Eleven Years

Eleven years.  Had it really been eleven years?  Shannyn had not driven these roads since her college years when she was a guide for some of the Ante Bellum homes during her summer breaks.  She loved Longwood for its famous “snapshot in time” quality.  If she remembered correctly, the owner, Dr. Haller Nutt had artisans from Pennsylvania constructing what was to be and still is the most magnificent southern mansion ever conceived.  Once word of President Lincoln’s call to arms reached the Pennsylvanians, they immediately dropped their tools leaving them where they fell. Having never returned from war, the magnificent octagonal castle was never finished and the tools remain in the same place they were left.  Unfinished…after all of these years it has stood for so long…unfinished and unchanged.

Shannyn pulled into the parking lot of Fat Mamas Tamales.  Even if you didn’t like tamales when you went in, you were a tamale lovin’ fool when you came out.  She wasn’t sure how long the establishment had been in Natchez, but she never remembered a time when it wasn’t.  She walked in and ordered the minimumhalf dozen tamales and a Dos Equis.  The beer and tamales were ready in no time, and it was a good thing because she was starving.  She had refused to eat the ever-so-tempting deep fried gas station cuisine whose annually recycled grease created an odor of such putrid staleness that it penetrated her clothing and kept the fibers in its unrelenting clutches for no less than one hundred and twenty miles each time she had to gas up during her eight hour journey.  She finished her beer before she finished her first tamale and the waitress had another one on the table before she could even summon her.

“The way you drank that first one, hon, I knew you’d need another’n here perty soon”, she said with that “at home” southern charm.

Shannyn just grinned as she playfully chided herself for being so obvious.  Her dad used to always say, “If your first beer tastes good, then you needed it!” 

“I guess I really needed that one”, she said out loud and laughed.  “Did I just laugh?” she thought.  It had been such a long time since she did anything but stress about work.  She had tried to decompress during the drive, but her workaholic nature got the best of her and she phoned into work just to see if there were any questions or things she needed to handle before she reached her destination.  As she predicted, all was taken care of … no emergencies, no fires to put out. She had caught everything up before she left and had a fantastic team that could damn near handle anything thrown at them.  She was very proud of the group she had put together, but then again, she wanted them to need her.  It’s nice to be missed…by someone.

Shannyn finished up her second tamale and asked for the rest to-go.  She knew Darnell would appreciate a little bit of Fat Mama’s take-out.  She walked out into the parking lot and stared across the alley at Fort Rosalie.  It was a beautiful red brick mansion with enormous white columns in front.  It was built around 1716 by the French and was their “fort” or center of trading with the Natchez Indians.  The back of the mansion faced the Mississippi River, but the French had enough foresight not to build to near the edge of the bluff.  A beautiful lush green St. Augustine grass lawn extends out toward a gazebo.  From this lavish structure, one can view one of the most breathtaking vistas of the Mighty Mississippi.  She didn’t know what it was about this particular bend in the River, but she had been at other places along the Mississippi River and none of the views were as captivating as this.  She knew she wasn’t the only one who felt this way, for this particular stretch of bluff was prime real estate.  Luckily for her, Darnell had purchased this beautiful three story home just four blocks from Fort Rosalie.  He found it about thirty years ago in such a state of disrepair, that it had almost been condemned.  With the help of his benefactor, Ms. Pretorius-or Miss Pretty as we all refer to her, he was not only able to restore the home to its original grandeur, but he was able to furnish it with luxurious antiques that were accurately suited for the historical time period of the home.  He and Miss Pretty liked to travel together quite a bit, and at thirty one years her junior, he sometimes had a tough time keeping up with her.  He had always longed to have a bed and breakfast, and this type of business suited his lifestyle quite well.  He never had a difficult time keeping his rooms full, and when he wanted to go on a trip, he had the freedom to go. 

Although Shannyn had not stayed there in over a decade, Darnell was thrilled when he got her call last month.  They had been in touch through the years, but her friendship with Darnell had waned much like all of the other relationships in her life.  The difference with Darnell was that he was a very low maintenance friend.  Whether they talked once a week or once every six months, it didn’t seem to alter their delight in speaking to each other. 

