by Kimball Lee
They crossed the twenty-four mile bridge over Lake Ponchartrain and she marveled at an inland body of water so large that for eight miles no trace of land was visible. William whipped the car down a dirt and grass covered road and stopped at a gas station that was also a Cajun café. They ate catfish coated in cornmeal and red pepper flakes sliced so thin that it curled when it was fried in hot grease. It was served on sheets of brown paper with bowls of red beans and rice and Tabasco sauce on the side and they carried it outside and sat at a rusty metal table beneath a centuries-old oak tree. Skinny stray cats prowled beneath their chairs, purring and brushing against their legs until they tossed them their scraps and shooed them away.
“So, you’re mother died?” They both said at precisely the same time and so they sat quietly surprised for a long while.
“Yes, my mother died when I was seven,” William said, breaking the silence at last. “She and my younger brother were taken, abducted and held for ransom. My mother was given an accidental overdose of drugs.”
“Oh. Oh God. That’s horrible, I’m so, so sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything,” Allie said and she reached across the table and rested her hand on top of William’s. She knew he might think it was too intimate for her to reach out to him but instead he turned his hand and curled his long fingers around hers.
“No, it’s alright and I asked you, too. Strange, isn’t it, that we both asked that awful question at the same time? I’m not in the habit of discussing death,” he said, and the heat of his hand holding hers and the flare of something even hotter in his eyes made Allie’s heart skip a beat.
She wished she had the courage to lean forward and say, “Okay, forget sadness, let’s talk about sex. Let’s talk about you showing me how it is with a real man, how good a kiss can feel in all the right places. Let’s talk about the things you make me feel that I’ve never felt before. In fact, let’s not talk, let’s get down and dirty… whatever that means.”
“Yeah, that was strange,” Allie said forcing herself to retrieve her hand from his to brush a few strands of honey-hued hair from her face. “My mom died about a year ago, an aneurism in her brain burst. We didn’t even know it was there, she had a bad headache for a couple of days and then she collapsed. It was fast and it was a shock, you know? I had to deal with all the funeral arrangements by myself. My dad left us when I was little, he had this sick habit of running off with his students every time he moved to a new university to teach, which was all the time. Anyway… boohoo, right? Life is tough, you think the ones you love will always be there and then one day you’re all by yourself. But, as Tennessee Williams wrote “I’ve always relied on the kindness of strangers.” I’d never met your dad but he came to my rescue, he had this nice man from a funeral home in Berkley handle every detail and so I promised him I would come here to New Orleans when I finished college.”
“I see, well, my father can be surprising, I suppose. He never got over losing your mother or maybe he’s just not quite right in the head, who can say for sure? Loving a woman for so many years may seem like a noble endeavor but he was a fool. He should never have let her go, I would have moved heaven and earth to keep her,” William said, and Allie’s heart leapt into her throat so that she could barely breathe much less speak. “Well, we’d better hit the road,” William said quickly, he was dumbfounded by his own words. What the hell did he know about loving a woman and what made him think he would never let her go? “Yeah, we should definitely get back on the road, my father is probably pacing the floors by now. My cell is on mute but I can see that he’s tried to call a dozen times.”
William and Allie agreed that they should leave but neither of them moved or spoke for a long while. They sat beneath the old tree with fat lazy bees buzzing overhead and the contented cats purred and stretched out in scattered pools of sunlight. It was almost painful for William to keep his hands and his lips off of Allie. He made it a point not to kiss when he had sex, it was far too personal. But the urge to kiss her, to explore her pouty mouth with his tongue and taste her desire was nearly overwhelming. As they sat quietly facing each other he wanted to sweep the table clean and lift her onto it. He longed to tangle one hand in her hair to hold her steady, push her knees apart and watch the innocence in her stormy-sea colored eyes shift from surprise to passion as his fingers slid over the sweet mound of her pussy. He imagined her spreading her long legs wider as she warmed to his touch and then wrapping them around his waist and moaning his name as he freed his cock and thrust into her.
