Chapter Twenty-six

Tully shifted and sped up as they reached the Mississippi River bridge. The conversation Libby had kept going since they’d left the house was taking her mind off the empty streets. Considering it was just past noon, normally the streets would be filled with traffic and the sidewalks with tourists and locals. She couldn’t help but think what the lack of activity foretold—the wounded city would take years to heal.

Once they were over the bridge and out of the city, Libby finally contacted Alma, after fifteen minutes of trying. The state roads were just as empty as the city’s, so she told Alma they would be there soon and were bringing guests. The rest of the Badeaux clan had returned home at the first opportunity to check on their boats and property, so Libby had caught Alma in the kitchen preparing dinner for them, as well as her sons and their families.

“I’m sure she has enough for the whole town. Don’t look so worried,” Tully said when Libby hung up and started tapping the phone on her chin.

“That’s not what I’m worried about. I just want to help her out.”

Tully tugged her closer and kissed her temple. “The fact you’re with us is making her happy. You don’t have to do another thing.”

“Have I told you again how much your love of coffee changed my life for the better?”

They reached the overpass that would take them to the small fishing town that was located on the highest point for miles, and the spot at the top before the off-ramp was one of Tully’s favorites. Every time she had left home to drive back to college, she would stop and admire the sugar cane growing in the fields as far as she could see.

“Something wrong, Mom?” Bailey called from the window of the Land Rover.

“Just showing Libby something. Keep going to your grandmother’s if you want, and get everyone settled.” They waved as Dana drove by with Ralph in the front seat giving directions.

“The first time I left for Tulane I reached this spot just at sunrise. It was late August and the cane was almost ready for harvest. I sat on the hood of my car and just enjoyed the way it waved in the breeze.” The storm had flattened the crop so that only a few stalks were standing.

“We’ll have to come back so I can see that.”

“After that day I stopped here often and saw it as the part of the small-town girl I brought with me on the way to the life I’ve built.” Tully moved behind Libby and rested her chin on her right shoulder. “When my heart found you I realized something fundamental about myself.”

“What’s that, my love?”

“The part of me that wants nothing more than to leave here and conquer the world needs and wants the dreams of the kid who stood here years ago.”

Libby turned around and put her hands behind Tully’s neck, tugging her down. After what they had just lived through, they took their time and enjoyed the kiss until a truck driver speeding by blew his horn in obvious endorsement.

When they broke apart, Libby rested her hands on Tully’s shoulders just under her shirt. “Tell me what you need and I’ll try my best to give it to you.”

Tully sighed. “When I started my career I wanted more than anything to be successful, but I worked so hard at achieving my goal that I lost sight of my family.” She uncharacteristically felt tears swim in her eyes, though they didn’t fall. “Now I see that I’ll never find fulfillment at the office, but with you, Bailey, and Ralph. So all I need is you and them in my life, and I’ll be happy.”

“Don’t waste your wishes on things you already have.” Libby kissed the part of her chest she could reach through the opening of her shirt. “And you have me.”

The kids, Dana, and Alma were having iced tea on the front porch when they drove up, Libby laughing when Alma hugged and kissed her hello before Tully. “I have your rooms ready for tonight, and there are fresh towels in the bathroom.”

“Rooms?” Tully asked.

“Rooms, Tully Gaston Badeaux. You’re bunking with Ralph in your brother Jerrold’s old room at the end of the hall, and I put Libby in with Bailey. I don’t care how old you are, there’s things you have do besides give the girl a ring.” Alma had her hand on her hip and an expression that defied Tully to disagree with her.

“Honey, go take a shower and I’ll help your mom finish up,” Libby said with an affectionate rub to the small of Tully’s back.

“Before you make fun of me, kid,” Tully said to Bailey, who had her mouth open poised to make a comment, “I’m betting she put you in my old room.”

“So?”

“So, it has about five loose boards by the door. Just think about that if you’re contemplating sneaking out of there tonight for any reason.” Her eyes came up and met Chase’s. “And the fact that your grandmother sleeps like there’s a serial killer on the loose in the house and she has to be vigilant.” Tully ruffled Bailey’s hair and headed in for her shower and a restless night’s sleep, she was sure, in her brother’s old room.

The next morning Tully and Ralph joined her father and brothers as they inspected the boats and the canals they navigated to get out to their fishing grounds. It gave Libby the opportunity to spend time with Bailey and Alma as they prepared a huge family dinner. Around the table that night the rest of the family entertained Libby and their other guests with fishing stories from their youth. As they laughed and reminisced, Tully noticed how Libby glowed and realized that this was probably the first time since her parents’ deaths that she had been included in a family like this.