Shannyn had met Darnell during the Spring Pilgrimage fifteen years ago.  She was on Spring Break from college and went home with her first girlfriend, who lived across the River in a small Louisiana town.  Her then girlfriend had said she could take her around to all of the Ante Bellum homes herself, but to learn the history and to get the feel of the families who lived there and what their life was truly like, you had to have someone who was knowledgeable and passionate about history and the preservation of it and the guides of the tour were just that.  Darnell was so well versed in the history of Longwood, that he could discuss architectural details of the octagonal phenomenon with the most inquisitive of visitors, many of whom were architects themselves.  Once his tour of Longwood was at an end, there was a hush among the crowd as the realization that the War Between the States was not just something that we had to read about in American History class, it was real.  And being inside Longwood was like being inside a photograph in which you are the only one capable of moving about.  Darnell’s theatrical delivery and dramatic ending was enough to entice Shannyn back to his tour of Longwood twice more that week. They struck up conversations after the tours and he made her an offer she couldn’t refuse.  He would be able to get her a part time guide position and would trade her out room and board for her help with his bed and breakfast.  He was in his fifties and not able to do some of the things he used to.  He could manage in the fall and winter because business was slower, and he was only open during the Pilgrimage in the spring.  The summer, however, was his bread and butter and he could not afford substandard service.  Shannyn jumped at the chance and the rest was history.

As she pulled into the circular driveway of Decadence B&B, she saw Darnell clipping fresh flowers for the sitting room.  She got out of the car and heard a familiar drawl hurl an all too familiar greeting, “Well, I declare, look what the cat dragged in”.   

  “Look what it left on the porch” Shannyn shot back the obligatory playful banter. 

Darnell howled in delight and said, “Sugah, you look divine. You’ve been takin’ good care of yourself”     

“And you, kind sir, have not aged a day” she replied.

He walked up to her and gently placed his hands on either shoulder, “Unlike fine wine, our lies have not improved with age, my dear. “

She winced a little at the truth, “Is it that bad?” 

“Nothing a week of R&R at the B&B won’t cure, sugah.  You let Darnell take care of you for once.” 

“Oh Darnell, you’re t he best”

“Sugah, if I had a tiara for every time I heard that one…Oh wait, I think I just might”

Shannyn threw her head back and had a good old fashioned belly laugh.  It was so long overdue that it brought tears to her eyes.

“I brought a couple of tamales from Fat Mama’s, you interested?”  she offered  breathlessly.

“Sugah,  we don’t all have your tight little body and if I want any TOM-ales, I have to lay off the tamales”

“Ooooooo , who’s Tom?”

“Just some little ol’ casino owner down by the River”

“What does Miss Pretty think of this?”

“Oh, she loves Tom.  She told me she wanted someone to take care of me when she’s gone. And I told her that would be unnecessary because she will out live us all!”

“That would not surprise me one bit,” Shannyn could see tears welling up in Darnell’s eyes as he spoke of her.  She decided to let the subject drop for now.  A bottle of wine at sunset may make the subject a little easier to talk about.

“Well, let’s get your bags upstairs to your old room.  I’ll get Dani to get them for you. You’ve had a long drive.”

“Nonsense, Darnell, I can get my own bags and I surely remember the way.  Just let Danny finish whatever project you’ve got him on at the moment.  I am going to soak in the tub for awhile.” Before he could object, Shannyn had picked up her bags and began marching toward the front door.  Once inside, she stopped to take it all in.  Rose colored crystal chandeliers, ornate mirrors, beautiful pieces of furniture that dated back to the 1870’s.  A few pieces had changed and some had a little wear, but after all was said and done, why mess with perfection?

Shannyn entered the winding staircase and prepared for her ascent to the third floor.  The third floor had only two rooms separated by a bathroom.  There was also a balcony, with beautiful French doors providing access for each room. This is where Darnell and whoever was helping him out at the time would be staying.  She and Darnell had spent many sunsets on that balcony and she was looking forward to a few more. 

When she got to her old room, only a few things had changed, such as new curtains, new bedspread and a new settee.  She let her bags drop to the floor and she walked over to the bed and sat down.  The mattress felt the same, but someone had replaced those creaky springs.  She lifted her eyes toward the ceiling and placed her hands together in a sincere thank you to the powers that be.  Those springs used to wake her up every time she would roll over in her sleep.  She eventually got used to it, but she wasn’t sure if she could have still tuned it out.  Check off one less thing to worry about this week. 

