by Marnie Perry
She said, ‘does it get very busy here in the daytime.’
‘Oh yes, very.’
She was silent and he asked ‘why do you ask?’
‘Oh nothing really, it’s silly, it’s just that I’m not a big fan of crowds, they make me nervous.’
He had noticed that she had appeared nervous last evening at the bar when it had gotten very full and he knew now why she stayed in remote places like the cabins she had booked. He smiled inwardly, this was his opening. He said, ‘in that case maybe we should try somewhere else tomorrow, although it would be a shame to miss seeing Gulfport in all it’s glory.’
‘Yes it would,’ she answered a little awkwardly. ‘
He said, ‘maybe you’d be better off with old Dean Maxwell accompanying you here.’
Her head snapped back in surprise as though he’d just cursed at her, then she quickly looked away.
He walked on as though nothing was wrong then looked down at her bent head and laughed, ‘I’m sorry, I couldn’t help but tease.’
‘You’re a very mean man sometimes, Mr. Hennessey.’
He thought, you have no idea, Miss Faraday, but laughed and she asked, ‘so if not Dean Maxwell, who do you suggest I should invite to accompany me? Sheriff Taylor? Bob from the bar? Who would meet with your approval, Mr. Hennessey?’
He stopped walking and so did she; he gave her an infuriated look. 'There’s only one person I approve of, only one who I can trust with your safety,’
She said quite seriously, ‘Sheriff Taylor it is then.’
He said, ‘don’t push it, lady, don’t forget who’s driving you home.’
‘It’s only five miles.’
‘Only five miles huh?’
‘I’ve walked much further than that I’ll have you know, once I walked fifteen miles in one afternoon.’
‘What for?’
‘I was working.’
‘On the streets?’
‘Oh very funny. No, I delivered leaflets to people’s houses, to supplement my income.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes really, so you see five miles is nothing to me.’
‘Ah but you said in one afternoon, this is not afternoon, this is night time in a strange place, with all kinds of dangers, like coyotes and wolves, and, oh yes, panthers lurking in the shadows just waiting for unsuspecting, complacent foreigners to come walking by.’
‘Oh, I never thought of that.’
‘See, not so full of ourselves now are we.’
She bit her lip to keep from smiling at their banter. ‘So what do I have to do to make it up to you and to convince you not to drive home without me?’
He looked away and frowned then rubbed his chin as though thinking, ‘well, let me see, you could ask me nicely not to, then ask me even more nicely to come to Gulfport with you tomorrow.’
She pursed her lips and looked down highly amused before looking up and into his eyes., ‘please, Mr. Hennessey, would you be so kind as to drive me home tonight and not to leave me to the mercy of wild creatures and all sorts of other dangers?’
‘And?’
‘And also would you very kindly be my escort tomorrow on my trip to Gulfport. If you could see your way clear to doing both of those things, it would be very much appreciated.’
He stared hard at her, at her bright, amused eyes and her slightly flushed cheeks, ‘that was indeed a very lovely plea, however, you failed in one area.’
‘Oh?’
‘Yes, you failed to call me by my first name.’
‘Oh, I’m so sorry, I thought you would prefer a more formal request, but I consider myself chastised. So what do you say, Sterling?’
He hesitated for a moment, ‘I would be honoured to fulfil both of your requests, Miss. Faraday.’
She didn’t rebuke him for calling her by her last name but chuckled, ‘you’re a lot of fun, Mr. Henne… Sterling.’
‘Fun?’ He admonished. ‘I’ve never been so serious in my life.’
She giggled, ‘sorry.’
‘Yeah, you look it.’ Then he too laughed but then he took her hand in his and said seriously, ‘it’s true what I said, I would be honoured to bring you back here tomorrow and show you the sights. But I’ll tell you if you had asked Maxwell to accompany you I would have gone into the woods caught that panther and put him in Maxwell’s bed.’
