Page 39 of My Best Friend's Mardi Gras Wedding

“Oh.”Tori had been delighted to see the otter, and when he’d climbed up on the deck and then sat next to her feet, she’d felt downright giddy.Otters weren’t something she saw in Iowa.

“Animals are excellent judges of character,” Cora said.

Tori nodded.“I agree a hundred percent.”

“She’s a vet,” Ellie said, with a touch of pride if Tori wasn’t mistaken.

Cora finally smiled.“And people who love animals are the best kind of people.”

Tori returned her smile.“Thank you.And I agree again.”

“It was very nice to meet you,” Cora said.“How about some crawfish pie?”

Ah, the crawfish pie.Was she willing to risk eating something that would make her forget about home and want to stay here forever?“I’d love to try it,” she said, feeling her stomach flip.

It was lunch.It wasn’t a major life decision.But…it felt important.

“I called you up here to tell her Jerry and Hannah’s story,” Ellie said.“I’ll get the pie.”

“Oh, Jerry and Hannah’s story,” Cora said, her eyes twinkling.“It’s legendary.”

Tori laughed.“So I hear.”

Cora moved to the bar and leaned in, much like Ellie had.“It all started at the street dance over in Sutton,” she said.“I was over there with my husband, Danny, and Jerry and my son, Luke, came over.We were just sittin’ there, listening to the music and drinking lemonade.”

Leo snorted at that and Cora shot him a look.“What?”

“Lemonade?”Leo asked.“Last time you told this story, it was root beer.”

Cora glared at him.“I had lemonade and Danny had root beer.”

Leo outright laughed at that.“I knew Danny all my life.No fuckin’ way was he drinkin’ root beer.”

Cora waved that away.“Anyway, we were just sittin’ there, drinkingthings, and chatting, and all of a sudden Jerry sits up straight and his mouth drops open and it’s like he’s gone into this trance.”

Jerry—Jeremiah—just smiled as Cora told his story, lifting a glass of sweet tea and taking a sip.

“So we all look over and we see this girl.She’s really pretty and she’s wearing this cute little sundress and she’s talking to a group of friends.And then she turns around andbam, she looks at Jerry and she does the same thing—her mouth drops open and she just stares.”Cora shook her head.“It was the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Tori looked at Jeremiah.He gave her a wink.

“So Luke nudges him,” Cora continued.“Then when that doesn’t work, Luke slaps him upside the head, and finally Jerry snaps out of it.But he doesn’t say anything to any of us.He just stands up and heads straight for that girl.They danced and talked, just the two of them, the rest of the night.”

“Wow,” Tori said.“This is like a scene from a movie.”

Cora nodded.“It gets better.He starts seeing her every single night.Until this one night, about two weeks later, he comes home, with her in his truck and her suitcases in the back.”

Tori looked at Jeremiah again.“You eloped?”she guessed.

He shook his head.He wasn’t grinning now.

“He’d gone to see her and found her and her dad out in the front yard.Her dad was drunk and screaming at her.He had her by the arm and was shaking her.”Cora’s expression had hardened too.“Jerry jumped out of the truck and stomped over there.He shoved her dad away and when the dumbass came at him, Jerry hit him so hard he put him on his ass.He told Hannah she had two minutes to grab whatever stuff she wanted to take but that she wasn’t going back to that house.He stood over her sniveling asshole of a father while she packed her bags.Then he put her in the truck and drove her straight to Autre.”

Tori knew her eyes were round.Her heart was racing just hearing the story.It was awful and romantic at the same time.“Wow,” she said quietly.

Jeremiah gave her a little smile and nod.“Would have done anything for her.Still would.”

“So, anyway,” Cora said, clearly with more story to tell.“Her dad came after her.With a bunch of their relatives.They came tearing over here in pickups with their shotguns and shit, wanting to start some kind of war.”

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