Chapter 2
“What time are you off?” Gisele called out.
“Ten,” Holly answered as she passed out drinks to the table filled with her cousin and her lady friends. “But maybe later, if this place stays as full as it is. I can’t leave Danny to handle all this by herself.”
“Ah, but we want you to join us. This is girls’ night out.”
Holly gave Gisele a crooked smile. “And I’d love to be a part of it, but I’ve been on this job for less than two weeks. As nice as Rene is, I can’t expect him to let me take the night off when they need all the help they can get.”
“Want me to encourage the guys to leave so there are fewer customers to serve?” Ouida Mae, the high school science teacher, asked. “I’m sure if I told Valentin we need to thin the herd, he’d go along with it and get his buddies to comply.”
“A few less men would be nice, but that would cut into Rene’s profits and my tips.” Holly set a beer in front of Ouida Mae. “But thanks for the offer. Besides, this girls’ night out was in honor of Principal Ashcraft. It’s her fortieth birthday. She needs all the love.”
Holly lifted her chin toward the pretty, older woman of the group, seated at the opposite end of the table.
Joyce wore a shiny tiara the women had insisted she wear to announce to all in the bar that it was her birthday. As a high school principal, a role that required her to be a pillar of the community, she seemed shy and a little embarrassed at all the attention.
Though she hadn’t wanted to get Gisele’s hopes up, Holly secretly hoped to join the ladies’ fun night before long.
The band struck up a lively polka, and couples moved to the floor.
Holly hurried over to the guys Ouida Mae had offered to send home.
Gisele had identified the group as the security organization that had set up shop at the old boat factory.
What had she called them? Bayou Brotherhood Protectors?
Among them was Gisele’s husband, Rafael, and Ouida Mae’s man, Valentin.
She’d met most of them when she’d crashed Camille and Landry’s wedding at the courthouse, in her desperate hunt for Gisele.
Holly gathered empty mugs and took orders from the men. As she worked her way around the table, Remy Montagne, their leader, caught her eye and motioned for her to come closer.
He gave her his order for a beer and then asked, “Have you had any more messages since coming home to Bayou Mambaloa?”
Her cheeks heated as his words drew the attention of all the men at the table. She shook her head. “No.”
“I still think it wouldn’t hurt to have one of my men shadow you until you find out who’s targeting you.” He tipped his chin toward the man on his right. “I have Simon on standby. Just say the word, and he’s yours.”
Her gaze shifted to the man Remy offered, and the heat intensified in her cheeks. The man was all smoldering good looks with his dark hair, ice-blue eyes and impossibly broad shoulders. All hers?
Butterflies fluttered low in her belly.
She had enough problems. Having a hot guy follow her around would only add to them. She was home in the bayou to put curses to rest, not to stir up brand-new ones.
“Thank you, but I’m okay for now.”
“You have my number,” Remy said. “If you feel at all threatened here in Bayou Mambaloa, call.”
“I will. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll get your drinks.” One last look at the man who could be all hers had her scurrying away to the safety of the bar, where she emptied the tray and waited for Rene to fill the orders for more drinks.
A beefy arm slipped around her waist. “Holly Gautier,” a man’s voice said too close to her ear, “when did you get back in town?”
Holly sighed and pushed the arm away from her body. “Hey, Cody. Watch the hands. Are you seated at the bar?”
He nodded and slipped his arm around her again. “I am. How about taking a spin on the dance floor with me? You know, for old times’ sake.”
“Hands off, Cody.” She shoved his arm away for the second time. “I’m working.”
“Rene will let you have just one dance. Won’t you, Rene?” Cody said to the bar owner.
Holly gave her boss an almost imperceptible shake of her head.
Rene frowned. “She’s working, and we’re shorthanded. If you want a dance partner, find someone who isn’t one of my staff.”
Cody snorted. “I’m disappointed, Rene. I thought we were friends.”
Rene grabbed a mug and placed it beneath the tap.
“I don’t know where you got that idea. Now, can I get you a drink?
If not, I have plenty of other orders to fill.
” He pulled the lever, filled the mug and set it on Holly’s tray.
“That completes your order,” he said. “A customer’s waving for your attention. Best be gettin’.”
Holly gave Rene a grateful smile, hefted the heavy tray and turned.
Cody’s arm came out again, catching her across the belly, bringing her to a complete halt so fast she pitched forward. The drinks on her tray rocked precariously.
For a moment, she thought they’d settle. She was wrong. One mug tipped, knocking into the next. The domino effect sent the lot crashing to the floor, splashing beer and broken glasses in a six-foot radius.