Shannyn unpacked her toiletries quickly and laid her clothes out on the bed.  She had already begun to draw her bath since it took awhile for the tub to fill up.  She looked at her watch and then outside and guessed that she had about two hours till sunset, which meant an hour and a half to be out on the balcony drinking.  This meant an hour to soak away the day , the year, who was she kidding…the decade.  “ Well, you gotta start somewhere” she thought .

The water was borderline too hot, but she adjusted quickly to the temperature.  Darnell had left her some handmade French soaps, some bath salts, and even a little bath pillow.  Oh, how she loved that man’s attention to detail.  She was just about to drift off into a mindless state of being when she heard someone in her room.  It couldn’t be Darnell, he always makes a grand entrance to let her know he is there.  This person was being intentionally quiet.

“Who’s there?”

No answer

“Who’s there damnit?”

“Oh, I ‘m terribly sorry for intruding” came a female voice from her room. 

“Who are you and why are you in my room?” Shannyn sat up in the tub prepared to get out and confront the trespasser if she didn’t get an answer she liked.

“I’m Dani,”

“Dani?”

“Yes, I am Darnell’s niece.  I help him out during the summers.  He, um, asked me to bring this bottle of wine to you along with his regrets for the evening.  Miss Pretty called and he went dashing out of here in quite a hurry.”

“If you don’t mind, could you come a little closer to the bathroom door so we don’t have to shout at each other?”

“Of course, how’s this?”

“Uh, fine…that’s fine”  Shannyn suddenly seemed a little uneasy at the thought of a complete stranger being on the other side of the door…so close, while she was so vulnerable. Especially when that stranger’s voice seemed to wrap itself around her…penetrate her…sooth her-- even during a most innocent conversation.  The voice was a little higher than hers and she possessed that sultry, genteel southern lilt.  Shannyn tried to picture what she must look like, but then perished the thought out of fear that she may look like one of those overweight phone sex operators that clip their toenails while sucking your bank account dry with a golden voice. 

“Are you ok in there?” said the voice.

Shannyn snapped back into reality, “Oh, yes…I’m, uh, fine.  I was just wondering how Miss Pretty is doing?”  “Nice save, Shannyn,” she thought to herself. 

There was a slight pause, “ Well, she is still very spry and her wit is as sharp as ever, but she had a stroke about eight months ago and her speech is affected along with her right leg.  She uses a walker, but she is absolutely determined to be gardening in her silly hat by fall. Darnell dotes on her now, more than ever.”

“I guess that explains why he was so upset earlier and why he had to cancel our sunset date.”

“Sunset date?” the voice inquired.

“Well, Darnell and I have this tradition of sharing a bottle of wine, sometimes two, just before the sun sets over the River.  It makes catching each other up on the other one’s life a little less ….stressful, for lack of a better word”

“I can identify with stress.  I’m not out there making my mark just yet, but college is its own category of stress.  If I hadn’t been coming here to help my uncle for the past few summers, I don’t think  I could have made it this far with my sanity still intact”

“Sanity is overrated…I think I might try insanity for awhile” Shannyn quipped.

The voice laughed, “I may go with you, if you don’t mind the company”

“So far, the company’s great”….what are you saying, Shannyn!!  Stop!!  Nah…Do something insane…it’s okay

“Thank you, I feel the same” said the voice…Dani’s voice.

“So how many bottles of wine did Darnell send?”

“One”

“Well, one bottle should get us through the actual sunset, if you care to join me”

“I would love to join you, Shannyn”.  Dani placed her cheek against the door and closed her eyes.  She was wet with desire at the thought of being so close to her long lost first love.

Shannyn shivered as she thought she heard a hint of desire in the voice on the other side of the door.  Maybe she was imagining things.  Maybe she had shivers because there was a draft..yeah, that’s it…a draft.”Insanity”, she thought, “Go with it”

“So, um, Dani….do you think one bottle of wine will be enough?  I could always go next door into Darnell’s room and pick from his private stash?”

