The Unknown Woman (10 page)

Matt told her of finding Patti in his room on Twelfth
Night, of the healing ceremony and the old voodoo queen.

Atta closed her eyes and rocked slowly back and forth. “It will change your lives, this tragedy,” she finally said.

Follow the shining path…

The words hummed through Kerry as she clung to Matt’s hand. Her very soul felt in tumult, and the sensation spread through her, urgent and almost frightening in its intensity.

“Kerry and I did the cleansing rite,” Matt said. “A cremation. We want to put her ashes in a place where she was once happy. That’s why we were looking for the plantation.”

“The marsh has reclaimed it.”

“Perhaps we should go to the other place, the cotton farm,” he said.

Atta stared at them, obviously troubled. She finally nodded. “I wouldn’t have thought so, but perhaps you are right. You have been entrusted by the spirits with this deed, so only you can know for certain. But be sure before you spread the ashes. The ritual must be performed correctly for her spirit to find its rest.” She looked at Kerry. “You must do it. You will know…”

Her voice trailed off but her gaze remained fixed on Kerry. The old woman nodded again, as if satisfied that Kerry was the chosen one for this task.

Almost without realizing it, Kerry nodded, accepting the quest as hers. “How do we find this other place?”

Atta gave them directions that would take them back to the gravel road and farther down the track. They were told that no one went there anymore, so the road would be overgrown by weeds, but they could get through.

They thanked Atta and started down the steps. “By the way,” Matt said, “if we wanted to find Cordon Rouge or whatever is left of it, where would we look?”

“You can find the ruins,” Atta said, “if you follow the carriage road to the house.”

She indicated the lane they’d arrived on. Kerry realized it continued past the cottage and into the cypress bog beyond…to Cordon Rouge.

M
ATT KEPT AN EYE
on the sky as he carefully navigated the long-unused road to the old cotton farm. The white-layered clouds of the morning had built into dark thunderheads.

He was thankful the farmhouse where Patti was born was no more than a mile from the cottage, but it took twenty minutes to get there. Weeds hit the front grill of the rental car with a steady thump. In places the road was so boggy, he’d driven as close to an old fence as possible to keep from getting stuck.

“Here it is,” he announced as they came to the end of the road. When he got out of the car, he rotated his shoulders, trying to relieve the tension that had collected between his shoulder blades.

Glancing at Kerry’s pale face, he decided it had
been a mistake to bring her here. But if he hadn’t, he knew she would have somehow made it here on her own. He exhaled a deep breath and took her arm as they met in front of the vehicle.

“It’s beautiful,” she said, “but also wild and lonely.”

He studied the burnt remains of the house. It had been a rather modest two-story with chimneys bracketing each end. Those and the foundation were all that could be identified. Vines had grown over everything else.

She gestured toward the backyard. “There would have been a garden, don’t you think?”

Following Kerry, he helped search for signs of a garden or something recognizable from the farm.

Nothing.

An eerie sensation slid along his neck. The place felt lifeless, as if its soul had long departed.

He shook his head slightly, negating the notion. He was letting all this voodoo business get to him.

Beyond the house, the ruins of a barn and some tumbledown fences, the land had reverted to nature. Wild rice grew along the bayou, and the cypress trees were draped in Spanish moss. Waist-high weeds discouraged wandering about.

“Watch those thistles,” he cautioned, pulling Kerry a bit closer with an arm around her shoulders.

“They look vicious.” She leaned her head against him as they stopped at the end of a broken brick path. There was no gate, but a fence indicated the area had once been enclosed.

“Perhaps this was a garden once,” he told her.

She nodded. Glancing back at the house, then over the backyard again, she sighed. “This isn’t the place. I can’t leave Patti…her ashes…here. It isn’t her spiritual home.”

Matt refrained from questioning her, knowing that logic didn’t apply in this case, only Kerry’s instincts. “Then we’ll find another place.”

She looked up at him, her face solemn. “Thank you, Matt, for accepting something that I don’t really understand. It’s just that I feel this isn’t the right place.”

“I know.” His voice resonated with the desire to caress and comfort her.

He’d been close to his sister—growing up, they’d had only each other in many ways—but he’d never been so in tune with another person. He seemed to know instinctively what Kerry was feeling, as if their spirits were joined.

“Kerry,” he murmured. “Sweetheart.”

He kissed her then, and she wound her arms around his neck, returning the embrace with equal passion. When he lifted her off her feet, she swung her legs around his hips, making a snug fit against him. He groaned as the kiss became more intense, wilder, almost savage as their bodies demanded more.

Her mouth was nectar, a magic potion that fulfilled all the youthful dreams he’d ever had of finding
the
woman for him. He hadn’t believed in those dreams for a long time, but now, each and every one of them seemed within reach.

