Maddie watched her only a moment longer before crossing her arms and seeking out her own room.
*****
Inside the guest room, Natalie used a makeup wipe to clumsily clean her face. She considered unpacking her pajamas but decided she was safe enough in the guest room in just her underwear.
Changing required far more energy than she had, especially since sunrise was only a few hours away. She slipped off her dress and crawled under the covers with a delighted groan, enjoying the feel of the cool sheets against her skin.
She yawned for the nth time, too tired to be upset with herself when her last thought before sleep was just how sexy Maddie had looked leaning over, black nightie peeking out from under her robe.
Chapter Ten
Warm fingers trailed over her back, making Natalie arch ever so slightly. The fingertips were soft, sure, and aware of every spot that made Natalie tingle.
“Nat.”
Natalie frowned. The voice was all wrong.
“Natalie. Wake up.”
Bleary recognition began to seep in beyond the realm of Natalie’s dreams, making her current one dissipate into nothingness. She rolled over onto her side and rubbed her eyes.
“Brittney?” she asked as she squinted against the bright overhead light. How long had the lights been on?
“Yeah. Sorry to wake you but my mom is up and I wanted to talk a bit before we have to go down to breakfast.”
Heat rushed to Natalie’s cheeks. She buried her face back against her pillow, unable to face Brittney with the memory of her most recent dream still in her head. The dream of Maddie had been almost perfect… except for the fact that Natalie shouldn’t have been having it at all.
She groaned and turned back so she could see Brittney. “What’s up?”
Brittney bit her lip and looked down. “I wanted to apologize for last night. I wanted to enjoy myself but I wanted you to have fun, too.”
Natalie withheld a sigh and sat up, careful to keep the comforter around her body. “It wasn’t totally awful. Maybe at the end, but yeah. I know you’re not normally like that.”
Brittney blanched and pulled back. “What did my mom say when we got here? Was it bad?”
Natalie considered what had happened and how Brittney felt about her mother. “Not really bad, no. We just had a little talk.”
Blue eyes narrowed as Brittney examined her face. “I feel like you’re leaving a lot of stuff out.”
“It’s between your me and your mom. If you want to know, ask her. I don’t feel comfortable talking about a private conversation. You know how I am about that sort of thing.” Natalie made sure to keep her voice even in hopes that Brittney would understand.
Brittney sighed, still staring at Natalie. “I’m pretty sure she’s almost done with breakfast. I’ll ask her then, maybe.”
Natalie felt relieved. “Sure, yeah.” She nibbled her lip as she looked at Brittney. “Uh, I kind of have to get dressed and stuff.”
Brittney raised an eyebrow. “So what’s stopping you?”
“Uh,” Natalie shifted uncomfortably. “I’m kind of only in my underwear under here.”
“Oh, oh!” Brittney blushed and turned on her heel, almost immediately tripping.
Natalie saw it happening and reacted on instinct, awkwardly diving and ending up tangled in the covers. She managed to shove Brittney toward the bed but ended up on the floor.
On her stomach, Natalie winced and moved slowly. Her left elbow and knee had broken her fall, and she was grateful that the thick carpet had absorbed some of the impact because both were already throbbing with pain. She carefully sat up.
The door squeaked open, and Natalie froze while examining her arm. She was on the floor in her underwear and in full view of the door.
“Is everything alright, I heard a—oh!” Maddie glanced from Brittney to Natalie, who immediately brought her knees up to block the view.
Natalie fought the urge to bury her face against her knees. “I’m fine, Maddie. Just wishing I was still asleep.”
Maddie looked back toward Brittney.
“Sorry, Mom. I was being clumsy and Natalie kept me from falling.”
When that brought Maddie’s attention almost immediately back to Natalie, Natalie prayed for immediate death.
“I see you weren’t so lucky.” Maddie’s eyes drifted briefly over Natalie’s exposed form. “Are you hurt? Do I need to check you over?”
