It was after five o’clock on a Friday night and Chloe had been in Louisiana for almost four weeks. She was done with her employee assessments, had moved on to the business plan for the new office, and was optimistic that if she pushed herself, she could be out of Louisiana in less than ten days.
From the conference room on the tenth floor Chloe could hear music, varying in style from rock to what sounded like African tribal drums celebrating the hunt. She turned toward the only window in the room, closed her eyes, and let herself be distracted by the sound of the drums until a knock at the door broke her peace.
She had expected Alice or Walter to be on the other side of the door, but instead it was an older woman with skin the color of burnt caramel, her hair almost completely gray, and piercing dark eyes. She was dressed in bright pink scrubs and held an unfolded plastic garbage bag in her hand. As she opened the door wider, Chloe noticed a rolling cart behind her stocked with cleaning supplies. When she spoke, her Cajun accent was so thick, Chloe focused intently to make sure she understood what was being said.
“My apologies, chérie,” the woman said as she pointed to the garbage can against the wall next to Chloe.
Chloe began gathering the papers in front of her. “I can leave the room if—”
The woman gave a tsk and waved her hand at Chloe. As the woman walked in the direction of the garbage can, Chloe asked, “Where is all that music coming from?”
“Why, the festival, o’course,” she replied with a laugh. “You not from here.”
Chloe smiled at the woman. “No, ma’am.”
The woman forgot about her own work and sat at the table next to Chloe. “Willetta Boudreaux.”
Chloe prepared herself for the game of twenty questions she knew was coming. “Chloe Riggs.”
“Where you from, Ms. Chloe?”
“Michigan,” she lied.
Willetta looked at her with curiosity and gestured with her chin to the stacks of files and papers on the desk. “What is it you do?”
“I’m a consultant.” Giving the shortest description she could, Chloe explained what she did for a living, and while she listened, Willetta would nod in understanding.
“Well, now. That sounds like a good job. Are you happy, child?”
Chloe felt bad that she had to lie to Willetta again. “Of course.”
“Hmm,” Willetta said with a doubtful tone. “What about your family?”
“My mother passed away and my father and I don’t spend a lot of time together.”
“Well, maybe if the Lord smiling down, you be able to see your father again soon. Nothing more important than family.” Chloe faked the best smile she could as Willetta patted Chloe’s hand. “Well, enough about that. Back to your question. The Festival International is what’s being celebrated outside. It’s quite a celebration, it is. People from all over the world come to this festival, it’s true.” Willetta stood up and changed out the garbage liners in the can. “You need to go to that festival, chérie.”
Chloe had been captivated by the music and had a feeling Willetta was right. “I might be able to spare some time tomorrow.”
“You be sure and do that.”
After Willetta left the room, Chloe looked at her watch, realizing she had an hour before she had to be at Alice’s for dinner and wondered if the music could be heard from that far away.
***
“I most certainly did too tell you about the festival,” Alice said, setting a cup of coffee in front of Chloe, and sat down at the table. “Sometimes I wonder if you hear half the things I say to you.”
Chloe had been spending a majority of her free time outside of the office with Alice and her family. Reggie was good for Alice and obviously loved her unconditionally. Charlie and Samuel—who could be heard playing together in the other room, either video games or pretending they were warriors hunting down dragons and bad guys—were the center of their world. Chloe instantly fell in love with the boys and they took to her as if they had known her since the day they were born. Occasionally she would read them a story before bed, knowing it was just an excuse to get to stay awake for an extra ten minutes, but she didn’t mind. There was a part of her that was jealous Alice was able to achieve her dream of a family and being happy, so she took what she could get until she had to leave Louisiana.
Alice took a sip of her own coffee, glancing at the clock, counting the minutes until she would force the boys to go to sleep. “Ms. Willetta actually lives two houses down across the street. Her granddaughter lives with her, but I’ve never met her. From what I’ve been told, she is in a wheelchair and prefers not to leave the house.”
“That’s too bad.” Chloe decided it was time to ask the question that had been burning in her mind since she first saw Alice. “Do you think it’s a coincidence that we’re both in the same place at the same time?”
“I did for a little while, but not anymore.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re still here.” From the other room she heard the boys howl with laughter and Alice smiled. “And because I think we have been careful to make sure nobody knows who we are.”
“Reggie knows about your tattoo,” Chloe pointed out.
“True, but he doesn’t know who I used to be.” Alice let out a sigh. “Reggie knows I am keeping secrets from him. Every once in a while he asks questions about my past and I am either vague or make something up because I can’t tell him. I know he gets frustrated sometimes but he doesn’t press me for information. He says when I’m ready, I’ll tell him.”
Chloe stared into her coffee cup and silently wondered if the day came when she met someone she was willing to give a relationship a chance with, would she would keep all of her secrets or trust them enough to tell the truth and not be afraid anymore.
“Besides,” Alice said, “we won’t be hiding forever. Maybe, if we’re lucky, your father will get sick again and won’t have the energy to go on.”
Chloe’s head snapped up. “What do you mean, sick?”
“I told you about that,” Alice said defensively, then thought about it. “Didn’t I?”
“Trust me, I would have remembered.”
Alice shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know if he’s still sick, but about a year after you left, your dad got sick. Nobody knew for sure, but all of the girls agreed it must have been a heart attack. He was in the hospital a few days. David came out to check on things and Dr. Michaelson was there every day for weeks.”
Chloe took a drink of her coffee, taking her time to think about it. Her father was sick or had been. If something were to happen to him, as his daughter, she would be the beneficiary of his kingdom. But if she wasn’t there to claim the crown, who would it go to? The next question she had to ask herself was, if—not if, when—she inherited the throne, would she even want it? She was surprised to admit to herself that she didn’t know the answer.
Alice interrupted Chloe’s thoughts. “So, the festival. You should go and at least check it out.”
“I’m not too crazy about hanging out in crowds for very long.”
“So take a once-around just to say you’ve been and go home. Seriously, blow off work for one weekend and go have fun.” Alice looked at the clock then turned her head down the hall. “Boys! Ten minutes!”
Within seconds, Charlie and Samuel, came running in, both dressed in old Halloween costumes—Charlie in an almost too-small Spiderman costume and Samuel wearing Superman, complete with cape whipping out behind him as he ran. They both rushed Alice with hugs, begging to stay up longer.
“Just a few more minutes,” Charlie said.
“We love you, Mommy,” Samuel added in the sweetest voice he could muster.
Then both at the same time, with puppy dog eyes, “Pleeease?”
Chloe smiled into her coffee cup. Those boys were fantastic.
Alice had to hide a laugh and smile. “We have to get up early in the morning to go see Granny and Papa. Go get ready for bed. I’ll be in in a few minutes.”
Both boys turned on Chloe, still with the puppy dog eyes, looking for some kind of savior to let them stay up just a little while longer. All Chloe could do was press her mouth shut so she wouldn’t smile or laugh, and gave them a look that told them they’d better listen to their mother. Defeated, both boys slumped and turned back toward the bedroom. The disappointment was abruptly forgotten as Charlie turned to Samuel.
“Race you!” Charlie ran down the hallway with Samuel on his heels.
It was confirmed. Chloe was jealous.