Night Magic Read Free Page A

gave Paul a hearty clap on the
shoulder.
    "Oh, yes. I sure have. But we didn't formally
introduce ourselves. Paul Honorè." He nodded to her.Savannah gave
him a tight smile. "Mr. Honorè--"
    "Paul, please."
    " Paul ," She said. The smile became
even tighter.
    "Paul is an engineer with his own business."
Antoine beamed at him.
    "Well, actually my partner Sam and I share
ownership with the bank." Paul gave a short laugh.
    "Came to get them decoys for your daddy, huh?
Work goin' okay I hear."Antoine took over. Finding them in the
cabinet nearby, he carefully wrapped each meticulously carved decoy
in old newspaper before putting them in a large box. Savannah wore
a careful mask of disinterest as she took his payment and handed
him a receipt. Seeing the smooth brown hands reach out, she
imagined what the skin on his chest or shoulders looked like. In an
instant, she pictured dark curly hair spread across his chest
reaching down to his navel. She became aware that their hands had
brushed lightly. The place where contact had been made tingled. She
snatched her hand back, placing it on her hip.
    Paul grinned at her, only succeeding in
making her even more determined to resist him. He, on the other
hand, gazed at her in dismay. Things were not going well. And to
make things worse, his reaction to her was not the usual animal
attraction he felt when faced with a beautiful woman. He actually
cared what she thought about him. Not just in the short-term until
he knew the thrill of overcoming her resistance. And why was he so
fascinated by the movement of her hair? Or thinking of her skin,
comparing it to the color of dark honey? When she withdrew her hand
as if she didn't want it to be soiled, his jaw tightened in
irritation. Obviously this woman didn't think much of him. He
turned abruptly to her father, so she would not see the effect she
was having on him.
    "By the way, I ran into Kyle Singleton's
foreman the other day. He says the plant is going to be fully
operational in two months or less. Trosclair got the go ahead from
DEQ last week," Paul said.
    "Don't matter, no. They gone hafta cross me
to keep that thing right in our backyard, that's the truth.
Jackson, he says we gotta good case for to appeal that decision."
Antoine nodded in the direction of the lawyers' office.
    "Well, I'll be seeing you
later, Ms. Savannah." He emphasized the Ms. and made as if to tip an
imaginary hat.
    "Whatever." Savannah without looking at him,
her tone suggesting that she had forgotten he was present and
certainly didn't care if he left.
    "Coo!" Her father laughed. "What was that
about? Y'all just met an' already fussin'."
    "He thinks a whole lot more of his charm than
I do. But what is this about some plant you're opposed to?"
Savannah was genuinely interested in their last exchange, and
anxious to get away from the subject of Paul Honorè lest her father
notice too much.
    "Claude Trosclair put one of his Batton
Chemical Corporation plants right near Easy Town. They gone burn
toxic waste. We ain't gone let 'em though. We got too many them
things all along this river already. And mighty strange they is
most time built next to our neighborhoods. All that land he own, he
didn't sell near his fancy big house or over near no other white
people."
    "I read several articles recently about
charges of environmental racism in different parts of the country.
The big companies deny it. They claim to choose sites that make
good business sense, like being near companies that need their
services or have good access to water or rail transportation
routes." Savannah frowned in concentration, trying to remember her
limited knowledge of environmental law.
    "Bull! They just figure we too poor to fight,
or too dumb. But Mr. Trosclair wrong if he think we just gonna roll
over this time." Antoine spit out the name as if it were something
nasty he was trying to get off his tongue.
    "Claude Trosclair is a powerful man in this
state. He doesn't like having his plans blocked. The