Moonstone (30 page)

Joy scrolled through the past several nights of texts from Kelsey while she waited for her Chinese food to-go order. She’d texted Kelsey with the same opening line she’d used a half dozen times already.
I’m picking up dinner. What can I get for you?

Kelsey’s number flashed on the screen, and Joy immediately answered the call.

“Am I a big dork for hoping this phone call means you want to have dinner with me?” Joy asked.

“Big dork?” Kelsey laughed. “It’s nice to hear your voice.”

“The thing is, I’m good at dating. Usually,” Joy said. “I’ve had a lot of practice. But with you…How would you feel about Chinese takeout?”

“I can’t do dinner. I wish I could.”

“I get it. Forget I asked. It’s nice to hear your voice too.”

“No, wait.” Kelsey paused. “I didn’t think it would take me this long to be ready to call you. I owe you about a dozen dinner invitations.” After another long pause, she continued, “I’m parked outside of a dental clinic and there’s this sign with a huge molar staring at me. For some reason, the molar made me realize you weren’t going to wait forever.”

“That might be the strangest thing I’ve heard all day.”

“I want to see you tonight. That’s why I’m calling. But I have a dinner sales pitch with a dentist at five thirty. Sometimes I wish my laptop had been destroyed in the car accident. I could have used that as an excuse to quit my job. I wouldn’t miss these dinner meetings. How late are you going to be up?”

“I’m in bed by ten.”

“I’ll be there by eight.”

Kelsey knocked at a quarter to eight. She was wearing the same outfit she’d worn when they had gone to lunch for the business meeting to discuss the software. The suit looked even better now than before. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, Joy thought. It was one of her father’s old phrases. He’d used to greet her mom with that sentence when he walked in the door after a long day at the office.

“I hope it’s okay that I’m a little early.”

“I was hoping you’d knock on my door years ago.”

“You’re too much.” Kelsey grinned. “What other one-liners do you have?”

“You’ll have to stick around and see. I save them up for the right moment.”

Joy wanted to reach for her, wanted to pull her into an embrace. A kiss was at the top of her list, but she’d settle for a hug. Any touch. But Kelsey hesitated on the doorstep and the smile slipped off her lips. Maybe she was having second thoughts.

“Coming in?” Joy held the door open and Kelsey stepped past her, taking a glance around as if it had been years instead of weeks since she’d last been over.

“I kept wishing I was having dinner with you tonight,” Kelsey said. “I think the dentist was only interested in a free meal. Usually that ticks me off, but tonight I didn’t even care. He finished eating by seven and I wrapped up the sales pitch between bites of crab ravioli. The good thing about the waiters at Vidaris is they get the hint when you want your check quickly.”

“Is that why you picked Vidaris when we went out to lunch?” Joy smiled, knowing she’d caught Kelsey.

“No. That was me trying to impress you,” Kelsey said. “Now I know better. If I could do it over again, I’d have taken you out on the kayak instead.”

“Too bad I said yes to Vidaris.” Joy paused. “Did you save room for dessert?”

“After three little ravioli on one oversized plate—yes.”

“Good.” Joy headed for the kitchen and Kelsey followed. “How does ice cream and a movie sound?”

“You read my mind?”

“No mind reading. If I could do that, I wouldn’t have spent the past couple weeks wondering about you.” Joy dished out two bowls of ice cream. “I like to keep Wednesdays classy around here. Takeout, ice cream and a movie rental. But I didn’t have time to pick up a movie so we’re stuck with my mom’s movie collection.” Joy pointed to the cabinet next to the television. “You can pick.”

Kelsey scanned through the movies and finally picked one from the middle shelf. “
Sleepless in Seattle
. This is going way back.”

“Somehow I’m not surprised that you’re a romantic comedy type.”

“What does that say about me?” Kelsey wondered.

“That you aren’t giving up,” Joy said. Her tone was more serious than she’d meant. She smiled. “I always pick romantic comedies after I’ve broken up with someone. Pure torture.”

Kelsey laughed.

“Why do we do it? Why think that the next time we fall for someone it will be different?” Joy handed a bowl of ice cream to Kelsey. She didn’t expect an answer and Kelsey didn’t have one. But the look in her eyes made Joy’s heart skip a beat.

She took a breath and exhaled. “Anyway, more torture.” She went to turn on the movie. “What would you like to drink? I have wine and water.”

“Water,” Kelsey said. “You know, Hannah and I haven’t been together for months. It isn’t like we just broke up.”