“You fell in?” Libby asked, wiping her face, which was wet with laughter after Walter Badeaux’s amusing story. She was sitting on Tully’s lap with her arm looped around her neck.

“More than once, if you believe these goons.” Tully glared at Walter and Jerrold, but promptly forgot about them when Libby kissed her. “Walter, how about you tell them about the time you dragged poor Jerrold back to the house in the shrimp net?”

“Not that one again,” Jerrold said with a bit of a whine.

“But when we finally fished you out, you looked so good wearing all that squid,” Tully said.

Their father laughed the hardest as he shook his head at some of the memories they were reliving, but he left them to their fun when someone knocked on the front door. “Stay put, Walt. It’s probably just Jimmy from down the way wanting me to square up my fuel bill before things get any crazier over this damn storm.”

Before he made it to the door their visitor started knocking again, louder this time, as if using a fist to pound on the door. “Hold your water, I’m coming.”

Judging from Gaston’s surprised expression, Jessica figured she was the last person he expected to see standing on his front porch. She stepped back when Gaston’s face registered a slight grimace. She, along with everyone else who had stayed behind at Children’s, had been literally trapped inside the hospital for just under a week without running water. Things hadn’t been much better when they returned to Kara’s apartment, but they didn’t have any place else to go so they’d stayed there until Kara was stable enough to travel. Jessica couldn’t blame Gaston for noticing their less-than-perfect living conditions.

“Is Tully here?”

“Come in.” He held the door open and waved her in.

“I just need to talk to her.”

Jessica turned to see what Gaston was looking at, but he obviously couldn’t see Kara, who was still asleep in the front seat, not moving.

“I know you do, but it appears as if you might need a shower and some of Alma’s chicken stew. Come in and join us, Jessica. I promise it’ll be all right.”

“You might want to check with Alma first.” Jessica twisted her hand in the bottom of her scrub shirt as she laughed.

“Gaston is smart enough to know that I’d skin him if he sent away someone in need of some comfort,” Alma said from behind him. “So why don’t you take that shower before you go in and see the kids. You remember where everything is upstairs, don’t you?”

“I didn’t come often, but yes, I remember. Thank you, Alma.” Jessica stepped closer and put her hand on Gaston’s arm. “Thanks, Gaston.”

She climbed the stairs, holding the small of her back with one hand and clutching the rail firmly with the other. After driving out of the city and leaving that chaos behind, Jessica felt the stress drain from her body, leaving her just bone tired.

“It’s been forever since she’s seen the kids, and she asked for Tully first?” Alma said.

“How about we wait and see why she’s here, honey, before we go making judgments.”

“It’s a question, not an accusation.” Alma backhanded Gaston in the belly softly, her eyes still on the stairs even though Jessica had made it all the way up.

“Mom’s right,” Tully said from the doorway that separated the front foyer from the living room. “After this long, I should’ve been the last person on her mind.”

“How long you been standing there?” Gaston asked.

“Long enough, but you were handling things so well I decided not to interrupt.” Sensing Libby behind her, Tully lifted her arm up so that she could press against her side. “Is the party moving in here?”

“It would seem that way,” Libby said. “Everything okay?”

“Jessica just got here and is upstairs taking a shower.”

“Bailey and Ralph will be thrilled. I know they try to blow it off, but they’ve been worried.”

Tully sighed and nodded at her parents as they left to join the others. After they were alone, she didn’t say anything for a long while, content to just hold Libby. “She didn’t ask about them, though. She asked to speak to me.”

“You’re not surprised by that, are you?” Libby was obviously trying to sound incredulous, but Tully noticed the haunted look in her eyes. “Of course she’d ask for you first.”

“You think she’s back here for me?” Tully was surprised. “I love you, darlin’, but that’s nuts.”

“Nuts was leaving you in the first place.”

Just then Jessica emerged from the bathroom. Her hair was wet and slicked back, but she still wore a rumpled scrub suit. “Everyone does nutty things in their life—the real pain comes from not being able to change or take them back,” she said as she made her way down the stairs. After a moment’s hesitation she took another step toward them. “Hello, Tully.”

“Jessica, I’m glad to see you made it through the storm all right.”

It was the first time she had looked at Jessica and felt nothing. This woman who had given her a family and shared so many years with her had always evoked some emotion, but now Tully felt no love, no anger—not one thing.

“Could I talk to you alone for a minute?”

Tully tightened her hold on Libby, who tried to move away. “You do remember that the kids are with me, right? I’d think you might want to talk to them. They’ve been worried about you, so I’ll get them if you want me to.”

“Please, Tully, just a few minutes.”

