Moss Island Ch. 04

To say that Rainey and I were shocked at the turn of events was an understatement, but that was how the cookie crumbles, I suppose. As Jack headed out, JP said that he needed to talk with us for a moment. After Jack left, JP looked at us and began. OK, I'm in the doghouse. At first, Linc, I didn't understand why, but I thought it about. Yes, I did violate your confidence, and yes, I did mention to my son that you and Cat were engaged. This morning, before I came here, I talked with my son. He did admit he passed that information on to others outside of the firm to his credit. Why makes no difference, he did, and his doing so breaks so many cannons and conventions, I shudder to think. As of the close of business today, my son will no longer be associated with the firm. Linc, your business is important to my firm and me; but I treasure our friendship most of all. Linc, if you choose to move your business to another firm you have greater confidence in, I understand and will assist them thoroughly. My only hope is that you do not file an ethics complaint with the Bar Association against my son. If you do, I am honor-bound to support your complaint as I'm sure it would be factual. On that note, JP left.

I turned to look at Rainey as JP was walking out the door. After he left, my comment was something along the lines of that was a kick in the head. Rainey looked over at me and muttered, yeah, it was that. But ya know, firing the young man doesn't put the genie back in the bottle either. And I know JP is torn up inside with this. Can we call JP and ask him not to fire but instead assign him the nastiest scut work they have to do? In this new position, he will have no decision-making authority. And be sure that he knows any partnership is way down the distant road. I called JP's office, but he wasn't in, but they could get him on the phone and have him call me ASAP. Sure, enough, JP called back in a few moments when I told him that Rainey had an idea and she wanted to run by him. She quickly explained her idea to JP. There was an almost audible sigh of relief from him as he bought into her opinion. Along the way, he added in a few of his thoughts.

Next up was the "all hands" meeting for the hotel employees. I asked Jack Williams not to allow press or media people in the meeting, as this was for the people who had helped make the hotel the center of our city. Could he have the hotel's press people issue a statement on Cat's passing and our request that flowers not be sent? Instead, donations could be made to the community center.

There was a curious air as the meeting started. Of course, almost everyone had at least a hint about Cat, and many people had seen the three of us together. Add to that all the rumors about what happened on the island, and well, there were questions. The first order of business was to answer the questions about Cat. I explained what had happened and that her daughter and I were asking that instead of flowers. Please make a donation to the parish community center. Next was talking about what happened on the island. I could claim ignorance since we were here when the fire occurred. Until the investigation was complete, there really wasn't anything to say. The house was a total loss, and for the time being, I was kinda homeless. I was homeless until my grandparent's home could be put together to live in while a new house was built. The employees were all shocked by what they had just heard. I looked over towards Rainey, who standing on the side of raised platform I was speaking and nodded. The two of us walked out of the ballroom together and went down to the lobby and outside.

Then the familiar hit my ears when Rainey called out that she was hungry, so what else is new? And she wanted to walk over to the Square and find a boudin on a stick for our lunch. I nodded, then suggested that she tell our buddies behind us what the plan was and ask if they wanted a bite too. To the casual onlooker, what seemed like a group of friends wandering around the Quarter, we made our way over to the Square. We found a street vendor selling boudin on a stick and, of course, Barq's. We swarmed around the guy's cart and bought everything he had. Damm, that was fun.

Rainey then announced that we needed to go by the jewelers' shop to get the ring re-worked. She wanted, of course, to keep the four white diamonds her mom had mounted on the ring. But wanted to add four identical blue diamonds to the ring. The ring was a white gold ring; she wanted a white gold herringbone choker to match the ring. The new necklace would rest close to her neck. This necklace was to be impossible to remove other than breaking it as she wanted the clasp sealed shut. Then I remembered, in what now felt like a distant age before that the three of us would be going to court. She and her mom would no longer be wearing a collar; they were free women. At that moment, Rainey said she wanted a necklace, a choker, like this. All I could think was, Rainey Marie, you are a fantastic woman. And, and damm, I am glad that somehow, she fell in my lap.

