Passion in James County XIV: A Week In The Mountains
Chapter fifteen
When Frankie and Sue Ervins returned from their walk, he and the three women played a game of "Trivial Pursuits." Frankie could hardly wait to tell Kay what he was sure had happened between Ronny and Mrs. Ervins, but that didn't keep him from winning three of the four games they played. He wanted to get the evening over with so his mother and Mrs. Ervins would go to bed and he and Kay could talk. He was sure that, thanks to Ronny, their problems had been solved, which left him in a very good mood. In fact, his mood was so good he let Kay win the fourth game, although neither she, his mother nor Mrs. Ervins realized he had done it.
"I give up," Sue said when the fourth game ended. She stretched and yawned. "As long as Frankie is playing, there's no way I'm going to win without looking up the answers. I'm not sure how you managed to win that last game, Kay."
Kay shrugged and forced herself to smile, although the smile was half-hearted. "Just lucky, I guess," she said, "Remember, if Frankie hadn't missed that last question, he'd have won four games in a row." Unlike Frankie, she was feeling despondent. She was in agony the whole time the young man and Sue were gone. Although she tried, she couldn't keep herself from imagining that the worst had happened and she feared that, having no choice, Frankie had given in and made love with Sue. The longer they were gone, the more convinced she became that what she feared actually had occurred. In fact, she'd begun to convince herself that not only had Frankie made love to Sue, she was starting to think he'd might have enjoyed it. Why else would they have been gone so long?
By the time the couple returned from their walk, she was near tears, although she was, with much effort, doing a good job of hiding her distraught condition from Gloria, Sue, and Frankie. When Frankie and Sue walked into the cabin, Kay saw the slight flush on Sue's face and the smile on the young man's face and assumed the worst. She just knew Sue had threatened Frankie with disclosure and, having no other choice he gave in and had sex with her. What hurt Kay even more was that it looked as if he'd liked what he and Sue had done, judging from the look of satisfaction on his face when he walked in the door.
While the women went off to their bedrooms. Frankie went into his room, slipped out of his clothes, slipped on a pair of pajama bottoms, and climbed in bed. He was anxious to tell Kay what had happened and hoped his mother and Mrs. Ervins would go to sleep quickly so she could come visit him. He couldn't wait to see her reaction when he told her what happened after Sue Ervins met Ronny Amos.
Kay lay on the bed in her room debating whether or not she should even bother to go over to the young man's room. Distressing visions of Frankie and Sue making love kept running through her mind. The longer she lay there suffering the horrible thoughts, the more convinced she became that they reflected reality and she grew more and more depressed. She continued to lie in her bed with tears rolling down her cheeks, filled with pain.
She tried to ease the pain by telling herself she had no right to be upset. "What claim do I have on Frankie?" she asked herself. "It...it isn't fair for me to be jealous of him if he did what he...he had to...to...to keep from...from getting in...in trouble with his...his parents. If...if he did it, he...he did it for both of us, didn't he? If...if I hadn't gone to bed with him, I wouldn't feel like this. I...I should be angry with myself, not him. I...I just wish he hadn't looked like he enjoyed it so...so much!"
She laid in bed and continued to torture herself with thoughts of Frankie and Sue Ervins making love. What had started as such a wonderful week had suddenly turned very bitter. She rolled over on her side and sobbed softly. Maybe she was wrong about Frankie's feelings for her. Maybe he really didn't care about her as much as she thought he did. Maybe he'd just been taking advantage of her.
Another thought crossed her mind, one that rattled her. "Why am I doing this to myself?" she realized. "I...I'm a married woman. I've been cheating on my husband, and I have the nerve to act like a jealous teenager because Frankie had sex with Sue!"
Time dragged for Frankie, who couldn't understand why Kay hadn't come to his room. He didn't intend to go to sleep, but as time passed and she didn't appear, he lost the battle to stay awake.
Kay continued to agonize with her tortured thoughts. She kept imagining Frankie and Sue making love. The images playing in her mind were the most painful she'd ever had. Finally, angry at what she felt was betrayal by the young man, she sat up and dropped her legs over the side of the bed. She had a look of determination on her face and tears in her eyes. "I've got to know what happened," she thought. "No matter how painful the truth might be. If...if Frankie had sex with Sue...if...if he's just been using me...I...I have to know!" She wiped her eyes and blew her nose, then she stood up, slipped a robe over the blue and white satin nightshirt she'd worn to bed. She took a deep breath to steady herself, then she went to the door, opened it, and checked down the hall. There was no light showing under the doors of the bedrooms Sue and Gloria were in, so she left her room and made her way across the hall to Frankie's room. She felt horrible, and was sure she would be getting painful news.
Frankie awakened, sensed that someone was in his room, and glanced toward the door. In the moonlight coming in through the sliding door along the wall next to his bed, he could see Kay standing in front of the closed door to his bedroom. He started to smile, but then he saw the pained look on her face. He didn't understand why she looked upset.
