The Red-Hot Cajun (31 page)

“That was fun,” she said.

“Ummmm,” he replied. “Have I told you how much I like your dress?”

She laughed and he felt the movement against his chest. “Only about fifty times. You look pretty good yourself, Mr LeDeux.”

“I know.”

She swatted him playfully.

He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her tighter.

When they got back to her apartment, he took off his jacket and tossed it on a chair, not the antique one, God forbid. Following her toward the bedroom—he already had his T-shirt off and over his head—he asked, “Is that bed an antique?”

“No. Why?” She turned halfway to look at him, which gave him a nice profile view of her breasts and butt in the fuck-me dress.

“Because I plan on giving it a good pounding, and I don’t want to have to worry about the bill.” Before she had a chance to ask him what he meant, he picked her up by the waist and tossed her onto the bed.

Then he crawled up and over her, cat-style. “Leave the dress on, baby. I’ve been fantasizing about this all night.”

To his surprise, she replied, “Me, too.”

They were a hit

The meeting with Amos Anderson was going very well.

Val looked around the conference room where they were showing their proposal on a flat-screen wall TV, with her and Justin providing the commentary and Rene answering questions about the bayou when they came up.

She was so proud of them all. Rene and Justin looked so New York casual in their T-shirts, jeans and jackets over well-worn boots. She was wearing a beige silk suit with a brown tailored blouse and alligator high heels. They’d each taken turns presenting portions of the proposal—verbally, with poster boards and video—as they’d practiced. Rene’s passion for the bayou ecosystem brought tears to her eyes. Justin’s camera expertise showed through beautifully.

She could tell that Mr Anderson was impressed, but did that translate into a go-ahead? He ordered them to hit pause at a point where she and Rene were smiling at each other while eating raw shrimp. “Do you see what I see here?”

They all looked, but no one spoke.

“You two,” he said, glancing pointedly at her and then Rene, “throw off more sparks than a Fourth of July sparkler.”

“Mais, oui,”
Rene responded, waggling his eyebrows at Val. “That is the truth.”

“That’s what I keep telling them,” Justin said.

Valerie folded her arms over her chest, waiting for Mr Anderson to make his point.

“There are several important things to consider here. The bayou is and always has been a character in itself, whether it be as the backdrop to a movie or an investigative piece. I agree that the Juju plant stuff is a great hook, which might very well merit some network and national media attention. That old Cajun lady with the herbs is a pistol. But in the end, you two add the sizzle that would sell this piece.”

Valerie crossed her fingers in her lap, hoping.

“I have to talk with some of my associates, but I’m thinking you have enough material here for a six-segment program. Do you agree?”

They nodded, all of them smiling.

He mentioned a sum of money that was astounding even to Valerie, who was used to overblown television salaries. “Do you all have agents?”

She spoke for all of them. “We’re all using my agent. We’re having lunch with her today. She’ll contact you about negotiations.”

Mr Anderson leaned back in his swivel chair. ‘The sweet part of all this is that we might have an open slot in the fall. One of the shows we had planned down in the Everglades fell through.”

That was the best news of all. Valerie knew how urgent time was in Rene’s opinion when it came to the coastal erosion. The sooner this played the better.

He called in some of his associates, and they did their presentation again. Everyone was enthusiastic, giving suggestions that would make the series even more appealing.

For the next few days, they were involved in details that hadn’t occurred to her, even with all her experience in television. Everything from voice overlays, choosing which film went in each segment, taking publicity photos, the whole works.

In the evenings, she and Rene ate out in a different restaurant each night. Sometimes they went dancing. Once they saw a Broadway show, a musical, which they both enjoyed. And then, oh my, then they made love. She didn’t delude herself that Rene had fallen in love with the city, but he had adjusted very well. She could see him here.

At the end of the week they decided that she would stay here in New York to handle this end of the program, while Justin and Rene went back to Louisiana to get additional footage that was deemed important.

Before they left, Mr Anderson said, “You realize this series is going to upset a lot of people.”

“Oh yeah!” they all said, smiling at that prospect.

“That fire on the boat is probably just the beginning.”

“As my Tante Lulu always says, you’ve got to stir up the flour if you want a good roux,” Rene said.

Everyone laughed at that homespun wisdom.

Before they left the building, Mr Anderson pulled Val aside. “Do you have any plans to return to Trial TV?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Oh yes. A few heads are going to roll shortly, and I have an idea. Well, we can discuss it later.”

Valerie got a call on her cell phone, just as they were about to leave the building. It was for Rene, from his brother Luc.

“No! When? How bad? Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit! No clues, I assume? That figures. Those sons-a-bitches just never let up, do they? All right. I’ll be back soon. Keep in touch. Bye.” He clicked the off button and stared at the phone.

“What? What is it?” she asked. Justin was equally alarmed by the one-sided conversation.

Rene took a deep breath, then looked at her. “The bastards burned down my cabin... the one I was building.”

“Oh, Rene.”

“I was afraid of this,” Justin said. “They’ll stop at nothing.”

They all nodded sadly. What could she say? She knew how much Rene” loved that place. She squeezed his arm in sympathy and made noises about being able to rebuild, but she doubted he had insurance on the place.

