“He never wanted any children. Besides, he’s a colossal ass, and he ain’t worth the breath I’m spending on him.”
“I should say not.”
Scott looked at the clock and decided to phone Denise. “Hi. I’m at Harrington House. Henry said the fish aren’t biting. But he’s glad to lend me the fishing gear tomorrow morning if all we want is to sit on the edge of the river and hold the rods. Let’s cancel. We can fish another time. We could drive into Frederick for lunch.”
“Thanks, but Pamela said the partying will start early afternoon. We can walk in the woods, though.”
He put his hand over the mouthpiece. “Henry, do you need help with the preparations?”
“All I can get.”
“I think I’d like to help Henry. Want to join me?”
“That would be great. I’ll be there around ten.”
“Good. See you then.” He hung up and turned to Henry. “Denise and I will help you. I’m pretty good in the kitchen.”
“Thanks. I’d be surprised if Denise can cook, but she can help Alexis with other things. She’s got a lot going for her, though.” Scott diced some pineapple, put it in a bowl and set the bowl on the table. “Very nice,” Henry said. “Me boys, Tel, Russ, Drake and Judson, all brought me some fine, lovely daughters. Heather is the latest. Are you dragging yer feet with Denise?”
“Not exactly, Henry. If we’re going to discuss this, it’s in strict confidence.”
Henry rested his hands on the bones that passed for his hips. “Nothing confidential is ever leaked from me mouth. I won’t breathe a word, even to the Lord.”
“Thanks. I care a lot for Denise. I mean a lot! But Henry, something’s in the way. I feel in my gut that she’s holding something back. I’m a lawyer and a pretty good one, and I know when I’ve got the whole story and when I haven’t. I don’t want to hurt her by pushing her to tell me whatever it is when she clearly doesn’t want to. But I’ll be damned if I’ll take less than she can give. Maybe I’m not making myself clear, but I can’t be more candid.”
“It’s clear as glass. The time to wheedle something out of a woman is right after you’ve given her some solid loving, and she knows she’s everything to you.”
Scott imagined that his face was the picture of confusion. “But I thought that if I used that approach, she’d take offense.”
“That’s the way men react. Women are different. You mark my word. She’s a good woman. She just ain’t sure of herself, a queen who don’t know it.”
“You certainly hit that one on the head. Thanks, Henry. I appreciate the advice.”
“Denise won’t fall for any man easily. If she falls for ya, yer lucky and ya got a prize.”
Scott opened a package of bacon, laid the strips in a cold pan and turned on the gas. He looked at Henry. “She’s fragile, Henry, and I have to be careful not to hurt her.”
“Every one of me boys married fragile women, but all of me daughters are also tough enough to take on any problem anytime. Denise is the same, and don’t make the mistake of thinking that she’s not.”
“I know. I just hope I remember that.”
Chapter 7
Dressed in a long white ruffled peasant skirt and a scooped-neck lavender blouse with long sleeves, Denise threw a shawl across her arm and struck out for Harrington House. About halfway there, she remembered that Drake was about to make a quick errand to Frederick and called him from her cell phone.
“Drake Harrington speaking.”
“Hi, Drake. This is Denise. Would you stop by my house and ask my housekeeper for a small package?”
“Sure. I’ll get there around noon.”
“Thanks. She’ll be expecting you.” Denise hung up and called Priscilla at her housekeeper’s home. “Would you please go to the house, wrap all the cheese sticks you have there and give them to Mr. Harrington? He’ll be there at noon.”
“Noon? That gives me time to make some more. Don’t you worry. They’ll be ready.”
She thanked Priscilla and, with the wind in her face, she walked faster and arrived at Harrington House out of breath. Alexis opened the door to greet her.
“Hi,” Alexis said and opened her arms for a warm embrace. As wife of the head of the Harrington clan, Alexis nurtured them all, including her older sister, Velma, who had married Russ, the middle Harrington son. With her quiet, calm personality, the family accepted and enjoyed her role as matriarch.