We had spent a couple of hours in the jeweler's small shop. When we walked out, much to no great surprise, I was told by my woman that she needed to find herself some freshly boiled crayfish and maybe, just maybe, a Dixie beer too. I felt like a drum major leading a parade searching for crayfish and Dixie. Just past the Square and around the corner from the Market, our objective was in sight. And yes, we did gorge ourselves on crayfish, but Rainey would allow only one beer. Damm, that woman can be a serious buzz killer; she might be right, but still. One of our companions on this stroll tapped me on the elbow and suggested that we really should head back to the hotel as it would be getting dark soon. Alright, and the parade went back to our new home.

Flanking the hotel's front door was a pair of funeral wreaths; the doorman was wearing a black armband also. Seeing this brought reality back into both of our minds. We dashed across the lobby and got an elevator which took us to our floor. The hallway was still filled with security people; welcome back to our world. The escape this afternoon was great, but this is our reality. As we started to walk into the suite, the person I took to be in charge of everyone there passed requests that I call the hotel GM, JP, and his boss.

The easy phone call would be to Jack Williams, the hotel's GM, so that was the first call. He wanted to tell us that the media had been all over the PR people for the hotel, wanting interviews, additional information, and even more. Instead of flowers, I asked him to tell folk to please make a donation in Cat's name to the community center. The memorial service was solely and only for close personal friends and family members, and no additional statements would be forthcoming. The call to JP went along the same lines as the call with Jack. Then JP chimed in with a request that I never let Rainey go to law school under no circumstances whatsoever. The two of us together were bad enough. JP's son could bear witness to that. Seems that sonny boy had a shoe fitted in his ass that might require surgery to remove. But the idea of sitting across the table from Rainey negotiating an agreement was scary for JP. His suggestion was to keep her close to me, well, cause. Of course, he had no idea about our future plans since we hadn't said a word to anyone. Next up was Jack Roberts with the Feds. All he wanted to do was check in on us and see if we needed anything, which we didn't. He said that his folks and the plant security people had put together enhancements for security for the plant, production platforms, and the areas out in the bayou, including around my house. All in all, no problems.

"Hey Linc? You gunna stay out here thinking about everything that you can't do anything about now all night? Or do you think you might like to get a decent night's sleep and be ready for what tomorrow deals us?" Somehow this amazing woman who graces my life seems to always make sense. Getting up from my chair and looking towards her, shit! She's standing at the door to our bedroom, totally nude, with that smile that stands my world on its head. "Hi there, remember me?" With that, she disappeared into the bedroom. Like a good little puppy, with its tail wagging, I ran after my muse, the woman who had grown to make my life complete. When I got in the bedroom, I found her propped up on the bed, "wow!!! Seems you do remember me." That brought out her impish giggle. "But here's the real question, do you remember what to do with that thing?"

"Rainey Marie" I stammered. "My darling, amazing woman, you know. Yeah, you do know. With the two of us together, everything is possible." That brought out a smile that told me our world would pull together. And together, we will move forward. I had fallen into bed with my only woman somewhere along the line. Then the cuddle bug struck as she planted her head on my shoulder, one of her legs lay across my waist, and she was almost attached to me. As my hand began to lightly stroke her back. We lay on the bed, together with each other and connecting. Nothing I could remember ever felt so right being here with the woman I wanted to guide my soul. The only sounds that entered the bedroom were our calling out to each other as we once again found how joyous these times were. Somewhere along the way, she found my hand and brought my hand up to her mouth, where she began nibbling on my fingers. Then she took my hand and placed it on her breast, which resulted in another long soft sigh.

"They were getting lonely, and I thought you had forgotten about them." This silly woman of mine explained. She rolled over on her back as our eyes linked together. "Hey baby, you know you will always be my only man." She could drive me to the edge. Then, we would stand there together and look out to find a distant horizon together. Then we rush back into the moment as we joined ourselves, leading us towards a soul-fulfilling climax, a release. That moment where our bond was strengthened, where it was renewed, and we both knew that we were where we needed to be. As we reveled in being with one another.

