From the Torrid Past

by Ann Cristy

  She turned from the phone like a robot and returned to the dining room. "Would you like to speak to Keele, Sean? He's the man who is going..."

  "I know. I know." The little boy scrambled down from his chair, unaware of the strange silence among the adults. "Yes I want to speak to him." His cocky response was so like his father's would be that D'Arcy reeled before following him to the phone. "Yes. Hello to you. Yes. You will?" Sean squealed. "I will. Yes, I will. Are you coming to my house soon?"

  D'Arcy's heart sank to her shoes.

  "Okay. I'll tell Mommy. Can she come too? She can?" Sean's happy voice grated on D'Arcy's nerves for the first time in her memory.

  She started to turn away when Sean called her back and said that his new daddy wanted to speak to her. He skipped back to the dining room, caroling to Adelaide and Henry that his new daddy was coming to his school and that he was going to take him to a picnic. "You are not his daddy yet," D'Arcy muttered into the phone.

  Keele's grin was in his voice when he answered. "I will be soon. Don't fight the inevitable, love." His voice became thoughtful. "I feel a rapport with the boy already. No doubt it's the powerful pull of his mommy coming through. I've changed my mind about waiting until Monday to see you. I'll be out tomorrow for dinner. Don't bother cooking. I'll bring it with me."

  The connection Was broken before D'Arcy could respond. "Damn arrogant bastard," she hissed into the buzzing receiver. Her next thought was to pack her bags and sign up as a mercenary in the army of the Sudan. Then she considered gathering Sean into the car and driving north into the wilds of Canada. She sighed and returned to the dining room to tell Adelaide and Henry that Keele was coming for dinner tomorrow.

  The next day Sean was awake with the birds, urging D'Arcy to rise. Since she hadn't fallen asleep much before predawn, her eyes felt as though they were glued to her cheeks. "Mommy, aren't you hungry? I am. Rag and Mushroom are too. I fed them. I spilled some of the food, but I swept it up for you."

  "Thanks." D'Arcy's cotton-wool mouth made the word but it was a furry effort. She pushed back her sheets, letting the bed air while she was in her bathroom. Even while she was in there Sean chattered to her, seeming not to take a breath.

  By the time she finished making their two beds, he was jumping up and down.

  "Does he like soccer, Mommy? Does he? Jimmy's father plays soccer. I like soccer." He followed her down the hall to the kitchen of the small ranch-type house.

  "I'll play soccer with you," D'Arcy told him as she whisked eggs and squeezed his juice.

  His frown reproached her. "Mommies don't play soccer."

  "Why?" D'Arcy asked, watching him clamber into his chair, then tying a napkin round his neck.

  "'Cause," he pronounced in solemn tones.

  "Gotcha." D'Arcy pressed a kiss to the top of his head as she took her plate to the sink and rinsed it into the disposal. She was reaching for the coffee pot when the front doorbell rang.

  "I'll get it," Sean shouted, stumbling out of his chair and running to the door, a barking Rag at his heels.

  D'Arcy was irritated with the newsboy anyway for tossing the paper in the wet bushes every morning and now he was collecting at this godforsaken time on a Sunday morning! What if she had gone to early service! She wiped her hands on a towel and turned toward the hallway, her purse in her hand.

  "Good morning, D'Arcy." Keele stood there, a giggling Sean on his shoulder.

  "We s'prised you, Mommy. Didn't we?" Sean laughed as Keele lowered him to the floor.

  "You're heavy, do you know that?" Keele smiled down at him.

  "I'm biggest in school," Sean told him proudly. "I'm the troll."

  "That so?" Keele hunkered down in front of him. "How would you like to swim in a big swimming pool?"

  "If it's outside, I can't. Mommy says it's too cold to swim outside now." Sean's mouth turned down, his jaw jutting forward.

  "This pool is heated and if it rains then there's a big top that can be blown over it. How does that sound?" Keele chuckled at the round-eyed boy, his still chubby body beginning to bounce with enthusiasm.

  "When?"

  "Next weekend." Keele rose to his feet and shot a look at D'Arcy. "Aren't you going to say good morning?" His leonine eyes lasered over her, pulling her apart in millipieces to see what she was thinking.

  D'Arcy looked at the floor, wishing that it would open under her feet. "Good morning."

