Page 103 of The Cajun Doctor

Samantha didn’t bother to tell them that gators wouldn’t travel that far over land, away from the bayou, or their water habitat on the neighboring property. Whatever! Let them squirm a little.

“Two . . . two . . . hundred?” Brad sputtered.

“The owner of the farm, a woman, cussed us out and raised a rifle, warning us not to trespass. Flashed us a license to carry and told us to get the hell away from her property.”

“That would be Delilah Dugas. Ain’t she sumpin’?” Tante Lulu commented to no one in particular. “Sometimes she enters alligator wrestlin’ contests. I wish I could wrestle alligators. Well, I could wrestle mah pet alligator, Useless, but he ain’t vicious or nothin’. At least his breath doan smell lak dead animals. All Useless eats is Cheez Doodles.”

Samantha noticed that the old lady, as she talked, had been adding things to the grocery list Samantha had started this morning. Wait until Daniel saw the size of the thing! It looked like there were two more pages.

Brad’s jaw dropped open at Tante Lulu’s words, but Sonny just chuckled, knowing that anything could happen in the bayou. And he was no more worried than she was that they’d have gators knocking at their door.

Daniel’s cell phone rang then. When he checked the caller ID, he stood and apologized, “Sorry. I’ve got to take this call.” He went over to the other side of the long kitchen. While Brad and Sonny compared notes, and Tante Lulu stood before the open fridge taking inventory, Samantha could overhear one side of the conversation.

“George,” he said. “What’s up?”

“Oh, no!”

“And her father can’t get here in time?”

“I told you I’d pay for his motel.”

“Dammit!”

“What can I do?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there as soon as possible.” He glanced at his wristwatch. “Is an hour too long?”

“I’ll make it in a half hour.”

“Okay. Listen, tell Molly to hold on. Tell her I have a special present for her.”

“You don’t want to know.”

Daniel clicked off and stared grimly off into space before coming over to tell her, “I have to go to the cancer center right away. Come out in the hall a minute so we can talk in private.”

Brad looked up with interest but didn’t stop them from leaving the kitchen. Tante Lulu was sitting at the table with a mug of coffee, entertaining Sonny with a story about the Bayou Black Sonniers, his distant cousins, who used to trap muskrats and squirrels in the nude. “One time Yancy Sonnier almos’ got his wienie caught in a trap. Hoo-boy! Scared the livin’ daylights outta the boy! Took ta wearin’ a pie tin in his jockeys.”

Out in the hallway, which led to the storage rooms and out to the ground floor, front verandah, Daniel took her in his arms and kissed her. Just what she needed after a harrowing morning! And a good reminder of the night they’d just shared.

The kiss was short and sweet, unfortunately.

“What’s happening at the cancer center?” she asked.

“There’s a bit of a crisis with the little girl you saw there.”

“And they need you?”

He shrugged. “Need is too strong a word. I can help. I’m going to take some cell phone pictures of the kittens to show Molly and tell her she gets her pick when she gets better.”

“Will she? Get better?”

“It’s fifty-fifty.”

“What’s that about her father?”

“He lives in Savannah and has no place to stay when he gets here.”

“I thought there were accommodations. Temporary housing solutions for parents of sick kids.”