“Were you disgusted from watching me eat? The way I inhaled the food? I couldn’t help it, it was delicious and I didn’t realize I was so hungry. I ate so fast you would think someone was going to take it away from me!” She laughed trying to steady her riotous emotions as his electric gaze lingered on her mouth. She walked to a water hose that was curled on the ground and rinsed her hands, the hem of her loose linen shift fluttering up and exposing her tanned thighs. “Seriously, I hope you don’t hate me,” she said, jolting his thoughts back to reality. “I’m sorry your dad had that weird long-standing love for my mom, I suppose it must have caused problems for your family. It doesn’t seem as if he made a secret of his feelings and honestly my mother didn’t either. She would tell me stories about when they were young and in love. She said he was the prince who had awakened her heart, like in sleeping beauty, but she would never say why she left him for my useless father.”
“I don’t hate you,” William said firmly, and his eyes narrowed and his mouth settled into a firm line as he tried to process what he hoped to accomplish by leading this enchanting girl on. After all, he couldn’t bring her happiness, he couldn’t even begin to imagine that men and women could share anything more than a brief illusion of romance and the fleeting thrill of sex.
*
“Alaina, it’s an indescribable joy to finally meet you. Liza’s daughter, how remarkable.” William Warfield the third hugged Allie as tightly as if she were his long lost beloved sweetheart. “It’s been thirty years since I set eyes on my dear Liza but I would have known you at a glance. You have her beautiful face and magnificent grey-green eyes and your hair is your crowning glory. It’s exactly the same lovely blonde as your mother’s, a color only nature could bestow. How proud she must have been of your beauty and your academic achievements, my dear.”
“Thank you Mr. Warfield, you’re just as handsome as my mother said. She swore that you looked like a Danish prince and she was right. Your son has your handsome features but not your blue eyes and blonde hair.”
“You’re exactly right, my sons have the dark eyes and black hair of my wife’s Portuguese ancestors. And yet, like my forebears they are Vikings through and through, both of them fearless and with a great love of ships and the sea. Not to deny the Portuguese sailors their own sea-fairing victories, they proved to be courageous and valiant explorers and of course they were true pioneers as navigators across great expanses of uncharted ocean.”
“I’ll bet Allie could use a glass of iced tea, Father. I think I’ll leave you to show her the grounds and I’ll go up and check on… I’ll see how the air-conditioning installation is progressing.”
“This house faces the bayou, William, there’s a constant breeze. No need for air-conditioning and these ‘installation specialists’ as they refer to themselves are swarming throughout the house and grounds. You’re aware of how I detest having strangers snooping about and yet here they are at your insistence. I suppose I understand that you believe it’s for your brother’s comfort while he’s staying here. But he’ll be on his way to Lausanne shortly so you needn’t have gone to all the fuss and bother.”
“Your brother is here? I’d love to meet him,” Allie gave William a quizzical look, as if she was surprised that he had kept that fact from her.
“My brother is unwell, Alaina, perhaps you’ll meet him another time,” William said and he watched her sip from the glass of iced tea a maid offered her and then his father took her free han
d and led her outside for a tour of the grounds.
The maid handed William a glass of iced tea as well and he asked which bedroom his brother was in.
“Upstairs, blue bedroom lookin’ out toward the bayou,” she said tilting her head toward the massive double staircase. “Your daddy tried to put him in your mama’s old room but Walden wasn’t going for that even though the doctor had him all doped up. Nope, that boy don’t want nothin’ to do with Miss Stella’s room. I still cry myself to sleep most nights thinkin’ ‘bout him bein’ there when your mama passed away.”
“Let’s not dredge that up, alright, Mae? Thank you for the tea,” William said with a sigh of resignation as he climbed the stairs to find his brother.
