The first leg of Tommy and Connie's road trip was a two hour jaunt south on US Highway 84 to the newly completed section of Interstate 10. Tommy merged eastbound on the Interstate and motored to San Antonio. Sections of Interstate 10 were still under construction, so they spent as much time on US 90 as they did the Interstate. They rolled into San Antonio at noon and stopped for a leisurely lunch at the Officers Club at Brooke Army Medical Center. It was early in their travels for a lengthy stop, but Tommy needed the break. Riding in a vehicle for a prolonged trip was hard on Tommy, and four hours at a time was about all he could stand.
They pulled out of San Antonio at two in the afternoon. Connie drove the second leg of the trip. Connie did not feel constrained to drive the speed limit and Tommy was tolerating the trip better as a passenger, so at seven in the evening, they drove into Lafayette, Louisiana. Tommy was surprised when Connie made a couple of turns off the highway and pulled up in front of a small Gothic-looking hotel a number of miles outside of town.
"Why are we stopping here?" Tommy asked as Connie opened her door.
Connie turned in her seat and gave him a reassuring smile.
"It's okay Baby, I know the family that owns the place. We'll eat supper and get a room for the night. I figure if we leave by seven in the morning, we can be at your sister's this time tomorrow night."
Tommy nodded his understanding and exited the truck with her. Tommy's feet were barely on the ground when a small wiry man wearing a white ruffle-front shirt and dark trousers appeared as if by magic in front of his truck. The man had cruelly handsome features, glossy, slicked back ebony hair and piercing brown eyes. Tommy guessed his age to be mid-twenties, but it was hard to tell for sure.
"Welcome back, Miss Delgado," the man said in a surprisingly soft Creole voice.
"Thank you Pierre, it's nice to be back. This is my fiancé Thomas Bledsoe; Tommy this is Pierre Arcenaux, his family owns this charming inn."
Tommy stuck out his hand. Pierre grasped it firmly and looked up into Tommy's face.
"You are a very lucky man, Thomas," Arcenaux said with envy in his voice.
Pierre's firm handshake and disarming honesty caused Tommy to like him immediately.
"Yes I am," Tommy replied sincerely.
Connie sorted out which bags they'd need for the night, and the two men lugged them up the broad front steps.
Connie knew the area and the Arcenauxs because of a movie she'd made here in Lafayette. The inn was a prominent location in the production.
The movie was the only one in which she'd appeared cast as the villain. Connie thought her work in Voodoo She-Devil was some of her finest. The movie was also one of the few in which she actually wore different costumes, even if all the gowns were exceedingly low cut, tight and revealing.
In the movie, she played a Cajun Voodoo Priestess whose followers were tormented by a bunch of loutish Yankees down from New York on a bayou hunting expedition. After the hunters sexually assault and kill a teenage girl, the Priestess extracts her revenge. She seduces and kills the hunters, one at a time, in cruel and unusual ways in and around the Hotel Arcenaux.
Pierre led them into the lobby and up to the ornate reception desk. A petite and attractive older woman, dressed in a long black skirt and a black off-the-shoulders peasant blouse, was manning the desk. The woman also had shiny black hair, but hers had a striking white stripe on either side of her face. Her eyes were a mesmerizing caramel color flecked with gold. She greeted Connie as if she was a long lost relative, and then cast those hypnotic orbs on Tommy.
"And who is this big gorgeous man, Cherie? My girls will eat him up."
Connie giggled and once again made introductions.
"This is Thomas, Marie. He belongs to me, so tell your daughters he's off the menu. Tommy, this is Marie Arcenaux, she is my late husband Beau's cousin."
As soon as Tommy took her proffered dainty hand is his big paw, Marie's pupils widened and she rocked back on her heels. Marie, locally renowned as a seer, quickly dropped Tommy's hand, performed the Sign of the Cross, and looked at Connie in doe-eyed wonder.
"You have honored us, Cherie. Not since I met my children's father have I felt such gentle goodness. He is one of the blessed!" she exclaimed.
Before the thoroughly startled Connie could react, Marie spun on her heels and fled out of the lobby through a set of double doors.
"Pierre, show our guests to the bridal suite. Cherie, dinner is still served promptly at eight," Marie said over her shoulder.
Pierre shrugged when Connie shot him an inquiring frown, but he looked at Tommy with new respect.
"Mother sees things in people no one else can see, but I've never seen her react that strongly to anyone. The only other person she has ever said was blessed was my father."
Tommy and Pierre picked up the suitcases and the three of them walked over to an old-fashioned elevator set in an alcove off the lobby. As Pierre operated the controls of the creaking old Otis, he told them about his father.
