After Bobbie and Cade left the doctor’s house in the Garden District, Cade called the attorney’s office that handled the probate of Adele’s grandparents’ will. Cade knew from his prior research of public records that Adele was raised by her grandparents on the plantation and that she’d inherited it from them. He’d never been able to find out anything through public records about who her father was. Her mother hadn’t put the name of her father on the birth certificate and after leaving Adele with her grandparents when she was seven years old, her mother had just disappeared. Cade couldn’t find a death certificate for her, but since no one he contacted had seen her, he presumed she was dead. Now that he knew Adele found out much later that Dr. Marshall was her father he had to wonder if maybe her mother was still around somewhere and maybe, just maybe, she knew something that could help them. It was a long shot, but it was a shot. Cade hoped that the attorney could give them an idea of the woman’s whereabouts if she was still alive. If not, maybe he would be able to give them an idea of any other property Adele might have owned…any place that she and Marshall might have stored records.
Vincent Sweeney, the senior partner of the firm, was the one that handled the probate. He was still with the firm, but Cade was told he wouldn’t be able to meet with him and Bobbie until the following day. It was late afternoon by the time they headed back to the Residence Inn in downtown New Orleans where Cade had rented them two rooms. The rooms had kitchenettes and since Bobbie told him she wasn’t interested in dinner at a restaurant on their way back, Cade stopped at a small grocery store to buy some groceries. He figured she would be hungry later, and he was starving.
They walked into the store and Cade grabbed a grocery basket. He was headed for the back where he saw a sign for a deli, when Bobbie picked up a bottle of wine off the shelf and put it in the basket. He smiled. “Wine? I thought you were a beer and whiskey kind of girl.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “I need to relax tonight. A glass of wine and a long bath sounds wonderful.”
As they rounded the corner to the deli, Cade saw an advertisement for pre-packed picnic baskets and smiled. “How about a picnic along the banks of the Mississippi River first? It’s still early and you would still be able to have that bath when we get back.”
“A picnic, huh? Yeah, okay. Let’s do that.” They checked out what was in the deli case and gave their order for the picnic basket to the clerk. While they waited, Bobbie wandered away for a few minutes and came back with a box of crackers and a can of Cheese Whiz.
Cade laughed. “They have real cheese here, you know.”
“This is real cheese.”
“It’s cheese product.”
“Real cheese product,” she said.
Cade chuckled. “Fine, you can eat cheese product and Ritz crackers. I’m getting a block of that fresh gouda and a box of water crackers for myself.”
“Snob,” she said, rolling her eyes. “My mama makes the best cheese.”
“Really? Why haven’t you ever brought me any of that?”
“Didn’t know you were such a cheese connoisseur.”
Cade laughed again. The clerk had their basket ready and after they paid for it, Cade got his Gouda cheese and water crackers along with some eggs, sausage, coffee, and orange juice for their breakfast in the morning. After they paid for everything, Cade drove them to a park called Bayou St. John. It was a quiet, scenic place, even though it was a popular place for kayakers and joggers. Cade had been there before and he knew that most of the activity took place early in the day. By the time they got there, it was close to sundown and there were a few people left in the park. Cade realized when they looked for a place to set up their picnic, that they’d forgotten a blanket.
“Damn, I’m sorry…”
“For what? Look at this grass. It’s lush and green. I’m not a fancy girl, you know that. I’ve sat on worse.” Bobbie plopped down in the grass and with a smile, Cade sat down next to her and opened the picnic basket. He was glad to see that the store had packed a small plastic tablecloth in the basket. He took that out and set up their sandwiches, containers of potato salad, coleslaw, and green olives. He pulled out a bag of baked potato chips and the bottle of wine. There were paper plates and cups in the basket and he took those out too, before popping open the wine. As he poured it into the paper cups, Bobbie was peeling the cap off the cheese whiz. Cade handed her a cup of wine and watched in amusement as she sprayed the cheese on one of her crackers, piling it high like an ice cream cone.
“Got enough cheese on there?” he asked her with a chuckle.
“No such thing as too much cheese…product,” she said with a small grin. She popped it into her mouth and then closed her eyes and rubbed her belly. “Mm…so good.”
Cade was almost ashamed of himself thanks to the desire that her look and the sound she made caused to rise inside of him. She opened her eyes and he tried to avert his before she caught him.
Clearing his throat, he said, “You want a sandwich or are you going to suck your dinner out of the can?”
