Blue Autumn in the Bayou (Gumbo Love) (30 page)

It was no surprise to Mer Drace or her mother that she was there. They almost always knew when she was near. Neither inquired as to why she was home. Somehow, some way, Mer Drace already knew.

* * * *

Instant, heat rose up Travis’s neck and his heart pounded so loud he could hear it in his ears. He came close to heaving the phone against the wall. He frowned and balled his hands into tight fists and swung at the air. For the life of him he couldn’t imagine what Autumn was thinking. Fear the size of the Super Dome filled his chest. He blew out several quick breaths as he contemplated what he planned to do next. He only had one choice; go to Grand Isle to get her.

He waltzed back into the room and picked up his wallet and keys he
’d deposited on the countertop earlier. His mother, alarmed at his dark expression, asked him, “Where are you going, Travis? The news of the storm’s directions changes by the hour.”

“I have to go and get my wife.” He walked toward the door and didn’t look back.

Trae and Michael shared a knowing glance. They didn’t seem surprised by his claim. His parents were too shocked to say anything until after Travis walked through the front door and slammed it shut. Trae got up and went after him.

Michael frowned
and stood to follow his brothers.

“Did he just say he was going to
get his wife? Is Autumn his wife?” Diane looked from Alvin to Michael. Alvin glanced away. Michael didn’t dare reply or meet his mother’s puzzled glance. Instead, he moved, and kept walking until he, too, was on the other side of the door.

Trae met Travis at the driver’s side of his truck. Travis was ready to pull off when he tapped on the window. “What are you doing, man? Where is Autumn?”

He thought about just pulling off without acknowledging Trae, but he knew his brother was only concerned for him. He let the window down. “I’m going to Grand Isle. I’ll call when I get there.”

“Whoa, Travis, you’re headed into that storm. Can’t this wait? If she’s on the island then hopefully she’ll stay put until the storm blow
s over.”

“No, I’m not waiting Trae. I need to go and get her.”

By this time, Michael approached them. “Want to tell me what’s going on?” He looked from Travis to Trae. “You know this storm has changed course, right?” He looked at Trae. “It’s not safe to go after her, Travis.”

Travis looked at Michael. “Listen, I’m not waiting. I need to
get to her. You and Trae can stand here and debate this. In the meantime, I need to kill some distance between me and Grand Isle. I’ll come back when I have my wife in tow.” 

“Wait, we’ll go with you.” Michael held up his hand.

“No! You stay here. You both have someone else to look after. Autumn is my responsibility.”

Both Trae and Michael looked down at their eldest brother. “Be careful and call us when you get there
,” Trae added.

“Will do.”

* * * *

Autumn settled into her room. It was exactly the same
, which made Autumn feel secure and happy. She slipped on jogging pants and was pulling her dress over her head when her mother entered the room without knocking. Maree saw dark bruise marks on her daughter’s neck and the back of her shoulder. “What happened here?” She ran her finger across Autumn’s back.

“What?” Autumn moved to the mirror and saw the visible marks still vivid on her back. 

Before she could say anything, Maree asked. “Did you get hurt during one of your performances?”

There was no way she could make something up
, nor had she intended to lie to her mother. “No.”

Maree moved close to her again. “Then what happened?”

Autumn hesitated before she answered. “It’s nothing, Mom.” She hastily put on a T-shirt.

“I know you want me to drop the subject
, but I won’t.”

Autumn looked at her mother and determined that she wasn’t going to get any rest if she didn’t answer. She left her room and went to the kitchen. Maree followed her. “Autumn.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Don’t play with me.”

“I was with Travis a few days ago. It could have happened when we were together.”

“And exactly what do you mean when you say you were with him?”

She regarded her mother and without being flippant, she answered her. “You know what I mean, Mother.”

“You’re sleeping with this man, Autumn
? What’s gotten in to you? Haven’t you learned anything?

“Mom, that stuff is old wive
s’ tales, and you can’t expect me to believe any of it.”

“
As I’ve said before, just because you didn’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

“Mom
, please, we’re in a different time now, a whole different world.” She dropped into an overstuffed chair and looked at her mother for understanding. She told Travis everything about her and the family. People from her past, when simply put in perspective, had made some very bad decisions. She didn’t love them any less for it. She refused to live in their shadow any more.

Maree couldn’t believe her ears. “Girl, don’t you think I know the difference between living reality and living a dream
? And what you’re doing is living a dream. But if you’re not careful, you’ll shatter that dream.”

“Let her be
, Maree.” Mer Drace came shuffling into the room and sat in the first open chair.

“Mer Drace she has slept with this man.”

“Yes, and as his wife she is obligated to.”

Maree’s head swung so fast in Autumn’s directions that it should have snapped off. She turned back to her mother’s clear blue eyes; eyes that seemed to light up with her revelation. “Mer Drace!” Mer Drace just sat there and looked at them both.

Autumn’s breathing accelerated. Beads of sweat gathered at her temple and in the center of her chest.
She knows.
She knew she would. 

Maree watched Autumn and couldn’t believe her ears. This was the same young woman who at
sixteen, had convinced her and Gator to let her get color contacts. “I can’t understand why we have to pay good money to cover eyes that don’t need covering,” her father complained. But Maree knew the difficult time their daughter was having; the fear of people was something she was very familiar with; after all Maree was Mer Drace’s daughter.

