Out-Lanta: A Second Chance Novella Read online

  Ask me what? Am I in shock?

  “This is insane,” Luke, said, frowning. He was clearly annoyed with her, or with the situation, or both. She slid as far away from him as possible as he looked at her again with his piercing eyes. He ran his hand through his black wavy hair, then opened the console between them and pulled out bottles of water until everyone had one. It was cold. How did the water stay cold in the console in his car? Was the console an ice chest?

  “What’s your name?” Tanté Izzy asked, her gentle voice in contrast to Luke’s harsher one.

  “Ania.” She opened her water but didn’t drink. “My name is Ania...Mitchell.”

  “Yeah? Mitchell. That sounds like a Lithuanian name if I ever heard one.” Luke took a long drink of his water.

  “It is a name from England,” she said, not thinking before she spoke. “There were some English people who settled in Lithuania, a long time ago.” Dear Lord, what was she saying? Ania wiggled her toe against the Black Madonna medal.

  When had she become such a liar?

  When Dorek and his father decided they wanted her dead.

  “Very long ago,” she continued when he looked at her as if she’d grown a third head. “Lithuania had a lot of foreigners at one time. Latvia borders it to the north, Belarus to the east and Poland to the south...”

  “...and England is fourteen-hundred miles or more to the west.” Luke shook his head, recapped his water and put the empty bottle back into the console.

  “Really? Your ancestors had to travel far to settle in Lithuania,” Ruby said, earning a groan from Luke.

  Ania took a sip of the water, finding it hard to swallow past the panic lodged in her throat. Luke knew she was lying. What would he do about it?

  “I can walk,” she managed after taking another sip of water. She put the water bottle in the drink holder and stepped out of the car.

  Mitchell was a good name, and she was pleased that her panicked brain could come up with a false name so quickly. It wasn’t really surprising that it was the name Mitchell that came to her, though. Ania loved Margaret Mitchell and the one novel she wrote from her apartment that wasn’t very far from where they were parked right now. Gone with the Wind was a survivor’s story. Margaret Mitchell had a personal survivor’s story too. She had written the coming of age story of Scarlett O’Hara trying to survive the ravages of war while recovering from injuries she received in a car-crash. Mitchell had to survive other injuries too. She had three automobile accidents, two falls from horseback, severe burns when her clothes caught fire, and even a concussion when she was hit in the head by a bottle of whiskey that was thrown by a drunken guest at a party she was attending. Margaret Mitchell had been a survivor.

  And so was she. She related to the author in her own, odd way having been knocked down over and over again.

  “So where do you intend to walk to?” Ruby asked, standing inside the car. “Oh, standing feels much better. My knees were getting crampy sitting so long. It might mess up my hair more than I like, but this makes me like convertibles more.” She looked at Ania’s heels that were now hooked on the ugly sparkling lace and feathers on the train. “Luke, let’s take her to our hotel. Even if walking turns out to be the best course of action for her, which I don’t think it will, she can’t walk in those spikey designer heels and that tailored mermaid dress.”

  “Mermaid dress?” Luke asked looking at Ania.

  “You’re such a man’s man. That is what you call a wedding dress that tapers to the knees and flairs out.”

  “Mais, I didn’t know dat either,” Tanté Izzy said, standing like Ruby. “Dis does feel good. My knees were gettin’ crampy too.”

  Standing now, the energetic older woman looked tinier than she appeared sitting in the back seat of the sports car. And, how odd she was dressed. Ania had not noticed it before when her mind was focused on escaping the wedding and not getting killed. Did all little old Cajun ladies dress like this? Was it common for them to wear clothes like Tanté Izzy’s bright pink pants under a gold shirt with rhinestone letters and a black leather fleur dis lis on the front of it? Maybe displaying the name of a favorite American football team on a shirt, the New Orleans Saints in her case, was a common Cajun practice. Maybe, wearing tennis shoes completely covered with large black and gold rhinestones and a wide-brim straw hat were too.

  “I can see why it’s called a Mermaid dress.” Tanté Izzy nodded, switching her attention back to Ania’s clothes. “It sure is a pretty dress.”