Without further ado, Natalie gave in and smushed her face against her knees. “No thanks, the only thing hurt is my pride.” That wasn’t entirely true, but the last thing she wanted was Maddie checking her for injuries when she wasn’t dressed. “Can you guys please leave so I can put some clothes on? Please?”
“Sorry, honey,” Maddie said. She backed up and gestured to Brittney, who scurried after her.
It was only when the door closed behind them that Natalie let out the breath she’d been holding. She lingered on the floor, letting her jumbled emotions settle. The dream to the last several minutes had been a wild ride, one that Natalie wasn’t keen to re-experience.
Brittney had interrupted a rather sultry dream involving—she pinched herself when her pulse immediately sped up. She shouldn’t be getting excited about that, dammit. Though she had no control over her dreams, she could certainly at least limit her own thoughts.
Most of the time, anyway.
She shivered in the cool morning air and stood. Despite her dream and her morning embarrassment, she felt different today. The talk from the night before was fresh in her mind. She’d managed to go an entire conversation without being distracted by Maddie. The end hadn’t counted, that just wasn’t fair.
She tugged on her favorite snug jeans and managed a smile. Progress, even in the face of her somnolent indiscretions. The thought was somewhat calming.
*****
Maddie absently flipped the pancake as she nibbled her lower lip. She’d been unable to forget the image of Natalie in her underwear and Brittney comfortably ensconced on the guest bed.
Why had Brittney been in Natalie’s room when Natalie was… not dressed?
She rolled the breakfast sausage links to check their color and another thought hit her. Did Brittney have a crush on Natalie? Oh. Oh. What if Natalie liked Brittney, too? It would explain their sudden bond.
The thought made her uneasy, though she couldn’t really understand why. Both Natalie and Brittney were adults, and if they decided to explore a relationship she really had no say in the matter. Still, her stomach churned a little at the thought of the two of them together. Was she being homophobic?
That didn’t seem right. She didn’t have a problem with Brittney dating other girls.
Maddie almost smacked herself in the face with the spatula. Of course. Dating was one thing. What if Brittney was experimenting?
She’d explored relationships with women herself before, but she sincerely hoped that Brittney wouldn’t experiment with Natalie. Natalie deserved something strong, long, and lasting. Based on their conversation the night before, Natalie wasn’t interested in a casual lifestyle.
Natalie was a serious young woman. It was unfathomable to Maddie that Natalie might have her heart broken and tarnished because Brittney wanted to try things out with a woman.
She removed the now-finished pancake from the pan and added it to the already generous stack, then reached to turn the stove burners off with her other hand.
“Oh, man that smells good,” Brittney admitted with a groan.
Maddie forced a smile onto her face as she turned to face her daughter, who was seated at the breakfast nook. An admonition was on the tip of her tongue—Brittney really shouldn’t sit cross-legged on the chair—but Maddie swallowed it back.
“It’s good to know your appetite wasn’t affected by your night out on the town,” she intoned dryly and almost immediately winced. Oops. She’d meant to leave the real scolding until after breakfast. Adult or not, Brittney had been irresponsible.
Brittney gave her an unabashed grin. “I actually thought you’d be more upset.”
Maddie’s lips twitched. “Natalie and I had a talk last night and I think I—”
Her words halted as Natalie calmly entered the kitchen. In jeans and a white long-sleeved shirt, Natalie looked surprisingly alert. Maddie admired her ability to seem human after only a few hours of sleep. It had taken Maddie an hour to feel something resembling alive. “Good morning.”
Natalie offered her a bright grin and slid her hands into her pockets. “Morning, Maddie. Breakfast smells great.”
Maddie fumbled with the ties to her apron . She tugged it off and hung it in its usual spot. “Oh, it’s just pancakes and sausage. Even your roommates could manage this, I imagine.”
“I don’t know about that. Plus, everything you make is delicious.” Natalie’s grin was small, bashful.
Maddie felt oddly pleased, her cheeks feeling slightly warm as she eyed the younger woman. She turned to transfer the sausage to another plate, hefting both it and the plate full of pancakes in each hand.
She turned to find Natalie right behind her, smile still in place. “Let me take those to the table,” Natalie gently insisted.
