The Devil To Pay (Hennessey.)

by Marnie Perry

  And Hennessey had insulted her friends the Carters, she knew they were loud and brash and plain speaking, but they were also kind and loving to each other and friendly to others, and she resented Hennessey’s offensive remarks about them. And the way he was acting now with her, he had called her comments trivial and had ignored her request to take her home with an imperiousness that angered her. She tried to remain calm as she said, ‘I’m not hungry, and if I was I would rather eat at the bar or the diner in Eden.’

  ‘Yes, you probably would,' he scoffed, 'well I wouldn’t, I want to eat here in the open air.’

  He watched her out of the corner of his eye as frustration and anger and indecision flickered across her face. She turned to look out of the passenger window then over her shoulder as if contemplating leaping out of the car. He didn’t think she would be so foolish but just in case he put his foot on the gas and speeded up. She turned to look at him her eyes narrowed but said quite calmly, ‘I see you’re not about to comply with my wishes and that I can do nothing about it.’

  His lips turned up in an expression of smugness, she saw it and said, ‘since you’re in the driving seat so to speak, and therefore can force me to go with you I have no choice but to go along with you…for now. But when we get wherever it is we’re going you can’t force me to get out of the car, nor to eat any of your picnic.’

  He looked at her a frown on his face before he shrugged and said, ‘we’ll see.’

  Something in his expression turned her blood cold and for a moment she felt panic grip her, but she shrugged it off as she remembered all the people that knew she was with him. No, he was just angry, angry at the Carters and her for defying him.

  She said nothing further but settled back in her seat and waited.

  He flicked his eyes to her and saw that she had accepted the situation since she had no choice; she was nothing if not sensible. But he had to think quickly, he had come so close to getting her to reveal all to him, maybe even Desi’s whereabouts until the fucking Carters had shown up. He was very tempted to take her somewhere and get the information out of her one way or the other, finish it once and for all, but it would be foolish to let his anger get the better of his common sense. The sheriff had seen them together as had that bastard Maxwell, and of course the Carters. No, he would have one last try but first he had to get her back on side, although he wasn’t doing too well at the moment.

  He had to admit that her comment about his using her last name all the time had floored him for a moment, as had her request to take her back to Eden. But he knew that if had complied with her wishes it would not be so easy to placate her and she might refuse to see him again then he would be well and truly fucked. He would have to revert to plan B and he would much prefer to do it the easy way, easier for her than him of course.

  He had to admit she had completely confounded him by the things she’d said to him. She’d called him obnoxious and rude and even childlike, and he couldn’t deny that she was right about that, he had been. For someone who was naturally shy and retiring she certainly wasn’t afraid to speak up for herself and others. He had always admired courage, especially in a woman, he admired her, period, as long as it didn’t prevent him from getting back on her good side that is. Still, all was not lost, she had also called him charming, well he was about to charm the pants of her, maybe literally.

  Hennessey did not linger on the image of her wounded expression, nor the hurt look in her eyes when he had snapped at her and called her questions trivial. He told himself the only reason he desired to erase that hurt was out of necessity and not because he very much wanted her to smile at him again as she had done earlier.

  After ten minutes of profound silence they came to a dense wooded area with beautiful trees and foliage on either side of the narrow road. At any other time Adela would have been awed and delighted with the scenery but she was too upset to take in her surroundings.

  He stopped the car and switched off the engine then turned to her but she refused to meet his gaze only continued to look out of the passenger window as if he wasn’t there.

  There was amusement in his tone as he said, ‘you’re not really going to sit in the car all afternoon are you?’

  She stiffened whether at his evident amusement or that he’d said “All afternoon,” he wasn’t sure.

  She said nothing though. He sighed and all amusement gone now said, ‘this area is one of the most beautiful in all Mississippi, there’s a river down that way,’ he pointed to his left,’ and a stream with salmon and trout in it over that way,’ he pointed to his right, ‘you’re not telling me you want to sit in this stuffy car and miss all this beauty surrounding you, not you of all people.’

  She didn’t answer but he saw her face change and knew she was contemplating what he’d said. He pushed his point, ‘and it will get very hot in here soon, even with all the windows open, but there’s plenty of shade out there beneath the trees, and the stream is pleasant and cool. Although I can’t promise to produce a big cat for you, I’m sure we’ll see something equally exciting.’

  She turned to look at him still angry but knowing she was being childish, something of which she had accused him. He tipped his head to one side as he said beseechingly, ‘please.’

  She turned away and let out a huge sigh before opening her door and climbing out of the car. He sat there a moment and smiled thinking, so far, so good.

  As she waited for him to get out of the car she looked around. It was certainly very beautiful here, peaceful and quiet. But to her relief not too quiet, she could see other people in the distance walking in the woods, and others sitting on the grass nearby eating, obviously picnicking like they were about to. She didn’t know why she had let him persuade her, she didn’t know why she had given in, except that he was right. As much as she was upset with him right now she didn’t really want to spend the afternoon in the car. She wanted to see the stream and the lake and walk in the woods, and yes, if she was honest she wanted to do those things with him. Tomorrow he would be gone and she didn’t want to end their relationship on a negative note, and despite his behaviour she still liked him, liked him a lot.