*
Walden was not in the blue guestroom although the bed was unmade and a glass of water and prescription bottles sat nearby. A set of French doors to the upper veranda were open and William only hoped his brother wasn’t lounging around naked in case Allie passed underneath. Thankfully he wasn’t, he wore tattered blue jeans that hung low on his hips and he was leaning over the railing smoking a cigarette. He was tall and broad-shouldered and well-muscled just like William. They were naturally athletic and had been football stars in high school. William played polo on the Crescent City Polo team and both brothers worked out religiously. William was committed to an intense military type regimen to push the limits of his body and because it was part of a routine he did not like to break. Walden’s sole interest in exercise was to maintain stamina for his rigorous and often over-the-top sexcapades.
“Is this what the doctor ordered?” William asked, snatching the cigarette from his brother’s lips and grinding it out with the toe of his shoe.
“Nope. Shots and therapy, same as always. No sex, no fun, no pain, no games. I could fall asleep just thinking about it,” Walden said swaying as he stood. He propped his arm on William’s shoulder to steady himself and pointed toward a wisteria arbor at the edge of the bayou. “Mother’s ghost is gone, Wills, and fuck-me-running am I glad. It’s about time isn’t it? I don’t think I’ll see ghosts anymore but look, now I can see angels.”
He pointed to where Allie leaned against the thick twining wisteria, she took a bite from a large peach their father had plucked from a tree and peeled for her with his small silver pocket knife. The fruit laden branches of the gnarled tree hung nearly to the ground and the smell of ripe peaches and the steady hum of buzzing bees hung in the air. Allie bit into the peach and as the juice ran down her chin she threw her head back and laughed and the lilting sound floated up to the veranda and William felt his heart constrict and then expand. He turned to his brother and Walden’s eyes were bright and glassy as he leaned forward, his hands clutched the railing and he whispered with awe, “That’s my angel! Wills, she’s real. She’s a real live girl, Father told me all about her. Her name is Alaina and she’s Liza’s daughter—if you can handle the irony of that. Just seeing her has saved me and messed me up bad but in a good way and now I’m falling in love with her, Wills, I…”
“How many fucking times have I asked you not to call me Wills? Huh, how can I get it through that crazy head of yours that I am not our father? He is Wills, I’m not!”
“You are like a father to me, Wills. He never was. I won’t call you by that name anymore if means that much to you. But I want you to understand that I never would have made it this long, survived this long, without you to watch over me. You were the only person who cared whether I lived or died. Our dad is a major fuck up, and that’s coming from me the crown prince of gutter-crawling severely screwed-up human beings. His precious Liza did a serious mind-fuck on William Warfield the third and the rest of us—you, me and Mother, and we paid the price. Money, billions of dollars, a fat fucking bank account, that’s all he is. That’s all he’s ever been, he’s given us money and the power and perks that come with it instead of giving us his love. You’ve been my father, William. And you gave me the greatest gift a father or a brother could give—you believed in me.”
“I’m glad you’re done with ghosts, Walden, and I do believe in you. We’re brothers and I love you and I really want you to get better. But you have to make an effort, do you understand?” William said, jerking his brother away from the railing and the sight of Allie with more force than he had intended and guiding him into the blue bedroom. “You should lie down before you fall down. Dr. Bishop has you on a powerful sedative, that’s why you feel like sleeping. Has Mae been keeping your wounds clean?” He asked, peeling away a strip of gauze that covered the cuts on Walden’s chest and stomach. There were scores of older wounds, healed now but constant reminders that the darkness in Walden wouldn’t allow him to enjoy pleasure without pain.
“The old girl treats me like a baby, it’s kinda nice. I want that angel, William, did you see her? She looked right at me, it was like looking into the face of love. I could be too much like father if I fell in love, I’d go insane like he has, thanks to his beloved Liza. Don’t let her get away, I swear to you, she’s meant for me. But love is the worst thing that can happen to a man…” he mumbled the last words as he drifted off to sleep and William stood in the open French doors and ran his fingers over his mouth and his chin wondering what to do, what to do about Allie Darling.
*
“I’m sorry to hear that your brother isn’t feeling well, I noticed the two of you on the upstairs porch, you look a lot alike,” Allie said and then she went on talking when William remained silent. “You’re sure you don’t mind if I come back to the city with you? Your dad says you have the most remarkable hotel, a vintage ocean liner docked right downtown on the shore of the Mississippi River. I can’t wait to see it and he was so sweet to call and make a reservation for me. He thought they were booked up but I guess there was a cancellation. Pretty lucky, huh? Now you won’t have to deal with having me underfoot all the time.”