“Then why’d you wait three weeks to come here?”

Kelsey opened and shut her mouth. “Because I was a mess.” She shook her head. “And I didn’t want you to see that. But then I realized it was too late. You already knew.”

Joy poured two glasses of water but she wanted wine. Wine for courage, she thought. She handed Kelsey a glass and then turned on the movie and sat down on the sofa. She’d left plenty of room between them and after the first ten minutes of the show, Kelsey moved to close the space. Joy held out her hand and Kelsey clasped it.

A half smile played on Kelsey’s lips. She laughed easily at the movie’s one-liners and cracked up at the restaurant scene. Joy couldn’t help but laugh too. Kelsey’s returning smile was infectious. It was easy to hold her hand. Joy glanced down at Kelsey’s hand and then stared at the television, hardly hearing the voices on the screen. She wanted to ask Kelsey how she felt about everything—about the car accident and about Hannah. And about starting new. There was no way of knowing if Kelsey had really let go. She couldn’t help but think that three weeks wasn’t enough time to get over an ex—at least not one that you really loved. Joy let go of Kelsey’s hand. Kelsey glanced at her when she did, but neither said a word.

By the end of the movie, Kelsey was shoulder to shoulder with Joy and her hand was on Joy’s thigh. The credits rolled and Joy didn’t move to turn off the show. Kelsey pressed her body closer. Her hair smelled faintly of shampoo, but there was an undeniable hint of chlorine.

“Have you been swimming?”

Kelsey raised an eyebrow. “How’d you know?”

“Chlorine.”

“I started a few weeks ago. At night—between our texts. It was the only thing I could think of that would distract me from coming to your house. If I went on a run instead, I could make it to your house in twenty minutes.”

“Sounds like you’ve tested out the path.”

“I ran over here that first night after everything…after I saw Hannah in the hospital. I stood outside your door for a good ten minutes and then I ran home. You were right. I needed time.”

“Think it’s been long enough?”

“I hope so. I was worried you wouldn’t wait much longer.”

“I’ve waited how many years? What’s a few more weeks?”

“Interminable.” Kelsey grinned.

“Exactly.” Joy laughed. “So how’s the shoulder? I thought you couldn’t swim because of it.”

“I was nervous and I keep expecting the pain. But I think the kayaking has made it stronger. I haven’t pushed it yet, but so far so good,” Kelsey said. “I might even be up for a race sometime.”

“Then I’ve got dibs on your first post-retirement race.”

“You’re looking at fully retired.” Kelsey smiled. “I’m up for a race with you. No butterfly. That’d kill my rotator cuff. And you’d kick my ass,” Kelsey admitted. “Freestyle?”

“I won’t have a chance.”

“Breaststroke doesn’t hurt my shoulder.”

Joy smiled. “You’re on.”

“How’s tomorrow night?”

“You sure it’d be okay on your shoulder? There’s no rush. I’ve waited for a one-on-one race with you for years. I can wait a little longer.”

“What does the winner get?” Kelsey asked.

Joy knew she didn’t have much of a chance of winning, but she was banking on the fact that Kelsey only had the past two or three weeks of training. “A kiss?”

Kelsey blushed, but she looked away quickly and said, “I haven’t raced anyone in a long time. Fourteen years, give or take a few months. Suddenly I’m a little nervous even thinking about racing you.”

“You should be,” Joy said. “And don’t think I’m going to take pity on you and let you win just because it’s been fourteen years.”

Kelsey laughed. “Pity? Yeah, we’ll see.”

If Joy had asked, Kelsey would have spent the night. But there was no offer. She had left after the movie finished, and the drive home was filled with the same doubts that she’d wrestled with for the past several weeks. Only now there were new doubts to add to the list. Something had changed with Joy. Maybe she was holding back or maybe she was pulling away. Kelsey had debated the two possibilities all day. Maybe Joy and Vanessa were getting more serious. As much as she’d wanted to ask, it seemed like the elephant in the room. She wanted to know that Joy wasn’t really into Vanessa, but she couldn’t ask that directly. And Joy never talked about Vanessa. Of course, that wasn’t the only elephant. Kelsey knew that she’d told Joy too much about Hannah. She’d broken one of her own rules of dating. Don’t talk about exes. After Hannah, she doubted she’d ever be good at dating again. And she wouldn’t blame Joy for having second thoughts.

