His Haunted Heart

by Lila Felix

  I found myself near the back of the property and I could see Delilah in the window of our bedroom, brushing her hair. She turned to the right and inspected her face.

  I couldn’t even remember what the scar looked like anymore.

  I didn’t see anything but her eyes, the roundness of her nose, the long length of her neck and how much she loved my mouth there.

  My legs made the decision for me. I was drawn to her like a mosquito to blood.

  There was no point in resisting.

  I met her at the foot of the stairs.

  “Hungry?”

  “Yes.”

  I folded her hand in my arm. There was no mention of anything scandalous at the dinner table and if my mother had a notion as to the night before, she didn’t give anything away.

  “I was talking to June this morning about finally moving to the motherin-law house.”

  I nodded in agreement. That was the original deal.

  Delilah spoke up. “Do you have to?”

  “Well, I don’t have to, but it’s the usual protocol. I stayed for a bit to make sure you were eating and taken care of. I knew Porter would be gone soon after your wedding. But I think it’s time to go.”

  There was a sadness I hadn’t taken the time to consider in my mother’s eyes.

  “If it’s okay, I’d like you to stay here.”

  Even Delilah looked shocked to hear her claim.

  “Are you sure? Porter?”

  I didn’t say anything right away, so Delilah defended her claim. “Porter, when you are out of town, I’ll be here alone. I’ve been alone all my life.”

  “I’m fine with it if it makes you happy, love.”

  “There.” She patted my mother’s hand. “That settles it.”

  June and my mother sat silent. June’s fork was still halfway to her mouth.

  Delilah went back to eating her eggs as if the world hadn’t just tilted a little in her favor. We listened to June’s latest stories and I told the women at the table some of my old stories. It was a delight to see Delilah ask questions and gasp at the parts that were old news to the others.

  “Can we take a walk? I feel like I need some air.”

  “Of course. Let’s go out the back.”

  As soon as we were out of sight, I pressed her against the nearest tree and kissed her until both of us were breathless.

  “I thought you said you’d last the morning?”

  “I lied. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you.”

  She dragged me away and until the late afternoon we walked around the property. She smiled all the way, asking questions and making observations.

  “May I ask you something?”

  She stopped but looked the other way.

  “You can ask me anything, Delilah. I thought we’d moved past this.”

  “Can I see my sisters? Can we invite them here? I have to know.”

  “If that’s what you want, but I have some conditions.”

  She seemed surprised. It was unbelievable to me that after everything we’d come to know about her family that she would still have anything to do with them.

  “I have to be present and you are not to be alone with them at any time. I won’t budge on that issue.”

  “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”

  I heaved out a weighted breath. I hadn’t realized it, but her approval of me as a husband was something I strived for.

  “Thank you. We can send a formal invite or we can go to your old home.”

  “No. I don’t want to go there. Everything changed last night, Porter. I knew that I loved you, but…”

  I stopped her at a bench by one of the large cypress trees and pulled her down beside me. “But what? What else changed? Did I do something?”

  She smiled. Blood rushed to her cheeks and neck.

  “What I mean is, there is now the possibility of a child. My thinking has changed. This morning, do you know why I protested your mother leaving?”

  “Because you didn’t want to be alone.”

  “Because I didn’t want to be alone, and if one day there is a baby, I’ll need help. I can tell you everything there is to know about how to not be a mother, Porter. In terms of being a good mother, I haven’t the faintest idea.”

  Not being able to stand the small distance, I closed it and dragged her over to my lap. She was my undoing, heart and soul. I was right, she had tomorrow in her eyes all along. “We will do this together, Delilah, if there is to be a child. If there isn’t, I will just spend the rest of my days loving you and that will be enough.”

  “Together?”

  Most men in The Rogue and even in the cities took little effort in raising their children, but my father was involved in my care from the beginning. I intended to do the same by Delilah. She hadn’t brought the child, or future child, into the world on her own. I’d be damned if I left her to raise it by herself so I could pursue other things.

  Even if I never worked another day, we were set for life and even our children would be set for decades.

  “Yes, together.”

  “I’m getting ahead of myself. I just woke this morning with the aftereffects bearing down on me.”

  Before I could assure her any further, I heard June calling me from the house.

  “Come with me.”

  She fidgeted and pulled her infamous nose move. “I’ll just stay here a little longer. You’d better go see what’s the matter.”

  I ran to the house and listened for a half an hour about how the bacon June had gotten from the butcher wasn’t up to par. Apparently, there was some long-standing quarrel between the butcher and her. By the time she finished bludgeoning my ears with her rant, I’d gotten a headache.

  “And I ran into that God awful father of hers too. He tried to get me to buy a roast for him, saying he’d left his money at home.”

  I shook my head, bringing myself back into focus.

  “He spoke to you? How did he even know who you were?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “What did you tell him? You didn’t give him any money, did you? I don’t want him harassing you.”

