Bayou Sunset (Agents of HIS #4)

Chapter Three

IN THE DIM of night, Romeo navigated the familiar route to St. James Parish Hospital, a path ingrained in his memory from the countless times he and his family had driven there with his little sister before she passed away. However, at Ochsner Children's Hospital, they spent most of their time with Sally, tending to her needs and offering unwavering support. His little sister came into the world much too soon, and her fragile health presented her with a series of medical challenges. Despite her brave fight, she tragically succumbed to pneumonia at the age of eight, quietly slipping away in her sleep.

Romeo was just ten years old at the time and hadn't comprehended how a simple cold could have taken his sister's life. Now, he understood.

Striding into the hospital at a fast clip, he stepped into an elevator and punched the floor for the ICU. He was overwhelmed by memories of his family setting aside his sports activities, such as football and baseball, to accompany his sister to the hospital. Although he cared for Sally deeply, he couldn't help but resent the attention she received. At times, he even suspected that she feigned illness to disrupt his plans deliberately. Looking back, he realized that his immaturity had significantly influenced his perspective.

Romeo stepped out of the elevator and spied the nurse's station. He moved to the desk and asked, “ Bonsoir. Would ya give me directions for Wayne Smith's room, if ya please?”

A cute nurse beamed at him. He wasn't conceited, but he knew he was an attractive man who often caught the eye of the opposite sex. But he didn't know how to handle himself in those situations. He always got tongue-tied. Hence, his pain-in-the-ass colleagues nicknamed him Romeo. He was so far from a Romeo.

“He be in da last room on da left.” She pointed down the long hallway. “ Mais someone be in there. You be family?”

He nodded. “I be his son. Is my maman in there?”

“She be. I let her know ya here.” She smiled again and walked down the hallway—with a bit of extra sway in her step—presumably to his father's room.

A little while later, his mother emerged from the room, her eyes red and teary as she dabbed them with a tissue. Crap, she had been crying. It wasn't supposed to be a severe heart attack. Or so she had claimed, but he suspected she was not telling the truth, especially since his father was still in ICU.

When they came together, his mother fell into his embrace. Romeo always loved that he could kiss his mom on the head. The family always joked he must be the milkman's kid because he was taller than his parents. Of course, the younger generation didn't get the joke because they'd never had the milkman deliver to their homes. The delivery service stopped when he was young, but he remembered the man who had brought milk in a bottle to the house. He always got ice cream. That's how Romeo remembered him.

Romeo and his mother didn't speak, but he held her while she silently cried.

“Shh,” he finally said, laying his chin on her head. “It's gonna be okay, Mamou .” He hoped never to see the day when his mom was without his father. Together, they had married at a young age and had been inseparable ever since. He yearned to experience that kind of deep, enduring love in his own life.

After collecting herself, his mother pulled back. “They want ta watch ya papa overnight. He be stable so dey be moving him to a room.”

Well, that was good news. Romeo cleared his throat, washing back his emotions. “I'd like to see him. Dat be okay?” He longed for a moment without his mother in case his father needed to impart something private.

Barbara, his mother, smiled weakly. “He’d like that.”

With a solemn nod, he proceeded past her into his father's room. A wave of shock and concern engulfed him as he focused on his father, who was connected to various machines. It became apparent that the heart attack may not have been as mild as his mother had suggested.

His father opened his eyes. “ Cher , you no need to come home for moi . Ya has a grand job to do.”

His parents weren’t impressed when he had left the FBI for Hamilton Investigation and Security. They changed their minds once he explained the type of cases HIS worked on and how their success rate was higher than the alphabets. He loved their support in his career.

Romeo smiled as best he could, considering his father could have died, and approached the bedside. “Hi, Papa. Who permitted ya to have a heart attack?” he joked. That had always been his father's question when he'd done something wrong. “Who permitted ya to…?”

Wayne chuckled and then sobered. “Hear me, Steve. We need to chat afore dey move me. I got things ta say dat I don't want ya maman ta hear.”

Despite expecting a similar outcome, Romeo was taken aback by the overwhelming sense of pessimism and despair in the air. “ Mais oui .” He sat in the chair his mother had probably been sitting in since they'd put his father in ICU.

“ Un , I glad ya here. Ya maman needs to be taken care of while I recover. How long can ya stay?”

“As long as needed,” Romeo answered, knowing the Hamiltons would give him whatever time he requested. Since he began working with them, he hadn’t taken a single vacation despite having abundant available time.

“ Bien. Bien. ” Wayne shifted on the bed, and Romeo stood to help. His father waved him off with a hand that had an IV in it. “I be fine.”

He didn't look fine, but Romeo didn't want to argue the point. “What else?” he asked, unsure he wanted to know.

“ Deux ,” his father said, “I want ya assurances dat if something happens to me, ya will care for ya maman .”

Romeo hated that kind of talk. “Don't talk like dat, Papa. You'll be fine.” There went that word again. Fine.

“Ya maman don’t know dis, and ya best not tell her, but the docs says I died on dat dere table.”

Romeo's heart sank like a rock to the pit of his stomach. Died? His father? He couldn't lose his father. He idolized the man.

“I jist want to know dat she be taken care of should something happen ta me. I has a little insurance policy, and da house be paid for, mais someone needs to be wit her. She needs someone ta care for. It's what keeps her happy.”