The next morning, we were piled on top of each other like two puppies sleeping. Rainey knew that she had to get out of bed; otherwise, there might be a new lake. Slowly she unwrapped herself from Linc's embrace and tiptoed off to the bathroom. Linc sat up and looked towards her smiling impishly as she came out of the bathroom. "Hey lovely lady, did you pee for me too?"

The question got a smile, so the world was good. But my girl shook her head then she said something like. "NOOOO, that's a do-it-yourself project, old man." On that sorry note, I rolled out of bed and did the morning routine, then went in search of my lady. I found her looking out of a window towards the Square and off into the east as she watched the new day begin. I called downstairs for coffee and a couple of bagels and cream cheese. I softly walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist with that taken care of. "Linc, I can't tell you how good that feels to me, especially after last night. Which was the best ever, my love. So very gentle, so sweet, so totally wonderful. Lincoln Hebert, you are a blessing for my soul and an amazing man." Unfortunately, our dream ended with a knock on the door and the call of room service. Talk about a buzzkill; that was it.

Under the glare of my girl's eyes, I poured us a cup of coffee and asked with questioning eyes if she wanted a bagel? My unasked question was answered with a decided shake of her head no as she held out her coffee cup for more. "Linc? What do we have going today, besides not much?" I knew the wise thing to do was simply to surrender, so I put my hands up in the air. "Cause old man, we need to figure out what we can do and want to do with your Grandparent's house, which will become our new home." The only thing that echoed in my head was yes, ma'am.

Rainey got up from the sofa, refilled her coffee cup and sailed into the dining room of our suite, where there were boxes of plans showing the house. She had a notepad on the side of the drawing she was looking at, where she jotted down one or another thing. Not needing to have my head removed, I stood in the doorway and watched. Knowing that when my opinion or thoughts were needed, Rainey would give them to me. Then she'd go back to the drawing. Now and then, she'd go and get a refill of her cup and return. This went on for the better part of an hour or more.

At last, she looked up towards me and yes! Yes, she even smiled at me. "Linc, we are going to the parish. I want to see the house before nailing anything down. I'll call the car rental counter in the lobby and get something small to use for this trip. You get ahold of your buddy Jack Roberts and tell him of our travel plans and that I don't want an escort of big black vans following me. I'm off to get a shower." I had heard her on the phone with the folks at the car rental counter; it seemed we would go riding around in a rag-top four-wheeler.

Thirty minutes later, after a dash in and out of the shower and a fresh application of war paint for my lady, we headed out. As we crossed the lobby, Jack Roberts waved at me, suggesting that he wanted a word with me. I just shook my head no and pointed toward Rainey. That got me a smile and a knowing nod of his head. Rainey got to the car rental counter, did all the paperwork, then gleefully called out, "YES!!! Robin's Egg Blue is perfect!!! OH! Thank you, guys!!!" We went around to the garage and found our new chariot. "Linc! This is perfect in so many ways." We headed out as I looked back to see if we were being followed, and it seemed we were. This time by two very non-descript cars, I'd almost bet that the cars were Jack's people's personal cars.

Rainey clearly knew where she was going, and well, I was lost. "Hey Linc, have you ever seen the community center?" No, I parroted as I shook my head. "No problem; I want to swing by there on the way. That old building holds so many memories of good times with mom, my family and oh so many friends." Rainey zipped down River Road, then took a hard turn off the road and went down a skinny shell road back into the bayou. When she rounded a bend, there was what looked like an old shed set in the middle of a shell-covered parking lot.

Out front was a sign welcoming you to the Catherine Moulton Memorial Community Center. We both looked at each other with a kinda say what expression. "Well, Linc, this is it. But that sign is totally new. For sure, a lot of good times have been passed here." We sat there for a while. Rainey was reliving all the fish fries, crayfish boils, and lots more she had been to here with her mom and all their friends. Our friends pulled up behind us as we were getting ready to leave. She pulled up next to them and told them that our next stop would be Margie's Café. And off we went in a cloud of dust.

