When You Dance With The Devil

by Gwynne Forster

  She met Judd in the hallway when she entered the boardinghouse and, on an impulse, handed him the flowers. “I hope you like yellow flowers,” she told him. “They’re my favorites.”

  His eyes widened, and she could see that she shocked him. “Well. Well, well.” His fingers caressed the clear plastic that covered the flowers. “Thank you. I don’t know when I’ve received such a nice present. Do you have a minute for a glass of ginger ale?”

  “I’d love it.” She tried to make herself tell him about Harper, but couldn’t because she didn’t want him to think badly of her. Instead, she asked him, “Do you ever feel like you want to leave here?” She had begun to enjoy the ginger ale that he always offered as a king would offer the finest of spirits.

  “Nope,” he said. “This is my home. After I convinced Louvenia that I wasn’t stupid enough to fall into her clutches, I came to love the place.”

  Her lower lip dropped. “Louvenia? You mean she—?”

  “Why not? I don’t have any heirs, and she expects to outlive me.”

  “Well, I’ll be . . . ! When I heard her bad-mouthing me to Arnetha Farrell, I figured she was one of those old women who’d led a perfect life and wore a halo to prove it.”

  Laughter rumbled in his throat. “Louvenia worked over fifty years for one family as a live-in maid. But she did more than cook and keep house, so when the old man died, he left her well-fixed.”

  Jolene swallowed hard. “She told you that?”

  “She brags about it to anybody who’ll listen.” When Jolene’s bottom lip dropped, he added, “No point in being shocked. All the saints are in heaven. The creatures you see around here are all human, just like you and me.” He looked at his watch. “It’s five forty-five. I got to be getting over to the library. See you at supper.”

  “You know Judd better than I do,” Richard said to Fannie at supper that night. He especially liked the Monday suppers because Marilyn had the night off, and the sous-chef always served Italian food. As usual, Fannie didn’t wait to hear his point.

  “I should. I’ve known him a lot longer than you have.”

  “Which proves nothing, Fannie. My point is that he’ll be eighty-five in a few days, and I’d like to give him a real party. What I want to know is whether it should be a surprise.”

  She thought for a minute. “What a wonderful idea. No, I don’t think you should surprise him.”

  “Thanks. One more thing. I’ll tell Marilyn what I want and how I want it, and if she shows me she can’t follow instructions, I’ll hire a caterer and have it somewhere else.”

  “She’ll do as I say.”

  “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

  “You’re fond of Judd, aren’t you?”

  “Looks that way. He’s getting to be the first real friend I ever had.”

  She stared at him. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

  He shrugged. “Why shouldn’t I be? My life has changed drastically and completely since I’ve been here.”

  “I hope you’re satisfied.”

  “Let’s just say I’m adjusting. Sometimes I don’t know the man who gets out of my bed every morning.”

  “I’ll bet you had a chauffeur.”

  “Chauffeur? A valet, housekeeper, social secretary, and you name it. As I look back, it’s a wonder I didn’t step on those people. They were everywhere. I didn’t have a damned bit of privacy.”

  She had stopped eating and stared at him in awe. “And you didn’t think about that then?”

  He shook his head. “It was laughable. The only thing I lifted was myself and my tennis racket.”

  “I don’t see how anybody could enjoy that,” she said, returning to her raspberry sorbet.

  “As I think about it, neither do I.”

  Jolene didn’t rush up to her room as she usually did after meals, but headed for the lounge hoping that Judd would go there as usual and that he’d have the books he promised to bring from the library. She started toward him, but Barbara Sanders, a woman of around fifty, who clerked at the local movie house, waylaid her.

  “Hi. Feel like a couple of hands of gin rummy?” Barbara asked her.

  Surprised by the overture, since the woman had greeted her only with a nod or “Hi” during the six months she’d lived at the boardinghouse, Jolene was at a loss as to how to respond. She didn’t play gin rummy, yet she wanted to socialize with the woman. Perhaps they could be friends.