  "Good morning." He spat the words back at her in mimicry of her tone.

  "I thought you weren't coming until later," she said in a rush. "We're going to church."

  Keele shrugged. "I'll go with you. I've been known to go to church."

  "No," D'Arcy squawked, making Sean look up from his toast. "This isn't a Greek church," she finished lamely, still not looking at him.

  Sean rose from his chair and told his mother he was taking Rag and Mushroom out to the yard.

  "Don't get dirty," D'Arcy mumbled, pulling the cord on her robe tighter.

  Keele watched the boy go out the door and watched the door swing shut behind him, then he looked at her. Again her eyes dropped to the floor. "What the hell is the matter with you? Are you sick or something? Your face is the color of an eggshell."

  "You said you were coming for dinner," D'Arcy shot at him.

  "So what's the big difference if I come a little early?"

  The big difference is, she screamed in her mind while her eyes scanned the kitchen walls as though searching for an escape route, that I would have had a little more time to prepare myself for this, and not be on the verge of a stroke while you kneel in front of your son.

  "D'Arcy? D'Arcy look at me. What the hell is the matter?"

  "Don't swear," she tried to rally back. "It's Sunday," she said, her head in the air as she sailed past him. "I'm going to dress now. We have to leave in twenty minutes."

  "You're crazy."

  D'Arcy could hear him mumbling to himself as he went out the kitchen door. She stripped off her robe as she strode across her bedroom to the bathroom door, strewing things every which way. She turned the cold shower on full, letting it stream over her body until she felt like one large goose bump. Then she shampooed her hair, scouring at her scalp until it tingled.

  Keele had not recognized his son; that phrase sang round and round in her head as she put on a blue and green plaid dress. With it she wore a cashmere vest in creamy white that Adelaide had knitted for her. It was the only covering she would need on this sunny, crisp fall day.

  She called to Sean to put the cat and dog away and found him watching Keele intensely as the man rolled a soccer ball down his leg, then up and down his arm, and finally scooped it up and headed it neatly. It irritated D'Arcy that he should have to be so adept at soccer. "It's time to go," she snapped, glaring at Keele, who looked at her in hard amusement.

  When she would have gone to her battered car, he took her arm and led her to the sleek Ferrari parked in front, the silver paint gleaming like sterling in the sun.

  "Wow! Are we going to church in that?" Sean bounced into the car. "Can we drive past the Presbyterian church, please, maybe Jimmy will see us. He goes to Sunday School there."

  "Have we time to do that?" Keele asked D'Arcy, his voice silk.

  D'Arcy gave one nod in the affirmative.

  "Just point out the way, Sean," Keele told the ecstatic boy.

  They did not see Jimmy when they passed the Third Presbyterian Church, but Sean's enthusiasm was not dampened. His chubby fingers almost quivered with excitement when he pointed to Henry and Adelaide walking out of the parking lot toward the front entrance of St. Jude's church.

  Keele obediently pressed the button to lower the windows so that Sean could shout to them as the Ferrari turned into the parking lot. Sean was delighted at the open-mouthed response of his aunt and uncle. D'Arcy winced.

  "Why do I get the feeling I have two heads whenever I'm in the company of your family?" Keele drawled as he pulled his seat forward so that Sean could jump from
the car and run toward the waiting Kincaids.

  "I'm sure I don't know what you are talking about," D'Arcy announced, her chin high, her voice as steady as she could make it.

  "Oh you know, all right, and so will I in short order," he promised her, a smile on his face, but his eyes hard. He took her arm as they approached the older couple, who were smiling down at an ebullient Sean. The boy stumbled over his words as he tried to describe the car and how well Keele could play soccer.

  "And Mommy says that I can't call him Daddy until she marries him, so I call him sir," Sean finished on a whoosh of air from his lungs.

  "You can call me Keele until your mommy marries me, if you like." He smiled down at the boy and didn't see the looks that Adelaide and Henry gave to D'Arcy.

  The church service seemed longer than usual to D'Arcy. Father Mahon was long-winded at the best of times, having once taught Church History at a boys' prep school. Today's lesson was on the cross and Father Mahon took the opportunity to discourse on the finding of the true cross by St. Helen, the mother of the Emperor Constantine.

  When D'Arcy felt Keele pinch her she started.

