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

history tour...”

Susan came back into the kitchen right then, and Mel and James quit talking.

“Talking about me, are you?” she asked, hoping that Mel wasn’t saying anything to James about her coming back after the history tour.

They both smiled.

“Just remarking how beautiful you are,” said James.

She went to the sink and started washing the dishes. Mel stood up, went over next to her, and began to dry.

“Well then,” said Mel. “Seeing as you’re going back out to the cottage, you might as well take more provisions. Country air makes a person hungry, you know.”

“We can stop in Little Dippington and get some stuff if we have to,” said James. “We need to replace a few things of Auntie’s that we’ve used up.”

“And I need to do some washing and cleaning,” Susan added. “Always the polite thing to do when you stay for a while at someone’s house.”

“And I want to finish up the song I’ve been working on for Susan,” James said.

Susan froze for a moment, wondering if the song was “All My Kisses.” She thought it probably was.

The dishes were finished. Susan went upstairs to tidy up James’s bed even though she’d only been in it for a couple of hours the night before.

While she was upstairs, Mel took James aside again. He pulled a handful of bills out of his pocket and held them out to James.

“Give this back to Susan,” he said. “Yesterday, she insisted she pay for the dinner things, including the beef roast, and gave this to me. I think she should have it back.”

James stood stock still, an odd expression on his face. “She gave this to you?”

“Insisted she wanted to pay for a nice dinner for us both. Very generous girl, but I think she should have it back.”

“So, you paid for everything yourself then?”

“Yes, of course.”

James was silent for a moment, wondering why he hadn’t questioned the extravagance of the dinner or where the expensive beef roast and cream for the dessert had come from. He must not have been paying attention, too wrapped up in his love for Susan and his amazement at her cooking skills. He also hadn’t seen his dad so happy as he was when Susan was around, so that likely had distracted him as well.

“And just how much did it all add up to, Dad? You’re on a small pension, and your part-time job doesn’t pay much, which is why Chad and I try to help out as much as we can. How much did she have you spend?”

“I’d rather not say. It’s not important.”

“A beef roast costs a lot of money! And all that other stuff is priced pretty dear. Why didn’t you just tell her no?”

“Didn’t have the heart to. As I said, she wanted to do something nice for you.”

“I don’t care about a nice dinner...she shouldn’t have done it! I made it perfectly clear she wasn’t to be spending her money. I’ll see ya straight, Dad, I will...not sure when or how...but, I’ll see ya straight.” He shoved the bills in his pocket.

“No need...really, James...I’m fine...As you know, I don’t need much, and I’ll be going out a few days early to King’s Head tomorrow morning to stay with Annabelle before I bring her back on Sunday. The pension check comes in next week, so I’ll be fine.”

James was suddenly very silent and appeared to be brooding. His face was flushed, and there were sparks in his eyes. He clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides.

Mel patted him on the back. “Expensive tastes your young lady has,” he said. “Hope you’re both right about you and the boys becoming rich and famous. You’ll be needing it with Susan.”

He was teasing now, sensing James’s changed mood. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything about Susan giving him money and just given it back to her instead.

James was getting angrier by the minute. He thought his dad was probably going out to King’s Head early because he was now totally broke until the pension check came in, and at least he’d get free meals for a few days out at his other sister’s house.

Susan came tripping down the stairs. “Ready to go?” she asked cheerfully.

James said nothing, but Mel went up to her and took both of her hands in his.

“Delightful seeing you again, my girl. Have James bring you by again anytime at all.”

Impetuously, she wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a smacking kiss on his cheek. “You’re the best, Mel!” she said. “I think I might like you better than James!”

Mel and Susan laughed at the joke, but James remained silent.

“Are you coming then?” he asked coldly, opening the front door.

Susan didn’t notice his mood and skipped out the door and down the steps to the car. Her suitcase was still in the boot from the day before. She thought she’d sort everything out and do some washing when they got back out to Annabelle’s.

James opened the car door for her, and she got in, giving a last wave to Mel, who stood in the doorway. James got in the other side, started up the car, and they drove away.

“I’d offer to drive, but having the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car would be a problem,” she said jokingly. “Plus, driving on the wrong side of the road.”

“And what makes you think we drive on the wrong side of the road, and you don’t?” he snapped at her. “Besides, I’d never let a girl drive while I was in the car. Girls shouldn’t be allowed to drive at all!”

