by J. S. Cooper
“You don’t like me, do you?”
I paused. Was she surprised I didn’t like her? Did she suffer from the same split personality that Wade suffered from?
“I don’t really know you.” I wanted to leave, but I stood there, unsure what the etiquette was in a situation like this. “I’m just Wade’s assistant.” I looked back at the bed and blushed. “This is just a new situation for me.”
“You’re young, aren’t you?”
“I’m twenty-two, not that young.”
“My son is thirty.”
“He acts as if he’s eighteen.”
“Yes, he does, doesn’t he?” She smiled suddenly. “He hates me with the immature petulance of a little boy.”
“He doesn’t hate you,” I replied, but I couldn’t meet her eyes. Suddenly I felt bad for this woman, even though I didn’t really like her myself.
“You don’t need to lie to me. I know my son. He blames me for his father’s death.”
“Maybe more for his heartache,” I suggested.
“I didn’t break Joseph’s heart,” she scoffed. “No matter what he told those boys.”
“But you left them!” I accused her. “To go and be a model and hobnob with the rich and famous.”
“So my son has shared his history with you.” She walked over to me and stared in my eyes. “I can see from your face that you’re passionate. You care about him, don’t you?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “You’re in love with him.” She tilted her head to one side, studying me. “You’re not a gold-digger, are you?”
“Of course not!” I was indignant at the suggestion. “How dare you?”
“I dare many things, my child.” She smiled. “You’ve got a mouth on you, don’t you?” She tilted her head. “I guess I’m glad for that. It’s very important to speak up for oneself.”
“You don’t seem to have any problems on that score.”
“You think I’m a bitch, don’t you? I wasn’t always like this, you know. I used to be a happy girl. A fun one. A really nice girl.” She shook her head. “Well, that’s a lie. I’ve always been a bit vain. Maybe not so much nice as I was pure. A true believer in love.”
“Well, you had Joseph in love with you, and he wrote you love letters and sent you presents and all sorts of things.”
“How do you know about that?” Her eyes narrowed. “Surely Wade didn’t tell you all that?”
“No.” I pressed my lips together. “I found some old letters and photos in the library.”
“I see.” She nodded. “Joe was always a sentimental man. A narcissist and philanderer, but a sentimental one. He was one of those men who’s more in love with the idea of love than anything else. He never loved anyone more than himself, you know.” She shook her head. “But the past is the past.”
“He loved you. And he loved his sons.” For some reason, I felt the need to speak up for Joseph Hart, even though I never knew him. “And you left him and broke his heart. I think you’re the only one that only cared about herself.”
“You judge me quite harshly for someone that doesn’t know me.”
“I’m only going by what your son told me. Or does he not know you very well, either?”
“It’s easy to judge, you know. When one doesn’t know the truth.” She turned away from me. “You should go and get ready for whatever it is you have to do today. I see that you have feelings for Wade, which pleases me. You might not be a gold-digger, dear, but I do have to warn you ...”
“Warn me about what?”
“Wade will still break your heart.” She walked to the door then looked back at me over her shoulder, her eyes pitying. “My son is a good man, a handsome man, a strong man, but he lacks the ability to love.” She looked me over. “You’d do well to remember that, ma chérie.”
And then she walked out of the room, leaving me cold and empty. Our talk affected me far more than her nasty words of the previous day. Yesterday, I’d been able to write her off as just being a bitch. Today, her words had pierced my soul.
I felt like crying and hurried to my room, wanting desperately to call Lucy. As soon as I’d shut the door, though, I realized my bag was still in Wade’s room, so I went back out to get it. I retrieved it quickly and was on my way back to my room when I heard voices coming from the kitchen.
“What are you doing here, Mom?”
“I wanted to spend some time with my sons.”
“You don’t call first?”
“You didn’t answer my calls, Wade.”
“Then maybe you should have gotten the hint.”
