Elli (A Second Chance Novel Book 1) Read online

  Elli wagged her hips and the big, bulbous, naked plastic butt danced. “It’s my backside. One of the riders at the very first parade I went to had it. I thought it was hilarious.” She smiled. “I have one for you, too, Ben.”

  “She got me one.” Rachel and Ruby shouted in tandem, bouncing their huge fannies to the beat of the music.

  She reached into the bag and handed Ben and Tante Izzy each a two-foot fanny. “Where’s your costume, Ben?” she asked, looking at his black T-shirt and jeans.

  “Right here.” He pointed to a southern gentleman’s white jacket, purple shirt, and green-striped ribbon tie hanging on a hook with the beads. “And here.” He shoved an obnoxiously tall top hat on his head. It was made to look even more ridiculous because there was a huge green rubber alligator perched on top of it. “I added the alligator for you, cher, since you seem to be so fond of them.”

  Elli and Ben laughed and continued teasing one another as he helped her climb over dozens of large potato sacks of beads to wedge into a spot that just fit her plastic butt. It was then that she spotted Beau on the other side of Tante Izzy. A woman was standing close to him. Her face was hidden behind a big feather mask, but Elli knew instantly who it was. There wasn’t much that could camouflage her iconic body. Except, maybe, a huge, plastic fanny.

  “Hey, Heather and Beau,” she called out to them. Beau returned her greeting with a warm smile and big wave. Heather said hello. Then, without preamble, she offered to buy Donna from her. “Sorry. As much of a pain in the tush as she is, she’s not for sale. Speaking of tushes…” Elli handed Heather the fake fanny she had originally given to Ben. She turned in a circle to show her the one she wore. “It’s part of our costumes.” Tante Izzy held up her fanny, too.

  “Thank you,” she laughed, hugging the fanny to her chest.

  “Here, let me help you tie it on,” Beau offered with a mischievous grin.

  “You have just made Beau’s day,” Ben said, laughing. He patted the top of the sack of beads between them. “Just sit on the sacks of beads if you are tired of standing.” He plopped onto the pile of beads closest to her. A high-school marching band started warming up nearby. He reached in the bin full of ice in front of her and dragged out a bottle of water. There were four more tucked inside. “Drink this for a while.”

  Elli had that warm sensation again. She knew he had put the water in the bin for her. It was very sweet and made her feel special. She took a sip and handed the water to Ben. “You should hydrate, too.” He took a swig. “Tante Izzy told me you set up my beads for me.” She smiled. “This must have taken awhile. Thank you.”

  Ben took another drink and handed the water back to her. “No problem.” She wrapped her hand around the bottle, but Ben didn’t let her have it. He twisted and grabbed her other wrist and pulled her down onto the beads next to him. Her face was inches from his. He stared at her a long time and Elli was helpless to do anything but stare back at him. Her heart hammered hard in her chest. She ached to just touch him but didn’t dare in front of his family. He slid his finger to the thin flesh on Elli’s wrist. “I feel your pulse, cher,” he whispered so she was the only one who could hear him. “It’s pounding like mine. Why is that? What’s going on between us?” His eyes held hers a moment in an intense gaze. “Is this some kind of California voodoo?”

  “I don’t know, Ben. I don’t know.” Elli knew her voice was no more than a whisper, but that was all she could manage.

  Ben let go of her wrist and blew out a heavy breath. “This is bullshit.” He shook his head. “I know this spark we fire between us doesn’t mean anything. So why can’t we just enjoy it? Have fun with it today. I just want to be free to act and respond and do what the hell I want. Mardi Gras is a day for indulgences. I want to indulge. Just for today. Agreed?”

  “Well, I…” This conversation with Ben was odd. It seemed out of character to Elli. He hadn’t issued her any warnings or mentioned that this attraction between them had no bearing on their differences with the plantation. She supposed he didn’t have to; she knew the truth of their situation. She understood he knew that she knew, too. Maybe the spiked lemonade just made this whole thing seem confusing to her muddled brain.