He caressed her slender back, along her hips, following the curve of her slacks until he reached the place where the most pleasure dwelt for her. She gasped when he caressed her through the taut material and felt her legs tighten around him.

“Matt,” she said on a shaky breath.

“Yeah, me, too,” he agreed with a chuckle, his mind hazy with desire and a happiness he hadn’t known in years. He kissed her again.

Hearing a rumble, he first thought it came from them, the voice of their passion, but then he realized it was thunder. He reluctantly raised his head.

“A storm,” he said. “We’d better get out of here fast.”

Another bolt split the sky right over their heads, followed by a deafening blast. Setting her on her feet, he took her hand just as a drop of rain hit his cheek. “Let’s run for it.”

Laughing and breathless, they made it to the car just as the sky opened up and spilled a torrent of water down on the old cotton farm. He started the car, backed, then headed along the road once more.

“I hope we can get out,” Kerry said. “This area is pretty swampy.”

“I can think of worse things than being stranded here overnight. Well, being alone would be worse, a lot worse,” he added. He gave her a sexy glance that made her laugh.

Smiling, he concentrated on getting them out of
the low bayou land before it flooded. He flicked the headlights onto bright. When they passed the carriage lane, he couldn’t spot Atta’s cottage in the woods through the heavy curtain of rain.

Well over an hour later, they arrived at the tiny town. He rotated his shoulders, glad to be back in civilization. In truth, he had been worried about getting stuck out in the wilds in an area he wasn’t familiar with. Here in town, they were on higher ground, so there was less chance of flooding.

“The rain is so heavy,” Kerry murmured. “Perhaps we should…”

He saw her press her lips together as if to halt the flow of words. A jolt of pure lust speared through him. “Stop for the night?” he finished for her.

“But then, we’re only a couple of hours from New Orleans,” she reasoned aloud. “And the main roads will be better as we get closer to the city.”

She didn’t sound convinced, and Matt realized she didn’t want to go on any more than he did, a fact that filled him with exaltation. “I’m ready for a break. I noticed a restaurant and inn in St. Martinville, close to the statue of Evangeline. Shall we check it out?”

He realized he was practically holding his breath as he waited for her answer.

She didn’t hesitate. “That would be wonderful.”

T
RAFFIC WAS LIGHT
when Kerry and Matt returned to St. Martinville. Using his jacket as a cover, they dashed up the steps to the inn Matt had mentioned. The building was a two-story Victorian, old-fashioned in design but newly renovated. It had obviously been rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina had swept through.

The large front room had windows on three sides and opened onto a wraparound screened porch with ferns and potted plants. An assortment of tables, cushioned chairs and wicker settees provided lots of seating both inside and on the porch.

“This is charming,” Kerry said, pausing to brush off droplets of rain on the porch. “I hope we don’t look suspicious, not having any luggage.”

“You mean people might think we’re having an assignation or something?” Matt asked, lowering his voice to a dramatic whisper, then spoiling the effect by grinning.

“Or something,” she agreed drolly. She waved toward the leaded glass door through which she could see several couples seated at tables and enjoying the evening meal. “Lead on. I’ll follow you.”

He clasped her hand and tucked it into the crook of his elbow. “We’ll go together.”

The woman at the registration desk informed them that the inn did indeed have available accommodations. “It’s a miserable night to be out, isn’t it?” she added sympathetically.

“The roads are treacherous,” Matt said, “which is why we decided to stop rather than try to make it back to New Orleans tonight.” He turned to Kerry. “I wonder if we should let the night manager at the Hotel Marchand know that we won’t be in?”

“That’s a good idea, just in case Charlotte or someone asks about us. Although I don’t know why anyone would.”

“I would be glad to call for you,” the B and B owner, Margaret Beaulieu, told them. “I went to school with Anne Marchand, so I know the family.” She placed a form on the counter in front of Matt. “Would you prefer two queen-size beds or a king suite?”

Matt glanced at Kerry. Her eyes must have told him everything he needed to know. “The king would be fine,” he told the woman and proceeded to fill out the form, giving his name and address and adding her name as his guest.

Her skin prickled at the thought of being listed as Kerry Anderson, spouse.

No, no, she ordered the sentimental part of her that wanted to read more into her and Matt’s involvement than truly existed. This was a…a vacation fling.

It was the drama of the past few days that made each moment more important and each emotion more intense than it actually was, would it even be wise to become more deeply involved?

But what had waiting, being cautious, gotten her but a bruised heart? A four-year engagement should have clued her in that she and her fiancé were
not
meant for each other.

Seize the moment. That was her new motto. She glanced at Matt. At least where this man was concerned, it was. She gave him a warm smile when he finished the form and handed it, along with his credit card, to their hostess.

