"Well, I'm never gonna turn down the offer to spend more time with a pretty girl."
Ellie just laughed and shook her head.
13
Forty-five minutes later they had all of the photos and posters off the wall and plastic drop sheets on the floor and had pushed all of the tables to one side of the room so that Ellie and Cora could continue waiting on customers as they came and went. Caroline and Leo had all of their supplies and had just started rolling cream-colored paint onto the walls.
"This is not exactly how somebody usually vacations here in the bayou," Leo said from the stepstool he was using to reach the upper half of the wall while Caroline dealt with the lower.
She smiled up at him. "Actually, this is so much more laid back and relaxed than what I usually do. At home, I'm usually on all the time, having to worry about what people are thinking and what they really mean by what they say and what they're talking about behind my back. I love it here. Everybody is genuine and says what they think and they truly take care of one another. I'm really amazed by your whole family, Leo. They do really important work here. Whether it's construction or teaching or veterinary medicine or running a petting zoo or taking people on tours and teaching them about the ecology and the history and culture of this area. On the surface, it all seems so light and fun. But what they do really matters. I know you're really proud of them all."
Leo nodded as he rolled paint onto the wall. "Absolutely. I take partial credit, of course. I like to think that I was a good role model and give out some good advice when asked, but they definitely help one another too."
She nodded. "I love that too. They are incredible individuals and as a group they are an unstoppable force."
"I'd say that's pretty accurate."
"It's so great that you all have created this place where people can come and kick back and relax and enjoy life a little bit."
"Yeah, it's a gift to be able to give people happiness."
That was just so nice. No wonder all these people had turned out to be so generous and sweet with a grandfather like this.
She glanced down as she stepped to the side and noticed a photo that had fallen under the edge of the tarp. "Oh!" She leaned over and gingerly pulled it free. "This one didn't make it over to the table." They'd moved all the photos and posters to a table on the far end of the room to keep them away from any paint splatters. She studied the photo. "Who's this?" She held it up to Leo.
He looked down, and a soft, sad smile touched his lips. "That's Tommy. Maddie's older brother, Cora's grandson."
"Does he live around here?"
"He did. He was one of the partners in the Boys of the Bayou. Took it over with Sawyer, Josh, and Owen from me and Danny. But he was killed a few years ago."
Caroline gave a little gasp. "Oh, I’m so sorry."
"Yeah. He was out on the bayou alone and was bitten by a bull shark. Lost a lot of blood, and by the time Sawyer found him, it was too late to bring him back.”
Caroline studied the photo. "That must've been really hard on everyone."
"Absolutely. Tore us all up pretty good. It's not something you ever totally get over.”
She nodded. "He looks so happy in this photo."
"He was happy in that photo." Leo got down off the footstool. He crossed to the table. Caroline followed. "This is Maddie's mom. She was killed in a drunk driving accident."
Caroline looked at the picture of the beautiful woman smiling, holding two happy little kids. That had to be Maddie and Tommy.
"This is Michael's son's mother, Lauren." Michael was with her in the photo. She was clearly several months pregnant. They were in front of Ellie’s with Naomi and Jordan and several of the Landry boys, hugging and smiling.
"Are she and Michael still together?" Caroline asked.
Leo shook his head. "They weren't really together even then, but they were going to raise Andre together. Then she was killed in a big explosion when Andre was just a baby.”
“An explosion?” Caroline repeated.
“Our community center here in Autre was destroyed by a gas explosion. Several people died, many others were injured. Our whole community was rocked by that. It happened back when most of the grandkids were teenagers.”
Caroline frowned, feeling her stomach knot. "I'm so sorry to hear that."
Leo nodded. "It was very tough."
He pointed at another photo. Caroline easily recognized Spencer in the photo. A much younger Spencer, but it was obviously him. He was smiling into the camera with another boy next to him and his arm around an older woman.
"That’s Spencer and his brother Wyatt with their grandmother. She was killed in the same explosion." Leo pointed to another photo. "And that’s Zander and his best friend growing up, Theo.”
Caroline also recognized Zeke in the photo. There was another boy as well.
“Zander was always close to all the Landry boys, of course, but Zander and Theo were tight ever since kindergarten. Great man. He and Zander are still close.”
Caroline knew what Leo was about to tell her. "And this other boy?" she asked softly.
“That’s Theo’s older brother, Wade. He was at the community center that night too."
Caroline covered her mouth with her hand. "So much loss."
"Yep. And it was so sudden. For all of us. The people left behind still have huge holes in their hearts and their lives. The crazy thing that a lot of folks still grapple with, is that people came and went from the community center all night. There were people, some of our own family, who had been there earlier in the night. Others who showed up late and just happened to be there when the explosion happened.” Leo stopped and swallowed. He shook his head. “Wade wasn’t supposed to be there at all. He and two friends snuck in, trying to steal beer. On a dare. They were there at just the wrong time.”
“Oh God,” Caroline murmured.
“Yeah. That was definitely part of why it was so hard. Zander and Theo were shocked and sad, but also pissed for a long time. If Wade hadn’t been taking a stupid risk, he wouldn’t have died that night.”
Caroline nodded.
“Zander watched Theo go through losing his brother,” Leo went on. “They were just kids. Tore Theo up. Watching Theo suffer like that, deal with the idea that he could have, should have, stopped Wade from going in there, all of that was horrible. Then going home to his own brothers and his cousins who were like brothers and realizing how suddenly he could lose them and seeing what that would be like. That changed him."
"That was when he decided to be a cop?"
"I don't know if he specifically decided to be a policeman then, but he was destined to be a protector all along. Ever since he was a little kid. He was always looking out for others. Especially Zeke. But that was when he got really anxious about losing people close to him and wanting to do something tangible about it.”
“I’m so glad you have all these photos,” she said. She took a deep breath. “Now I’m even more convinced that putting them back up is important. This shows the good times, the smiles and laughter. It’s a reminder that even if there are sad and dark times, there are happy times too.” She looked up at Leo. “It’s like what you said about that first photo I showed you, the one with the sky blue frame—the kids reminded you that in spite of the bills and illnesses and repairs, there were more blue skies and warm sunshine to come, right?”