by Kimball Lee
Walden leaned back, closed his eyes and exhaled as if he’d been holding his breath and the story inside himself for forever.
Allie wiped tears from her eyes and listened to the faint words of a song on the sound system that echoed through the beautiful rooms. It was the gruff voice of Johnny Cash and she imagined the lyrics spoke directly to Walden’s soul.
“I hurt myself today, to see if I still feel. I focus on the pain, the only thing that’s real. The needle tears a hole, the old familiar sting. Try to kill it all away, but I remember everything. What have I become, my sweetest friend? Everyone I know goes away in the end. And you could have it all, my empire of dirt. I will let you down, I will make you hurt.”
“I haven’t finished showing you the house, there’s a lot more to it.” Walden said, scrubbing at his eyes with the fingers of one large hand as if to erase the scene he had described.
He collected himself and regained his composure, stood up quickly reaching out for Allie’s hand and just as she had experienced with William a distinct current crackled between them. She gasped and he raised an eyebrow and grinned as he led her to the wide and winding stairway that rose majestically to yet more unexplored rooms.
“I live on the fourth floor but I’d really like for you to see the conservatory on the roof. You can’t see it from the street below, it’s set toward the back of the building. I love it up there, it has a glass roof and walls, so I sleep under the stars most nights. It’s so peaceful, all you hear is the crazy laughter from Bourbon Street and the horns from the tugboats on the river, man, that sound is like a sweet lonely lullaby,” he said, his voice was deep and hypnotic so that she started up the steps ahead of him.
“I should go, seriously. I have no idea what time it is, William will be wondering where I am….” She said, her own voice sounded small and raspy and unsure and she continued ahead of him up the stairs. She stopped on the third floor landing and faced a set of double doors that were not carved cypress like all the others. These doors were upholstered in deep blue leather with brass nail heads framing the edges and crisscrossing in the middle creating an intricate geometric design. Allie couldn’t resist, she lifted her hand to feel the butter-soft leather and cold steel of the nail heads. “So beautiful,” Allie whispered reverently her hand coming to rest on the antique crystal doorknob. “Why are these doors so different from all the others?”
“This is my bedroom,” Walden said and he turned his back to hide his throbbing erection and the flagrant thoughts that threatened his tenuous control. “It’s my sanctuary, my confessional, it’s where I atone for all my sins.”
“I see, it’s very private then. I have to say that I’m curious, Walden, after the horrible, horrible story you shared with me. I hope you’ve made your room into a warm safe haven, I hope you don’t let those bad memories ruin your life. Like you said, William saved you and there’s so many amazing experiences out there in the world just waiting to be discovered. You deserve a lot of happiness after such a bad start, you know that don’t you?”
“Yeah, you’re right, I suppose so and… I work hard to believe it,” he said although he knew without a doubt that she would be his most amazing experience. She would come to him and choose him and she would want him with every fiber of her being.
Her guileless face was turned up to him, so trusting, so naive and beautiful. Her small straight nose bore a smattering of golden freckles across her otherwise porcelain skin and somehow that slight imperfection along with her huge grey-green eyes and delectable pouty lips both broke his heart and began to mend it all at once.
Her hand came to rest on the antique crystal doorknob and a question settled in her eyes when the knob refused to budge.
“Locked,” he said, taking her by the hand and leading her down the stairs. “For the protection of the innocent and those who aren’t sure of what they want. You’re right, Alaina, William will be missing you, he’ll wonder what’s happened to you. Come on, I’ll walk you to your office and then I have to put my life in order since I’m the one who’s made such a mess of it.”
“Don’t say that, what happened to you and William and your mother was a tragedy but you were a little boy, how could it have been your fault?” Allie asked, stopping just before they reached the bottom of the stairs so that he stood just below her.
“Why did you come here with me, Alaina? What you said before about knowing William, please don’t tell me there’s anything serious going on between you two. We’ve been through that you know, William and I, from the time we were teenagers there have been girls and women who gave themselves to both of us. But I couldn’t do that now, not with you. If you were mine I wouldn’t share you,” Walden said and he reached out and quickly snaked one long arm around her narrow waist and pulled her against him. They were standing a few steps above the entry hall and she tried to step back but he was fast and strong and she fell forward against the solid wall of his chest. “Alaina, you’re here for me, you came to New Orleans because you’re my destiny. Do you understand that?” He asked but he didn’t give her time to answer.
Her lips parted to protest but in that moment his hot demanding lips met hers and a flare of panic mixed with excitement ignited inside her. It was such a shock that she couldn’t move and although she didn’t respond she stood paralyzed as his mouth consumed hers in a deeply sensual kiss. His hands tangled in her long golden hair and he moaned with satisfaction.
She felt the pleasure of that kiss spiral down to her very core as her body threatened to betray her, or maybe it just didn’t recognize that this wasn’t William. Whatever the cause she was horrified at her own traitorous reaction and she quickly jerked away from him.
“Stop!” she said, stumbling backwards so that he caught her, pulling her close, and at that moment William burst through the front door.
“Allie are you alright? Step away from her Walden, do you hear me? Take your hands off her,” William’s voice was practically a growl and he was up the stairs in a split second.