“Why are you so cruel to your mother?”
“Mom, you left Henry and me when we were kids. You don’t get to play the emotional manipulation card.”
“Your heart is so cold.” She sighed. “If I’d known Joseph would have ...” Her voice trailed off. “Maybe Henry can come over for dinner, and the three of us can have a meal. That maid of yours, Savage, can serve us.”
“Her name is Savannah, and she’s not my maid. She won’t be serving anything.”
I stifled a burst of laughter. Funny how he wasn’t saying that the week earlier when I was serving him, his brother, and that skank.
“Don’t fuck her, Wade. Let the poor girl do her job without falling for you.”
“She’s not falling for me, Mother. And we’re two grown adults. We can do what we want.”
“She’s barely twenty-two. Did she just graduate college?” his mother continued. “You can tell by looking at her that she doesn’t have a clue. She doesn’t know how to do her makeup or her hair and her clothes. Where did she buy them? Target?”
“Mom, that’s enough.”
“You can do so much better than her. My friend, Silviana, her daughter is visiting New York next week. I’d love to introduce you. She’s just back from Milan. She’s a model, you know.”
“Mom, I don’t need your help getting laid.” He sounded frustrated. “Never have and never will.”
“Obviously, you need some help or you wouldn’t be sleeping around with the servants.”
“She’s my assistant.”
“She’s falling for you, you know.” She sounded almost bored. “I can tell you feel for the girl but, Wade, you and I both know you would never marry her. She’s not from our world. She’s a nobody. And frankly, she must have been pretty desperate to take a job up here.”
“Savannah and I are on the same page. She’s working here for six months, and we’re having some fun. Nothing more and nothing less.” His tone was dismissive. “If I sleep with her, that’s up to me.”
“Just don’t go getting the girl pregnant.” His mom’s voice was sharp. “There are enough bastard Hart children out there.”
By this time, my heart was thudding in my chest so loudly I was surprised they hadn’t heard it. I scurried back to my room before I got so angry that I started shouting at the both of them. Neither one of them talked about me with any real concern or respect, and that hurt me.
Well, Louisa’s comments didn’t hurt me because I’d already known she was a bitch and didn’t care about anyone else, but Wade’s comments had. The fact that he’d so casually dismissed any sort of real relationship between us had stung. And what about his mother’s last comment? What bastard Hart children were out there? Did Wade have a son? Or Henry? I couldn’t really see either of them as fathers, but maybe that was what Louisa had been saying. Something was missing from their hearts. Maybe their parents’ relationship had broken them in some irreparable way. Maybe Wade just wasn’t capable of loving someone.
I turned on the shower and jumped in. The water poured over my skin and I couldn’t help thinking that it was just a few hours ago that Wade had washed me so delicately with the soap. His mother was right, of course. I was falling for him. Hook, line and sinker. Body, mind and soul.
Maybe it was time to leave Herne Hill Village before I was too far gone.
Chapter 16
“Do you have your bikini with you
?” Wade glanced at my small bag as we walked to his truck.
“I have it on.” I pulled my tank top away from my chest. “Is that okay?”
“That’s fine.” He opened the side door of the truck for me. “You going to get in?”
“We’re going in this?” I looked dubiously at the rusted-out sky-blue truck. “Does it run?”
“It’s perfect for our needs. This beauty is a classic.”
“It is?”
“It needs some exterior work, but she runs well. She’s a ’67 Chevy C10. She was born to run.”
“A long time ago.”
I cast another doubtful glance at the truck but slid inside and sat on the soft black leather seat. Wade shut the door behind me and walked around to the driver’s side. I leaned over and opened the door for him and he smiled as he got in.
“Thanks.” He looked surprised. “I wasn’t expecting you to open the door for me.”
“I’m a Florida girl. I have manners.”
His eyes crinkled as he laughed. “I’m not sure that’s what Florida girls are known for.”
“Oh, what are they known for?”