She laughed that beautifully feminine laugh again…and this time Shannyn felt curiosity, lust or maybe both.  “Okay, what’s so funny…did he drink it all?”

“No, nothing like that, it’s just that Darnell has moved downstairs.  He has trouble walking up these stairs, so we moved him last summer.”

“Then who…I mean…Do you?....Are we?”

“Yes, Shannyn, I am in the next room and you and I have the entire third floor to ourselves…and don’t worry about running out of wine.  I have my own private stash as well.  Like many things…it runs in the family.”

She sat in stunned silence for a moment.  The sexual energy that was flowing through that door was enough to warm Shannyn’s body in a way that had nothing to do with the now tepid bath water.  “Okay then, I guess I will meet you out on the balcony in say half an hour?”  She tried desperately to hide the nervous quiver in her voice.

“That will be plenty of time for me to change into something more….suitable for sunsets”

“It’s a date then”….”What are you saying!!! What if you aren’t attracted to her…you haven’t even seen her…now you’ve made a date ….she hasn’t seen you…what if she’s not attracted to YOU!....Insanity”

Dani’s voice was full of girlish enthusiasm, “It’s a date”

“Do you need in here to freshen up?”

“No, I took a nice long bath just before you arrived.  Then I assumed you would probably want one too after a long drive…so I took the liberty of preparing a few things for you.  I hope you liked them.”

“I loved everything…thank you Dani”

“It was my pleasure, Shannyn.  I will meet you in a few minutes”

And with that she was gone.  Shannyn heard the door to her room close and the one to Dani’s open and close.  She jumped out of the tub and proceeded to set a new record for getting ready. Her shoulder length dark hair was nearly dry. Damp was good…it kept her sometimes unruly loose curls at bay.  She unzipped her hanging bag and started to go through what she had to wear.  She opened the closet and began hanging things up as they became a “no”.  When she was almost finished, she noticed a shaft of light beaming through the back wall of her closet.  There was a knot in a piece of wood and it looked as though the center of the knot had fallen out or had been pushed out.  Curiosity got the best of her and she leaned over to peer through the hole.  What she saw next was life altering.











Chapter 2



Dani left Shannyn’s room….giddy….nervous….unsure.  “What if she thinks I am too young or not interesting enough or worse… What if she remembers me from before?”  It would almost be better if she didn’t recognize me at all.”  Most of the time, anonymity was not a luxury for her…especially around here.  Who knows, she had changed a lot since she was fourteen…taller, longer hair, bigger breasts, no glasses and the braces were history.  First impressions were everything, and Dani was going to try and distract Shannyn from reliving their first meeting.  Wow, their first meeting.  Dani leaned back against the door to her room as she closed it.  She was sure if Shannyn remembered anything, it would be some bratty rich kid blubbering in the backseat of mommy and daddy’s new Mercedes, whining because she didn’t want to go to Europe.  She, however, had a completely different memory.

Dani had spent the last two weeks with her Uncle Darnell in Natchez.  She went to a private school and their classes ended a little earlier than the public schools and universities.  She was on cloud nine with her uncle’s undivided attention for two whole weeks.  He took her to all of the old mansions and explained their history.  They would dress up and pretend they were some of the nabobs of Natchez….millionaire cotton plantation owners….having iced tea, talking in exaggerated Southern accents and re enacting their own version of ‘Gone With the Wind’. Dani smiled at the memory of Uncle Darnell in a hoop skirt and she in an oversized man’s suit getting to swear for the first time by saying that she ‘didn’t give a damn’.    She ran the film of those memories over in her head thousands of times throughout the next few years.  That was her glimpse into a carefree childhood and she clung to it.  She knew she had to go to Europe with her parents and it would have been great if they were going to vacation like normal people and take a sightseeing tour, go to a museum, or even buy some lousy souvenirs….but that would never happen with Preston and Meredith Von Skagen.  They would stay in luxurious hotels, have room service each morning so that her parents could start arranging their social/business schedules in order to make new ‘friends’ and nurture old ones.

Ski trips were booked, dinners were planned, party invitations responded to and of course shopping…. Lots of shopping.  Surely no one expected her mother to wear anything from one of the four suitcases she brought.  American clothes were so crude and lifeless…Europe was the center of couture. 