She stared at him knowing he was joking of course. But something in his eyes just at that moment made her think that he might well do something like that to anyone who angered him. Annie Bloom was right; there was something quite dangerous about Sterling Hennessey. But now looking at his smiling face she chastised herself for letting her imagination run away with her. She had been reading too many crime novels; maybe she should try historical novels for a while, or Mills and Boon. No, she would never be that desperate.
She said, ‘well, since I like Dean and don’t want to see him eaten, I’m glad I chose you, and thank you very much.’
‘You’re very welcome.’
She laughed and they walked back to Hennessey’s car.
When they arrived back at Adela’s cabin he took the key from her fingers and unlocked the door for her.
She thanked him and added, ‘I’ve had a really wonderful time tonight. The food was lovely and the walk on the beach was the perfect way to end the evening, thank you for suggesting it.’
‘It was my pleasure. I’ve had a great time too.’
She smiled and he took her hand and put the key into her palm, he looked into her eyes as he closed her fingers over the key covering them with his own hand. She looked back with that same expression he had seen earlier when she thought he had been about to kiss her. He could hear her breath coming in short gasps. He leaned down as if to kiss her lips, then suddenly brought the hand he covered to his lips and kissed her fingers.
She felt that now familiar warm tingle and asked herself, if I feel this way when he kisses my fingers what would I feel if he ever kissed my lips. She pulled herself up sharply; she mustn’t think like that about him, he was obviously only interested in friendship, the kissing of her fingers instead of her lips proved that.
He said, ‘thank you for your company; I’ll see you tomorrow outside the bookstore at ten.’
She said somewhat hoarsely, ‘yes, thank you. Goodnight, Sterling.’
Ah, goodnight, Sterling, she obviously wasn’t mad at him for only kissing her hand this time. Maybe because he had made a date with her for tomorrow. But she could not hide her disappointment that he hadn’t gone a little further than a kiss on the hand. He smiled inwardly to himself as he said ‘goodnight.’
He stayed where he was as she let herself in and closed the door he heard the key turn in the lock then the sound of the bolts being drawn across. He walked down the few steps to the path and made his way through the woods to his hotel, very satisfied with the evening, and with himself.
CHAPTER 19.
Adela had slept intermittently, her mind had been too restless for sleep, she had been sifting through the evening’s events until the early hours. It seemed to her that since she had met Sterling Hennessey she had not had a single good night's sleep. Although Olivia was never very far from her thoughts also.
She had enjoyed the evening very much but she was unsure of his intentions, was it just friendship he wanted? But the things he said and the way he looked at her sometimes, like when he had said he was jealous of Dean Maxwell, and when he had leaned toward her as if to kiss her. She wondered what would have happened if she had not suddenly recalled what he had said about Dean Maxwell and got annoyed with him. Probably nothing, after all he had had the opportunity when they had said goodnight at the door, but instead he had opted for kissing her hand. And sometimes she caught a look of calculation in his eyes, as though he was asking himself questions about her and trying to figure something out, figure her out.
She had said more to him than she should have last night, she had talked about her mother and her alcoholism,
had told him things she had never told anyone else. Maybe because no one had ever asked or even shown any interest in her life, but he seemed genuinely interested and sympathetic.
But she wasn’t as embarrassed about that as she was about the other things she had said, not least about never having done certain things. He had picked up on that and made what she was sure were suggestive comments.
She felt hot all over when she recalled that conversation. Had he guessed from what she had said that she was a virgin? No, he couldn’t possibly have put two and two together like that could he? Admitting that you’ve never frequented a restaurant before was hardly saying “hey I’m a virgin as well,” was it? And yet she had probably given herself away by getting all shy and coy. Oh gosh, she wished she didn’t have such an open, easy to read face. Her mother had taken advantage of that to hurt her, she hoped Sterling Hennessey would not use it to his advantage also.
