Tarnished Gold (Landry 5)

"Excellent. We've already booked another trip

with Jack. Think you might be up to it next time,

Pierre?" he asked, still with that demonic grin on his

handsome face. Pierre blushed and turned away.

Before they left, Pierre thanked Mama for hen,

hospitality, and she thanked him for the purchases he

had made. Daddy was busy with his gear at the dock,

so he didn't see Pierre approach me to say good-bye. "I had a wonderful day. I mean it," he said,

pressing my hand in his. "I will be back sooner than

my father thinks," he added, "or you, for that matter." "Please, Monsieur Dumas. You should not. . ."

"Watch for me," he said with a twinkle in his eyes,

"where and when you would least expect to see me." He hurried to join his father and their friends in

their big limousine and rolled down the window to

wave as they pulled away. Mama, who had just sold

something to another traveler, stepped up beside me. "He's a very nice young man," she said. "But

he's married, Gabriel," she added in a dark voice. "I know," I said sadly. "He told you?" "No."

"Then how did you know, Mama?"

"When I put his pants on the stove to dry, I felt

the wedding ring in his pocket and gave it to him to

hold with his other things. A man who takes off his

wedding ring so easily does not wear it so well," she

commented.

"Beware of him, Gabriel," she said softly. "He

has an unhappy heart, and unhappiness is too often

contagious," she said. She went to speak to Daddy and

left me trembling a little as I gazed after Pierre's

limousine, his beautiful words falling away like

teardrops in the wind.

Weeks passed and Pierre Dumas began to fade, his face pressed to my memory like some embossed cameo to cherish deep in my heart, but never to see or feel again. At night I would fantasize about him, think of him as I would my dream lover, the ghost who emerged from the swamp to win my heart even though I knew the price I would pay for loving him. I couldn't help but replay his words, relive his kiss, hear again his laughter, and feel my heart warmed by his

soft, green eyes, smiling.