With a single motion he pulled her blouse off of her, removing it over her head.
Then he pushed her back upon the bed, undid the buttons on her skirt and pulled that free, too. Lily was aflame, kissing his neck, his chest, his hands when she could catch them, while he stripped her down to bra, slip and panties. While bending over her, as she lie flat upon the bed, he pulled her slip away, and then her underwear, revealing her pubic hair, her vulva . . . Lily sighed surrenderingly as Jake reached beneath her and undid her bra, then slowly, pulled it away, revealing her mounded breasts.
Lily looked into Jake's eyes, and he saw and recognized what was being revealed. She had that distant look that only young girls get, that. says they are lost in inner visions that will float in their thoughts and dreams for the rest of their days. A serenity swept over her, a calm disregard for convention and moral upbringing. She was where she wanted to be, in the arms of the person she wanted to love. Her eyelids closed in a sort of hypnotic slumber, opening wide for a moment, revealing the azure purity of her gaze, and then retracted, as she fell again into an inner, emotional free-fall. Jake looked at her nakedness and was poleaxed by the perfection of her form. Her nipples stood up firm, like tiny rose buds, begging to be suckled. Her skin was smooth and firm, tanned by the summer sun, and richly glowing. The hair over her vagina was a soft down, a flaxen field of spiraling tendrils, that seemed to reach out for him, calling him to come hither. He looked down the length of her, at her long, lean legs, at the bronze beauty of her tiny feet.
She reached down and unbuckled the belt of his pants, and pulled down his zipper. He bent over her and kissed the middle of her chest, working his way down the centerline of her stomach, and lower. Lily tried to wrapped her legs around his waist, as he parted her sheath and patrolled it with his tongue.
"They say that Mrs. Douglas, the old lady who lived here, was real wealthy, although she never showed it in the way she dressed." Lily lay naked on the bed, her head on Jake's chest, in an afterglow of reverie. He gently stroked her hair as she talked about nothing special, filling the moments after their intimacy with a verbal backdrop, a gentle noise aimed at blocking out all distractions. Each wanted it to last just awhile longer, this free-floating island in the middle of concern. "I've been told that she had more than a million dollars, some of it in fantastic jewelry that she never took out of her safe." Lily smiled mischievously, looking up at Jake. "They say it's around here somewhere."
"What is?" Jake asked, caught in half-listen.
"The safe," Lily said, revealing unexpected treasure. "You want to see if we can find it?"
Jake seemed to think on it for a moment, then said – "Nah, I can't believe whoever's takin' care of her estate would just leave 'em out here, unprotected."
"Why?"
Jake looked at her like she was daft. "Why? What do you mean, why? Because there's people in this world who would steal 'em, that's why!"
Lily didn't believe it for a second. "Oh, not around here."
"What do you mean, 'not around here?' You think you're livin' in some sort of a bubble or something? Where there ain't no such thing as evil people?"
"I'm just saying I've never heard of such a thing happening around here – and I've lived here my whole life." She reported her experience with trace bitterness, as if it had amounted to a net loss. "My mom had tons of jewelry – expensive, too – and she just used to keep it in the drawer of her vanity. My dad keeps it in his safe, now, but he's weird that way. He's like you: he doesn't trust anybody."
Jake looked disconcerted. "I trust people," he said, to which Lily answered – "Not much!" "Well, maybe I'm a little careful, but over time you just start to learn that you've got to be."
Lily moved her hand, without purpose, over his chest. "I think I'm not really looking forward to getting old."
"What do you mean?"
Lily thought for a moment. "It just seems like everybody I've ever known has sort of closed down after a certain point, and stopped doing the things that always used to make them happy. It's like they don't have any fun anymore."
"Well, you change, that's for sure," Jake said. "Sometimes the things you thought were fun when you were a kid just aren’t that much fun to an adult."
"It's not so much the things you do to have fun," Lily said, "it's the idea of having fun in general. I don't think my father ever has fun."
Jake chortled. "What, even when he's out in the barn, with the boxing gloves, pounding some poor sap's face black and blue?"
Lily reached up and gently touched the swelling around his eyes, down from what it was, but still apparent. "Does it still hurt?" she asked, to which Jake shook his head 'no.' Lily went back to massaging his chest. "No, I don't even think that gives him any fun. I think he just does it so he can have an excuse to be with the boys."
"Well, see – that's what I'm saying," Jake said. "The urge is probably still there for him. He probably remembers what it was like to be young, and have fun – you know, in a certain way, rough-housing or whatever. But probably the best he can do now is organize something that reminds him of how it was."
"It's sort of sad."
old."
Jake nodded. "Yeah, it is sort of sad. It's natural, though. Hell, everybody gets
"I don't want to," Lily said.
"Nobody wants to," Jake said, "but you don’t have any choice. The thing I know now is that it happens to you before you even know it. One day you do something that you've done a hundred times before – and, you know, enjoyed doing – and all the sudden it isn't the same. You might even feel guilty, or just feel somethin' about it just isn't right. That's when it hits you. Your youth is gone and you just can't be that person anymore."
