CHAPTER NINE
“The food is delicious,” said Blythe. “What is this?”
“Oh, it’s one of the specialties here. Red beans and rice with andouille sausage,” smiled Logan.
“It’s wonderful. So much flavor and depth.”
“Hello, Blythe,” said a woman walking toward her. “I’m Layla, one of the doctors here at the clinic and this is Marissa, one of our amazing nurses.”
“Oh, hello. It’s very nice to meet you.”
“We heard that you’ve recently finished your residency. You’re very young to have done that,” she smiled.
“I started university younger than most, I suppose,” she said shyly. “I’ve specialized in emergency medicine and a surgical rotation. Those are my focuses.”
“Well, those are areas we could use help. Tomorrow we’d like to introduce you to the rest of the team here and see if you might think this is a good fit for you.”
“I’d love that, but are you sure? I mean, I did try to shoot Logan,” she frowned.
“You didn’t try to shoot me,” he smirked. “You wanted answers about your sister. There’s a difference. And, you didn’t shoot me.”
“I’m sure we can overlook that,” smiled Marissa. “I grew up with Logan. There were times I wanted to beat him senseless as well.” The table chuckled and Blythe realized they were all joking.
“I’d love to see your facility tomorrow. Thank you!”
“Then it’s a date,” smiled Layla. “We’ll meet you here for breakfast around eight and then head down to the clinic. You’ll meet all of the doctors and nurses we have here on the property, as well as a few that don’t live here. We’ve also got a dentist, mental health specialists and others.”
“This is all very exciting,” she smiled. “Thank you for being so kind.”
“Oh, don’t mistake us. We are busy. Crazy busy. You might not be thanking me next week,” smiled Marissa. “See you tomorrow.”
“See you,” she said waving at them. “Everyone here is so kind, so generous.”
“It’s what we’re known for,” smiled Caroline. “My mother is a Robicheaux, adopted by Gaspar and Alexandra.”
“Oh, he’s the very big man over there that looks like all the others?” she asked pointing in his direction. Caroline nodded. “Yes, he passed me earlier yelling for his mother.”
“Well, Mama Irene can bring up the ire in Gaspar. She’s an animal advocate. Anything that’s injured or needs a home, she’s going to find a way to bring it here.”
“His mother? But she must be very old,” frowned Blythe.
“Much like your sister whom I spoke with earlier,” said Noah, “Irene is a ghost. However, she is visible to those here. She and her husband both.”
“This is the strangest place I’ve ever been. If I hadn’t pinched myself a dozen times, I’d swear this was a dream. A good dream.”
“That’s what my great-grandparents wanted,” smiled Caroline.
“They wanted this to feel like a dream, a home, a community. Their capacity for love is unreal. My grandfather, Gaspar, rescued my mother and her siblings. Over there is Mom, Lucy and her sister Violet. Then there are my Uncles Luke, Ben, Adam, and Carl.”
“Wow. But you look like your grandfather,” frowned Blythe.
“Another mystery,” smirked Logan.
“My mother and I are both veterinarians,” said Caroline. “My father trained K9s. He was also rescued by these men when he found himself homeless as a returning veteran and was nearly killed by a madman.”
“You all seem to find madmen often,” said Blythe.
“They seem to find us,” said Rush. “We just don’t turn away from them. We do everything in our power to stop them.”
“You are most unusual people.”
“I hope that’s a good thing,” said Logan staring down at her beautiful face. The others at the table saw it, smiling to themselves. Caroline squeezed Rush’s hand and he grinned at his wife.
“It’s a very good thing.”
Conversations turned to more mundane, relaxed topics as they finished their meal. When they were done, Blythe noticed that families and couples would move outside to enjoy the warm summer night. The sounds of cicadas, bullfrogs, and other bayou creatures filled the air.
The smell of wet grass, the damp moss hanging from the cypress trees and the myriad of flowers sprinkled throughout the gardens filled her senses.
Logan walked quietly beside her as they took the long wide walkway toward the river and the docks.
“It must have been wonderful living here as a child with all these people, all these friends,” she said.
“Didn’t you have a lot of friends?” he asked.
“Some. Not many. When they find out where your family is from, assumptions are made. My father was accused of being a terrorist many times but it never deterred him from wanting to live in America and give his children a better life than the one he had. He knew what would await us if we returned.
“I would have never been allowed to become a doctor. I think Layla and I have much in common in that respect. But it was more than that. My parents didn’t want us to waste this opportunity of education. So, my sister and I were both required to do many hours of homework and extra homework.”
