The Necklace - The Dusky Club, June 1962 - Linda S Rice (books to read fiction txt) 📗

don’t you go breaking that poor girl’s heart, you understand me? You get what you want from her and break her heart, and you will answer to me for it. clear?”

“Yeah, perfectly clear.”

“I don’t feel as if you’re heeding a word I’m saying.”

“I hear you loud and clear… But you don’t understand.”

“What exactly is it I don’t understand?”

James looked down at the floor, intently observing the toes of his shoes. “There’s something about her…I don’t know what it is…She’s not like other girls…She’s sophisticated like…, and she talks to me and listens to me like she cares what I’m saying…I can’t explain it...It’s like it happened so sudden, overnight like...I think she’s already got a little piece of my own heart, you see.”

Mel contemplated that statement for a few seconds then said, “Has she then? I suppose that’s something new for you?”

James looked up. “Yeah, it is.”

He picked up the picnic hamper and headed toward the door. “See ya, Dad…and thanks for filling up the basket.”

As the door closed behind him, Mel shook his head, a worried expression on his face.

“Love at first sight, eh?” he mused.

Then he thought, “For some reason, I don’t see this ending well. I hope that poor girl can stand on her own against him…but I won’t hold my breath about it. She looks like a fresh peach, ready to be plucked off the tree...and James will likely bruise her badly...Oh, Sherry…I wish you were still here…”

James was prompt to pick Susan up at 10:00. She was waiting for him in the lobby of the hotel, a straw sun hat in one hand, her purse slung over her shoulder, and a large picnic hamper at her feet. James came over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Ready, Luv?” he asked.

“As ready as you are,” she replied. “Are you tired at all?”

“Not a bit. I had to get up early to look around for the picnic hamper, then scrounge around for something to put in it. My dad helped me pack. He put in some of his special oatmeal cookies that he baked this morning and some other stuff. There’s some roast chicken, shaved ham, some tomatoes from the garden, and bottles of orange soda. Dad loves orange soda. Too much really, and there’s still the shop on the way out of town that has the fresh bread and cheese I was telling you about last night.”

“Oh, oatmeal cookies! They’re my favorite! And, I have plenty of stuff too; the hotel packed two bottles of wine, two both white. I wasn’t sure if you liked wine or not or what kind you liked. One of the whites is sweet, a Muscat, and the other is dry, a Chardonnay. Chardonnay is my favorite! Then they put in some pastries, a bunch of grapes, a large container of fresh strawberries...I just love strawberries; they’re my favorite! There’s some other stuff, but I don’t know what it is. Maybe some chocolates.”

“And are chocolates your favorite as well?” He was teasing her.

“No, not at all; I don’t care for chocolate. Are you making fun of me for having so many favorites? What do you like? Are you a picky eater?”

“Mum always used to say I was, but I don’t think so. She was a great cook, but so is my dad. Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, let’s. Take the picnic hamper, please. It’s awfully heavy with the wine. I don’t even know if I should drink any wine with you…”

“And why would that be?” he asked.

“Well, it might make me reckless…or, or I might lose my inhibitions…”

“And then what happens?”

“Well, likely something that shouldn’t happen.”

He looked at her intently, thinking of what his dad had said about her being “an innocent.”

“I’ll never cross the line if you don’t want me to, Susan. Believe me, okay? What happens today on our picnic will all be up to you.”

She froze. “Oh, that’s just great,” she thought, wincing. “Put it all on me, as if I have any control when it comes to you...!”

Her hormones were clapping excitedly. “Hooray! We’re in charge now!” they chuckled.

She looked into his eyes. “I don’t even know how to respond to that, you know.”

He just shrugged his shoulders then leaned over to pick up the picnic basket. She set the sun hat on her head, and they went out the lobby doors.

As he opened the car door for her, she almost felt faint. Really? Up to her? Was the day going to be up to her? Oh, my! After those kisses, what was next? More kisses...and then? Certainly not back to holding hands! And, on top of everything else, she had her young, teenage body to deal with that was responding to him physically like a cat in heat. Where, oh where, was Lynn when she needed her?

Then she thought, “At least Auntie Annabelle will be there. A chaperone will be a good thing. Keep things from getting out of hand. I think I’m going to like Auntie Annabelle…and I think I’ll stick to her like glue.”

“You’re no fun at all,” whispered her hormones.

It was four o’clock in the morning on the ship, and Lynn couldn’t sleep. She had watched Susan as James kissed her in the hallway and as she slid down the back of her hotel room door onto the floor after James had left her the night before, and she thought something was about to happen that Susan would regret.

