He took that for another positive sign. Please God!
When they were standing in a back bedroom, he pointed to a bunch of buildings some distance from the house. “The old slave quarters,” he said. “I’m thinking about making them into bungalows, complete with little kitchens and bathrooms.”
“I don’t understand any of this.” She turned to look at him.
He inhaled deeply, for courage. This was do-or-die time for him. He had to get the words just right. He took both her hands in his and was encouraged by the fact that she didn’t draw away. “I want you, Gracie. I’ve wanted you for as long as I can remember. But I knew as long as I had the fallback position of a home and job back in Jersey I would never be committed to moving forward. With you.”
She said nothing, but at least she hadn’t shot him down. Yet.
“I tried to think what I could do if I moved here. I knew you wouldn’t want to leave Tante Lulu and the traiteur work, not to mention your daughter. You need a stable home base. I do, too, by the way. Anyhow, I decided I like working on houses, and I think I would have a talent for restoration. What I don’t know, I could learn.”
“But why such a big place?”
He saw the fear in her eyes. “I want kids, Grace, but they’re not a necessity. Andrea would be enough. Still, I have to tell you, I would do my best to convince you that one—okay, two—more babies would make a great family for us.”
Tears pooled in her eyes, and fear. So he barreled ahead, to get to the good stuff.
“How would you feel about us providing temporary homes”—he waved to the slave quarters—“to families in crisis?”
“Like halfway houses?” she asked, eyebrows raised with suspicion. Tante Lulu must have hinted at something. The old busybody.
“Exactly. And, really, this house isn’t as big as it appears at first.”
She made a scoffing noise. “It’s a mansion.”
“A mini-mansion.”
“And the grounds! You would have to hire a full-time gardener.”
“Gracie! I sold my condo for a million and my Corvette for two hundred thousand, and I have two million in stocks and CDs. I can afford a frickin’ gardener. Unlike you, I was selfish and didn’t give my money away.”
“So now you’re trying to entice me with money.”
“No, Gracie, I’m not.” He glanced down at their hands, which were still joined. “You’re still wearing my engagement ring.”
She laughed. “My fingers are swollen and it won’t come off.”
Giving lie to her words, he slipped it off easily.
“Hey! Give that back.”
He shook his head, released her hands, went down on one knee, then took a small velvet box out of his back pocket.
She put her fingertips to her parted lips where a small sob escaped.
“Gracie, will you marry me?” He blinked away the tears in his eyes. God, he hoped he didn’t embarrass himself.
“Oh, Angel,” she said. There were tears in her eyes, too, as she opened the box. It was a replica of the Wal-Mart ring, but not quite so big and garish.
Before she could object, he slipped the ring on her finger. “Look at that, Gracie. It fits perfectly.” He folded her fingers so she couldn’t take if off, then kissed her knuckles.
“You would accept Andrea as your stepdaughter?” she asked.
Angel nodded, and his hopes soared.
“And you’d be satisfied with one child of your own?”
Actually, no. I really, really want two. A boy and a girl. “Sure.”
“I do like the house. It has an aura. I can sense the people who lived here before. It was a happy home, I believe.”
“What about me? Do you like me, Gracie?”
“You are such a fool.” She sank down to her knees in front of him. “No, I don’t like you, Angel.”
His heart stopped.
“I love you.”
They both wept then, for this was a long time coming.
Then they made love on the floor, which they covered with his shirt and her dress. The words “I love you” were repeated over and over, by both of them. And it was sweet, sweet loving in their new home, which they later decided had been appropriately named Sweetland.
Chapter Twenty-two
Their first “houseguest” will be… guess who?…
It was several hours before they left Sweetland, and Grace was ecstatic, happier than she could ever remember being.
After making love on the floor, they explored the house and property in more detail. Almost everywhere they went, they found something new and exciting to exclaim over.
First the kitchen. “Honey, look at all these signed crocks,” he said.
“How can you tell they’re signed under all that crud? But the fireplace! My goodness, you could cook a whole cow in there.”
“We’ll cook a cow for our first housewarming party.”
“Eeew!”
Angel grinned at her.
