The Ceremonies by T.E.D. Klein

Author:T.E.D. Klein [Klein, T.E.D.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Mystery, Fantasy, Horror, Fiction
ISBN: 9780553250558
Publisher: Bantam Books
Published: 1984-06-30T23:00:00+00:00

July Sixth

Had she meant the letter as bait? In retrospect Carol was forced to admit that perhaps there had been something slightly calculating about it. But then, she'd merely hoped to be invited back to the farm before the end of summer. Never for a moment had she expected that Freirs himself might show up in the city - and only two days later.

'I thought I'd go by that restaurant again,' he began, telephoning her at work, 'just in case that goddamned book bag turned up.' And then, as if it were an afterthought: 'Anyway, you sounded like you might be in the mood for a little company. So here I am.'

He was calling from the Port Authority bus terminal; it was nearly four o'clock on a hot and muggy Wednesday afternoon. He had gotten a ride to Flemington that morning, shortly after reading Carol's note, and had taken the early bus out. Though he'd be stopping down on Bank Street first, to search his apartment and talk with the new tenants, this evening he expected to be free. Would she care to meet for dinner? He would pick her up at seven thirty.

Two hours still remained before she could leave work, and Carol spent them thinking of what lay ahead. Freirs hadn't said anything about where he planned to stay that night. No doubt he planned to stay with her, in her bed. The thought was a disturbing one, yet undeniably attractive; she turned it over and over in her mind.

What struck her first was his presumption. Did he actually believe that, having put him off once - or twice, if you counted their first date - she now owed him this night? Yes, quite likely he did; for, considering how methodical he could be, how stiff-necked and precise, it wouldn't have surprised her if he were one of those conscientious souls who proceeded according to schedule: first date a kiss, second something stronger, third a night in bed.

But wait, maybe even here she was being old-fashioned. Maybe she was living in the past. After all, Jeremy had been married once, and perhaps for him the usual three days' expectations had long since been compressed into a single busy evening. In which case, Carol realized, she was already in his debt twice over - though it scarcely made the prospect more inviting; she'd be damned if she was going to give herself to him simply out of social obligation. When she took a lover it would have to be someone special, not just an impatient man exacting his due.

And yet... And yet by the end of their weekend together, she had been resigned - no, more than resigned, she had been determined to sleep with him, if not there at the farm, then somewhere else. She'd known it ever since that first evening together: that he would be the one. She had been ready then - and she was ready now.

And how pleasant it would be to he with

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