by Marnie Perry
But it was the way she had looked at him afterwards, the gratitude he had seen in her eyes that had swayed him. He had let it affect him and he was angry with himself yet at the same time relieved that he didn’t have to do what he had intended to do. In that moment when she had looked into his eyes as she had thanked him and called him Sterling he had decided, or rather it had been decided for him, that he would revert back to the original plan and get her to trust him, and now he had a huge advantage, he had saved her life. Now she would feel as though she owed him. She would trust him and maybe, just maybe, she would tell him what he wanted to know about Desi. He smiled to himself, he was grateful to the panther for giving him this opportunity.
As for Adela she was still reeling from what had happened, she had felt sick to her stomach when the animal had approached her and yet there was something quite wonderful in having that beautiful creature so close to her, sniffling at her hand. Never as long as she lived would she forget that, and never as long as she lived would she forget that Sterling Hennessey had saved her from been eaten alive, because of him she would live to tell the tale. He had been so solicitous of her; she had seen the concern in his eyes and heard it in the soft tones of his voice.
Before they knew it they were in a small town, so small it wasn’t even on the map, at least not the map he had, but not too small that it didn’t have a diner. The interior was cool and inviting, he ordered tea for her and they both ordered a steak sandwich with salad. The experience with the cat must have given Adela an appetite because she devoured her sandwich before Hennessey had eaten half of his. She also drank three cups of tea one after the other.
When she had finished her sandwich she looked up and caught Hennessey’s eyes on her, they were filled with amusement. She looked down at his sandwich then at her empty plate and lowered her eyes embarrassed. He laughed and said, ‘you should get spooked by a big cat more often, it seems to give you an appetite.’
‘I have an appetite, a very healthy one.’
‘Really?’ He could not prevent his eyes from travelling up and down her body, a least the part he could see above the table. Her face was pink as she said, ‘you think like most people that I’m too thin, that I could do with putting on some weight, but only of course in all the requisite places.’
He was taken aback by her bluntness, ‘I would never presume to tell a lady she was either too thin or too fat.’
‘That’s what you think though, that I’m too thin, a stick, with no figure to speak of.’
‘Well, maybe, but you’re not a stick by any means, and you certainly have curves in all the requisite places.’
Her face went from pink to red and he laughed then was suddenly serious, ‘you know, you shouldn’t let what some people tell you affect the way you think or how you conduct yourself. Some people are deliberately cruel because they’re jealous, like the person who told you you’re too thin. Your mother for instance was perhaps jealous of your singing voice, and why shouldn’t she have been, it’s beautiful.’
Adela was startled. She had told Hennessey that her mother didn’t like her singing but she had said it in a joking way, but it seemed he had picked up on her resentment and her hurt over it. And she knew that he was telling her that he knew it was her mother who had called her a stick and that he understood her feelings.
She said, ‘when you’re told something often enough it starts to take on a ring of truth and it’s hard not to believe it, even though in your heart you want to believe it’s not true.’
He leaned forward and said gently, ‘tell me about your mother and about your life in that house she gave to your brothers. Tell me about them and your friends, and about your job and your hobbies, what you do for pleasure.’
She stared into his eyes obviously considering his request, or rather his demand. She opened her mouth but he held up his hand, ‘but not here, have dinner with me tonight. And I’m not talking pub grub either. I mean in a posh restaurant with flowers and candles on the table and waiters with trays held aloft.’
Her mouth remained open as he spoke but then it closed but opened again as she said softly, ‘I’d love too have dinner with you, Mr…Sterling.’
He grinned, ‘its just Sterling, no Mister.’
She laughed gaily, and that’s how she felt, gay and light hearted. He said, ‘tell me something, why did you opt for the bar the other night when I asked you to dinner?’
She looked a little shamefaced as she admitted, ‘I always wanted to go into a real American bar, but of course never dared to do so on my own, I thought it would be my only opportunity.’