“I love your grin.”
“Yeah?”
“It makes me all tingly inside.”
“Tingle, tingle.” He grinned some more, then tucked her in closer to his side. “I love you so much, Gracie. It feels like a dream.”
She nodded. “But we’re never going to wake up. Forever, Angel. I’ll love you forever.”
“Forever,” he repeated.
They were both overwhelmed and so, so happy over this newly declared love. And they couldn’t keep their hands off each other as they walked the grounds.
“It’s as if a dam of emotions has been let loose,” she told him. “How could it have been there, possibly for years, while I held it back?”
“Because you’re a stubborn wench?” He ducked her punch, then pulled her back into his embrace again.
“If you hadn’t left the morning after… after I discovered I wasn’t pregnant, I would have told you then.”
“Maybe it wasn’t supposed to happen until now. Maybe God”—he laughed—“correction. Maybe God and St. Jude work at their own pace.”
“Your born-again faith?”
“Yep.”
In one of the sheds close to the house, they discovered an armoire. Then antique tools in the barn. Primitive furniture in the slave quarters. The place was an unending treasure trove, better than any Jinx bonanza, in her opinion. Sweetland was an unpolished jewel that they would work on for a lifetime, she suspected.
While they walked, and stopped often to kiss or just stare at each other in wonder, they talked about where Angel had been the past two weeks.
“You didn’t! You had no right, Angel,” she said when he told her about contacting Alexander Pappas.
“I did it to spare Andrea pain, and you, too, in case the jerk wasn’t interested in having a kid at this late date.”
“And was he a jerk?”
“I wish! No, he was actually a pretty nice guy, but he exhibited way too much interest in you. He’ll probably come strolling down to Loo-zee-anna trying to hook up with you again.”
“You’re jealous,” she hooted, then smiled with satisfaction.
“Damn straight! Just like you were over ‘Realtor Barbie.’”
“Don’t remind me.”
“I did something else you might not like.”
“Uh-oh!” She stopped in her tracks, forcing him to stop, as well.
“I checked up on your parents. No easy way to say this, but they’re both dead. Her of cancer six years ago, and him of a heart attack five years ago.”
She pondered his news for a long moment. “The sad thing is that I feel nothing.”
They discussed wedding plans then.
“Let’s do it as soon as possible,” Angel said. “I’ve waited too long already.”
“You know Tante Lulu will want to be involved.”
He groaned. “A church wedding?”
“Definitely.”
“I wish it could be here at Sweetland.”
“Are you kidding? That would take at least a
year. How about one month?”
“Okay, but try to rein in the Cajun tornado.”
“How ’bout you try to rein her in? You’re her favorite Yankee man.”
“We’ll both work on her.”
“Where will we live while we get started on Sweetland?”
“How ’bout we stay at your cottage? It’ll be cramped, up close, and personal to the max, but an incentive to get the property cleared and plumbing and electricity brought up to code before winter. Besides, Andrea will be leaving for college.”
“I kinda like the idea of up close and personal with you.”
“I noticed.”
“It’s nice to think that we’ll be having all our future memories here. Even weddings. Maybe Andrea’s,” she mused.
“Or our future children’s weddings someday.” He hesitated before asking, “Do you think we made a baby already?”
She raised her eyebrows in surprise. That hadn’t occurred to her, in the heat of the moment. So she paused to think.
“Grace?”
She was touched by the vulnerability in his voice over her hesitation and the worry that she wasn’t committed to another child. “I don’t know. It sure would be a great way to christen our new home. And, yes, in answer to your hidden question. I do want to have your baby. As soon as possible. Like you told the judge that day, my old clock is ticking.”
He rewarded her with a scorching kiss. “I have great affection for your old clock. Wanna make love again?”
She laughed. “Out here with the snakes?” They were near some statuary that marked the edge of the onetime flower gardens. “I. Don’t. Think. So.”
“Can’t blame a guy for trying.” He let out an exaggerated sigh. “Guess we’ll have to settle for the back seat of my truck.”