  “I’d love to, Barbara, but I’ve never played gin rummy. Do you know another game we could play?”

  “That’s the only game I know. I work at the Albemarle Theater down the street about five blocks. Sitting there at that window is the easiest way I know to make a living without doing real work.”

  “Don’t you get bored?”

  “I can’t afford boredom. If I took another job, I’d have to work, either with my hands, my brain or my back, and neither appeals to me. That job’s as close to non-work as I can think of.”

  “I’m a receptionist/cashier at a beauty parlor, and as much as I have to concentrate on what I’m doing, I still get bored sometimes and want to walk off and never go back there. But I stay, because I need a job.”

  “Tell me about it. The worst thing about living is having to work. I used to think I’d get married, have children and stay home, but keeping house and taking care of kids is more work than farming.”

  Jolene had an urge to get away from Barbara Sanders. She had discovered that she neither liked nor trusted lazy people, and she certainly didn’t want to spend an hour discoursing with one of them about laziness.

  She stood and purposefully straightened her skirt to give Barbara the impression that she was not rushing from her company. “I need to speak with Judd. I hope we can continue this another time.”

  Barbara’s face brightened. “Sure. And maybe we can go to the amusement park together sometime.”

  Remembering Judd’s description of friends, Jolene forced a smile. “Or whatever suits us at the time. See you later.”

  By the time she reached Judd, Richard and Francine had joined him. “I brought your books, and I hope you’ll like ’em.” He indicated one by a famous writer. “I read this one a couple of years back. It’s pretty good.”

  She thanked him. “I guess I’ll go up and get started on them.”

  “Please join us,” Richard said. “We’ve been discussing the dangers of the ocean.”

  Her eyebrow shot up. “You can drown in it, and as far as I’m concerned, that’s the danger that counts.” She caught herself just before she slapped her hand over her mouth. She had devalued something of interest to him, and she wanted to bite her tongue. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

  “No need for an apology,” Judd said. “Drowning is the worst thing that can happen to anyone, but the ocean harbors a lot of dangers that can make life a living hell.”

  Percy Lucas passed them, and Richard held out a hand to him. “Say, why don’t you pull up a chair and join us?”

  Percy looked around, glancing from side to side, as if searching for an exit, and she seized that moment to stand. “You can have this chair, Percy. I was just leaving.” Richard’s knowing stare nearly unglued her, making her cringe with anxiety, for she knew he’d grabbed his first opportunity to get Percy and her together in order to observe their reaction to each other. She scampered up the stairs as fast as she could, her enjoyment in having socialized with the other boarders dissipated and her self-confidence shaken.

  He knows something. But what? She didn’t believe Percy had discussed their abortive affair, and that meant Richard saw them together. She would give anything if only she hadn’t approached Percy, if she had been more circumspect. She had done it to prove her irresistibility to men, and as balm for the wounds of Jim’s rejection. And she had wanted to feel something more than the pain she’d felt with Jim.

  Strange, Richard thought. He wondered which of them was the offender, and he suspected Jolene; poor Percy didn’t have th
e self-confidence to take on a woman with Jolene’s looks, at least, not voluntarily. Wondering why he cared, he turned his attention to Percy.

  “Making any long trips before the winter sets in?” he asked him for want of a better topic. He reasoned that if he asked the man to sit down, he ought to try to converse with him.

  “I’m gonna be hauling oranges and grapefruit till after Thanksgiving. Right now, my rig’s full of pecans and southern yams. If y’all don’t mind, I think I’ll turn in. I drove thirteen straight hours, and I gotta get started early in the morning.”

  “Have a good evening.” He admitted to himself that he was glad to see Percy go. A duller creature hadn’t been diapered.

  “How’d the computer classes go this afternoon?” Judd asked Richard. “I went down there to check out some books for Jolene, but I didn’t have time to look around.”

  “Great. We may have to move those classes to the high school. We had sixty kids. The library can’t handle all those kids.”

  “Maybe what’s needed is a community center,” Francine said, “but that would cost a few million dollars.”