Walden released her slowly but he stood his ground with his hands drifting from her hair to trace the lovely shape of her face.
She glanced into Walden’s eyes for a moment before William tore her away from his brother’s touch and there was a deep sadness there that tugged at her heart.
“Walden what the fuck do you think you’re doing? You should be in Switzerland under Dr. Selig’s care and by the fucking way our father is alive but he had a heart attack and don’t you ever put your fucking hands on Allie again— EVER!” William was shouting as he crushed Allie to him with one massive arm around her shoulders glancing down into her startled face to make sure she was alright.
“Wills there are so many things you don’t know or understand.” Walden said staring his scowling brother straight in the eye before William steered Allie down the stairs and out onto the street with Walden following close behind. “You think you know me and you think you know Alaina, but she isn’t really yours and you’ll come to accept that in time. As for Eleanor Selig, I swear to God you don’t know shit about the good doctor. I’m gonna let this slide for now because you believe Alaina’s in love with you and because I need to go see about Father, where is he? By the way, do you think if you get Alaina out of my house and away from me as quick as you can she’ll forget about me? Don’t delude yourself, Wills, there’s something between us already. I felt it when I kissed her.”
William let go of Allie and his fist smashed into Walden’s face before he could even think about what he was doing. Allie screamed as blood sprayed across her cheek and the front of her dress. Walden took the punch and smiled at his brother with blood gushing from his nose.
“Really, William?” Walden said shaking his head in disbelief, he slipped his T-shirt off and held it to his bloody nose. “After all that we’ve been through you hit me in the fucking face? I love you man, but she’s mine, she’s meant for me, didn’t you listen when I told you that before? I FUCKING told you that I’ve
been waiting for her all my life and what did you do? You sent me away and took her for yourself. How could you do that, William? You’re my family, my brother and you fucked me over. That is so fucking low.”
“You’ve lost touch with reality Walden, you’ve had a psychotic break or some other crazy fucking episode. I am not up to dealing with this shit today, I’ve been worried sick about you, do you understand what I’m saying? I was worried that you’d do something stupid and hurt yourself so badly that it would end your life and now I walk into your house and you pull this fucked up shit with Allie? That is messed up, you are severely messed up!” William said clenching and unclenching his fists in fury as he stared at his brother. But he heard the truth of Walden’s words and felt that maybe, just maybe— he should be the one who was beaten and bleeding.
“Go ahead Wills, hit me again, you can hurt me and you wanna know why? Because I’ll let you, brother, because I’ll never raise my hand to stop you,” Walden said, lowering the bloody T-shirt from his face as he stepped toward William.
“Stop it both of you. For heaven’s sake William, he’s your brother and nothing happened… nothing serious, not any big deal to get all pissed off about. We should go to the hospital if that’s where your father is…” Allie said, placing herself between them and looking up at first one and then the other. “Come on dammit! I’ll get in the backseat and you two have to stop arguing. We need to be there for your dad and there’s no way Walden’s going to fit in the back seat of a sports car, he’s as tall and big as you are, William. Now let me get in and let’s go.” Allie said, she was so exasperated with the brothers she felt like slapping some sense into both of them.
*
“Oh my stars, Walden! What happened to your face? And your shirt is covered with blood,” Marilyn Trudeau cried, covering her mouth in horror. She was William the third’s neighbor and some nights she was his bedmate. She lived at Trudeau Hall, the estate bordering Greenlea and now she and her daughter Hannah sat in the hospital waiting room filing their nails and making themselves at home as if they’d actually been invited.
“William, how are you holding up?” Hannah hopped up and was at William’s side in an instant, reaching up to run her cold thin fingers across his cheek and plant a sloppy kiss on his lips before he could stop her. “Bless your heart, darlin’, I can’t imagine this happening to your daddy, he’s such a vital and virile man. It must be so terrible for you, I’m gonna come straight over to your place this evenin’ and take perfect care of you to ease your mind.”
“That’s not necessary, Hannah, this is Alaina Darling, she’s my girlfriend, and I have everything under control,” William said, but he didn’t feel in control of anything. He’d lost control as soon as he walked into Walden’s house a half hour earlier. He had actually hit his brother when Walden was absolutely right. Walden had made it clear that day at Greenlea that Allie was important to him. But William had written off his infatuation as just one more of Walden’s lunatic fantasies and in truth that was probably all it was. Still, he felt guilty, horribly guilty for simply shipping his brother out of the country and taking what they both wanted, which was Alaina Darling.
“Well isn’t that divine? Seriously now William, you have a girlfriend? You must be kidding!” Hannah said and her tone was colder than her hands as she stared a hole through Allie. She smiled a tight false smile and offered her cold bony hand to Allie, “I’m Hannah and isn’t that the most interesting news? William and I have been playmates and sweethearts since we were in diapers. I know absolutely every girl who comes and goes in his life and I’m sure I’ve never heard him mention your name before. I suppose that makes you the flavor of the week, what was your name again, darlin’?”
“Yes, you got that part right, it’s Darling, Allie Darling.” Allie said coolly although she really wanted to say, Like he said bitch, I’m his girlfriend!