The air had cooled by the time they left Greenlea and a thick mist rose from the bayou so William put the top up on the Maserati and they raced along as if cradled in a cozy cocoon under the full rising moon. Allie peeked at him from beneath the cover of thickly fringed lashes and wondered if he ever let anyone inside the carefully crafted façade he presented to the world. She had seen a softer side of William Warfield once or twice over the last day and a half and it was brilliant and breathtaking to behold. They were still strangers really, and yet she was inexplicably drawn to him. She felt as if she would give anything to break through the rusted iron shell he had built around his heart just to feel it racing to a thundering beat just for her.
“Here we are,” William said, breaking her reverie. He had parked the car and held her door open offering his hand to help her step out. She stood next to him inhaling his spicy sexy scent and absorbing the heat that radiated from his body. He reached down and grasped her hand firmly as she stared incredulously at the huge navy-blue ship with its trio of towering red smoke stacks.
“My offices are here as well, perhaps you’d like to have a tour one day soon,” he said, as he let go of her hand and they walked side by side toward the ship.
“Yes, absolutely! I’d love to see your office now… or anytime. I know you’re probably anxious to be done with me William. You’re a busy man and you’ve been so nice to put up with me, your father said you did it as a favor to him. Oh, I left my things at your house, I sort of need my nightie and toothbrush.” She said and her face blazed when she caught the flicker of his smile at the term “nightie.”
They strolled up the teakwood gangplank that glowed with tiny hidden lights and Allie was so entranced by the ship looming ever closer that she slipped her arm through William’s and stared up at its hulking height. He clasped his hand over hers drawing her closer when they reached the grand wide entrance into the lobby and just as William greeted the smiling hotel host who waited for them all the ship’s lights blinked into darkness.
“Careful Mr. Warfield sir, you don’t want to lose your way in the dark,” the host’s voic
e sounded from somewhere inside the vast lobby of the pitch-black ship.
William suddenly didn’t think being careful was called for, Allie had pressed her body into his as darkness surrounded them. He pulled her against him and when he bent his lips to hers they found their match in a searing and ferocious need. A solid wall was at his back and leaned against it never loosening his grip on this exquisite girl. She tasted of innocence and peaches and all things sweet and tantalizing. Her lips parted readily and his tongue met hers, twining and exploring in a dance that set them both on fire. Too late, he mused hearing the host’s warning in his head, he was already lost.
Allie moaned and moved her hands beneath his ‘oh so presentable’ suit jacket and felt a surge of purely animalistic lust shoot straight to her sex. The impeccable suit he wore covered a body that made her weak with longing as she ran her hands from his sculpted chest up to his unbelievably wide muscled shoulders. God, he felt good, hot and hard and huge. He was not only the sexiest man she’d ever known, his kiss was the definition of what a kiss should be. It went on and on, his lips soft and full, his tongue expertly probing, it was a long soft deep wet kiss that sent sparks of anticipation careening through her body. William Warfield was one hundred and eighty degrees away from the awkward college boys who had no idea how to kiss a woman. Oh how she wanted to strip off his bothersome jacket, tie and shirt right then and there and feel the solid wall of his muscled chest under her hands and then let the straps of her dress fall away and lean into him, skin to skin and heart to heart. Instead she frantically clutched at his broad shoulders and then let her arms snake around his neck drawing his body to hers, holding on to William for dear life.
“Allie Darling,” he murmured against her parted lips and as she moaned his name the ship’s lights flickered on.
“William… maybe we should go to my room…” Allie’s voice was soft and breathy and her pupils were dilated as her hands refused to release their hold on William. She felt not only the heat radiating from his glorious muscles but also from the thick pulsing heat of his erection as it lengthened and pressed insistently against her thigh. Oh to let her greedy hands unbuckle his fine leather belt and tug at the zipper….
