Page 11 of The Cajun Doctor

“You’re family. That’s enough for us,” Aaron said.

“Ah, honey,” Aunt Mel said, getting up from her chair behind the desk and giving Aaron a big hug. “I know that, but it’s not the same.” She dabbed at her eyes with the tissue she always had tucked in her bra strap under her blouse, and sat back down.

“Your mother wants you to go there and meet your relatives.”

Daniel choked on his coffee. Whoa! Learning about his family history was one thing. Going all huggy face with a bunch of strangers was something else. “I beg your pardon?”

“Why in God’s name should we go there?” Aaron asked.

“Closure.”

“Whose? Ours? I could care less,” Daniel said.

“You’re gonna do it for your mother’s sake. Yeah, that horndog loser treated her like dirt. Yeah, he never told her he was married. Yeah, he suggested she get an abortion, said he had too many brats already. And, yeah, her own family, the Doucets, put her out like so much garbage, without a penny. They were ashamed of her being pregnant and not married.”

“All the more reason for us to stay put,” Daniel concluded.

“In Valcour’s defense, though not much,” Aunt Mel went on, as if he hadn’t even spoken, “Valcour did give your mother a sizeable payoff that enabled her to go to college and med school. No skin off his teeth, of course, him being filthy rich from oil drilling. And he gave her you two precious boys. You have to go back, for your mother’s sake.”

“Like hell! I’m not going to Louisiana to meet some no-good man who did my mother wrong or a family that kicked my mother to the street . . . uh, bayou. I don’t care if he’s a tycoon or a ditch digger, he means nothing to me.” Daniel poured himself more coffee to calm down his temper.

“Looks Like We Made It,” Barry warbled.

“I wish!” Daniel and Aaron said at the same time. Sometimes, that twin thing in their heads was a pain in the ass.

“That’s all I need in my present mood . . . a trip to the Southland. I just gave up medicine. I want to wallow for a while. Maybe I’ll sit myself down on a glacier and push out to sea.”

Aunt Mel cast a blistering glance his way, which he ignored.

“I don’t know, bro.” Aaron tapped his closed lips thoughtfully. “It might be fun to kick some Cajun butt.”

“I’m going to make sure I have a bottle of booze and a good book on that iceberg.”

“How about a woman?” Aaron asked.

“Nope. I’m considering celibacy. Women are too much trouble.”

“Hah! When did you turn into Mister Grumpy?” Aaron asked him.

“I like being grumpy. People stay out of my way.”

“Would you two shut the hell up and listen to me? You have half sisters and half brothers you should meet,” Aunt Mel insisted. “Aunts, uncles, cousins.”

Daniel put his face in his hands.

“Some of them . . . most of them . . . are good people, despite that blasted Valcour. Lucien LeDeux is a lawyer, married to a chemist. Remy is a pilot, like you, Aaron; he’s married to a Feng Shui decorator. René was an environmental lobbyist and musician; he now teaches and is married to a lawyer. He still plays in a band, The Swamp Rats. Tee-John is a cop, about to marry a newspaper journalist. Charmaine owns a bunch of beauty salons and is married to a cowboy. One of the nephews is a New Orleans Saints football player.”

Holy hell! Since when had Aunt Mel become a LeDeux genealogist?

“Andy LeDeux? He’s one of our kinfolk?” Aaron asked. “Wow!”

“Kinfolk? You’re already sounding like a frickin’ Cajun.” Daniel flashed his brother a frown.

“I didn’t know they had cowboys in Louisiana. But never mind. I can’t leave the air shipping business, even if I wanted to,” Aaron said.

“Yes, you can. We have an offer to sell the whole kit and caboodle . . . the air shipping business, the warehouse, both planes, everything. We would make a tidy profit.”

“We do?” Aaron looked surprised, and pleased.