Dani resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her mother’s preoccupation with fashion. In the following years, however, that same preoccupation came in pretty handy...but, her mom…well, her mom had not always been that way.  After Dani’s father died and her mom married Preston…it was like watching her mom become a different person right before her very eyes.  She was trying to be the perfect socialite wife.  She read all of the “Miss Manners” books, she began studying fashion and learning everything she could about the designers for the rich and famous.  She even sent Dani to charm school, which despite her initial objection turned out to be quite informative and fun.

Dani steered her wandering thoughts back to that fateful day.

                                  …. “But why do I have to go? You and Preston are just going to go to parties with a bunch of snobby drunks and leave me in the hotel room with my keeper”

“That is quite enough, young lady.  You will not speak to me in that tone of voice,” her mother hissed in that deadly ‘mom whisper’

Dani knew she had pushed her mother a little too far.

“For your information, dear, the itinerary for this trip has been scheduled with you in mind.  You see, it is time for you to start meeting some of the right people.  Now, you march yourself downstairs…chin held high and get into the back of that car.  We will not speak of this again…do you understand?”

She nodded as silent tears streamed down her face.  She was overwrought with teenage angst which seemed to magnify every out –of- control emotion that whirled around inside of her.  She walked down the stairs as instructed and out the front door.  Her Uncle Darnell and Preston were in a heated discussion and did not even notice her as she crawled into the backseat of the car not bothering to close the door.  Finally out of everyone’s view, she was able to cry.  She buried her face in her hands and her silent tears turned into sobs of defeat.  Was this her life? Was she forever going to be “given direction”….always acting the way she “should”…..following the rules of society’s self appointed elite…..a prisoner of expectation.  She was nearly fifteen and they were still treating her like a child.

Just moments into her pity party, she felt someone slide into the backseat next to her and place a hand on her shoulder. 

“There, there…it can’t be all that bad.  Why, I don’t see you attached to any shackles, thumbscrews, or other tortuous medieval devices unless of course, you count Darnell’s ‘mystery breakfast’ as torture.  And if that’s the case,  I will sit right here and join your tearfest on pure principle…that man’s gotta be stopped!”

Dani remembered looking up through swollen eyes, strands of unbrushed hair sticking to her tearstreaked face.  Her eyes were a little blurry from the tears, but once things came into focus, she found herself looking into the biggest brown eyes she had ever seen.  Their depth was accentuated by a thick fringe of dark lashes and she felt herself spiraling toward them…captured….forever. 

Dani let out a sigh, as the intensity of that one moment washed over her again like it had for over a decade.  “My, how time moves so effortlessly forward while we struggle to remember the past and live in the moment” she thought wistfully.

“Time…oh, no…..look at the time!”  She flung open her closet door, grabbed her shoes and the aqua-blue cotton sundress that she had picked out earlier and tossed them on the bed.  She quickly removed everything but her panties since it was impractical to wear a bra with this type of dress…not to mention, she felt sexier without one.  She giggled to herself as she grabbed the lotion from her nightstand…“ Hmm..’Sweet Southern Nights’, let’s see if you can deliver on that promise.”

She applied the lotion to the tops of her feet, then around her ankles gradually working her way upward to her thighs. She always took her time when she began her lotion ritual.  She liked the feel of her own body, and her body liked the feel of her hands… and sometimes, when she was alone…she would touch herself in a way that left her body limp with the afterglow of pleasure.  Tonight, however, she would have to abbreviate her ritual and suffer the sexual tension that crackled aimlessly through the thick Mississippi air just waiting to find its mark. 

Dani put her lotion aside and reached over to pickup her dress.  Her long hair fell around her face as she leaned over.

“I wonder if I should put my hair up for this evening?” 

She glanced over her shoulder at the clock.

“Uh…..No…Too much hair and not enough time.”

She quickly stepped into her dress and shoes and walked over to her vanity.  She ran a brush through her hair and let it fall where it may, then used her fingers to tame some of the strays.  She did a skilled touch up on her make-up and put a very light gloss on her lips.  She stopped and stared at her reflection in the mirror.  “This is it…this is really it.  You are going to get your second chance….with her….and maybe, just maybe…with your life.”