  Ania felt nervous laughter bubble in her throat. Pretty? This gown was awful and so over the top. Of course, so were Tanté Izzy’s clothes. Not in the same way that her gown was. Her gown was more appropriate for a Las Vegas showgirl on stage than someone getting married. Dorek had picked out the gown and sent it over for her to wear that morning. He’d forgone a traditional wedding gown that would’ve been worn by the brides in her homeland, despite his bluster that he wanted a wedding that honored their traditions.

  Luke folded his arms over his chest. “We can’t sit in this parking garage all afternoon,” he began, his voice deep and even. “It’s a waste of time and time is not something I have to waste.” He waved for her to get in the car and Ania felt like diving onto the passenger seat head first. She preferred to drive out of the parking garage into the city streets over walking into them. Careful to not show her excitement for the offer because it might scare them away knowing how desperate she truly was, she moved slowly with fake calm toward the car.

  “Ruby’s right. You can’t walk around town in that...dress and those shoes. I imagine your fiancé is combing the streets on the off chance that you are. I don’t like you involving these nice ladies in your runaway bride adventure with men who don’t have a problem firing their weapons at the car they’re in. Hell, Miss Mitchell from Lithuania, I’m totally against you going to their hotel room and continuing to involve them in your problems. But, I also can’t in good conscience abandon you in parking garage with danger lurking nearby.”

  He waved for her to get in the car again. Ania turned and sat in the front seat butt first. The veil yanked her head to the side as it got caught on the handle to the door. “Oh,” she exclaimed, trying to pull it free. The rough fabric tugged against her bare arm and neck, making it feel like a brush burn beneath it. Luke jumped out of the car and came around to help her. He squatted next to her, his jeans tight against his long legs. She knew they would be as muscular as his arms. Yet, she was less frightened of him then she was earlier. He yanked hard on the veil. The sound of the fabric ripping had Ruby gasping.

  “Don’t you worry, Ruby,” Ania said. “I shall never wear this thing again.”

  “Yes, but you could’ve sold it on eBay.”

  Ania’s eye widened. “How much do you think I can get for it?”

  “Well, I don’t know. The dress must’ve cost a couple of thousand dollars or more so you should be able to get at least seven hundred dollars for it used.”

  “Oh my God. That much? How long does it take to sell on eBay? Is it hard to do?”

  Luke blew out a breath. “So, I assume you don’t have any money or access to it, either,” he said, stuffing the train and bottom of her dress around her feet. “Of course, not. No purse or hidden money on you. No car stashed for a speedy escape. No family or friends to call. And, no police to help you from being shot at.” Luke looked up at her and she felt the heat from his light eyes and the frustration in his frown. “Ania, what would you have done if we weren’t in the parking lot when you ran away from your wedding? You had to have thought about that before you ran.”

  “Of course I thought about running away and the many things to be prepared to do it. But in thinking these things, I quickly learned that it is very much not possible. Oh, but then, like a miracle, it was.” She shook her head and looked down at the feathers she twisted in her hands. “I knew I’d rather die trying to get away then have a wedding night with...him and have my heart and soul murdered.”

  “Mais, I’ve never know’d anyone so afraid of da one eyed snake to think about it like dat.” Tanté Izzy said to Ruby. “She’s a virgin bride.”

  Chapter Three

  “I want to speak to Ania alone,” Luke said to Tanté Izzy and Ruby as he sat on the small, dark green sofa in the tiny area designated as a living room in the all-suite hotel where the women were staying. Ania stood with her back to the door, looking like she was ready to make a quick exit at any moment. Tanté Izzy, who stood a head and shoulders shorter—and then some, stood between them. Both women were looking at him, Ania with hooded eyes filled with uncertainty and Tanté Izzy’s direct with concern. He supposed he didn’t blame them. He hadn’t hidden his opinion that he didn’t think Ruby and Tanté Izzy should get involved with this runaway bride who he all but called a liar when she gave them her crazy story about her name.

  “She’z been through a rough day,” Tanté Izzy said, her cloudy green eyes never wavering from him. “She needs to rest.”

