Chapter Four

"What have you been drinking?” Jimmy sputtered.

“Punch, you nit,” she snapped. She wished he would let go of her but he held her firmly in place. She pushed at his chest and he reluctantly dropped his hands from her arms.

She felt the world start to turn faster than normal and she placed her hands on her knees, leaning forward a bit, ignoring the curious glances of the people going in and out of the hall. She certainly hoped everyone would just go inside, because she was going to be sick.

“Are you okay?” Jimmy asked and Priscilla hated hearing the concern in his voice.

“I’m fine, just go,” she retorted.

Instead of going, Jimmy put an arm around her waist and led her to the side of the building. Leaning heavily against it, Priscilla took a deep breath while a black and white dog eyed them warily.

It felt good to be outside in the night air, away from all those people, away from the stale smell of cheroots filling the air. Priscilla inhaled deeply once more; relieved that her head had decided to stop spinning for the moment and her stomach slowed its violent churning.

“I’m fine,” she repeated. “You can go now.”

“Thanks,” Jimmy replied dryly. “But maybe I’ll stick around to make sure you don’t fall over again.”

“I didn’t fall,” Priscilla grumbled under her breath.

Jimmy laughed softly.

Priscilla raised her head, her eyes flashing. “And I do not need your help,” she said stiffly. “So why are you sticking around here?” She paused, studying him for a moment before she answered her own question. “Waiting for a chance to laugh at me?”

“No,” Jimmy answered, instantly becoming serious.

“You did you duty, you brought me here, so William could bring Lorna,” Priscilla continued. “Your job is done.” She regarded him closely. “How did William persuade you, blackmail?” No one willingly chose to be in her company anymore.

Jimmy arched a brow upward.

“You owe him a favor?” she asked, still fishing. Once again she was met by silence.

“He paid you?” Priscilla continued her query.

“He offered to pay me,” Jimmy admitted.

Priscilla felt her mouth drop open and her stomach lurch once more. She suspected something but she didn’t expect Jimmy to be so blunt about it.

“I see,” she said, turning her head to the right slightly so he wouldn’t see her eyes well up. “I hope it was a lot.”

“So far it’s been nothing,” Jimmy answered, his voice light.

Priscilla pushed herself off the wall, deciding to leave then and there. She stumbled but quickly righted herself. She would not lose her dignity or whatever was left of it. But Jimmy caught her arms once more.

“What is wrong with you?” Priscilla half shouted. “Why do you insist on pawing me all the time?”

“Listen,” Jimmy said loudly, pushing her back against the wall. He put both hands on either side of her head, so she had no choice but to stay in place and she had no choice but to look at him.

“How well do you know Cody?” he asked sternly.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“If you knew Cody, you’d know he has no money, ever.”

“So what? Now he will be indebted to you forever.”

Jimmy laughed softly. “Yeah, like he doesn’t already owe me.”

Priscilla balled up her fist and struck Jimmy on the chest. But he did not so much as flinch. He merely glanced at her hand and continued speaking. “I wanted to come to this dance. With you.”

Priscilla stared at him, thunderstruck. She could not have heard right. “Just because I look like Lorna doesn’t mean I act like her,” she managed. It had happened before; a man rejected by Lorna had turned to her because they shared many of the same features. But where Lorna was sweet, she was tart, where Lorna was demure and thoughtful, she was brash and rarely did she think before speaking.

“I saw you at the pond a few weeks ago,” Jimmy told her.

Priscilla swallowed hard. The way he was looking at her made her weak all over. And what he was saying . . . He knew about the pond incident? And he was still here? With her?

“One of the older girls pushed your little brother in the pond,” Jimmy said with a smile.

“Emily pushed John in,” Priscilla said, supplying the names, as she did not know how else to respond. She knew the story. Her father had been quite cross with her. So why was Jimmy smiling?

“Yeah,” Jimmy said, nodding. “I was coming back from a run and I saw it. I was wondering if he needed any help then I saw you march over and push Emily in.”

“I shouldn’t have done it,” Priscilla mumbled. She had been so angry with Emily that she acted without a single thought. ‘How do you like the water?’ she had shouted at her younger sister.

“But then you jumped in and fished them both out,” Jimmy laughed.

“I had to,” Priscilla muttered. She could not just leave Emily in the water like that. She glanced up quickly and saw, much to her surprise, that Jimmy was still grinning.

“Emily looked so mad and John was ready to cry and you were laughing.” Jimmy shook his head. “Then you all started laughing and started walking away together. I never saw anyone handle a problem the way you do.”

Priscilla lowered her head, feeling utterly confused. He liked that about her? He liked her rash behavior? It made no sense, yet it sent tingles up and down her spine, all the way down to her stomach.

“Is that a good thing?” Priscilla asked softly, still staring at the ground, the blood pounding between her ears. She wanted to hear the words, out loud.

“Very good,” Jimmy whispered, leaning in.

“Oh Lord,” she whispered. She clutched her abdomen, leaned over and threw up, right on Jimmy’s boots.