Winter Storm (3 page)

They kissed, slowly and languidly at first. It seemed to Rebecca that she had spent so much time before, guiltily, fantasizing about Callie that the everyday life still felt unreal. Amazing that she could do this, lose herself in the touch and the pleasure that was still exciting and unfamiliar. She never even thought she would desire another woman. Rebecca had never imagined that a connection like this, not forged over years of life together, but instant, was even possible.

“Mom, did you see my yellow shirt with the—”

“Maggie. Sweetie. Which yellow shirt?” Rebecca straightened her sweater, mortified. There was no need to: Her daughter was more concerned with her wardrobe than the fact that she’d caught the two of them kissing.

“The one we bought on the vacation?” Callie helped out. “I put it on your suitcase. You said you wanted to take it?”

Maggie smiled. “Thanks, Callie!” She left, obviously in no need of further explanation.

Rebecca let out a long sigh.

“I know,” Callie said with a little laugh. “I know.”

* * * *

They tried to get some sleep before the drive to the airport, with little success. Callie ruefully admitted to herself that routine would probably not come until after the New York trip was behind them. She would start a new book, and Rebecca would be looking for more clients. They’d be living the real life.

Dina had spent the night in Maggie’s room, which was more convenient than having David bring her very early in the morning. Callie agreed with that. She had the notion that Susan was feeling pretty much the same as she did, the awkwardness, the challenge of being the new woman. Not that they’d ever talk about it.

Dina brought a huge suitcase that hopefully would not cost extra, and her brand-new purple laptop as a carry-on.
Competition,
Callie thought. It happened to the best of divorced parents. David and Rebecca’s divorce wasn’t final yet though.

Whatever could be said about her life and the way it had turned out after she came to Autumn Leaves, one thing was for sure: It hadn’t been boring for a minute.

Callie was ready for a bit of boring, she reflected when the shrill sound of the alarm cut through the nightmare, jolting her awake. She hadn’t had one of those in a while, the kind that made her wake up gasping for air, her face wet with tears. Rebecca pulled her close without words. There was no need to ask. The content of those dreams always been the same from the first one. She could practically taste the wet earth, hear the phantom sound of laughter, memory fragments of the assault in the forest. All things considered, Callie had been lucky. Her subconscious was still working overtime.

“We don’t have time for this,” she said, impatient with herself. She had no use for the reminder. It had been four months. The real threat was gone from their lives, the perpetrators caught and convicted. Callie wanted the memory gone, too, but she wasn’t so naïve to think it was going to happen.

“Five minutes won’t make a difference,” Rebecca said, the warmth of her embrace calming Callie to the point where the ghost sensations finally vanished.

“I’ll drive. We can have something for breakfast at the airport.”

Whatever Rebecca’s own issues were, she made Callie feel safe, and that was something she never take for granted.

There was enough time left for a quick coffee. Dina came out of her room a few minutes later, her hair still wet from the shower.

“There’s no breakfast?”

Callie hid a smile behind her hand. If anything, it was the mundane things in life that helped make nightmares vanish.

David managed to get Dina a seat on the same plane, but since he’d booked it late, she wasn’t sitting next to Callie and Rebecca. The aisle seat in their row was occupied by a businessman in his early forties who was growing continuously irritated with Rebecca’s trips to her daughter a few rows behind them. Dina was sitting with a young mother and her toddler. Callie thought she seemed very much okay, so she laid a hand on Rebecca’s arm when she started to fidget once again.

“Dina is fine,” she said. “She likes flying. Besides, we’ll be taking off soon.” She could have sworn the flight attendant gave her a grateful smile at that. The guy in the aisle seat just snorted.

“Hey.” Callie glared at him. “Do
you
have kids?”

Chapter Two

Rebecca had been to New York a couple of times as a graduate student, and just last month. As much as she’d enjoyed the vacation, the city felt too big and intimidating to her. Callie had left it behind at some point, too, but for much more personal reasons. She was a lot more comfortable in the setting. For the upcoming days, she would have to be comfortable enough for the both of them.

“Whoa, Mom! Have you seen the bathtub?” Dina didn’t seem to mind spending a few nights on the fold-out couch in the living room of their suite. Rebecca thought the hotel staff was frowning a bit on the third person, and of course they would charge extra. Dina appeared to be happy though. Come to think of it, Rebecca hadn’t seen her this happy in a while, so she was willing to deal with little complications. Already, Dina had powered up her laptop to put up some pictures on her Facebook page.

“I have. It’s nice,” she said, opening the spacious wardrobe and starting to unpack. Rebecca had no idea why she was feeling this restless. They had enough time to get lunch, decompress a bit from being cramped in the plane seat, and get ready for the evening. Tomorrow would be an off day, and the day after that Callie had a radio interview in the morning and a signing session in the afternoon. Two days off, and a meeting with her publisher that Rebecca didn’t need to accompany her for. One appointment at a gay literary event, and they would go home the next morning.

Maybe it was Callie’s nightmare that was still occupying her mind, like a premonition. It was silly.

A sharp rap on the door startled her out of her thoughts. Rebecca went to answer, wondering whether the person in charge had second thoughts about Dina. However, it wasn’t somebody from the hotel staff waiting on the other side.

“Oh. Hi.”

“Hi,” Rebecca said, unwittingly having a moment of jealousy at the sight of Asha Malik. She was tall, dark-haired, and looking stunning in the crisp grey business suit, not a hair out of place in the French roll. Callie did have a type…kind of.

“Callie just went—”

Asha didn’t wait for an invitation.

“Nice place you have here,” she said. “I didn’t know you brought company.”

“Dina is my daughter,” Rebecca explained. She left it at that, certain that Asha wasn’t interested in the finer details.