The two guys flew back to the bayou that night, and Valerie stayed behind, as planned. Little did she know just how long the separation was going to be.

I’m not missing you at all

Rene was missing Val like crazy.

He was staying in Tante Lulu’s guest room, lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
Is it too late to call
her?

For the past two weeks, he’d worked like the devil to finish the documentary filming with Justin, to complete the sale of his town house, and put out feelers for a new place closer to Houma, to decide about a new job, to clean up the fire debris from his bayou property, which was a total loss, and to help his family plan Tante Lulu’s birthday bash. You would think he’d be too tired at the end of the day to think about anything but hitting the sack. Not so.

He hadn’t said the words—out loud or to himself— but he was pretty sure he had fallen head over boots in love with Val. It was the first time in his life that Rene had ever entertained the notion so he couldn’t be sure. But, yeah, he loved Val.

He smiled to himself.
Who would have thunk it?

Justin was back in New York working with Val on the project. He should have gone back himself by now, but he kept putting it off. On the one hand, he wanted desperately to be with Val again. But he wanted them to be here, on his turf. Selfish of him, he supposed, but there it was.

Does she love me?
he wondered. He thought so, but he couldn’t be sure.

He glanced over to the St. Jude statue in the corner of the bedroom; Tante Lulu was an equal opportunity giver of St. Jude statues, and Rene had received his share, too. He thought he heard the statue say,
Absolutely.
It was probably wishful thinking on his part, but it made him feel good to think she might return his sentiments.
If she doesn’t, I’ll make her fall in love with me. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. Seduce
her into love.

Just then, the phone rang. He picked it up on the first ring, not wanting to wake up his aunt, who’d gone to bed about nine.

“Hello,” a sultry voice drawled out.

“Hi. I was just about to call you.”

“Why?”

“I miss you.”

“Come here then.”

“I can’t. I have work to do here.” It was the truth. He had to protect his family and work with authorities to track down the culprits. He had job interviews scheduled for this week, too. He’d been offered several positions, but he wasn’t sure yet what he wanted to do. In the meantime he’d gone back to working on the frickin’ doctoral thesis. Luckily he’d had a copy back at his town house. “Why don’t you come here? Besides, I have something to show you.”

She laughed. “I’ve already seen it.”

“Not that. I saw a small house out here on Bayou Black today that I’m thinking about buying. I’d like you to look at it first.”
How’s that for coming as close to saying, “I love you. Will you come live with
me?”

Unfortunately his words were met with silence.

“Val?”
Oh, my God! She doesn’t love me after all.

“Why are you buying a house on the bayou? I thought when you sold the Baton Rouge town house that you would...” She let her words trail off.

“You thought what?”

“That you would move here.”

Is she nuts?
“To New York City?” he asked, disbelief ringing in his raised voice. “Why would I do that?”

“Because I live here,” she said softly.

Tone it down, big boy. No need to be offensive.
“Oh, baby, I do want to be where you are, but I felt like I was suffocating in the city. I would die there.”

“I thought you enjoyed yourself here.”

“I did.”
Well, the part where we made love a lot.
“But only for a visit.”
Like once every ten years or
so.
“Why can’t you live here?”
We could make love a lot here, too.
He knew his question was foolish before it left his mouth.

“My work is here.”

“You were able to work on the TV documentary here,” he argued. “Maybe there are other documentaries you could work on. Or you could practice law. Bet Luc would hire you.”

“Rene”,” she chided him gently. He could hear her take a deep breath. “I was offered another job at Trial TV today. Elton was fired and I have free rein to develop my own nightly show. They’re giving me five hundred thousand dollars a year with an escalator if the ratings do well.”

His heart sank.
She’s making plans without consulting me. Hell, I’m making plans without
consulting her. What does that say about our relationship? Do we have a relationship?
“Well, I can’t compete with a half mil so that’s that.” His heart sank even more.

He heard her gasp as if he’d sucker punched her. ‘That was unfair, Rene. It’s not about money.”

Then why did you mention it?
“Ambition, then.”

“What’s wrong with ambition?”

“It doesn’t warm the cockles on a cold night.”

“I’m not the one with cockles.”

“I was making a joke.”
You gotta laugh sometimes, or else you’ll cry.

“Guess I’m not in the mood for jokes.”

Me neither, actually.
“Val, you can’t be serious about me living in the city. What kind of work would I do there?”

“That’s the good part. With my new job, if I accept it, I would have the authority to hire people.”

“Me? On TV?”
Frankly, I don’t give a rat’s ass about TV. The only thing I ever watch is the news
and ESPN. And, you, of course.

“Mr Goodman did say you are very photogenic.”

Uh-huh. Me, the Fabio of Trial TV. Giving commentary without my shirt on.
“Give me a break.

That was a film about the bayou, something I know at least an iota about. What would I do on a court TV show?”

“Maybe you could be the average guy on a panel. You know, each program would discuss the hot trial of the day. We could have defense and prosecution lawyers, a jury analyst, and you, the average guy giving his opinion.”

Ithink I’m gonna puke.
“Nice to know you consider me average.”

“You know what I mean. You’re just being difficult.”

No kidding!
“Val, I am willing to compromise on lots of things, but there is no way in hell I am ever going to live in a city again. I did it in DC and hated it.”