  “Yeah. I think I’ll speak with Dr. Marin. This may prove to be more successful than I had hoped.”

  Francine appeared thoughtful. “I still think we should work at getting a community center.”

  Had he heard her correctly? “Did you say ‘we’?”

  “I did indeed. It’s a worthy cause, and I think we ought to go for it.”

  He noticed that Judd leaned back in his rocker, looked from Francine to him and nodded his head. It surprised him that Judd didn’t offer an opinion.

  “If I can help in any way, let me know,” Francine told him. “You’ll need clearance by the authorities, and I can manage that for you.”

  Richard faced her then, moved by her willingness to work for the success of a project so dear to his heart as the children’s computer learning program. He reached for her hand and held it. “Thank you. You can’t imagine how much your offer means to me.”

  She didn’t move her hand, and he resisted tightening his grip. I want this woman, but I’m not sure what I’m willing to invest or how far I’m willing to go in order to get her. She knows I’m here, and she responds to me as a man, but do I want her because I feel something for her or simply because I haven’t had her?

  She separated her hand from his and he wondered what expression she saw on his face. “I’m going to say goodnight, gentlemen. If you’re up early, I’ll see you at breakfast.”

  He wanted to walk with her as far as his room, but the presence of Judd and the other boarders was sufficient to chain him to the chair. From the corner of his eye, he saw Marilyn standing in the doorway looking in his direction. What a mess, he thought. She wants me, and I want Francine.

  “I hope you’re not planning to toy with Francine,” Judd said. “It wouldn’t be proper . . . or wise.”

  “I’ve already learned not to take a woman like Francine for granted, and I neither need nor want such a lesson twice. The price is too high.”

  Judd’s boney fingers tapped the table beside his chair. “But a minute ago you were willing to test the waters. I saw that, and she did too.”

  “Hell, man. I didn’t realize I was so transparent. Six months ago, that wouldn’t have happened. I’m slipping.”

  “Which means you’re losing your phoniness. And a good thing it is, too. Your feelings were plain as day on your face.”

  “That’s too bad, because I’m not sure what my feelings are.” He couldn’t help grinning as he rubbed his chin with his forefinger and thumb. “So you two know more about it than I do.”

  “Humph. You’re not fooling me.”

  “Listen, friend, I’m planning a party for you on your birthday, so don’t make any other plans.”

  Judd sat forward. “You’re what?”

  “You heard me. Eighty-five is an important number of years for a person to have lived, and I’m throwing a party for you. All you have to do is be there.”

  “Well, I declare. I’ve never had a birthday party. You’re a fine man, and I thank you. Well, whatta you know. Isn’t this something!”

  Judd was agreeable to the idea of a birthday party; now all he had to do was tackle Marilyn and get her cooperation without losing his temper or his independence. He excused himself and headed toward the door where Marilyn stood. Best to get it over with.

  She would have lied if she said it came as a complete surprise, but the intensity of what he communicated to her knocked her off balance. In her mind’s eye, Francine could still see the expression on Richard’s face, and dizzying currents of need danced through her. I’d better get my act together, she said to herself. I didn’t come here to be sidetracked by a man’s bedroom eyes and mesmerizing charm. I’ve got a job to do.

  Francine went to the dining room earlier than usual, as much to avoid meeting Richard as to make a time-consuming business stop en route to her office in Ocean Pines. Jolene was alone in the dining room, so Francine saw no choice but to join her.

  “Good morning, Jolene. I’m rushing this morning, so please don’t think I’m rude if I don’t talk.”

  “I’m in a hurry, too. If I miss my bus, I’ll be an hour late for work.”

  They left the house together. “I’m parked down the street,” she told Jolene. “You and I haven’t had a chance to get acquainted. If you’d like, maybe we could go bowling one night. Ocean Pines has some nice bowling alleys.”

  “I’d love it. If you don’t mind bowling with a beginner, just let me know when. I’m usually free after dinner.”

  “All right. Have a great day.”

  “You too.”