“Hi. What a great morning,” Denise said, letting her gaze sweep over Alexis. “You are always the epitome of poise. You seem to float through life.”
“It isn’t easy, Denise. I’m only happy in an environment filled with love, so I do what I can to generate that. I needed to find peace, so I became a Quaker. I don’t stress about anything. It’s far more productive. Henry told me that you and Scott are helping us with preparations for the party. I appreciate this, Denise, and I know Henry will.”
She outlined what remained to be done. “Can you roll the silverware in napkins, and you and I can put the dishes and glassware on the buffet table. Henry will let us know what serving dishes we need. Telford will take care of the drinks, and Drake has gone into Frederick to get beverages for the children and ice cream.”
“So this is really a family party,” Denise said, her admiration for the idea obvious.
“We do practically everything together,” Alexis said. “The brothers have always worked and played as a unit, and Judson became one of them almost instantly. I love being a part of this wonderful family. Let me know when you’re ready to start.”
“I’ll be with you in a minute. Where’s Scott? I need to let him know I’m here.” She started for the kitchen and stopped. “I’d better comb my hair. That wind is fierce.”
Alexis regarded her with what appeared to be amusement. “With your hair blown around like that, you look as if you just left your lover’s bed. It’s so sexy you’ll make his mouth water. Leave it alone.”
“Thanks. I…uh…thanks.” She made her way to the kitchen, where Scott had assumed the task of peeling ten pounds of potatoes and was whistling as he worked. She tiptoed into the room, waved at Henry, sneaked up behind Scott, leaned over and kissed his cheek.
“Don’t think you surprised me, lady,” Scott said.
“Your perfume announced your arrival before you reached me. How about a real kiss?”
“Honey, you know Henry is—”
Henry interrupted her. “I’m minding me own business—you take care of yours.”
Scott turned to face her, parted his lips over hers, dipped into her quickly and released her. “You hold on to that mood,” she whispered. “I promised to help Alexis.”
“You’d leave me here peeling damned near a bucket of potatoes and run off to help somebody else? I’m wounded,” Scott said, feigning injury.
She gave him a slow wink. “My poor baby. I’ll help you later. I have to keep my promise to Alexis.” She looked at Henry. “Are we having a birthday cake for Velma?”
“Sure as ya were born. Tel’s getting it after he and Tara leave the music school. He teaches violin and she’s studying piano.
“We ought to fix somethin’ for drinks,” Henry said, “but I never did believe in filling up on junk just before ya eat yer real food.”
“Not to worry,” Denise said. “I’ll come up with something.” She wanted the cheese sticks to be a surprise, so she didn’t mention them. “See you guys later,” she said and went to find Alexis.
At about one-thirty, the quiet around him changed with the suddenness of an explosion, and Scott sat up straight and looked at Henry to gauge the man’s response. Henry reacted as if he hadn’t heard the door slam, a puppy bark and the sound of swift young feet coming nearer. Tara charged into the kitchen followed by Telford, the eldest Harrington brother and head of the clan. Telford placed the enormous box that he carried on the table.
“Good to see you, Scott,” he said, “and thanks for the help. I tell Henry and my wife th
at we should have these affairs catered, because it’s too much for Henry. But Henry won’t hear of it.”
“I don’t mind, man. I’m pretty handy in the kitchen. I figured that as much as I love to eat, I ought to learn how to cook. So I bought some cookbooks and followed the instructions. What I hate is cleaning up the mess I make cooking.”
“Mr. Henry, Mr. Scott, can I help?” Tara asked. “My daddy says I’ll be in the way, but I promise I won’t.”
Scott wondered what kind of task they could give Tara, but Alexis walked in and relieved him of the need to figure that out. She took her precocious daughter by the hand. “Tara, this is a good time for you to straighten up your room.”
“Yes, ma’am.” She regarded Scott with a luminous smile. “When I was little, I got in the way. I’m big now, and nothing has changed.” She went over to Henry.
“Can we go to the movies tomorrow afternoon? I want to see that Harry Potter movie.”