  Ben stood, looked at her a long minute like he was trying to analyze something. Then he shook his head. “Screw it.” He turned toward his family who were busy eating, organizing their throws, and chatting. He belted out a loud whistle, drawing their attention. “Listen up. I want all of y’all to know that I intend on enjoying my day. I want to have fun and not worry that you crazy people will read more into me hanging out with Elli than you should. So don’t. We’re going to enjoy each other today and tomorrow we are going our separate ways. It’s that simple. So I don’t want to hear any snickering or see anybody tripping over their tongues if we act like we like each other. We don’t. I want you all to know, Elli and I will not be the butt of your gossip.” Elli turned in a circle waving her big fanny, breaking the tension and making everyone laugh. Ben smiled. “Enough said. Laisser les bon temps rouler.” A chorus of celebratory shouts went up.

  “Now, why’d youz go and stand on youz soapbox like dat.” Tante Izzy shook her head. “Now I won’t have nothin’ to talk ’bout with the family at the crawfish boil tomorrow.”

  Elli smiled at Tante Izzy, but she knew it was that kind of gossip Ben was trying to avoid. He hated it. He had been the topic of useless conversation his whole life because of his mother, father, and his wife. Whether it was good-natured or not, he was trying to prevent it from happening again. Elli understood now that he just wanted to have a carefree day and not be the center of gossip because of it. She intended to see that he got that. He deserved it. He had never done anything wrong to warrant being the talk of the town. Elli’s heart squeezed in her chest. It wasn’t fair and she hated that he had felt bad when people talked about his awful situation as a child of a dysfunctional marriage and as a married man with a crazy, cheating wife.

  “I have a good idea, Tante Izzy,” Elli began, her throat tight with emotion. “How about instead of gossiping about Ben, you talk about being in a big budget movie, with Sam Cooper and Heather Harley. I think everyone has plenty of things they can talk about other than something that is none of their business.”

  “I can do dat.” She looked at Elli and winked. Oh, the old woman was a sly one, Elli realized. She was testing Elli to see if she cared about Ben, too. Her defense of him must have satisfied Izzy, for she started talking to Beau and Heather.

  Elli looked at Ben, who was repositioning a few sacks of beads to open the space near her. She tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned to face him, she gave him a quick peck on his cheek. “I want you to know I think the declaration you gave to your family was awesome. It was brave and smart. You were proactive and defused anything awful that may have come from family gossip. You know, Dumbledore was right when he was awarding the House Cup he said , ‘It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends.’” She smiled. “It was meant to recognize what Neville Longbottom did, but the same is true for standing up to your family, too.”

  Ben gave Elli a sweet hug and kiss on the top of her head. “You can be way too insightful sometimes, Texian.”

  “Hungry?” Rachel asked, as she extended a box of fried chicken to Ben and Elli. She smiled at Ben. “Nice speech.”

  Ben took a couple of legs and patted Rachel on her phony fanny. “Get along, little doggie.”

  She laughed. “You have always been my favorite cousin.”

  “Hey, I heard that,” Beau said walking up. “I know that is only because you have never forgiven me for telling Johnny Breaux that you wanted to marry him and have his babies.”

  “Well, yeah.” Rachel snorted. “I was twelve and totally mortified that you did that. Worse than that, after he heard I was in love with him, all he wanted to do was touch my tiny little preteen boobs.”

  “If I had known, I would’ve
kicked his ass,” Beau said.

  “You didn’t have to. Ben did. That’s why he’s my favorite.” She pranced away.

  “Brat,” Beau shouted to her departing back.

  “Didn’t I teach you better manners than to call a pretty female names?” a male voice said from behind Beau. It was Sheriff Ronald Bienvenu. He was dressed in his dark blue and gray uniform. The row of tiny stars on both of his shoulders and the big one over his chest were shining like a set of new dimes. Beau pretended remorse and the men teased one another for a time, with Elli included in their sparring. After about twenty minutes, the sheriff’s radio, which was clipped to his shirt, crackled. Ronald answered the call that no one except him had heard. “Okay. Let’s get everyone lined up. Roll in ten minutes,” he said into the radio. He patted Elli on the shoulder. “Ready for your first ride, rookie?”