  She pounded the cleaver she was using into the butcher board and pointed her finger at me like she’d done when I was just a boy. “Let me tell you, Porter Jeansonne, I don’t let anyone run over this family and I’ll be damned if I ever give a thing to that man or his family that treated that sweet girl like dirt. I’ll make a roast out of him before he gets a dime.”

  A proud smile grew on my face. My wife was loved and respected in my home. Even if I did have to go to work, I knew that Delilah would be safe.

  Now, if I could only keep Marie away from her.

  “Thank you, June. You know you’re like a second mother to me.”

  “That counts with you too, you know. I see you actin’ a mess around Delilah like you did the other morning and I’ll…well…you don’t mess with the woman who makes the soup. You get my drift?”

  I tucked my smile back and nodded. “Yes ma’am.”

  “Speaking of, where is the girl?”

  “Outside.”

  “She’s spent enough time alone. And you’re in my way.” June shoved me out of the kitchen. I decided to give Delilah a few more minutes alone when a knock resounded at the front door. I rolled my eyes at the sight. Delilah’s older sister, I didn’t recall her name, stood outside, assessing the paint job on my house, using her fingernails to chip at the boards beside the door.

  We were so foolish, thinking of inviting people who obviously had no concept of basic manners.

  I would consider this their last visit, invited or not.

  I thumped my head on the door just for good measure before opening it.

  “Hello…”

  “Adele,” she finished for me. “It’s no wonder you don’t remember our names. The wedding was handled in such a rush. I missed seeing my sister the next day.”

  My mind conjured a name for this family m
ember that my manners wouldn’t allow me to utter.

  “Once I met her, I couldn’t stand to be away from her one more second. I’m sorry I swept her away from the family so quickly. Please, come in.”

  She propped her tattered umbrella by the door and didn’t bother to wipe her feet. June tried in vain to scurry from sight, but Adele had already made herself at home. “You there. I’d love a good cup of tea or coffee. I’m sure you have some made. I’ve come through all this weather to see my dear sister.”

  The sun peeked out from the clouds to call her on her blasphemy.

  “Delilah is in the garden. Let me go get her. You wouldn’t want to exert yourself any further.”

  “Yes, please. I’ll just take a seat by the fire.”

  A hand over my mouth covered my snicker. I tramped outside to find Delilah and give her enough time to prepare her questions and concerns to her sister. She wasn’t by the bench where I’d left her, and like the first night that I couldn’t find her, a swirl of panic began to tornado in my gut. Fast-paced walking turned into running and mild-mannered yelling her name grew into frantic screaming of her name. My mind went to the pond and I scanned the surface, sure I’d find her and already harboring the guilt of two lives.

  “Porter, I’m here.”

  I barely restrained myself from running to her. She was on the back porch and by the shock on her face I assumed she’d heard me calling out for her.

  And it was then that another cry caught my ears.

  I turned to see Marie, rising from the pond’s blurry surface, mouthing words unheard, with her eyes fixed on Delilah.

  “Go inside, Delilah.”

  Marie’s head turned toward me and anger brewed in her yesterday stare.

  “Go inside.” I ground out through a clenched jaw.

  “Come with me. I won’t go in unless you come with me. She doesn’t hurt me when we are together.”

  Her words snapped me to attention. It was as if her voice overrode any notions of me trying to approach Marie.

  I took the steps in one motion and joined her, my purpose renewed.

  “You’ve seen your sister.”

  She sidled up next to me and beckoned me downward with her fingers. The heat pulsed between us even in these circumstances. It was undeniable and her instant blush told me it was palpable to her as well.

  She put her mouth to my ear and giggled. “I heard her nasal voice from outside. I never realized it was that loud. I’m surprised she didn’t try to flirt with you. I would’ve loved to see your face.”

  Cheeky—that was the word for her—cheeky.

  “Would you? I can guarantee you it wouldn’t even be close to the face I made when you…” The rest of my sentence made her gasp.

  A job well done.

  “You’re okay with seeing her?” We moved at a snail’s pace toward the sitting room.

  “You won’t let her slash me with a knife again, will you?”

  I halted, struck down by her bold statement. Humans, I had no trouble protecting her against.

  I had to find a way to protect her from everything that threatened her.

  “I’m just kidding, Porter. It’s best you sit closest to her. I have a feeling her words will make me want to give her a bit of a shove into the fire.”

  “Were you like this before?”

  One of her eyebrows cocked. “Like what?”

  “Funny and…” The other secret characteristic, I whispered into her ear, reveling in the gasp it caused.

  I bit the inside of my cheek as my blushing wife collected herself. Without permission, I took her arm and led her into the sitting room where we both stopped cold, shocked at what we saw next—the audacity.

  Adele, I wanted to be childish and call her ASmell or something equally immature—sat in Delilah’s chair with her bare feet propped up on my chair. Crumbs of all kinds left a trail down the front of her dress. Her jacket was unbuttoned from her gluttonous affair and a puddle of coffee spread out on the skirt.

  Yet Delilah was the shunned member of the family.

  “She must’ve been tired.”

  “And hungry.”

  “And cold.”

