Gisele rose from her seat and hugged her cousin. “You be careful. And consider letting someone provide your protection until we figure this out.”
“I’ll think about it,” Holly said. “Now, I’m headed to the houseboat. I haven’t even had a chance to put sheets on the bed.”
Gisele nodded toward the table of men. “At the very least, let one of the guys follow you there and make sure you get there safely.”
Holly shook her head. “No need. I’ll be okay and extra careful. Thanks for inviting me to your girls’ night out. Maybe I’ll be more in a party mood for the next one.”
“You’ve been on your feet all evening. It’s hard to party when you’re tired,” Ouida Mae said. “Normally, I’m the one exhausted after teaching all day. But it’s summer vacay, and I’m free for a few more weeks. Valentin and I are going to New Orleans next weekend. We’re taking the kids to the aquarium.” She smiled across at her husband and wiggled her fingers in a little wave.
Holly envied her friends’ happiness and prayed the curse didn’t go after them. They’d gone through a lot to get to their current happy state.
“Everything’s going to be all right, soon enough.” Gisele gave Holly another hug. “I’ll nudge Mémère and see if she can get free up to help you. She’s been super busy lately with sick neighbors.”
“I understand. I’m just worried that the longer we wait, the more likely someone else will be hurt or killed. There’s bad juju. I left Bayou Mambaloa, hoping the curse would leave with me, that all of you would be safe. It seemed to have worked for six months. Why has it returned? Why now?”
“We’ll get to the bottom of it,” Gisele said. “Love you, cuz.”
“Love you, too,” Holly said. “I’ll clean the dress and get it back to you soon.”
“No way,” Gisele said. “It’s yours now. It looks so much better on you, and like Joyce said, it brings out the green in your eyes. Go, now. Get some rest.” She turned Holly toward the exit and gave her a little push.
Her heart full of familial love yet weighed down by the thought of losing any one of them, Holly left the Crawdad Hole and stepped out into the lingering heat and humidity of a bayou summer night.
She drew in a deep breath and walked out to where she’d parked her car. A big truck blocked her view of her little car. When she rounded the tall hood, she came to a halt.
Cody West leaned against the driver’s side of her car, arms folded over his chest, one boot crossed over the other.
Her back stiffened. “Cody, please move. I’m tired and just want to go home.”
He didn’t move. “I didn’t like the way that Simon dude was acting like you belonged to him.” He straightened and waved toward her and back to himself. “You and me...we go way back. We were inseparable as kids and teens.”
“That’s right. You, me and Paul hung out. As friends.”
“Until Paul moved in on you.” His brow dipped low. “He knew how I felt about you, and still, he moved in first.”
Holly held up a hand. “Cody, you were always my friend. Nothing more.”
“How do you know it’s nothing more?” Before Holly could react, Cody grabbed her and yanked her against his chest. “We’ve never kissed.”
Holly pressed her hands to his chest and pushed hard. “There’s a reason we never kissed,” she said through gritted teeth, turning her head to avoid the man’s mouth descending toward hers. “I’m not interested, Cody.”
His breath hot on her cheek, he said, “You won’t kiss me, someone you’ve known all your life, but you’re panting after a stranger?”
“Let go of me,” Holly said, “or I’ll scream.”
“Go ahead,” he said. “No one will hear over the music.”
Holly stomped on Cody’s foot, her ballet flats making no impression. With her arms trapped to her sides and too close to knee him in the groin, she had to stop him before his lips claimed hers.
Leaning her head back, she snapped it forward. Her forehead slammed into his nose.
“Goddammit, Holly!” Cody yelled and let go of one of her arms to clutch his nose, blood streaming down his chin. “You broke my nose!”
“Be glad she did it, because I would’ve done a lot worse,” a voice said from behind Holly.
She glanced over her shoulder at Simon.
His jaw tight, his eyes narrowed to slits, he glared at Cody. “Get your hand off her.”