“Smashing. You must be excited to be here. I’m Asha. All right, where’s my girl?”

Rebecca was very much aware of Dina’s disapproving look.

“Asha, come on. You could have given us another hour.” Callie, who’d just come out of the bathroom, shook her head, but she smiled. “Hey.” They hugged briefly. “There’s no change of plans I hope?”

“Of course not.” Asha made a face as she looked around. “I just came here to bathe in envy. You guys are all ready for the party tonight? I’m sorry, Dina. No underage kids. You knew that, right?”

“I can occupy myself,” Dina said tersely.

“We did some sightseeing last month,” Callie explained. “As for tonight, there’ll be room service for Dina.”

“Good. By the way, I like your new hairstyle, Cal. It’s cute.”

She was right about that. There had been times when Rebecca had secretly worried that Callie’s shorter shoulder-length cut made her look even younger. She didn’t need anything to
emphasize
the age difference between them.

Asha winked at Rebecca. “No red, right? I’m curious. I’ll see you guys later, then, and Callie, darling, this time you better win.”

Callie rolled her eyes. “Not like it’s up to me, you know.”

“Try anyway.” Asha leaned forward to kiss her cheek then waved to Dina and Rebecca. “Later, kids.”

When she was gone, Callie shook her head. “Welcome to New York, girls. Um, Dina…could you give us a few minutes? There’s something I have to talk about with your mom.”

Dina had already gone back to uploading pictures on her computer and mumbled her agreement.

Rebecca never had the time to ask. She had barely closed the door behind her when she found herself with her back against the wall, Callie’s hands all over her body, stealing underneath her shirt.

“Oh, come on, we can’t—”

“Don’t worry, Dina’s all sucked in by the social networks. We have time.” Callie’s voice was warm and seductive, making Rebecca’s resistance vanish into thin air. The gentle touch of fingertips brushing against her skin was enough to strike the match, figuratively speaking. She was feeling quite hot, though, her knees weak. The sound of a zipper made her flinch, but Callie pushed her shirt further up, leaving a string of kisses over her belly. Then she straightened again, her hand sliding past the fabric of Rebecca’s slacks.

Her kiss was deep and just in time to stop the moan spilling from Rebecca’s lips.

Rebecca closed her eyes, letting herself drown in sensation.

* * * *

Callie once started out writing children’s books. She’d been single and not planning on having children, ever, but she enjoyed walking in that world. There was a responsibility in telling stories for children, in what you attempted to teach them. She wanted to created girl characters that were independent, kids who saw nothing wrong with having two moms. For a long time, she had very much kept to herself, until a friend of a friend introduced her to an organizer of a lesbian literary festival. Callie had never thought of her works to be political, but the more she made friends and got into discussions, she realized they were, and that it mattered to her.

Growing up with a liberal mother and friends, Callie had hardly been confronted with prejudice. In the present, she was meeting more and more people who had. After a long night of cocktails, dispute and frustration with the status quo, she had begun to think about an adult novel. If she wanted to do her part for a better world, writing a story was what she did best.

Her companion that night wholeheartedly agreed with her. Asha always prided herself in having an eye for talent.

Callie had pretended to be casual about the nomination. She never thought she’d be standing at the podium actually accepting one of the awards for her book series.

“I…I did not expect this.” She laughed nervously. “I bet that’s what everybody says, but it’s true, and I’m very grateful. I want to thank everyone who believed in me and made this possible. Thank you.”

Her eyes met Rebecca’s, and she was flashing back to the moment Rebecca had stood up in church. Some time before that, Betty LaRue who was once Rebecca’s friend, had yelled at Callie in her own home.

“I’ve often thought that what I do is not so relevant in comparison to…a lot of things. I’ve realized, though, that the stories we tell, provoke something. People can only listen and understand if we are visible to them and this is what our stories are for. They matter.” She hesitated just the tiniest bit. Callie knew that Rebecca was still trying to find her place. She didn’t want to rush her. She didn’t want to hold back ever again, either, now that she’d found something this perfect.

“Rebecca, I want to say…thank you for sharing my life.” She left then because her vision had become suspiciously blurry. Asha looked pleased.

“I’m so sorry,” Callie told Rebecca when she sat down next to her. “I couldn’t stop myself.”

Rebecca smiled. “No worries. I’d rather have everyone in the room know that you’re going home with me tonight.”

* * * *

“See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Asha, clad in a long white robe, smiled triumphantly. “Now you know we don’t bite unless you invite us to.”

There’s still an “us” and a “you,”
Rebecca thought. She was comfortable enough, though, to let the comment slide, and took the glass of wine that Asha offered her.

“Thanks.”

“You mean vampires, right?”

“Lucy. Always so funny.” Asha turned to the woman with the short blonde hair, giving her a jovial smile. “Rebecca, meet our head web designer. I’m sure you two have something to talk about. Lucy, Rebecca is the girl Callie couldn’t wait to show off. Now you know why. She’s also a freelance web designer.”

Rebecca decided that Asha owed her a lot more than one glass of wine.

“Really,” Lucy said. She seemed interested though. “How’s the competition? I hear you come from a smaller town. Can you make a living there?”

“I try,” Rebecca said. “I work mostly for small businesses. I haven’t done a lot in some time, because…”
I was married
. Technically, she still was. She took a sip of her wine. “Anyway, I’m sure it’s a lot less brutal than around here.”

“Maybe. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else though. I was surprised when Callie left.”

“You know why she left,” Asha said.

“Of course.” Lucy gave Rebecca a quick speculative look as if trying to gauge if she knew too. “I’m sorry, there’s someone I’ve got to see. Have fun.”