  “Should we wake her?”

  “I feel like she’s the giant that shouldn’t be woken, but then again, I want her here as little time as possible. Once mother finds out she’s eating her best shortbread cookies, she might carry your sister out over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.”

  The word potatoes must’ve stirred something in Adele, because she woke up with a snort.

  “Oh, Delilah, finally you’re here, dearest sister.”

  Dearest sister was new to Delilah, I could just tell by squint of her eyes.

  There were also the remnants of their sisterly love down the side of her face.

  I expected one of Delilah’s infamous quips, but instead, she’d clammed up beside me until I squeezed her hand and reminded her of where she was and who she’d become—I hoped.

  “Adele, what brings you here?”

  “Well…” she sat up, offended, by the swift movement of her hand up to her neck. “I didn’t realize I had to announce a visit to my own sister and her new husband.”

  I stepped in, already tired of her antics. “Adele, as you realize, we are still in the honeymoon phase of our marriage. From now on, I think it appropriate if you give us at least a day’s notice.”

  Every cheek in the room reddened, including June who had just stepped in when I began my oration.

  “I will make note to do that from now on. Porter, dear, would you mind giving Delilah and me some privacy? I’d like to speak to my sister of womanly things.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m not comfortable leaving Delilah on her own yet.”

  As if I’m not irritated enough, a fluttering of fluid shadowed movement catches my eye. It’s crawling from corner to corner and I can’t help but think that this devil woman in front of my fire brought the damned thing in with her.

  No one else in the room was fazed by the shadow, so I continued.

  “Let’s sit down and hear your sister out.”

  The alternative was paying attention to that dreadful chain around my chest.

  I needed time away from all of this foolishness to end a ghost—which was foolishness in itself.

  “I have just been feeling wretched lately, Delilah.”

  Under her breath, June muttered, “Not enough to nip her appetite.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yes, there’s something I need to tell you about, well, about your husband.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Delilah

  I’m neither in the mood or the disposition to hear any of Adele’s crap today. Pretending to loosen my shoulders, I look at Porter to assess his attitude about the whole thing. Not days earlier, he had insisted these people weren’t allowed in our home.

  Maybe he’d let Adele in based solely on her beauty.

  “You need me to rub your shoulders?”

  Porter was in a world all his own. He hadn’t given Adele’s dramatic bursting faze him in the least.

  “Maybe later. Let’s hear what Adele has to say.”

  My sister closed her eyes and while she primped and prepped herself for the big reveal, the shadow passed in front of the fireplace and caused the flames to dance in warning. The muscles in my stomach pulled taut as I did my best not to show alarm.

  The Rogue would be rich in gossip for months.

  Porter’s hand slipped under mine and gripped it tighter. He’d seen the shadow too and for once I was relieved.

  “I had wished to use a little more discretion in telling you this, but it seems I cannot. It is rumored that Porter has been visiting some very interesting places while he is in the city. Places I’m sure a married woman wouldn’t want her husband visiting.”

  I cleared my throat. “Town gossip or did you see him with your own eyes?”

  “Actually, it was Father who heard it from the Constable. They were very concer
ned over your reputation and that of your husband, of course.”

  Eliza entered the room sometime after Adele began and as she listened on, her cheeks began to redden and puff out.

  She would need more cake soon, I could feel it.

  “How dare you? My son has never been anything but upstanding and honest with his wife. I’m sure of it. Porter, I thought we agreed that these people weren’t allowed in our home any longer.”

  “These people?” Adele was, maybe for the first time in her life, offended.

  “Yes, these people. Delilah is our family now and we don’t put up with persons who wish her harm, in the present or the past.”

  “Diverting the subject away from your dear son, I see.”

  My sister picked dirt out of her finger nails with the edge of the teaspoon. I’d never realized, despite their outer attractiveness, how foul Adele was. Yes, I knew she was hateful and unkind, but really she was a beast of a girl.

  From my perspective I could see how her nose was upturned a little, resembling a pig. Her arms were gangly and much too long for her frame.

  “Adele, if there’s nothing else. I think it’s time for you to leave. You’ve upset my household once again and I won’t stand for it.”

  “But I have more to say!” she shouted.

  “Then say it and be done.”

  “There’s also a rumor that his fiancé and the stable boy had hired a crawfisherman to kill Porter after the two schemers were married for a measly ten dollars. If he hadn’t driven the poor girl to kill herself, he would’ve done it. That swamp smelling killer is telling everyone who will lend an ear that our dear Delilah will come to the same fate.”

  I rolled my eyes as she pretended to be grief stricken by the very idea. Looking down, I realized Porter had released my hand. As I trailed my eyes up to his face, I was shocked to see his jaw grinding back and forth and his hands atop his thighs in fists.

  It was one thing for Adele to come in and upset me, but to upset these other people was uncalled for.

  This was my family now and while I’d had no backbone in my younger days—that had all changed in the span of a few short weeks.

  “Get out!” I rose and pointed toward the door.

  “Excuse me?” Adele used to say that all of the time.