The Battered Heiress Blues - By Laurie Van Dermark Page 0,30

me up the stairs and into my room, pulling him down on to me as he tried to lay me back on the bed.

“You won’t sleep with your girlfriend?”

“Girlfriend?”

“Well, what am I?” This was unchartered territory.

Henry sat up and started to undress me, removing the tie off my forehead and then my pants.

“Now we’re getting somewhere.” I leaned forward and began trying to lift his shirt. He thwarted my attempt.

“Typically, when I have sex with a beautiful woman, I require some level of active participation…that she’ll remember. No you don’t.” He quickly moved my hands off his trousers. “We’ve waited far too long for me to make love to you in this state of depravity. Sleep it off. You have a nasty mess to clean up tomorrow. -Night.”

Henry flipped the light off and closed the door. My eyes were heavy. I could fall asleep, except for the washing machine in my stomach, turning and churning. I could feel the burn start moving up my throat. Quickly stumbling to the bathroom, I knocked over everything in my path. Throwing back the toilet seat in the knick of time, I vomited on the curls that had fallen forward. I aimlessly searched for a towel, but felt his leg instead. He stood over me, pulling my hair back while the alcohol and food had their revenge.

“Let’s get you back to bed.” He handed me a cool washcloth.

“No…stay here.” I wouldn’t budge. Movement of any kind made me queasy.

Henry sat down, leaning up against the bathroom wall, opposite the toilet. He pulled me back between his legs and my head rested on his chest. I fell asleep.

Loud noises crashed through my consciousness. What was that damn noise? I forced my eyelids partially open. They were immediately scalded by the sun blazing through the uncovered windows. The sound of metal clanging together was brutal and unnecessary. Kate pushed my door open bewildered.

“Bugger. What is it with you Americans in the morning? Why don’t people use the expensive intercom system in this mansion?” There she stood in the same clothes she had worn the previous evening and her eye shades pushed up on her forehead. Her hair was sticking out in several different directions. Dried vomit had made a visible line from her mouth to the bottom of her chin.

“Not American. It’s a Brit…your brother, I imagine. Yes, I’ll have to show him how to use the intercom system. Either that or duct tape his mouth and hands.”

“I vote for duct tape.”

“Let’s go you tarts. The noise ends when you‘re sitting at the kitchen table.” Henry persisted to torment us with his demands from below, banging the pots and pans until we essentially half-crawled and half-walked down the stairs, stopping for a rest mid-way.

He sat at the head of the kitchen table, behind his Wall Street Journal feeling awfully smug. The smell of eggs made Kate and me audibly gag. He had prepared breakfast with all the trimmings. We sat at his side, across from one another. My head found its rest on the table about the same time Kate began to laugh.

“Nice hair,” she said, pointing at me.

I gave no reply. Instead, I slid the food off the silver tray and held it up to her like a mirror. “Who’s laughing now, rooster?”

Henry was amused as he peeked over his newspaper. He neatly folded it and laid it down in front of him. He was all business now, sitting forward and preparing us for his plan.

“Eat if you like, then go upstairs and put some work clothes on. No arguments.”

Kate’s face visibly soured. “Work clothes?”

“Julia has felt sorry for herself long enough and you’ve proven yourself to be a wretched influence. Today, we move forward.” I started to open my mouth. “No talking. Listening. While you hung-over degenerates slept the morning away, I rode to the nursery and purchased sod and flowers to repair Connor’s grave from the storm. We’re working in the cemetery today to make it a place that we can go and be with him. It is time to trim down those privacy hedges and work it out- together. So…go upstairs and get dressed. We don’t honor the dead by getting drunk and going mad. We honor Connor by living.”

“But I have plans with Gabe today...”

Henry shot Kate a look that clearly demanded compliance.

“…and I’ll call him to push it back until this evening.”

“Perfect. Daylight is burning. I have to leave this afternoon to take care of some business. Let’s get a