hello.' The front door had opened and an overweight woman wearing an apron stepped onto the wide porch.
'That would be our cue.' Junior opened her door and ran around to the passenger side to get Jillian before she greeted her Aunt Minnie. Jillian almost started laughing again when Junior almost hit the ground as the affectionate woman slammed into her with a hug.
'How are you Minnie?'
'Fine considering I have to put up with Avery all day. You look too thin, and who's your friend?'
'My weight is fine and this is Jillian Sterling. Ms. Sterling, may I present Minnie Robichaux.' Junior waited until they were done with their hellos and welcomes before asking about her father's whereabouts.
'Out back watching the water lilies float by. He'll be thrilled to see you, and don't start bitching, you are staying to eat.' Minnie shook her head as Jillian smiled when Junior went back to the car to get the bag in the back seat. From the trunk she took out a long tube and her briefcase.
'Come on, Ms. Sterling, Mr. Baxter awaits.' Jillian followed her companion around the corner along the porch that wrapped around the entire house. The back yard was an explosion of different colored flowers and a giant pool. The very back of the property bordered Bayou Teche, a brown colored body of water that had a current more like a river than anything else and a long row of cypress trees that provided a wide patch of shade. 'Look alive, old man.'
Jillian watched as a giant rose from a chair facing the water. The guy had to be a foot taller than Junior, and she was no midget. Blue eyes twinkled at them from under a crop of snow-white hair, which had fallen into his face while he slept. He was wearing shorts, which made it apparent that one leg was a prosthesis, but it didn't slow him down as he ran to Junior and gave her a big hug.
'Junior.' He squeezed her so hard her feet left the ground.
'Yes, but only one or else Minnie will throw me out on my ass.' She handed him the brown paper bag and laughed when he headed back to his chair with it. 'I'm beginning to think that's the only reason you look forward to my visits.'
'Don't be goofy, Junior, you're my link to the outside world not just to Jack. With Minnie as my warden, I never have any fun.' Junior pointed to one of the other chairs for Jillian to have a seat. Before she did, Jillian looked up at her and smiled. Mr. Baxter had set up three glasses on the small table next to him and was busy pouring amber liquid into each one. Maybe no one had told him it was only ten in the morning?
'Could you do me a favor?' She put her hand on Junior's arm getting the woman to bend down and nod her head. 'Please stop calling me Ms. Sterling.'
'What's new, Junior?'
'Plenty, but let me start by introducing you to Jillian Sterling. Jillian, this old codger is Avery Baxter.' Shooting Junior a dirty look, Avery smiled up at the petite blonde then handed her a drink. 'Jillian wanted to talk to you about a job.'
'You wouldn't be the Jillian Sterling that caught Junior with her pants down, would you?' He had drained the first shot and was pouring himself another one while he waited for her to answer.
'Excuse me?'
'The inspector that fined her for everything but taking a shit at the wrong time.'
'That would be me, sir.'
'Don't call me sir, it makes my skin crawl. Only bankers and lawyers call you sir, and then they stick it to you without benefit of a jar of Vaseline. My name is Avery and if it's a job you want you need to talk to Avery Junior.' Both Avery and Jillian looked at Junior wondering what she was up to.
'I'm sorry to bother you, Avery, but that's who I thought I was coming to see.'
'You asked to see Mr. Baxter, and there he is.' Junior supplied helpfully.
'Forgive my kid, Ms. Sterling, she thinks she's funny.' Avery scowled when Junior got up and took the bottle away from him when he went for a third.
'Elaboration would be good,' Jillian pointed out.
'I don't run Baxter Oil, young lady, Junior does. You want a job you have to talk to her. My advice, Junior, is make an offer before the day is out. This little lady looks like she could kick your ass if she sets her mind to it. Kinda reminds me of your mama.'
Jillian faced the now smiling Junior looking a little confused. 'What's your full name?'
'Avery Leland Baxter, Jr.'
The small blonde let out a laugh that sounded more like a squawk causing Junior's smile to get bigger. 'You're kidding me, right?'
'My father also thinks he has a wonderful sense of humor, Jillian, so no, I'm not kidding. I'm sorry for tricking you but I didn't want to make the drive alone. If you give me few minutes alone with my father, I'll be happy to discuss your future with the company then take you home.' Jillian shook her head like Minnie had just done minutes before but smiled anyway. 'You,' Junior pointed at her father, 'Don't touch that bottle until I get back.'
They walked toward the house in silence until Jillian asked, 'Why in the world would he name you Junior?'
'I'll tell you the whole story on the way back, but the short version is this. They brought me out after my mother delivered and dad was so drunk he thought the woman said boy. While my mom was in recovery he filled out the paperwork including the name. When he sobered up he thought it was cute, and would be bad luck to change it.' Junior put her hands out as if it was a reasonable explanation and waited for the jokes she had endured from the time she could walk.
Jillian looked at her and decided at that moment that Junior was the one. 'Ok, you realize I'm not calling you Junior, right?'
'Everyone calls me Junior, it's my name.'
'I'm not everyone, I start tomorrow, and we aren't leaving, Avery. Minnie invited us to lunch and we aren't going to disappoint her.' Minnie applauded her from the kitchen door then waved the girl inside.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^
'What brings you out here, Junior?' Her father asked when she walked back and sat next to him.
'Quinton and his wife died in a car accident last night.' They had never sugarcoated anything between them before and she wasn't starting now.
'I'll tell you something, Junior, that boy was my son because some of my swimmers made it up stream but I never did like him. He was a mistake after your mama died and the bitch that bore him tried everything she could think of to break me. It was our bad luck her son inherited her black heart.'
'Susan left me something in her will.' Avery looked at his daughter not voicing his opinion of the dead woman, but she ranked up there with his son for the hurt she had caused Junior.
'What's that?' Avery accepted the glass Junior was handing him. Diabetes had put a serious crimp in his choice of refreshments and he only knocked back a few when Junior came to visit.
'Their kids.'
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^
'Where did you and Junior meet?'
Jillian watched the woman move around the kitchen with efficiency. The lunch she had been cooking was put aside as Minnie started collecting the ingredients to make one of Junior's favorites instead. 'On Pegasus.'
'That thing is all Avery talks about. He'll be the proud father until the day he stops breathing.'
'Tell me about them?' Jillian accepted a large bowl of green beans from the cook and started snapping off the ends like Minnie demonstrated.
'Avery Baxter was a hard drinking, womanizing piece of oilfield trash that ended up building a good company before he was ready to hand the reins over to Junior.' Minnie laughed at the arched eyebrow Jillian was giving her.
'Sounds like a mouthful, and like you don't care for him very much.'
'I love the old fool, but he's too rough to polish up, so you have to go with the truth. He walked into a bar one day and fell in love with the girl serving drinks. In six days he convinced her to marry him, pack up and move to Louisiana where he was going to make his fortune. A year later he had three working rigs, a wife that adored him despite his faults and a new baby.'
Jillian stopped snapping beans before the story continued wanting to ask a question, which made Minnie look up from kneading dough to see if the girl had finished. 'That was Avery, I take it?'
'It was our Junior all right. Watching her grow up, it was hard to picture my sister having any input at all.'
'You're Avery's aunt?'
'Yes, Hope, her mother, was my younger sister.' Minnie went back to her kneading once she jutted her chin out to the
