” the shorter one whispered.

            “The
best thanks would be everything making it up the stairs without getting
dropped,” Andy called over. He tried to look serious but he’d never been able
to pull it off. “And have a good time at the opening. I think we’re going to
have hush puppies and gumbo and fried catfish.”

            “Really?”
The other delivery guy finally spoke.

            Paul
shot a look at Andy. He had no idea about the food. He didn’t handle that part
personally. He supposed it would be the usual opening fare, catered by someone
local and everything tasting like it came out of a box. And, always, non-spill
drinks only.

            “Maybe.
It’s still under discussion.”

            “Speaking
of food, I’m starving.” Andy wandered to the kitchen. “I thought we were hiring
a cook.”

            “They’re
starting next week. I thought we could live on sandwiches for a while.” Paul
frowned. “Except I never went to the store.”

            “Does
anybody deliver?” Andy pulled out his phone. “Maybe there’s a Thai place. I’m
craving Thai.”

            The
cable guy straightened up. “Not sure about that, but my Aunt Glynna runs the Round’emup
Café two blocks down. You can get it to go. Pretty good food. A little spicy
for my wife’s taste but the ribs are famous.”

            “Ribs?”
Andy looked down at his shirt, then at Paul. “You run down there and get us
some while I’ll go change into something I can throw away.”

            Paul
snorted. “It’s a lot easier to eat ribs with your fingers than to use
chopsticks.” He looked around. “Keep an eye on everything, okay? Alice left me
in charge and if this installation goes south, it’s my neck on the chopping
block.”

            “Aye,
aye,” Andy said. “And see if they have any biscuits like at the breakfast
place. Those were great.”

            “Gotcha,”
Paul said and walked out the door. Halfway down the hallway, he pulled out his
phone. A few hours earlier he’d called his legal team and asked them to find
papers naming Alice Augustine, or anything mentioning By the Book. They got right
back to him with the name of a lawyer in Houston.

            He
dialed the number and seconds later was transferred to his lawyer’s line.

            “Mr.
Kimmel, I’d like to talk to you about settling a case that was filed against a
friend of mine. Her name is Alice Augustine and the claimant is named Norma
Green.”

                                                            ***

            “Bix,
I’m sorry it took me so long,” Alice said, rushing toward the desk.

            “Not
a problem. We had two customers. Both looking for something from that website
you like.” Bix hadn’t even looked up from his e-reader.

            “Browning
Wordsworth Keats?” Alice set her purse down and smoothed back her hair.

            “Yep.”
He still hadn’t looked up.

            “What
are you reading?” Alice looked over his shoulder and almost giggled at how
large the font appeared. Every word took almost half a page.

            “Clive
Cussler. I loved his books. Haven’t read them in years.” Bix touched the screen
and showed her a row of book covers. “Now I got them all.”

            “They
look so bright.” Alice could never get over the covers. Just like the customer
who showed her the first one, it seemed almost clearer than real life.

            “Paul
got me the fancy one that shows all the colors. It even connects to the Internet.
Me and Ruby watched
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
last night when we shoulda been sleepin’ but we don’t regret it for a minute.”

            Buying
one of those was probably like tossing a penny on the sidewalk for Paul, but
Alice couldn’t help being a little impressed. “You’ll be just as addicted as
Charlie. All the time you used to spend doing other things, you’ll be attached
to that screen.”

            Bix
stood up and stretched. “What other things, Miss Alice? I couldn’t see to read.
I never knew I could watch those movies on the Internet. Ruby wants to watch
Casablanca
tonight.”
He flipped the cover closed. “I feel like this little contraption gave me back
a lot of my old friends. I don’t know how to thank Paul. I really don’t.”

            Alice
stood by as he got up from the desk. Her cheeks burned at the quiet rebuke in
his words.

            The
front door opened and a man walked through, carrying a roll of cable over one
shoulder. “We’re about done up there, Miss Augustine.”

            “Thank
you. Did everything go okay? You didn’t run into any problems?”

            “Naw.
Just the usual in these old places. This is gonna make a real nice office
building.”

            Alice
took a moment to digest the words. “Excuse me?”

            “Well,
Mr. Olivier said he’d be pulling down the wall between the apartments and the
bedrooms would be offices.” He frowned. “We just hooked up the two bedrooms on
the one side today.”

            “Pull
down…?” Alice shook her head. “No, you must have misunderstood. Mr. Olivier is
just here for a few weeks.”

            “Huh.
Well, if we’d known that we wouldn’t have drilled so many holes. We have
portable signals he coulda used for the TVs.” He shrugged.

           
So
many holes.
Just the way he said those words struck fear in Alice. “Thank
you. The first bill will come in the mail or do I have to go down to the office
to pay it?”

            “Mr.
Olivier already took care of it,” he said as he headed out the door. “Evenin’,
Miss Alice.”

            She
stood there, thoughts spinning. Did Paul think he could buy off everyone in
town? Is that how he got his building permits?
This is gonna make a real
nice office building.
Maybe Paul thought she was going to sell the building
sometime soon. Alice closed her eyes for just a moment, her stomach twisting in
on itself. Well, he would just have to get in line because Norma Green thought
she deserved the store, too.

            No,
that didn’t make a lot of sense. He said he was only here for a few weeks. It
had to be a misunderstanding. Alice brushed it off and refocused.

            “Well,
I’m headed home for the night.” Bix gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Don’t fret
so much Miss Alice. Everythin’s gonna work out.”

            She
nodded, trying to smile. Bix wouldn’t say that if he knew everything. She
watched him walk out of the store, her chest growing tight. Bix had been part
of her life for as long as she’d owned the store. She couldn’t imagine telling
him that she was closing it down. She could only pray that she would never have
to.

                                                            ***

            The
smell of warm ribs made Paul’s stomach rumble. The Round’emup Café was packed,
even in the middle of the week. He hoped that meant good things. His mama had
called a few minutes before and said she would meet them at the apartment for
dinner. He’d placed his order and waited for his number to be called. Andy
texted a few minutes later that the cable guys were done and gone.