‘I see, well I’m glad to have been of use.’
She was embarrassed, ‘oh no, please don’t think that, I didn’t mean…’ She broke off as the grin spread across his face and she gave him an exasperated look.
He said, ‘you could have asked that jerk Maxwell to take you.’
She leaned back in astonishment, ‘good gosh no, that would have looked, well, all wrong, as though I was asking him out.’
‘Ah yes, you’re an old fashioned English girl.’
‘Well, one, I’m not a girl anymore, and two, I don’t think it’s old fashioned not to want to lead someone on. But I am English, so one out of three ain’t bad.’
He laughed heartily then said, ‘are you ready to go. We have a long walk back, unless you want to get a cab or a bus.’
‘Oh no, I’d like to walk. You don’t have to worry about me, I may be thin but I’m much stronger than I look, believe me, I’ve had to be.’
He frowned but she said nothing further. He said, ‘I want to know more about this strength of yours, but it’ll keep until tonight.’
‘Does this exchange of information work both ways, am I going to discover things about your deep dark past?’
Oh lady he thought, you really don’t want to get into my deep dark past, believe me. He smiled and said, ‘that depends on how interesting I find your story.’
‘Then I’m doomed to be left wondering about you.’
He laughed as they exited the diner and began the walk back.
He asked if she felt up to walking back through the woods, they could quite easily go another way. She assured him that she was fine and if she avoided walking in the woods she would miss so much of the beauty of the areas she was visiting.
Nevertheless he could sense her trepidation and at one point where the woods were thickest he took her hand, then he couldn’t tell if her nervousness was from her fear of meeting another panther or the close physical contact. She said nothing and did not try to withdraw her hand from his which he took as a good sign.
They talked as they walked and very soon they arrived back in Eden. She said she would like to go and see Annie Bloom at her shop as she had promised. He told her he would pick her up at her cabin at 7.00clock and she said that would be grand which made him laugh. She was about to walk away when she turned back and said, ‘oh, I’ll give you my mobile phone number in case something comes up and you can’t make it.’
He was surprised but obviously didn’t tell her that he already had it thank you very much.
He said, ‘I’m not sure what could possibly come up that would prevent me from keeping our date, but I’ll take it anyway, for future reference.’
Adela felt a warm glow when he said, “our date.” And “future reference.”
She fumbled in her bag and found her notebook and pen, swiftly wrote down her number then handed it to him. He thanked her and was about to leave her there when Dean Maxwell came walking down the street towards them. Pretending he had not seen him Hennessey took Adela’s hand and kissed her fingers before saying loudly enough for Maxwell to hear, ‘thank you for your company today, I’ll see you at seven.’
Adela, whose back was to Maxwell said, ‘thank you too, see you later.’
He smiled at her and made his way to the Horse and Hind. Adela looked down at the hand he had kissed and was sure her fingers were tingling. Hearing footsteps
behind her she turned and saw Maxwell approaching. Smiling she said, ‘oh hello, Dean.’
He nodded somewhat curtly and said, ‘hello, how are you.’
‘Fine thanks, and you?’
‘Fine.’
‘Did you have a good time last night at the bar?’
‘Yes thanks.’ He looked down the street to where Hennessey was just entering the hotel, ‘no need to ask if you did.’
She turned and followed his gaze; her face was a little pink as she looked back at Maxwell, ‘well yes, I did.’ She didn’t know whether to apologise to him for last night, for the raffle ticket thing and Hennessey’s appearance. She decided not to, it might only embarrass him still further; she made up her mind to act as though nothing untoward had happened.
She smiled at him, ‘you’ll never guess what happened to me today,’ she proceeded to tell him about the panther. She thought he might say something like “that was a close shave,” or “that’s really something to take away with you when you leave here,” but instead he seemed more interested in Hennessey having a gun. Up until then she had not really thought about the gun that Hennessey had used to scare away the panther, she supposed she had been too shocked and too relieved to still be alive. But now she thought about it. She knew of course that people carried guns all the time in this country and no one really thought anything of it, but did they carry them whilst taking a stroll through the woods with a woman? She would ask him later at dinner about it. She said now, ‘it’s something I don’t think I’ll ever get used to, people carrying guns all the time.’
