Haunting Refrain

by Mary Marvella

  For a crazy moment William felt as though he’d morphed into someone else. He enjoyed the wind on his face, lifting his hair from his neck. The thin leather strap holding his queue must’ve loosened. He reached for it to keep it from blowing away. What leather? He’d never let his hair grow past his collar. Maybe he needed therapy.

  On the far side of the field Sarah spotted a sign pointing to a path into a wooded area. Baby and William’s horse carried them into the woods. The horses slowed to avoid low branches.

  The path widened at a white gazebo straight from a fairy tale. From Baby’s back she could see a table set for two.

  Sarah felt like a princess when William dismounted and moved quickly to help her. She reached down to him. “How did you manage all this?”

  “I just made a phone call and I promised to tutor James’s son this summer so he can score high enough on the SAT to get into UGA.” He escorted her up the steps to a seat.

  “You are so good!” He set his canteen on the table. He pulled two coolers from under the white tablecloth, then dipped a white cloth into one and washed her hands.

  He grinned when he extracted plastic containers of food from the cooler’s depths. From the other cooler he pulled a bottle of sparkling water. He’d had ordered her favorites.

  He dipped a fresh whole strawberry in whipped cream and rubbed it over her lips. She opened her mouth to take a bite and captured his finger and thumb between her teeth. Looking into his eyes she rubbed her teeth against his callused skin. She ran her tongue over his flesh, then swallowed the fruit. Leaning across the small table she fed him a cream drenched strawberry.

  Each bite of fruit whetted her appetite for William. Enough with the strawberries. She dipped her finger into the whipped cream and waved it. Watching him watch her finger she trailed it down between her breasts. William leaned across the small table. She was sure he would go after the cream and she was ready.

  Voices came from the woods.

  “I think it’s right down here. I know I saw a gazebo earlier this spring. Come on, Jamie. We can have our lunch there.” The female sounded young.

  “Honey, it can’t be around here or we’d have found it by now. We can just spread out blanket and eat here.” The male voice didn’t sound much older.

  “Aw, Jamie, just a little farther, please?”

  “Well --”

  Sarah looked at William who nodded. She spoke loudly. “Why don’t we invite Jamie and his honey to join us?”

  “Sure, Princess.”

  Jamie and Honey appeared in a narrow path in sight of the gazebo. Honey looked embarrassed. “Oh, someone’s here already. We should go.”

  “Don’t leave, we’re almost done, aren’t we, William.”

  “Yep. We were.” He’d planned to lick the whipped cream from between Sarah’s breasts and make love to her here in the gazebo as he’d done before. What? Again strange memories flickered across his memory.

  His wife lay naked beneath him. Her slim legs wrapped around his waist while he pounded into her slick heat. He tried to shake the memory that couldn’t be his. It wouldn’t let him go. She always met his thrusts with her own, imprisoning him while she convulsed around him.

  “William?” Sarah’s voice seemed far away. He struggled to calm his breathing. He and Sarah weren’t alone. His whole body ached to make love to her. He’d experienced a fantasy, not a memory. Definitely not a memory, no matter how vivid it seemed.

  “William, are you all right?” She caressed his forehead with cool hands, brushing his hair from his face. “You looked about to pass out. Should you lie down for a minute?”

  “No, Princess.” His voice sounded strange to his own ears. “I was just a bit overheated, I guess.”

  “You looked so strange you frightened me. You weren’t like yourself.”

  A wet cloth cooled him more. She’d wet it in a cooler. The one she held on his neck chased away the rest of the daydream.

  Taking her hand in his he guided it to his mouth, laving her palm with his eager tongue. He laughed. “I think we need to head back, don’t you?”

  “Yeah. Time to – uh, get back.” She grabbed her glass and drained it without losing eye contact. He could make her feel like they were the only people in the world. They weren’t, of course. The young couple across the small table murmured to each other. “I hope we’re still in love like that when we’re older like them.”