By the time they finally arrived at Remy’s house, the party was already in progress. No surprise there. The surprise was in the number of people, the big tent in the back yard, and the banner that read: “Congratulations Angel and Grace.”
Grace immediately turned on him. “You were awfully sure of me.”
“I swear, I didn’t say a word.”
“Not even to Tante Lulu?”
“Most especially not to Tante Lulu.”
“I better go in the bathroom and check my hair and makeup. How do I look?”
“Great.”
“What’s the grin for?”
“Okay, here’s the truth. You look like you just got laid.”
“Oh, that’s just great.”
“That’s what I said.”
She stopped and faced him. “Before we get swallowed by the crowd, I just want to say again: I love you.”
“I love you, too, babe.”
“I am so blessed that you hung in there and waited for me to make up my mixed-up, hopeless mind.”
He hugged her tight, then chuckled. “Bet I know what the first purchase will be for our new house.”
“A St. Jude statue,” they said as one.
The Cajun matchmaker always wins in the end…
Tante Lulu sat in a lawn chair on a small rise of Remy’s back lawn, pretty much like a queen overseeing her domain. She liked that image.
Remy had a huge house here that led down a distance to the bayou where his old houseboat was anchored. The boat had been his home at one time before he married Rachel and gathered a passel of young’uns about him, natural and adopted.
“Whatcha smilin’ ’bout, Auntie?” Tee-John asked as he folded his long legs to sit down on the grass beside her.
“I’m allus happy when we get into the short rows. Means mah job is almos’ done.”
“With Grace and Angel?”
She nodded. “I swear, those two were slower comin’ t’gether than cats eatin’ a grindstone. When’re you and Celine gonna have another baby?”
He was used to his aunt dropping bombs like that in the middle of a conversation. “What? Etienne’s not enough for you?”
“The boy needs a brother or sister to tame him down. Only childs are so lonely.”
“Soon,” he conceded. Then he changed the subject. “How’d you arrange this fais do do so quick? No one else even knew about the engagement. In fact, Angel says he only proposed today.”
Tante Lulu smiled her little cat smirk. “It’s the bayou, honey. I learned from someone at Charmaine’s beauty shop, who learned from Val’s mother, that Angel was lookin’ ta buy real estate here on Bayou Black, and Lawdy, Lawdy, that boy’s biscuits ain’t all done ta be buyin’ that Sweetland place. Then Angel asked Lena ta take a picture, sneaky-like, of Grace’s Wal-Mart ring. And Ronnie called ta tell me Angel was sellin’ up all his stuff back in Yankee land.”
After Tee-John left, she noticed Daniel trying to sneak by her. “C’mere.”
He balked, and she gave him one of her best dirty looks.
With a sigh of surrender, he walked over.
“Where ya goin’?”
“Home.”
“What for? To drown yer sorrows agin?”
“What do you know about my sorrows, old lady?”
“I know ya seen a lot of chillen dyin’ and yer all burned up.”
“Burned out,” he corrected her.
“Thass what I said. Ya got any lady friends?”
“No. And I don’t want any.”
“If dumb was dirt, you’d cover an acre. Ah, well, even a blind hog finds an acorn now and then.”
“Thanks a bunch.”
“I saw ya makin’ googly eyes at Samantha a bit ago.”
“I wouldn’t know how to make a googly eye if I tried.”
“I know googly when I see it. Besides, it comes nat’ral ta some men, especially you LeDeuxs. Yer next, boy. I kin smell the thunder rollin’ yer way.”
He didn’t even bother to ask what she meant. He must have been told about her theory of love and thunderbolts and such. Instead he said, “Oh, no! Concentrate on my brother Aaron if you want. Not me!”
They both looked toward the makeshift dance floor, where Aaron was talking flirty with Samantha. The two men looked almost identical, except for their haircuts and style of clothes.
“Actually, I think it’ll be a package deal. St. Jude ain’t done twins in a long while.”
“I’m sorry, but I lost any religion I might have had a long time ago. I no longer believe.”
“What a load of hooey! My, oh, my, St. Jude is gonna love you ta pieces, I do declare.”
