The Red-Hot Cajun by Sandra Hill Read Free Book Online

last month in N’awlins, and she asked ‘bout you. I think she still has a crush on you.”
    Another of Tante Lulu’s opinions, this time so off the mark it boggled the mind.
    Truth to tell, Francine was a lesbian and she lived with her long-time lover. She’d probably been bisexual at one point, when they’d been dating. But then she’d discovered her inner Ellen DeGeneres and it had been off to the races from then on. The female races, that is. What a guy l am. Turn the ladies gay, that’s what I do. “A crush? Puh-leeze, Auntie. Thirty-five-year-old women don’t have crushes.”
    “Why not?” Val asked.
    He gave her a look that he hoped conveyed that she not encourage his aunt.
    “And, wow, thirty-five and a Victoria’s Secret model. She must be something else.”
    “She is,” Rene and Tante both said.
    The most peculiar expression swept over Val’s face. He understood it only when she glanced down at herself. In this regard at least, Val was like every other woman Rene had ever met. She thought her body was less than perfect.
    Frankly, he thought her body was just right, not that he would ever say that aloud. His aunt had no such compunctions, however.
    “Francine allus wuz too skinny. Yer jist right,” Tante Lulu said, patting Val on the forearm.
    “Hah! I’m always on a diet and never skinny enough.”
    Tante Lulu tried to be nice. “Everyone allus says people look ten pounds heavier on TV.”
    “Yeah, add that to the ten I need to lose off-camera, and you get the picture.”
    Rene smiled. He’d like to see where she was hiding those ten pounds.
    “Stop smiling,” Val said, noticing the direction of his stare, which homed in on the Bite Me slogan on her shirt. Talk about embarrassing!
    Yep, there were a few parts of her body that looked good enough to eat.. . uh, bite, Rene thought.
    He glanced over at the St. Jude statue sitting outside their tent. Hey, big boy, I’m having impure thoughts here. Can’t you do something about it?
    Like? a scoffing voice said in his head.
    Like cleanse my mental palate.
    You mean, a lust exorcism?
    Oh, well, I don’t know about that. Would there be green vomit involved?
    Tsk -tsk -tsk . You watch too many movies.
    So, you gonna help me?
    No.
    Why?
    The Lord has a plan for you.
    Uh-oh!
    All he heard then was mental laughter, which was really weird, not that carrying on a telepathic chat with a plastic statue wasn’t weird to begin with. Bonkers, that’s where he was headed. He turned to face Val again. “Can we change the subject?”
    “Please do,” Val said.
    “We need to discuss what we’re going to do about our situation here.”
    “Do you mean the kidnapping situation?” she inquired sweetly.
    Tante Lulu made a tongue-clucking sound of reproval as she began to gather up the dishes to take inside to wash. She got tangled in the mosquito netting, but finally managed to get free. Once inside the cabin, she must have turned on the radio because soft Cajun music drifted out to them.
    “I care deeply about the bayou, Val, even though I’m not working for the Shrimpers Association anymore. And I understand the desperation that prompted J.B. and Mad-die to bring you here, misguided as they were. You think it’s a crime that they forced you to come here, which it probably is, but it’s just as much a crime what’s being done to the land in Southern Louisiana.”
    “But it’s not my crime.”
    “I realize that.”
    “Then let me go.”
    “I can’t.”
    “Why not?”
    “Even though I wasn’t involved to begin with, I am now. J.B. and Maddie are good friends. If I take you back now, in your present mood, you’ll put them in jail. I can’t allow that.”
    “Allow... allow... ?” she sputtered.
    He nodded. “I might not have had anything to do with bringing you here, but I’m not doing squat to help you get back. Unless...”
    She narrowed her eyes at him. “Unless what?”
    “Unless you agree to forget this whole incident happened. No