Page 83 of Absinthe Dreams
I had to chuckle then. “Fair point, well made – you’re right, you’re right.” I swallowed hard. “You sure you’re up for this?” I asked, waffling my hand between us.
“Nowthat, honestly? I’ve never been surer of anything in my life,” she said. “I don’t know how to explain it. It all happened so fast, but Chainsaw, you feel like my person.”
I looked deep into her eyes and had to smile, and ask, “Do you maybe think you could say that again for me? Only use my government name this time?”
She smiled, a slow spreading of lips, and whispered close, “Sturgis, you feel like my person.”
I gathered her so close and so tight that it felt like I could possibly pull herthrough me,and kissed the top of her head.
“You feel like my person, too, Genesis,” I said into her soft flaxen hair, and it was all I’d really ever wanted. This went beyond any of my dreams, absinthe-induced or otherwise. Who knew chasing the green fairy would lead me to this green-eyed goddess who let me call her my own.
“I love you,” she whispered, and I smiled.
“I love you, too.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Genesis…
I threw myself into two things in the days after all the craziness with the Bayou Brethren. One was work, with, and I’m not going to lie here, a slight and uneasy dread that one of the men who had attacked us would come through my ER.
Thankfully, that part didn’t happen.
The second thing I threw myself into was aiding the other old ladies of the Voodoo Bastards with everything that I could through support by way of a shoulder to lean on and someone to talk with, to the planning and execution of Cypress’s funeral whenever they got around to releasing his body from the medical examiner’s office.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to bepreciselywhat Cypress wanted. He’d wanted his final send-off to take place at the club, but that couldn’t happen as the police were making life miserable in that they had no desire whatsoever to release the crime scene.
That was frustrating.
I invited the women of the Voodoo Bastards MC over to my place to gather around my table for Cypress, and they took me up on it.
Chainsaw made himself scarce that night, going and staying out at the Bayou House alone, which I hadn’t liked. I couldn’t help myself but text him all throughout the evening, taxing myself with holding down two completely separate but no less important conversations on top of a long and exhausting day at the hospital.
“So if we can’t hold things at the club, where’s the next best place?” Cor asked Jessie-Lou.
“My brother would be rolling in the freezer if we even suggested a church or funeral chapel,” Jessie-Lou said, exhausted. “I’ll fight Momma and Daddy to the damn death on that, because that’s what they wanted to do.”
“The distillery isn’t off-limits,” I said. “But that really doesn’t feel right.”
“Agreed,” Alina said.
“What are some of the other places he liked where a big party with a lot of liquor could go down?” Sandy asked.
It was Velina who slapped both her palms on the table, making us all jump with her epiphany. “You’re a genius!” she declared to Sandy. “That’s it!”
“I am?” Sandy asked.
“It is?” Alina looked mollified.
“You’re not thinking Laffite’s Blacksmith Shop, are you?” I asked. “That place would be way too small, and I don’t picture a place like that allowing for a private rental of the whole place.
“No, no! Not Laffite’s.” Velina shook her head.
Jessie-Lou looked startled and snapped her fingers, pointing at Velina and shaking her finger three times, crowing, “I’m pickin’ up what you’re throwin' down!”
“Okay, that’s great,” Alina said, laughing. “Mind filling the rest of us in?”
“Landry’s,” Velina and Jessie-Lou said in unison.