“Goddamn, woman!” Cody jumped back. “You got beer all over my new boots.” He stamped his feet, trying to shake off the liquid. When that didn’t help, he held out his hand to Rene. “Give me a rag. Quick. Before it sets in.”
Rene wadded up the damp rag he’d been using to wipe the bar and pitched it hard at Cody’s face.
He didn’t get his hands up in time to deflect it, and it slapped hard across his forehead.
Holly would have laughed, except she was covered in beer and surrounded by broken mugs and bottles.
The men at the Brotherhood Protectors’ table sprang to their feet.
The one called Simon was there first, pushing Cody aside to get to her.
“Hey,” Cody protested. “Watch it.”
Simon ignored him, shuffled through the mess, regardless of any damage it might cause his boots, and scooped Holly up in his arms.
She slung her arm around his neck, surprised and unprepared to be swept off her feet. “What are you doing?”
“Getting you to safety,” he said.
“But I have to clean up the mess,” she protested.
“It would be best to start from the outside and work your way in, rather than walking through broken glass,” he pointed out as he set her on her feet at the perimeter of the disaster.
Rene came around the counter with a broom and a dustpan. Danny, the other waitress, rolled a mop bucket out from the back storeroom.
Much to Holly’s chagrin and secret admiration, Simon and his team took over. Simon manned the broom, and Remy held the dustpan as he swept up the broken glass.
Ouida Mae’s husband carried a large, plastic-lined trash bin and set it close by.
Within minutes, Simon and Remy had the glass cleared. Rafael mopped up the beer, and Valentin used several bar towels to dry the floor. In less than five minutes, the barroom floor was returned to order, cleaner than before the beer had been spilled.
Rene had a fresh tray of drinks waiting.
Meanwhile, Cody stood back, fussing over his new boots. “I’ll send you the bill if my boots are ruined,” he said to Rene.
Rene’s eyes narrowed. “Holly, say the word, and I’ll file assault charges on Cody.”
Cody’s eyes widened. “Assault? That’s bullshit.”
Rene met Holly’s gaze. “Did you want Cody to put his arm around you?”
Holly shook her head, her face burning. Every customer in the bar was focused on the entire altercation. “No.”
“Did you, or did you not tell him to keep his hands off?” Rene’s gaze went from Holly to Cody.
“I did tell him,” Holly said.
“We’re old friends,” Cody blustered. “I put my arm around you as a friendly gesture, not assault.”
Holly lifted the tray of drinks and gave Cody a hard stare. “We might’ve been friends in the past, but we aren’t now. Don’t touch me again, or I will file assault charges. Now, either get a drink or leave. I have work to do.”
When Cody started toward her, Simon stepped between them and followed her to the table where his buddies had all reconvened.
She smiled at the men at the table and started handing out their drinks. “Thanks, guys. The drinks are on me.”
“That’s not necessary,” Simon said as he helped distribute the mugs.
“I insist,” she said. “You did my job. The least I can do is buy this round.” She held up her hand. “Thanks for coming to my rescue.” Before they could argue further, she grabbed her tray and hurried to the next table.
Once she had all her customers happy, she returned to the bar, her jeans still damp with beer.
“I think Danny and I can manage the rest of the evening if you’d like to join your friends,” Rene said.
“I don’t mind working—just not covered in beer.”
Rene’s lips twisted in a grimace. He wet a fresh bar towel and handed it across to her. “Sorry about Cody.”
“Why should you be sorry?” she said as she used the damp towel to wash the sticky beer from her arms. “Cody was the asshole—and it’s kind of part of the job, isn’t it?”
“Not in my bar,” Rene insisted. “I don’t tolerate abusive customers.”
“Thanks.” She handed the towel back to Rene. “Well, he was half right. We used to be friends.”
“What happened?”
“Holly, sweetie.” Lissette, the cousin she tried to steer clear of, appeared at the bar.
“I can’t believe Cody was such a dick. But the hunky rescue was ah-mazing.
” She grinned. “Wow. Talk about a knight in shining armor, sweeping a girl off her feet. Have you been keeping secrets from your favorite cousin?”
Holly felt the blood rush from her face.
SECRETS KILL
That had been the message written on her bathroom mirror in Atlanta and was the reason she’d returned to Bayou Mambaloa. It was the continuation of the curse that had taken Paul and her parents from her.
Holly stared at her cousin. “Why would you say that?”
Lissette’s eyes widened, and she blinked several times. “Say what?”