She sprayed a mouthful of cheese on her tongue and proceeded to lick the excess off her lips. She was killing him. When she finished, she said, “I want a sandwich and definitely some of those olives…oh, and that brand of chips are great with cheese.”
“Cheese…or cheese product?” Before he stopped talking she sprayed him with the cheese. A big glob landed on the side of his face. Cade sat in shock for a second, but then she started giggling and brought him out of it. He grabbed her hand and wrenched the can away from her. They began wrestling over it and before they knew it, they were both covered in sticky cheese and laughing uncontrollably. Cade pinned her to the ground and she was laughing so hard that tears were running down her face. “Now what, huh?”
It took Bobbie a minute to catch her breath and when she did, she said, “I give up. I surrender.” When Cade didn’t move, she said, “Uncle! Get off of me, you big lug!”
“I’m thinking…wondering if I should trust you.”
She giggled again. “The can is empty. You wasted all my cheese.”
“I wasted it?” He tickled her ribs and she screeched. Cade gave her a second to catch her breath and while she did, he looked up and noticed the sun setting across the river. He let go of her and said, “Wow, look at that.”
Bobbie sat up then too, wiping hair and cheese out of her face as she did. Cade turned to look at her and before he knew it, he was watching her instead of the sun. Her fascinated gaze was locked onto the fiery red remnants of the sun as it sank down into the river. Her blue eyes were wide and the reflection of the sinking sun made them shine. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips were moist and even with the cheese on her forehead and chin, Cade thought at that moment she was the most beautiful woman on earth.
“So beautiful,” she whispered.
“Yeah,” he whispered back. They weren’t talking about the same thing, but once again when Bobbie looked at him, he turned his head quickly so she didn’t catch him lusting over her.
“Let’s rinse off all this cheese.”
“Excuse me?”
“Let’s get in the river and wash off all this cheese. It’s warm out here and no one is around.”
“Our clothes will get soaked.”
She rolled her eyes. “For being the smartest guy I know, you sure are dense sometimes. Do I have to spell it out? Let’s go skinny dipping.”
He almost choked. “We’ll get arrested.”
“Fine. You never used to be such a worrywart. I do believe I’ve even heard you say, ‘It’s not like I haven’t been arrested before.’ But whatever, I have on a bra and panties. It’s like wearing a bikini, right? Don’t you have on shorts?”
“Of course I do.”
“Well, the way you’re acting, I wanted to make sure you hadn’t switched to a pair of tighty whities that were cutting off your manhood.” She giggled as she said it and stood up. He reached for her, but she was already in motion, running toward the river and stripping off her clothes as she ran. Cade groaned and stood up and followed her. By the time he got to the edge of the river, she was already wading out about three feet in. The water was up to the back of her thighs and Cade was trying hard not to stare at the rest of her mostly exposed body.
“It’s nice and warm!” she called out. “You coming in?”
“There’s gators in there.”
Bobbie froze. “What? You’re lying.”
“We’re in Louisiana and that water you’re in is shallow and swampy…”
“Shit!” she squealed and started running back toward him. “Something touched my leg!” She ran out of the river and straight into Cade’s arms. He wanted to frighten her out of the dark, swampy water, but he hadn’t planned on having her almost naked in his arms. He shivered against her and instinctively pulled her into him so that her hair was pressed into the side of his face and her breasts were crushed against his chest. She didn’t try to move, so he didn’t either. He held her and watched the last of the bright red sun turn in for the night, leaving orange and pink streaked clouds against the dark sky in its wake.
“Cade?”
The sound of her voice and the warmth of her breath against his shoulder brought him out of his reverie. “Yeah?”
“We’re going to find him, right?”
He hugged her tighter and let his lips brush against her soft, blonde hair. “We’re going to find him,” he whispered back. They stood there like that for a long time before he felt her shiver and reluctantly said, “You better get your clothes back on before you catch a cold.” She nodded into him and he let her go. When he did, she looked at him with those blue eyes that were driving him crazy.
“I wouldn’t mind company tonight…if you’re interested.”
Cade’s mouth went dry in an instant, but before he could reply, she had gathered her clothes and was pulling them on over where they’d left their picnic basket. Cade realized that neither of them had eaten, unless Bobbie counted her one cracker and mound of Cheese Whiz. Strangely enough, he wasn’t hungry any longer…at least not for food.