Death By The Riverside Part 35

"Sleeping bag?" I asked.

She nodded. I went to my grandfather's trunk and got out a sleeping bag. I led her to what had been my father's bedroom. I put the candle down and turned to go.

"Micky, I..."

I turned back to her, but she stood there, no words coming forth.

"Good night, Micky," Cordelia finally said.

"Good night." I closed the door as I left. I got another sleeping bag out of my grandfather's trunk, but I didn't go to my room. Instead, I sat in front of the fire, watching the flames flare up, then die down to embers, wondering what had happened. Not just now with Cordelia, but the whole day. It made my falling in love and being rejected seem small in comparison. Poetic justice even. I had done the same thing to Danny that Cordelia had just done to me. There was no way I could look honestly at myself and say I didn't deserve it. "The wheel is come full circle; I am here," a line from some play. I couldn't remember which, but it seemed apt. I wondered where I could find the joy in the circle of my life. If I could. Ben today. Frankie a week ago. Barbara still hanging in the twilight. And twenty years ago Alma and little David. He should be a handsome man of twenty-three now and she a proud mother.

And my father. My dad should be sitting here now, giving me advice. I tried to picture it. He would be older, but I could only remember him in his forties and I couldn't change that image. I saw him as he was then, reddish hair fading to gray. He would pull up a chair and sit on it, backwards, his elbows leaning on the back. "Lee Robedeaux's advice to the lovelorn now open for business," he would say with that grin of his that told you he took it seriously, but not more than it deserved. And I would tell him, "I love her, Dad, but she's not interested." "Her loss,"

he would snort, "someday she'll wake up and realize what a mistake she made." And it wouldn't change anything, but I would feel better.

"Thanks, Dad," I whispered to the glowing embers. I was tired and should try to sleep, but that seemed impossible. Instead, I sat wondering how far away dawn was.

I heard a floor board creek behind me. I turned around. Cordelia was standing there, outlined faintly by the reddish glow of the embers.

"I couldn't sleep," she said after a minute.

* 232 *

"Funny, I can't either. Maybe it's the crickets."

"No, not for me," she said. "I couldn't stop thinking."

"About?" I asked.

She sat down on the couch, looking into the embers, not answering.

"Can I put on another log?" she said.

I nodded. She got up and put a log into the fire, causing a shower of sparks. For a moment, the log hid the embers, darkening the room, then it caught and blazed with an orange light. She sat back down on the couch.

"What about a shot of Scotch?" I asked. "It might help you sleep."

She shook her head, then said, "No, no thanks." A pause, then she said, "Forgiveness. That's what I couldn't stop thinking about. You're the only person who can forgive me."

"You've done nothing..."

"I know. Intellectually, at least. But still...something hangs."

"I forgive you. Please know that. If anything the reverse is true. I need your pardon. I pulled the trigger." As I said it, I knew it was true. I had run from so many people, because I had always figured that if they knew who and what I really was, they would despise me. But if this woman, the daughter of the man I had killed, didn't hate me, didn't run from me...perhaps absolution was possible.

"And I forgive you. But the words aren't enough, are they?" She paused, staring into the flickering amber flames. "They don't...touch deeply enough. I want to sleep with you. There, I've said it. You must wonder at my inconsistency."

"I've never won any constancy prizes," I answered, knowing she was right, words weren't enough.

"Will you make love to me? Or is that presumptuous to ask?"

"One question," I said, knowing that I would say yes, no matter what her answer was, and not liking myself for it.

She looked at me expectantly.

"Are you still going to marry him?" I asked.

"Yes," she answered softly.

"What am I? One final f.u.c.k before the wedding?" I said harshly, angry at us both.

"Perhaps," she replied, not flinching, just looking at me.

"Two beds or the floor in front of the fireplace. Take your choice."

* 233 *

I stood up and took off both my sweats.h.i.+rt and T-s.h.i.+rt in one motion, then dropped them on the floor.

She remained motionless. I started to unzip my pants.

"Don't," she said. "Not like this. Don't compound my usury."

I stopped, standing still, feeling the chill on my bare b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

"Then what?" I demanded, not willing to acknowledge my vulnerability.

"I..." she started, then stopped.

She took a deep breath, then reached over and handed me my s.h.i.+rts from the floor.

"King Lear committed suicide," she said, breaking the silence of the fire. "Maybe not directly. But...the T-s.h.i.+rt I gave you that night you stayed with me."

I nodded and put my sweats.h.i.+rt back on.

"We lived together for over two years. I came home one evening, fairly late. I was in medical school then. I called and there was no answer. I figured Kath was working late as usual. At midnight the phone rang. A resident from the ER; someone I knew; called. The hospital had contacted her family hours ago, but..." Cordelia stopped and let out a long ragged breath.

I reached out and took her hand, holding it with both of mine.

"I'm sorry," I said.

She nodded and held my hand.

"There wasn't much left of the car. They said she lost control. But I don't think she did. Kath never lost anything. She let go of it. I don't guess she wanted to go anywhere that car was going to take her. She had such black moods at times. But they always seemed to be gone by the next day. I guess I was young enough then to think I could save her. That somehow, if I loved her with everything I had, it would be enough.

"Things weren't going very well. She was a set designer, in theater, and had gotten into an argument with a director and been told to start her design from scratch again. And Kath's parents found out about us and they were threatening to have her committed. I was off, too busy learning how to save people to bother with her."

"You can't blame..." I interrupted.

"I know, I know. But I can't help it. We had a fight the day before.

She left a note in the morning, which she sometimes did, but it wasn't * 234 *

usual. It said, 'Sorry, Cordelia. Nothing you did. I love you.' Maybe that made it hurt all the more. Knowing that I loved her and she loved me and that still...love isn't a solution. I had always thought it was."