  “I never imagined I’d get to ride in a Mardi Gras parade. It’s an unexpected gift. “She smiled at Tante Izzy. “Thank you. Thank you all—Bienvenu clan.” She clapped her hands. “When I get excited, or nervous or scared, movie quotes just pop into my head and this one from The Notebook just did. I guess that’s because being part of the Krewe du Bienvenu is a little miracle for me. The quote is this: ‘Miracles, no matter how inexplicable or unbelievable, are real and can occur without regard to the natural order of things.’” She laughed. “And Mardi Gras is definitely not in the natural order of things.”

  “It sure isn’t,” Sheriff Bienvenu said. “Enjoy the ride.”

  Elli watched as he left the float and climbed into a red BMW convertible that had stickers along the side announcing that the vehicle had been seized during a drug arrest. He sped off toward the front of the parade. Sirens howled on the lead fire trucks, marching bands played happy tunes as they fell into precision lines, tractor engines warmed as each one prepared to pull the float hooked behind it, and people on the street jumped to their feet. Elli turned to Ben, who had not only changed into his costume, but managed to move the beads so she was standing right next to him. “My heart is going to shoot out of my chest, Ben.” She grabbed his hand and placed it on her chest. “Feel it?”

  His eyes crinkled with his smile. “Yeah, cher.” He leaned into her, his lips only a whisper from hers. “Happy Mardi Gras.” He kissed her full and wet and without restraint right there in front of his family and all of Cane, Louisiana. Elli was honored that he trusted her to show him respect and mutual esteem in front of his people. He had figuratively walked out naked and exposed himself to his family, not really knowing if she would point a finger at him and shout that he didn’t have any clothes on. Had the people that he grew up with known what a huge thing had just happened when he asked them not to gossip about him? By their playful, good natured smiles she suspected they missed the real point of his actions. Elli didn’t and her heart nearly burst knowing it. Her admiration had grown for Ben that day.

  The float jerked forward as it began to roll and Elli fell back onto a sack of beads. “Tell me what to do, Ben,” she shouted over the blare of the music on their float. “I don’t know how this works.” Rachel handed her a cold sports bottle filled with the spiked lemonade concoction she had earlier. Elli took a big sip and shoved it in the middle of the stack of beads to her left.

  “Just grab a string of beads and toss it to the people lined up along the side of the road. If someone draws your attention, throw them a few extra. We have plenty.” The float turned the corner and a sea of people, ten to twenty deep, fanned out before them. The float moved slowly enough for Elli to see happy faces, bright smiles, and dancing eyes. She grabbed a necklace and a dozen came with it as she tossed it over the side. Two men grabbed for it, but she wasn’t able to see who got it. There were more people screaming for her to throw them something, so Elli looked at Ben to see how he was keeping up with the demands. She decided she was overthinking the whole process. Mimicking Ben and Tante Izzy, she fell into the same easy, but not so graceful dance of grab, separate, and toss. It was fun and physical to dole out the prizes. Elli had no idea how people got drunk on the float. There just wasn’t any time to imbibe. There wasn’t even time to snack on a MoonPie or two. Instead, she was tossing them to the children in the crowd.

  “Ben, look.” She pointed to a person in the crowd who was wearing a gorilla costume and eating a banana.

  He immediately pointed to the woman in a safari costume next to him, holding a leash that was attached to a collar around the gorilla’s neck. They laughed and continued that game of spotting something funny and trying to one-up it immediately afterward. They did a lot of laughing that day. When the parade stopped for the first time to give the bands a chance to rest for a few minutes, Ben helped her and Tante Izzy reposition their throws for easier access. He tossed the empty sacks behind them, offered Elli and Tante Izzy a sandwich from the float’s community ice chest, and handed a stuffed animal to a precious toddler who was being lifted up to the float by her father. She blew Ben a kiss with her chubby little hands and he pretended to catch it. Elli’s heart melted.

  “You are such a chick-magnet,” Elli said as she tossed a giant toothbrush to a young boy about Joey’s age. On second glance at the child, Elli realized, it was Joey. “Hey there!” she shouted to him. He came racing up to the float, shouting her name. It surprised Elli that he was calling for her and not his father or Tante Izzy or another family member. It warmed her insides and she wished she could just reach down and scoop him up into a giant hug.