"According to Mother, my father was a kind and gentle man. He refused to use a weapon, yet he volunteered for service when the Korean War broke out. He was a Navy Corpsman with a Marine unit at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, and his bravery saved a number of men. He was killed when he dashed out into the open to pull two wounded men to safety. Even though he was mortally wounded, he managed to save both men. Mother says my father was incapable of not doing what was right."
Tommy was silent through all of this, but he nodded his understanding and agreement with how Rene Arcenaux lived and died. Tommy, better than anyone, knew how Pierre's father felt. He shared the man's aversion to weapons, yet Tommy, like Rene, was a long way from being a coward. Connie noticed Tommy's sad expression and took his hand reassuringly.
Pierre led them to a lavishly decorated room with a large round bed, reminded them about dinner and disappeared. Tommy looked around, awestruck at the gaudy red and pink magnificence. Still holding his hand, Connie sat down on the bed and pulled him down next to her.
"What are you thinking, Baby?" Connie asked solicitously.
"They remind me of the Addams Family," Tommy replied with a sheepish grin.
Connie laughed delightedly and kissed him on the cheek.
"They are unusual, Baby, but like you, it is in a good way," Connie said.
Then she looked at Tommy's watch and hopped to her feet.
"We better hurry, we need to dress for dinner and we only have twenty minutes."
Dressing for dinner at the Hotel Arcenaux meant a coat and tie for Tommy and a calf-length red cocktail dress for Connie. Tommy dressed distractedly as he watched Connie transform herself in a focused fury of motion. At five minutes before eight, they were on the elevator as it groaned its way down to the lobby.
The dining room was small and intimate, with six tables scattered around. There were only two other couples in the dining room, both older and prosperous-looking. A young woman in a sassy French maid's outfit showed them to a table near a large bay window. The woman was the spitting image of Marie, right down to the double white stripes in her long inky tresses.
Tommy and Connie were having a cup of coffee after an exceptional meal, when Marie swept into the room. To be such a tiny woman, she had a commanding presence. Marie greeted her other guests, then walked over to Tommy and Connie's table. Tommy stood up and pulled out a chair for her.
"Please join us," he said, his voice steady and clear.
Marie gave him a sweet smile and gracefully folded herself in to the chair.
Connie watched the two of them with an amused smile. She could already see the Tommy magic working on the usually aloof and serious Marie. Cousin Marie was a kind and pleasant woman, but according to Connie's late husband, the spark had gone out of her life when her beloved Rene died in Korea. As they sat talking, Connie had an idea.
"Tommy, I'm tired and ready for bed. Marie, why don't you show Tommy the gardens, and I'll just head on up to the room."
Tommy took one look at Marie's eager expression, and any thought of protest died on his lips. They all walked to the elevator and Marie continued to the desk to pick up her shawl. Connie stood on her tip-toes and kissed Tommy on the cheek.
"Make her laugh, Tommy. She deserves it more than most people," she whispered in his ear.
Tommy did just that as he and Marie sat under a small gazebo in the center of the beautiful, well-tended
garden. He had her in stitches as he comically related his life as a small town cowboy who couldn't ride a horse even if he owned one. After his stories, Marie told him about her one and only love. It amazed Marie to find herself telling this virtual stranger embarrassing, yet amusing tidbits about her and Rene.
At ten-thirty, she walked him back to the elevator and kissed him on the cheek with a promise to see him off in the morning.
When Tommy sauntered into the bridal suite, he was surprised to find Connie still awake. He was even more surprised when she whipped off the covers to show she was also gloriously naked.
"Get undressed and join me," she said urgently. "Seeing you with Marie reminded me exactly why I love you so much; and you know how needy I am when I think about that."
Even though they made love until midnight, Tommy was still up at his normal six AM. He cajoled Connie out of bed with the promise she could sleep in the truck while he drove. They were showered, dressed, packed and down in the lobby by six-forty-five. Pierre helped Tommy load the suitcases into the back of his truck, while Connie stood on the wide front veranda talking to Marie. When the suitcases were secured under the tarpaulin, Tommy and Pierre rejoined the women.
"Tommy, I promised Marie we'd stop by here for a night on our way home, too. They are having a cotillion next Saturday night that should be lots of fun."
Tommy smiled and nodded enthusiastically.
"Sure, as long as Marie wears something pink and saves a few dances for me," he said teasingly.