“I’m outta here,” he said, but then he did an about-face and stomped back to the dance floor, where he tapped his brother on the shoulder, then pushed him aside to dance with Samantha. Yep, everything had a way of working out in the end. Daniel and Samantha looked like they was spitting fire at each other. She wouldn’t be surprised if they were married before the end of the year. Another notch on St. Jude’s holy belt.
Grace and Angel, at the same time, noticed Tante Lulu sitting alone.
“Should we?” Grace asked.
“I guess so.”
“Thanks for all your help,” Angel told the old lady.
“Ya finally got her—thass the most important thing.” Turning to Grace, she added, “Sometimes you were dumber’n a toad sittin’ on a bullfrog when it come ta lovin’ this boy.”
“Ribet, ribet,” Grace said, squeezing her arm lovingly. “How did you manage to pull together this party on such short notice?”
“It’s easy when ya gots family and friends. Thass what you two have, now that yer settlin’ here on the bayou.”
Both Grace and Angel got misty over that, family being something important that they wanted to build together.
A short time later, after some of the partygoers left, while a good number were still hanging around, Angel looked at Grace and said, “Wanna dance?”
“Okay.” She stepped onto the portable dance floor.
Angel shook his head. “Not here.”
She tilted her head to the side.
“You remember that fancy shower in the houseb
oat?”
“The Playmate shower? How could I ever forget?”
“Well, I was just wondering.” He examined his fingernails, pretending to be giving something a great deal of thought. “Would you consider shower dancing?”
“In the nude?”
“Is there any other way?”
One month later, they were married in Our Lady of the Bayou Church. Andrea gave her mother away. Tante Lulu prepared a wedding feast, Cajun style, in the church hall. Much food, rowdy music, and a good time were had by all.
Thanks to Tante Lulu’s intervention, Andrea had made peace with her adoptive mother, Ruth, who’d finally got disgusted with George and kicked him out. Luc was filing papers for Angel to adopt Andrea, with Ruth’s blessing. And Angel was gritting his teeth over the budding relationship between Andrea and Alexander Pappas. In all the ways that counted, Andrea had been and always would be Grace’s child… and now his.
Not surprisingly, Grace was pregnant.
And up above—high up above—God and St. Jude gave each other high fives.
TANTE LULU’S
SEAFOOD ÉTOUFFÉE
1½ lb. crawfish (or 1 lb. peeled and deveined shrimp, cooked, with one 8 oz. can lump crab meat), or any preferred combination)
2 cups chopped onions (regular and green scallions, if possible)
1 medium size chopped bell pepper
½ cup celery
2-3 cloves finely chopped garlic
1-2 bay leaves
1 pinch Old Bay seasoning (optional)
¼ tsp thyme
½ tsp dried basil or two leaves fresh basil
¼ cup chopped parsley for garnish
½ cup butter
¼ cup flour
8 oz. can tomato sauce or finely chopped fresh tomatoes
1 cup white wine, dry preferred
8 oz. clam juice (or 1 cup shrimp stock if you cooked raw shrimp)
½ cup water
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp tabasco or hot sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice, with zest
½ tsp pepper
salt to taste
1 pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
1 pinch paprika (optional)
Listen carefully, y’all. I’m gonna show ya how ta cook Cajun style. First, grab yerself a tall glass of sweet tea ta cool off in the kitchen. Then cook the butter and flour in a large pot, preferably cast iron, stirring often ’til it bubbles and forms a brown roux. Ya know, ’cause I tol’ ya many a times, that roux is the heart of any Cajun dish. Stir in all the veggies and spices, startin’ with the Holy Trinity: onions, celery and bell peppers. Ya’ll kin put some Cajun music on the radio iffen ya want ’cause ya need ta cook this batch over low heat, covered, fer ’bout 20 minutes or ’til the veggies are done ta taste. I likes them a little al dente. Thass French fer a little bit crisp. After raisin’ the heat again, add the wet ingredients. Bring ta a boil. Add the shrimp and crab meat. Then reduce heat again and let simmer fer five minutes. Make sure ya stir carefully once the crab is added so ya don’t break up the lumps of crab. Serve over cooked rice.