To Honour And To Protect. Debra & Regan Webb & Black
Читать онлайн книгу.
she hadn’t even heard another boat in the area for days, yet she felt edgy as if they were being watched. They’d been here for two weeks, and according to the news, Craig continued to evade authorities as the story of his illegal dealings came out in dribs and drabs. “I did that a few times when I was your age,” she said to her son. “Even once during a campout right here.”
“Really?” His eyes were wide.
“Mmm-hmm. Mama Leonie, Nico’s mom, lived out here more than in town. Nico’s daughter was my best friend and we used to come here every chance we got. There was only one room then.”
“No bedroom?”
Addison shook her head. “She didn’t want one.”
“Where did she sleep?”
“Outside on the back porch.” Addison looked around once more, picturing it as it had been. “I always thought it was the best tree house.”
“But it’s not in the tree. I think we should call it a swamp fort.” Andy twisted around and then leaned forward to peer through the slatted porch to the water below. “I like this part hanging over the water.”
“It keeps the rooms cooler.”
“Huh.”
Addison smiled to herself. The conversation relaxed her. Feeling watched was simply paranoia, which wasn’t unexpected. Nico had assured her no one came out this way much since Leonie’s death a few years back. He promised that she and Andy would be safe in the old Voodoo Queen’s place. Few people knew this place was still habitable. More important, only two people knew that Addison knew about it.
“This is a real adventure, Mom.” Andy scooped up another big bite of ice cream. “I saw a frog out there.” He pointed with his spoon toward the edge of the water. “And an alligator down that way.” The spoon moved down the shore, away from the house.
“Are you sure?”
He nodded, his mouth full and a sticky stain of chocolate bracketing its corners. “Nico showed me how to spot ’em.”
“Did he?”
“Uh-huh.”
“He’s the expert.” Nico knew these swamps inside and out and stayed busy as a tour guide. When she’d knocked on his door in the middle of the night two weeks ago, he hadn’t batted an eye at her request for help. Stomping into his boots, he’d taken her keys and driven her out to the edge of the swamp without asking any uncomfortable questions. After promising he wouldn’t mention her arrival to anyone, he’d loaded two boats, tied them together and guided her out here. Once they’d unloaded and he was satisfied she had key supplies, he’d left her one boat and returned to his dock with the other.
She supposed other people might’ve felt obligated to help because she’d sent money back to help with Mama Leonie’s health care and final expenses. But Nico lived by a different philosophy. You took care of your own, no matter how much time or silence passed between visits. That had shown through when he’d returned with a boatload of supplies at midday, and he’d clearly spent some important time with Andy while she’d put things away in the house.
Now they had a stock of wood and charcoal, a generator and fuel to keep the small luxuries like the freezer, the ancient water heater and the two lightbulbs inside the shack going. They couldn’t stay here indefinitely, but they could certainly stay through the summer and longer if she hadn’t figured out the next step by then.
“Mom, the swamp is kinda creepy at night.”
She felt herself smiling. “In a good way?”
“Yeah!
“Nico told me his mom knew everything about the swamp.”
“She sure did. And she loved to teach anyone who’d listen. She treated me like a granddaughter. I learned her secret recipe for pancakes when I turned ten.”
Andy looked up at her. “Would she have been my grandma, too?”
“You better believe it. The two of you would’ve been best friends.” She rubbed her hand across his small shoulders. “Leonie was very special. I loved coming out here to see her.”
“This was your adventure place?”
Addison nodded. “Yes. And it’s good to be back.” More than she’d expected, really. It felt like home, even though she wasn’t anywhere near the farm where she’d grown up in Mississippi.
“I think it’s better than SeaWorld!”
“Just don’t try and pet a gator.” They shared a quiet laugh. “Tomorrow we can start exploring. I can show you what’s—”
“Safe,” Andy interrupted with a put-upon sigh. “You said we wouldn’t have to be together the whole time on this adventure.”
“I said we wouldn’t have to be in the car the whole time. And you’ve been playing on your own, right?”
“Right.”
“I just want to be sure you know what to do or where to go if you come across something dangerous.” Or someone.
Craig wouldn’t have the first idea of how to find this place, shouldn’t even know about it, but she wanted to be sure Andy knew how to find Nico in case they were somehow injured or separated.
“That doesn’t sound like an adventure.”
“Oh, it will be.”
Water splashed nearby. Andy turned to her with wide eyes. “Was that a gator?”
“Probably not. Gators slide into the water and most of the time they hardly make a sound or even a ripple.” A small exaggeration, but worth the resulting expression of wonder on his face. “A sound like that’s usually a fish or frog.” Not a person, she reminded herself. People who slipped or splashed made even more noise.
“Nico taught you that, didn’t he?”
“Mmm-hmm.” She held out her empty bowl, let him stack his on top. “Take those inside to the sink, please.”
“Do I have to wash ’em?”
“No, sweetie. I’ll do it after bedtime.”
She listened to his small footsteps, waited for the inevitable noise as the bowls and spoons landed with a clatter in the old porcelain sink. He rushed back out to join her a moment later, the screen door slapping shut behind him.
“About bedtime...”
She smiled into his serious face. “Yes?”
“It’s summer, so there isn’t such thing as a school night.”
“I noticed.”
“And we’re on an adventure.”
“We are.” She knew where he was headed, but she waited for him to say what was on his mind.
“Could I not have a bedtime?”
She waited. This was the way they did things. He had to ask nicely even when he delivered sound reasons.
“Please,” he added quickly with a winning smile.
“You still have a lot of growing to do,” she pointed out. “Sleep is important for growing.” Just after Christmas she’d bought him new tennis shoes, only to have him grow out of them within a few days. “Enough sleep,” she amended, anticipating his next argument.
His face fell but only for a moment. “There were nights last summer that didn’t have bedtime and we were at home.”
“True.” She drilled her finger at his belly, making him squeal and jump back. “There will be nights like that on our adventure, too.”
“It’s not even all the way dark yet.”
“That