A Trashy Affair (36 page)

Her last day at a job she’d fought to keep and Jane felt a little queasy, not that she minded leaving now. The recycling program rolled along gaining more participants monthly because of her public awareness campaign. The polluted site had been cleaned up. Already new plants and young trees greened its surface and wildlife returned. Her hand-picked successor, an eager young man with Super Fund experience, would move into her space on the second of January.

The new parish president, ready to take office, offered to let her stay on, though most of the department heads had been fired in the usual bloodbath following a change of administration. She pointed out the conflict of interest since her husband would shortly be sworn in as a district councilman. The candidate Bernard Freeman backed for that post lost to Merlin standing tall on a platform of regulated development, consideration of farmers and veterans, and vigorous environmental protection. At the debates, all hints that Merlin Tauzin might be unstable or unable to fulfill his duties because he worked offshore were soundly booed down by a chorus usually directed by Miss Olive and her cohorts from Magnolia Villa. They attended every rally and handed out campaign literature from the baskets on their walkers and wheelchairs. The ordinary people of Ste. Jeanne d’Arc parish, not big business, voted Merlin in as one of their own.

Bernie’s bid for parish president failed in the four-way free-for-all that occurred when Woof announced he would not run for office again. While he beat two opponents and made it to the runoffs, word did get out that his light-skinned mistress had presented him with a daughter a few months before the final election. Voters weren’t so much shocked at that—a pretty common occurrence among Louisiana politicians, any politician for that matter—but they did get upset with him for dishonoring the upright memory of their beloved Leroy “Lambo” Mouton. Some might have noticed his resemblance to Merlin as well, though the two stayed away from each other’s events. Whatever the reason, it showed in a defeat at the polls. Jane knew Bernie would come back in one governmental incarnation or another. Some who sucked the public teat could never wean themselves from it. She felt no pity for him.

Jane had her own future business to build and a part to play in Doyle and Courtney’s big Catholic wedding in the spring. Besides her sisters and Jane, Courtney invited Brittney to be among the bridal attendants now that Doyle’s sister was a respectable matron, mother of a boy adopted by Waldo Robin, and an adorable girl who thankfully took after the female side of the family. Brittney could be seen in a tasteful black dress with accents of gold jewelry purchased at LeClerc’s, not Walmart, as she liked to point out, at every funeral held in Duchamp’s Funeral Home. Actually being a great help to Waldo, she dispensed tissues and sympathy, placed floral tributes and made coffee for the mourners. Brittney remained convinced that Jane harbored a jealousy of her new Cadillac with two kiddie seats in the rear and the large house possessing four white columns situated on Main Street, but when Jane thought of Waldo’s cold hands on her body, she shuddered and grew nauseous again.

Nausea? Surely not already? She and Merlin had discussed the starting a family issue for several months after the wedding if you could call his hiding her birth control pills a discussion. She retaliated by making him use condoms. Finally, they agreed she’d stop taking the pills six months into their marriage and see what happened next. It could take years to get pregnant, right?

As if conjured by magic, Merlin appeared in her office doorway. “Courtney buzzed me in. Let me carry those boxes for you, cupcake. You might be in a delicate condition.”

“I’m only a little bit late, big boy.”

Merlin’s smile burst forth without restraint from his black stubble. Leave it to a man with a big-ass truck to get the job done.

A word about the author...

Once a librarian, now a writer of romance, Lynn Shurr grew up in Pennsylvania Dutch country. She attended a state college and earned a very impractical B.A. in English Literature. Her first job out of school really was working as a cashier in a burger joint. Moving from one humble job to another, she traveled to North Carolina, then Germany, then California where she buckled down and studied for an M.A. in Librarianship.

New degree in hand, she found her first reference job in the Heart of Cajun Country, Lafayette, Louisiana. For her, the old saying, “Once you’ve tasted bayou water, you will always stay here” came true. She raised three children not far from the Bayou Teche and lives there still with her astronomer husband.

When not writing, Lynn likes to paint, cheer for the New Orleans Saints and LSU Tigers, and take long road trips nearly anywhere. Her love of the bayou country, its history and customs, often shows in the background for her books.

You may contact Lynn at www.lynnshurr.com or visit her blog—lynnshurr.blogspot.com.

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Other Books by Lynn Shurr

The Convent Rose

THE SINNERS SERIES:

Goals for a Sinner

Wish for a Sinner

Kicks for a Sinner

Paradise for a Sinner

Love Letter for a Sinner

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Goals for a Sinner by Lynn Shurr

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Temporary Fiancee by Judy Rogers

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