Only By Moonlight (5 page)

“See if you have anything on a Clarissa
Metier and Vincent Metier; anything about a murder in 1837 in the
family’s papers,” LaShaun said.

“Hmm,” Pete said once more and searched for a
few minutes. “I’ve found copies of a Vincent Philippe Metier’s last
will. His widow finally assumed possession of the estate in 1840.
Seems there was some family dispute, but it’s only mentioned
briefly. The entry says after a protracted court battle the matter
was resolved.”

“I’ll bet there was plenty of drama,” LaShaun
said.

“When a large inheritance is involved, things
can get real ugly real fast,” Pete agreed.

“You don’t have to tell me. I lived it,”
LaShaun muttered. She thought about the bad feelings in the
Rousselle clan about Monmon Odette’s legacy. It still bubbled just
beneath the surface.

“Vincent Metier owned a little over one
hundred acres, the mansion, a successful business, and more
buildings. I’m sure whatever fight she had must have been intense
to last so long. I suggest you look at the parish court archives.”
Pete hit a key and the printer hummed.

“Transcripts will tell me who contested the
will and the arguments,” LaShaun replied.

“You’ll get an account of the entire family
feud in their words. It’s the next best thing to stepping into a
time machine and being there,” Pete said, his eyes gleaming with
excitement. He handed LaShaun the pages he’d printed.

“I bet you’d mortgage everything you own to
get a real time machine.” LaShaun took the pages.

Pete sighed wistfully. “Sylvia would stop me,
but what a prize that would be.”

“Your wife is very sensible,” LaShaun
murmured as she read through the pages in her hand.

“She can be quite adventurous, but when it
comes to the house, I’m afraid she put her foot down. It was built
in 1896 you know. We’ve had several offers,” Pete said.

LaShaun glanced up at her friend and laughed.
“Gee, Pete. Sounds like you’ve given this buy a time machine thing
some thought. Lucky for Sylvia one hasn’t been invented.”

“She insists that our grandchildren should
have fond memories of visiting us during summer school breaks. Oh
well, maybe someday,” Pete replied with a shrug and sigh.

“You really want to experience war,
pestilence and outhouses? No thanks. I’ll settle for reading
historical records. Thanks for the starting point. I sure wish
they’d mentioned Vincent Metier’s murder though.” LaShaun
stood.

“I’m not surprised they didn’t want to air
dirty laundry in public. You might strike gold if you find personal
journals from family members. I included the names of some
descendants still living in the area,” Pete said and pointed to the
papers LaShaun held.

“Hmm, I see what you mean. I’ll contact some
of the descendants and ask if they could help complete our
collection. Maybe they found family journals in an attic or
something.” Pete grinned as he rubbed his hands together.

“If they haven’t tossed them in the trash,”
LaShaun said with skepticism.

“It’s possible, but people in these parts
place a lot of value on family memorabilia. I love my job,” Pete
exclaimed and started scrolling through pages on the computer
screen again.

“You’re almost as good as a time machine the
way you pull tidbits from history,” LaShaun replied with a grin.
“I’ll wait for your call. Thanks again for that wonderful mug of
hot chocolate.”

“You’re very welcome, but I get something out
of this as well. You keep life very exciting for this old guy.
Except for the evil supernatural creatures bent on spreading death
and destruction part of course,” Pete added matter-of-factly
without taking his eyes off the computer monitor.

“Um, yeah. Right. Later.” LaShaun shook her
head and left.

***

Two days later LaShaun sat across from
Chase’s younger sister, Katie, and his brother’s wife Adrianna.
Piles of catalogues covered the kitchen table in Chase’s kitchen.
The former family home stood on two acres of Broussard
property.

“We’ve decided on all this stuff. Do we
really have to go over this again?” LaShaun said wearily.

“Every detail must be checked and double
checked,” Katie replied crisply. She had the tone of a general
preparing for a huge military operation.

“The wedding is going to be pretty simple,”
LaShaun protested. “At least, that’s what I’m fighting for
anyway.”