  "Constantine is a saint in my church. We are not so far apart," he hissed into her ear.

  After church, when D'Arcy tried to escape fast, it seemed to her that the others were dawdling. She didn't want to talk to anyone. When she saw Keele leading Father Mahon toward her, she was horrified.

  "Father Mahon tells me that it is the custom of the church to have what is called the Cana conference before marriage."

  D'Arcy grasped at it like a straw, feeling a sense of relief at the reprieve.

  "But when I told him that you and I were anxious to make a home for Sean as soon as possible, then he said that we might be able to waive that procedure," Keele continued.

  Father Mahon said something to her, she was sure because she saw his mouth moving. She could hear nothing for the roaring in her ears.

  She turned, with Keele's hand at her elbow and a plastic smile fixed to her lips, and greeted other people, accepting their congratulations.

  When Dina Latimer, a solid friend who had often picked D'Arcy up for parents meetings at the nursery school, cooed that she should have a bridal shower and some of the other women gushed a yes, D'Arcy glared at her.

  "That's very nice of you," Keele interjected, his magnetic power drawing the women, making them smile. "I'm sure D'Arcy shares my thanks to you but I think we'll be very busy in the short time we have before the wedding."

  D'Arcy glowered, Adelaide looked glassy eyed, Henry's smile was lopsided.

  When they finally were in the car after D'Arcy had wrung a promise from the reluctant Adelaide that they would come at once to her house, she sank against the leather upholstery and gulped air into her lungs.

  "Mommy, that was nice. Amy Latimer's mother wants me to come to play at the house. When can I go?" Sean leaned over from the back and pushed at his mother's shoulder with stubby fingers.

  "Soon," D'Arcy breathed, wondering if there was an opening in the Foreign Legion for women.

  "Tired, love?" Keele said, the steel-edged smile slicing her way.

  "Yes." D'Arcy tried to salivate in her desert mouth. "I don't think I'll be good company today. Perhaps you would rather not stay today."

  "Mom... mee," Sean wailed. "Keele and me is going to play soccer."

  "Keele and I." D'Arcy bobbed and weaved mentally trying to figure how she was not going to drown herself. Lord, what a mess she'd made of everything.

  "Tha's what I said," Sean said, his lip jutting out.

  "I'll tell you what we'll do." Keele threw a quick glance at Sean. "We'll help Mommy get the dinner ready, then we'll play soccer. Then after dinner we'll help her clean up and play again."

  "Is that a good time?" Sean was suspicious.

  Keele barked a laugh. "We'll make a good time out of it."

  D'Arcy could hear the smile in her son's voice as he answered Keele. "Awright."

  Dinner was lively, D'Arcy had to admit grudgingly to herself, as Keele went out of his way to woo Adelaide and Henry. Sean was well and truly his by the time they sat down to eat.

  "D'Arcy will tell you about the tavernas on Keros."

  Keele's smile coaxed, but D'Arcy could see the wariness in his eyes when he studied Adelaide and Henry. "The dancing that the men do is second to none in all of Greece."

  D'Arcy shook her head. "I didn't have time to see the dancing at the tavernas but I've heard it's wonderful." She didn't look at Keele.

  "And the singing was beautiful," Keele continued, his lips tight.

  "Will I see this someday?" Sean asked, his mouth ringed in gravy.

  "Of course. We will be living in Greece part of the time," Keele assured the boy. "You will learn the dances, just as I did from the fishermen. Then you'll learn to scuba, to water-ski, to sail. We'll do many things."

  Sean smiled, then his lips trembled. "I can't leave Rag and Mushroom. They would die."

  "Our home will always be here, too," Keele told him in soft tones. "You will have your animals and your chums."

  Sean climbed down from his chair after asking his mother and went to Keele's chair and held up his arms. "You can put me to bed."

  Keele roared and lifted the boy high in his arms. "I'll do that."

  "He must be washed," D'Arcy announced in faint tones, trying not to watch Adelaide roll her eyes.

  The silence at the dining room table was electric.

  Henry cleared his throat. "They didn't get a chance to go out and play soccer again."

  "Ummm? Yes. Pity." Adelaide's smile slipped off her face. "I think I'll book a room at a mental institution for a month," she mused staring at a spot halfway between D'Arcy and Henry.

