Midnight Bayou

stopped working. Don’t you worry, though, Effie’s all I want.” He let out a long sigh of a contented man. “Besides, Lena and me, we did our round some time back.”
    “What do you mean?” Declan set his beer back down and stared at his friend. “You and Lena. You . . . and Lena?”
    Remy winked. “One hot, sweaty summer. Must’ve been close to fifteen years ago. Ouch.” He leaned up to rub his heart. “That hurts. I was about . . . yeah, I was seventeen, just graduated high school. That’d make her fifteen, seems to me. We spent some memorable evenings in the backseat of my old Chevy Camaro.”
    He noted Declan’s brooding look. “Hey, I saw her first, too. I was in a hot trance over that girl, a good six months. Thought I’d die if I didn’t have her. You know how it is at seventeen.”
    “Yeah. I know how it is at thirty-one, too.”
    Remy chuckled. “Well, I mooned over her, danced around her, sniffed at her heels. Took her to the movies, for long drives. To my senior prom. God, what a picture she was. Then one moonstruck June night, I finally got her clothes off in the back of that Camaro. It was her firsttime.” He shot Declan a look. “You know, they say a woman never forgets her first. You got your work cut out for you, cher .”
    “I think I can do better than a randy teenager.” Despite, he admitted, the fact that she made him feel like one. “What happened between you?”
    “Drifted is all. I went up North to school, she stayed here. Fever burned itself out, and we slid into being friends. We are friends, Dec. She’s one of my favorite people.”
    “I know a warning when I hear one. You want all the girls, Remy?”
    “Just thinking to myself that I’d hate to see two of my friends hurt each other. The two of you, boy, you come with a lot of baggage.”
    “I know how to store mine.”
    “Maybe. God knows she’s worked hard to keep hers locked in the attic. Her mother—” He broke off when Effie screamed.
    Beer spewed over the floor when Remy kicked the bottle over as he leaped up. He was through the kitchen door one stride ahead of Declan and shouting Effie’s name.
    “Upstairs.” Declan veered left and charged up the kitchen stairway. “She’s upstairs.”
    “Remy! Remy, come quick!”
    She sat on the floor, hugging her arms, and threw herself into Remy’s the instant he crouched beside her. “Baby, what happened? Are you hurt?”
    “No. No. I saw . . .” She turned her face into his shoulder. “In there. On the bed in there.”
    Declan looked at the open door. The only bed in there was the one he’d imagined. Slowly, he pushed the door open the rest of the way. He could see the layer of dust on the floor, where it had been disturbed when Effie had started to go in. The sun beamed through the windows onto nothing but wood and faded wallpaper.
    “What did you see, Effie?” Declan asked.
    “On the bed. A woman—her face. She was dead.”
    “Baby.” Staring into the room, Remy stroked her hair. “There’s nothing in there. Look now. There’s nothing there.”
    “But I saw . . .”
    “Tell me what you saw.” Declan knelt down beside her. “What did you see in there?”
    “I saw . . .” She shuddered, then pressed her lips into a firm line. “Help me up, Remy.”
    Though her face was stark white, she got to her feet and stepped to the doorway.
    “Effie darling, you’re shaking. Let’s get you downstairs.”
    “No. No, wait.” Her eyes were wide, and her heart continued to beat wildly as she scanned the room. “I couldn’t have seen anything. It’s an empty room. Just an empty room. I must’ve imagined . . .”
    “A tester bed? Blue drapes? A chest of drawers and mirrored bureau. A woman’s vanity and a blue chaise. Gaslight sconces, candles on the mantel and a framed picture.”
    “How do you know what I saw?”
    “Because I saw it, too. The first day I was here. I smelled lilies.”
    “White lilies in a tall vase,” Effie continued, and a tear trickled down her cheek. “I thought it was odd, and sort of sweet, that you’d have flowers in there. Then I thought, for just a minute, well, how did he fix this room up so beautifully, why didn’t he mention it? And I stepped in and saw her on the bed. I’m sorry. I really need some air.”
    Without a word, Remy scooped her off her feet.
    “My hero,” she murmured as he carried her toward the stairs.
    “You gave me a hell of a fright, chère. Declan, you get my girl