  But even so she would not easily forgive the things he had said about the Carters and about her too. She was no stranger to people saying nasty things about her and to her; she was an old hand at shrugging off insults. But it had hurt her when he had snapped at her and said she was being trivial, and she didn’t like the way he had dragged her away from the Carters and through the park, he had made her a party to his rudeness.

  She recalled the way he had gripped her hand so tightly that it had hurt then dropped it as though it had stung him when Angela had drawn attention to their joined hands, as though he was ashamed to be seen with her. She turned swiftly as he touched her arm, she looked at him then down at her hat which he held out for her. He said, ‘you’ll need this.’

  She took it from him and put it on. He turned and picked up a cool bag that he had placed on the ground, the picnic obviously. He put the bag over his shoulder and said, ‘come on, this way.’ He took her arm but she sidestepped him and walked on ahead of him. His face darkened for a moment then he shrugged. She was angry and he had to admit with just cause, he would give her some leeway. Besides, it was quite a treat to see her anything but sweet and polite as well as cool and in control, it reminded him of the previous night when she had let herself go and became uninhibited and unrestrained. He smiled to himself.

  They had walked only a few hundred yards when they came to the stream. Adela stopped still and gazed in wonder, it was indeed a lovely sight. Surrounded by big trees and bright foliage, it was on a slight incline and the sound of the water running down was like soft music.

  He said, ‘we’ll cross the stream if you like and have our picnic on the other side.’

  She nodded. He held out his hand to assist her over the stepping stones but she ignored it saying, ‘I think I can manage, thank you.’

  He stared at her r
etreating figure his hand still out in front of him, his face was set and hard then he sighed and lowered his hand. Leeway.

  She leapt lightly from stone to stone, she was pretty nifty on her feet he would give her that. She had almost reached the other side when she stopped three stones from the edge of the stream. He realised immediately why she had hesitated, the gap was too wide for her to leap to the next stone. He stepped onto the stone behind her and with one quick movement lifted her into his arms. The action caught her by surprise and she gasped then looked at him first in fear then annoyance. She said tightly, ‘I said I can manage, thank you.’

  He grinned, ‘sure you can, but my way is better, we don’t want you spoiling those pretty sandals do we?’

  She looked down at said sandals and opened her mouth to speak, before she could say anything however, he had stepped agilely onto the next stone then the next, one more small step, for him anyway, and they were on dry land.

  He looked down at her face as she remained stiff in his arms, she expected him to put her down, instead he carried on walking towards the trees.

  She said, ‘thank you, you can put me down now.’ He ignored her so she insisted, ‘I said you can put me down now, I’m quite capable of walking you know.’

  Again she was ignored and she began to wriggle trying to get free but his hold was very firm. Suddenly he stopped under a great oak tree and looked down at her again, at the irritation and exasperation on her face. Before she could speak or react he bent his head, at the same time drawing her closer to his chest and kissed her lips.

  It was a fierce and provocative kiss and she was so taken aback that at first she did not attempt to push him away. After the initial shock wore off she pushed at his chest but to no avail, he only increased the pressure on her mouth until she gave up and let herself sink into him and returned his kiss with enthusiasm. Just when she thought he would kiss the breath right out of her he withdrew his lips from hers and looked into eyes that were now very bright.

  She expected him to smirk or smile triumphantly at how easily she had succumbed to him, but there was nothing on his face except desire. She looked away ashamed of herself for responding to the possessiveness that had been contained in the kiss he had given her. He said nothing as he set her on her feet then shrugged the bag containing the picnic off his shoulder and opening it took out a thin sheet which he put on the floor, then looking at her and pointing at the cloth said, ‘please, sit down.’

  He sat down too, not next to her but opposite and began to take out the food and plates; he had even brought little plastic knives and forks plus two glasses, a small bottle of wine and a bottle of lemonade just in case she didn’t want to drink the wine.

  She watched him thinking how thoughtful he could be, he had arranged this picnic and brought things he knew she would like. But he could change so suddenly and be rude and horrible like he was with Dean and the Carters and even the sheriff. She wondered why he reacted to people as he did, as though he resented them, as though they were beneath him somehow. She wondered why he spent so much time with her since he seemed to dislike people so much.

  He said, ‘before we eat I think we should clear the air.’ She lowered her eyes but he took her hand, the one with the bruised knuckles and caressed it gently, ‘I’ll echo you and say, “You’re angry” but in your case the anger is justified. You were right, I was rude and obnoxious and mean,’ her head shot up in surprise, ‘I was angry because we have so little time together, just this day really, which I wanted to be perfect and I thought the Carters would invite themselves to our little picnic. And I was rude because I wanted to dissuade them from that notion; I wanted you all to myself on our last day together. And also you were about to tell me something important to you, something that’s been bothering you.’

  He paused as if waiting for a reply, she made none, only looked away from his eyes so he went on, ‘I was obnoxious because I hate the way women like that behave, like, well, you know, and in front of her husband too, who seems to either turn a blind eye to his wife’s outrageous behaviour or doesn’t care.’