  "Hush, dear," Henry soothed. He looked at D'Arcy. "Better tell him."

  "Yes. I know." D'Arcy rose, looking toward the hall. "The how to tell him is what I don't know." She gritted her teeth.

  "He can't kill you, dear," Adelaide ventured, then, eyes wide, she looked at her husband. "He can't, can he, Henry?"

  "Shouldn't think so." Henry licked his lips.

  After Henry and Adelaide went into Sean's room to wish him good night, Keele followed D'Arcy from the bedroom to the kitchen laundry, she carrying Sean's clothes.

  "You've been jumpy all day, D'Arcy my love," Keele crooned behind her. "But let's face it, you've been jumpy ever since I first met your family. I don't know why, but I'm going to, lady, I'm going to." He kissed the back of her rocklike neck. "By the way, I meant to tell you that I think I'm going to fully enjoy being Sean's father."

  Chapter 7

  When Keele announced that he thought the three-day holiday of Columbus Day was perfect since it coincided with Gregor's invitation to them, D'Arcy was sure she could feel another fissure opening in her composure. She was going to blow apart like a bad watch!

  The days she didn't stay in town to work on her notes on Athene Enterprises Ltd., Keele drove out to the Island in the evening. He was like her shadow. They breakfasted together. He took her to lunch. They dined, sometimes on canned soup and crackers, if that happened to be Sean's preference. D'Arcy was awed by Keele's ability to eat the soup with the same enthusiasm he had when he dined on truite en coleur and Dom Perignon. The apple cider was in and Sean drank it constantly. So did Keele. When he and Sean watched cartoons on a Saturday mornings they sat on the floor and munched Cortland apples and cheered Wiley Coyote.

  Keele calmly informed her that he had told Gregor that the three of them would be staying the weekend. "Sean's pleased because I told him about the pool and about Gregor's gardener, Stavros."

  "Stavros?" D'Arcy whispered, her throat closing.

  "Stavros has a grandson who is the same age as Sean. Gregor is arranging for the boy to stay at the big house so that Sean will have a playmate. Isn't that nice?" Keele said, a crease of impatience on his forehead at D'Arcy's blank look.

  "Nice," she muttered, turning words over in her mind, not finding th
e right ones to tell Keele that Sean was his son.

  Sean called at that moment and Keele went back to watch Wiley Coyote.

  Each passing day, Sean was becoming more dependent on Keele.

  It had shocked D'Arcy to her socks when Keele rearranged his schedule and went to the Adams Nursery School for Show and Tell. Sean had been ecstatic and had talked of nothing else for two days afterward.

  Little by little, Henry and Adelaide were accepting him, so that it was not uncommon for Keele and Henry to arrange to attend a ball game. Adelaide was delighted that he liked her peanut butter cookies as well as Sean did. D'Arcy contemplated hari-kari, that ritual form of suicide the Japanese had perfected.

  On the Friday afternoon they were to drive the fifteen miles to Gregor's place on the shore, Sean was so excited that he caromed off the walls and the floor. Henry and Adelaide arrived together to shift Rag and Mushroom to their own house, figuring it to be the easier way. D'Arcy wasn't convinced as she leaned down under the bed trying to coax Mushroom out of her corner.

  "Trouble, darling?" Keele's voice preceded the warm hand he placed on her elevated derriere.

  D'Arcy felt the heat in her body at the caress of his hand, and didn't try to edge away from him. "She knows she has to go in the car, even worse she hates the carrier, but I have to put her in it, otherwise she won't go in the car." D'Arcy moaned, looking into the yellow cat's eyes under the bed, the swish of the tail telling her that Mushroom didn't feel like cooperating.

  Keele lifted her from the floor. "Let me try." He leaned across the bed and reached down, grasping the feline. She wasn't happy, but her lazy disposition kept her from striking. "How would you like to ride in a Ferrari, regal lady?" Keele spoke in low tones. All at once the wide-apart cat's eyes closed slightly and she blinked once, twice. "Good. Let's go."

  D'Arcy was left standing in the bedroom, gnashing her teeth. "How dare he seduce my cat!" she growled, stalking down the hallway with her fists clenched, in time to see the Ferrari driving away with a smiling Sean clutching his cat. Henry and Adelaide waved to her as their car followed Keele's, Rag panting in the back seat.