We had been at Margie's for about two or three minutes or so when our friends finally caught up with us. We were sitting at what I had come to think of as the family table. This table was for any and everyone who was family or a close friend. Rainey talked with her uncle about what we wanted to do with my grandparent's house when he called someone over to us. Turns out this man was a carpenter who had built or remodeled many homes down here. He listened to what mostly Rainey's ideas were, and on rare occasions, I'd manage to toss in an idea or two. The upshot was that he needed to see what the building looked like before going further. No problem, we are headed that way next. Come along with us.

As we headed out of the café, Rainey cheerfully called out to our new 'friends' that we is headed out to the island; if y'all wanta come along, that's good. Margie decided that since it was past the lunch rush, she could leave the café and ride along with Roland. We got out to the house after clearing all the security folks there, which was almost a challenge.

When we stopped, our highly trained so-called security dogs ran out towards us. When Rainey saw them, she fell down on the ground and was immediately covered with the dogs welcoming home their playmate. The thought crossed my mind that the only thing secure around those two was maybe their food bowls. But I wouldn't count on that either. Roland, Margie and his friend, the carpenter, got out of his truck. Margie headed over toward Rainey as Roland and the carpenter, whose name was Jean-Claude or simply JC, headed in my direction. I looked at them, then pointed to Rainey, "gentlemen, she the boss here and y'all needs to talk with her. After all, she knows exactly what I want, and if I have an opinion, she freely gives it to me." That got a chuckle from them, and JC muttered under his breath something along the lines that I was seriously henpecked, to which Roland grunted his agreement and came with a line, you have no idea, brotherman.

Rainey and Margie looked to be engaged in a serious conversation, talking of sealing wax and other fancy stuff. Then Ali and Ward, followed by a younger woman I didn't know, walked up to them. And they went on with their conversation as I stood on the side, watching and waiting. I thought and happily recalled my times with Cat while standing there watching. I wondered when she would make it home here to our island. Seeing the pile of destruction that had been our home and the place where my life began anew brought tears to my eyes. The sign outside the community center made me chuckle; hell, everyone knew her as Cat and not Catherine. Maybe that could be changed. Reaching in my pocket and getting my phone, I called JP. I asked him to find out what he could about the land around the community center as something was bubbling in my head.

Roland and JC were heading back towards me as the ladies continued their conference. JC had gone all over and even under the house and concluded that the house was structurally sound. But the wiring and plumbing need to be replaced and upgraded. And the house needed a new roof, windows, and paint, oh don't forget A/C too; also, the well and septic tank needs to be checked. He wanted to know what I wanted to do with the house. To that question, I said, "Rainey, JC wants to know what I need to be done to the house." That got a chuckle from everyone as she walked over towards us shaking her head and smiling. She then laid out her vision for the house to JC, who took notes and nodded his head. JC looked up after Rainey finished, and he told us that what we wanted was totally doable. It would take a week or so to get supplies lined up to do everything, and the actual job would take another three weeks or so. Rainey's phone rang as he talked, and she stepped away from us to take the call.

I watched her as she talked with someone on the phone. Her demeanor changed as she spoke with the caller. When she hung up and started to put her phone in her pocket, I walked over and took her hand. "Linc, that was Donaldson's. They have picked up... oh god, this so hard. They have picked up mom and taken her to the crematorium. They will have her ashes for us tomorrow afternoon. I'm thinking that we should do the memorial for mom next Tuesday. That will give the folks who will be here time to shift their schedules about." All I could do was nod at this moment. After that, she walked over to Margie, Ali and her family, and she spoke with them in hushed tones. She told the folks there what the plan was, then she asked Margie to say a few words about her sister on Tuesday. Then she would scatter her ashes under the family tree on the bayou's banks. Next, she asked Ward if he could make a small bench that would be set out near the family tree. Then she turned and went over to Roland and asked him to drive us back to the hotel.