LITMIR.BIZ

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his brother. “I’m in the mood for crawfish. Want to head over to Henderson?”

      “Nah, Annie cooked something in the Crock-Pot. Take Renny and rehash all the good ol’ days.”

      He would if he could, but he had a feeling getting Renny to go anywhere with him would be akin to Hercules facing his twelve feats. Almost impossible.

      * * *

      RENNY TRIED TO CONTROL her trembling hands, but the shaking that had originated deep inside her belly had spilled over. Even her teeth chattered—incredible since it was a blistering ninety-one degrees outside.

      Darby Dufrene.

      Here.

      In Louisiana.

      She closed her eyes, for a split second wondering if perhaps she’d fallen asleep in her office chair and had a horrible nightmare.

      She opened her eyes and stared at the rough bark on the tree dead ahead. Nope. Still at Beau Soleil.

      Could a girl ever prepare to run into her ex?

      No, not totally. But she had been remarkably calm considering her sweaty hair was plastered to her neck and she was wrapped up in a white drape like an old couch hidden beneath a drop cloth. Plus, she wore not an ounce of makeup. Yeah, not prepared, but at least she hadn’t shaken in front of him. She turned her thoughts to the task at hand. Put him out of sight. Put him out of mind.

      She placed the hat that swathed her face back on and cautiously approached the crane, trying to make her steps as level as possible even though chances were good the bird would recognize her uneven gait and feel some measure of safety.

      Up ahead L9-10 flapped its wings as it clung to the lowest branch of a scrubby tree where there wasn’t much room for a five-foot crane. The tracking device was firmly affixed and the bird looked healthy, so other than gathering some water samples and making some notes on the general area the bird inhabited, there wasn’t much left to do.

      Why are you here? she mouthed as she looked up at the bird. The crane twisted its head, the black eyes alert to Renny below her, but it didn’t do anything more than grow still. The encounter with the gator had spooked the bird, but the familiarity of the white costume had a marked effect.

      Renny glanced across the field as the ATV rattled up the embankment, carrying Darby and his brother away from the field, and the separation was enough so her hands stopped trembling and her heart stopped thumping against her rib cage.

      Dear God.

      He’d looked so good. Different but good. His bearing was exact, no longer loose and rolling, and his carriage more erect. No lazy smile, no flirty blue eyes, no privileged fraternity boy blond hair flopping over his brow. Darby Dufrene had changed...and she hadn’t expected that.

      But why hadn’t she? It had been over ten years since they’d last seen each other. Darby had moved on to military school, the Naval Academy and law school. This was no boy slinking among the oaks with a fake ID and a naughty promise for some grown-up fun. This was a man who’d served his country, broadened his shoulders and his horizons, and maybe forgotten the Louisiana girl he’d left behind.

      Something zinged in her chest.

      Renny shook her head, furious at herself for feeling any sort of hurt or regret over the man who’d ridden away and not looked back. She didn’t need him—then or now.

      What did he have to say that was so important? It was too late for an apology, but maybe he’d truly grown up and wanted some sort of closure crap like ex-lovers demanded in all the movies.

      Fine. She’d give it to him.

      But she’d make sure she wore some lipstick and washed her hair first. No sense in looking like a backwoods coonass.

      Her cell phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out and looked down. Her mother. So not the person she wanted to talk to at the moment, but if she didn’t answer, Bev would call over and over again until she did. Her mother was nothing if not persistent.

      She moved away from the crane moving through the trees skirting the bayou and answered it on round two.

      “Hey, Mom.”

      “Darby Dufrene’s in town. Just heard it from my hairdresser, and I wanted you to know.”

      “Well, I’ll try not to tear his clothes off and impregnate myself when I see him.”

      Bev huffed. “Don’t get smart with me.”

      “I’ve already seen him, and my clothes are buttoned up tight. You can stop panicking.”

      “Where did you see him? Aren’t you still at work?”

      Renny walked to a viable spot, bent down and filled a vial with water from the flooded field. “Technically, yes. But one of our cranes got blown north and has found a home at Beau Soleil.”

      Silence sat for a moment. “Beau Soleil? You’re joking, right?”

      “I wish I were.”

      “I worry about you, you know,” her mother said, her voice slightly softer than normal. Bev Latioles made no bones about loving her daughter, even if at times that love felt like a blanket thrown over her head. Renny was always covered. In fact, Bev had even had a friend run a background check on a guy she’d dated a few years back.

      “I know, but I’m a big girl and don’t need you worrying about me. Especially about an old high school boyfriend. We were kids, Mom. He doesn’t have the same effect on me that he once did.” Renny took one last look at the bird and started making her way back the way she came, hoping that the words she’d uttered were indeed true.

      “Good because that boy was nothing but trouble, and I happen to know leopards don’t change their spots. Your father taught me that hard lesson.”

      “So you’ve said time and again, Mom.” Renny didn’t want to talk about her father. Or Darby Dufrene. Or any man for that matter.

      Not that she’d completely given up hope on finding a special someone, but her social life lay gasping for air on the side of the road. She’d been cursed in the guy department lately and had become a bit too settled in her own protective bubble of work and renovating her house.

      “You know I’m not trying to stop you from finding a good man, honey, but I don’t want you to go off track again because I know how charming Darby can be.”

      “You don’t have to worry about that, okay? Darby and I are ancient history. Besides, he’s in town visiting his family.”

      “But I heard he’s out of the service and looking to join a law firm. Jackie said Helen Hammond told her that Picou said she was trying to get him to stay around here and practice. So this might not be only a visit. Just be careful around that boy. He’s hurt you enough, sweetheart.”

      Renny shook her head and tried to tamp down the aggravation welling inside her. Bev meant well—she always meant well—but Renny was too old to have to explain herself to her mother. “I appreciate your caring enough to call me and warn me, but the last thing I want is anything to do with Darby Dufrene. There’s nothing between us but some faded memories.”

      Renny heard her mother blow out a breath as she wove in between the trees, heading back toward the utility thruway where she’d parked her car. “Good, honey. Well, I suppose I’ll see you Sunday for my birthday? Aaron is taking us to lunch.”

      “I’ll be there.” Renny clicked off the phone and tried not to growl at the blank screen.

      Mothers.

      Did they ever let go or was hers just abnormally leechy?

      Probably just hers.

      The hum of the ATV broke her from thoughts of being smothered to thoughts of the very man her mother had warned her about moments ago. The man her mother loved to hate almost as much as Renny’s own father. She’d never understood why

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