Page 78 of Landry

Enough to walk away?

Oh, hell no.

Landry paced the waiting room. Now that he knew she would be all right, he wanted to see her, just to make sure.

A nurse entered the waiting room, her gaze going straight to Landry. “You must be Landry,” she said with a smile. “Ms. Catoire said you were tall, blond and gorgeous.”

“How is she?”

“Awake and asking for you.” The nurse turned. “I’ll take you to her.”

Landry followed the nurse to the recovery room.

“She’ll be here for an hour. If all her vitals are good, we’ll move her to a private room.”

“Thank you,” Landry said and brushed past the nurse to enter the room.

Hooked up to an IV and a monitoring machine, Camille lay, her face pale, her dark hair a stark contrast to her skin and the white sheets cocooning her.

As he came to stand beside her and took her hand in his, she opened her eyes.

He smiled down at her. “Hey, beautiful.”

She snorted softly. “Hardly. I’m still covered in swamp water,” she said, her voice hoarse, her cheeks still sporting spots of soot. Her brow twisted, and her hand tightened around his. “Billy Ray?”

“He’s fine and seems to be over his sickness.” Landry’s lips twisted. “Not only did he save your life, but he also managed to save Fuzzy Bear. Gisele handed Fuzzy over to her grandmother Madam Gautier to work her magic on the old stuffed animal.”

“I can’t believe a ten-year-old saved me from that burning shack. He shouldn’t have worried about Fuzzy. His life was more important.”

“He knew how much the bear meant to Ava.”

Camille nodded. “He’s a good kid.”

“Agreed,” Landry said. “I left him with Simon, Valentin and Rafael. I’m sure they’ll teach him all their bad habits before we have a chance to get back to him.”

“We can’t let them take him back to the foster family,” Camille whispered.

“Hank’s working on that.”

“I’ll take him in as a foster parent, if they’ll let me.” She coughed and lay back, closing her eyes. They opened a second later. “Ava?”

“Sound asleep at Gisele’s, blissfully unaware of all that happened tonight. Oh, and your pie won first place. Amelie said to tell you she wants your recipe. Sadly, your pralines came in second to Nadine Dumond.”

“I need to hire Nadine. No use competing with perfection.” Camille smiled. “And Amelie can have the recipe. I’m a candy maker not a baker.”

Camille closed her eyes again. “You’ll have to fill me in on everything else when I’m more coherent.” Her eyelids fluttered and stayed closed. “Will you be here when I wake?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You don’t have to protect me anymore.”

“Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.” He bent and kissed her forehead.

“Like it better on the lips,” she whispered.

Landry chuckled and kissed her lips. “More later, when you’re feeling better.”

She nodded and whispered. “I love you, Landry.”

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