The man was gone. She was relieved.
And also disappointed.
She let out a sigh, irritated with herself for still feeling nervous.
She was so nervous, in fact, that she took her time, unwilling to go back out into the club right away. She splashed her face with water after she washed her hands, reminding herself that she was being ridiculous. When she finally left the restroom behind, there was no one in the hallway.
The bar had grown more crowded while she was gone. As she wended her way through the crowd, she could see that Heidi was alone at their table. Frowning, she noticed Deanna was at the bar, chatting with a tall dark man. For a moment her heart thudded. Was it the same man?
No, not unless he had changed his shirt. The man she had met had been wearing a tailored shirt; this man was dressed more casually.
She started toward the bar and her friend. Deanna had definitely imbibed more than she had Tonight, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to let her friend get too close to a stranger in that condition.
On the other hand, Deanna wasn’t the one getting married. She was free to flirt if she chose.
Apparently she was simply worried in general tonight, Lauren thought. She headed for the bar, but as she did, the man turned and headed out to the street.
“Hey There,” Deanna said as Lauren reached her. “Her majesty wanted more cherries for her drink,” she said with a grin.
Lauren forced a smile in return. Deanna didn’t seem all that drunk, she thought. In fact, she seemed more pleasantly tipsy than anything else. “Cool,” Lauren responded, then asked, “Who was that?”
“Who?” Deanna frowned and flipped back a length of her long dark hair.
“The guy who was just there.”
“Oh. Just a guy.”
“Cute?”
“Yeah, kind of.”
“And?”
“I told him I was with friends tonight,” Deanna said. And she laughed. “I’m a big girl, so don’t worry about me.”
“I wasn’t worried,” Lauren lied.
“Yes, you were. And you still are. You’re still tense.” Deanna looked at her and sighed. “We shouldn’t have made you go to that fortune teller.”
“Don’t be silly.”
“She was weird.”
“She was striking, don’t you think?” Lauren said.
“A great face to sketch, yes, but weird. Come on. Let’s get back to the table. Heidi is going to want her fruit.”
The band was playing exceptional jazz; it sounded as if they had been together forever. As she sat, Lauren let the music engulf her, and she smiled. She came from this state, after all. She’d been in New Orleans hundreds of times. She knew the city well. Why she was letting the antics of a Jackson Square fortune teller disturb her, she didn’t know.
“So are you ever going to tell us where the honeymoon is going to be?” Deanna asked Heidi.
Heidi shrugged. “I’ll tell you guys, but not Barry’s friends. A few of them are crazy enough to show up.”
“Okay, where?” Lauren asked.
Heidi leaned forward, and her love for her soon-to-be husband was apparent in her gamine smile and powder blue eyes. “Fiji,” she said.
“Fiji. Wow,” Lauren said.
“You really think Barry’s friends might show up in Fiji?” Deanna asked.
“You never know,” Heidi said. “I can guarantee you right now that we’ll all probably end up in the pool at the reception, and that they’ll tie cans to the car and do anything else ridiculous that guys can do. Most of those guys actually graduated from college, and some of them are even lawyers, like Barry, but honestly, they’re still like a bunch of kids.”
“You’re not marrying them, you’re marrying Barry,” Deanna reminded her.
“Because he’s wonderful,” Heidi said, finishing the statement by biting the cherry at the end of her swizzle stick.
“He is a good guy,” Lauren agreed.
“And he has some very attractive friends—silly, but attractive,” Deanna added.
“I can set you up any time,” Heidi promised.
“I like setting myself up. We’ll see what happens at the wedding,” Deanna said.
Lauren let out a yawn, then quickly apologized. “Sorry.”
“It’s late, isn’t it?” Heidi said.
“Not for New Orleans. And this is your party,” Lauren assured her.
“I know, but I think I’d like to take my party back to our nice cushy cottage,” she said.
“Cool. I’m your slave,” Lauren said.
They both looked at Deanna, wondering if she intended to protest.
She laughed. “Okay, I admitit. I’m beat, too. But we’re pathetic. I guarantee you they’ll go all night at Barry’s bachelor party.”
“Right, but his bachelor party is only one night. We have a whole weekend. We have days left to party,” Heidi said. “And shop.”
“For Fiji,” Lauren said.
“Yep, for Fiji,” Heidi agreed. She lifted her glass, and Deanna and Lauren followed suit, clinking their glasses in a toast. “Here’s to the world’s best friends.”
“Here’s to you, too,” Lauren said.
“Let’s not get maudlin,” Deanna said.
“If she wants to be maudlin, we’ll be maudlin,” Lauren reminded Deanna.
Deanna groaned. “Okay, but let’s walk in a maudlin manner and get back to the B and B.”
“Sounds good,” Lauren agreed.
As they headed for their cottage, they talked about the shops Heidi wanted to hit in the morning.
Along Bourbon Street, everything felt fine to Lauren. It was quieter than it had been earlier, but the bars were still open, and people were moving about. Groups still spilled out of the doorways of the clubs. Hawkers were handing out flyers for the strip joints. A group that appeared to be m ade up of retirees was moving along at a good clip. Most of the members seemed to be couples who had spent many years together, and who still enjoyed walking hand in hand. She had to smile. It didn’t seem quite the right place, but then again, who was she to say? They were definitely young at heart.
It was when they turned off Bourbon that Lauren first felt the strange stirring of unease.
The street wasn’t so well lit anymore.
And it wasn’t filled with people.
The sound of Heidi’s and Deanna’s voices seemed to fade. She wasn’t hearing them. Instead, she was watching. Watching the shadows.
They seemed to be moving too much. Houses and buildings, flush against one another, a few feet away, should have been still. Instead, their shadows stretched, became too long, seemed to loom.
Then there was the breeze. She hadn’t felt it on Bourbon Street, but it was eerily noticeable now
She quickened her pace.
“Hey!” Heidi’s protest broke through her sense of isolation.
“What?” Lauren asked.
“Do we really have to run back?”