Cherry Orphan

Chapter 56

Chapter 56

The party had dragged on until past 2:00 A.M.. James lay awake half the night and only managed to drift off to sleep for two or three hours at best. Bittersweet events from the previous day insisted on replaying inside his head.

He heard a nock on his bedroom door as he pulled on a T-shirt. Colleen stood in the doorway wearing slippers and a familiar-looking silk housecoat from the Orient. She barely smiled.

"Morning, James. Can I come in? I see you're dressed."

James stepped aside as she swept into the room, leaving the door open, and pacified the stale air with her perfume. It looked untidy, but not abnormally so for an impromptu visit. "Hello, Colleen. I was just about to come down. Is Bob there?"

She surveyed the scatter of clothes with curious eyes while she spoke. Normally James harbored neat habits, but she'd never been in his room this early on a Monday morning. "Yes. He and Tony are in the study. They've been there for almost an hour. Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"I want you to be very honest with me. I think it's important you are."

"It sounds like you're saying I've not been honest with you?"

She frowned. "Hmm, perhaps slightly less than honest about some things. I'm not saying you deliberately lie to me, but there are things you conveniently set aside from time to time. You know I'm talking about your relationship with Calley... the special part you've always been reluctant to talk about."

He could feel blood rushing to his face as usual whenever something personal and awkward got mentioned. His mouth remained tightly closed.

"I have her back. The Calley I love, and that's mostly due to you—you and Sonia. My gratitude for what you did will never go away." The mother moved closer to him and extended an arm. Her hand rested on his shoulder. "But you will be going away. I don't want any possibility of her becoming emotionally upset by that fact. Help me, James."

He looked at the hand then at her face. Suddenly he shied back. "Calley's happy she's staying. She didn't want to return to England with me. We only played some sexy games, like kids. They were dares. If Calley hadn't told you, you'd never have known."

Colleen followed him with her eyes as he began nervously picking up clothes and generally avoiding any form of eye contact.

"At first that's what they were, I know. How about now? Is there nothing stronger—more emotional between you?"

James stopped and looked at her firmly. The redness in his face seemed more like anger than embarrassment. "We're cousins. I'm not a fool. Neither is Calley."

"Alright, James, I believe you... let's not talk about that for the moment. Would you let me show you something?"

He wasn't happy with this, but there'd be little option except to go along.

She indicated for him to follow and went through the hall to the master bedroom where she slept with Robert: one of the larger rooms in the house. Generally tidy, except the bed remained unmade as Eloisa had yet to arrive from Monterey. "Have you seen this room before?" she asked, turning with a sweep of her hand. "We have a huge bathroom and sauna over here."

This impromptu guided tour didn't make much sense in context with Colleen's other concerns. Offhandedly he shrugged. "I saw it once when I first came."