"You are so depressing."
Jake laughed. "Yeah, I guess I am. I don't mean to be."
"So what can a person do?" Lily asked. "It just sounds so awful."
Jake nodded, not really knowing. "The best I can think is that you got to find out really young that everything you do – it all matters. It's all connected, and all a part of what the rest of your life is going to be about."
Something in what he said seemed to fall heavily on Lily's ears. She stopped massaging and went still for a moment, lapsing into thought. Then she looked up at Jake, who seemed also to suddenly have become remote. "I wonder about how we fit into all that," she said.
Jake had no response.
CHAPTER 26 – Scent
Lily was beaming broadly, full of herself as she ordered a list of items at Watson's Pharmacy, all of which would be charged against her father's standing line of credit. "Let's see, one more thing . . ." she said, leaning across the perfume counter, scanning the shelf for her fragrance of choice. "There, that's what I want: Shalimar," she said. It had been her mother's favorite. As a child, after her mother's death, Lily used to find the fragrance among the things her father had left untouched, on her mother's dresser. The smell reminded Lily of her. Now that she was of age to wear a fragrance herself, she remained true to the familiar scent.
Carney Watson fetched it down off the shelf and slipped it into a paper bag, with the other things: a lipstick, blush, some eyeliner, a couple emery boards, a deodorant, fingernail clippers, and a toothbrush. "You've got expensive tastes in perfume, Miss Walker," said the pharmacist, commenting just to be conversational.
"Just brought up right," Lily said cheerfully, a trifle insouciant.
On the other side of the store, only an aisle away, Tory peered between heart shaped boxes of Russell Stover's candies, having by coincidence wondered in to buy a box of stationery and overheard the perfume order.
Shalimar! That's what it was! When Tory pulled Jake's shirt out of the hamper to do laundry this morning she had noticed the smell. She was in the habit of smelling his clothing, holding it to her face and breathing in his aroma: for some reason she liked the musty way he made his clothes smell, the manliness of his odor. It was a secret pleasure that she allowed herself and that she would not likel
y have admitted to anyone. But this morning, when she held the shirt to her face, she immediately noticed that it wasn't the same. There was perfume there, a sweet, flowery bouquet that she did not for one moment mistake for aftershave. There was also a hint of alcohol, but she expected that, since it was the shirt he had worn to town last night. She had heard him come home, driving into the yard at nearly two o'clock this morning, walking to his bunkhouse with a stealth Tory had found suspicious, as she lay awake, listening through the open window in her room. He was out early, gone to fix fence before anybody else was up and around, so Tory hadn't yet seen him to ask how his evening went. She had been congratulating herself on her reserve, and on the way she had avoided the appearance of insecurity or jealousy. She had heard him in the kitchen, early this morning – a good hour earlier than the crew usually met for breakfast – but she had resisted the temptation to check up on him. But then, later in the morning, finding the perfume – and Shalimar at that! For the rest of the morning it had been difficult for her to keep her emotions in check. Jake had been with another woman last night, she was sure of it.
The rumors about Jake and Lily had not escaped Tory's attention. She didn't have a lot of contact with people in the community, but she did occasionally talk with an old schoolmate of hers named Diane MacDougal. The MacDougal girl had married her high school sweetheart, and they lived on a farm on the far side of Longmont, nearly thirty miles from Parker Ranch. It was too far for Tory to get together with her often, but long before she had met Jake she had heard the gossipy MacDougal girl talking about young Lily Walker girl, and how she was allegedly wild, and having an affair with an older man. It had later occurred to Tory that Jake might possibly have been the "older man" in question, but it had seemed insignificant. If Jake had been rocking that particular cradle, it was apparently over with now. She and Jake had hardly been apart, since the day they met in the bank. Jake seemed to like it that way, as far as Tory could tell, so she never gave any more consideration to the rumor. Now, however, it did occur to her to wonder. Tory wasn't the type to miss the scent of another woman on her man's clothing.
Carney Watson handed the purchased items to Lily. "Thank you, now," he said. "Say hi to your father."
"I will, Mr. Watson," said Lily, sounding little-girl like in her sweetness. She turned and headed out the front door.
Still one aisle over, Tory shadowed her toward the door, walking parallel to her, unnoticed by everyone except Carney Watson, whose glasses slipped to the end of his nose as he watched Pete Parker's daughter stalk the Walker girl. He took a few steps in their direction, half-wondering if Tory wasn't going to leap from behind the foot powders and attack her, though he couldn't imagine a motive. Before his worries could force him to action, the drama moved beyond his domain. Lily reached the front door to the pharmacy, opened it and stepped outside. Tory went out right behind her, even before the door could swing shut.
"Pardon me? Miss?" Tory tried to get Lily’s attention without attracting the curiosity of passers-by. Longmont streets were busy, for a mid-week morning.
Lily cast a regardant look at the woman hurrying up behind her. "Are you talking to me?" she asked.