The heated look he returned made her feel weak in the knees. What would he think if she grabbed him here in the lobby and kissed him until they were senseless?

She was still laughing at the thought of Matt’s reaction when they went up the staircase and along the hall to the last room. Matt unlocked the door, pushed her gently inside then closed the door and lifted her onto an intricately carved footstool placed in front of a wing chair.

“Woman,” he said on a low growl, then
he
kissed
her
until they were both senseless.

It was heavenly.

Kerry pressed herself against him until they touched everywhere, until it seemed as if they would merge into one. The added height allowed her to experience his body in a whole new way.

When she felt his thigh press between hers, his erection hard and hot, she didn’t hesitate, but opened to him. He lifted one foot to the stool so that her right leg rested over his thigh, heightening the sensation.

“Matt,” she whispered when he let her up for air. He nibbled her neck with little love bites, then moved intimately against her. Kerry nearly fainted with pleasure.

“Being with you all day has made me…”

She held her breath as she waited to hear what word he would use to describe the oh, so evident hunger.

“…edgy,” he concluded, a hint of laughter in his deep, husky voice.

She nodded in understanding. “I can’t decide whether I’m going to explode or swoon, but something has to happen…soon!”

“No way you’re going to faint on me,” he stated firmly, his lips exploring the corner of her mouth while his hands did wonderful things to her body.

Delight bubbled in her, a frothing pool of lust and wonder and other feelings she hadn’t experienced since she was maybe sixteen years old and madly in love with her science teacher, who was newly out of college.

“My legs are getting weak,” she warned.

He raised his head and sucked in a deep breath. “This is just the warm-up. We should have dinner before the dining room closes, but then we’ll have all the time in the world…all the time.” His wicked drawl
made her laugh, mitigating the disappointment she felt at not seeing the moment through to its tantalizing fulfillment.

He sighed loudly, grinned and let her go. “We’d better comb our hair before we go down.”

They freshened up, then sedately walked down the stairs and joined the other three couples in the dining room. A fire blazed in the fireplace, taking the chill off the evening. A teenage girl, who told them she was the granddaughter of the owner, seated them at a cozy table for two next to a window.

“I like this,” Kerry said of the secluded space between the hearth and the wall of windows. Potted plants separated most of the tables, ensuring privacy.

Matt looked only at her. “Me, too.”

Their eyes locked. Kerry couldn’t look away. It seemed astonishing…to feel this way…to know this terrible achy sense of anticipation…to want to touch this wonderful man, to tease out the journey until the moment their hunger would be sated…

Their waitress returned with glasses of water and a basket of rolls, bringing them back to the reality of the dining room.

They each chose a different seafood entrée, and Kerry ordered a salad and Matt a gumbo to start. He selected a rosé wine to go with their dinner.

“It’s a sparkling, fruity wine. I think you’ll like it.” When it arrived, he held his glass toward her. “To our quest.”

“The quest,” she echoed. She clicked her glass against his and took a sip. “Mmm, it is good. What’s the difference between sparkling wine and champagne?” she asked.

“Champagne comes from the Champagne region of France. The rest of the world produces sparkling wine. The French have tried to protect the name, but it’s a losing battle.”

His eyes seemed to darken as he leaned closer across the small table. Kerry swallowed as words dried in her mouth and refused to be uttered.

“I’ll educate you in wines later,” he promised. “Now I want to know everything about you. Tell me your earliest childhood memory, good or bad.”

Kerry considered a moment. “Well, I once got very angry with my mother over something I no longer remember, but I do recall skipping down the road, heading for my grandmother’s house and perhaps some cookies and sympathy, and shouting the worst word I knew.”

“Would that be a four-letter word?” he asked.

She nodded and tried to look contrite.

He chuckled. “Did anyone hear you?”

“My sister told on me, and I was grounded for a month. However, being the magnanimous person that I am, I forgave her on her twenty-first birthday, and we’re good friends now.”

His laughter did sweet things to her insides, and every sense seemed heightened by his nearness. The salad with its spicy dressing, the gumbo, the sea bass
and the blackened sunfish all tasted sublime. The hot berry tart with melted cheese, which they shared, was the best dessert she’d ever had.

Because of him,
some part of her whispered.

Yes
, her heart answered happily.

She refused to worry about the consequences of falling too quickly and deeply for this man. This would be like a summer fling, and she wouldn’t expect more.

Over coffee, he asked about her plans for their quest. “The housekeeper said you would know what to do. Any ideas?”

Mellow and introspective now, she nodded. “I’m thinking of sprinkling her ashes in the Mississippi and letting the current deposit them wherever it will. Is that illegal?”

“I don’t know. I’ve thought of that, too. Or perhaps in the bayou.”