“Of course it’s going to be a simple yet
elegant wedding. Now, I’ve confirmed that we have tents for the
food. Mrs. Trenton has the arches ordered with the flowers we
selected. It’ll be set up under grandmother’s oak tree.” Katie
sighed and pointed through one of the kitchen windows. “Such a
lovely setting. Oh, and Mrs. Trenton and her employee are going to
wrap flowers around the trunk of the trees.”

Adrianna gave LaShaun an encouraging smile.
“It’s going to be beautiful the way Katie sketched it out. We’ll
have an arch of flowers on the patio with a little raised platform
for you, Chase, and the preacher to stand on.”

“And chairs for the guests on the lawn.
Adrianna’s brother will use his lawn care equipment to do a perfect
manicure of the grass,” Katie added.

“We’ll save money on chairs for the guests.
Most of the Broussard family and their friends aren’t coming,”
LaShaun murmured.

Adrianna and Katie exchanged a glance before
Katie spoke up. “Concentrate on the people who will show up.
They’re the ones who really care about you and Chase.”

“Right.” LaShaun slowly turned the pages of a
travel catalog.

After an awkward silence for a few seconds,
Adrianna cleared her throat. “I see you looking at romantic
honeymoon destinations. So speaking of that, what about a magical
island paradise getaway?”

“Or the big city for a change?” Katie put in.
“New York can be so exciting. That’s where Jeremy and I went on our
honeymoon. We saw Broadway plays, strolled in Central Park, and
went to posh restaurants.”

“No,” LaShaun cut into their excited chatter.
“Either way, Chase says he won’t be able to leave for a while. If
Chase is elected Sheriff, he’ll have to get right to work almost
immediately. If he doesn’t win, then the new sheriff will need his
support, so it’s got to be someplace close.”

“Like how close,” Katie said with a
frown.

“Someplace in easy driving distance I’d
think. We’ll take a four day weekend at the most. Then a few months
later we can go on a longer trip,” LaShaun replied and shrugged
again.

Adrianna pouted. “Well shoot. That’s no fun!
I was picturing a welcome home party and seeing video of you guys
enjoying an exotic place.”

“Or walking hand in hand in Times Square,”
Katie put in. “Wait, maybe you can go to Paris or the south of
France. We all have French ancestors.”

“Like I said, a big trip isn’t in the cards
right after the wedding. That’s the life of a dedicated officer of
the law. Honestly, I don’t care about a honeymoon. We’ll have each
other, and that’s the most important thing to me.”

“A honeymoon serves a true purpose. You get
to extend the romance until you settle into a routine home life.
These rituals can be very important,” Katie announced with a crisp
nod, sounding like her bossy mother. “Now where’s a romantic place
close by?”

“The swamp? They can hold each other close
while they listen to the adoring grunts of gators mating,” Adrianna
joked. She and LaShaun burst out laughing. They stopped when Katie
crossed her arms and squinted at them.

“Besides, Chase and I have been lovin’ on
each other for months, so the honeymoon can wait.” LaShaun winked
at Adrianna.

“We need to focus ladies. Time is short. As
the chief coordinator, I plan to have everything be perfect for the
happy couple,” Katie snapped. “Now let’s get serious and
think.”

“What about a romantic bed and breakfast
close by? A friend’s husband treated her to one in New Iberia and
she loved it,” Adrianna said.

“That’s it!” Katie blurted out with such
fervor that Adrianna and LaShaun jumped. “The Metier House is close
by and perfect.

LaShaun had been forming an argument to
forget the idea, but the name brought her up short. “What did you
just say?”

“It’s called The Sweet Olive B & B. A
couple from Vermont bought it two years ago. But everybody local
still calls it the old Metier House. I hear they’ve done so well,
they now have spa services, a guided tour of the restored gardens,
and made the restaurant bigger.” Katie whipped out her smart phone
and tapped the screen. A few minutes later, she showed a picture
from their website.

“Wow, that’s looks dreamy,” Adrianna
said.

“Yeah, dreamy,” LaShaun murmured and took the
phone from Katie.

The house had three stories with porches that
wrapped around the first and second floors. Large round columns
supporting the porches made the house live up to its description as
a mansion. Dark pink, lighter pink, and white azaleas bloomed
against the pristine white structure. A wide packed earth driveway
led up to the first floor porch steps. An impressive front door
painted dark green had beveled glass windows on either side.

