by H R Jones
Again, he folded her to him more tightly and kissed her more deeply. His desires did not want to be denied. He knew he’d have to restrain himself if he ever hoped to have this woman.
He kissed her again, and said in a raspy voice, “We’d better go.”
It was a quiet ride home. She’d fallen asleep on his shoulder. When they arrived at her parents’ home, it was all he could do to keep from touching her in the way he wanted to. When they reached her house, he couldn’t resist the temptation and lightly traced the outline of her breast with his finger, but he wanted more. He put his arm around her and drew her closer. He tried to wake her again by gently rubbing her back.
Slowly she turned to him.
He placed his hands on either side of her face, leaned in and kissed her gently on the mouth, quickly slipping his tongue in to taste her one more time.
“Oh, my goodness, I’m not a very good date,” she said groggily. “It has been such a stressful week with so much to do…packing, making sure all my paperwork is completed, buying some new clothes. So sorry I conked out on you like that. Thank you for a beautiful evening. I hope you enjoyed it too,” she said, looking deep into his eyes as if needing confirmation she’d see him again.
Rory pressed her to him, tasting the fruit of her lips once again, and with a shaky, raspy voice, murmured, “You’ll never know how much.”
He walked her to the door. They said their goodnights and goodbyes. It was hard parting even with the assurance they would see each other again soon.
Rory was on cloud nine on the way home. After all his liaisons with women through the years, Rory Star had finally found the perfect woman. A woman he truly wanted to marry. If only she weren’t so straight-laced about sex.
Eighteen
Caroline enjoyed the new route to Atlanta. She preferred the dignified business men over the sometimes rowdy, wealthy cowboys. She’d even become good friends with two of the stewardesses, Bunny and Suzanne. Even though they worked in coach and Caroline in first class, they shared apartments both in Atlanta and the Minneapolis area on their layovers.
It was a totally different atmosphere. The Minneapolis/St. Paul area was coming into its own as a stylish, growing metropolis. Big names in entertainment and industry were coming out of the area, as well as new innovations in the way the people of the city were adapting to their environment, as well as their brutal winter months.
Caroline enjoyed the free-spirited, friendly, gregarious inhabitants.
Atlanta was a fun city too, but not quite as friendly, especially if you were a ‘Yankee.’ Oh, they were nice enough and all, but it was just a different feel. They were as likely to call you ‘hon’ one minute and a ‘damn Yankee’ the moment you were out of ear shot. It was as if you had to prove yourself in order to be accepted.
Caroline did all right wherever she was…she was just that kind of young woman, and a mid-westerner, who grew no matter where she was ‘planted.’
~ * ~
Every once in a while, Rory would surprise Caroline and book a flight to Atlanta. There they could at least have some real alone time. They would go on short sight-seeing excursions, or have romantic dinners. She wouldn’t always have a lot of time. There were ‘turn around flights,’ which meant if she wasn’t aware Rory was going to be on that flight, their time was shortened so after all, the effort was for naught.
At least they could spend some time together, short as it was.
After a while, Rory became more demanding in his desire to have a more intimate relationship with Caroline. It erupted, on more than one occasion, into harsh words and tears. It finally dawned on Rory he was not going to change Caroline’s mind. She empathically said, “No, Rory, I will not sleep with you if or until we marry. I do have my principles.”
This infuriated Rory. He not only loved Caroline, but wouldn’t be happy until he possessed her, make it so no other mortal man than him could have her in any way. A sure way to make her come around, he’d decided, was to ask her to marry him, and mean it with a ring and a proposal. Surely, he thought, she would finally succumb to his desires with the promise of matrimony. He just had to convince her that if they were going to be married, she would be free to indulge in intimacy because they were betrothed.
He had a plan. He just had to figure out a way to convince her it was just going to be a romantic get-a-way, just the two of them, so they could have the opportunity to really get to know each other. That was going to be difficult. He knew he’d have to lure her under false pretenses in order for his plan to work.