Tommy helped Connie into the truck and handed her the bag of pastries and thermos of coffee Marie had made them, and then started to walk around to his side of the truck. He glanced up towards where Marie was standing on the porch. She looked so small and forlorn that he changed course and bounded up the steps. He stopped a step below her and pulled her into his arms. Marie wrapped her arms around his neck as he hugged her tight. Tommy turned her head towards his, kissed her firmly on the lips and blew a little puff of air into her mouth.
"That was a piece of my happiness, Marie. Be a good girl and I'll give you some more when we come back," he whispered in her ear.
Marie's pupils were huge when she looked into his eyes, but she nodded and gave him a tentative smile.
The drive from Lafayette to Palmdale was smooth and uneventful. Tommy drove for the first four hours again, then Connie took over and chauffeured them the rest of the way. They pulled into the yard of Tommy's childhood home just before eight that evening.
Tommy stepped out of his truck and was leaning to the side to stretch his back, when his sister Beth barreled into him as if she was Dick Butkus on a blind-side blitz. Tommy wrapped his arms around her in self defense and held her as she cried.
The frozen scene of Beth sobbing and Tommy looking bewildered highlighted the one big emotional tragedy of Tommy's head injury. To make it worse, Beth was the only one with a memory of what they'd lost.
Beth's husband Wayne came down off the porch and shrugged apologizingly to Connie.
"Beth has been in a state for days over Tom coming home. I'm Wayne Taylor, and these big lugs are our sons Joseph Thomas, who only answers to JT, and Bradley Wayne, who has decided he wants to be called Gator."
Wayne Taylor was even bigger than Tommy's six-three, two-twenty and Beth was just shy of being six feet tall, so their boys at ten and eleven were bigger than most teenagers. Connie gave Wayne and his sons a devastating smile, and stuck out her hand.
"I'm Connie, and it's a pleasure to meet you all."
Wayne made an effort not to stare at the beautiful young woman as he tried to recall where he'd seen her before. He finally put her out of his mind and went to rescue his brother-in-law.
It took a minute for Beth to compose herself, but she still kept a tight grip on Tommy's arm. Wayne introduced her to Connie and Tommy solemnly shook hands with his nephews as they walked into the house.
After a few minutes of getting acquainted seated around the kitchen table, Wayne stood up and grabbed a blue uniform jacket off a hook next to the kitchen door. Wayne, recently promoted to lieutenant, was the weekend duty officer for the country's central fire command. Wayne kissed his wife and boys, bid their guests goodnight and headed off. Connie and Beth sent Tommy and the boys out to fetch baggage. Beth wanted Connie alone so she could talk about her brother. Beth struggled uncomfortably for a way to tactfully start her questioning. Connie saw her discomfort and took her off the hook.
"I'm Tommy's girlfriend, Beth, if that's what you are wondering, and some day I plan on marrying him."
Connie noticed Beth's expression turn to shocked concern, so she held up her hand to stop Beth from interrupting, and continued to talk.
"I guess I better go back and explain some things you probably don't know about your brother..."
Connie proceeded to tell Beth all about what Tommy had accomplished in the last year, as well as the set backs he'd suffered. Beth's facial expressions displayed a gamut of emotions as Connie talked. She knew almost none of this from her weekly calls from Tommy, and none of his friends she'd spoken with had clued her in either. She was sad that Tommy had established a life for himself so far from her, but felt proud and pleased that he was doing so well. She even had to admit that she included this beautiful and caring woman in front of her as one of those accomplishments. Beth felt very comfortable with Connie, and didn't question for an instant the woman's love for her brother. She could see it in those big brown eyes as plain as day.
By the time Tommy and the boys returned from putting the suitcases into the guest room, the women were laughing and joking like old friends. Neither woman demurred when Tommy suggested taking the boys to the Dairy Queen.
While her brother and sons were gone, Beth pulled out the scrapbook she'd made about her brother, and even dug out his high school yearbook. Connie smiled as Beth bragged about her little brother, and held her hand when she cried about losing the wonderful relationship they'd finally established. Connie decided right then that she was going to help the siblings regain what Tommy had forgotten.
Lieutenant Taylor finished the stack of paperwork the Captain had left on his desk shortly before midnight. The rookie lieutenants always drew the worst jobs and shifts, and doing the captain's paperwork was torture for Wayne. With the paperwork out of the way, Wayne could do what he really enjoyed; he could go hang out with his fellow firefighters. He uncoiled himself from the desk chair and stretched out his bulky shoulders, then grabbed a cup of coffee and wandered upstairs to the day room.
As luck would have it, the boys down at County Fire Station Twelve were watching the Saturday midnight madness movie sponsored by Turner's Furniture. As Wayne walked in, Helen Turner, the attractive and classy wife of the furniture store's owner, was extolling the virtues of a four piece living room set in 'wet-look' Naugahyde.