‘They do of course,’ Maxwell replied, ‘but it seems odd to be carrying when escorting a lady on a walk.’
He had voiced her thoughts and it made her uncomfortable. Before she could reply he went on, ‘maybe he uses it to shoot the vermin he terminates. If we hear shooting from the hotel we’ll know what it is won’t we?’
His sarcasm was not lost on Adela but she smiled, ‘well as much as I hate weapons, I for one am grateful he had his with him today.’
‘Oh yes, me too, we don’t want the tourists thinking they can’t enjoy the woods for fear of being eaten by big cats.’
‘That is one way of looking at it I suppose. Well, good day then, Dean.’
He could see she was unimpressed with his behaviour and said more gently, ‘I am glad that you’re all right though, Adela. Look, come to the store tomorrow morning and tell me more about your walk, okay?’
She smiled at him, ‘I’d love too, I’ll be there bright and early, so get the kettle on?’
He laughed, ‘will do. Bye, Adela.’
‘Bye, Dean.’
They parted, he to go back to his shop and she to pay the promised visit to Annie Bloom.
Annie was delighted to see her and made her sit and drink a glass of pineapple juice, which was very sweet and sickly, but out of politeness Adela drank it all.
Annie told her that everyone was talking about her singing last night and how lovely her voice was. She gave Adela a crafty look and said, ‘and they’re talking about your young man too, what a looker, if I were twen…ten years younger, I’d fight you in the street for him.’
Adela’s laugh contained some embarrassment. ‘I told you last night, Annie; he’s not my young man.’
‘That’s a pity, he’s a man.’
‘I did notice,’ Adela said still laughing.
Annie smacked her hand playfully, ‘you know what I mean, I mean a real man.’
‘As opposed to a fake man?’
Annie gave her an impatient look then laughed, ‘no, nothing fake about that guy, he has something that no woman can resist.’
‘Chocolate?’
‘Oh you’re so funny, Adela. No, he has something, something deep, you can see it in those big, knee trembling, heart a fluttering, get me into bed blue, blue eyes of his.’
Adela was taken aback but also amused at Annie’s forthrightness she said, ‘what, what can you see Annie.’
Annie looked into Adela eyes and her smile held fascination as well as glee, ‘danger Adela, danger.’
Adela stared back at Annie and whispered, ‘danger?’
Annie nodded, ‘I’ve seen men like him before, the kind of man young girls go for, they know they’re bad, they know they’re trouble, but there’s something irresistible about men like that.’
Adele continued to stare into Annie’s eyes, speechless. She recalled the way Hennessey had looked at Dean the previous evening, as though he could easily have punched his lights out and not thought twice about it. The way he had so effectively and determinedly made way for them through the crowds of people, as though he expected them to make way for him. And the gun he had had with him in the woods, and how he had appeared so calm as though he encountered dangerous situations every day and was never fazed by them. She shook herself, then laughed, ‘Annie, you’re a very naughty woman, dangerous indeed. The only things Mr. Hennessey is dangerous to are the bugs he kills for a living.’
Annie no longer smiling but looking rather sad said, ‘if you say so, but I know men and I know what I see, it’s a gift I have. Are you seeing him again?’
‘Yes, tonight, he’s taking me to dinner.’
‘Oh you’re so lucky, Adela.’
‘I’m not so sure now.’
Annie looked troubled and said hurriedly, ‘oh Adela, I don’t mean that kind of dangerous, not dangerous to you. I mean in a good way.’
‘Are there good ways of being dangerous?’
Annie laughed uproariously now and patted Adela’s hand, ‘I hope you’ll find out one day, Adela.’
