Read Online The Vigil by Marian P. Merritt - Free Book Online Page A

her intense gaze.
    If she knew anything, now would be the time to ask. I’d told Beau I searched for information about a couple in the fifties, but I had not said much else. “Mrs. Mouton, I’m trying to find a couple from Bijou Bayou who were seeing each other around 1950.”
    The green of her eyes lit up and her pupils dilated. “Really. How interesting.” She leaned forward. “Do you have any names?”
    I paused. I hadn’t said anything about one member of the couple being a patient, but I didn’t want Beau to make the connection. “The man would have gone off to war. Korean War.”
    Her eyes flashed toward Beau and then back to me. She straightened her shoulders and aligned her spoon next to her bowl. “Hmm.” She furrowed her brow. “The Perlouix family had a couple of boys go off to war, Carlton and Rusty. They were pretty popular back in our younger days for being rabble-rousers. They lived down the street from my childhood home, but we were never close. Then there was Troy Anderson and Billy Comeaux who lived in town. Those were the only veterans from our small town. Billy never came home.” She shrugged her shoulders.
    “Did either of them date a girl from town?”
    She took a bite of her shrimp boulette and chewed for much longer than necessary. Once she finally swallowed, she patted each side of her red lips, placed her napkin back onto her lap, and then asked, “How’s your grandmother?”
    The abrupt change of subject threw me. I scrambled to understand why she would ignore my question. I turned to Beau. Had he noticed the brush off?
    He smiled.
    “She’s doing well. We anticipate she’ll be able to go home soon.”
    “Have you asked her about this couple? Did you know her family used to live close to ours out on Highway 62?”
    I hadn’t known my family had lived out in the country. “No, I haven’t asked her. Not yet. And I didn’t know you used to be neighbors.”
    “We were best friends growing up.” She sipped her sweet tea. Her gaze met mine head on. “It’s a good idea to wait. She probably doesn’t know any more than I do. Most good people kept their distance from the Perlouix family.” Her forced grin made me regret accepting Beau’s invitation.
    “Well.” Beau lowered his fork and crossed his arms on the edge of the table. “Steven is doing great in baseball. They haven’t lost a game yet. Isn’t that right, buddy?”
    “Yeah, if we win all our games we get to go to state. Isn’t that cool?” Steven shoved a whole shrimp boulette into his mouth.
    Grateful for Beau’s rescue, I nodded and thought of excuses to leave before dessert. The hammering pain growing in my temples should do it.
    For the next half-hour, Beau and Steven volleyed for control of the conversation with exploits from Steven’s ball games. I suspected the diversion from his grandmother was intentional.
    I struggled through dessert, bread pudding with bourbon sauce, and Mrs. Mouton’s fake smiles.
    Out in the driveway, Beau opened my car door. “I’m sorry about my grandmother’s behavior. I’m not sure what that was about.”
    “It’s OK. Not your fault.” I slid into the driver’s seat.
    Steven ran out before Beau could close my car door. “Miss Cheryl, it was nice meeting you. Can you come out to one of my games? I’m playing tomorrow afternoon.”
    What could I say? His big brown eyes were looking at me as though his very happiness depended on me attending his ballgame. With Beau’s brothers living out of town and his parents gone, Beau was the only family attending Steven’s games. “How about a rain check. I promised I’d sit with your mom this Saturday.”
    “You know my mom?”
    “We used to be friends a long time ago.”
    “Cool. Maybe you can come out next week.”
    “Maybe.” I smiled. “I’d like to see you slam those home runs you keep talking about.”
    Beau shuffled on the asphalt driveway. “Cheryl, if you’re busy it’s OK. You don’t have to come