Healing the Bayou by Mary Bernsen

too wiggly, and flirtation was her natural means of communication.
    “You’re a minister’s daughter? How the hell did you end up here?”
    “We came here on a vacation three years ago. Well, Daddy called it a vacation. What he really meant was we were on a mission to save the damned souls of the Voodoo cult. I went out for a walk one night and when I heard the drums and the people, I wanted a closer look.”
    “Wow.” I was legitimately astonished. “So, why did you stay?”
    Her smile gave way and she struggled not to frown. Realizing I had just dredged up a painful memory for her, I was instantly sorry for having even asked.
    “I stayed for the same reason you’re going to end up staying, Eliza.”
    I blushed, knowing good and well she wasn’t referring to my responsibilities attached to my heritage. Everybody seemed to know I was into Samuel, and it was embarrassing. Still, now I was curious. She said she stayed for the same reason I would.
    “Was it Samuel?”
    “No, Samuel was in Florida by then. I do get the attraction there, though. He is gorgeous, isn’t he?”
    Shooting ramrod straight, I had to squelch that feeling of protectiveness I held for him. She did find him attractive, but she didn’t seem interested in pursuing anything. I was going to have to convince myself to stop looking at her as though she was a challenger.
    “It wasn’t Samuel,” she emphasized. “But it was a boy.”
    “Who was he?”
    “His name was Damon, another student of Vivian’s. I hardly knew him but from the minute I laid my eyes on him, I knew he was the one. I fell in love in one night, and my whole life changed for it.”
    My heart bled for her as she spoke as if she was retelling the end of her happiness. I didn’t want to pry, but the psychiatrist in training took over and I wanted to help her, something I couldn’t do without knowing more.
    “What happened to him?”
    “He was another healer’s keeper. His healer grew tired of the celebrity among our people, and she left. Which meant he had to leave too.”
    “Well, why didn’t you just go with him? You gave up your life in Baton Rouge to come here for him.”
    “It was easy to walk away from my life in Baton Rouge. I never fit in where I was expected to. My parents wanted me to follow my mother’s footsteps and become a minister’s wife. I wanted bigger things for myself. Here… Eliza you have no idea how accepting these people are. For the first time in my life I had a real family. I had friends worth bragging about. Plus, eventually I had to accept I was always going to come second to his healer. I couldn’t find much happiness for me if I were to follow him wherever she decided to go, especially if I was always going to be his second priority.”
    That’s exactly how Samuel made me feel, which was funny considering I was his healer. I was under the impression I was always going to come second to the community, but the way she explained it made me think about it differently. He left the only home he’d ever known to come to Florida to watch over me. If I left, he was going to leave too.
    Somehow she knew I came to this realization, because she inched in closer and widened her eyes, begging me to understand.
    “Eliza, I know that it’s a lot to ask of you. But Samuel means so much to everyone here. If you take him away, you take him from his home. His mother, his father, all of us will mourn for him.”
    I sighed with a heavy heart, wishing to rewind to our lighter conversation we were having earlier.
    “Camille, I don’t know. I can’t live my life for everyone else any more than you could.”
    “Then stay for you. What do you have left in Florida? You could have everything that I have here and more. You’re needed here, Eliza. People that don’t even know you already love you for what you are. There isn’t a doubt to any of us that you’re a beautiful spirit filled with light. We need you to spread the light to all of us.”
    “But if