Body on the Bayou Read Free Page A

They’re a little . . . overdone.”
    “We think so too.” Kyle frowned.
    “I can design a store, but I can’t seem to design a house,” Lia said, shaking her head as she filled a box with an assortment of homemade chocolates, pralines, and pastel bonbons.
    “Don’t worry about it,” Maggie reassured them. “Anything you do will be a huge improvement over how that idiot Rufus left the place.”
    “Speaking of idiots . . .” Kyle muttered as he motioned to the door. The bell above it tinkled as rotund Rufus Durand walked into the shop. Maggie’s pulse quickened when she saw that he was followed by his cousin and polar opposite, the tall, rangy Detective Bo Durand. Bo shot Maggie and the others a smile as Rufus went straight to the case of homemade candy.
    “Gimme four chewy pecan pralines and a quarter pound of dark chocolate turtles,” Rufus barked at Lia.
    “Stress eating again, Rufus?” Maggie said as innocently as she could. She heard Bo turn a laugh into a cough.
    “Anybody would if they had to deal with what I gotta,” Ru grumbled. He chomped down on a coconut patty that Lia handed him as a lagniappe, a little something extra. “Van’s all up in me with this dang wedding, and his royal-pain-in-my-keister, Mayor Beaufils, won’t tell me when I get to go back to work.” Ru was on leave from his job after getting into a scuffle with said mayor over a parking space. A Durand would never be given the boot from a town job, given their history in the area, but Maggie was happy to see Beaufils taking advantage of an opportunity to at least make the pugnacious police chief sweat.
    “Rufus, I need to tell you something.” Maggie relayed Vanessa’s reaction to Ginger’s RSVP. “And I know this won’t make you happy, but Vanessa called my mother to see if Ginger and her group could stay with us.”
    “She did, huh?” Maggie was surprised to pick up a hint of glee in Rufus’s voice. “And what did your mother say?”
    “That they could stay. For free.”
    Rufus let out a roar of laughter so loud that it startled the others. “Oh, that is beautiful. Bee-you-tee-ful. Magnolia Crozat, you have made my day. That’s exactly who I woulda wished on you.” Lia handed Rufus a small bag. “I’ll assume this is a small, free token of your appreciation for law enforcement.”
    “You’re on leave, Rufus.”
    “Trust me, clock’s ticking on that. I would not get too attached to my substitute.” Rufus’s phone made the sound of screeching brakes, and he checked it. “Text from Van. I gotta go with her to the lady doctor.” He motioned to Bo. “Come on, I’ll drop you at headquarters.”
    “You go ahead. I’ll walk back,” Bo said. “I want to get some treats for Xander. I have him tonight.”
    “Alrighty. A bientôt, Maggie. Get a good night’s sleep. You’ll need all your wits about you when Ginger shows up.” Rufus guffawed again, then left the store with his hand in the bag of candy.
    “Sorry about that,” Bo said.
    “It’s okay,” Maggie replied. “Ru was Ru long before you moved here.”
    Bo gave a slight nod and turned his attention to the candy display. “I’ll take half a pound of the milk honeycomb, and if you don’t mind—”
    “I’ll make sure the pieces don’t touch.” Lia and the others were sensitive to the fact that Bo’s young son was on theautism spectrum. She wrapped up the candy and handed it to Bo. “On the house.” He started to protest, but Lia cut him off. “It’s either free or leave it be.”
    “Well . . . thanks.” Bo gave Lia a grateful smile and headed out of the store. Maggie stared after him a moment, then shook it off and finished arranging her souvenirs. She exchanged good-byes with Lia and Kyle, took the box of candy Lia had assembled for the Crozats, and walked out of the sweet shop to her car. As she dug through her purse for her keys, she went over every detail of what she knew about Vanessa’s cousin, which was only Vanessa