Page 23 of Sweet Home Louisiana

“Don’t think that you’re gonna go in there and fuck everything up on purpose,” Owen said, leaning in, suddenly not as nonchalant.“You don’t want to be here.Fine.But you’re not gonna mess stuff up for us.”

He still knew her.Her heart gave a little stutter.She shook her head.“Okay, I promise I won’t.”She looked around the table.“You guys, I really don’t want the business to have problems.In fact, the opposite is true.That’s why I want to bring Bennett in to meet you all.”

Sawyer sighed.“We’re not ready to talk about all of that.”

“He’s great,” Maddie insisted anyway.“He’s excited about the opportunity.He wants to learn to fish and hunt and drive the boats.He’s like a big kid—”

“He doesn’t even fish?”Owen asked.He scoffed.“Yeah, sounds like a perfect fit.”

“Anyone can learn to fish,” Maddie said.“Not just anyone can come in here with a quarter of a million dollars on day one.”

“Holy shit.”That was the first time Kennedy had said anything.“Are you serious?”

Maddie nodded.“I am.He’s willing to buy me outandmake a substantial investment right away.”

“Who is this guy?”Kennedy asked.

“Bennett Baxter,” Maddie told her.“He’s from Savannah.Old money.His great-grandfather—”

“Bennett Baxter?”Kennedy repeated, wrinkling her nose.“He sounds like a dick.”

“He’s not.He’s very—”

“He’s fromGeorgia?”Owen asked.“He’s not even a Louisiana boy?”

Maddie sighed.

“Oh, fuck,” Josh groaned.“Is he a Bulldog?”

Yeah, like who the guy rooted for in college football mattered.

But Maddie had asked him the same thing.

She was still a closet LSU fan.Not that she’d admit that to these guys.They’d think that meant she was nostalgic about home and football Saturdays.She ate nachos and drank beer every Saturday in the fall and was perfectly happy.On her couch.At home.Alone.But it was good.There was no yelling and cussing—except her own—and no risks of things like coffee tables, lamps, or big screen televisions getting broken.All of those things had been victims of LSU football losses in the past.

“He doesn’t even like football,” Maddie told them as a reassurance.

“Shit, that’s even worse,” Kennedy said.“What kind of person doesn’t like football?”

It was a fair question, but Maddie gave her a look, pretending that being a grown-up meant realizing that there were more important things about a potential business partner than him caring about a college sporting event.

“One who thinks snapping turtles are cool and can’t wait for his first crawfish boil.”

Kennedy tipped her head back with a loud groan.“He doesn’t even eat crawfish?Jesus.”

Bennett Baxter had been raised in the lap of luxury and on the phone had been enthusiastic, almost kid-like, about all of the things he imagined were waiting for him on the bayou.

Of course, he wasn’t wrong.Not only could he attend a crawfish boil nearly any weekend, if Leo found out about his turtle fascination, Leo would cook one of those up for him, too.

“He’s gotmoney,” Maddie said.“And hewantsto buy in.That’s really the important part here.”

“I’m not babysitting some rich asshole who’s bored golfing and traveling the world and has decided to come slum in Autre,” Kennedy announced.

“Calm down,” Sawyer told his sister.“That’s not going to happen.”

Maddie hoped he meant the babysitting thing and not the entire Bennett thing.Kennedy spending time with the rich guy who didn’t know anything about airboats and alligators would probably not go well.She was clever and, having grown up as the only girl in the Landry family, she’d developed a taste for pranks and one-upmanship.There was very little that intimidated Kennedy Landry.

Bennett wouldn’t stand a chance.

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