She could have no idea what was to befall her if she rebuked his advances and proposal, even though he’d vowed, tongue in cheek, he would abstain until they were properly wed.
Rory didn’t like being told ‘no,’, and had no intentions of keeping that promise. He had to have what he wanted, when he wanted it, so he was assured Caroline would never be able to have anyone else.
Nineteen
This place, here among the towering pines and cool, blue, pristine lakes, would be the last time and place Rory and Caroline would be together.
She’d finally agreed to meet him here at her family retreat, to have some alone time before the craziness of the prenuptial showers, parties, and their wedding day. With her busy schedule there was very little time to sit back, relax, get reacquainted, and share what had been going on in each other’s lives while they were apart. The days were fleeting, filling up quickly with all kinds of obligations to work, family and finalizing all the things necessary before their wedding and honeymoon.
Caroline told her family she was taking a mini vacation to the cabin to do some hiking, reading, and relaxing before the ‘big day.’ Between her airline work schedule, with turn-around flights, crazy passengers, and time changes, she needed to get away. Her family agreed it would be good for her. What she didn’t tell them was that Rory would be joining her. They wanted and needed to be able to talk things through without outside influences. They also needed to reconnect, emotionally, after being apart for so long. There were decisions to be made as to how they wanted their lives to be. Would she, for instance, want to continue working and for how long? The ever important question every couple pondered was whether to start a family and if so, when?
The first couple of days together were wonderful…ideal, really. Then…then things made a subtle change. Caroline found herself feeling as if she were being…coerced, pressured, and devalued? She couldn’t quite put her finger on the feelings. She just felt something had changed. There were some things Rory said…implied? Repeatedly talked about which made her feel…unsettled?
On the evening of the third day, as Rory and Caroline lay curled up together on the sofa by the fire, enjoying a glass of wine, cuddling, he’d said something a bit odd, but she brushed it off. The wine was seemingly affecting her a bit more than usual. Once, she felt Rory’s hand moving up her inner thigh. When she tried to brush his hand away and tell him to stop, it was as if her voice was coming from somewhere far away and her arm just flailed at the air, never making contact with Rory at all.
Unbeknown to Caroline, he’d switched to the real agenda behind talking her into the romantic retreat.
She’d not even finished the drink when she no longer had any control over her words or her body.
That’s when Rory made his move. While she was totally defenseless and unable to fend off his advances, he made love to her.
When she awoke from her drug-induced fog the next morning, she found Rory beside her in her bed. She had no recollection of the events of the previous evening; they were fuzzy at best.
She tried desperately to get up, but her body felt as though it were made of rubber. Finally she literally stumbled out of bed.
Feeling angry and afraid, she mumbled at Rory, “What have you done?”
“Nothing, my love. You just consumed just a bit too much liquor. Now, come on back to bed and let’s enjoy our last time together alone, just you and me,” he pronounced ominously.<
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~ * ~
Caroline was forced to call her family. With a trembling voice, she told them the wedding was off. That Rory had called her shortly after her arrival at the cabin to tell her he’d changed his mind.
“I was glad I was here, because I’d have been too upset to face you, Dad, everyone.” She choked and coughed as she went on, “Would you please make my excuses?”
They’d asked if she needed them to come to the cabin.
“No, no,” she insisted, “I just want to be alone. I need to be alone, really. Do you understand, Mom?” She fought back her tears. “I’ve thought it over, and I’ve decided to take the overseas route I was offered before I left on vacation. They’d said I could take my time to think about it, well now I don’t have to think…” she began to snivel.
Her mom pressed again about coming to be with her.
“No,” she said emphatically, then softened, “thank you, Mom, I know you mean well, but no. I really do need this time to be alone and to think. I’ll lock everything up and leave from here. I won’t be coming back to Buckton for quite some time. I’ll call or write in a few days. I really, really, need to be alone,” she emphasized after her mom pressed her again about driving up to join her. Caroline tried to sound positive “You know, Mom, I think I just might get an apartment, maybe, maybe in Paris…wouldn’t that be fun…or London, or perhaps, Rome? I’ll be in touch,” she said with a hiccup sob. “I love you and Daddy very much.”
