Page 104 of The Cajun Doctor

“Her father is a convicted felon, armed robbery, out on probation. These places are overcrowded anyhow, and when push comes to shove, they’ll take the person with a clean record first.”

“And her mother?”

“Gone. Left with a boyfriend when Molly first got sick. A grandmother helps, but . . .” His words trailed off.

“Go. I’ll make your excuses to Brad and Sonny. And, oh, wait a minute.” She went back into the kitchen and got the grocery list.

When she came back and handed it to Daniel, he asked, “What’s this?”

“I know you have other things on your mind, and you might not be in the mood after you leave the center, but just in case things go okay, would you mind? This is a little list of things you could get on your way back.”

“Holy crap! I should have asked Aaron to leave the truck again.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“Are you kidding? Ten pounds of rice? A half bushel of shrimp?”

“I think Tante Lulu is planning on making shrimp étouffée for dinner.”

“For who? An army?”

“She means well.”

“So did Attila the Hun. And how long is the old bat staying?”

“Now, be nice.”

“I wish we could go back to bed and hide under the covers. I haven’t had nearly enough of you.” He nuzzled her neck.

“Likewise.” She arched her neck to the side so he could nuzzle some more.

“A rain check?”

“For sure. Maybe you could dream up a couple more of your fantasies by then.”

He grinned. “Or you could tell me some of yours.”

They smiled at each other and wished they could be alone for a while.

“Later,” she said.

“I’ll hold you to that.”

He left then, but not before extracting a promise from her. “Promise you won’t go to meet Nick the Prick. Wait till I get back. We’ll talk about it then.”

She didn’t exactly promise, but she leaned up to kiss him one more time, which he might have taken as a promise.

As soon as she was sure he was gone, she went back into the kitchen and addressed Brad and Sonny. “What do you want me to do?” She should probably wait until Luc, her lawyer, was with her, or until Daniel returned, but she just wanted this whole nightmare to be over.

After a half hour of rehearsals, Brad suggested that she call Nick to set up a meeting. They practiced lots of different scenarios. “If he says this, you say that.” Or “If he says that, you say this.” Sonny even wrote some notes for her to read on his computer while she was on the phone.

“When should I suggest that we meet?”

“Today. As soon as possible.”

Panic began to set in. She was not ready for this. “Won’t that seem strange to Nick, that I’m so anxious to meet with him? After all, we’ve been enemies for years now.”

“Time is our enemy. The longer we wait, the more suspicious he will get,” Brad told her.