month. The books were of course at her fatherâs house. But Fredric wasnât about to break in and steal them. He told her to wait, sheâd have them in six or seven days. But still sheâd panicked. Nothing to do but drive down to UW and buy a new set.
He wanted to release her. But that would mean not only the end of his friendship with Raoul, but also an encounter with Raoulâs viciousness. Fredric had seen Raoul explode; people ended up in the hospital.
The real trouble with guarding Susanna, Fredric was finding he liked her. A great deal. She was lovely to see, despite the baggy clothes heâd bought her. She was lovely to talk to as well. She asked him questions about himself and he wanted to answer them honestly. Not possible.
She had a fine face, good cheekbones, small ears. She didnât use makeup because she didnât have any, and Fredric wasnât about to buy any of that. Talk about drawing attention to himself. Purchasing her clothes at the Sally Ann was bad enough. Rifling through womenâs blouses and pants had made him feel like a weirdo, and he knew everyone in the store was watching him. In actuality only one clerk seemed to have noticed him, and she came over. âCan I help you?â
âOh, uh, no, Iâm just looking for some clothes. To use as costumes. In a play. I was given the job of finding them.â
âDo you have the womenâs sizes?â
âUhm, oneâs kind of short and the other oneâs middle size.â
âLooking for anything special?â
âWell, sort of sporty.â Damn, why hadnât he prepared this better!
âWould you like suggestions?â
Why wouldnât she go away! âIâll know what we need when I see it.â
âPlease yourself. There are sizes marked on each rack.â She left him alone at last.
He bought everything larger than looked right for herâbetter too big than too small. Then a real department store for the underwear. The pantiesâjust plain white cotton, a three-pack, but god, getting into line and handing them to the clerk and her grinning at him, awful. He got so flustered, he dropped his wallet. And the woman behind him was staring at his purchase. Yes, of course he wanted a bag!
Fredric brought Susanna all her meals. He hadnât even thought about feeding her when heâd agreed to Raoulâs prank . His idea of cooking was to order in. But here on this island, anything unusualâhe hadnât seen a lot of fast-food placesâmight raise questions. So heâd decided to learn something new. His other purchases on that expedition, three cookbooks: West Coast Flair for Fish by Gord Quincy, Frieda Hoffâs From Garden to Table and Taquila Gnomesâs Red Meat Health . Heâd bought ingredients at two Friday Harbor stores and begun to experiment. One meal a day was all he could handle. Plus breakfast, open a box of cereal, and lunch, sandwiches. Amazingly, he was enjoying cooking. Helped to have an appreciative and very pretty recipient.
The cutlery was white plastic. The first week heâd given her the food, said little and left her alone. When he came back, sheâd finished everything. After the third dinner, she said, âThank you. Delicious.â
Heâd nodded and smiled, but she couldnât see because he had to wear the balaclava, which was thick and hot. By the second week, heâd shifted to a mask that covered from his brow to below his nose. An Italian mask, from commedia dellâ arte. High forehead, furrowed. Almond eye holes. Chubby cheeks and a broad nose. Thin upper lip to the top of Fredricâs lip. Heâd played the role once, in a school play: Arlechino the Harlequinâservant, trickster, clown. Was that Fredric? At least way better than a balaclava. And lots cooler. In both senses. First time he entered her room with the new mask, she had smiled at him and said, âI like that.â
A few
Olivia Jaymes
Susan Elaine Mac Nicol
Elmore Leonard
Brian J. Jarrett
Simon Spurrier
Meredith Wild
Lisa Wingate
Ishmael Reed
Brenda Joyce
Mariella Starr