Maddie stood still, unsure what to do once she was relieved of the pancakes and sausage. Her mind snapped back into focus, prompting her to collect more plates and cutlery.
“What do you guys want to drink?” Maddie asked in the general direction of the breakfast nook.
“Milk,” and “coffee,” were vocalized at the same time. She smiled to herself. Maybe Natalie wasn’t as alert as she seemed. It made Maddie feel slightly better as she poured two coffees and a milk.
“You want anything in your coffee, Natalie?”
“Black is fine.”
Maddie hummed and collected the drinks, smiling when Brittney got up to help her distribute them.
Natalie raised her mug in a silent toast before taking her first healthy sip.
It made Maddie bite her lip, the silent acknowledgement that neither of them had gotten enough sleep. They served themselves breakfast in amicable silence, save requests to pass syrup or butter.
“So what did you and Natalie talk about last night?” Brittney asked between bites of pancake.
Maddie’s movements slowed as she swallowed her mouthful of food. She shot Natalie an inquiring look, but Natalie only offered her a quick smile as she continued cutting into her pancake.
“Well, sweetie, I got a call from the sheriff last night and you came home stumbling drunk at three in the morning. What do you think we talked about?” Despite her words, Maddie’s tone was casual.
Brittney blinked. “Grady—Sheriff Louis called? What did… oh, no. I’m so sorry, Mom.” She stared down at her plate.
Maddie, able to remain completely calm, was glad she’d gotten over the worst of her anger the previous night. “Brittney, it’s not like you to do that. You’re only eighteen and so much could have gone wrong. I can’t tell you how upset I was last night. However, I was eighteen once. Please, just be more careful in the future.”
“That’s it?” Brittney asked, her expression contrite. “I could understand if you were madder, Mom.”
“Lucky for you, Natalie bore the brunt of my anger last night.” She spared Natalie an apologetic look.
Natalie only hummed and slid another bite of food into her mouth.
“Sorry, Nat,” Brittney mumbled.
Maddie straightened. “I’m sorry too, Natalie. You didn’t deserve all of my anger.”
“Does that mean I deserved some of it?” Natalie asked, a playful glint in her eyes.
“You,” Maddie warned with a raised finger and narrowed eyes, “are asking for trouble.”
Natalie smirked and went back to eating.
“Ugh, I feel like crap now. Natalie said it wasn’t that bad.”
“All things considered, I suppose it wasn’t,” Maddie demurred. She leaned over to squeeze her daughter’s arm. “Let’s just finish our breakfast for now, alright?”
Brittney nodded.
Maddie consumed the last few bites of her pancake in thoughtful silence. She took a sip of her coffee as she finished. “Were you planning on dashing off right after breakfast, Brittney?”
“Actually, Mom, I thought maybe we could hang out and watch a movie or something?” Brittney asked with a tentative smile.
Delight spread through Maddie even though she knew guilt was certainly part of Brittney’s motivation. “I’d love that, sweetie. Did you have a particular movie in mind?”
“Sucker Punch,” Natalie cut in. When Brittney rolled her eyes, she raised her hands defensively. “Whoa, hey. I’ll have you know it’s got all sorts of badass chicks in it. It’s kind of twisted, but it’s also pretty epic.”
Brittney snickered and wiped her mouth. “Good luck getting Mom to watch that,” she said as she turned to Maddie. “Steven was obsessed with that movie, and he passed his obsession on to Natalie.”
Maddie arched her eyebrows. “Steven?”
Natalie visibly winced, as if considering all the times she’d badmouthed him.
“Aw, come on Maddie, give it a shot,” she pleaded with just a hint of a whine. “I thought you were cooler than other women your age.”
“Women my age?” Maddie questioned dangerously. “You should know women my age are too mature to be goaded.”
Natalie leaned forward, the corners of her mouth just barely upturned.
“Okay, time out,” Brittney intervened. “Mom, why don’t you just pick?”