“Alligator wrestling, lying on the beach, and shopping at the mall.”
“Wow, you just described every girl in my high school class.”
“You included? You wrestled the gators as well?”
“I was State champion. No cheerleading for me. Wrestling in the Everglades was my jam.”
“Funny.” He started the engine and as the truck started, the radio also came on. An old Garth Brooks country song was playing.
I looked over at him in surprise. “You listen to country music?”
“That surprises you?”
“Yes.” I studied his classically handsome features and attire and laughed. “I mean, you went to boarding schools in England, and your mother lives in France and is a model.”
“But my dad loved country music. His favorite musician was actually Hank Williams, Sr.”
“No kidding?”
“Yeah, his favorite song was ‘I’m So Lonesome, I Could Cry.’ Do you know it?”
“No. It sounds sad, though.”
“Yeah. It’s about a man who’s lost the will to live.” He nodded. “It’s a bit depressing. He played it a lot before he left.”
“Aw, do you think it was his loneliness that killed him?”
“Hmm? Killed who? Hank Williams? He was twenty-nine when he died, did you know? He had a heart attack in the back of his Cadillac. So sad.”
“I was talking about your dad.” I paused. “Though that’s super sad about Hank Williams, I never knew that.”
He frowned at the road ahead. “Let’s change the subject. So, were you a cheerleader, then?”
“No, I told you I wrestled gators.”
“And when you didn’t wrestle gators?”
“When I didn’t wrestle gators, I was on the swim team and the tennis team.”
“So you can swim.” He shook his head as he pulled out of the driveway. “And you can definitely race with me.”
“Maybe. I wouldn’t want to embarrass you, though.” I pretended to do the breaststroke. “I went to Nationals twice. In fact, my coach said if I were to dedicate myself, I might have a shot at making the Olympics.”
“But you didn’t want to?”
I shook my head. “It would have meant disrupting my whole family. And I didn’t want it enough. Plus, I was always more interested in going to college and writing.”
“Your poetry?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “And I wanted to have a boyfriend,” I admitted. “My parents never really let me date much, and I didn’t have much time between studying and practice.”
“So you wanted to go to college so you could have a life?”
“Something like that.”
“And how was Columbia? It must have been quite a change of scene going from Florida to the big city.”
“I had a mini panic attack when I arrived at LaGuardia and took a cab to my dorm that first year. It all seemed so big, so dirty, and so overwhelming. I wanted to cry and fly back home.”
“But you didn’t.”
“I arrived on campus and fell in love.” I smiled. “It was what I’d always imagined it would be like, and I finally felt at home. I was a small-town girl, but I always dreamed of living in the city.”
“I can see that.” He nodded.
“So, what about you? Why do you live in this small town?” I asked him, curiosity getting the best of me. “You’re almost like a recluse. Do you just enjoy being away from people?”
“Do I just enjoy being away from people?” He glanced at me as he turned onto a dirt road. “Not really, no.”
“So why?”
“Obligation.”
“What obligation?”
“Nothing.” He looked annoyed, and I wondered if I’d said something wrong. I didn’t like it when Wade was grumpy and moody. I liked it when he was playful and teasing. And I liked it a lot when he was sexy and charming.
“So, where are we going?” I asked him, hoping to lighten the mood again. “Don’t tell me we’re going to town to do more shopping so that I can make more delicious dinners?”
“Funny.” He laughed and swung the truck to the right. We were now traveling along a mud road through the forest, and the truck was bumping up and down uncomfortably. “It’s a surprise. You’ll see.”
“Is this truck going to make it? Is it a four-wheel drive?” I clutched the side of the truck.
“Are you nervous? Don’t worry, Savannah. You’re in good hands.”
“I daresay that I am.”
“I daresay that you are.” His voice was warm, and I sank back into the seat with a smile on my face and listened to the music coming from the speakers. The sound of a twanging guitar had me nodding my head to the beat. It wasn’t a song that I knew, but I found myself humming along and enjoying it.
