Bayou Rouges: Dirty Part 2

"That's right."

Man, he needed that six hundred dollars. "Can I bring the money to you after school?"

"That would be fine. It's forty dollars for each uniform you purchase. I'd recommend at least two."

"Two. Got it."

"She'll also need a pair of tennis shoes that are not Converse."

"I'll take her tonight for shoes."

"Thank you, Mr. Murphy."

He hung up the phone and ma.s.saged his brow. He was barely holding on by a thread. As soon as he got a little ahead the money would trickle away bit by bit. Last month Riley had to get a tooth filled and that had eaten into his emergency fund. Now that he'd put a twenty in the tank he had zero dollars to his name.

Please G.o.d, let me catch this boar. I need this. We need this.

Courtney really needed to start packing a lunch. Luckily, Clara had added some things to the menu other than cheese. Not that Courtney didn't love cheese, but eating a lunch of cheese more than once per week wouldn't be good for her waistline. Today she wore her favorite five-b.u.t.ton royal-blue soft wool blend jacket and a black skirt. She liked food, but she liked fashion a little bit more. On her feet she wore cla.s.sic black Jimmy Choo pumps.

Walking into the little shop she inhaled deeply taking the scent of rich ripe cheese into her lungs. "Mmm." She smiled.

"Hi, Courtney. Will you be joining us for lunch?"

"Yes, I do believe I will."

"Great, today I've got minestrone soup."

"Sounds delicious." She set her phone on the counter and climbed onto the black lacquered bar chair.

"Would you like a grilled gruyere sandwich to accompany?"

"Oh I would, but let me take the pear and walnut salad instead."

"Coming right up."

Clara was busy-there wasn't an empty chair to be had. Courtney counted ten filled chairs at the counter where she sat and another ten customers were accommodated by the five tables along the wall-for couples.

Courtney wondered where Clara's little helper was.

A loud buzzer sounded from the back kitchen area and Clara's demeanor went from pleasant to frazzled.

Courtney stood and slipped behind the counter with ease. She daintily went up to Clara's side and whispered, "Anything I can do to help?"

Clara's big blue puppy dog eyes pleaded with Courtney. "There's a delivery at the back door."

"I'm on it."

Courtney walked through the kitchen and to the back door, opening it. "h.e.l.lo," she greeted.

"Howdy. I've got a cheese delivery," the efficient man dressed in slacks and a tailored shirt said. He pa.s.sed her a clipboard and walked behind his air-conditioned truck. It was small and reminded Courtney of an old Schwan's delivery truck.

She walked into the kitchen and waited. Reading over the invoice on the clipboard she gleaned his name: Ron Wheeler. Carrying the prized product by hand required him to make a few trips. On one trip he carried a large round uncut cheese. The wax rind was still in place.

"Mmm, what's that?" She pointed at the nutty smelling cheese.

"A full wheel of parmigiano reggiano."

"Wow, that's a lot of parmesan."

"She orders one every week."

"Oh?" Courtney knew Clara had a steady flow of customers throughout the day. Now that she was serving dinner, Courtney guessed the young woman was doing quite a business. Selfishly, she couldn't be happier because that meant she'd be around a long time and Courtney's belly would be happy, and at least that was something. Happy belly, unhappy heart.

"Here's the info sheet. It details how to care for all of the cheeses: best storage temperature, best eating temperature, wine pairings."

Courtney took the paper. "That will be most helpful."

"If I may have your signature."

Courtney signed the invoice and thanked Mr. Wheeler. Once he'd left she started reading about the ideal properties at which to store Stilton cheese. She found it a lot like wine. Cheese, as it turned out, was very fussy.

She'd left the back door open and now heard squealing. What the h.e.l.l? She walked outside and spotted Sawyer on his cell phone. Squealing continued-the perpetrator was one fat, ugly and wild pig.

"I've got the boar in a trap in the back of my truck. Can you come get it? I'm at work-two one two Main Street."

"You caught a boar?"

His eyes squinted at her. "I did."

Heavy breathing and whining drew her attention to the inside of the truck. "Oh, what a pretty dog. Is he yours?"

"He is."

