The Curious Swan

by Kenzie Hart

  “It was so lovely to meet you,” Klara stands, embracing Rose in a hug. Excitement moves through her at how kind Rose has been.

  “Oh,” Rose lets slip out of her mouth, but she only stands still for a moment before embracing the girl back. It isn’t something she was expecting, but she goes along with it regardless. As she moves back toward the door, Rose runs her hand atop Eddie’s head, ruffling his hair.

  Klara giggles at their encounter, sitting back down onto the seat next to Eddie.

  “Your mother is lovely. You are very lucky,” Klara says, taking a sip of her tea.

  “I’m glad you think so,” Eddie replies, watching Klara look at him over her teacup.

  Her light-blue doe eyes do something to him, and he can’t help himself when he dips his finger into his cherry filling and plops a small bit onto the tip of her nose.

  “Edward!” Klara screams out, moving to grab her napkin.

  “Look at you. You’re making a mess, Klara,” Eddie teases, watching her with playful eyes. “Don’t worry; I’ll get it,” Eddie says, more serious this time, wiping away the small piece of cherry filling with his finger.

  Klara’s breath catches. She dips her finger into her own cherry pie and points it at Edward. “Now, it’s your turn,” Klara says with a giggle, moving her finger toward Edward’s face.

  But, as she inches closer to it, Eddie opens his mouth and pulls her finger into it, sucking on it.

  Klara’s eyes go wide at the sensation, and her heart feels like it’s going to burst out of her chest. It should be funny, seeing Edward looking back at her with her finger in his mouth, but it doesn’t make her laugh. It makes her stomach do flips, and she can’t stop staring at his slightly darkened eyes. She pulls her finger back, her stomach dropping.

  Eddie moves his hand back onto her knee and dips his head, pressing his lips against hers. The look on her face was a mix of shock and what Eddie thought was a flash of something else. And he quite enjoyed it. Klara’s lips taste of tea and cherries, and he moves his other hand to the back of her head, her soft hair under his palm.

  Klara keeps her hands frozen in the air for a moment but quickly moves them onto Edward’s shoulders. His breath is warm on her lips, and she feels light-headed.

  “Uh, um,” Eddie hears, causing him to break his lips apart from Klara’s.

  Looking over her shoulder, he finds his father standing at the front door, his arms crossed over his chest.

  “Dad,” Eddie almost squeaks out, caught completely off guard. He clears his throat and looks back at Klara, who seems frozen.

  Her eyes are wide open, but she quickly blinks, and her cheeks become instantly pink. Eddie stands up, moving his hands to his sides, and Klara rises to stand alongside him.

  “I’d like to formally introduce you to Klara Kentwood.” Eddie’s chest is rising up and down, and he is trying to slow his heart rate. His father took him by surprise, and he isn’t sure how his father will react to the situation. He hasn’t exactly told his father yet that he and Klara have been seeing one another. Or kissing, for that matter.

  “Mr. Barnett.” Klara smiles brightly, her cheeks still flush. “It’s good to see you again.”

  “You as well,” Doyle responds flatly, his lips forming a straight line across his face. He brushes his hand across his brow, wiping a small streak of sweat away. “Eddie, I’ve got twenty minutes for lunch, and then we need to leave for our next job.”

  “All right,” Eddie says, trying to make eye contact with his dad. But he isn’t having it, so Eddie turns to Klara and grabs her hand. “I’ll walk you out.”

  Klara picks her basket up off the end of the kitchen table and walks with Edward out the front door.

  “I’m sorry about that. I’m not sure what’s gotten him in such a bad mood.” Eddie runs his hand through his hair, thinking about how bloody awkward that just was.

  “It’s all right. I’m sure he is just tired.” It wasn’t the warmest greeting, but everyone has their off days.

  “I had a great time today,” Eddie says, looking down at her. His eyes move over her, and her cherry dress brings a smile to his lips.

  “So did I.” Klara smiles back at him. “Will you come by tomorrow? I thought we might do a formal tea with Grandmother.”