Wayne was greeted by a few catcalls about the 'brass' ruining their fun, then it quieted down as the movie flashed back onto the screen. Midnight movie madness showed cheap-to-lease 'B' movies, and the firemen had discovered that 'B' movies showed a lot of skin. Wayne had hooted through dozens of these movies with his friends.
Tonight's offering was titled Dracula's Bloody Bride. Ten minutes into the movie, Wayne nearly choked on his coffee when he finally realized why his brother-in-law's girlfriend looked familiar. Wayne knew Beth would have a fit when she found out, but that didn't stop him from ogling a scantily dressed Conchita Delgado. Wayne had to wonder how his brain damaged brother-in-law managed to end up with a beautiful movie star while working in a feed store in Hicktown, Texas.
Sunday morning, Tommy kept adding to his sister's surprises by attending church with her and the boys. Thomas Bledsoe had been a rare fixture in church since the death of their mother.
It didn't matter to Tommy that Beth's church was Methodist, because he was pretty much nondenominational. The unbiased fellowship of the congregation and an opportunity to continue thanking a higher power for the blessings of his life were what put his bottom in a pew every week. Connie attended church with them also. Connie was nominally a Catholic, but her views were very similar to Tommy's.
The fact that Thomas walked into the church with his sister caused more than a few whispered exchanges, as old members explained to new ones who he was. Most of the congregation remembered Tommy and knew something about his situation. Tommy had been mentioned in the church's prayers for the 'sick and shut ins' for over a year while he'd been hospitalized.
Tommy also received much attention because of the absolutely stunning woman with whom he walked hand-in-hand into the church. Connie had put some extra effort into her appearance that morning, and the results were spectacular. Connie was wearing a loosely fitted, knee length aqua dress with a high neck line. Her hair flowed down her back like shimmering black lava and her make up was perfect. She looked as if she'd just stepped off the cover of Vogue.
One of the people who openly gawked at Tommy and Connie was Cynthia Taylor Newbury, Wayne Taylor's sister and Thomas Bledsoe's former betrothed. Cynthia did not feel any remorse about breaking her engagement to Tommy, despite the horrid letter from that awful sergeant. Kyle Newbury was a successful businessman with a bright future, who absolutely adored her. How could she not love a man like that? Yet Cynthia still felt a twinge of jealousy that Tommy had so quickly found such a beautiful replacement. Cynthia knew the extent of Tommy's injuries and had used them as self-justification for marrying Kyle. Now here Tom stood, bigger than life, and more handsome than she remembered him ever being.
Cynthia was standing in the church's parking lot after the services. Kyle was about fifty feet away from her, talking with one of his Rotary Club buddies, when her sister-in-law, her nephews, Tom and the dark haired woman came strolling up.
Beth saw Cynthia standing between them and her car, so she put on her polite face and greeted her sister-in-law. Beth really tried to get along with her husband's only sibling because Wayne loved his self-centered and vain sister like Beth loved her brother.
"Hello Cynthia," Beth said pleasantly.
Cynthia turned on her most winsome smile and returned the greeting.
"Hello Beth, and hello to you too Tom, it is good seeing you again."
Tommy looked at Cynthia in confusion as he drew a blank trying to remember her.
"Um-uh, hi," he stuttered in reply.
Cynthia gave Beth a sympathetic little look before refocusing on Tommy.
"Beth told me you don't remember anything from your past, but you and I were once engaged to be married."
Tommy emphatically shook his head.
"No we weren't. That was old Tommy and old Tommy is dead," he said with calm finality.
Cynthia frowned and was about to say something else. Connie squeezed Tommy's hand and shot Cynthia a baleful glare.
"Tommy has new friends now, and a new fiancé. And you can bet this one isn't going to dump him on some whim," Connie said haughtily.
Beth valiantly suppressed a delighted smile as she herded everyone into her Vista Cruiser. The look on Cynthia's face brightened her day. Beth had actually worried that seeing Cynthia might trigger in her brother memories of her sister-in-law's betrayal. Or even worse, that he'd recall how much he'd been in love with her. As she drove away from the church, Beth idly wondered if her brother had subconsciously chosen Connie because she was just the opposite of blue-eyed, golden haired Cynthia.
Tommy spent the day playing football with his nephews and their friends, while Connie and Beth yakked and prepared a big Sunday dinner. Connie was much impressed with the way Beth managed her kitchen. Connie could see herself doing the same thing in a few years, only Tommy would be outside playing with their children, not Beth's.