  “It won’t take long.” Luke turned his palms to face up. “By the time you and Ruby find her something to wear in your suitcases, we’ll be finished talking.”

  “Come on, Tanté Izzy,” Ruby said from where she stood behind Luke near the kitchenette. “You know Luke. It’ll be fine.” Ruby smiled at Ania. “Talk to our Luke. He’s a clever man. He can look at a muddy, uneven, weed infested piece of land and not only figure out how, but actually turn it into a beautiful homestead where a family can thrive. He can take the bad and make it good.”

  Ania looked at Luke as if she was trying to see the man that Ruby described. Doubt, apprehension and maybe a little curiosity was visible. Luke felt her indecision and worry too. It was as heavy as a thick, humid, Louisiana summer evening after it had
rained. The swell of her round breasts rose and lowered over the bodice of her low-cut dress with each breath she took. Her shoulders were visibly stiff, her arms pressed tight against her sides—she looked like a woman who didn’t have many options, or she would’ve certainly put herself out of her misery and walked out of the room.

  “I think I’ve gotz a pretty shirt-dress that she can wear,” Tanté Izzy said, walking toward the adjacent bedroom. Ruby followed her. “Youz know what one I’m talkin’ about. The cotton dress with da magnolia pattern.” They closed the bedroom door behind them.

  “Please sit,” Luke said, waving to one of the two wooden ladder-back chairs at the small dining table. “Would you like something to drink? A soda? Water?”

  She walked to the table and sat. As she moved, the ever present sound of swooshing fabric followed her.

  “No. Thank you.”

  He nodded.

  “I know you are not pleased with me being here,” she began, not waiting for him to speak first. “I will leave as soon as I change my clothes.”

  “Do you have a plan, Ania?” If that is who you are, he was about to say, but realized he really didn’t care what her real name was. All he cared about was that she leave in a way that would satisfy Tanté Izzy and Ruby...and him.

  “No plan. Just a goal.” She looked away and again, there was the swooshing sound of fabric rubbing against fabric.

  “Well that’s a start, I guess.”

  “Yes. You must understand that you need a goal to start or you just turn in circles getting nowhere.” She sighed and her shoulders seemed to relax a little. “Why do you see an ugly piece of land and build a family homestead on it? Was it for your wife and children?”

  Luke smiled, her accent, Lithuania or whatever it was, seemed to roll off her tongue easily. If she was faking it, she was really good at doing so. The way she made all of the vowels sound look the “ee” sound made her a little hard to understand at times too. And the way she added an extra syllable with words with “r” in the middle, had him smiling. “Nah. It’s for other people’s families. I’m a builder. I have a construction company. I build houses and commercial buildings.”

  Her eyes widened as she nodded. “You are a carpenter. My grandfather was a carpenter.”

  “I’m not a carpenter.” Hell, he hadn’t actually driven a nail in a long, long time. His business had gotten too big, too demanding, for him to do that anymore. Sometimes he missed it though. He leaned back and folded his arms over his chest. “Once you change out of your wedding dress, where will you go? What do you plan to do?”

  “I said I don’t have a plan...yet.”

  “Okay. Then tell me what is your goal?”

  She didn’t answer right away and in the silence they heard Ruby and Tanté Izzy speaking Cajun French to one another. He had no idea what they were saying. He may have lived and worked in southern Louisiana for the last few years, but he’d only learned the slang phrases.

  “Actually, I’m still working on the goal, too.” She reached up and tried to take off the torn veil. He noticed she was doing so with more care than she’d used when she was balling the fabric in his jeep.

  “You know you can’t stay here. We’re all leaving tomorrow. Ruby and Tanté Izzy have morning flights. I’m driving back to Louisiana. We can’t help you.” Her hands paused where she was pulling out hairpins from her very dark hair. “Do you have any money?”

  She shook her head as she freed the veil and looked at it. “I will after I sell my wedding clothes on the eBay.” She carefully folded it and placed it on the table. She looked around the room. “I need a computer.”

