Page 80 of Sweet Home Louisiana

He stood up and moved to the front of the boat, addressing the group.He told them about the vegetation they were seeing and some of the animals and birds they’d seen on the way down.Then he turned and pointed to the shoreline.

“And now you get to meet a few of my friends,” he said.“There are three gators that live over in this area.Alligators are very territorial, so they like to be alone, but in this case old Fred is the alpha and he lets Wilma and Betty live over here, too.”He pointed and everyone leaned to look.“Right over there was where Wilma built her nest.”There was a mound of dirt and grass about ten yards up the bank.“She’s got some eggs in there right now.”He looked back at the kids on the boat.“Alligators lay eggs like birds, but they don’t sit on ’em like chickens.She covers ’em up with mud and grass and then parks herself there to guard them.Raccoons, some birds, even other alligators love gator eggs.”Owen pivoted just slightly and said, “And look right there.”

There were several gasps and some pointing, and many of the tourists pulled out their phones to record when they spotted the alligator that was basking on the mud at the edge of the water.The thing was eight feet long and blended perfectly into the dirt and weeds.If you didn’t know she was there, you wouldn’t see her.

Maddie shuddered.That was probably Wilma since she was near where Owen had pointed out the nest, but Maddie didn’t care.It was an alligator.That’s all she needed to know.

On one hand, this was good.Tourists took these tours to see alligators.That was just a fact.They were happier and gave better reviews when they saw one.

It did make Maddie wonder where Fred was, though.If this was his territory, he wouldn’t be far.

Owen continued explaining about how baby alligators make a high-pitched noise when they’re ready to hatch and how the mom then uncovers them and helps them and how the temperature of the eggs while they were in the nest determined the sex of the babies.

The kids were fascinated, and Maddie found herself hanging on his every word, too.Not because of what he was saying—alligators were huge, nasty lizards that gave her the heebie-jeebies—but because he looked so freaking hot doing this.It wasn’t the June sun beating down—and it was very much beating down—but because he was so into this.He loved making the kids’ eyes go wide, he loved showing people around his beloved bayou, he loved being out here on the water, in the sunshine and fresh air.

She was being turned on by watching Owen talk about alligators.

She was insomuch trouble.

“I see another mound over there,” Owen said pointing at a spot a few yards in the other direction.“I’m gonna go check it out and see if maybe Betty has some eggs, too.”

He gave everyone a grin and promptly stripped off his shirt.

Maddie blamed that for the fact that it took several seconds to process what he’d just said.It sunk in about the time that Owen turned and jumped into the water.

She was up and out of her seat immediately.As was everyone else.Every person on both boats got on their feet, watching Owen wade toward the shore.The water hit him just above the waistband of his shorts, then slowly dropped as he got closer to the land.

Holy shit.What the hell was he doing?

There were fucking alligators in that water.Not just that, but one female who definitely had a nest to protect and possibly a second.

Female alligators with nests were nasty.All alligators were nasty in Maddie’s opinion, but females with babies were especially so.

She realized she was holding her breath while the rest of the people on the boat were filming and gasping and talking about how cool this was and questioning if he was crazy.

Yes, yes he was.

That was a fact.Owen took risks.Period.He liked to go hard, he loved the adrenaline rush.And he was cocky.These guys all thought they knew everything about the bayou.

Well, her brother had grown up on these waters.And he’d died here.

Suddenly Maddie felt a cold wave wash through her body.She gripped the arm of her chair, watching Owen pull himself through the water.She scanned the area.Where was Fred?Generally alligators were like other wild animals in that they preferred to avoid humans when possible.The Landry boys had been swimming and boating in these waters all their lives and they knew what to look out for.She kept repeating that to herself.But her brain wouldn’t stop staying, “So did Tommy.”

Then someone shouted, “Oh my God, she’s in the water!”and Maddie swung around to see Wilma ease herself into the water.

And turn toward Owen.

Maddie suddenly felt like she was going to puke.

She couldn’t lose him.She wouldn’t survive that.There was so much she needed to say and do.Why thefuckwas he out here risking his life like this when she was here now and they’d barely gotten started again?

Owen pulled himself up onto the bank and bent some of the tall reeds and grass to one side.He turned to the boat and gave them all a big thumbs-up.He’d found another nest?

Who the hell cared?So the stupid alligators were laying eggs.That just meantmorestupid alligators.She watched, her body frozen, her mind whirling as Wilma headed for where Owen was.She saw him, Maddie was sure of it.That alligator was on her way over therebecauseOwen was there.

She looked around.There were no trees for Owen to climb.That was a great go-to move.The ground he was on was marshland.Running away from Wilma/Betty/whoever-the-fuck-she-was—the second-best option to get away from a gator—wasn’t going to work.

Shit, shit, shit.

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