Page 14 of 40-Yard Line

“When we get a call from you guys, we move,” smiled the man. A young man stepped from the truck and looked at Kelly standing behind Gabe.

“Kelly? Kelly Hardesty?”

“Oh, my gosh! Henry! I haven’t seen you in years!”

“Since high school,” he smiled. “My dad owns the construction company, and I work for him now.”

“Why don’t you two get reacquainted, and I’ll start looking at what needs to be done,” said the older man.

By the time Mac and Gabe left, the contractor had laid out everything that would get done to the house and ensured Ed and Kelly that they would be provided temporary housing until the work was done. Almost everything had to be either repaired or redone in the home. When it was done, the house would look brand new.

“We’ll be in touch to check on things,” said Mac. “If you think of anything else, just give us a call.”

“Thank you,” said Kelly, shaking her head. “Henry is going to help me with Dad until the medical team arrives. After that, he’ll help us get to the temporary housing. We don’t have a lot, so packing things up should be easy. Henry said that the temporary housing will have dishes, pots and pans, towels, everything. I was worried about moving Dad to a place that was unfamiliar to him, but Henry said that it would be quiet and somewhat similar to this house. I don’t know why, but I trust him.”

“He seems like a nice guy,” smirked Mac.

“He was. He is, I think,” she said. “I don’t know. I haven’t been able to think about dating with Dad here. Maybe now I can.”

“You’re young and have a life to live, Kelly. Don’t forget to live it. Your dad will be okay.”

CHAPTER NINE

Holiday decorating was full-on at Belle Fleur. The trees had been placed on the porches as well as inside the cottages and cabins. The big house was being decorated, and even the island with the animals on it had lights on the trees, wreaths, and a number of festive signs.

Gaspar stared at the animals from the dock of the island, shaking his head. It looked like Santa’s village, with all of the animals donning red ribbons around their necks.

“Red ribbons? Seriously? We’re putting red ribbons on their necks,” he frowned.

“Mama insisted,” smirked Antoine. “She said the animals feel better when they’re decorated like everything else.”

“I cannot fucking believe this. How much did ribbon cost for the necks of bison and elephants?”

“Does it matter?” laughed Rafe.

Gaspar punched his brother’s arm, sending him stumbling as he laughed. He turned to stare at the menagerie and shook his head again. Then, seeing something strange, he looked back at the men.

“Are those live turkeys?” asked Gaspar, opening and closing his mouth in shock.

“Uh, yes,” said Sly.

“Explain. Why do we have live turkeys? Are we serving them for dinner?”

“Not those,” said Jean. “Mama wanted to give them a pardon, sort of like the president does every year. You know, it’s her kingdom and all, and she thought it was a good idea considering Mr. Babin and his sons were hunting them, and they wandered onto our land. They asked permission to hunt them, but Mama refused. Instead, she brought them here.”

“So, we can’t eat them. We can’t hunt them, and we can’t let Mr. Babin have them. Why the hell are they here?”

“I guess so they can have a good life,” smiled Baptiste.

“On my tombstone, I want it to say, ‘driven mad by his mother.’ Everything else okay with the animals?”

“Babies.”

“Fuck!”

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!”

“Shit!”

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