  Adela saw his fist clench as he said this and frowned wondering why Angela and Scott’s behaviour should upset him so. Before she could ask he continued, ‘but mostly I was angry because she was embarrassing you by her suggestive comments. I know that none of that is an excuse for my behaviour and for the things I said to you and for hurting you. I never meant to, you did nothing wrong, and I had no right to speak to you as I did. I was out of line. I’m very sorry.’

  She searched his face for any sign of insincerity or mockery, but there was nothing there but genuine earnestness and concern. She began to feel much better but could still not entirely shrug off the things he’d said and the way he had acted towards her, the way he had dismissed her request for him to take her home.

  He let out another sigh and relinquished her hand, ‘you’re still angry.’

  She shook her head before saying, quietly, ‘no, not angry, just disappointed.’

  ‘Disappointed?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘In me of course.’

  She nodded and said, ‘I appreciate your being angry on my behalf, but I was not half as embarrassed by Angela’s suggestive comments as I was by your actions, and not only by what you said but…’

  ‘But what?’

  ‘The way you dropped my hand as though…as though you were ashamed to be caught holding it.’

  He stared hard at her but she looked down at her plate not wanting to look at him believing he was about to argue again. He thought, ah so that was it, she was upset because he had dropped her hand as though he didn’t want anyone to know that they were more than friends. He felt quite pleased, honoured actually, that she liked him enough to feel that way.

  He surprised her by saying, ‘I think you know that’s not true, what is there to be ashamed of? I dropped your hand because it was then I realised I was holding on so tightly and hurting you. Plus, I thought you wouldn’t like to stand there holding hands while they were there, she’s the kind to blab to all and sundry and embarrass you back in Eden. It was just instinctive that’s all.’

  She said nothing and he sighed heavily before saying, ‘look, I’ve had a few relationships in my time, not many and none that lasted for any length of time, but I know that you haven’t had any relationships at all.’ She did look up now and quickly, thinking he was being insulting again, but before she could speak he hurried on, ‘so of the two of us I think I have a little more experience in the way that people behave towards one another, that they sometimes disagree about stuff, they argue, even fight on occasion. We’ve had a little spat,’ when she narrowed her eyes he corrected himself, ‘all right a big spat, but that’s what happens when two people are close as we are, as I hope we are.

  I know we haven’t known one another very long but I really believe that there’s a closeness and affection between us that sometimes months or even years of knowing someone can’t accomplish. The only reason I didn’t acquiesce to your wishes earlier was because I didn’t want our friendship to end like this, I didn’t want you to go back to Eden mad at me, or to leave Mississippi hating me,’ he shook his head despondently, ‘but I see that I’ve only made things worse. I’m sorry that you’re disappointed in me, and if you want me to take you back to Eden, I will.’ The strange thing was, seeing her rueful expression, he was sorry and not just because she had been about to give up her secret..

  She couldn’t have been more surprised, he had caught her off guard with his very nice and sincere apology. She was beginning to think that maybe she had overreacted to what had happened. Maybe she had been tense and anxious about what she had been about to tell him and that had manifested itself in anger. And he was right, Angela had acted inappropriately. She said, ‘oh no you don’t, you brought me here so the least you can do is feed me.’

  His eyes widened then a slow smile spread across his face, ‘so I take it you forgive me for as acting like a spoilt ch
ild.’

  She was relieved and happy again, ‘yes, and thank you for the apology.’

  His expression was very earnest, ‘it was honestly meant.’

  Her voice was soft, ‘I know. And, Sterling, just so you know, I wouldn’t have left Mississippi hating you, I could never do that.’

  He thought, oh, I think you might, but took her hand again and his tone matched hers, ‘I’m glad about that, but your disappointment in me would have been almost as bad as your hatred.’

  She looked away from the look in his eyes. He said, ‘so are we all right now, are we cool?’

  It was her turn to smile, ‘yes, we’re cool.’

  He grinned, ‘well that’s a relief because I’m starving. But before we eat and just to prove there are really no hard feelings and we really are cool, I think we should seal our new found harmony.’

  As he leaned forward Adela thought he meant to open the wine for a toast but instead he leaned over and kissed her lips again, this time softly and gently. She leaned into him and kissed him back this time with eagerness.

  He eventually broke the kiss and murmured, ‘cool.’

  She laughed out loud and he joined in, although his laughter was more with relief and satisfaction than amusement.

  He handed her a plate she took it and put a small tomato, a piece of chicken and a piece of lettuce onto it. He snatched the plate from her hand and began to pile it with chicken drumsticks, tomatoes and salad; he had even brought coleslaw which she loved and piled it onto her plate. She looked askance at him; he said ‘don’t look at me like that, you’re not getting away with those tiny amounts you eat, you’re going to finish everything I give you, understand?’

  She didn’t know whether to be infuriated by his authoritativeness or pleased that he cared enough to be concerned about her appetite, but she didn’t want another argument over something so trivial, so she thanked him and picked up a fork and began to eat.