Things were moving way too fast. She could sense that her friend was confused at the speed of events. She knew that Susan was a romantic, probably thinking she’d go back, meet James, he’d sing to her, and they’d walk down English lanes or something holding hands for seven days.

As she looked into her iPhone for the tenth time in the last twelve hours, she saw them in the lobby of Susan’s hotel. They were talking. She heard James say that whatever happened today was going to be up to her. After that kiss in the hallway last night, what exactly was that supposed to mean?!

Then, it dawned on her. She’d heard what James’s dad had said to him regarding Auntie Annabelle not being at the cottage, and she knew James intended to have his way with Susan even if she didn’t. He was well aware she couldn’t resist him. All he’d have to do was crook his finger.

“Suz! Pay attention!” Lynn cringed, thinking that was pretty damn arrogant of him, and knowing that Susan was doomed. She had seen the desire burning in her eyes and her reaction to his kiss. It was pretty much all over for her. What would happen after James had his way with her? Would he just take her back to her hotel, drop her off, and carve another notch on a wall somewhere?

Lynn toyed with the idea of going to Marta and Mika and asking to be sent back. Susan looked confused and vulnerable, and she wanted to cry, thinking how hurt she was going to be once James bedded her then discarded her. But, what would she be able to do? How could she stop what was about to happen anyway? Susan would never listen to her and would likely be upset at her interference.

Then she started to laugh. Being an old lady and having been married for forty-four years, Susan was quite experienced in the act of lovemaking. Their “girl talk” over the years sometimes strayed into that subject area. It was easy to see that once Susan gave in, James would be in for the surprise of his life. Forty-four years of experience combined with a seventeen-year-old body – what a combination! What would he think? She chuckled again and tried to forget about the “cheating” aspect of the situation.

James and Susan stopped at the shop that had freshly baked bread on the way out of Brighton and bought way too much stuff, considering the things they already had in the two picnic hampers. They bought a loaf of French bread, a baguette, and a bag of Kaiser rolls. They couldn’t resist the cheeses either and ended up with Brie, some Swiss, and a chunk of sharp white cheddar.

“This is enough for a picnic for a dozen people!” said Susan as they left the shop, bags in their arms.

“Well, maybe we’ll just need to go on another one,” James responded.

They got back into the car and continued on their journey, out to the country, through the village of Little Dippintton, and then to Auntie Annabelle’s cottage. It took them forty-five minutes.

The cottage was set back from the road in a pasture of wildflowers, bluebells, hollyhocks, daisies, and lupines. Susan stepped out of the car when James opened the door for her.

“This is beautiful!” she exclaimed, looking at the cottage. It was bordered by roses. “Is your Aunt expecting us?”

“Ummm...Actually, no, she’s not... She’s not here, you see. My dad took her to visit her sister in King’s Head. He picked her up on Friday, and he won’t be picking her up to come back until next Sunday.

She spun her head around to look at him. “You didn’t tell me she wasn’t going to be here!” she said accusingly, panic rising inside of her.

He shrugged his shoulders. “You didn’t ask, you know.”

She took a deep breath before exhaling. She could feel the sexual tension building between them. It had been present the night before outside her hotel room door and appeared to be increasing by the moment. It seemed certain to her now that this trip to Auntie Annabelle’s cottage…with no Auntie Annabelle…would culminate in an intimate encounter, and she would be powerless to stop it. Her hormones were cheering wildly, and her heart was pounding in her chest so hard, she could almost hear it.

She thought of what James had said in the hotel lobby before they left and closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. Up to her...up to her... Holy crap! If it was up to her seventeen-year-old body, she didn’t stand a chance!

After letting Susan out of the passenger door, James grabbed one of the picnic hampers and a bag from the car and headed up to the front door of the cottage. He set everything down, went around the side of the house, and returned with a key.

“Glad she keeps it in the same spot,” he said.

He opened the front door and motioned for her to go inside. Just as he started to close the door behind them, a fluffy black and white tuxedo cat raced inside and brushed against her legs.

“Oh! A kitty! Is this your Aunt’s kitty?” she asked, picking up the cat and holding it in her arms. “I just adore cats!”

He didn’t look very pleased. “Yeah, that’s Buttons. She doesn’t like me.” And, as if to prove what he said, he looked over at Buttons, who hissed at him, jumped out of Susan’s arms, then up onto a chair.

“So, what did you do to her to make her not like you?”

“Nothing. I think she likes girls and hates guys, is all. I’m not very fond of cats anyway, so I don’t care if she likes me or not.”

“Well, that’s not very nice,” she said, going over to rub Buttons on her head. Buttons turned on her purr motor, looking over at James as if to say, “I don’t care if you like me either! I like this new lady.”

Susan looked around and saw a neat and tidy living room area with a piano against one of