Sometime Yesterday (6 page)

Sarah stood framed in the afternoon sunshine in a yellow dress. Her dark hair was loose under a matching wide-brimmed hat. Natalie could see a fine line of sweat on her upper lip. On her arm was a basket filled with recently cut flowers and she held clippers in her gloved hand.

“Hello,” she said softly then sat next to Natalie. “You’ll get sunstroke out here without your hat. If we wait awhile, we can go to the beach as soon as it cools off a little.” She fanned her face.

Natalie cleared her throat, but no sound would come out. She knew she was staring at Sarah’s mouth, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. She felt her face turning red and knew it wasn’t from the sun. Tentatively, she reached out and touched Sarah’s shoulder.

“Look at me, dear heart. You’re trembling. What’s the matter?”

Natalie managed to shake her head and whispered, “You are so beautiful. I don’t understand any of this. I think I must be losing my mind.”

“And why would you think that, love?” She brought Natalie’s hand to her mouth. Very gently, she kissed and nibbled the tip of her index finger.

Natalie felt as if a sledgehammer hit her. Her stomach twisted, and she shivered slightly before looking into Sarah’s eyes, seeing only desire reflected back to her.

“I know what you need. Come along. It’s too hot, don’t you think? We should be lying down in the heat of the day.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I’ll come to you as soon as the housekeeper leaves to go shopping. Be waiting for me.” Sarah disappeared back into the side garden.

Natalie nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She decided it was stupid to be nervous because this had to be a dream, right? She raced up to her room and stepped out of her pretty dress. Natalie stood in front of the cool ocean breeze coming in the window for a moment before she lay on the bed in her slip. It
was
hot and she positively ached with desire. What was taking Sarah so long?

When she woke to a noise some time later, it was dark and Natalie realized she must have been moaning out loud. Her hips were undulating against the hand she’d tucked between her legs sometime during the night. She was so disappointed she didn’t get to finish the dream about Sarah. Natalie held the image of her face and the look in Sarah’s eyes while she continued to rock against her hand; maybe
this
time she could have an orgasm. It had been so long since she’d tried. She closed her eyes, reveling in the pounding sensation between her thighs.

Hot female skin slid over her naked body, soft curves fit against her own. Natalie shivered and arched her back. Natalie was lost in her fantasy but couldn’t help but remember all those years she wasted, thinking something was wrong with her. That she wasn’t capable of this passion or response. She opened her legs to give Sarah room to kneel between them.

Shouts filtered in the open window from outside. The voices were male.

Sarah rose in a panic. “I need to go. He can’t find us like this.” She grabbed a robe from the end of the bed and ran out of the room.

“Who can’t find us here like this?” Natalie said to the empty room. The front door slammed so hard, she jumped and frantically looked for a place to hide. Heavy footsteps thudded on the stairs. One after the other, growing louder with each step until the bedroom door flew open and hit the wall.

A very large, very angry man stood in the doorway dressed in black. His shoulders filled the doorframe and rage distorted his face. He took a step into the room and slammed the door shut.

*

Natalie’s eyes snapped open, her breath coming in gasps. She was almost paralyzed with fear, and damp with cold sweat, she stared into the dark. The man wasn’t in her room and nothing assaulted her. After a few moments, she snapped the lamp switch on her nightstand. The window was open and the air in her room was cold. She rubbed her arms briskly in an attempt to warm them. What the hell just happened?

A quick look and she saw she was still dressed in the same rumpled tank and shorts she’d gone to bed in. She knew the encounter with Sarah was just a dream, but Natalie’s very real physical reaction was still lingering. She made an effort to control her breathing so she could slow her heart rate down and try to think. She’d just had the most amazing sexual experience in her life and it was a fricking dream? But why did she feel as if it were so real? She had a vivid flash of velvet skin against hers, breast to breast and thigh to thigh; long, silky hair wrapping her in lavender fragrant softness.

After she calmed a little, she went into the bathroom where she splashed cold water on her face and looked into the mirror. What she saw made her pulse quicken all over again. She blinked then touched her changed reflection in the mirror. Her lips were swollen and her neck showed little red marks. She felt her stomach tighten and gripped the counter for support.

She felt a little sad. Could it be that she was manifesting these dreams because of the divorce? Was she reacting to her upheaval and sense of rejection by creating an imaginary lover who really desired her? Why did she feel that she knew Sarah, and who the hell was that man in black?

*

The next morning, Natalie sat on the front porch swing with her coffee and rocked back and forth, swinging her feet in rhythm. Last night’s dream would not leave her alone. Her thoughts played like a DVD in slow frame. Images of soft female skin, sliding over her own would snap to the fear she felt when she saw the man in her doorway. She’d lain in bed until dawn, trying to put the sound of heavy footsteps in the hallway toward her hundred year old house. She had to; logically, she knew there was no one else in the house with her. She preferred not to think of the alternative. At least not until her mother arrived.

It wasn’t until she heard a truck door slam that she noticed Van’s white landscaping truck. Their appointment had slipped her mind.

Natalie watched her approach through the morning heat to the porch. Van’s long, long legs wore faded 501s and she had on a white tank top with the words V & V Landscapers embroidered over her left breast.
Small, perfect breasts with hard nipples that I want to bite.

The thought shocked her. Natalie felt her face flush and looked at the wooden planks. It didn’t matter; the sight of Van was burned into her retinas. The next things she saw were Van’s boots.

“Drop something?” Van slid her aviator sunglasses down her nose to peer at her and dropped her considerable height to a crouch.