Kelsey sat in the nearly deserted parking lot, staring at the sign for the swimming pool. Joy’s car was parked near the front door. It was too late to text with a forfeit. Her cell phone rang and Hannah’s number blinked on the screen. Kelsey forwarded the call to voice mail. Hannah had called nearly every day. To say hello. Kelsey reluctantly grabbed her swim bag and slammed the rental car door. According to the insurance agent, she was stuck with the cherry red sedan for the next two weeks at least.

Joy was already in the pool doing laps. She had a long stroke that was easy to watch, her body stretching out over the water and hardly a splash as her hands broke the surface. Kelsey stood outside the women’s locker room for a minute, her focus on Joy. The lifeguard didn’t seem to notice. There were only two other swimmers in the pool besides Joy, and three open lanes. Joy completed her lap of freestyle and then headed off the wall into a length of butterfly. Her arms spread across the lane as her chest pushed up from the surface. Her kick had always been her strength, pushing her high out of the water. Kelsey watched for another minute before going to change into her suit.

Kelsey dangled her toes in the empty lane next to Joy’s. She waited for Joy to notice her and then waved.

“You’re having second thoughts, aren’t you?”

“Maybe.” She grinned and hopped into the water, splashing Joy as she did. “But I’m not going to forfeit.”

“Too bad.” Joy splashed her back and smiled. “How many laps do you need to warm up?”

She instinctively rubbed her left shoulder but dropped her hand when Joy’s eyes tracked to the same spot. She didn’t need to bring up old excuses. “Five or six should do it.”

Joy took off from the wall and Kelsey followed. It was an easy pace and she didn’t try to push herself in the warm-up. When they’d finished the fifth lap, Joy hopped out of the pool and pointed to the clock. “Two hundred meters breaststroke. We go on the sixty.”

Kelsey laughed. “What did I get myself into?” Four laps was nothing. Eight lengths of the pool and she’d already warmed up. But what if the pain came back? She hadn’t tried pushing her body yet. She glanced at the clock. Thirty seconds. Kelsey climbed out of the pool and stepped up on the starting block. She eyed Joy, already in position on the block next to hers. “Just so you know, I’m taking you down.”

Joy grinned. “We’ll see.”

Kelsey counted down from ten. With five seconds remaining, she said, “Ready, set…”

Joy dived in and Kelsey followed. It had been years since she’d dived off a block. Joy was already turning by the time she found her groove. The second length was easier, but Joy was rolling into another lap and she was only halfway across the pool. Kelsey pushed hard against the wall. On their third length, she touched the wall just as Joy pushed off.

Kelsey didn’t try to press ahead now. She paced Joy, watching out of the corner of her eye as she dipped in and out of the water and mirroring every stroke of hers. Breaststroke had always been her second-best event, but she didn’t want to speed ahead. She kept exactly half a body length behind Joy through the third lap. She was breathing hard, but she hadn’t begun to push yet. Still, the thrill of the race was pumping adrenaline in a rush she hadn’t felt in years. They pushed off the wall for the last lap exactly in sync. Kelsey stole one last glance at Joy’s body underwater and then it was all business. Her shoulder didn’t complain as she raced ahead. She’d grown used to guarding her left side, but she stretched forward and there wasn’t even a twitch of the familiar pain. When she reached the wall, she turned to watch Joy finish. She wouldn’t let her eyes wander to the clock. It didn’t matter what her times were now.

Joy stood up and slipped off her goggles. She was panting hard. “You’re not even winded, are you?” Once she’d caught her breath, Joy hung one arm over the lane line. “I guess I should have known that I didn’t really have a chance.”

Kelsey smiled. “That was fun. What’s next?”

Joy slapped the water, splashing Kelsey. Kelsey returned the splash, but Joy had already dived underwater. She popped up two yards away. “Let’s go another two hundred meters.”

“All freestyle.”

“You’re going to kick my butt,” Joy said.

Kelsey pulled her goggles back into place. “I’ll give you a head start.”

“You know that won’t help. But I’ve always liked losing to you,” Joy returned. She slipped under the water again and resurfaced halfway down the lane.

Kelsey watched Joy for a moment longer. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d enjoyed being in the water. Now she couldn’t keep the smile off her face. She laughed out loud when Joy slapped the far wall, pausing only long enough to hold up her index finger. She was signaling like they’d done in high school. The index finger was a challenge.
Catch me if you can
. High school. That was the last time that swimming had been fun. Until tonight. Kelsey pushed off the wall. She was a full length behind but had no intentions of letting Joy win.