~ * ~
Her parents were worried about their only daughter. “She didn’t sound right, Herbert.” Standing next to the desk, the receiver still clutched in her hand, she said, “Then again, she wouldn’t, would she Herb? Herbert!”
“Now, Sarah, I know you want to drop everything and race up to the cabin, but give Caroline some space and time. She’ll need to face it with or without us, because she’ll definitely be going back to her job. That will be the best thing for her. She won’t have time to wallow in all this…”
“Herbert James Pissog, what is the matter with you? Can’t you tell she’s devastated? She needs her mom now.”
“No she doesn’t, Sarah. She’s a grown woman and she needs to figure this out for herself in the days and weeks ahead. If she wanted us, she would have told us. She’s not shy. This could be the best thing for her, taking that overseas run. Best cure for anyone with a broken heart…get away from the things that will remind you of the times you spent together and the places where you made special memories. She needs time to sort it all out, Sarah. If she needs us, she knows we will be there in a heartbeat.”
He went to his wife, wrapping her in his arms. “Remember when we nearly broke up for good just before we were to be engaged? It turned out it was the best thing that we each went our separate ways for a few months. We had time to think more clearly, and each of us recognized we really did love each other and needed one another. When we finally came together, we were both fully aware of what we wanted and that there was no one else for either of us.”
“Oh, Herbert, I know you’re right, it’s just so hard when it’s your only child, your daughter,” she said as she sobbed into his shoulder.
~ * ~
After Caroline hung up, Rory carried her, nose running and gulping back heaving sobs, to the bedroom.
What she’d never know, thankfully, was Rory had never intended to marry her. He never really loved her, at least not in the way she should have and needed to be loved. He never wanted marriage. He just wanted Caroline. Now he’d got what he wanted, he was done with her. He’d put her to rest with the others.
Twenty
As he approached the Buckton area and home, he paid close attention to traffic for any sign of law enforcement. He’d heard from Lyle before he left the cottage that the coast was clear. He sure didn’t want to be stopped by cops who might want to look in his trunk. It was late. The night was starless and pitch black. There didn’t appear to be anyone else on the road. He killed his lights as he slowly drove the last mile in total darkness, and pulled into his driveway.
Immediately, he went to the barn. He moved swiftly to unlock and open the barn door. He drove his vehicle inside. Exiting the car quickly, he closed the big double doors and turned on the tack room light, which wasn’t visible from the outside if anyone passed by.
He carried Caroline from the trunk and laid her on the hay in one of the empty stalls. He bent down, brushed the hair from her now waxy face, and kissed her on the forehead, “You look so beautiful,” he said, stroking her hair, reliving the previous two days. “There’s a very special place I’m taking you in the morning,” he whispered tenderly, as if she could hear.
Ranger whinnied, snorted, and stomped the ground with his hoofs, waiting for the pasture door to be opened.
You won’t be alone there, I promise. We’ve walked down around the property and I remember you remarked that when you die you would want to be buried in a beautiful spot just like it. Well, my darling Caroline, your wish has come true, and you will spend eternity here, in your special place, with me.
He heard Ranger whinny again. He turned off the light and opened the pasture side door to let him in. After giving him feed and water, he locked up and went to the house.
~ * ~
Before daybreak, Rory was up, dressed, and with a cup of coffee in his hand, he headed out to the barn. He wrapped Caroline’s body in an old horse blanket he had, put her over the back of the saddle, saying, “Good morning for a ride, boy. We’ll go out to the back forty.”
With that he dug in his spurs and Ranger picked up his feet and took off in the rocking horse gait of a canter, down the well-worn trail still wet with from last evening’s dusting of snow.