“Bayou Rouge? I’m not sure she was happy there. My sister researched the Ruoui family on the Internet. She called and told me Patti’s aunt and uncle live next to it.” Kerry stopped and frowned.

“What?” Matt asked.

“Since Patti listed no next of kin and apparently cut herself off from them completely, do you think they were contacted about her death and…and refused to take responsibility for the burial?”

“I wondered about that.”

“From what Atta said, they weren’t loving rela
tives. Why did they dislike her so?” Kerry asked, her expression earnest.

“There was a land dispute between Patti’s father and her aunt. I assume the aunt was angry that her brother inherited the property.”

“But he lost the farm anyway.”

“Yes. I suppose he couldn’t face an I-told-you-so from them. When I was looking for directions at the county clerk’s office, I found out the aunt and her husband bought the farm back by paying the outstanding taxes, so Patti got nothing from what should have been her inheritance.”

“So why aren’t they farming it?” Kerry asked, indignant.

Matt shrugged.

After a moment, Kerry added, “Patti seemed like a caring person, in spite of her family’s behavior. As Atta said—she had a good soul.”

Matt studied Kerry. He could hear the sadness and regret in her voice for the young woman whose life had been so hard. He thought
her
soul was pretty darned nice, too.

Wholesome, he mused, applying his favorite description, unable to stop gazing at her as if she were a rare and perfect piece of porcelain. Being around Kerry made him appreciate life in a way he hadn’t in years.

“But she never found herself,” Kerry continued. “Her life was full of possibilities, but she never had the
chance to explore them. I hope she at least found love with Jason Pichante.”

Matt felt both anger and pity for the young man who had wanted Patti but had denied that love.

“Do you think he loved her?”

He wouldn’t lie to Kerry. “I think he did, but not enough to defy his father for her, or give up his privileged life and make a new one with Patti.”

“He’ll regret his cowardliness all his life.”

Kerry gazed into the fire as if looking into the future, sure of what she saw there. Matt laid his hand over hers, bringing her back to the present and to him.

“Are you ready to go upstairs?” he asked.

Her smile was everything he could have asked for, and it was only for him. He recalled he had a couple of things of Patti’s, to give her. But those could wait for the morning. The night was his….

K
ERRY THOUGHT
her heart was going to thump its way right out of her chest as they entered the pleasant suite with the king-size bed.

The covers were turned back, and there were chocolate mints on the marble-topped tables on each side of the bed. The cozy ambiance of the room was enhanced by the lamps on each table. They were ornately painted with pink roses on their fat globes and could be turned down to a soft night-light.

Kerry took in everything, including the old-fashioned claw-footed tub in the bathroom. Interest
ing images came to mind. “This is so charming. I’m thinking of relaxing in the tub—” She stopped abruptly. “Actually,” she admitted with a slightly shaky laugh, “relaxing isn’t exactly what I have in mind.”

“I think that’s an excellent idea,” he agreed, laying his hands on her shoulders. “It’s fun, becoming new lovers, but it’s also rather nerve-racking, isn’t it?”

She relaxed with a sigh. “So you feel the tension, too?” she asked, glad she wasn’t the only one with a slight case of nerves.

With a finger under her chin, he tipped her face up so he could gaze straight into her eyes. “Not the same way you probably do. I want you to know that all you have to do is say
stop
or
slow down
and that’s what will happen. Everything we do will be mutually satisfying or we won’t do it. Got that?”

She nodded. Then she threw her arms around him and squeezed as hard as she could. “Matt,” she whispered, “I want everything!”

“Me, too, sweetheart,” he assured her. Swinging her slender form into his arms, he carried her to the bed and with a playful grin dropped her onto its comfortable expanse.

Going into the bathroom, he turned the spigots on full and checked the water temperature before returning to Kerry.

She’d kicked off her shoes and propped several pillows behind her back while he was gone. Sitting beside her, he began unfastening the pearl buttons on
the green silky blouse, something he’d envisioned doing many times that day.

When he’d finished, he slipped it off her shoulders and down her arms, delighting in the smoothness of her skin. A beige bra in a light-and-dark zebra pattern amused him for a moment before he stripped it from her.

“Ah, Kerry,” he said. “You are incredibly beautiful.”

The temptation was too great. He bent to her lovely breasts, the tips already contracted.

To him, she seemed small and delicate, but when she pulled him closer to her, he was reminded of the lithe strength in her, the need that matched his. He caressed up and down her smooth torso until he could stand it no longer.

“I have to see all of you,” he said, moving slightly away from her, which brought a little cry of protest. He heard the sounds of running water. “Whoops.”

After removing several packets from his jacket, he took them to the bathroom, quickly checked the bath water, then returned to the bed. He unfastened her slacks and laid them with her blouse and underwear on a padded chair.