Courtney scratched the head of a stately looking, liver colored lab sitting in the cab of Sawyer's truck. "You bring him to work with you?"

"Not usually. I needed him to hunt."

"What are you going to do with it?" She pointed at the caged beast.

The creature squealed again, his large teeth visible when he opened his mouth. His eyes penetrated her, pleading to be set free. Why would he not answer her? She watched as he set up a shade tarp over the cage.

"I asked what you were going to do with it."

"I heard you."

"You're not very nice."

"And you're not very respectful of my privacy."

"If you wanted privacy you should have been here to accept the delivery."

He stopped fiddling with the rope and canvas to glare at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Clara needed help so I accepted a delivery."

He resumed tying knots, jerking the rope forcefully through his fingers. "I guess it's too much to ask you to do something without expecting anything in return. What do you want? If it's money, I don't have any."

"I want you to treat me like a human being and not like your dog. h.e.l.l, you're probably nicer to your dog."

"Dog doesn't expect anything from me."

"Neither do I, believe me."

"Courtney?"

At the sound of Clara's voice she turned and left Sawyer-mercurial-Murphy outside. "Thank you for doing this." Clara pointed toward the elaborate array of cheeses from around the world.

"Invoice is on the counter."

"I've got your lunch, it's on the house."

"Thanks." Courtney looked back through the opened door. "If you don't mind, I'd like it to-go."

"Is everything okay?"

"Oh yeah, it's fine. I just need to be getting back."

"Of course."

Back at her desk Courtney let out a sigh. What was with all the men? Did she seem like a woman who expected things? What things would they be? He'd said if she expected money he didn't have any. Did she appear money hungry? G.o.d, what would he say if he knew who she was? He'd despise her for the money she had and he didn't. She was no longer hungry so she decided to refrigerate her lunch until her appet.i.te returned.

Returning from the break room she watched from the window as the rains started to pick up. It was going to be a wet winter, but at least the weather matched her somber mood. As she prepared the closing doc.u.ments for the sale of the Renaud house, she heard the sickening sounds of crunching metal. Turning she saw the collision of two cars, and it looked like a bad one.

A flash of blue beat Sawyer to the scene of the accident. In her suit, Courtney splashed through the dirty water and was inside of the car in mere seconds.

"Ma'am, it's all right. Your baby is unharmed. I'm just going to get her." The baby screamed. Kneeling on the back seat Courtney lifted the baby from the car seat.

"You're okay. Oh, you're okay. What's your baby's name?"

"Anna."

"Anna's fine." Courtney kissed her head while Sawyer watched in awe at her coolness during emergencies. She and little Anna were sopping wet and filthy from the mud on the outside of the car. Courtney's hair was a little darker when it was wet. For some reason his brain wanted to make note of that.

"Ma'am, are you hurt?"

"I don't know."

"Sawyer?"

His eyes met hers and he understood her head tilting gesture. She wanted him to check on the woman. He'd already sort of done that. He didn't want to say it out loud, but the woman was not okay. She's bleeding, he mouthed.

Courtney's frown indicated she'd understood him.

"I called for an ambulance." Clara said as she rushed from her shop.

Courtney pa.s.sed the baby off to Sawyer and boarded the car. Sitting next to the woman she searched for the source of the bleeding. "It's your thigh."

"It hurts." The mom winced.

"That's because there's a piece of metal in your leg. It's not very big though-the size of a dime in diameter. You should be fine once you get st.i.tched up." Courtney nodded a.s.suredly.

"Take it out."

Courtney turned to Sawyer. "Where's the fire department?"

He pulled his phone from his pocket with his free hand-a difficult task given the drenched denim he wore and the baby in his arms. When he was about to call he heard the strains of the sirens, indicating an engine was heading their way.

"Here they come."

Courtney moved to exit the car but the woman pleaded, "Don't leave."

"I'm not!"

"My baby's okay, isn't she?"

"Your baby's fine." Courtney pointed to the baby in Sawyer's arms. "What's your name?"

"Caroline."

"Oh? Do you know the Neil Diamond song?"

"Sweet Caroline."

"Yeah, I had that song stuck in my head the other day."

"I was named after it."