Once and For All

Chapter 4.3

Carly was still thinking about Joey and that kiss as she pulled up beside Emily's van in the small driveway of the garage apartment. Sammy jumped out and immediately began inspecting her surroundings as Carly got out and stretched. It had been a long drive, mostly slow going due to the intermittent rain bands they'd had to go through. They had apparently beaten the bad weather for now. The sun was out in Lafayette.

A petite woman with flaming red hair stood up from one of the rocking chairs on the second story porch.

"Hi Emily!"

Emily smiled and waved. "Hey Gemma! We were going to come meet you at the shop for the key."

"Well, since you texted me at four a.m this morning and it's now one in the afternoon, I figured you'd been in that car about long enough," she said as she came down the stairs. "I walked from the shop."

Carly noticed the woman's "Bite Me" t-shirt and grinned.

"You must be Carly, I'm Gemma."

"It's nice to meet you. And thank you for letting us stay here. Hopefully the weathermen are exaggerating as they do sometimes."

"Well, it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Yes," Emily agreed. "And the evacuation became mandatory a few hours after we left. We were lucky to get on the road when we did. It was still a tangled up mess of traffic."

"Do you need some help? I can call Jasper too, if you need."

"Honestly, I'd love to sit and eat and relax for a moment."

"Why don't you come by the shop. Lunch will be my treat," Gemma said. "And feel free to bring your dogs along. We have an outdoor seating area they will love."

"That, my friend, sounds like a plan. Lead the way."

Carly walked behind the two women, at a slower pace to keep up with Sammy's little legs. There was a steady breeze blowing, and the clouds from the storm were slowly rolling in.

She took in the sights as they made the short walk to Gemma's sandwich shop. Carly loved the city already, with it's small parks, artwork on every corner, and the street musicians playing here and there. It was like New Orleans in a way, but smaller. And cleaner.

They reached "Bite Me" and were soon placing their orders. Gemma waited outside with the dogs while they ordered and grabbed a few beers.

When they returned, Carly and Emily sank down into the chairs. Carly slung her feet up into the empty seat across from her. She took a long sip of her beer and blew a wayward strand of blonde hair out of her face

"This place is awesome," Carly said, casting a glance around the courtyard area. Several round tables dotted the outside eating area. Big green leafy plants were nestled in the corners.

"Thank you," Gemma said. "It's been a long process, but we've come a long way."

An employee came out then with their orders and a request for Gemma. "Excuse me," she said, getting up. "Let me know if you need anything. When you get ready to go back to the apartment, let me know."

"Will do," Emily said.

"Have you sent Joey a text yet?" Emily asked. "Or Ryder?"

"I was about to. I was waiting to get halfway settled." Carly grabbed her phone and typed in the messages to let the two know that they had arrived safely. As she put the phone back down, she wondered what Joey's response would be.

"Those clouds don't look very promising," Emily said looking up to the sky.

"I know," Carly agreed. "We may have left Bon Chance only to get hit by the storm here in Lafayette."

"At least it won't be as bad. No storm surge. I wonder how the guys are faring on the boat?"

"I'm sure they're fine. They have plenty of food and beer to keep them busy. We may need to make some kind of run when we finish here. As bad as I hate to get back in the car after that drive."

"When we get back to the apartment, I'll see what we need. I may be able to grab some things from the cafe'."

Carly took a bite of the philly steak sandwich in front of her. "Man, this is good!"

"Aren't they awesome? Noah and I usually stop in when we're here. And we like to stop in and see Gemma, and Julien if he's here, but I don't see him today. He might be busy with this storm coming in. He works in construction with his two brothers."

Emily grinned before continuing, "Those are three fine specimens of men if I've ever seen them."

Carly smiled, "Is that right?"

"Oh yeah. They did the work on the cafe. And talented, too. Lucky is quite the photographer. If you go in and look in the restaurant, Gemma has put some of his prints on display."

"Wow. I'll have to go back in and look." Carly picked up her beer, holding it up to note that it was empty. "It looks like now is a good time to go see, too. You ready for another one?"

Emily looked at her own bottle, "Yeah, I could use one more. After that drive!"

Carly grabbed the two empty bottles and tossed them into the trash as she walked back into the building. Before she walked up to the counter though, she looked around the room until she spotted the prints on the wall.

These are gorgeous, she thought. Swamp scenes with cypress trees dripping with Spanish moss, a lone boat on the water surrounded by the purples hues of sunset, and old gray abandoned church covered in ivy in the shadows of massive oaks.

"Amazing, aren't they?"

Carly turned to see Gemma behind her. "Yes, very."

"I'd say you should meet him someday, but he can be quite the character. I believe he's the cousin to a friend of yours, Ryder, I think?"

"Oh, Lord," Carly said, laughing. "I don't think they make them more ornery than Ryder."

"You may just have to see for yourself."

"If I'm here that long. I'll need to get back to Bon Chance."

"I understand that," Gemma said. "Running your own business can be quite time consuming."

"Yes, it can. It might be nice to have no responsibilities for a day or two. Speaking of which, I came in here for a couple more beers. I better get them before Emily wonders where I ran off to."

"Enjoy. I'd join you for one myself if I could. Maybe later."

"Of course," Carly said, "I'm always up for a cold beer."

Gemma laughed, "You and me are going to get along just fine. Come on, let's get you that beer, then I'll go with you and Emily to get ya'll settled in the apartment. Weatherman just issued a tornado watch."