"Something should be. But I haven't found it yet."

"Her family swooped in. Like vultures. Took everything we had except the wrecked car and flew her back to Kansas for burial."

"s.h.i.+t. b.a.s.t.a.r.ds," I interjected.

"Now I look at people and wonder when they're going to die on me. I don't want it to happen again. So I made my choice. Th.o.r.eau's decent and kind. We're friends and there are no major surprises hidden in him."

"d.a.m.ned with faint praise," I remarked.

"He allows me to live the kind of life I want. No Roman candles during s.e.x, but it's adequate. I like him. And he'll never rip my heart out. He's safe."

"What does this have to do with tonight?" I asked.

"I..." she started, then looked at the fire before looking back at me. "I like you, Micky. A lot. And that scares the h.e.l.l out of me."

"Why? What could I do to you?" I asked.

"You could die. Next time the bullet could be in your head. Or the knife wound a little deeper and closer to a major artery. I'm not getting involved with that. I don't want to be the one they call at four in the morning to come down to the morgue and identify you. You live too close to the edge for me."

"Let my Aunt Greta do it. She loves hospitals, but a trip to the morgue would be the high point of her life."

"It's not funny," she cut in. "You laugh to keep your distance.

Then there is, as you noted, your lack of prizes for constancy. What is the longest you've stayed in anyone's bed but your own?"

"I see you've been exposed to the Danielle Clayton version of my love life."

"Prove her wrong," she challenged.

I couldn't. "I've made some mistakes..." I fumbled.

"That's not what I'm saying. You have a right to live your life.

We're just not right for each other."

I couldn't prove that wrong either. We sat for a moment watching the fire.

"Where does that leave us?" I asked.

* 235 *

"You can say no. It's not much of an offer," she said.

"The best one I've had today," I answered.

"I'm sorry. I can't offer anything more. Not now," she replied.

"I've...made my choice."

I tightened my grasp on her hand. With my other hand I gently touched her cheek.

"And I've made mine," I answered.

I kissed her. We rolled off the couch onto the floor in front of the fireplace. I spread out the sleeping bag. Then Cordelia was on top of me, kissing and exploring my body. I felt the warmth of the fire on my bare skin as she took my sweats.h.i.+rt off. Then the heat of her hands along my shoulders, down my back, covering my b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Her large hands spanned easily from nipple to nipple.

She took off her s.h.i.+rt, then lowered herself back onto me, a sheen of sweat starting to form where our skin touched. I kissed her cheek, running my tongue across her jawline, then down her neck, her collarbone, searching. She lifted herself up, letting my tongue find her breast.

She slid down me and took off my pants. Kneeling between my spread legs, she slowly unzipped her pants, stripping for me as I watched her. I sat up and pulled off her underpants, letting my fingers brush against her hair. Once she was naked, I put my arms around her, holding her tightly, burying my face between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. I started to pull her over and get on top, but she wouldn't let me, instead pus.h.i.+ng me back down. I felt her fingers enter me and she was on top of me, encircling me with one arm, the other one deftly exploring inside me. I was very wet, almost embarra.s.singly so.

We made love quickly, in a fever, caught between the warmth of the fire and the heat of our bodies. Her fingers brought me to a climax, a long shudder that spread through my whole body. It left me gasping and unable to focus for a moment. She held me, held me tightly, until the fire inside me subsided. Then she rolled off me, letting some of the night air between us, cooling us down. But I didn't want the cold. I climbed on top of her, kissing her until I had to stop and take a breath.

Her gasp sent a s.h.i.+ver down my spine.

We sometimes forget the power of s.e.x, or rather we avoid acknowledging it. But her gasp and tremble as I put my hand over the mound between her legs reminded me. At the most basic level, * 236 *

the power to give pleasure, heady sensual rapture. The rea.s.surance of a physical touch. Until now, all I had ever looked for in s.e.x was distraction and the fleeting thrill of the physical. That seemed hollow now, the machinations of a body with no soul. Someone, Cordelia, had gotten beyond the merely physical. I had finally let her in. In return I wanted to give her all that I was capable of, to, somehow, touch her as deeply as she had touched me.

I paused for a brief moment, my head resting on her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, her arms about my shoulders. She was letting me touch her, if only for comfort and forgiveness, not the pa.s.sion and joy that moved me. But she was letting me touch her.

Then I went down on her, tracing a line from her b.r.e.a.s.t.s to the V of her legs with my tongue. She spread herself very wide, letting me in. I kissed her, gently at first, then harder as she moved under me. I felt her hands in my hair, holding me where she wanted me while she came. I stayed between her legs, gently kissing her until she gave a slight tug on my hair, pulling me up to lie next to her. I held her tightly, still not wanting to let the cool night air in. We didn't say anything, just lay together in the warmth of the fire, watching it die down to glowing embers.

"It's getting chilly in here," I finally said, feeling goose b.u.mps on her arm as I ran my hand along it.

"Yes, it is," she agreed.

"It'll be warmer if we share the same bed."

"Yes, it would." She kissed me noisily on the cheek, then jumped up. "Brr," she said, extending me a hand. I took it and she pulled me up.

"I'll make the bed," I volunteered.

"Okay, I'll clean up in here," she answered.

I went into my room and hurriedly threw some sheets and a blanket on my bed. When I came back into the living room, Cordelia had folded up the sleeping bag and neatly draped our clothes over the couch. She was in the kitchen putting away the dishes and blowing out the candles.

The fire gave out a dull red glow, the last feeble warmth from the embers.

"Let's get to bed. You're s.h.i.+vering," she said as she left the kitchen.

I took the candle and led her into my room.

* 237 *