Free Rose, Charlotte - Bayou Famine [Shifters of Alligator Bend 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Charlotte Rose

mess. The congregation always needed extra help with data entry, but Narcisse found that completely monotonous. More often than not, there wasn’t even that to do. There was so little fish coming in that most of the business-related chores were finished early in the day. The entire congregation seemed restless, but Narcisse felt completely trapped. At least everyone there was family. Narcisse supposed she was family as well, by virtue of the fact that she’d mated Nelson and Armand, but she still didn’t feel connected to anyone yet.
    It wasn’t long before Narcisse realized that she was starting to miss her old life, even the friends she’d fought with in New Orleans. She wondered if they’d given her a second thought, or if she’d been entirely forgotten. She wondered what her boss had done when she hadn’t returned to work. She wondered what she was missing.
    Deciding that a night in the city would help, Narcisse decided to bring that up to Armand and Nelson when they arrived for lunch. Everyone had been stressed out about the ongoing fish shortage, and the fact that the problem still hadn’t been resolved. Adele had filed her report, but official action, either at the state or local level, had yet to be taken. Pomet was still operating in full-force, and the fish population was growing weaker by the day. Manuel and Andre were getting impatient, so much so that Manuel had been talking about trying to expose the operation to the local news media, even though he generally insisted that the congregation avoid contact with humans as much as possible. With all the stress they still had to deal with, she figured a night in the city would be good for the men, too.
    The second Nelson and Armand walked in for lunch, Narcisse could tell that something was wrong.
    “Bad day out on the water?” she asked as soon as they sat down to eat.
    “We haven’t caught a single fish all week,” Nelson said.
    “I’m sure everything will be worked out soon.”
    “I ain’t,” Armand said. “This is bad. Real bad.” Narcisse could hear the pessimism straining his voice.
    “Even if we manage to get Pomet’s boats to stop overfishin’, it’s gonna be a while before the population replenishes,” Nelson explained. “This could ruin our haul for the entire season.”
    “I guess there’s nothing to do but wait.”
    “This be our livelihood and our home.” Armand’s face went stony with frustration. “Sorry, I just can’t wait and see what happens.”
    “Well, maybe we could do something special to take our minds off of things. Could we have a night in the city this weekend?”
    Armand sighed. “I don’t know, baby. It would be fun, but I hate leavin’ with this big problem hangin’ over our heads.”
    Nelson nodded. “Maybe we can hold off until after this all gets taken care of.”
    “Oh, okay.” Narcisse turned toward the stove to get some more soup, trying not to let them hear the tears in her voice.
    Nelson immediately stood up and rushed over to her.
    “What’s wrong, baby?”
    “Nothing,” she said, trying to ignore the tear rolling down her cheek.
    “Come on, baby. You don’t need to keep things from us.”
    “I was—I was just really hoping for a night out. I’m a city girl, remember? This—this hasn’t been easy for me. Sorry. I don’t—I don’t want the two of you to think I’m miserable or anything, it’s just that I miss city life, and shucking oysters wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. Especially because there isn’t much to shuck.”
    “You don’t like it here?” Armand asked.
    “It’s not that. But I did sort of make a hasty decision, and now I’m having some trouble adjusting. I think a night back in familiar territory would do me some good. Plus, I think it would be nice for the three of us to have more alone time together. You two are gone before the sun comes up and don’t come back until it goes down. I miss you while you’re gone.”
    “We miss you, too, baby,”