  “It could take a while to sell it and get the money.” Crap. He knew what that meant. “I’ll give you some money. Enough to get you where you need to go.”

  Her eyes widened and her hand flew to her neck. The shocked expression on her face told him that she might need more than a few hundred bucks. More than he had intended to give her. So be it. He’d give her what she needed.

  “How much money do you need to get where you’re going?”

  “It is very complicated. Money is not my only problem.”

  He didn’t want to know what her problem was. Yet, if he could do something to get her to leave faster, then he should. “Tell me what your problem is, Ania, and maybe I can help you figure out what to do.” He stood, went to the refrigerator and got a bottle of water. He lifted it to her, in a silent offer, although he knew she’d just refused the offer a few minutes before. She shook her head no. Then she shook her head no again.

  “You best not know.”

  “Fine. Honestly I don’t really want to know. I just want you to go, and to not place Tanté Izzy and Ruby in danger in the middle of your problems. I also don’t want you to think you can use them for financial gain.” She folded her hands in her lap and looked down at them. She was a tall woman, but sitting there so slim, and hunched over, she seemed vulnerable and tiny.

  Oh, hell.

  “What I am saying is, I don’t want you to count on any of us for a solution to your problems. If you know that, then you can start looking elsewhere...sooner. It is in your best interest and ours if you do that.”

  “Yes, I know. I will take the bus,” she said. “That will be good. No?”

  “Yes.”

  She smiled a tight smile. “I have plan now.”

  “You have plan now,” he repeated just as she had.

  “Tanté Izzy and Ruby will be good with that too, no?”

  “Yes.” He nodded, but wasn’t exactly sure that was true.

  “I don’t want to cause them any trouble. They are nice people.” She swallowed hard and her eyes brightened with tears. “It’s been a while since anyone was that nice to me.” Her head popped up, like she had said more than she wanted too.

  “I’m sorry things have been rough for you, Ania.” He took a sip of his water. “So, we are in agreement. After you borrow that dress from Tanté Izzy and you say your thank yous and goodbyes, you are going to leave, right?” With a tidy sum to get her on the bus and to where she needed to go.

  She ran her hand over the veil as she looked at it. “Yes. I go.”

  He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. “Six hundred should get you a decent hotel room tonight, a meal and a bus ticket. And for the next few nights.” He put the money on the table.

  She lifted her torn, dirty veil and handed it to him. “I give you my gown too. That should be square.”

  He smiled. “I don’t want your wedding gown.”

  “I will not take your money. I cannot do such a thing and keep my pride. This is all I have to give you.”

  “Consider it a wedding gift.”

  She started to laugh. It was light and sweet and happy. Her eyes twinkled and her face seemed to glow. For the first time he realized just how beautiful she was. Oh, he’d noticed she had a sexy, killer body, long legs and narrow waist. He had even noticed that her small nose, wide mouth and high cheek bones formed a really pretty face. He just hadn’t seen that spark that made a woman beautiful, until she laughed. Yeah, it was probably the thing her fiancé had noticed when he’d fallen for her. The thing he was willing to fight for to keep.

  Yeah, fighting for her with his wits was one thing, but drawing a weapon and shooting at her was something else.

  “Your fiancé...”

  “He was never my fiancé,” she interrupted.

  “I’m sorry, but that doesn’t compute, Ania. You were about to marry the guy.”

  Tanté Izzy took that moment to walk into the room carrying a light blue dress with large cream colored magnolias on it. Each button down the front was the size of a fifty-cent piece...and bright pink.

  “Okay, youz had enough time talking. Now it’z time to get her dressed.” Tanté Izzy handed the dress to Ania. “Dis is da dress I talked about earlier. Isn’t it pretty?”

  “Yes,” she agreed, smiling.

  “Ruby’s in da bedroom waitin’ to help you out of dat wedding dress.”

  “Thank you very much.” Ania stood, kicked the fabric away from her feet. She picked up the money on the table and handed it to Luke. She lowered her voice so only he could hear what she had to say. “I will not take money I did not work for or earn. Thank you for your kind gesture.” She turned and walked to the bedroom.