  “I’m free in the morning, but I have work with Dad in the afternoon again.”

  “Perfect!” Klara declares. She stands up on her tiptoes and places a kiss on Edward’s cheek.

  “See you then,” Eddie says, giving her a big wave as she starts walking down the street. He moves back toward the door, taking a moment to prepare himself for what will surely be a confrontation with his dad.

  “Do you want to explain to me what that was about?” his father asks as he takes an unpleasantly harsh bite into his sandwich.

  Eddie listens as the lettuce crunches under the force.

  “And I was going to ask you the same, Dad,” Eddie replies, annoyed, while clearing the table and moving to place the dishes in the sink.

  “Excuse me?” his father says, rising from his seat.

  “You were completely rude.”

  “I thought I told you I didn’t want you hanging around with her. Then, I come home to find you not only with her, but also kissing her!”

  “And what reason do you have? You don’t even know her,” Eddie says, setting down the plates and turning to face his dad head-on.

  “I know the family, and that is a good enough reason. There is something strange going on there, and I don’t want you being a part of it.”

  “Cordelia and Klara are good people. You wouldn’t possibly think such a thing if you truly knew them.”

  “There are a lot of things you don’t understand,” his father breathes out. He doesn’t want to fight with his son. But, damn it, things would just be easier if Eddie listened to him.

  “You can’t tell me what to do,” Eddie sasses, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “I’m going to keep seeing her. I’m not doing anything wrong. She’s kind. And I like her.”

  Doyle sits back down and runs his hand across his face, closing his eyes and trying to keep his frustration in check.

  “I’ve got to change,” Eddie says, still upset as he leaves the kitchen to seek solace in his room. Closing the door, he drops onto his bed. Why is his dad being so weird about this? Eddie knows that the Kentwoods are strange. But that isn’t a good enough reason not to like someone.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  When Klara hears the doorbell ring, she rises happily from the couch she was reading on, dropping her book onto the fluffy cushion, and skips her way to the front door. She has come to love her time spent with Edward. They always get lost in conversation, and she finds herself wanting to spend more and more of her time with him. And she quite likes kissing him.

  “Hello!” she greets him with a warm smile as she whips open the door.

  Eddie notices the flush on her cheeks, and it makes him blush slightly himself. He can’t control it. Each and every time she blushes, all that comes to his mind are the things he might one day do to her to make her blush even more. It is a completely inappropriate thought to have when being greeted by someone at their front door, but it is the thought he is having nonetheless.

  Klara immediately wraps her arms around Edward’s neck, pulling him into a hug.

  “You look wonderful,” she says, looking down at his pressed pants and crisp white oxford.

  But, somehow, even with fresh clothes on, Eddie still manages to smell like moist soil and earth. He always smells of the outdoors to Klara, and she loses herself in the hug for a moment.

  “Thanks.” Eddie smiles down at her. “What do you feel like doing this morning? You said we are having tea?”

  “Yes! But, as I was reading just before you arrived, I had the most magical idea!”

  “And what would that be?” Eddie whispers.

  Klara’s face lights up, and her blue eyes shine with an extra twinkle.

 
“I have to show you,” Klara says, grabbing Edward’s hand in hers.

  She pulls him along through the living room, and Eddie spots Klara’s book as they whip past it.

  “What are you reading today?”

  “I’ve decided to reread Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. It is a divine book,” Klara states.

  “Do you ever want to read more mature books?” Eddie asks.

  “What type of book would you prefer I read?” Klara stops, looking to Edward with questioning eyes.

  Eddie shrugs. It wasn’t his intention to offend Klara. The way she sees the world is her most endearing quality.

  “I do read other books, for the record. I love early twentieth-century travel journals and classic romances. But I love the spirit that children’s literature has.”

  “I know you do,” Eddie says, leaning down to place a light kiss on Klara’s lips. Sometimes, he forgets how whole and pure her heart is. It never fails to amaze him. “What did you want to show me?”

  Klara’s eyes flicker back to her previous thought on where she was taking Edward to, and a wide smile spreads across her face. “Come!”