  Francine headed for Spring Creek, a few miles north of Ocean Pines, parked at an all-night eatery, felt around in the bottom of her pocketbook, jumped out of the car and went inside.

  “Coffee, please. As black as you can make it.” Francine spoke louder than was her habit, but that didn’t perturb Mike, the counter cook.

  “Sure thing. I’m just mixing flapjacks. You want some?” She swung off the counter stool, went over to the jukebox and dropped two quarters in the machine. As she walked back to the counter and her black coffee, her gaze swept the room.

  “I think I’ll skip the calories this morning, Mike. Been gaining in the wrong places.” She took a few sips of coffee. “Kinda chilly this morning. Looks as if we’ll have an early fall.”

  “Don’t count on it. Birds all over the place.” She pushed the coffee cup to Mike. “See you next time.” Code language. Her detour had been a waste of time.

  She got into her sleek white Cougar, started the engine and within minutes brought the car to rest in the parking lot of her office building. Mike was one of the best, and their successes read like Tiger Woods’s record at the PGA major events of golf. But six months of hard work at that job had netted them nothing.

  “Maybe I’m going about this all wrong. Maybe I need a decoy.”

  “The boss wants to see you, Francine,” a male coworker said before she had a chance to sit down.

  “Thanks.” She grabbed a writing pad and strode up the concrete stairs to the second floor. “You wanted to see me, sir?”

  “Yeah. The mayor and the city council are gunning for my head. We’ve been on this job for almost six months. Any progress?”

  “None to speak of. I’m doing my best. If you want headquarters to put someone else on it . . .” She let the suggestion hang.

  “I don’t, and you know it, because you’re the best we’ve got.”

  “I’m thinking of getting a decoy.”

  “Theoretically sound, but dangerous. I don’t support it.”

  “Okay.” She lifted her shoulder in a slow shrug. “I’ll stay with it.”

  He twirled a pencil. “Drop by from time to time and let me know how you’re doing.” She promised that she would, but his disapproval of the best idea she’d had in weeks made her spirit sag.

  I won’t solve it by sitting
in this office, she told herself, got into her car and drove to an amusement park. Almost immediately, her antenna shot up, and she stopped, took out her cell phone and recorded what she saw. At home that evening, she looked at the pictures she took with her cellular phone.

  “Hmm. Wonder who he is. I don’t believe he’s the person I’m looking for.” What she needed was a tip.

  She didn’t want to make a habit of sitting with Richard and Judd after dinner every evening—although she would have enjoyed chatting with Judd alone—because she didn’t want to drift into an affair with Richard. And nothing would be easier than to allow her libido and his sexy masculine persona to trap her. So after supper that evening, she waylaid Jolene and walked with her to the lounge. She suspected that, given the chance, Jolene would be good company—at least for an hour.

  She fished around for a conversation opener. “Do you work here in Pike Hill, Jolene?”

  “I work in Salisbury. It’s the first job I ever had, other than taking care of my sick mother and grandmother. I’ve been a receptionist at the beauty parlor for three months, and I already got a raise.”

  “Congratulations.” Very soon, she knew the story of Jolene’s life from birth until her arrival at the boarding-house and, for a woman who a few weeks earlier uttered the time of day only grudgingly, she wondered at the change in Jolene.

  “We need to do a little work with you,” she told Jolene. “Unfortunately, your mother closed her eyes to a lot of truths and misled you.”

  “I sure don’t know much about men, Francine. Looks like I make a wrong move with every man I meet.”

  “You’ve been operating with your mother’s attitudes. Get rid of them.”

  Jolene’s gaze shifted to the floor. “Do you mind if I ask whether you’re married?”

  “I’m a widow now, but I was a happy wife. If my husband so much as smiled or winked at me, it was as if the heavens opened up and the angels sang.”

  “Gee. That’s the way it is in the romance novels I read, but my mama said men just use women, getting what they want out of them and . . . Ever since she died and I’ve . . . uh, been on my own, I’ve . . .” How could she say it without indicting herself?