Randy White - Seduced

His face flexed with sun lines. “Worse? I can’t imagine it getting any better-but I’m coachable.”

The humorous way he said it was so unexpected, I softened a bit.

“Finally,” he said. “A smile.”

“You’re a mess, Kermit.”

“Don’t pretend you haven’t been thinking about me, too.”

“You don’t want hear what I’ve been thinking about,” I said, and shooed him toward the truck. “Go on, now, and behave yourself. It was just a kiss, for heaven’s sake.”

That was nearly true. One polite kiss had led to a much longer kiss that spanned long, foggy minutes of consent, then a few woozy seconds of exploration, before I had finally said, “Enough,” and sent him away.

Kermit, serious now, said, “It meant a lot more than that and you know it. Can I call you tonight?”

I looked at the ground, then into his eyes. “I won’t answer if you do.”

“Even if it’s to talk about that?” He meant the orange I was holding.

“Kermit, I’m all wrung out-you wouldn’t believe the day I’ve had. Please don’t push. Why can’t you let things go?”

“Tonight, around seven,” he said. “You can tell me about your day, and a thousand other things I want to know about you.”

“I’m not going to warn you again,” I said. “Don’t stop here again, and don’t call me. Give us both a month to realize how stupid it was, what we almost did.”

“Almost?”

“You heard me!”

He said, “A month’s not going to change anything. We’ll discuss it tonight. After that, if you don’t change your mind… But you will.” He looked toward the truck, Sarah inside. “She likes you, I can tell. You’re both beautiful tomboys.”

This infuriated me.

“Don’t you dare play that card,” I said, and strode away.

Loretta was on the porch, watching. I didn’t have to see my mother to know. Even from the dock, I could feel the tension created by her presence, and the critical workings of her mind.

A phone call to Birdy spared me for half an hour. After telling her about the run-in with Yosemite Sam, my deputy friend said, “Text me the photo of the guy and I’ll run the numbers on his boat. Legally, I can’t share what I find out, but who knows what I’ll do after a bottle of wine?”

“There’s something else that happened,” I said. I gave her an edited version of my evening with Kermit and the conversation we’d just had. I answered a dozen questions before asking her to promise to intercede if I weakened.

“Why would I?” Birdy said. “Pick the right married man, it’s like owning a puppy you don’t have to babysit or muzzle on Saturday nights. Let him talk oranges all he wants; the whole time, you can use him like a sex toy. That’s advice from the only friend you have who knows how badly you need to get laid. Besides, you wouldn’t ask for help if you weren’t already a lost cause.”

“We sure are different, the way our minds work,” I responded, yet conceded the truth of every word she’d said.

Loretta wasn’t so easily dealt with. She was still on the porch when I entered and had spent the delay fuming. “You might warn me in advance before inviting strange men onto the property,” she said. “If it’d been night, I might’ve shot him for stealin’ our citrus.”

“Or invited him in to share a joint,” I replied, picking up an ashtray. “Did Mrs. Terwilliger give you your afternoon pills?”

“The moon-eyed look on that man’s face when he got in his truck-my lord. Who is he? I bet he didn’t mention he was married, did he? Of course not. They never do.”

“Loretta,” I said, “maybe you would’ve found an exception if you’d bothered asking the married men you dated. His name’s Kermit. His daughter and wife are both as nice as they can be.” I glared for a moment. “Kermit was hired by Mr. Chatham. Remember Mr. Chatham?”

“What’s her name?” my mother responded, which was unexpected. It threw me for a moment.

“Sarah,” I answered. “She’s starting to lose her baby teeth… They’re so grown-up, at that age. I might take her for a boat ride.”

“Not the daughter’s name. She brung me a bag of sour oranges, god knows why. What’s his wife’s name? You said you met her.”

I had made no such claim. It was another attempt to rattle me. “I’ll introduce you when she brings Sarah back for that boat ride,” I countered, which came off smoothly enough to attempt a change of subject. “How about a nice glass of sweet tea?”

When I returned from the kitchen, however, I was reminded why I’d moved out of the house while still a senior in high school. Loretta wouldn’t let the matter go.

“Kermit, huh? Wasn’t that the name of a frog?”

“A wealthy one, as I recollect,” I said, removing a wad of bills from my shirt pocket. “That reminds me. My clients gave me a hundred-dollar tip today and booked me again for Monday. You should’ve seen the snook they landed. I’ll stick your half in the jar.”

That’s what I paid Loretta, half of my tips, for the use of “her” dock.

“More rich Yankees. If taxes get any higher, they’ll own the whole damn state.”

“They’re from Nashville, and you’ve never met a finer couple. If you don’t want their money, just say so.”

“Are they rich as Kermit? I bet he told you he was rich, too. Don’t believe it. No one with money would stoop to stealing citrus.” Using both hands, she took a sip of her tea. “What’d you put in this? It ain’t sugar. We too broke to buy real cane sugar now? Bet if you made tea for him, it’d be sweet enough.”

Ignoring the woman only made her meaner, but I ignored her anyway. I went through the kitchen to the mantel over the fireplace, where, beside the clock, was a vase with a lid. I made sure the lid clanged good and loud after I deposited a fifty. But easy profit wasn’t enough to derail an interrogation.

“Are you sleeping with him?”

“Hard to keep track,” I said, spooning more sugar into her tea. “I average about seven men a week. Which one you talking about?”

“Might as well said seven hundred. You’d be walking different if that nonsense was true. I mean, the married man just now! He looked at you like something served with gravy on a plate. Don’t tell me you two ain’t having carnal relations. Lie all you want, but I know the signs.”

“You’ve had plenty of experience,” I said agreeably.

“None of your sass. I know, because I watched your face when he got out of the truck. And the way your body acted-that’s something a woman can’t hide. Hannah, the way you perked up, pilots could’ve seen your nipples from an airplane. It ain’t that cold out, sweetie. You think the frog-named man didn’t notice?”

I straightened my collar to allow a quick glance down. My shirt was frost gray with buttons and vented sleeves from L.L.Bean; a size too large, for that’s what I prefer. Beneath was an Athleta sports bra, designed for modesty and comfort. Fishing can be wet work, so I’m careful about such things.

“I believe I’ll speak with Tomlinson about the weed he brings you,” I said. “You’ve either got the eyes of an eagle or you’re hallucinating. Loretta”-I held up a warning hand-“I don’t mind insults in private, but if you ever speak like that in front of others, I’ll… I’ll-” I couldn’t think of a threat I hadn’t made, nor one that offered the hope of working.

“In front of Kermit, you mean?” she chimed in. “You’re a fool if you think he came here just to steal a box of oranges and a citrus tree. You know how I hate a person who nags, but-”

“Mr. Chatham trusted him,” I interrupted. “He hired Kermit to save his groves from disease. I’m helping out of respect for a man who was good to us-” Midsentence, I stopped and backed up. “What do you mean, ‘stole a tree’?”