“No.” Natalie felt almost giddy. She looked into Van’s ice-blue eyes and smiled. She wanted to reach and move the lock of platinum bangs to the side and stare longer. She wanted to run her tongue along her long neck and nibble on her ear. What was
wrong
with her? Natalie made a concentrated effort to pull herself together.

“Good morning.” Van set the briefcase on the swing next to Natalie. “I’ve brought your estimates.”

“Let’s take them in the kitchen.”

Natalie could feel Van’s attention. She felt as if her skin was humming with an electrical charge and she asked herself why. She had met beautiful butch women before; she was an artist for God’s sake, and from San Francisco, no less. Half the people she knew were gay. She didn’t know if this attraction was real or a holdover from her erotic dream. She turned around, ridiculously pleased at the sound of a wolf whistle coming from behind her. Unfortunately, the appreciation was for the counters.

“Wow. There must be an acre of granite in here.”

“I know, right? They did a wonderful job in here.” Maybe she could ask Van some questions. “Did you ever meet them, the previous owners?

“No. From what I hear, they weren’t here very long.”

They stopped at the kitchen table, and Van set her paperwork on the table while Natalie poured a cup of coffee.

“Would you like some?” Natalie gestured toward the pot.

“No, thanks.”

“Do you know any of the stories about the house?”

“Only that my ancestor worked here. I could ask my father about the stories.”

“Could you? I would appreciate it.” Natalie was a little relieved that Van didn’t pop out with a gory story. She didn’t think she could handle one today.

“Here are the costs and a blueprint for what I think would be the best layout for your property. We can change anything you want to or implement any ideas that you may have.”

Natalie sat and tried to focus on the estimate. The plans looked wonderful and well thought out. The gardens would be restored where they should be and she liked the idea of having the grounds look the way they might have at the turn of the previous century. She noted the small tremor in the page she was holding and set it back down. The air seemed to thicken in the room and Natalie found it difficult to take a full breath. Her body pulsed with pent up desire, and
damn it
, she couldn’t think with Van in the room and so close to her.

From the moment she’d stepped onto the porch, Van was aware of the sexual energy that sprang up between them. She couldn’t quite pinpoint what was different, but the last time she’d been here to see Natalie, she was a nervous wreck. Now she seemed to be undressing her with her eyes. She was happy to return the favor and let her gaze travel. She liked everything about her but tried to pull it back to the business at hand.

Natalie said something she missed. Van tore her attention away from Natalie’s chest to her face. “Excuse me?” Van was aware of the effect she had on women but rarely had she seen such blatant
need
in someone’s expression. A strange emotion rose in her. She wanted to throw Natalie to the floor; she wanted her underneath her so she could
take her.
Possess her completely until she submitted and whimpered her pleasure. Where the hell had that come from?
Whoa, Vannie. Client here.

“I just remembered.” Natalie said abruptly. “I have another appointment. Could you come back later when I have time to go over the new designs with you? Or perhaps I could come to the nursery if that would be more convenient for you?” Natalie’s pen moved with lightning speed as she signed the estimate.

“Aren’t you going to read them?”

“I trust you.”

Van was a little surprised at the dismissal and still reeling from her fantasy. “Of course. Either way, just call me when you have the time. We could try and have the first cleanup crew here in a couple of weeks or so. At least on half days with our schedule so booked.”

Van followed her down the hall. She grinned when she passed the closet under the arched stairs, remembering the last time she’d been in the house. But there was no way she was going to tell her new client about the foray into her closet so many years ago. She had the oddest sensation of feeling watched. She glanced behind her, but there was no one there.

She sat in her truck for a moment, staring through her windshield at the house. The drapes in one of the front windows on the second floor moved and she wondered if Natalie was watching her leave. This had to be one of the fastest and strangest meetings she’d ever had with a client.

“Okay then,” Natalie said to the closed door after Van left. She almost felt like crying, but whether that was because she wanted Van to stay, or because she felt as though her life was caught in a Stephen King novel, she didn’t know.

She turned to leave but heard tires crunching on the driveway and quickly opened the door. She was excited to think that maybe Van had forgotten something and come back. Why would she? Natalie had practically thrown her out after signing the estimate.

A strange car pulled in behind her Mercedes. Natalie let out an excited squeal when she saw her mother get out and ran off the porch to greet her before she had even shut the car door.

Her mother held Natalie at arm’s length. “Hi, baby. Let me look at you.”

“Mom, I’m so glad you’re here. Did you have any problems? What do you think?” Natalie rattled off the questions rapidly, not pausing long enough for an answer.

“Slow down, sweetheart. I just got here. Let’s go inside. My bag is in the backseat. Could you get it for me?”

Natalie grabbed the bag and ran ahead of her so she could enter the house first. “My mother is here,” she shouted through the doorway. She grabbed her mother’s hand and they entered into the foyer. They weren’t in the door four steps before the front door slammed behind them.

“How cheesy is that?” Natalie asked.

“He’s making a statement, I suppose.”

“
He
?” Natalie said, thinking of the man in her nightmare.

Her mother spotted the painting and headed straight for it. A contemplative look crossed her face as she studied it. She reached out to touch it and drew back as if she’d been burned.

“I
knew
it had something to do with this painting. She looks so familiar to me, Mom. I could swear it’s been doing some Dorian Gray thing on me.” Natalie chose not to tell her mother of the erotic dreams, yet. At some point she knew she would discuss it. Maybe.

“It’s a doorway,” her mother said.

“Crap. I was hoping you were going to tell me I’m suffering from an overactive imagination.” Natalie pushed her hand through her hair and started pacing back and forth in front of the painting.

Her Mother smiled then hesitated slightly. “The woman in the painting, she’s not the only one here.”