"Yes," Tory said. "I wondered if I could I speak with you for a moment?"
Suddenly Lily seemed to realize who this was she was looking at. Her expression went flat and she turned and started walking quickly away.
Tory was surprised by the reaction and quickly took chase. "Wait a minute, I just want to talk to you!" she said, but Lily kept right on going. "I don't have anything to say to you!" she said, hustling toward her car, trying to affect an escape.
"Why? Because you've been with Jake?" Tory asked.
Lily stopped in her tracks. She turned and said, "You're her, aren't you? You're Tory Parker."
"Yes, I am," said Tory, only imagining what that must mean to her.
"I don't know what you want," Lily said, a little flustered. "I don't have anything to say to you."
"I just want to talk to you," said Tory. "I just want to introduce myself." Lilly frowned suspiciously. "Why?"
Tory raised her eyebrows, slightly at a loss. "I guess I think we've got something in common. We're kind of like a club."
"You mean – because of Jake?" Lily explored the context carefully, easing herself into what felt like an unavoidable confrontation. She was careful not to phrase her playback in a way that would sound like an admission of guilt.
Tory nodded. "Yes – because of Jake." She offered a half-smile, an olive branch to encourage the communication, then started to explain – "See, I was doing Jake's laundry this morning, and . . ."
Lily seemed shocked at what seemed to her a revealed intimacy, and one that implied all sorts of things about the relationship her lover had with this woman, who seemed so willing to admit her mundane devotions. Lily found herself having to stifle a laugh, though as a faux pas it would have been allowed. Tory seemed also to find it an amusing way to start their conversation, even if the amusement was at her own expense. She chortled in a self-effacing way that set Lily at ease. She no longer seemed worried that this accosting woman intended her harm. But she wasn't prepared for what came next. Tory leaned in toward her and smelled her, sniffing the air a few times to sample Lily's odor.
"What are you doing?" Lily shrieked, quickly looking around to see if anyone was witnessing this odd investigation.
"It's you, alright," Tory said. "I never forget an odor, especially one that's set into my man's dry goods." Lily's eyes expressed abhorrence. "Like I was saying," Tory continued, "I was doing the laundry this morning, and I picked up this fragrance . . . flowers, sweetness, sort of heavier than I like. Shalimar! That's what it was. I knew I knew it! My mother used to love that stuff."
"Mine too," Lily said. Then, uncertain as to why, she offered a defense of herself – "It's not cheap, you know."
Tory smiled at the unintended subtext. "No, I'm sure it’s not." She raised her eyebrows in hopes of earning compliance. "So – can we talk a moment?"
"Yeah, okay," said Lily, curious but not fearful. "You can walk me to my car." "So, I guess you know that Jake works for my dad?" Tory walked along beside her as if the two of them were old girlfriends, glancing occasionally at the girl's carriage. "He's been working there since the day after he quit working for your dad."
"He got fired," Lily said, sorrowfully.
"I know – Jake told me all about it." The two exchanged looks, but it went no further. "I met Jake in town, when he was making plans to leave. I got him the job with my dad, and we've been together ever since." Tory took another surreptitious glance at Lily's walk. "Or at least I thought we were," she said.
The two walked along a little further, Tory casting furtive glances at the younger girl, noticing the way her hips moved under the fabric of her dress, the turn of her calves, and the straightness of her spine. After a moment she said – "I got to tell you, kid, I don't have any trouble seeing what Jake sees in you. You're a knockout."
"What do you mean?" Lily asked. She acted on some intuitive notion that Tory's words carried more meaning than literal interpretation would allow. It was the age difference. Something about the older woman made her feel inadequate and wary of verbal confrontation.
"What do I mean?" Tory asked. She grabbed Lily by the elbow and spun her to a stop, then made a gesture that led her eyes up and down her front. "Look at you!
You’re gorgeous!"
Lily became embarrassed and starting walking again. "I'm nothing special," she said.
Tory waited for a moment, as if another shoe was going to fall, revealing Lily as selfish, self-obsessed, as much a brat as her breeding would allow, but it didn't happen.
Instead, Tory had to hurry to catch back up with her. "You know, personalities aside, if I had your looks – and if I was your age – I wouldn't be wasting them on some guy moving in on forty." Lily glanced at her, signaling that she was listening, but wasn't falling for anything fishy. "Really, kid, I'm serio
us. You should be having the time of your life with boys your own age. You'll be glad you did, later. You'll appreciate these days and remember them your whole life."
"You sound like everybody else," Lily said.
"Oh yeah? Well maybe everybody else is right," Tory said. "If I had your looks, I'd be out breaking every heart on the Front Range. I wouldn't waste a moment of it."
"I'm not interested in that type of thing."
Tory frowned and looked at her closely. "Are you interested in Jake?" she asked.
Lily stopped walking again, and turned to face her. "I have strong feeling for Jake. I do."
"So do I," Tory said.
Lily looked at her, watching for clues to what she was thinking, where this was all going, and what she might do. "Do you hate me?" she finally asked.
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