But those things he had said about Dean, about him being a user and planning his conquest of her. She had to admit that he was probably right in that he knew men better than she did, he was one after all, a very handsome, sexy, charming, amusing man.
She smiled when she recalled what he had said about putting the panther in Dean’s bed, although she shouldn't have, she was as bad as Sterling. Sterling, how she liked that name. The last thought in her head before she eventually managed to doze off somewhere in the early hours was that Sterling Hennessey had never once in all the time they had spent together called her by her first name, he had called her Adela Faraday but never just Adela. Funny.
Despite the lack of sleep she felt refreshed the next morning and looking forward to the day ahead, a day spent with Sterling Hennessey.
She showered and dressed in yellow shorts and a cream short sleeved blouse with yellow flowers around the hem. She hesitated on taking her bathing costume, they would be by the sea after all, but she had never been comfortable wearing one, even at the swimming pool. Her mother had said that she had a protruding stomach and big thighs that were very off putting to others, not to mention that she was bow legged too…which was actually untrue. In fact most of what her mother had said was untrue Adela just didn’t always realise it…but she did not want to be half naked in front of Sterling Hennessey. She didn’t realise then that the thought of wearing a costume in front of him disturbed her more than wearing one in front of a big crowd of people.
Today she left her backpack behind and picked up her beach bag, it was big enough for a towel, a bottle of water, her camera and binoculars, as well as the usual items she usually took with her on her days out.
When she was ready she donned her big straw hat, picked up her sunglasses and exited the cabin half expecting to see The Carters on their way out for the day but she didn’t. She saw no one in fact as she walked through the woods to the town. There she met a few people she had spoken to at the bar the other night and they stopped to ask how her vacation was going, and how much they had enjoyed her singing at the karaoke. All conversations ended with “Have yourself a nice day now,” she smiled and said she hoped they would too.
Dean’s shop was open for business and she went in making the door bell jingle. Dean came out of the back of the shop and smiled heartily when he saw Adela. He said, ‘hi there, I didn’t know whether you would make it or not.’
‘I said I would.’
‘Yes, you did, but I wasn’t sure if you might be otherwise engaged with that guy.’
Although she knew who he meant she asked, ‘that guy?’
‘That Hennessey guy.’
‘I am meeting him, yes, but not until ten, we’re going to Gulfport for the day.’
Adela could see Dean struggling to hide his displeasure, he obviously didn’t like the idea of her seeing “that guy” again, but he smiled and said, ‘well I’m glad you came, I have some new stock I thought you might be interested in.’ He realised how that must have sounded and continued hurriedly, ‘I don’t mean I’m glad to see you in the hope that you might buy something, although if you did that would be nice, but I should be glad to see you at anytime…’ His voice trailed off as her smile grew wider and wider. He let out a breath, ‘sorry, I’m waffling aren’t I?’
‘Just a little.’ She said on a laugh. He laughed too and any tension there had been between them dissipated.
She said, ‘I’d love to see what literary wonders you’ve acquired since we last talked.’
He laughed again and bid her follow him into the back, but first he put the closed sign on the door so that they wouldn’t be disturbed.
Adela looked at her watch, 9.15; she had forty five minutes to spend looking at Dean’s new acquisitions until she met Sterling. At least she didn’t have far to go as he would be waiting outside the shop for her. She half wished she had arranged to meet him somewhere else, outside the barber’s shop for instance, but then that would have looked like she didn’t want him anywhere near Dean, which she didn’t of course, she didn’t want a repeat of their earlier sparring, but she didn’t want Sterling to know that.
She sat down on the comfy sofa in Dean’s little café and he showed her what he had purchased on a shopping trip to Georgia. They were very interesting, at least to her. Some now out of print crime novels, and some books on the history of the Deep South, starting before the war and ending in 2003. She said she would take this book and four of the crime novels. He was delighted and when he said that he hadn’t had such a good sale since her last purchase, Adela realised he was only half joking.