Adela hoped she wouldn’t but laughed too, then said goodbye and left to go to her cabin. It was almost 5.0clock when she reached there; she kicked off her shoes and lay down on the bed, she would rest for an hour before getting ready for her dinner date with Sterling Hennessey.
But her mind was too active to rest; she thought about the day she’d spent with him, it had been very, very pleasant indeed. His handsome looks not withstanding, he was a very entertaining and interesting companion and on top of all that he had saved her life. But she also recalled her conversations with Dean and Annie. Dean had not liked the idea of her spending time with Sterling Hennessey, and he had defiantly not liked the idea of him carrying a weapon. This brought her to her conversation with Annie and her “dangerous” thing.
Was Annie just being Annie and seeing what she wanted to see in Sterling Hennessey, a man she would want for herself, a man she could admire or had done so in her youth? Yes, that was it, Annie was reminiscing about her own life and her own loves.
Adela smiled to herself and gave up the idea of resting instead she read for a while; her favourite hero had just extracted himself from a particularly nasty scrape with the aid of his loyal but slightly psychotic sidekick. Well pleased with the ending she closed the book and looked at her watch, 6.15. She would shower now and start getting ready for Sterling. Sterling, she liked that, he had certainly lived up to his name today, he had shown a sterling character in her hour of need. She laughed and went to take her shower.
CHAPTER 17.
At 6.57 there came a knock on the door. Adela looked through the peep-hole and saw Sterling Hennessey standing there; she unlocked and opened the door then smiled at Hennessey, ‘hello. I’ll just get my bag and shawl in case it gets cooler later, ‘she turned to grab her bag from the back of the chair, ‘you’re a man after my own heart, Mr. Hennessey, always early.’
He said nothing just stared at her, she turned to him grinning, ‘oh I know I called you Mr. Hennessey but it was just a joke. I promise it’s Sterling from here on in.’
He said, ‘oh no, no it’s not that.’ He looked her up and down. Her smile faded, ‘is there something wrong, am I not dressed appropriately for the restaurant you’ve chosen. Shall I change?’
She was wearing a dress, the first time he had seen in her one; it came to just above the knee and was pale blue with small flowers of a darker blue, it
was very pretty and very feminine. Her shoes were blue with little pink bows on top and a two inch heel. She wore a silver necklace with small beads the same colour as the flowers in the dress, earrings to match and a silver watch with little diamonds around the face. The subtlety of her dress and jewellery was offset by a ring on the middle finger of her right hand, it was gold with an enormous turquoise stone, it should have been gaudy but it wasn’t, it was tasteful like the rest of her attire.
But the most noticeable thing about her was her hair, she was wearing it down, it was thick and slightly wavy and the glossy auburn tresses reached past her backside. She had pinned the right side back with a blue flower that also matched the dress. She was certainly into pretty, totally feminine things.
He had acted like an idiot when he’d first seen her by being struck dumb at the sight of her; he had been taken by complete surprise. She turned to her wardrobe but he stopped her by saying, ‘no, I’m sorry, it’s just that I’ve not seen you with your hair down before and wearing a dress, you took me by surprise for a minute there.’
‘In a nice way I hope.’ What was she doing almost asking for a compliment?
‘Oh, in absolutely the nicest way I assure you.’ Mr. Charm again. ‘There’s absolutely nothing wrong with what you’re wearing, on the contrary you look…lovely.’
He had been going to say beautiful but knew she would think he was just putting on the charm and exaggerating, although at this moment it was in fact true, she did look beautiful.
But he could tell that she didn’t believe that she even looked lovely, but smiled a bright smile and said, ‘well thank you kind sir, you don’t look too trashy yourself.’ It was true he did indeed look very handsome. He was wearing a black suit with a dark blue shirt that made his eyes appear bluer than ever, if that was possible, and a pale blue tie with darker blue squiggles on it. He laughed at her remark, ‘thank you…I think.’