Wayne returned home long enough to have dinner with his family, his Motorola walkie-talkie keeping him linked to the fire station. As the weekend duty officer, Wayne had to respond to any call-out in the county. Thankfully his radio remained silent as the family enjoyed Beth's traditional Sunday pot roast. As they ate, Wayne thought about how he was going to tell Beth what he'd learned about Connie. As usual, his wife was way ahead of him.
"Honey, did you know Connie was an actress? She hasn't made a movie in a few years, but her agent is negotiating a deal for a film being made in England. Isn't that exciting?"
Wayne nodded and smiled in agreement and turned his attention to Connie.
"I thought you looked familiar. You were in some horror films, right?"
Connie laughed and bobbed her head up and down.
"Yep, I've been chased and pawed by every creature ever invented. My late husband produced and directed low-budget thrillers. None of our films made it big, but thanks to television and drive-ins, they are still being seen," she replied.
Tommy and Beth spent a lot of time together that week, rehashing their lives and reestablishing their bond. Beth told Tommy about the years he couldn't remember. Tommy was full of questions about things that extended from the memories he had now. He had questions about his childhood friends and his parents mostly; anything outside of those two areas didn't interest him in the least. Beth was happy to fill him in. Even though she knew his memory was completely erased, she had a small lingering hope that something would trigger him to remember their adult relationship. Although that didn't happen, they did have a breakthrough of sorts after Tommy gave her an embarrassed confession.
"I used to try to peek at you when you didn't have any clothes on," he said, his ears burning brightly.
To his confusion, Beth giggled instead of acting angry about it.
"I remember those days, Baby Brother, because I tried to show you as much as I could without being obvious about it. One of the things that brought us closer together was me helping you navigate puberty. I was living at home, working part time and going to college when puberty hit you. You had tons of questions and I had some of the answers."
Tommy's eyes widened when a thought popped into his head.
"Erogenous zones," he blurted.
Beth laughed delightedly and kissed him on the cheek.
"You remember that?" she exclaimed.
Tommy tempered her excitement by telling her about the disjointed and out of context memories that sometimes popped up.
"I remember the words and somehow they are attached to you, but that's all. Why do I recall that anyway?"
It was Beth's turn to blush.
"I came home one night buzzed from a keg party over on the beach. You asked me what girls liked and I'd had enough to drink, that I showed you a few things. I didn't know you had a specific reason for asking the question, until a few days later, when you informed me that Lisa Manning was sensitive in all the places I showed you."
Beth was quiet for a minute, as she reflected back on that time a dozen years in the past. She looked at Tommy from under her bangs and blushed again.
"I was more than a little jealous that she benefited from what I shared with you. But, anyway, that really broke the ice, and we grew closer after that. Even after Wayne and I fell in love and married, you sought me out whenever you had a problem."
By the time Tommy and Connie departed for home on Friday morning, Beth and Tommy had reconnected and Beth was ecstatic about it. Tommy and his nephews had also bonded. The boys remembered their uncle from before, but this new version of him was ten times as much fun.
In the end, it was easier for Beth to let Tommy go because they made arrangements to get together during the upcoming summer school vacation. Beth and Wayne were taking the boys on a three week camping excursion throughout the west. The Taylors were spending a few days at Tommy's place in Brantley, and Tommy had agreed to spend a week with them at Yellowstone Park.
Tommy was very happy as he drove up I-95 with Connie snuggled under his arm. Connie was even happier than Tommy that things had worked out so well. In addition, she'd made a friend for life in Beth Taylor.
Connie's face took on a wicked little grin as she thought about springing Ruth onto the unsuspecting Taylors. Connie did not mention Ruth to Beth during the visit, and Tommy only mentioned her in reference to the speech therapy. Connie wasn't trying to hide anything, she just felt the nature of their complicated relationship would be a distraction to Tommy and Beth reconciling.
Connie sighed contentedly, pulled Tommy's arm over her shoulder and pressed his hand onto her substantial breast as her thoughts segued to the moonlight beach stroll they'd taken the previous night. Tommy made it the most romantic and magical night of her life when he stopped at a deserted lifeguard stand and kissed her until she saw stars even with her eyes closed. When he broke the kiss, he leaned back and looked at her with so much intense love that she almost fainted. Then he made the evening perfect by telling her how he felt.
"I love you, Connie, and I'll never forget what you did for me here. Don't you think Beth would be the perfect name for our first daughter?"
Having children had always been the furthest thing from Connie's mind ... until Tommy mentioned it. Now, it was all she could think about.
Edited by Dream-Girl.