The rest of the weekend passed uneventfully. Most of the tenants were gone until Sunday evening, when they straggled back in and prepared for another week of school. Danny Kaiser, much to Louise's surprise, would hardly make eye contact when he came in on Sunday afternoon. Louise felt a vague unease, but chalked it up to a little lingering guilt.
Her other male guests, however, were different. Although they were discreet, it was not unusual for Lonnie or Mark or even Jeremy to give Louise's buttocks a little surreptitious squeeze when they were alone. Louise enjoyed the attention--boy, did she. But she also worried that one of the other young men would see the touching and draw some conclusions.
She made several attempts during the week to draw Danny out, but he seemed embarrassed and unwilling to talk. Louise was a little hurt, but let it go.
On Wednesday morning, Louise was alone in the house, cleaning, when she heard a car pull up in the driveway. She went to a window, and felt a sharp pang of fear when she saw that it was the white Volvo station wagon of Danny Kaiser's parents. Ms. Kaiser got out of the car. She was alone.
The doorbell rang, and Louise quickly straightened her hair and clothes before answering it. She opened the door, and Dorothy Kaiser stood on the threshold.
Dorothy Kaiser was a very attractive woman of forty. She had fine, light blonde hair, bright blue eyes, a slender figure, and full, sensuous lips. She was wearing a silk blouse and light woolen skirt that did nothing to hide a very nice pair of legs. A single solid gold chain hung around her neck. On her right wrist she wore a diamond tennis bracelet, on her left, a Rolex. She was not only attractive, but apparently well-to-do, and Louise wondered briefly how much her cosmetic surgery bill was.
"What a pleasant surprise, Ms. Kaiser. Won't you come in?" Louise asked.
Dorothy Kaiser stepped across the threshold. "I hope that I haven't come at a bad time, Ms. Blaisdell."
"No, not at all. I was just picking up a little. I'm afraid Danny's not here right now. I think he's in his English class this time of morning."
"That's all right. I'm not really here to see Danny," Dorothy replied.
"Oh really? Then is there something I can do for you?"
"Actually, there is. Could we sit down? I'd like to talk privately, if we may."
Dorothy Kaiser was not really smiling, and her mouth seemed a little tense. Louise feared the worst, but did not say anything. She led Dorothy into the kitchen. "How about a cup of tea, Ms. Kaiser?"
"That would be fine, thanks."
While the kettle heated, Louise sat down across the kitchen table from Dorothy and said, "Now, what is it you wanted to talk about?"
"Well, it's a little difficult to say. When Danny was at home over the weekend, he seemed a little...different." Dorothy bit her nail briefly, then stopped abruptly, as if realizing what she was doing.
"Different? In what way?" Louise asked.
"Well, Danny and I have always been very close, much closer that he is with his father. We were discussing school and grades and so forth and, well, your name came up. I never saw such a change come over that boy! He blushed furiously and began stammering about how great you were, and how much he enjoyed living here."
The kettle whistled, and Louise excused herself to attend to the tea. She was grateful for the interruption--she needed time to get herself under control. She didn't know what Dorothy Blaisdell was leading up to, but it couldn't be good. After the tea was prepared, she sat back down at the table, more or less under control.
"Now," Louise said, "you were saying."
"Well, to make a long story short, Danny finally admitted to me, not to his father, that you and he had had a...liaison. I must say, Ms. Blaisdell, that I find it very objectionable. You are a grown woman. You had no right to take advantage of my son like that. I haven't discussed this with my husband--yet. but when I do, I'm sure that we will have to go to the school authorities. I'm sure that you can guess what the repercussions of that might be."
Well, there it was. Danny Kaiser's mother was rightfully accusing her of taking advantage of her eighteen-year-old son. Should she try to lie her way out of it? Or just tell the truth and beg forgiveness?
Louise took a moment to compose herself. She drank a little tea, then looked straight into Dorothy Kaiser's eyes. "Yes, it's true. Danny and I did have an...encounter. It's also probably true to say that I seduced him. But let me tell you, Ms. Kaiser, I did not do it to hurt Danny. I had a moment of weakness, and Danny is a very attractive young man. You yourself are an attractive woman, you must understand that people get urges..."
"I understand that mature people do what they can to control those urges, or at least find a suitable outlet for them," Dorothy Kaiser said.
