Read Online Deja Voodoo (A Cajun Magic Novel) (Entangled Suspense) by Elle James - Free Book Online

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    “Do you all come in pairs?”
    Again in unison, they shook their heads.
    “Do you have names?” he asked.
    “I’m Teddy,” said the girl and she pointed at the boy. “He’s Roosevelt, but everyone calls him Rosie.”
    The boy’s eyes narrowed and his fists clenched. “Only if they want a fat lip.”
    Ed raised his hands in surrender. “Okay. I’m not looking for a fight. Roosevelt it is.”
    The two sat on the porch at his feet and stripped the lures from their packaging.
    “I take it you’ve done this before,” he stated.
    “Our oldest sister’s been taking us fishing since we were little,” Teddy offered. She released the line from the reel with practiced ease and threaded it through the rings along the length of the pole.
    Since the twins couldn’t be more than six or seven themselves, that meant their sister had been taking them fishing since they were toddlers, barely out of diapers. “She must be pretty good at it.”
    “She is,” Rosie said. “Knows all the good places to go.” He tied a lure to the end of the line and hooked it to one of the rings.
    “Does she guide fishing tours?”
    Teddy reeled the line in until it grew taut, the hook on the ring anchoring the line so that it didn’t fly around. “No, she owns a gym in Morgan City.”
    Ed made mental notes about the kids’ handling of the rod and reel so that he could do that later without looking completely inept. “She owns her own gym?”
    “Yes, sir.” Rosie arranged the other hooks, lures, and spinners in the tackle box. “We go there for karate lessons.”
    “Sounds like she’s looking out for you,” Ed observed. He hadn’t had any older siblings to look out for him. Since his own parents had died when he was four, he’d been pretty much on his own to figure out important things like tying his shoes, let alone lures on fishing lines. Some things he’d mastered on his own, others he apparently had to learn from seven-year-old strangers.
    “You’re coming to dinner, aren’t you?” Teddy stood and brushed the dust from her cutoffs.
    “Yes, ma’am,” he said.
    She nodded, all serious. “Good, ’cause we came to get you.”
    He put the pole and tackle box inside the door and locked the cottage before setting off across the yard to the Boyette house, Teddy’s little hand in his and Rosie marching alongside, too much of a man to hold his hand. He marveled at how small and yet trusting Teddy was, and how good it felt to have a child’s hand in his. Made him feel big and somehow more responsible. He shook off the unwelcome idea and concentrated on what lay ahead. Kids…who would have thought they’d be…well…so not annoying? Or was it only when in small doses?
    Having an escort reminded him of the nightmare he was in for tonight. Dinner with an army of children who all looked and sounded alike. So much for escapes . The Boyettes had him surrounded. He’d have to wring Ben’s neck next time he saw him. This place…this family…should have come with a damn warning label.
    …
    “With the new clothes, shoes, and haircut, it’ll work,” Calliope said. “Trust me.”
    Her stomach churning, Alex slowed the closer they got to her mother’s house. “I don’t know. It seemed like a good idea two hours ago, but now I’m getting cold feet.”
    Sport walked upright between them, his gaze darting around at every movement, his feet still clumsy in the oversize shoes they’d borrowed from Maurice Saulnier. Once, Calliope had to jerk him back from going after a cat. Alex had to hold him steady when a squirrel raced up a tree in front of Miz Mozelle’s house.
    This is a really bad idea . She almost turned and ran back to her house at least half a dozen times in the few blocks they’d gone. “He has the attention span of a…”
    “Golden retriever? Give him time, he’s been human for less than a day.” Calliope hugged Sport’s arm. “You’re a good boy, Sport.”
    “He is a good boy. Poor baby.”