When Henry patted her shoulder, Scott saw the bond between them and fought off the feeling of envy. “Work on yer mother and yer daddy,” Henry told her. “If they say yes, we’ll go.”
“Wow!” She jumped up and down, clapped her hands. “Mr. Henry is my best friend…and Grant, too, of course,” she said to Scott. “I love Mr. Henry. See you later.” She dashed to the door where her mother waited for her.
“Will you take her to that movie?”
Henry stopped crimping the pie crust and treated Scott to a withering look. “Son, Tara is a girl. Never lie to ’em, ’cause they’ll still remember it a century later, and they’ll remind ya of it five minutes before they take their last breath. If I didn’t want to go, I’da said so.”
“Who’s Grant?”
“Grant’s her friend. He’ll probably be here later with his parents, Adam and Melissa Roundtree. They live in Beaver Ridge, about three miles north of here. She’s crazy about that boy. Five years from now, Tel’s gonna have to chain her to the house.”
Scott couldn’t help laughing. “I don’t think so, Henry. She’s a very obedient child.”
“That’s now. You wait ’til those hormones start causing trouble. I see ya finished with the potatoes. You ever make rosebuds out of radishes?”
“Not yet. Don’t you think that’s a job we can save for Denise? What are you going to do with them?”
“Decorate the meat dishes. Speakin’ of meat, I wonder if Pamela and Heather got those squab roasted. What Alexis wants with those boney little things beats me.”
Denise walked in. “Where’s all the food?”
“I’ve got a pig slow-roasting in the pit out there,” Henry said. “I baked a ham yesterday. Jalapeño corn bread’s in the warmer, and there’s asparagus, wild rice, scalloped potatoes, green salad, cheese, you name it. Can you make rosebuds out of radishes?”
“I can try. May I have a paring knife?” Henry gave her one, and twenty minutes later she’d made two dozen radishes that looked like flowers.
Scott eyed them appreciatively. “You’re a talented woman. How are you planning to spend next Saturday? We could ride out to Mount Vernon. It’s a fascinating place.”
“I’d like that, but…Scott, I have a riding school about eighteen miles from Frederick in a little hamlet called Whispers and ten miles from Eagle Park near the Monocacy River. I have a very able manager, who’s also a veterinarian. Two or three times a year, I give some underprivileged children an outing there. We teach them to ride and give them a nice picnic. Twenty of them are scheduled to visit the school this coming Saturday.”
He rocked back on the chair’s hind legs and pierced her with a hard stare. “You’re full of surprises, sweetheart. I’m afraid to ask what other little tidbits you haven’t told me.”
She seemed oblivious to the bite of his words. “Who knows? By the time you and I met, we had both led full lives. Considering who and what we are, we’ve had a lot of experiences. It takes a while to share all of them.”
His gaze darkened to an unfriendly stare. “You’re kidding! I haven’t heard that kind of double-talk since I finished high school. In those days, we kids did it to show off our vocabularies. What’s your excuse?”
“You can be brutal,” she said. “I wouldn’t have thought it.”
“Why not? You are well aware that I am not a man who, rather than confront an enemy, will turn tail and go meekly. Not me.”
He could see her controlling the trembling of her lips, forcing herself to look him in the eye.
“Denise, if you can’t give me a better reason for waiting until now to tell me you operate a riding school, especially after we’ve been riding together, then we’re back to square one.”
She stood. “I can’t deal with you right now, because I’m mad enough to spit.”
Some kind of metal crashed against the chrome stove top, and both Scott and Denise whirled around and saw Henry glaring at them with his hands on his hips. “Yer both acting like children, and yer both dead wrong. Scott, nobody likes to be scolded, and Denise, ya need to open up. As long as ya got secrets, ya got trouble. And the longer ya keep ’em, the harder it is to let ’em go. Ya shoulda told him about yer school the first time he took ya out. The two of ya go to my house back there and talk this out. The door’s not locked. Go ahead. I’m losing me patience.”