  Klara turns again, moving through the house to the back where a small wooden staircase is situated. It only has one rail, the other side against the wall, and it is big enough for just one person to walk up at a time.

  “Where are you taking me?” Eddie laughs, thinking about how ominous this staircase looks.

  A small door is located at the top, and Klara leads him to it.

  “This is one of my favorite rooms in the house.” Klara smiles, pushing the stiff door open. It creaks loudly, and she watches as Eddie ducks his head as he enters.

  “The attic? I would have guessed your grandfather’s study, if not your room,” Eddie replies.

  Eddie takes in the paneled room. It rises taller than one might expect for an attic. The wood floor has a layer of dust on it, and light filters in through two small windows on opposing walls. Trunks sit stacked around them, placed upon varying rugs throughout the room. Eddie notices a chaise lounge next to a changing screen in the far corner.

  “This is Grandmother’s wardrobe.” Klara laughs, opening a trunk and pulling out a long feather boa. She giggles as she wraps it around her neck, flinging the end over one shoulder and strutting across a purple Turkish rug.

  “But why isn’t her wardrobe in her room?” he questions, knowing that Grandmother doesn’t just wear modern clothes but can be found in a 1950s party dress at brunch, sipping on a scotch. She is quite an eclectic woman, and he has come to love her for who she is.

  “Her wardrobe is, of course. She never gets rid of anything though, and there simply wasn’t enough room. But she is a tough cookie, so we decided the clothes she didn’t see herself wearing daily could be kept here in storage. They’ve become my little secret.” She smiles widely while dancing across the dark room, opening trunks in every corner and feeling the cloth and beaded materials between her fingers.

  “And why’s that?” Eddie asks, intensely watching her fingers. He smiles, thinking that those fingers were just dancing across his skin a mere day earlier.

  “Well, truth be told, I love coming up here and trying on her old clothes. Sometimes, I even sneak them downstairs and walk the gardens in her dinner dresses. Grandmother rarely notices, and if she does, she comments on how wonderful I look. I’m sure I’d look crazy if I went into town, but I quite like her old dresses. She even has some of Grandfather’s suits.” Klara smiles to herself.

  Eddie is tall enough to fit into the suits, but they might well be too large for him even then. Her grandfather was a barrel of a man, his rosy cheeks as sweet as his personality.

  Klara always wondered how her firecracker of a grandmother ended up with someone as soft-hearted as her grandfather, but with time, she came to understand that her grandmother needed a partner. She had had her passion. In Egypt. In Russia. She had found passion in most of the European countries and a few Asian ones in particular, but what she needed to take over her family estate was a partner. And Rupert was a childhood friend who loved her. She had known she could depend on him, and he was good to her. But they didn’t have the same passion. At least from Grandmother’s recollections, Klara knew that much.

  “I would love to see you in one of these dresses.” Eddie laughs, imagining Klara covered from head to toe in a conservative dress. But her enthusiasm has him intrigued, so he opens a trunk close to him, fingering through the thick fabrics. There he finds a few dresses, a dinner coat, and an oversize hat.

  “What do you think about getting dressed up for tea with Grandmother today?” Klara questions while wildly batting her eyes.

  Eddie thinks she looks as though she has something in her eye and is trying to rid herself of it, but Klara thinks she is being the upmost sexiest of things. She learned, if anything, from her novels that batting your eyes at a boy should get you whatever you might want. Eddie laughs, realizing she is trying to convince him in this way, and almost buckles over with laughter at her attempt at sexiness. Klara is at her sexiest when she isn’t trying, but her efforts don’t go unnoticed, and with Eddie’s laugh, a pout forms on her mouth, bringing Eddie’s attention back to her perfectly pink lips. Those lips will get her anything she wants, especially after yesterday. And he can’t resist her.

  “Why not? If it would make you happy to dress up for your grandmother, I’m not opposed.”

  “I’m so delighted to hear you say that because I think I can find a suit in just your size,” Klara says, digging through one of the open trunks.

  “What are you talking about?” Eddie asks, his eyes going wide.

