Homecoming (33 page)

“Perfect,” Lizzie said, snaking an arm around her waist as they started to walk. “Make sure you use that tonight. Can’t wait.”

***

Jill waved across the bustling dining room when Karen stood. “Are you sure you’re okay to talk about this?” she asked as they moved through the restaurant. “Neither Karen nor Becky will bring it up. They’re very respectful of people’s privacy.” They slipped by the hostess as Jill pointed to her friends.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Might as well get it over with.”

They sat down and ordered drinks when the server bustled over. Lizzie took a sip of her water, with Jill noting her hands were a little shaky. “I…uhm…I’ve always identified as bisexual.”

Both Karen and Becky were giving her their full attention, but neither one pressed for more information, which made Jill love them all the more.

“I honestly wish I were lesbian,” she said quietly. “It would be easier in a lot of ways.”

“I think that’s true,” Karen said. “I work with a lot of people who identify as bi, and many of them feel like they’re caught between two worlds, neither of which understands them well.”

“Right,” Lizzie said, nodding. “But my real mistake has been never coming out as bi. My family doesn’t know,” she added, giving Jill a quick glance. “Well, my mom knows now, but I still have to tell my dad and six siblings.” She rolled her eyes. “And my grandparents, four aunts, three uncles and about a dozen cousins.” She put her head down on the table for a few seconds, moaning, “Why did I wait until now?”

Jill put her hand on her back and gave it a gentle scratch. When she looked up, both of her friends were giving her sympathetic looks. That helped. It really did. But it didn’t make Lizzie’s task a bit easier.

***

When they reached Lizzie’s apartment, Jill put the car in park and turned it off. “Are you busy this week?”

“Uh-huh. Very. We stop having outdoor events soon, so every day in August is booked. But I’ll be able to go to Sugar Hill next weekend.” She bit at her lower lip. “I’ll probably have to go on Sunday, though. No way I can get the whole weekend off.”

Jill stroked her cheek. “It’s okay, Lizzie. Wait for another week if you need to.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head quickly. “I’ve made up my mind. I’ll go on Sunday, and be back for our boat ride on Monday.” She took Jill’s hand, with her expression sunny and bright once again. “We’ll have fun on our boat ride.”

“I won’t see you until then?”

“Mmm. If you really want me to, I could come over after work one night, but it’ll be late.”

“No, don’t come just to sleep. That just makes your commute worse.”

“Let’s see how my week goes. I assume you start to get busy right after Labor Day?”

“Pretty much.” She thought of not seeing Lizzie for a week, deciding that wasn’t acceptable. “Let me go to Sugar Hill with you on Sunday. Then you don’t have to take the train.”

“Uhm… You know I’d love to have you, but I should talk to my dad alone.”

“I’ll drop you off, then go to my parents’.” She leaned over and put her arm around Lizzie’s shoulders, pulling her close. “I want to be there for you. I know you’ll need to talk.”

“Okay. I normally wouldn’t let you drive that far just to keep me company, but I have no idea how this is going to turn out. I’d like the support.”

“You’ve got it. Call me if you have any free time this week. And if not, I’ll see you on Sunday morning.”

Lizzie kissed her cheek, then pulled back a little. “Why don’t I come to your house on Saturday night? Sleeping with you will calm me down.”

“My bed is yours. Any time, Lizzie.”

“That’s a nice thought.” She put her hand behind Jill’s neck and pressed gently. Their lips met for a long time, with Lizzie slowly pulling away. “I like you. A whole lot.”

“I like you too,” Jill murmured, her voice taking on a husky tone. “See you on Saturday.”

Jill couldn’t get rid
of a low-level anxiety that nipped at her all week. By Saturday she was a bundle of nerves, having gotten herself worked into a lather worrying about Lizzie. Exercise hadn’t helped. Even as she rode her bike to near exhaustion, images of Mike reacting badly kept popping up.

Her legs were quivering with fatigue when she finished cutting the grass, so she sat on the front porch and read for a couple of hours, managing to transport herself to another world—one where the lesbians in question had issues that made hers pale in comparison. Regrettably, she’d read too fast, finishing the book as the sun started to drop behind the house, leaving her hours to kill before Lizzie would arrive. But now a nice breeze dried her T-shirt and gave her the boost she needed to fetch her half-moon edger and tackle the errant grass trying to climb the walk.