Libby stood on her tiptoes and kissed Tully’s cheek. “Honey, you just sit in here, and I’ll go stay with Bailey and Ralph. Just call when you’re done.”

When Libby was far enough away that she couldn’t overhear, Jessica said, “You’ve finally found the one who’s going to adore you, haven’t you? I always thought that’s what you wanted from the person you’d end up with.”

“Am I supposed to respond, or was that just an oversimplified observation on your part?” Tully pushed off the doorway and moved to take a seat. “Libby is many things, but an overzealous puppy isn’t one of them.”

“I’m sorry, that was out of line. She just seems too good to be true.”

“Why are you here, Jessica? I’d love to sit and…” She put her hands up and shook her head. “I take that back. I don’t have time for this anymore, so just say what you have to and be done with it.”

“I have to leave for a while, and I want to know that you’ll take care of the kids.”

“Where are you going, and why?”

“I don’t really want to talk about it, but I have to leave.” As Jessica let out the breath she was holding and sat next to Tully, she almost relaxed as she felt Tully’s body heat. “I know I hurt you, but I need more time before we can start over and move on.”

“Start what over and move on to where?” Tully sounded as if someone had woken her up out of a deep sleep and demanded she do calculus in her head.

“Given our history together, we could eventually repair the damage we’ve done to our relationship by messing around with Kara and Libby and begin again.”

“Sure we can, but I really need to know where you’re going.” Tully was trying to sound sympathetic, but the only conclusion that made any sense to her was that Jessica had started taking drugs with Kara. It was the only plausible explanation for the way Jessica was talking.

Libby, coming to offer Tully some coffee and Jessica something to eat, couldn’t help but overhear Tully’s last remark, which stopped her cold. She leaned against the wall in the hall and willed herself not to cry. As Jessica started talking again, Libby quietly returned to the kitchen and sat silently next to the kids.

“I need to head to Texas with Kara for a while. It’s nothing serious, but this hurricane and the stress of the hospital have really taken their toll, so she wants to go home for a little while and regroup.”

“I see.” Tully leaned forward and pressed her fingers together in front of her lips. “This is how I see our future. You can take all the time you need, wherever you need and with whomever you need to make your life complete.”

“But you just said we could go back.” Jessica reached out to touch her, but the expression on Tully’s face made her drop her hand to her lap.

“That would be the definition of sarcasm in its purest form. I’d rather fill in the Mississippi River with a spoon and a pile of sand than to try and go back to something that was broken long before Dr. Nicolas ended up in our bed. I won’t keep you from Bailey and Ralph, because I think keeping you out of their lives is wrong, no matter how I feel about the subject on a deep personal level. But I won’t agree for you to take them out of the state, not now, and not while you’re with Kara.”

“What you mean is that you can have someone in your life, but not me. She’s a child, for God’s sakes, compared to you, and she’s really involved with our children. But the high-and-mighty Tully won’t extend me the same courtesy because it’s your ego we’re talking about. I slept with someone else. Get over it.”

“You want to compare our lives now, Jessica? Is that what you really want?”

The tone Tully was using sent warning bells off in Jessica’s head. “What are you talking about?”

“I promised you a court date, and I’m planning on delivering. It’s time we finish our business. When that day comes I’ll be happy to have Libby sit next to me and explain exactly what she means to me and how she fits into my life. I don’t care why or how our relationship ended, but because it did, I had a chance to truly be happy. Feel free to do the same, but I’m going to make Kara answer for Evangeline, so tell her not to get too comfortable wherever it is you’re going.”

Jessica laughed until she was holding her sides and crying from the humor she found in what Tully had said. “Have you been back to the city? While you’ve been here in Alma’s special little world, New Orleans has been destroyed. As sad as that is, I’m rejoicing over the fact that you and your ilk are out of business for a long time to come. No more destroying lives, no more parading and performing for the juries you love so much, Tully.”

“According to the courts, it shouldn’t take more than two weeks for business to resume in Baton Rouge. If that’s accurate, then I’m going to fast-track both court dates.” She stood and glared down at Jessica. “Since Dr. Nicolas is so tied up in both issues, I’ll need to know where in Texas you two will be. I’m sure neither one of you is going to extend me that courtesy, so I’ll be contacting the hospital to make sure I know exactly where Kara Nicolas is.”

“She needs to rest,” Jessica said softly.

“She needs to be in court when she’s summoned. Beyond that, I could give a good goddamn what she needs. I’m going to get the kids so you can talk to them before you leave. Your priorities are obviously with Dr. Nicolas and getting her to a better place, but for twenty minutes why not pretend you give a shit about the kids.”

Jessica grabbed hold of Tully’s wrist before she could move away. “That’s not fair.”

