Butterfly Bayou (Butterfly Bayou 1)

“Well, I didn’t find it sexy.” She was still thinking about fighting that damn ticket. “I think that was more about a new coffeemaker than it was about tempting me.”

He was so tempting. Something was definitely happening to her. She didn’t lust after men. She carefully chose her sexual partners. Well, all two of them. There had been a college boyfriend and then there had been Brock, who’d hit on her sisters because according to him, they were way more spontaneous than she was.

She’d tried to be spontaneous with Armie and that way had led to frustration.

The door opened, bell jingling, and a woman walked in. She looked to be in her mid-thirties, maybe early forties. She had brown hair she wore in a neat bun on the top of her head. She had on a perfectly pressed business suit and carried in a plate of what looked like cookies or brownies or something.

Not a patient, then. It said something about her that she was disappointed that the person walking up to her wasn’t covered in blood or didn’t have a bone sticking out. She would settle for a nice concussion.

“Oh, lord, it’s starting. Batten down the hatches,” Mabel said under her breath.

She wasn’t sure what was starting, but the woman seemed to zero in on her.

“Well, hello, Ms. Daley. It’s such a pleasure to finally meet you. I’m Miranda Jossart. I worked with your younger sister Lisa to get you that jewel of a house. I thought I would stop in and welcome you to Papillon.”

Jewel? “Yeah, we should talk about that house. There is nothing jewel-like about it. Well, there’s a whole collection of rocks, but the coal sample he has isn’t even close to diamond status. Nothing works. I have to kick the washer to get it to start. I won’t even go into the hot-water heater. Do you have something going with the inspector?”

Mabel’s eyes widened. “I think what Lila is trying to say is that she’s had a few troubles with the house. Last night her lights went out.”

“Did they, now?” Miranda set her tray down on the counter. “Well, you’re used to a high-rise apartment building with all those rich things inside it. You’ll have to understand that things work differently here on the bayou.”

“Electricity works differently?”

“A lot of things do,” Miranda replied as if everything she was saying made sense. Which it didn’t. “You’re new in our town and it can be hard to fit in, hard to know where the boundaries are.”

She got the sense that there was something underneath the woman’s words, some subtext she wasn’t getting. “Okay. Hopefully someone will let me know. Is there a pamphlet?”

There was a nasty smile on the woman’s face. “A lot of fitting in is about good sense. You should take your time. Concentrate on your business. I’m sure a clinic like this operates on the goodwill of the people. You need to ingratiate yourself with influential members of the community. I heard you had a little trouble yesterday.”

“Yes, apparently the doctor I bought the clinic from didn’t bother to inform the general population that it was happening,” she explained.

“She’ll settle in,” Mabel replied.

Miranda glanced around the clinic as though sizing it up for sale. “I could, of course, help you out. I could let people know that I think you’re a good fit here if I thought you were hardworking and willing to be an asset to the community.”

“I would appreciate that.” She would take all the help she could get.

“I talk to a lot of people and I’ll make sure they know it’s safe to come here. Doc was a pillar of the community,” Miranda continued.

“If a pillar can be held up with Scotch and laziness, then yes he was,” Mabel shot back. She quickly looked to Lila. “Not that I didn’t love that old man. I’m a very tolerant person.”

They had two different definitions of that word, but she was quickly coming to realize that happened a lot here. And Miranda wasn’t offering to help her out of the kindness of her heart. “Why do I get the feeling you’re going to want something in return?”

Miranda seemed to consider how to proceed. Or she knew how to draw out a moment for maximum drama. “I’m offering to help you so everything goes smoothly during your transition. I think you should understand that there are certain relationships already in place.”

“I would assume so.” She was definitely missing something.

“Then there are relationships that are only in one part of the couple’s head.” Mabel had a hand on her hip, staring down Miranda.

Were those two in some kind of fight?

“Oh, it’s real and it’s happening, Mabel. You should stay out of this,” Miranda replied before turning back to Lila. “Look, it’s obvious I’m going to have to be up-front with you. I would like to handle this like ladies. I’m in a relationship with the sheriff and I didn’t take kindly to you inviting him to stay at your place last night.”