Swallowing around the lump in his throat, Romeo would agree to anything his father asked of him. “While I expect you be living a long life, should something happen to you, I'll take care of Mamau .”

“ Bien. Bien ,” Romeo's father said again. Wayne closed his eyes, and Romeo worried he was going to sleep. “Steve,” he said, then opened his eyes, “we miss ya.”

Regret and sadness flooded his system. He'd stayed away way too long. All because of one thing. Well, one person. He had a thing for his best friend's sister, who was considered off-limits.

“ Trois ,” his father said, “watch out for Daisy Mae—”

Romeo's heart leaped at her name, and his gut churned simultaneously.

“Her frères —dey be up ta something, and I think dey plan ta snare her.”

How would his father know this? He attempted to ask. “How —”

“Ya maman . She kinda adopted Daisy Mae into our family. We know all dat go on with her and dose frères of hers.”

Romeo's thoughts spun around Daisy Mae as part of his family. When he had left, she had been exquisitely beautiful. He couldn't help but imagine she still possessed that same timeless beauty.

Then, he recalled the night before he’d left home. Daisy Mae had snuck over to convince him to take her with him. Heck, she’d even tried to kiss him and offer up her virginity. Romeo felt the redness creep up his neck.

“What her frères be up to?” They'd always been into something growing up, and Romeo had been part of every adventure. He and Pierre had been best friends in school. That was, until doing what they'd all planned–getting the hell out of Bayou Junction.

“I know not. Dey be secretive ‘bout it, mais I has a feeling it be treasure hunting ’gain.”

“Treasure hunting?” he repeated as a question. They twins had always wanted to play treasure hunting when they were growing up. They still played at it?

Wayne nodded. “ Oui . Dat be why I needs ya to keep an eye on her. Treasure hunters—dey be ruthless.”

Watch over Daisy Mae? Would he still have feelings for her? Oh, how he’d wanted to take her up on her offer the night before he’d left town. But she was part of the reason he’d been going.

What was she like now? Those questions and more ran through his mind. He knew he should turn tail and run, but he couldn't let something happen to her. “I'll watch her.” And those damn brothers of hers, he secretly promised.

The good news was that Pierre wasn't his best friend anymore. That meant Daisy Mae wasn't his best friend's sister. He couldn't decide if that was good or bad. All he knew was that he craved to see her. He hoped she was married with ten kids by now so he could easily walk away this time.

“I needs sleep,” his father told him. “Glad ya be home.”

Romeo nodded, stood, walked to the door, and stopped, turning to his tired-looking father. “I've missed ya too, Papa.” He had missed his parents, but with video chat, it was like he was home. However, Romeo didn't have to hide his feelings for Daisy Mae.

Seeing the smile on his father's face, Romeo exited the room, intent on finding his mother so they could chat. He knew she'd be a mess of worry. And from what his father had said, she had every right to be in such a state.

Had he really almost lost his father? Without spending time with him lately? Romeo's heart broke at the thought of his father dying on the table during his heart attack. He wasn't ready to lose a parent. Then again, who was?

Deep in thought, Romeo approached the ICU waiting room, not paying much attention. His step faltered as he closed on his mother, and his heart leaped. A woman sat holding his mother's hand, whispering to Barbara. Even with some of the woman's hair shadowing her face while she bent down to his mother, Romeo knew the woman. He'd craved her for years. He thought he'd finally let her go in his heart, but the way it beat now, he knew that to be a lie.

He wondered what kind of trouble her brothers were getting her into. Romeo didn't want her embroiled in one of their schemes. Yeah, his mom had kept him updated on his old friends and their antics. In his mind, they'd turned into nothing but trouble.

He continued walking to his mother, his eyes on Daisy Mae. Would she recognize him like he'd recognized her? Indeed, he hadn't changed as much as she had.

The women stood as he approached. He couldn't keep his eyes off Daisy Mae. In his peripheral, he saw his mother wipe the tears from her eyes with a tissue. Romeo couldn't stop staring into the bright blue eyes of his old love. Old? He mentally laughed at himself. With the way his body came alive with her around, he expected her to still be the one he loved. Maybe now they could have a shot. She wasn't the bumbling teenager following him and her brothers and trying to play with them. No, this Daisy Mae was all woman in her shorts with tanned legs, a T-shirt showcasing what he assumed was her charter service and the ever-present baseball cap in her hand.

“How he be?” Barbara asked.

Romeo never took his eyes off Daisy Mae's. “He be resting.” He needed to say hello to Daisy Mae, but, as usual, his tongue got tied around a beautiful woman. It hadn't been that way when they'd been growing up. At least, only when he'd realized he liked her more than a friend.

“Steve, ya ’member Daisy Mae?”

His heart wanted to scream, “ Oui! I thought about her often,” but his mind shut down. So, he nodded.

Daisy Mae's jaw tightened. “It ’bout time ya came home.”

Taken aback by the venom in her voice, Romeo grappled for a suitable response. “Hi” was all that came out. He wanted to slap himself on the forehead. “Hi,” was all he could say. This was Daisy Mae. He didn’t want her to see him as a bumbling fool now that he was older. He knew he could talk around her, so why had he clammed up?

Narrowing her eyes, Daisy Mae put her ballcap on her head and turned to Barbara. “I gotta go. Please keep me updated.” She turned and left without another word or glance to Romeo.

Watching her walk away with her magnificent ass, Romeo wondered what the hell had just happened between them?