LaShaun grabbed her cross-body bag. “Okay,
let’s go. Katie can drive since she knows the way. Or we can follow
the GPS on one of our phones.”

“Wh-what? But we still need to make up the
final menu for the caterers.” Katie blinked rapidly and shuffled
through the catalog until she found her tablet computer. “We should
have some fancy appetizers. Now I think these bacon wrapped shrimp
would be perfect. Also...”

“Sure, I agree with everything you suggest. I
trust your taste completely. Let’s get moving,” LaShaun started to
stand, but Katie pulled her back down.

“We can’t just march over there and expect a
tour with no notice,” Katie said in a scandalized tone. “These
people are running a business, LaShaun. We have to make an
appointment. Besides, Chase should go with you so he can be part of
the decision.”

“I’ll take him later. Now let’s get shaking.
I’m so excited about this idea I don’t want to wait. That house
looks like a dream come true, dripping with history and
atmosphere.”

“I’m game. Anyway, we don’t need to do
anything but go in and look around. LaShaun can make reservations
while she’s there. I mean, like you said, Katie, the wedding is
right around the corner. It might already be too late depending how
popular they are in the spring. A lot of these old houses have
fascinating stories about the former owners.” Adrianna stood and
picked up her purse. “Oh c’mon, Katie. Wedding planning should be
spontaneous and fun.”

“Good gravy, LaShaun. You went from not
caring about a honeymoon to practically giddy. Let me just organize
all my materials so I’m not lost when we get back.”

Katie fussily arranged the catalogs in her
own system to help her remember details. Then she insisted that
LaShaun and Adrianna wait while she made final notes. Finally, she
called her husband to update him on where she would be. Adrianna
grabbed her left arm and LaShaun grabbed her right arm. They
marched her out of the house. LaShaun set the house alarm and
locked the front door. Minutes later, Katie sat behind the wheel of
her Jeep Cherokee grumbling. She ordered Adrianna to call ahead to
the bed and breakfast. The wife answered the phone and cheerfully
informed them they were more than welcome.

“Thank the Lord for small favors that they
don’t mind us barging in on them,” Katie said when Adrianna ended
the call.

“Don’t be silly. They’re innkeepers for
goodness sakes,” Adrianna replied. “Welcoming strangers is their
business. So they have a spa you said. I may convince Bruce to come
with me one weekend. We can drop the kids off with his
parents.”

“The website said they have a couple of hot
tubs and a masseuse. She uses those warm stones to help relax the
muscles. The walking paths through the restored gardens lead to a
pond with geese. They even have peacocks on the grounds. The new
owners re-created the way the estate was kept over a hundred years
ago,” Katie said.

Adrianna gave a low whistle. “Dang, the
original owners must have been loaded with bucks.”

“The first Metier got a land grant back in
the mid 1700s. He made his fortune trading in furs in New Orleans.
Two of his sons moved to the area around 1806 I think,” LaShaun
said, reciting the history Pete had e-mailed her from the
museum.

Katie took her gaze from the highway for a
few seconds to glance sideways at LaShaun. “I thought you didn’t
know about this place.”

LaShaun blinked back from her musings. “Oh,
well. I’ve been studying the history of the parish for a while. You
know my family came to Louisiana generations ago. I just happened
to remember a few facts about the Metier family.”

“Right,” Katie replied as she gazed ahead
again.

“They were very prominent. Their names are
throughout a lot of historical documents. Two of the Metier sons
founded small settlements, but they don’t exist now,” LaShaun went
on.

“Okay,” Katie said.

Adrianna and Katie became quiet. LaShaun
could almost hear their thoughts. She started to assure them that
there was nothing spooky about the house, but in truth, she
couldn’t guarantee any such thing. Not from what she’d read in the
old newspaper article Miss Rose had showed her. LaShaun decided not
to make promises she couldn’t keep. Not until she walked onto the
property. Who knows what kind of aura had been left behind after at
least one bloody incident? The murder seemed to have been grisly
enough to have left some trace behind. LaShaun just hoped it wasn’t
in the form of wandering spirits. Or at least, none that showed up
to scare the crap out of her future sisters-in-law. She had few
enough allies in the Broussard family as it was.