The Lost Girls of Johnson's Bayou by Jana DeLeon Page B

the lid off the past, the fallout was bound to come home to roost. Two more years and he was set to retire. Was set to leave Johnson’s Bayou and never have to think about the past.
    Now he had to do something about the vacationer, or that would never happen.
     
     

Chapter Nine
     
    Ginny placed the few items left on her table in the storage container and closed the top. Madelaine was supposed to meet her at her booth at closing time, but aside from a brief wave when she went by earlier chasing after a couple of her best friend’s grandchildren, Ginny hadn’t seen her mother since they closed the café that morning.
    She glanced west at the sinking sun and checked her cell phone for the hundredth time that afternoon. No messages. She wondered if Paul had found the nurse and if he’d gotten information. With any luck, no message meant he was still chasing down leads and that he’d find something useful.
    She grabbed her storage container and started across the town square. In the meantime, she needed to activate plan B—find Madelaine and invite her to dinner. Then attempt to act normal while the entire time, she’d be wondering what Paul was doing and what he’d discovered. She’d made it to the edge of the square when she heard Madelaine calling her.
    She turned as Madelaine hurried across the square, huffing as she propelled her slightly overweight frame at a speed it normally didn’t obtain. “Thought I was going to miss you,” Madelaine wheezed as she leaned over to catch her breath.
    “You’re just in time.”
    “Got caught watching those grandkids of Carol’s while she tried some newfangled skin care line one of the New Orleans sellers was hawking. Lord, those kids can move. I’ve run more this afternoon than I have in the last ten years.”
    “Running is at a premium in the café unless people start wanting to wear their coffee,” Ginny teased.
    Madelaine straightened up and laughed. “You’d probably be better than me. You’re still in shape and always had good balance. How were sales today?”
    “I only have three pieces left, total. I’m glad I made more than I thought I’d need.”
    “That’s great! So…are you meeting your sexy new man for dinner?”
    Ginny felt a blush creep up her neck. “He’s not my man. And no, he had some business in New Orleans today and didn’t know when he’d return.”
    Madelaine shook her head. “Conducting business on vacation. Not a good sign. The last thing you want is a workaholic, no matter how good-looking and charming he may be.”
    “I’m sure it was important for him to interrupt his vacation time. But anyway, that means I’m officially free tonight, so I thought I’d see if you wanted to have dinner at Maude’s—my treat.”
    “Look at you, Miss Moneybags.” Madelaine smiled. “Sell a little jewelry and suddenly you’re Donald Trump. Well, as much as I’d love to get home and remove this bra and shoes, I’d like someone to cook for me and clean it up even more.”
    “Then dinner it is,” Ginny said, relieved that she wasn’t going to have to do any odd maneuvering to convince Madelaine to have dinner with her. She already felt out of sorts, and it was going to be hard to keep that from her intuitive mother. Cajoling her into dinner if she’d said no would have immediately sent up alarms.
    “I want to drop this off at the café, then we can go eat.”
    “Might be a bit of a wait,” Madelaine warned. “All the visitors got to leave the festival before you, and since it’s the only place in town to eat at night, I imagine they’re going to be doing a booming business.”
    “We could always keep summer hours at the café and give people another alternative,” Ginny suggested, already knowing what her mother would say.
    “No way! I count the days every year till the festival, when we change to breakfast and lunch only. I like my evenings off.”
    Ginny smiled. “Well, I’m in no hurry. Besides, it will probably be worth