Caroline wasn’t Rory’s first love to meet an untimely end, and probably wouldn’t be his last. There’d been others who’d been connected to him who seemed to have disappeared, never to return. Few talked about it and even fewer speculated as to where they’d gone.
Twenty-one
Margo stayed clear of Rory. She remembered whispers heard through the years, about ‘unfortunate’ young women, and she’d wondered if there were others, like Nell, like herself, traumatized and broken because of Rory Star. Lieutenant Grutner’s inquiries as to Rory’s whereabouts made her think there was something bigger afoot.
She’d been so disheartened after her last encounter with Rory, she’d begun drinking, and ‘using’ more again. That meant more frequent trips to her mother’s to acquire the drugs she needed from the disgusting ‘Mr. D.’ that helped to ease her physical and mental pain.
~ * ~
Margo eventually came to the conclusion she was no longer capable or fit to manage the jewelry store, and her heart just wasn’t in it since Milo’s passing. It was a middle-aged couple who were one of the first to answer her advertisement in one of the area papers. They showed a real interest in the store.
They were passionate about good jewelry and eager to try their hand at running their own business. The wife, it turned out, was also a jewelry designer in her own right.
Margo agreed to lease the store to them, with the provision they keep Jillian on, as she was an asset to the store and really knew her gems. She also left it open that if they could come up with the down payment within a reasonable period of time, they’d have the option to buy.
She hated to sell, but at the same time Margo didn’t have the energy, love and drive for the store she had when she and Milo worked together building up the business. They’d enjoyed being around people, going to jewelry and gem shows together, buying the latest jewelry fashions in design and wear. Besides, Margo no longer wanted the responsibility.
Margo’s mother was beginning to need more care. So, she made the decision to close up her little house in Buckton for the time being, and move to her mother’s home in Riverside, and be her mother’s caretaker. It didn’t pay for her to be running back and forth…besides, it meant she was closer to her drug source, ‘Mr. D’ and the casino.
&nbs
p; Margo’s confidence and low self-worth lay on the floor of every sleazy room she used to meet with her latest lover, one of many in a growing string of men she’d begun to entertain for drug money. She’d acquired quite the reputation among many of the regulars at the casino, and therefore, never had a problem finding companionship. Yet, Margo was still alone.
Twenty-two
It bothered Rory that not only had Nell Lynn slipped through his fingers, leaving him with a loose end he was never able to tie up, but there was still one other out there he had to ‘take care of’—Libbie Buchannan, before she shot off her mouth. He’d been looking for her a very long time.
As luck would have it, one evening he ran into a guy he knew, Dillon Watters, up from Vegas, who just happened to be attending the same wild horse auction in Wyoming, as himself.
They chatted for quite a while over drinks and dinner one evening. Then Dillion said, “Say, Rory, I just remembered something. You’re from up Wisconsin way, ain’t ya?”
“Yes I am, why?” He was a bit skeptical about where Dillon was going with this inquiry.
“Well, a while back,” he said, rocking his chair back so it was balanced on just the back legs, “I was seeing a lady friend who was from up Wisconsin way. I was wondering maybe if’n you’d know her. It sounded like she was from around your area.”
Curious, Rory asked, “What was her name?”
“Her name was, ah, let’s see, Ronda, Rose, Rebecca,” he scratched his head, “nooo, I don’t know.” Dillon looked out across the dining room, “Wait, it was Ronny, I believe.”
“No, don’t recall the name.” Rory said with a quiet sigh of relief.
“She was a real stunner, a natural blonde, a really nice lady. She worked at a little casino just outside of Vegas. Anyway she said she had a… a,” he paused, rubbing the stubble on his well-chiseled chin with his hand, thinking. “Yeah, actually, now I think of it, it was a sister, I believe. Yea, that’s it, a sister. She’s the one I thought you might know. Her name was Libbie or Liddie. Ronnie said she’d come to live with her after a bad breakup with some guy back home in Herbert.”
