Crawfish Mountain: A Novel by Wells Ken

Author:Wells, Ken [Wells, Ken]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2008-12-17T16:00:00+00:00

30

THE GUV ON THE GRILL

“Ms. Galjour, I'm awfully glad you could come.”

Julie Galjour smiled as she slid into the booth opposite Joe T. She looked radiant—the Guv was always confused as to whether this was actually an inner glow or an outer glow.

“Governor Evangeline, I'm glad to be here. And, Minna, well, she's quite persuasive.”

“Isn't she though?” the Guv replied. “And a slave driver, too. She's really my boss—I hope you understand that.”

“Of course,” said Julie. “I knew that from the minute I saw you two together.”

The Guv found himself laughing. Their banter was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming up Morvant Grill's wooden stairs. A man, balding, tall, and wearing chinos, a starched denim shirt, and a paisley tie, appeared at the table bearing menus. He introduced himself as the owner, John Morvant. He greeted Joe T. with the warm reserve Minna had promised, took their orders for hickory-grilled redfish as Minna had suggested, and retired, but not before paying Julie Galjour a compliment.

“We keep up with you in the papers, Ms. Galjour, and I want to say you do us proud. You've done well and done good at the same time—not bad for a li'l bayou gal.”

Julie blushed, rose, and offered her hand. “You flatter me, Mr. Morvant, but I appreciate the kind words.”

When Morvant had retreated, Joe T. nudged Julie's arm across the table. “Well, look at you—a rock star known far and wide. I'll have to keep an eye on you. You may want to take my job someday.”

Julie shook her head. “Never. I don't know how you do it. I like my privacy too much. Life in a such a big goldfish bowl just isn't for me. It takes a certain kind of, uh—well—”

“Fool?” Joe T. volunteered.

Julie looked at him, mildly flustered. “That's not exactly the word I had in mind. Maybe ‘temperament’?”

Joe T. nodded. “Actually, ‘fool’ is the better word.”

Julie smiled. There followed a silence, though not an awkward one. Finally, the Guv spoke up. “I want to try to explain about Tracy Breaux. Well, actually more than that.”

“You don't have to explain, Joe. It's okay, I—”

Joe T. put up his hand. “I know I don't have to explain. But I want to. I could accept, of course, that you may not be interested.”

“I'm interested in whatever it is you want to tell me.”

What followed was a monologue of self-disclosure that surprised the Guv himself. Unexpected things came out in unexpected ways. The major points were that he had not been much of husband to Gloria; had not been much of a friend to the women he consorted with, and certainly not to Tracy Breaux, with whom he acknowledged he had almost nothing in common (oh, and by the way, he had gone to see Tracy and taken his medicine, and oh, yes, it wasn't any fun); had not actually enjoyed the chase nearly as much as he let on. He'd found himself on a search for a life that might actually have a chance of being real—though he had no idea what in the hell that meant.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.