Epilogue

“I tell dem folks what come to see da church dat ain’t da real one, no. It’s just a copy for da tourists. I tell dem, me, Old Thibodeaux, da old one, she burn down. Dey called me Old Thibodeaux even den, but I’m even older now. And I can tell you a good story, me. Not so good as Tante Lu who passed on at one-hundred-two, but she gone now, and dey got only me, heh.”

“I tell dem ’bout Miss Laura who is our librarian lotsa years now, how I saw her pulled from under da church. I tell ’bout old Miss Lilliane who usta be librarian, and how she t’rew dem books off da balcony of Chateau Camille.”

“‘Course, dere ain’t no more Chateau Camille. Da gardens is dere, and dey can go see dem if dey want to. I tell how da police cotched crazy Miss Vivien trying to set fire to da straw in da cattle barns, but she ain’t got no matches to burn ’cept inside her head, so dey took her to a place for da criminal insane where even her rich folks from New Orleans couldn’t get her out again. Why, she hated being in dere with colored folks and such so much one day she fired her own mattress and put a end to herself. No one here cried, not wit’ what she done.”

“I felt sorry for dat little girl, T-Angelle. Turned out to be an artist, she did. First she painted only flames, Sainte Jeanne burning up and such t’ings like dat. But da doctor says it’s okay. She workin’ t’ings out, and so she did. Went away up nort’ to study art. But she come back to see her people. Does real good, fixes up old paintings and such. Did all dose copies of da old LeBlancs dey got out in da Visitor’s Center at da gardens. Once she even done one of Pearl Segura who saved her life and won a prize wit’ it. Miss Angelle, she gave dat one away to dis black lady from New York City, a Dr. Roberta Segura, who maybe was Pearl’s cousin or somet’ing, up dere working wit’ runaway girls like.”

“Mais, we still got LeBlancs in Chapelle. You can read about dat family in Miss Laura’s book. Tells about dem all da way back wit’ no fixin’ dem up. I tell you, me, it’s as good as one of dem paperback books, only wit’out da half-naked ladies on da cover. I got my own autograph copy. Dey sell dem out at da gardens, too.”

“Sure, we still got LeBlancs. Dere’s T-Bob’s t’ree boys by Miss Laura. Dey named Robert Francis, Alexander and David, but dat first one called ‘Smokey’ mos’ of da time on account of his eyes. Dey gray like Miss Laura’s but got dis dark ring around da outside. Madame Leleux say it is da mark of smoke from da church burning. Dos las’ two boys, dey twins, but not alike. Dat little one, David, he calls himself a horticulturist and fools wit’ da plants. Alex, he’s a cattlemen like his daddy, but Smokey, he played pro baseball, yeah. Come home rich. Dat Smokey, he might jus’ marry old DeVille’s great-granddaughter. Times sure is changin’. I tell you, me, you got to read Miss Laura’s book.”

A word about the author...

Once a librarian, now a writer of romance, Lynn Shurr grew up in Pennsylvania Dutch country. She attended a state college and earned a very impractical B.A. in English Literature. Her first job out of school really was working as a cashier in a burger joint.

Moving from one humble job to another, she traveled to North Carolina, then Germany, then California, where she buckled down and studied for an M.A. in Librarianship. New degree in hand, she found her first reference job in the Heart of Cajun Country, Lafayette, Louisiana. For her, the old saying, “Once you’ve tasted bayou water, you will always stay here” came true. She raised three children not far from the Bayou Teche and lives there still with her astronomer husband.

When not writing, Lynn likes to paint, cheer for the New Orleans Saints and LSU Tigers, and take long road trips nearly anywhere. Her love of the bayou country, its history and customs, often shows in the background for her books. She is the author of the Sinners sports romance series: Goals for a Sinner, Wish for a Sinner, and Kicks for a Sinner; the Roses Series; and the single title, A Trashy Affair.

You may contact Lynn at www.lynnshurr.com or visit her blog—lynnshurr.blogspot.com.