Scott stood and extended his hand to Denise, aware that she took her time accepting it. “Come on.” They walked out of the door leading from the breakfast room and continued behind the garden to the two-bedroom bungalow that the Harrington brothers built for Henry. “Let’s sit out on the back porch,” he said. “I apologize for my behavior. But Denise, I’m getting exasperated. Don’t you want anything more for us than what we have? Frankly, it’s not enough for me. I want more, and I deserve more.”
“Scott, I’ve only had one close friend in my entire life, and that’s Pamela. I’ve never had buddies, and I’m not used to sharing things about myself. Pamela was with me when I bought my first horse. My father selected it. It’s just a part of my life. I didn’t keep it from you intentionally.”
“From my reaction, you knew it was important, at least to me. So why did you pretend it wasn’t?”
“Probably to downplay what seemed to me like an attack. I try not to let my temper surface, Scott, because it makes me say things that I may not mean, and I hate apologizing. I also don’t like to say things that hurt people I care for, and I care for you.”
He had more questions, but the time wasn’t right. He took her hand, and when her fingers trembled, he tightened his hold on them. “I wish I could make you understand what we could have together if we truly trusted each other and embraced this relationship fully. Watch Pamela and Drake, and especially Telford and Alexis, who’ve been married for several years. They have good marriages. They read and understand each other without exchanging a word. We’d better go back. Russ and Velma will be over soon.”
“Are we all right?”
“I want us to be.” He opened his arms, and she dove into them. He turned sideways, but it was too late. He hardened to full readiness the minute he felt her nipples against his chest. “Oh, what the hell!” he said, succumbing to his needs. With one hand on her buttocks and the other at the back of her head, he pressed her to him, parted his lips over her open mouth and plunged into her. Her moans sent his libido into high gear, and when she undulated against him, he stepped back.
“Look here, baby. One more minute of that, and we’d both be indiscrete right here on this porch. I’m just as starved as you are, but this isn’t the time.” He wrapped his arm around her. “Let’s sit here for a few minutes. Lord! Right now, I could love you to distraction.” When he felt that his lust was sufficiently calm he took her hand and went back to the house.
“Yeah,” she said. “Next chance I get, that’s exactly what I’m going to do to you.”
“What?”
“One of these days, I’m going to let it all hang out.”
They’d been walking toward Telford
’s house. He turned her to face him. “I’d better be there when you do that.”
She reached out and traced her finger along his nose. “Let that be the least of your worries, honey.”
He didn’t want to go back into the kitchen to face Henry’s tart tongue. “I’m going over to Judson’s place and freshen up. I’ve been in that kitchen since shortly after six this morning. What about you?”
“I’ll see if I can help Alexis with anything, or maybe sit in the den until my nerves settle.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Your nerves, eh? I’ll be back here in about forty-five minutes.” He kissed her quickly and jogged up the road. One of these days, she was going to let it all out. The thought was proof that either she didn’t understand the meaning of true love between a man and a woman, or that she knowingly struggled with her limitations. He hoped it was the latter, because he could help her with that.
The wind pushed him into a trot, and he spread his arms and pretended to fly. About fifty feet before he reached Judson’s house, he sat on one of the huge stones that lined the road and caught his breath. Nature had begun its annual display of yellow, orange, red and brown colors, and the forest surrounding him bloomed in brilliant hues. “This is the perfect place in which to be happy,” he heard himself say. Children would be safe, and if he had to be away from home, he’d know that he’d left his family among caring friends.
He walked the remainder of the way and rang the bell. Judson answered the door. “You’ve been scarce today, buddy,” Judson said.
Scott explained where he’d been and why he’d been there. “What are the chances that the brothers would sell that property down the road from Harrington House? Right now, it’s just a place for animals and mosquitoes. It’s a great site for a house.”
Judson looked into the distance. “I considered that area when I asked them for a parcel of land. They agreed, but Heather wanted to live farther up the hill. I take it that you like it out here. Five years ago, Harrington House was the only one within a mile or so in either direction. Speak with Telford first. The rest of us usually go along with what he thinks…not always, but for the most part.”
A Compromising Affair (The Harringtons) Page 13