Page 102 of Recklessly Rogue

“Sammy, do you know how to get to Autre?” Henry asks.

“You bet. I hear there’s some damn good gumbo down there.”

“You can consider it all you can eat,” Henry tells him.

“This gig just keeps getting better and better,” Sammy says.

And I have to agree. This gig is better than anything I’ve ever dreamed of.

Chapter 23

Henry

Thank God we got the apartment thing taken care of.

Ruby really has to live somewhere that I know is secureandwhere she will feel pampered and not at all stressed about anything. I need her life in New Orleans to be as easy as I can make it. This time.

I wasn’t able to make the first thirty-six years of her life the happy, easy life she deserved to have. But I can do my best to make up for it now.

And I so appreciate that she understands me well enough to let me do that.

With some very Ruby-esque parameters.

When we are about ten miles away from Autre, we start seeing the signs for Boys of the Bayou Swamp Boat and Fishing Tours, as well as the signs for Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild, the petting zoo and animal park. The Landry family owns and runs both.

“That’s the animal park that Princess Fiona works at, right?” Ruby asks.

I’m sure she’s aware of it because the podcast out of Cara has extensively covered Fiona’s rescue and rehabilitation efforts with exotic wild animals, particularly endangered species, andthe fact that the tiny bayou town in Louisiana has giraffes, penguins, tigers, and lemurs, as well as the standard horses, alpacas, and goats.

“Yes. Though saying she works there is odd. She’s such a huge part of it. And I don’t think she takes a salary.” I should ask about that. “It would be odd if she did. In fact, she probably gives a ton of money to the park.”

“Well, if she’s anything like the rest of you, I’m sure she does.”

“The endangered species preserve on Cara is because of her,” I comment.

“Oh, I know. I went to see it while I was there.”

“I’m glad. It’s impressive.”

Ruby sighs happily. “Impressive is a good word for most things about the royal family.”

For the most part, I agree.

We pull into town, and I immediately feel happier. The town and its people have a typical southern Louisiana laid-back, charming style. But the town is also full of people I adore and we’ve made a lot of good memories even in the short time we’ve been here.

I’m especially excited to share this place and these people with Ruby.

And her with them.

She is such a huge part of my life now and they have become so important to me that it has felt strange for the last several months that they don’t know one another.

“Right here?” Sammy asks, slowing down by the nondescript building with the gravel parking lot.

I know I will find several people I know at Ellie’s bar, but for now I say, “No, just keep going. Let’s go to the petting zoo first.”

“Have you been out on swamp tours?” Ruby asks as we drive past the swamp boat tour company’s office and the boat ramps.

“Of course. It’s required,” I say with a chuckle.

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