Alex suddenly felt very vulnerable. It was a feeling she didn’t like at all. What was happening to her? Suddenly she felt paranoid and suspicious, traits not very becoming she thought. She had never even considered losing Dez. After they had started dating they both seemed to be on the same page in this regard. Alex had even consulted a Vedic Astrologer to see if they were compatible. Everything had been a go five years ago, but could something have changed in their charts to say differently now? Not that they were a perfect astrological match, but good enough. First thing tomorrow morning she would put a call into Lena and check everything out. Maybe it was just Mercury in retrograde messing everything up again. But in the mean time she needed a hug, a big one and from Dez, now. Okay, be a big girl and stop being silly. Dez wasn’t going anywhere; it is all in your head. True, but right now logic and common sense were losing out to jealousy and the fear of being alone the rest of her life.
It was only forty-five minutes before Dez drove in the driveway. Alex ran out to meet her and threw her arms around her like it had been years since she had seen her.
“I am so glad you’re home.” Alex really was very happy to see Dez and relieved she was back.
Alex told Dez about the new gift and her conversations with Miss North, and the Janitor Mr. Schmidt. Dez tried to reassure Alex that it was just a school girl crush and nothing ominous, but Alex was not so sure. She had the feeling that something was going to happen and it wasn’t going to be as simple as a school girl crush.
Alex was trying hard to get her mind on other things. She looked over her lesson plan, but it was fine. She didn’t have any homework to grade and it was too soon to make up a test. She tried to read her book, but reading a lesbian romance when you were trying to forget about a secret admirer wasn’t working. It was too late to start baking something and Dez was busy billing her clients. Alex decided to take a night time pain reliever and some warm milk and hope she could fall asleep.
Apparently the combo worked, as the morning arrived all too soon. Alex really dreaded going to school, as the thought of finding another gift was sure to send her home with a migraine. But as luck would have it, there was no gift, and her classroom door was locked when she arrived. So maybe she had forgotten to lock her room, but she was going to quadruple check it from now on. She would get her OCD under control after this crush thing was a distant memory.
Chapter 4
Another two weeks had passed, and again Alex was hoping that her admirer had lost interest in her. As she walked towards her truck after another uneventful day of teaching, she was running through her “To Do List” in her mind. First, go to the butcher’s and pick up the rabbit meat for Dez’s raw food recipe. Sometimes Alex wished she was one of their cats. Dez spent so much time making them a special raw diet. She loved the cats just as much, but she put Dez at the top of her priority list. She wasn’t so sure she was in the same position on Dez’s list. Second, stop at the cleaners to pick up her good pants and her extra school blazer.
Just then she spotted another note waiting for her on her windshield. She quickly looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the writer lurking in the bushes, possibly waiting to watch her read it. The only one in view was Cyn, cursing at her car for not starting. Alex walked over to Cyn to see what was up.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with it. It just won’t start and I have plenty of gas.” Cyn growled as she slammed the steering wheel with her fists.
“Let it sit for awhile. You may have flooded it.” