John awoke to a mixture of chatter coming from the kitchen. Stretching his arms, he took a deep breath. The crisp crackling melodies of fresh cooked bacon resonated throughout the room. Deciding not to alert the occupants of the house to him waking up, he dressed himself silently and peered over the couch edge to eavesdrop on the conversation. His brow furrowed when he realized he was the subject up for discussion. "So pardon me if I am being too intrusive, but how did you meet the Divine family? You seem nothing alike." Dawn handed Anita the plate of bacon. "Well," Anita began. "My husband got called out to their house to wrangle some critters that had found their way into the garden."He is one of their grounds people. One day, our boy Tyler had gotten sent home from school for pulling a little girls hair, so Ray took him with him. John was homeschooled so he was at the house himself. Well, Ray went to work and the boys got to playing. Being how they was, they took to each other like fish to water. Now, Johns momma didn't care for that too much. I suppose she didn't care for a fine, high society type like her son ought to be socializing with the son of the critter catcher. She sent Mr. Divine to come bring John inside, but they couldn't find them. Lord, they must have looked everywhere. Next thing they know, these two boys come bumbling out of some ditch on the back of the property. They was covered, and I mean covered in mud. Now I bet at this point Ray thought he was about to get fired so he starts up apologizing. Johns daddy just started laughing. It was probably the first time he had seen his son have any real fun." Dawn wondered if John's mom was really that bad. Anita continued. " Now, he knew his wife was watching from the house so he puffed up real big and said leaned in close and said 'Now John you know your mother isn't going to allow you into the house looking like that. If it's alright with Mr. Durand, I think you should spend the night over at Tylers house tonight.' Ray hadn't seen those boys light up so fast in his life." Dawn smiled.These people really meant alot to him. "That's so cute" Dawn said. John decided to make his presence known before Anita had a chance to get into the embarrassing stories."Yeah, real cute" He said as he snatched a piece of bacon off the plate in Anitas hand. He wrapped his arms around her in a big side hug as he dodged getting whacked with the spatula. "Wheres Ray at this morning?" Anita turned off the stove and brought breakfast to the table as they each took a seat. "Oh, I suppose he's out there somewhere. He said Diego saw some loose chickens out by the pier." Dawn fixed herplate. "Who is Diego?" In unison, both John and Anita offered their own answers. "He is a dog" John replied. Anita disagreed. "He is a Rougarou." John responded again. He is a really big dog." Anita sensed confusion on her guests face. "When the boys was down in that ditch, they was trying to get at this puppy that had been lodged down there somehow. All I know, is he got big fast. I don't know how else to explain it. I have never seen a dog anywhere in this parish or the next that big." John mouthed the words "She's crazy." Dawn laughed. A loud bark made Dawn jump out of her seat. Anita laughed. "Well Cher, you about to decide for yourself. I would stand back if i was you."

Dawn barely had time to get out of the way when this gigantic black mass of fur came bounding into the house. He was massive! John rushed past her and collided with him. The two wrestled on the carpet. She couldn't tell who was snarling more, John or the beast. On all four paws, this thing was up to her elbow and his head was the size of a suitcase. She couldn't help but laugh out loud. As soon as the sound escaped her lips, Diego stopped and turned towards her. She was frozen in place as he got up on all four paws and walked over to her cautiously. Dawn held her hand out for him to smell and didn't make any sudden movements. John watched carefully incase he showed any signs of aggression. Diego sniffed her palm, and pushed her hand up with his snout so she could pet him. Dawn patted the top of his head and scratched behind his ears. Before she knew it, she was sitting in the kitchen floor with this huge baby in her lap, getting its belly rubbed. Dawn caught sight of the time and got up, much to the disappointment of her new four legged friend. "Thank you so much Anita, but I am afraid I really must be going. I have work in a few hours."John let Diego outside again and went back in to the kitchen."I thought the restaurant was closed on sundays." Dawn nodded. "It is, I also work in my aunts yarn shop." John nodded, still trying to get his mind wrapped around the submission of his four legged friend. In no time at all, Anita had packed them each some food for the road. John said his goodbyes and they started on the walk down the driveway. John slung his jacket over his shoulder and took in a deep breath of the forest air. He really did miss being out here. Dawn started walking up ahead of him as he checked his phone. 6 missed calls, 11 texts from his sister, and 5 voicemails. He listened to a few of them. As he had suspected, there was a slew of rumors about his disappearance from dinner last night. Feeling charitable, he called Jane.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Jay-Jay."

"Where the hell are you? You send me a message saying you took off with the waitress?"

"Yep, cuz thats what I did."

"Oh, of that I have no doubt, but did you have to do it now? I can barely keep Mom off my ass about Jason, now i have her shrieking about how much of a manwhore her son has become. When will you be back?"

John chuckled. He was sure she was paraphrasing the words of their mother.. The Divine matriarch was hardly the type to say manwhore. "I'm on my way now, I promise."

"Did you and the waitress..."

"No, Jane. Despite what you see on tv, I don't jump into bed with strangers. we just went to Ray and Anita's. We had a couple drinks and it was late so we stayed the night. Nothing happened, and her name is Dawn." He decided to omit the kiss. "I will be headed to Jason's after we leave here if you want to meet up there. I wanna see if I can pick up anything the police may have missed."

Jane fussed at him a moment more before they ended the call. John quickened his pace to catch up to Dawn. Diego popped out of the woods and began walking beside the two of them. The sun would periodically break through the trees and let its beams dance at their feet. John looked at Dawn as a stream of sunlight wove through her hair. She was a lovely woman. She looked over and almost caught him staring. "You ok?" She asked. "Yeah, I was just wondering how you got Diego to submit so easily. I have had that dog for almost 20 years and he's only taken to like 6 people, ever. Me, Jane, Jason, Ray and Anita, and Tyler." Dawn shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I am just good with animals. Dogs are great judges of character so I trust them sometimes more than people. They are better company." Diego huffed in agreement."Hey," Dawn began. I meant to ask but didnt want to seem nosy. Where is Tyler?" They reached the end of the road and took a seat on an old bench. "Tyler passed away a few years ago." Dawn heard the pang of sadness in his voice. There was a pretty nasty hurricane that came through and he got sick, really sick." Dawn felt terrible. "Im sorry, I didn't mean to bring up a painful subject." John rubbed his unshaven face. "It's fine. It happened a long time ago and besides, he's in a better place now right?" Dawn agreed.

The car pulled up and they rose from their seat. "Diego, go home, stay, and get fat. Good boy." The horse of a dog turned and disappeared down the driveway again. John opened the door for Dawn and then got in himself. Shutting the door behind them, Dawn gave the driver her aunts address. "its 542 Lavender Ln." John raised a brow. "Your aunt works down Lavender?" Dawn nodded. "Yep, we live there too. Right above the shop. Why?" John replied. " My dad opened his first office there." Dawn thought that was pretty cool. "Hey, I wanted to say thank you for bringing me out here last night. I had a great time." John nodded his head. "Anytime. Thanks for dragging me into your cab. I apologize if it was a bit overwhelming. Subtlety isnt a strong suit in these parts." Dawn shook her head. "No apology needed. Those people were wonderful." They sat in silence for a few minutes. Periodically, one would glance over at the other. and smile before looking out the window. The tension in the car could be cut with a knife. "Oh for heaven's sake, John Divine!" Dawn hit the partition button in the car, took of her seatbelt and straddled Johns lap. He placed his hands on her hips and trailed them up her back, pressing her to him. She captured his face with hers. The feel of her chest pressed so close made John hungry for her. He withdrew from their kiss and buried his face in her neck as she threw her head back. John brought one hand up her side and gently cupped and squeezed her breast. This woman drove him crazy in all the best possible ways. Her scent ensnared his senses and all he could think of was having more of her. Dawn could feel his desire to have her growing with every passing touch. She dipped her hand down between them and rubbed his inner thigh, teasing his manhood with every passing graze. John let out a slight growl when she finally took him into her hand. Grateful the car was an expedition, he rolled them over and laid her down on the seat. She was just about to start undoing the buttons of his shirt when the car came to a stop. "542 Lavender Ln" The driver announced. The amorous pair looked at each other and just started laughing. They sat up and did their best to adjust themselves.

The driver came around and opened the door for Dawn. She grabbed an old receipt out of her purse and a pen."Here," she said, as she wrote down her phone number. " I know you are going through alot right now with everything with your brother, but once you feel up to it, I would love to see you again."John smiled. She was such an anomaly in this town. "I would like that as well." He tore off a piece and wrote his own number down on it. Right as Dawn was about to get out of the car, he pulled her back and stole another kiss. He let his hand linger on her cheek a moment. Dawn blushed and smiled at him. It almost hurt him for her to get out of the car. The driver shut the door behind her and John watched her walk up to the storefront. "Hook, Line and Singer." Antique sewing machines and two nine-cubes of yarn filled the window. The building itself was a weathered blue with a bright red door. He waited until Dawn had gotten inside before having the driver leave. That was it. The last moment of happiness he was going to have until this all was over. He gave the driver Jason's address and tried to ponder what could have happened. Jason always left him secret messages as kids so maybe he would spot something new. Something about all of this just seemed off to him. Why would he leave the door open? Where was his butler? and most importantly, what was such an important secret that he couldn't tell John?