Page 33 of Louisiana Protector

“I was,” Mimi admitted. “Now the problem is I don’t know who to trust. I’m sure one of those three men are guilty, but I don’t know which one.”

“What are you going to do about it?” Renée asked.

“Nothing for now. I’m hoping eventually I’ll be able to figure out who grabbed me and told me to stop seeing Johnny.” As she remembered that night, a shiver attempted to crawl up her back. Since she was still seeing Johnny, she felt as if she was holding her breath and just waiting for something bad to happen.

THE MEN KNOCKED OFF for lunch, and Johnny headed to his pickup to eat the sandwich and chips he’d packed from home. It had been a good, productive morning. A cool front had moved in overnight, making the temperatures much more pleasant for working.

Over the past week the foundation for the gazebo was done, and half of the posts had been set. As he ate his sandwich and chips, he stared at the burgeoning structure with a sense of pride.

This was what he loved about his job…building things that would last for years and years. It gave him a great sense of satisfaction that this gazebo would be a beautiful gathering place for people and families for generations to come.

He popped open the top of a cool soda. As he sipped it, he imagined he and Mimi sitting on one of the bench seats in the gazebo while Danny played at their feet. It created a perfect picture of a family out enjoying the day beneath the structure that Danny’s daddy had built.

Would that vision ever come true? As each day passed, his doubts of getting back with Mimi grew. He’d watched the men who came to her house each night, trying to discern who might be the one who warned her away from him. But damned if he could figure out which one was guilty.

He had a feeling they were all showing up each night so he could get no real alone time with Mimi.

There was plenty of sexual tension between him and Mimi. While he would love to make love with Mimi again, he wanted so much more than that from her. He wanted her laughter and her thoughts on anything and nothing. He wanted her to share with him things about all the days and nights she’d had with Danny when Johnny hadn’t been there.

To that end, a plan began to form in his head. It could possibly undo any headway he’d made with her, or it was possible it would bring her far closer to him. It was anybody’s guess how she might react.

He turned as Frank opened his passenger door and slid inside. “We’re making good progress,” he said.

“Yeah, but the actual real work begins now that the foundations are set. It’s time to really build.”

Frank grinned at him. “You love it, don’t you?”

Johnny returned the smile. “Yeah, I do. Don’t you?”

“Nah, for me it’s just a job for now,” Frank replied.

“What are your plans when this job is over?” Johnny asked curiously.

Frank frowned. “I don’t know. I’m still trying to find myself.”

“Frank, you’re twenty eight years old. Don’t you think it’s about time to find yourself and start building a real future?”

“You sound just like my mother,” Frank replied dryly.

Johnny laughed and then sobered. “I know the divorce shook you up, Frank. But you need to move on with your life.”

“I never wanted the divorce. Rita totally blindsided me, and then she hired that high-powered lawyer, and she got the house and all the furnishings and left me with nothing. I’m just trying to figure out my new life without her.” Frank released a deep sigh.

“It’s been five years since your divorce, Frank. It’s way past time you pull yourself together,” Johnny replied.

“Yeah, I know, and I’m trying. I still miss her, though. I know it sounds crazy after all this time and how she screwed me over, but I still miss her.”

Johnny looked toward the grocery store and then back at Frank. “I certainly have no right to judge you for your feelings. I’ve missed Mimi for five long years.”

“But you have a chance to get back with her. Rita remarried six months after our divorce,” Frank replied dismally.

The two continued to talk until lunch was over and it was time to get back to work. As the afternoon wore on, Johnny thought about his conversation with Frank.

It was sad that Frank hadn’t yet gotten over the divorce that had gutted him. Johnny could feel sympathy for his friend, and yet wasn’t he just like Frank in many ways? He’d kept a flame burning bright for Mimi for the last five years. He was aware that at any time Mimi could tell him to stop coming over, that she didn’t want to see him again.

Of course, for the next fourteen years or so, because of Danny, he would be in her life in some way or another whether she liked it or not. If it came to that, he would demand a paternity test. He was positive it would show that he was Danny’s father. Then there would be shared custody and visitations set up, and that was the very last thing Johnny wanted for himself and for Danny

Maybe his father had been right about him all along and he wasn’t worthy of being in their lives in any meaningful way. He shoved these depressing thoughts away as he focused on the work at hand.