“Hm,” Maddie said as she tried to avoid looking at Natalie. The attempt didn’t last long. “Is that movie on Netflix?”
“You’ll watch it?” Brittney asked before Natalie could answer.
“Sure,” Maddie agreed placidly. “Natalie can help me with the dishes afterward.”
“If it’s not on Netflix, we can always rent it from Amazon or something,” Natalie said as she began collecting the dishes.
Maddie reached out to lightly grab her arm. “I said after the movie.”
Natalie quirked an eyebrow. “I don’t want you trying to get out of the movie once you’ve seen its cover art.”
“Is it really that bad?” Maddie asked with sudden trepidation.
“I mean, not really, I just don’t think it’s something you’d normally pick to watch,” Brittney hedged.
The way Natalie immediately took the dishes over to the sink made her worries double. She sighed. “It’s fine, let’s just go see if we can find it.”
*****
Natalie sighed happily as she rose from the couch and stretched. She turned to face Maddie. “What’d you think?”
“It wasn’t bad,” Maddie conceded with a nod.
“Aw, come on! Fanservice aside, there was a rich story there about how young women bond when faced with trauma. There’s a strength in girls a lot of people fail to see.” Natalie waited, hoping her explanation would change Maddie’s opinion.
Maddie pursed her lips. “There were a lot of special effects.”
Crestfallen, Natalie did her best to ignore Brittney’s laughter.
Glancing at Brittney, Maddie continued, “I suppose I would have been happier if that one man had been lobotomized at the end.”
“I’ll concede your point,” Natalie agreed.
“Good, ’cause I think you owe my mom some help with the dishes,” Brittney interjected.
Natalie moved her hands to her hips and shot Brittney a suspicious look. “And what will you be doing while we clean up?”
“Mom, can I borrow your laptop so I can study?” Brittney asked Maddie with large, pleading eyes.
“Of course, sweetheart. It’s in my office as usual,” came the immediate response.
Brittney shot Natalie a triumphant look and fled the room.
Rolling her eyes, Natalie tucked her hands into her pockets. “Shall we?”
The short walk was silent, and Natalie was glad she felt comfortable aro
und Maddie in spite of the morning. It probably helped that Maddie was in fitted slacks and a loose button-up. Slightly.
Warmth brushed against her elbow, and she shot Maddie a smile.
Maddie smiled back, causing Natalie’s heartbeat to pick up. Too comfortable. She was too comfortable around Maddie.
“Winter break is soon,” Maddie said as retrieved her apron and pulled it on.
Natalie nervously licked her lips and took up her position on the right side of the sink. “Yeah.” Usually, she spent winter break working her ass off but, with the way things had been at Jimmy’s, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to get the work she needed.
Her hours recently had only been something more like full-time because Jimmy’s nephew had been out sick.
Maddie nudged her gently, and she blinked when she realized the first plate had been scrubbed. She accepted it and began to rinse.
They worked in silence for a short while.
“What are your plans over the break?” Maddie finally asked.
“Christmas and New Year’s are always spent at Pops’s house,” Natalie said as she added a mug to the dishwasher.
Maddie chuckled, sending a warm tingle down Natalie’s spine. She ignored it.
“That’s nice, honey, but what are you going to do the rest of the time?”
Natalie shrugged. “Normally? Work. This year, I don’t know. I haven’t had time to find side work with finals so close and the G-47s. I guess I’ll end up hanging around the apartment a lot.” Natalie shrugged as she admitted the last part.
“Honey, the G-47s is side work. Adam isn’t in a hurry to get it fixed but that doesn’t mean you can’t put in all the work you’d need to anyway while you have extra time.” Maddie cleared her throat. “Even if Adam and I aren’t here, Brittney will be here for the majority of the break. I’m sure the two of you can work something out.”
There was something in the way Maddie said it that made Natalie pause. She pressed her hands against the counter and took a breath. “Maddie, you know I’m a lesbian, right?”
Maddie froze, and then resumed scrubbing. “I’d thought maybe you were but I didn’t want to assume. Or pressure you.”
Meeting Mrs Garret Page 11