Edging was always slow going, but she had to concentrate to keep the line nice and straight. And focusing on something—anything other than Lizzie—was a good idea. Feeling a little nostalgic, went to her favorite music streaming app, selected a band she’d liked in high school, then let her headphones encase her in sound.

She’d started at the porch, and by the time she’d gotten to the street it was getting too dark to see. All of her focus was on the last bit she had to finish, and when something wet and soft licked a swipe across the back of her knee, she yelped in surprise. The edger fell and she whirled around to find an adorable strawberry blonde puppy excitedly leaping into the air. Right behind the puppy, laughing silently, was Becca.

“Hey,” she said, before realizing her headphones were still on. She yanked them off, then squatted down to pet the puppy. “What do we have here?” The dog joyfully licked her cheeks and neck.

“This is Daisy,” Becca said, bending over to pet the dog and pull her from Jill.

“She’s adorable. Really, really cute.” Jill stood and dusted some of the grass trimmings from her sweaty legs. “Boomer liked nothing better than to lick my legs after I cut the grass. I thought that was one of his particular quirks.”

Becca laughed, the melodic sound bringing back nice memories. “I told you every dog likes that. You thought Boomer was really unique, but he was just a typical dog.”

Their eyes met, and Jill’s stomach fluttered, thinking about how the three of them had been the closest thing to a family she’d had since she’d left Sugar Hill. “But he was a great one. You’ll never convince me otherwise.”

“I’d never try.” Becca bent and picked the puppy up, letting out a grunt as she stood. “I’m not going to be able to do this for long, but I love holding her.”

Jill stepped closer and scratched Daisy’s belly. A wide pink tongue fell from her mouth and dangled limply as she squirmed with delight. “How old is she?”

“Six months this week.” The sweet, calm expression that had first attracted Jill faded into the stern, chiding one that had become far too common over the time they were together. “Some idiots bought her and wouldn’t train her or cage her when they weren’t home. Then, when she chewed up their stuff and wet the carpet, they gave her to Golden Retriever Rescue. Broke their kids’ hearts, and Daisy’s too.”

“I think she’ll bounce back,” Jill said, leaning over to let the puppy lick her cheek again. “Actually, I bet she hasn’t thought about them since you showed up.”

Becca bent and put the dog back onto the ground, where she immediately started to lick Jill’s sweaty legs, so enthusiastic that her wagging tail created a breeze.

“I think she’d like it if I left her here.” Becca reached down and petted the dog, trying to calm her down. “Animals can’t resist you.”

Jill almost made a joke, about wishing women liked her as much as animals did, but she slammed her mouth shut just in time. Becca would
not
find that funny. “Did you come by just to introduce me to your new family member?”

“Yeah. We’re going on long walks to drain some of her energy, and we found ourselves not too far away.”

That couldn’t be true. Jill didn’t know Becca’s exact address, but knew she lived fairly close to the airport. That had to be three miles away, too far to walk with a puppy. But she hadn’t heard a car drive up so… “You guys must be thirsty. Come in for a drink.”

“We’ve stopped a few times already,” Becca said. “But Daisy will always accept a bowl of water, even if just to play in it.”

They went around to the back, Jill’s usual entry. The boys had been coming to the front door and peering out the glass every once in a while, just to make sure she’d return to feed them soon, but they were nowhere to be found when Jill opened the back door. “Let me find a bowl that won’t break,” she said as she went to the cabinet where she kept mismatched pieces.

“Still haven’t done the kitchen, I see,” Becca said.

“Nope. It’ll take me another year to save up enough to pay for what I want.”

“Hey, do you mind if I go say hello to the fellas?”

Jill pulled out Boomer’s metal water bowl, a burst of shame hitting her when she realized that was the only thing she’d hung onto from three years with Becca. Warm brown eyes went to the bowl, then they met Jill’s and they shared a sad smile. “I’m glad you kept that,” Becca said.

“I thought he might come by and visit,” Jill said, revealing more than she’d planned. She wasn’t sure how she’d thought the dog would get to her house, but she had a fantasy that Becca might grant her visitation rights. Given that they hadn’t spoken since the day Becca and Boomer moved out, that was a crazy wish.