Despite his obvious pleasure in her company she knew that part of him was happy to see her because she was such a good customer. As they chatted Adela tried to see in Dean anything of the deviousness that Sterling Hennessey had referred to the previous evening, but all she saw was a very nice, very amiable man who shared her interest in, and love of, books. Just then Adela heard Dean’s book shaped clock chime the hour, she said, ‘gosh, the time does go so quickly,’ she smiled at Dean, ‘especially when I’m talking about my favourite subject…books.’
‘It’s gone quickly for me too, but the enjoyment is not entirely because of the subject matter.’
She lowered her eyes and stood up uncomfortable with his intense gaze, ‘well, thanks for the tea and the books of course; I know I will enjoy them.’
‘My pleasure, thanks for your custom.’
‘You’re welcome, Dean,’
He walked her to the door but once there he took her arm and said, ‘Adela…’ He paused and took a deep breath as if summoning up the courage to say what he wanted to say to her, ‘Adela, I know this is none of my business and feel free to tell me so, but you’re a very nice lady and I’ve enjoyed our talks. I’ve also come to care about you…about your welfare.’ Adela waited not liking where she knew this was going, before she could speak however he hurried on, ‘and because I do care I have to say that I don’t like your association with that guy,’ “that guy,” again thought Adela, ‘there’s just something about him I don’t like, something untrustworthy, something…dark.’
‘Dark?’
‘Yes, an undercurrent of, oh I don’t know, I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something in his eyes, something…
Adela interrupted getting irate now, ‘dark?’
He picked up on her annoyance but said quietly, ‘yes.’
Part of Adela wanted to laugh at Dean’s summation of Sterling Hennessey, part of her was annoyed with him, but a bigger part was very uncomfortable. First Annie’s theory that Sterling was dangerous, now Dean’s opinion that he was dark, but mostly she was disquieted because she felt both of those things too. There was something about Sterling that was dark and dangerous, something hidden deep behind those astonishing blue eyes. They reminded her of the woods, so beautiful and inviting yet lurking in the undergrowth and behind the trees there was peril waiting to spring out on some unsuspecting, unprepared person. Oh what was she saying, she was letting Dean’s dislike of Sterling get to her and influence her thoughts.
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She almost said “he said the same thing about you,” but thought better of it, partly because she could not see any of the things in Dean that Sterling had spoken of. He seemed genuinely concerned and fond of her, so instead she mentally shook herself and managed to let the humour take control. She smiled and said, ‘Dean, I appreciate your concern, really I do, but there’s nothing dark about Sterling Hennessey. He has been a perfect gentleman at all times and he did save me from the panther remember, if he had wanted to cause me harm he would have let the creature eat me wouldn’t he? So please don’t worry about me.’
He stared at her for a moment as though she was a child not quite understanding what an adult was saying to her. ‘You think it’s because I don’t like him that I mistrust him when in fact it’s the other way around, I don’t like him because I mistrust him.’
She sighed heavily, ‘Dean...
He cut her off by holding up his hand, ‘I know, I know what you’re going to say next, that it’s none of my business, which it isn’t of course,’ he took a step towards her so that they were only a foot apart before continuing, ‘but I like you, Adela and I don’t want to see you hurt, so please be careful.’
She felt her heart flutter uncomfortably and her stomach turned over at the warning so sincerely given. She let out a long breath and forced her shoulders, which had been hunched up, to relax as she said, ‘I promise I will be very careful. Besides, there will be a lot of people in Gulfport won’t there, so I’ll be perfectly safe.’
He seemed nowhere near convinced but smiled, ‘all right, have a nice day then, and please come to see me again tomorrow and tell me all about your day,’
With some relief she said, ‘of course I will, same time?’
‘Yes, that would be great. Bye, Adela.’
She turned to him and opened the door saying ‘bye, Dean,’ she was still smiling at him as she exited the shop and thus walked straight into Sterling Hennessey.