  That brought the world back into perspective. Maybe they should have let the kids have their picnic on the ground with the ants and bugs. Nah.

  Chapter Nine

  William’s behavior had been odd all morning. Even now he drove in silence. Something had occupied his mind so much he hadn’t even kidded her. At times he didn’t act like the William she had known all her life. She recognized his every move and expression.

  There had been moments during their ride when he had seemed grim, like Walter in her dreams last night. William had ridden the black gelding like he belonged in the saddle. How had so much time passed without their realizing they were in love? Was there such a thing as “the right time” for love? Such whimsy!

  “William?”

  “Huh?”

  “Have you read any of Sarita’s journals, yet?”

  “Uh, yeah.” He still seemed distracted.

  “So, what did you think?”

  “About what?”

  Ever the cagey psychologist.

  “William,” She paused. “could I be Sarita?”

  He swerved the car onto the shoulder and stopped with a jolt. “What did you say?” He stared at her.

  “I asked you if I could be Sarita?” She turned in her seat, facing him across the console.

  “I heard you, Princess.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I –uh - why would you ask such a question? You’re my Sarah, not a woman from over a hundred years ago. Honey, there’s no such thing as –“

  “As reincarnation? How do you know? What about ghosts? No such thing? What about last night? How can you explain the moving plate and the glass? You can’t explain everything with scientific logic.” She crossed her arms and waited for him to try. “Well, can you?”

  “Let’s go home and we’ll talk more, okay?”

  “Okay, but I share Sarita’s memories. I know things she didn’t mention in the journals.”

  “I’m sure there’s a logical explanation.”

  “You’re no help!”

  “You need to call your Jackson friend when we get home and let him know you’re taken. He wants you.”

  He’d changed the subject so abruptly Sarah figured he wasn’t prepared to deal with her questions.

  “What do you mean I’m taken?”

  “Woman, I know you love me and I love you so much I can’t think of anything but you. I’ll call him, if I have to, though he’ll take it better if you tell him. He won’t believe me anyway. He needs to know. He needs to hear it from you.”

  “Sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

  “Sarah.” His voice was hoarse. He just stared into her eyes. She couldn’t look away. When his callused fingers touched her lips she shivered.

  “Sarah, my love.” His voice caressed her. Her nipples tightened. He leaned toward her, cupped her cheek in his palm. She swallowed hard. He leaned closer, drawing her toward him.

  “Sarah? Do you love me?” His lips touched hers, then withdrew, barely.

  “What was the question again?” Coherent thought left her. His moist lips touched hers again. “Do you love me?” he asked against her mouth. He retreated an inch. Her lips clung to his, drawing her across the console.

  He broke contact only by a hairsbreadth.

  “Uh,” She sighed deeply. “yes, I love you, William, mine.” She licked his bottom lip and, drawing it between her teeth, she gently bit him.

  Desire burned a path through her and she wanted him. She wanted him here and now.

  Leaning back in her seat she reached under her tee shirt and unfastened the front ca
tch on her bra. “Pull over to that dirt road ahead.”

  William stared at her hands moving under her shirt. When she reached under her sleeve and pulled the strap down her arm he licked his lips. In a smooth move she removed the garment. Sarah felt her nipples harden more. He looked frozen.

  Leaning across the console again she rubbed against his bare arm, raising her shirt enough for him to feel her aroused, sensitive flesh against his hot, hair-dusted flesh.

  Sliding a hand down his chest, she passed his belt and rubbed the bulge under his jeans zipper. “William, if you don’t pull this car farther off the road, anyone who passes us will can see what we're doing.”

  He put the car back in gear and pulled behind a stand of bushes just off the highway.

  “Princess, what has gotten into you?”

  “Well,” her voice came out sultry. “I was reading Cosmo and I saw an article about exciting places to make love and, well, we’ve never done it in a car.”