“He would have liked to,” Becca admitted. “He really missed you.”

“Yeah.” Jill stared at the floor for a few seconds. She wanted to say the same about the cats, but she was fairly sure they wouldn’t miss even her so long as someone else let them sleep on them and fed them equally well.

“I’m going to go find those little monkeys,” Becca said, her voice strained with emotion. “I’ll close the door so Daisy doesn’t follow.”

Jill watched her go, then filled the bowl and slid down the wall to get down to Daisy’s level. “No pressure,” she said quietly. “But you’ve got some pretty big paw prints to fill. I hope you make your new mommy as happy as Boomer did.”

The puppy stood on her crossed legs and licked her face in a frenzy, making her laugh so hard her sides hurt. She knew it wasn’t smart to let a dog do that, but Becca had always been the disciplinarian. She could easily fix any bad habits Jill would instill.

They went outside and walked around the backyard, with Daisy sniffing every interesting spot, which were many. It was fully dark, and Jill had to strain to keep an eye on the energetic pup as it nosed around the backyard on this moonless night.

Becca had been upstairs for what felt like a very long time, but Jill didn’t want to leave Daisy alone in the kitchen. She didn’t think the puppy would do any harm, but didn’t want to upset her. This was the biggest reason she hadn’t gotten a dog of her own. She didn’t have it in her to discipline a puppy and set rules, yet she hated to be around badly behaved dogs. She’d solved that dilemma by remaining dog-less, but knew she was missing out. You couldn’t maintain an office-induced bad mood when a happy, frisky dog practically did cartwheels to welcome you home.

Daisy was bored, and had decided it was time to see her mommy. She sat by the back door, whining softly and giving Jill a yearning look. “Okay. We’ll go check on her. She must have fallen asleep or something.” She scratched under the puppy’s chin as she put her leash on. “Maybe you did walk over here, huh? Did you wear your mommy out?”

They went up to the second floor tentatively. Daisy was a little clumsy, but her desire to see her mommy was greater than her fear of the stairs, which she clearly did not have much practice with. When they reached the bedroom, the dog stopped abruptly, sat down with a thump and stared.

Becca was sitting on the bed, with two very alert cats now standing stock-still as they stared back at this unwelcome visitor. Jill expected them to hurl themselves over the dog’s head and escape to the kitchen, but they must not have been sure they could make it. Oddly, the puppy didn’t make a sound. Daisy just tilted her head and stared, puzzled.

“I’m afraid to move a muscle,” Becca whispered.

Jill tore her focus from the rigid cats to look at Becca, who Jill now saw had been crying. “If Daisy stays quiet, they might just slink away.”

“Maybe they could be friends,” Becca said, sounding so wistful that Jill was taken aback.

“I don’t think they want friends,” she said, then winced when Becca’s chin started to quiver.

She reached for Goliath, who backed away from her touch, his eyes so wide it was comical. He truly looked like he was facing a legion of fearsome animals, and had mere moments to figure out the best way to defend himself. He obviously thought he had to make a move, for he got down low and a nanosecond later he and David were gone. They touched down soundlessly, then must have gotten under the bed. That was Daisy’s cue and she yanked away from Jill’s weak hold and tried to wedge herself under the bed as well. Luckily, the space was too small for the big-boned puppy to fit, and she only managed to stick her face under, with a paw swiping ineffectively at the now hissing cats.

Daisy whined and barked, then Becca stood and gathered her leash. With a sharp tug, she had the dog at her side. “Quiet,” she said with calm authority. “Quiet,” she repeated, then pressed down on the puppy’s hip until she sat, gazing up at her, while still whining in frustration at the very tempting playmates she desperately wanted to engage. “Good dog,” Becca said, her voice now warm and encouraging. “You’re a good dog.”

“Damn, I wish I could do that,” Jill said.

“You’ll never be good at training a dog. You’re too soft a touch.” She smiled, but there was a clear measure of sadness behind her dark eyes. “But I bet we could make things work this time.”

Jill just stared at her, at a complete loss.

“Boomer was almost ten when we moved in. With Daisy being so young, I’m sure the cats wouldn’t see her as a threat.”

“We didn’t break up because of the animals,” Jill said, trying to be as diplomatic as possible.