Page 42 of The Soul Never Forgets

“Good grief, Dawsey, I’m not going to send you to jail. At least not intentionally. I’ll read to you about their reunion. With any luck, that’s where you’ll land.”

This will be a bit of an experiment to see if we can pick and choose where he goes or if he’s at the mercy of whatever forces are controlling this.

“Before you read to me, fill me in what happened in the meantime though.”

My poor Frank. He got the raw end of the deal. “Frank went to work the next morning and the police came for him first thing. He was taken to the station, and as expected, they used all of their sleazy tactics to try and intimidate him into telling them where Augustina was. He didn’t crack though. They held him for two months, which was total bullshit, and I don’t know how they got away with that. I guess it was just the times.”

“They were probably under the impression that Gussy would run into hard times and become desperate without him there to take care of her. They’d smoke her out.”

“No doubt. But they could have waited her out for eternity, and she wouldn’t have gone back to them. Augustina was stronger than they ever gave her credit for.”

“Probably much like someone else I’ve come to know.”

There are times when I’ve felt weak this past year, and I would always think of Augustina and draw strength from her.

“When Frank was released, he was afraid to go to Augustina because he knew he was being watched. But she wasn’t alone. Mrs. Le Blanc went to the house every day and took care of her, treating her like her own daughter.”

“Was there any kind of communication between Frank and Augustina?”

“They sent messages back and forth through the Le Blancs, verbal of course since they were afraid that their written message might be intercepted. And also because Frank wasn’t able to write letters at this point yet.”

“Can you imagine the restraint that it must have taken for him to not go to her?”

“He slept in his room at the boat shop for weeks without giving into the urge to go see Augustina. Until late one night.”

“Oh yeah. My boy Frank couldn’t hold out any longer, and he went for it.”

“Yes, he did. He went for it several times. And then summer ended a few weeks later, and the Lebeaus went back to New Orleans without Augustina. You’ll find out why they gave up on her when you go back.”

Dawsey slaps his hands together. “I’m ready. Let’s do this.”

“Where? Here on the couch?”

“I was in the deepest sleep of my life last night. I prefer to be in my bed if I’m going to be that way again. Would you say no if I asked you to come to my bedroom and read to me there?”

Him. Me. His bedroom. That sounds dangerous.

“Is that a good idea when we already know that we’re playing with fire?”

“It isn’t playing with fire if I’m going to be asleep and having vicarious sex.”

“Are you sure you can be satisfied withvicarioussex?”

“I guess I’ll have to be satisfied with it, won’t I?”

I don’t answer and he takes my hand, leading me to his bedroom. It’s just as I expected. Clean and masculine like the rest of the house.

“I hope you didn’t think that I slept in a romantic four-poster bed with drapes and a canopy.”

“If you did, I would have questions.”

He goes into the en suite bathroom, and I explore his bedroom, looking for clues about my soul mate’s life. The flat screen is large for a bedroom, at least fifty inches, which suggests that he watches a lot of TV in bed. There’s no sign of gaming equipment. Thank God for that.

And then there’s a photo on one of the nightstands of him with a woman. It’s her––Devin. It must be.

She’s beautiful with her smooth and silky brunette bob with honey-colored highlights and heavy money pieces. Her large brown eyes look like they belong on a baby doe. She’s so different from me. And despite knowing that his heart belongs to me, there’s a pang of jealousy deep within my chest when I look at them together.

He comes out of the bathroom, and I return the photograph to its place beside the bed where he sleeps. “She’s gorgeous, but I’m not surprised. You don’t look like the kind of guy who has to date anything less than a knockout.”

---