“This is so cool. Who is this? Is this Hank Williams, as well?”
“No, this is Scrapper Blackwell.” He spoke in a twang. “‘Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out.’”
“Sorry, what?”
“That’s the name of the song.” He grinned. “Hold on, it’s going to get bumpy.”
“Get bumpy?” I laughed. “It’s already bumpy.” I gripped the side of the door even harder and stared ahead. The woods were getting denser, and there was less sunlight shining in through the windows. “Where are you taking me?”
“On an adventure. Welcome to Herne Hill Forest.” He made a sharp left, and I slid toward him. “You okay?” He flung me a quick glance.
I gripped the door a little tighter and pulled myself back up. “I’m okay, thanks.”
“Okay, five more minutes.”
I looked at him in surprise. We were in the middle of nowhere. What were we going to do? Bird watch or climb trees? I giggled to myself at the thought of climbing trees. That would really be something, wouldn’t it?
“Why are you giggling?” Wade looked over at me, an amused expression on his face.
“I was just picturing us climbing the trees, trying to crawl along branches to bird-watch.”
“You really have an overactive imagination, don’t you?”
“I have an imagination, yes.” I shrugged. “Do you have a problem with that?”
“Never.” He suddenly slammed on the brakes. “We’re here.”
“We’re here?” I looked out of the windows. “Uhm, where?”
We were in the middle of the forest and I could see nothing but brush and trees.
“Yup.” He opened his door and walked to the back of the truck. He jumped into the back cab and began rummaging through some bags. I undid my seatbelt and got out of the truck.
“What are we doing?” I walked to the back, and he handed me a pair of sand brown hiking boots. “What are these for?”
“We’re going on a hike.”
“We are?” I took the boots and turned them over, surprised to see
they were in my size. Wade then handed me a pair of wooly socks.
“Put these on. The boots are new and not broken in, but we’re not going on a long hike, so it should be okay.”
“You bought these for me?”
“Yup.”
“When?”
“When I was in town the other day.”
“You never told me.”
“Surprise.” He grinned and jumped off of the truck. “Now put them on.”
“I’m so curious to find out where we’re going.”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
“You’re full of surprises, aren’t you, Wade?”
“Yes,” He smirked. “Though not all of my surprises are good.”
“What does that mean?” I pulled my sandals off and slipped on the socks.
“Nothing for you to worry about.” He watched me putting on the boots and then I double knotted the laces to make sure they didn’t come undone. “You don’t mind hiking, right?”
“As long as it’s not too far.” I looked up at him. “I’m not in the best shape.”
“You look like you’re in good shape to me.”
“Looks can be deceiving.”
A light seemed to shine in his eyes at my words. “How very true,” he agreed. “Okay, ready?”
“I guess so. Are you going to tell me where we’re hiking to? Should I bring my purse?”
“No, don’t worry about it. No one will bother our stuff.” He grabbed a bright yellow bag out of the back seat. I looked at it curiously, but he just smiled. “Come this way.” He grabbed my hand and led me to a small clearing to the left of the truck. I was surprised that he had taken my hand, but I enjoyed the feel of his warm skin on mine.
“So, this is a date, huh?” I asked, summoning up the nerve to ask him what was on my mind.
“Yes,” he grinned as he looked down at me. “You said you wanted me to take you on a date.”
“Well, actually, I said I’m not going to sleep with you when I haven’t even been on a date with you.” I licked my lips. “Is this all so you can sleep with me?”
“I don’t know if I should answer that.” He laughed and then he let go of my hand. He walked ahead of me and pulled some branches to the side. “Walk through, I’ll keep them to the side.” I slipped past the branches and then waited for him. I looked down to where several slugs and snails were making their way along the ground. The trees provided shade from the sun, and as we continued walking, I could hear the sound of water.
