way back to the highway. He started to say something when Leigh took his hand and led him up the steps of the small house. She opened the unlocked door and he followed her inside.

"Don't worry, this is my house."

It was warm inside. Leigh led him down a hallway and into her bedroom. "Now for something better than gumbo." She reached up and kissed him.

Waller awoke at six o'clock the next morning. He was alone in the bed. He slipped on his shorts and walked toward the smell of bacon and coffee. Leigh was standing in front of the stove scrambling a skillet of eggs. She had on a very short nightgown.

She turned to him and smiled. "You are just in time for breakfast. Then we'll go fishing."

Wallersmiled, went into a closet and dumped a pile of clothing onto a sofa. "I've got six brothers. There'll be something in there that will be close enough."

"Do they live here?" asked Waller as he sifted through the clothes.

"No," she said. "Dupree and Jean work on an oil rig out in the Gulf. Gaston is a carpenter in Thibodaux. Girard got drafted in the army. He's in Germany. Pierre drives a truck for an oilfield pipe company in Lake Charles, and Boudreau plays linebacker for LSU."

"So, you are the only sister?"

"It's not a bad deal. No one messes with me."

Waller smiled and tried on some blue jeans. Finally, he was dressed. Leigh filled a small cooler with cans of Jax and ice. She took a fishing rig from