She turned to look at him. “Is something wrong?”

He didn’t respond.

She bit her lip. Something was definitely wrong. She tried to think. Had she said or done something to upset him?

For the next half hour, Susan made several unsuccessful attempts at conversation and tried to wrack her brain to figure out what she had said or done wrong. She couldn’t think of anything.

James appeared to be fine and cheerful at breakfast, and they’d spent a happy and cozy night together on the couch. What could it be? She thought maybe he was worried or distracted about what had happened at the audition, but then again, he didn’t seem concerned. She sensed he was angry or upset about something, though. He appeared to be pouting, but why would he be pouting?

She wasn’t only puzzled, but she was beginning to feel hurt that he wouldn’t even talk to her or tell her what was wrong. She discovered that she didn’t like this side of him; she didn’t like it at all! The least he could do was tell her what was wrong. The silent treatment was torture. And it was rude.

She wondered how often he got into these moods or if it was something he regularly did or just now and then. Moodiness like this even now and then would be annoying. It was very uncomfortable. She quit trying to make conversation and scowled at the scenery out the window.

When they came to Little Dippington, James drove straight through, not stopping for any provisions as she thought they’d planned to do.

“Aren’t we stopping then?” she asked, breaking the dead silence in the car yet again.

“No,” was all he said.

He was holding a tight rein on his temper if she only knew it, but he didn’t know how much longer he could keep it in check. He’d made it very clear that she was not to spend her own money, and she’d blatantly disobeyed him, tricked him even by giving money to his dad! She’d humiliated him.

He was livid just thinking of her extravagance and the money his dad had spent on a dinner he never even asked for. His dad should have refused to take the money, and they could have made do with whatever was on hand for dinner. Eating wasn’t all that important to him.

But, his dad was a pushover when it came to her; he knew that. And, he didn’t have any idea at the moment as to how he’d pay him back. After buying the bread and cheese at the shop on the way out to Annabelle’s on Sunday, a new cup to replace the broken one, plus the shockingly expensive dress Susan had to have, he was broke. The band wouldn’t get paid for another two weeks, and he still had to buy petrol for the car. These trips to the countryside were expensive.

He wondered how he could put some sense into her, make her understand that what she’d done was wrong and that he wouldn’t again tolerate her flagrant disregard to what he asked of her.

There were so many things he didn’t understand about her. The fact that she was an American could account for some differences, but there were other things that were puzzling. For example, how was it that, at age seventeen, she could cook so well or could speak so well on such a broad range of topics, sing, paint, dance, and most mysteriously of all, make love with such aggressiveness and wild abandon?

First of all, however, he was going to have to deal with what she’d just done, and if he had to be harsh, so be it. He didn’t recall ever being so angry in his life, and the more he dwelled on her outrageously independent nature and extravagant tastes, the angrier he became. She would have to be brought to heel and taught a lesson. Especially if they were to make a go of it… She needed to know her place.

Susan was feeling a cross between anger, resentment at being given the silent treatment for some unknown sin, and disappointment at discovering another not so pleasant side of James’s personality. Thinking back to the future, she’d heard stories of his moodiness and controlling nature, but hearing about it and experiencing it were two different things. She didn’t like it one bit. It made her stomach hurt, and she wanted to lash back at him in some way so he’d understand how bad he was making her feel.

 

Chapter Sixteen

James’s Cruel Outburst

When they got to the cottage, Susan started to open her car door from habit. James leaned over and painfully grasped her wrist. “You wait for me to open the door,” he growled, looking straight into her eyes. “Remember?”

She released the car door handle as he let go of her wrist and took a deep breath as he got out and came around to the other side. He opened the door, and she stepped out.

“I’ll get your suitcase later,” he said, striding up to the front door of the cottage and taking out the key from his pocket. “I have something to say to you.”

“Here it comes,” she thought.

He stalked into the cottage and paced into the kitchen, stopping in the middle of the floor and abruptly turned around to face her.

Susan softly closed the door behind her and took her time walking into the kitchen to stand in front of him. Her heart was beating frantically, and she felt a little afraid for some reason but didn’t know why other than this was a side of James she wasn’t expecting to see...and she didn’t know how to deal with it.

He reached into his pocket, pulled out the handful of bills Mel had given him, and waved them in front of her face.

“Are these yours?” he asked menacingly.

She stared at them, speechless, then took a deep breath. So, Mel had given the money back to James...

“Well, are they?”