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Chapter One

“More coffee, Mimi?” Gretchen Davis, a friendly waitress at the Black Bog café, held a coffeepot poised to pour.

“No thanks, I’m good,” Mimi Boudreaux replied. “Besides, in about fifteen minutes or so, it’ll be time for my shift at the grocery store.”

“Well, let me know if you need anything more or if you want something to go,” Gretchen said and then moved away from Mimi’s two-top table.

Mimi took another sip of her coffee and gazed around the café. She knew most of the people there; she’d waited on them at one time or another before at the grocery store.

Black Bog, Louisiana, was filled with good, hardworking people. From clerking at the store, Mimi knew who had a penchant for sweets and who only bought meat when it was marked down. She also knew who had a dog and who had a cat by the various pet food they bought. For the most part, everyone was quite pleasant when they came through her line, although some were chattier than others.

Every morning when she was scheduled to work at the store next door, she came into town a little early so she could sit in the café and enjoy a cup of coffee. It was a morning routine she really enjoyed.

The front door opened with new customers entering, and he walked in.

A deep shock roared through her entire body. It was like seeing a ghost from the past. Her heart started tapping too rapidly in her chest. She became slightly lightheaded.

Her trembling fingers fumbled for one of the large menus propped up between the tall salt and pepper shakers. She pulled one out and quickly held it up in front of her face. Please don’t let him see me, she inwardly begged. She needed some time to process the fact that after all this time he was back in town.

Johnny Night. He was the man she had once loved with all her heart and soul. Five years ago, he abandoned her when he’d left Black Bog…and her behind.

A sharp pain sliced through her heart as she remembered the agony of that time. She had believed Johnny was her future, her forever. They’d talked about getting married and her having his babies. Then one day she’d awakened, and he’d been just gone.

He’d been her first and only lover, but he was also the very last person she had expected to see today…or ever again.

He was with his best friend, Frank Fairmont, and thankfully the two men swept past her table without a sideways glance. They sat in a booth, and again she was grateful that Johnny sat on the side that put his back to her.

It made her escape from the café far easier, and that was exactly what she did. Thankfully she had already paid for her coffee, so she set the menu back where it belonged, got up and flew out the door.

Once outside, she drew in several deep breaths of the hot, early-morning July air and tried to center herself. Johnny. She couldn’t help but notice as he walked by her that he still had his same bold swagger.

Five years ago, at nineteen years old, she’d thought the twenty-two-year-old Johnny Night was the handsomest, sexiest man in Black Bog. She thought he hung the moon and that the love they had for each other was positively magical. She thought they’d be together forever. Even though he was a townie with plenty of money, he’d always been right at home in her modest shanty in the swamp. She’d believed they would live there together forever.

At that time, she’d been living with her grandfather. He had raised her after her parents abandoned her when she was five years old. They had preferred their drugs over being parents to her. They’d walked away from her and never looked back. She didn’t know where they were now or even if they were dead or alive. She was still living with Gramps and her four-year-old son, Danny.

It didn’t take her long to walk from the café to Black Bog Groceries, where she’d been working for the past two years. She went directly to the break room where Renée Mignot, her very best friend, greeted her.

“Hey, girl, what’s up with you? Are you all right? Are you sick? You’re all pale, like you just saw a ghost,” she said with a worried look.

“Funny you should say that. I did just see a ghost.” Mimi grabbed one of the clean red aprons that hung from hooks on the wall and put it on. Her heart still beat too quickly. “Johnny’s back in town.”

Renée’s dark eyes opened wide. “For real? Did you see him? Did you talk to him? Did he talk to you? What did he have to say to you after all this time?” The questions rapid-fired out of her.

“Whoa, slow down,” Mimi said with a laugh. It always took Renée five sentences when one would suffice. As far as Mimi was concerned, it was part of Renée’s charm. “I saw him in the café, but he didn’t see me, and we definitely didn’t speak.”

“How did it feel to see him again?” Renée asked, studying her intently.

Mimi frowned. “The sight of him just brought up some old memories.”

“Good or bad memories?” Renée asked.

“Both,” Mimi replied.

Renée gave her a quick hug. “We’ll talk about it all later because if we don’t get our butts out to our registers right now, then our jobs here will just be a memory.” Renée quickly tied on one of the red aprons, and then together they left the break room.

For the next eight hours, Mimi rang up ground beef and canned corn, breakfast cereal and other grocery items, and all the while her mind whirled with thoughts of Johnny Night.

Would he try to see her? Probably not. He’d shown her what she meant to him when he completely ghosted her. One thing was for sure, she would never, ever tell him that Danny was his child. He didn’t deserve to know, and Danny was well-adjusted with Gramps and other “uncles” in his life.