So if having contacts was going to make her feel better, so be it. Just like the dance lesson
s she’d taken, she instantly saw a difference in her daughter’s confidence in herself. People didn’t look at her and wonder how she came to inherit the same eyes her mother had. Tempest took everything in stride and could adjust because at six foot four and two hundred and sixty pounds by the time he was sixteen, Maree didn’t have to worry about anyone messing with him. But Autumn stressed over what people thought of her for the longest time.

Now
, it would seem Autumn had stopped running. She’d accomplished a lot in her short life. She thanked the maker that her daughter had taken a turn in her life without care of anyone but her own happiness. Maree wished she’d had the opportunities Autumn had. Mer Drace attempted to push her out there, but unlike Autumn, she was too afraid to leave the Isle. It was all she knew. And to know that her only daughter took the rites of passage without consulting the wisdom of family who loved her dearly seemed to come too fast.

* * * *

Travis began to worry once he turned the bend of Highway 1 after trudging ninety-five miles down and through two parishes on mostly a two-lane highway, to include ninety-degree angles. He prayed as he crawled through traffic lined mostly with people driving in the opposite directions as he was. In some cases, they’d taken to using both lanes for one direction instead of the two-directional roads the highway was meant to accommodate.

When he saw the bridge
, he knew there was no way to get across at the shore because he could see utility poles and wires bending and leaning as the gusts whipped across the way. He flipped his turn signal on once he got to a fork in the road. Car horns and rattled mufflers competed with the winds and water gushing onto the shores. A man in a beat-up white truck had mercy on him and let Travis make his left turn onto a gravel road.

He crept down the narrow lane and stopped. He had no
idea what he would do at this point. Maybe waiting a couple of hours was the best choice. But what would he do in the meantime? He couldn’t just sit in his car. He wasn’t sure it was safe. He tried all the way there to reach Autumn on her cell phone with no success. He didn’t have a number for her grandmother’s house. If he could find a phone book, maybe he would find a listing for Autumn’s Mer Drace.

He got out of the car to survey his surroundings
, and spotted a house with boarded-up windows at the very end of the street and headed directly for it. He rapped on the door several times, but got no answer. So he walked around to the back, just as a man as tall as a tree came around and met him face-to-face. He wore a bright yellow rain slicker with a hood covering a baseball cap. He could just barely make out the man’s features hidden beneath the hood.

However, no sooner
had he looked up and cast brilliant blue eyes on him than Travis knew without a doubt that the man was his brother-in-law, Tempest Thibodaux. Autumn told him that there weren’t many African Americans living in those parts. He couldn’t imagine that there was anyone else on the island that looked like him. “Tempest?” Travis shouted above the wind.

CHAPTER 30

Tempest frowned at first but the
frown instantly vanished. He wondered if the man was lost. Why would he be there anyway? Most of the tourists had already left. “Yes. I’m Tempest. What can I do for you? Do you realize that there’s a storm headed this way?” He stood directly in front of Travis.

“Yes, I know. I’m Travis. Travis Brooks. I’m looking for Autumn.”

Tempest’s wide smile slipped into place and he reached for and grabbed Travis’s hand in a hearty shake. “Man, so you’re the one who has stolen my little sister’s heart. It’s great to finally meet you. But what are you doing out here?” He led Travis back to the front of the house.

Travis wore a camouflage rain
poncho that came down mid-thigh. “I came to get Autumn. Can you take me to her?” He followed closely behind Tempest.

“She’s at Mer Drace’s house. It’s safer than most places
, and we figured the road would be exactly as they are. Most of the foreigners left days ago. But here, most of the folks think they can ride out a storm and most of us hope that it gets downgraded before it hits inland. Once the forecast predicts that the storm actually grows strength, people start panicking. They line the roads like I’m sure you saw earlier. I’m surprised you made it this far.” Tempest pushed opened the front storm door and held it open for Travis. “Come in.”

Once inside, the dim light from the lantern provided just enough light to keep them from bumping into things. Tempest peeled away the rain gear. Travis stood near the door and kept his gear on. He was on a mission. He had to find his wife and he planned to do it with or without her brother’s help. “Will I be able to get over the bridge?” Travis
’s gaze followed him as he moved farther into the room.

“Traffic is still pretty backed up. I’m not sure how long it’ll be before the causeway is clear. The storm surge will
determine whether the bridge is passable in a few hours. Once it turns dark, I don’t recommend it.”

“Well I have to try it now.” He turned toward the door and was headed out.

“Whoa, wait, okay. Let’s just hold out a minute or two. Autumn is safe for now and I can’t let you go out there.”

“Look man, I need to find my wife
, and I’m not going to stand around waiting to get to her. I stopped here in hopes of using a phone to call her at your grandmother’s house. I haven’t been able to reach her on her cell phone. It just turns out to be fate that I bumped into you.”

Something in Travis’s conversation triggered the vein in
Tempest’s neck to leap.
Did he just say his wife? What the hell is going on?
Tempest dropped his baseball cap on the table and turned around to regard Travis. “Look Travis, I don’t know if it was fate that led you here to me or not, but I do know that I can’t let you go out there now. If something happens to you, Autumn will have my hide. She would want me to look out for you. And aside from that there is no phone at Mer Drace’s house. There hasn’t been a phone in that house since anyone can remember, if at all. So you won’t be able to call her there.”

Travis didn’t
like what Tempest told him, but figured he’d have a better plan than his. “So what are you proposing?”