  She can’t seriously want to dress him up. He only meant he wouldn’t mind her dressing up. She would either look sexy as hell or they would have a good laugh over her crazy outfit. Either way, it would be a win. But dressing himself up was not part of the equation.

  “Oh, come on. If I put on something spectacular, you must also as well. We will make it a formal tea.”

  “I thought I was dressed formally?” Eddie says, looking down over his outfit. It is his nicest outfit. The one his mum reserves for things like weddings or church. He thought he looked nice this morning as he buttoned up his crisp white shirt, and his mum ironed out his tan slacks.

  “You look dashing,” she says, looking him over. She moves closer to him, running the back of her hand across his cheek. “I’m not sure if it is formal enough for one of these gowns however.”

  “Sorry to disappoint,” he mumbles, not connecting his eyes to hers but rather looking down at the floor.

  Eddie is only slightly disappointed, but he thinks it would be rather fun to avoid Klara’s eyes, torturing her a little. He is staring at the floor, pouting, when he quickly notices her bare feet. After all, who doesn’t wear shoes when walking around a creaky attack with nails sticking out every which way from the floorboards? It brings a smile to his face, but he drops his shoulders, trying to look sullen.

  “Edward.” Klara steps forward, reaching her hands out. She had no intention of upsetting him, and her shoulders fall slightly. When her hand reaches his chin, lightly pushing it up so that Edward will look at her, she is greeted by a devilish smirk on his face.

  “I really had you going for a moment, didn’t I?” he laughs out, his brows shooting up when he notes Klara’s sad eyes.

  “Edward!” she admonishes, an embarrassed blush on her cheeks. “I thought I had upset you.”

  “I’m sorry,” he says, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close. “I just love seeing you blush, is all. Plus, the thought of you consoling me didn’t sound too bad.”

  Klara is taken aback by Edward’s forwardness. And playfulness. But she decides to go along with it. She looks Edward over, noticing the way his oxford pulls across his shoulders, so she runs her hands across his chest. She plays with his collar, feeling his neck under her fingers, which sends goose bumps down Eddie’s arms. He closes his eyes at her touch, w
rapping himself tighter against her. When he reopens his eyes, she is tucked against him, looking up at him through her thick lashes. All Eddie can think about is her doe eyes and pink lips and all the things he’d like to do with her alone.

  “You really don’t think it would be fun, getting dressed up together?” she questions, breathing out against his lips. Their lips are almost touching, and she feels him move forward to kiss her, but stops him by pulling back.

  It is in that moment when Eddie realizes what she is doing. She is actually seducing him. And it’s working! But when Klara closes her eyes, gently pressing her lips against his, he doesn’t care. He kisses her back, his body buzzing against hers.

  Eventually, Eddie pulls away, putting a little space between them. “I know what you’re doing.” He clears his throat, trying to compose himself.

  Klara lets out a giggle. “And is it working?”

  Eddie’s chest moves up and down as he laughs easily. “I will admit, you did have me completely distracted, and if you want me in a suit, then I’ll be in a suit.”

  “How delightful!” She kisses him right on the lips. This will be such an adventure, and she knows her grandmother will truly enjoy it.

  Eddie doesn’t bother to tell Klara that he would have done it for her regardless. He thinks, even if she asked him to follow her along, half-naked, in a winter’s storm, he’d do so just because she asked. He knows he is losing it, but he doesn’t mind. If losing it means he gets more time with Klara, he is okay with that. He’d do anything to make her happy, including this.

  “Well, what do you think?” Klara says, emerging from behind a changing screen in the furthest corner of the attic. She is wearing a crisp white button-up tucked into a khaki skirt. A thick belt is wrapped around her waist in the same dark brown color as the hat she is wearing atop her head.

  Eddie can’t help the smile that comes to his face. “You look like a librarian who decided to go out on safari.”

  Klara giggles at his comment. She flits over a few feet until she’s standing in front of the dusty full-length mirror. It stands on two delicately carved legs, and Klara is surprised it has lasted this long. It was a piece from her grandmother’s room when she was just a girl.