“Tell me honestly that you stayed behind because of your job, and I’ll apologize.”

“Not totally for my job, no, but I won’t feel guilty for my choices. I knew the kids would be all right with you.” Jessica let go of Tully and fell back in the seat.

“Then I think I’m being more than fair. Just stay put and I’ll send them in. Take all the time you need. They’ve been worried about you, so it’s good that you’re here.”

She stepped into the hall to find a visibly red Libby, clearly embarrassed at having been caught since she’d gone back to see if Tully was all right. Instead of saying anything where Jessica could overhear them, Tully just took Libby’s hand and led her to the back of the house where the kids were watching television with their cousins.

“She’s waiting up front for you guys,” Tully said after she told them that Jessica was there but had to leave. “Take it easy on her, okay? She’s had a rough couple of days.”

“That was generous of you,” Libby said, as if fishing for something to say as Tully led her to the swing by the water. “I’m sorry I was out there listening.”

“Don’t apologize.” Tully raised her finger in a request for Libby to stop talking. “It’s time you realize just where you stand in my life, what rights you have when it comes to everything.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“It has nothing to do with Jessica, my job, the house, or anything else you think is important to me.” Tully sat back and put her arm around Libby, still maintaining eye contact. “We’ve been watching television for days now, digesting just how much our lives will change if we decide to go back to New Orleans the way it is now.”

Libby pressed her hand to the side of Tully’s face. “I’ve been thinking about that myself.”

“All those people, Libby, standing on their rooftops waiting to be rescued because they either didn’t have a way out or refused to leave made my heart ache. It hurt me to see so much suffering, but it also made me start thinking.”

Libby kissed her. “Just tell me what I can do to help you process all this.”

When their lips parted, Tully reached for Libby’s left hand. “It’s a weird analogy, I know, but I’ve been living my life like those poor souls trapped in something not of their own making, but trapped nonetheless by their inaction.” She kissed the skin just under the ring she’d given Libby. “I don’t want to spend another night without you because someone doubts my commitment to you, especially if that person is you. If you’re willing, I want to have a ceremony, even if it’s small, and make this permanent.”

“You just tell me when and where, and I’ll be there.” Libby gently let go of Tully’s hand and put her arms around Tully’s neck. “I’ll be there because you’ve given me a chance at the life I’ve always dreamed about. You talk about me being your second chance, but in reality that’s what you are to me. You love me and gave me a family.”

“Then let’s start this rebuilding together.”

“Tully?” Alma called from the back porch of the house. “Jessica’s ready to go and wanted to speak to you again before she leaves.”

“We’ll be right in.” After one last kiss Tully helped Libby up and they walked to the house hand in hand.

“Did you have any ideas of what type of ceremony you’d like?” Libby asked.

“Actually, I do, and considering some of the things we’ve been through, I thought it might be appropriate. After we finish dealing with Jessica, let’s sit with the kids and talk about it. If you’re not okay with the idea, then we can do whatever you have in mind. It’s a day I want you to remember as special, so we’ll do whatever you want.”

“I spent more time dreaming about the woman standing next to me than the actual ceremony, and if you ask me, I’ve got that pretty well covered,” Libby told her before she let go of her hand when they entered the kitchen. Ralph and Bailey were sitting at the table having a Coke, appearing drained after their visit with Jessica. “You guys want something else?”

“When you’re done with Mama, can we go down to that place you like and have pie?” Bailey asked Tully. “I need to get out of here for a little while.”

“If you can convince Libby to let me have a piece, then sure.”

Jessica was standing at the front window looking out at the yard and only partially turned when Tully came into the room. “If you need me I’ll be on my cell. I realize it’s not working at the moment, but once we’re farther away from the damaged areas we should get decent coverage. I’ll call and check in when that happens.”

“Jessica, we can’t go back to the way things were, but do you need my help in any way?” Tully stepped closer but stopped short of touching her. “No matter what, we have a history and a lifetime connection because of Bailey and Ralph. If you need my help, all you have to do is ask.”

“Don’t be so patronizing. I’m sure you’re just waiting for me to crash and burn, but I’m not giving you the satisfaction.”

“That can’t be further from the truth,” Tully said, trying to find some of the compassion she once held for Jessica and hoping to reach her.

Jessica clenched her fist and jerked around to face her, making Tully think she was about to hit her. Instead Jessica shook her head and opened the door. “I’ll call when we get there.” Once she was outside, she practically ran to her car and left.

“What’s made you so angry, Jessica? And whatever or whoever it was, before you pass the point of no return I hope you realize how close you are to losing all you held dear.” Tully whispered the sentiment to the wind before she went back in to her family.