He could use this.
“Noelle, go ahead and put that order in,” he said. “I think I should talk to our friend here. Put him on the straight and narrow.”
Noelle sighed and turned her chair around. “He’s going to grill you about Lila Daley. I’ll go see how much money’s in the emergency fund because I want some fries. You two should settle in because I’m having Roxie take me out there to pick up the order and we’re going to eat there because fries do not travel well.”
“I’m actually kind of hungry now,” Zep started before he looked to Armie. “Or I can wait. I’m good.”
It was nice to know his stare could still make a man think twice. Especially since it didn’t do anything to the women in his life.
Zep made himself comfortable as Noelle went off to find Roxie. “So you’re interested in Lisa’s sister. You’ve come to the right place, my man. I’m kind of a love doctor.”
He was absolutely certain if he wanted to have a skanky one-night stand and end up needing antibiotics or worse, Zep would be his go-to guy. “I only want to know what she’s like. I do not need advice. I saw her back at Remy and Lisa’s wedding. I was sitting at the table next to hers. I might have listened in. She seems funny and smart.”
He wasn’t sure why, but she’d sparked his interest in a way no woman had in years.
“Well, if you want my advice,” Zep began.
“I just said I didn’t.”
Zep was not listening. “You should find someone with less baggage. That girl has a ton of it.”
“She’s a woman.”
Zep shook his head. “According to Lisa, she’s kind of controlling. She also called me a moron more than once.”
That was not a disqualifying characteristic for him. Zep was a moron at times. “Why did she decide to leave Dallas? Most people do the opposite.” Not a lot of kids stayed here in Papillon.
He was damn lucky Noelle showed no signs of leaving. He wouldn’t be able to breathe with her out there. The last time she’d left the comforts of her home, she’d come to his in that wheelchair.
That got Zep sitting up straight. “You didn’t hear about that?”
He didn’t listen to gossip unless it was about an underground drug-running operation. “No. The only thing I’ve heard is that she had a high-profile job in Dallas and that she’s taking over for Doc. I’m not sure how great that’s going to work. I know she’s not married and she didn’t like Remy at one point in time, but I didn’t like him, either. He was an asshole for years.”
“Preach, brother,” Zep agreed. “Remy treats me like I can’t do anything right.”
He did not bother to mention the man was in jail. Zep Guidry wasn’t the most self-aware individual he knew. “So she decided to come to a tiny parish and take over the practice of a doctor whose patients could likely fill a mental ward?”
Zep turned serious for a change. “Something happened. She had this friend named Maryanne she worked with at the hospital. Maryanne’s ex-husband walked in and shot her. He held Lila in a room until he was sure his ex was dead and then he shot himself. I think she’s coming here because it’s as far away from Dallas as she can handle.”
Damn. “So she’s not looking for fun, huh?”
Zep’s eyes found his, a gravity in them he wasn’t used to seeing. “No. She’s looking for something, though.”
Peace. She would be looking for peace. The last thing she needed was some man trying to climb all over her.
He pulled his keys out and made his decision. “You can go on home, man. Stay out of Roxie’s way. She’s a good woman.”
Zep was on his feet in a heartbeat. “I never said she wasn’t.”
“Treat her with some respect or you won’t be in that cell, you get my meaning?”
“I do.”
He let Zep head out and went to find his daughter and his deputy. He would take them all out for supper. They could take a radio and close up the station for an hour or so.
The next time he saw Lila Daley, he would be polite, since he knew what it was like to survive hell.
Now he only hoped she could survive Papillon.chapter three“Why would she cancel? It’s time for her yearly. It’s actually past time. She’s three months late.” Lila stared at her receptionist. The day was not going the way she’d planned.
After getting next to no sleep, waking up to a ridiculously cold shower and finding the button closet—she should never have opened that door—she’d come to the clinic hoping to lose herself in work.
What she’d found was apparently a full-on revolt.
“Miss Armintage said she’d managed to make it forty-seven years without a woman touching her vagina and she intended to make it forty-seven more. She said it’s not natural.”