“That must have been hard,” he said in a sympathetic tone.
“Yes. And no. I didn’t know what I was missing. I didn’t mind it. I wanted to succeed. I wanted to show my parents how much I appreciated them and what they’d done for us. Now, I’ll never get to tell them how much it all meant to me.”
“I think they know,” said Logan. He waved her toward a bench on the dock and they sat down, staring at the setting sun on the horizon.
“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful,” she whispered.
“Yeah, me too,” he said looking at her. She turned and smiled.
“You’re very handsome, Logan. In fact, so is your father and grandfather. You mother and grandmother are beautiful. Everyone here is beautiful. It’s quite intimidating.”
“We’re just people,” said Logan. “We just happen to be large people.”
“And handsome,” she added with a grin. He only chuckled.
“You’re beautiful as well, you know. When I first saw you, I saw fear and anger, pain and uncertainty. But I also saw your beautiful face, all that gorgeous hair and your very unusual eyes.” She gave him a small smile.
“You know, one of the many reasons my parents fled their country was the extremely high incidences of parents, mostly fathers, marrying their children off to cousins or other family members. Although my parents weren’t related, they married in defiance of their parents, my grandparents were fourth cousins. ”
“Fourth doesn’t seem like it would be a big issue,” said Logan.
“By itself, no. But in that part of the world, it’s so prevalent that we often see genetic, muscular and cranial deformities because of it.
If third or fourth cousins marry consistently across generations, the gene pool becomes very shallow.
It’s one of the reasons we often see people die at such a young age. ”
“If you parents defied their parents, were they punished?” he asked filled with concern.
“Ironically, their fathers were not angry. It was their mothers. They’d planned their weddings to cousins for months. For my father, it was a second cousin and he knew that he could not allow it to happen. So, my parents married across the border, sent a message to their families and then left.
“When they returned for my grandmother’s funeral, I think they thought that it would be forgotten but it wasn’t.”
“You said they were killed because they were seen as traitors,” said Logan.
“They were. Traitors to their family.”
“I’m so damn sorry, Blythe. I know we’re not a replacement but you have a family here if you want it.” She stared at him, cocking her head. “I mean to say, I, we could be your family.”
“I don’t understand,” she whispered, afraid to speak what was running through her mind. Logan scooted closer to her on the bench, taking her hand in his own, wrapping the other arm around her shoulder.
“I mean, I’d very much like us to get to know one another. Date. Go to dinner together. Become closer.”
“Me? B-but I’m so different,” she said in disbelief.
“You are not so different,” he smiled. “Besides, I have to marry the woman that tried to shoot me. I want to keep an eye on you.”
“M-marry me?” she stammered.
“Don’t panic,” he said holding up his hands.
“Listen, you already know that we’re very different here at Belle Fleur.
I know what my feelings are for you. I know that you and I were meant to find one another.
We can build on that. I have to find General Fitzwilliam, make him pay for what he’s done.
But in between that, can’t we get to know one another better? ”
“I can’t believe you mean that,” she said staring at him. “You’re so perfect. So, so, so you! I’m just me.”
“And you are more than I deserve. Let me walk you back to your cottage and you can sleep on it.” She nodded and he took her hand, walking as slowly as he could to her cottage at the back of the property. By the time they arrived, the sun was gone and the black of night was upon them.
As she stepped up on the porch, he stayed two steps down, looking at her eye-to-eye.
“Goodnight, Blythe,” he smiled.
“I-I don’t have to sleep on it.” He stared at her and held his breath. “I’d very much like to date you, get to know you.”
“I’m very happy to hear that,” he smiled.
“Shouldn’t that begin with a kiss,” she grinned.
Logan slowly took the two steps to the porch, standing over her like a lion observing its prey. He cupped the back of her neck, lowering his head to hers. His warm breath hit her face and she moaned with desire. Softly he touched her lips with his own, tasting, plying, massaging them with his kiss.
For Logan it was the most heavenly moment of his life.
For Blythe it was life-altering. She would never be able to look at another man and wonder what it would be like. This just set the standard for which there would be no other.
Logan pulled back, the pad of his thumb brushing her lips as her eyes fluttered open.
“That was perfect,” she whispered.
“I couldn’t agree more. I’ll come and get you for breakfast in the morning,” he said. “My cottage is just five down from yours. If you need me, just come and get me or yell. No one will find you here. No one.”
“You did. And I’m very glad of that.”