“Hannah, sweetie, hush, what a thing to say to William’s little friend. It’s so lovely to meet you Alaina. Your father is awake, William,” Marilyn said, giving Allie an equally icy smile and touching William’s arm lightly. “His doctor is in there with him now. Wouldn’t you and Walden like to go in and let him know you’re both here for him?”
“Yeah, we should do that,” Walden said grabbing a set of hospital scrubs from a stainless steel cart as a nurse wheeled it down the hallway. “Thanks, I just need the shirt for ten minutes, you can keep the pants,” he said, smiling at the shocked nurse who quickly recovered her wits and gave him a flirtatious grin as he peeled off the bloody T-shirt and slipped the clean shirt over his sublimely muscled torso.
“I’m Shannon,” the nurse whispered, “I get off work at ten. If you have a minute I’ll write down my phone number for you.”
“Shannon, thanks for the offer but take my advice, chere. Never give your phone number to a man who’s covered with blood,” Walden said and then he turned to William. “Let’s go see Father, Wills, and don’t worry, I’ll lie to him if he asks about my face.”
Chapter Two
“I’m Dr. Steiner and I assume you’re Mr. Warfield’s sons? Good, good, he’s doing well and he’s anxious to see his boys. A word of caution, don’t upset or excite him in any way. It seems he had an acute episode of Arrhythmia which is an irregularity in the pattern of the heartbeat. It’s basically a problem with what you might think of as the heart’s electrical system. Your father is adamant that he won’t endure surgery at this time and I feel that we can treat him with medication as long as he is closely monitored. I assume you have a well trusted staff employed at his home and here is a list of private nurses I’d recommend. Hire one or more of them and be sure one is on hand at all times in case of an unexpected mishap.” The doctor said and then he motioned for William and Walden to go to their father’s bedside.
“Well now, he was an arrogant prick, wouldn’t you say?” Walden said. “Who gives a fuck if Father objects to surgery? If he needs it to keep him alive we should fucking let them cut him open, fix the problem and get it over with. You and Father call me the crazy bastard, who’s crazy now? He just had a heart attack and he wants to go home and act like nothing happened.”
“Hush, Walden. Don’t upset him, you heard the doctor. I’ll talk to Father about the surgery and I’m sure there’s no way they’d send him home if there was a real risk.”
“Ah, my boys, how nice of you to come. Now get me out of this place, take me home before I die of anxiety. For God’s sake why did you let them bring me here? My agoraphobia is threatening to go into overdrive at any moment, thank goodness they have me on sedatives. Get me out of here, William, take me home right this minute. And Walden you look more rational than I’ve ever seen you, Dr. Selig must have done her job very well.” William the third said, and his voice was as strong and commanding as it had ever been.
“Yep, she did. I’m cured, Father, I’m just as fit as a fucking fiddle and I mean that seriously,” Walden said. “I’m done with doctors, I’m calling on my strong Viking blood to heal myself. And more than that, Father, I’ve found something that has made me want to get better and make my life a complete success.”
“Good, it’s about time. Now, when can I go home? Today, William, make it happen today. I hate hospitals and all these people with their incessant inane chattering and the place is surely crawling with legions of ghastly germs… And call my lawyer, William, have him come to the house next week there are some stipulations I need to add to my will. I want you and Walden there as well and I won’t listen to any arguments— it’s a nonnegotiable demand.”
“Do you really think you’re up to that, Father? Maybe in a few weeks…” William said, he was already mulling over the reason for Walden’s miraculous recovery which obviously was his infatuation with Allie. Now his father was going to alter his will and most likely add some eccentric bullshit that would have his sons jumping through hoops like a couple of circus dogs. It was all too much and not to mention that Allie had a bit of explaining to do abou
t her careless behavior in so trustingly following Walden into his den of iniquity. It had been a bad, bad day to say the least. “Alright, Father, I’ll set it up for the end of next week. Can you work that meeting into your schedule, Walden?”
“Sure thing, bro. Get better, Father,” Walden said, leaning forward to plant a light kiss on his father’s cheek. “By the way, I’m borrowing your car Wills, see ya later.”
*
Walden had snatched William’s car keys right out of his hand and left the hospital. Now to the business at hand, he had to think rationally if he wanted his chance to capture Alaina’s heart. He fired up the engine of the Maserati and glanced at William in the rearview mirror. William had followed him to the parking lot demanding the keys back, but as usual he simply stood there pissed as hell and watched as Walden sped away.
You will not stop this from happening! Walden thought as he laughed and rolled down the window so William wouldn’t miss it when he flipped him the bird. Stay off the street drugs and rot-gut whiskey, get clean, stay smart and keep your mind sharp, he told himself. Alaina Darling was worth it, she was all that mattered, she was his one and only reason for living. He fished his iPhone out of his jeans pocket, popped it into the Maserati’s sound system and turned the volume as high as it would go. God he felt good as the music played and he imagined Alaina’s sweet ripe body opening just for him. He seriously loved that angel of a girl like crazy and as far as music went— it didn’t get much better than the gravelly words of Joe Cocker.