  “And you thought we should . . .”

  Leaning across the console Sarah caressed him through his jeans. “What do you think?”

  “Think?”

  She rose so she could pull his shirt over his head, kissing the skin she bared, nipping his flat nipples. “Much better.”

  “Not yet.” He grasped her waist and lifted her so she straddled his aroused body with her back against the steering wheel. Holding her high enough to reach her nipples he suckled first one then the other.

  “Oh, yes,” she sighed. Tension curled in her belly. Back and forth she moved against the hard bulge. Her body tightened ‘til she thought she’d break. She exploded. But he wasn’t inside her and she wanted to start over.

  Hell, she wanted them both brainless and she was nearly there already. “Sarah,” he groaned. How could he hang onto control like this?

  She collapsed against his sweat-slicked body. His strong arms held her, crushing her breasts against his chest.

  In none of his fantasies had he ever imagined this, Sarah trying to have her way with him in the car on the side of the road in broad daylight.

  Had they really made love so many times without using protection? She hadn’t mentioned being on birth control. He had always used condoms before Sarah. She made him forget to be careful. Would it be a bad thing if they made a baby?

  ##

  Peter fidgeted on the bench he’d selected to wait for Mr. Avery hours ago. He’d been ready and waiting at his motel room window before nine, but Perry and Yancy had shown up closer to ten. He’d thought their arriving in a black limousine with tinted windows had been over the top. Why had they blindfolded him? So what did they think he’d do, send the cops there later?

  Yancy leaned against a door-frame. He looked large enough to push it down. He looked like a mean Mr. Clean. He must have food stuck in his teeth the way he kept making strange sucking-his-teeth noises.

  Peter wanted to pay off Mr. Avery and start his life over with Sarah. He was going to enjoy teaching her about sex. He’d treated her with respect because she’d acted like such a lady.

  That horny professor guy had lived next door to Sarah long enough to have claimed her if he’d wanted to. The old bastard acted like he wanted in her panties last night, but he’d missed his chance. Peter Jackson would drag out the big guns and win her forever.

  He smiled in spite of his annoyance at having to cool his heels for two more hours after an hour-long ride to get here. If Mr. Avery didn’t see him soon, he’d be late for work. He needed the job for just long enough to pay on his debts and have a little money to impress Sarah. She’d surely be willing to invest in the restaurant he wanted to buy.

  “How much longer?” Peter asked.

  “Why, you got a hot date?” Perry asked from across the room. He wasn’t close enough for Peter to catch a whiff of bad buzzard breath but the oaf kept lifting a hip and laughing. Suddenly he heard a loud ripping sound. God, no.

  Yancy levered himself away from the door and lumbered toward the crude fool. He pinched his large nose as he neared his grinning partner. Yancy raised a beefy hand and knocked Perry to the floor.

  “Whadja do that for?” the injured man yelped.

  “Told ya to stop fartin’ around me.”

  Peter wanted to laugh at the Neanderthals, but he wouldn’t risk angering Yancy. He should’ve brought a book along. His time was finally worth money and here he had to sit and wait.

  He’d begun to doze when he heard clicking sounds coming down the hall. A woman, he’d recognized the staccato sound of a woman’s heels, probably spike-heels. Oh, yes, the woman who rounded the corner had more curves than a hairpin and more swing than a playground gym set.

  A thin red blouse covered her impressive chest while showing a lacy bra. Her skirt fit like it had been molded on her body. Her long legs started at the bottom of her leather micro-mini and ended in four-inch platform heels.

  Noting the smeared lipstick and tousled look of her short curly hair, Peter knew why he had been kept waiting. Her boss had more than a quickie with this secretary.

  He rose when she neared his bench. He stood barely tall enough to be at eye level with the Amazon, probably a model wannabee.

  Her voice came out throaty. “Mr. Avery will see you now, Mr. Jackson.” She turned and walked back down the hall. Good thing he’d followed her since she didn’t look back until they reached a set of red and black double doors.