  “I was down the street a few blocks and came running here to see y’all when the parade stopped,” he explained. Camille stood next to Joey, the smile on her face from a second before wilted as she spotted Elli. Camille took a step back and nodded once to Elli. Elli understood she was giving up on the hope of a romantic relationship with Ben. How awful, she thought, looking at Ben who was completely oblivious that he had just broken a woman’s heart along the parade route. Elli mouthed the words, “I’m sorry,” to Camille and meant it. She never wanted to hurt anyone. Camille smiled a weak smile and answered, “It’s fine. I never had him.”

  Ben, still blind to what was going on around him, reached into a small box off to the side of him and without warning, jumped up, making battle sounds and squirted Joey with a water grenade. “Dad!” He laughed and ducked behind Camille, who got squirted with water intended for Joey. She looked stunned and amused at the same time.

  “That’s not fair,” Elli shouted, reaching into the box, grabbing a couple of water grenades, and squirting Ben with them. Ben retaliated. He reached into a bag behind him and drenched Elli with a huge super-soaker gun he had in the box. When Joey howled with laughter, he turned the water cannon on his son. The float jerked forward, and as the tractor began moving, Ben started dumping the plastic necklaces she now knew that the locals called beads, over the side to Joey. Elli and Tante Izzy did the same. Camille and Joey scooped as much as they could carry in their arms as a dozen people nearby dove into the fray to get their share. Others who had witnessed the ridiculous amount of beads being tossed off the float started shouting for Ben and Elli to give them a ton of beads, too. Elli grabbed a dozen beads at a time and threw them into the crowd in rapid-fire succession. She even tossed a few stuffed animals into the air over their heads for fun. The crowd went wild.

  “We’re having fun, now,” Ben shouted to her, tossing Frisbees into the crowd.

  “‘Happiness is only happiness if there is a violin-playing goat.’ Hugh Grant, Notting Hill,” Elli said and Ben turned to face her fully.

  His eyes brightened, shinier than she had ever seen before. He laughed, hard and loud and unrestrained. She forgot about Camille and the entire population of parade goers around them. Ben consumed her whole. She felt him on her skin and in her heart. This happy, free, joyful Ben ignited a wanting so deep, she felt it burning in her toes. She leaned over the mound of beads between them and kissed him on the mouth. He sucked in a breath and deepened the kiss. Somewhere from the crowd on the street someone s
houted, “Get a hotel room.” Elli broke the kiss and smiled at him.

  “This,” she began, pointing in a big, dramatic gesture to the crowd and to Ben, “is a violin-playing goat.” It was in that lightning bolt moment that Elli realized she was in love with Ben.

  Chapter Twelve

  Every day I have to go into the radiation clinic and go through the same thing. Day after day after day. And, each time the radiation treatment doesn’t get any easier. I shouldn’t complain, and most days I don’t feel compelled to. In fact, normally, I feel terribly guilty when I complain…there are so many others whose journeys are more difficult than mine. Yet, today, I’m feeling overwhelmed…I was told to expect it. Expecting and experiencing it doesn’t make it easier. Today, as I did yesterday and the days before, I lay on a cold hard table with my breasts exposed and my torso squeezed into a tight foam form. I lay there so cold. So damn cold and oddly, grateful for it. The physical discomfort gives me something to focus on that is real, tangible, and immediate. Radiation is invisible…intangible, except for the burns it leaves behind on my flesh. With the chemo infusion I could see the medicine flow from the IV bag through the clear plastic tubing into the port in my body. Radiation is so different. Yes, the cold temperature of the room is tangible. It serves a practical purpose of keeping the machines with the invisible rays happy. The cold also gives me the distraction I need to stop my stampeding mind from jumping into an abyss of paralyzing fear where the only thoughts are of what is happening to me and why. If I close my eyes I can actually see the icy air blowing against my exposed flesh. It is there in thin, blue swirls. When I focus on the cold, I don’t think of the breast cancer trying to eat my insides, or of how much I don’t want to die…E.