Disembodied Bones (59 page)

Gideon tore his eyes from the lake and looked
down at Lisette’s gravestone. “The one who was kidnapped. The one
who made your family so threatened by outsiders.”

She nodded as he considered the memorial. The
stone was weathered and a little cracked, but fresh flowers had
been left at the base. Another great memorial stood next to it, and
another set of flowers lay at its base. He looked at the name there
and said, “Huh.”

“What?” Leonie said. Gideon’s mind was a
jumble of meandering questions.

“It’s the name. Varden Comeaux. That’s
funny.”

“What’s funny about that?”

“Comeaux is an old family name.” Gideon
smiled at Leonie. “It was one of my middle names before I changed
it. Douglas Gideon Comeaux Trent. What a mouthful. My mother didn’t
want her children to forget their French heritage.”

Leonie looked at him disbelievingly. “You
mean, you’re related to the Comeaux’s?”

Gideon shrugged. “I don’t know if I’m related
to this guy.”

She made a tut-tuting noise. “How many times
have you wondered why we have this connection between us?”

Gideon made a mental calculation. “About a
million times.”

“And you can hear the family’s thoughts.”

“Yeah, but…”

“And you’re drawn to the lake.”

“It’s a really cool lake.”

“You’re one of us,” Leonie said it firmly.
She took his arm in hers. “I didn’t understand it before. I do now.
Wait until I tell my mother.”

“Your mother,” he said with dismay. “She had
a distinctly smug look on her face when you introduced us.”

“Well, she is going to be your
mother-in-law,” Leonie said. “She wants grandchildren.”

“Grandchildren,” he repeated. He looked down
at her arm interlaced with his. “I don’t recall having proposed to
you. As a matter of fact, I don’t remember even kissing you.”

“You will,” Leonie said complacently. “Did I
tell you that the gift is always strongest among relatives and
loved ones?”

“No,” he said dryly. “It must have slipped
your mind.”

“We’re not relatives.” Leonie smiled at him
and his mind suddenly turned to mush.

Gideon felt numb, looking at her face. “I
wasn’t really obsessed with you, just…just…?”

“Just, just?”

“I don’t know what I was,” Gideon admitted.
“Are you coming back to Buffalo Creek?”

“Oh, yes,” Leonie said. “I like it there and
Scott’s tired of my demonic bobtail cat.”

Gideon shuffled his feet around. “Were you
teasing me before?”

Leonie turned to him and gently put her hands
around his face so that he had to tilt his head to look directly
into her eyes. He saw those incredible gold eyes that mesmerized
him.
What do you think?

His mouth opened and he was allowed into the
deepest recesses of her thought.
Oh, my,
he thought
. I
always liked older women.

Only three years, Gideon.
Her smile
turned into a bright shining vision of light. She opened her mind
to his and she could feel all that he was, every good part of him,
a man with insecurities and fears, but with innate decency and a
willingness to share his life with her.

Gideon took her into his arms and kissed her
for the first time and both of them forgot to think for a long,
long time. When they finally pulled apart, he looked over her
shoulder and said, “Something really, really big just took a big
leap out of the water out in the lake.”

Leonie grinned. “That was Goujon.”

“Goujon?”

“He’s a giant catfish that made the lake and
provided a safe place for the family. He’s just full of joy. He
likes his people to be happy.”

“Giant catfish,” Gideon repeated
disbelievingly. “Maybe we should take a stroll down to the lake.
I’d like to see a giant catfish.”

“Gideon,” she said astonishedly. “It really
was him.”

“Right.”

She hit him playfully in the shoulder. “Don’t
go thinking that around here or the family will drum you out of
Louisiana.”

“Right.”

“I’ll sic my mother on you.”

Gideon held his hands up in surrender. “I
cave. There’s a giant catfish in the lake surrounded by psychics.
What could possibly be strange about that?”

Leonie shook her head. “I guess you’ll learn,
cher.
”

Gideon wrapped his arm around her shoulders
and said, “Can I start a giant catfish website?”

“No.”

“A Lake People website?”

“No.”

He laughed. “Fine. Let’s go find some of your
relatives so I can keep you from hearing the indecent thoughts I’m
having.”

Oh, I can “hear” them just fine.

Really?

She gurgled with laughter, truly happy for
the first time in years. After a moment, Gideon laughed too.

They wound their way back down to the church,
not saying another word.

-

I never was, am always to be,

No one ever saw me, nor ever will,

And yet I am the confidence of all,

To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball.

What am I?

I am tomorrow.

The End

C.L. Bevill has lived in Texas, Virginia,
Arizona, and Oregon. She once was in the US Army and a graphic
illustrator. She holds degrees in social-psychology and counseling.
She the author of
Bubba and the Dead Woman, Bubba and the 12
Deadly Days of Christmas, Bubba and the Missing Woman, Veiled
Eyes,
and
Shadow People
, among others. Presently she
lives with her husband and her daughter and continues to constantly
write. She can be reached at
www.clbevill.com
or you
can read her blog at
www.carwoo.blogspot.com

~

Mysteries:

Bubba and the Dead Woman

Bubba and the 12 Deadly Days of Christmas

Bubba and the Missing Woman

Brownie and the Dame (a novella coming soon)

Bayou Moon

Paranormal Romance:

Veiled Eyes (Lake People)

Disembodied Bones (Lake People)

Arcanorum (Lake People)

The Moon Trilogy (Novellas):

Black Moon (The Moon Trilogy 1)

Amber Moon (The Moon Trilogy 2)

Silver Moon (The Moon Trilogy 3)

Cat Clan Novellas:

Harvest Moon

Blood Moon

Shadow People

Sea of Dreams

Suspense:

The Flight of the Scarlet Tanager

Black Comedy:

The Life and Death of Bayou Billy

Missile Rats

Chicklet:

Dial ‘M’ For Mascara