  Those doors could lead into Hell or a bordello. He followed the woman inside, praying he’d make it out in one piece.

  In thirty minutes he left, feeling like he’d been pole-axed. The doors had led to Hell. He would be leaving the Briar Patch and moving in with Roxy, the Amazon. He’d be her protector, companion and entertainment. He’d also make sure she gave her favors to no man other than the possessive Mr. Avery.

  Actually he’d been instructed to let Mr. Avery know if she as much as looked at another man. Peter didn’t relish being a snitch but the job would pay well. His debts would be lowered to the tune of five thousand a week as long as she made the boss happy, in bed and in the office. He was also to make sure Mrs. Avery never found out about this mistress. If this one lasted a couple of months his debt would be cut more than in half.

  Peter could keep his country club job as long as he met his new housemate at home soon after her job ended. At least the Neanderthals would get to see her home and follow her shopping. He certainly couldn’t take the house-sitting job or invite Sarah there. How could he explain his flashy housemate? Sarah shouldn’t even be around a woman like her.

  ##

  Sarah couldn’t believe she’d had sex, straddling William in the Mustang, in broad daylight, hidden only by a large hedge. She’d felt a wildness in herself she didn’t recognize. They’d turned the excitement of quickie into the craziness born of their growing insatiable need for each other.

  William had left shortly after their return home. He’d said he had meetings all afternoon. She’d sent him away with a toe- curling kiss, then headed back to the attic to look for Mattie. It was just a dusty, old attic again. Sarah opened windows to let in air. She removed a sheet from an old bench and pulled it to a window. Sitting on the bench she stared out at her neighbors’ back yards. Noise carried in the air. Mothers called the children. Laughter and childish shouts made her smile. Had Sarita or Eloise or Mattie watched their children play in the yard behind this house? Had Sarita?

  None of her conversations with her ghosts had been about their families. Which of them had lived in this house or one on this site? Sarah reached to the cinnabar necklace she’d worn constantly since she’d found it. It seemed to warm to her touch, but surely it just carried the heat from her skin. Her eyes began to droop. She tried to shake herself awake. Angry voices clambered for her attention.

  ##

  Warm, fragrant breezes stirred strands of Sarita’s hair falling from her low bun. Clothes flapped on the clothesline as Mattie slung some over the rope and pegged others. Sarita hated having Matt
ie angry with her.

  “You are so selfish, Sarita.” Mattie’s long drab dress had been mended in several places. Her oversized apron showed frayed edges. “Do you know how much we needed you while the men were off fighting? Do you have any idea how much we all worried while you were away?”

  Mattie snatched a wet dress from her basket and pegged it to the line. When Sarita reached to help, Mattie turned away from her as she had since Sarita’s arrival a hour ago.

  “It was not enough that we had to fear for the safety of the men-folk, we had to watch cousin Walter fret over you. He was injured and broken hearted.”

  Sarita had not come to argue but to make peace. “I wrote him a letter explaining why I left. He had already planned to join up and I could not bear to wait to say goodbye. I had to be useful.”

  “You didn’t even confide in me!”

  “I couldn’t tell anyone.”

  Sarita reached again to help her cousin but pulled back when Mattie pushed her hands away again. “I found medicine for the troops. I nursed injured men. I took the medicine Walter needed to his troop. He never knew I was near but I was.”

  “Well, he probably would have gotten better if he had seen you. How could you be near and not offer comfort to your own husband?” Mattie straightened, rubbing the small of her back.

  Why was Mattie too stubborn to accept a little help? Sarita pulled the stray hairs that blew against her lips. “I saw him when he slept. I stayed ‘til his fever left. He was recovering when I left him.” Sarita fisted her hands on her hips. “Our men needed the supplies I found and delivered. You did what you could, and I did what I could. Walter’s family did better with the plantation than I could have.”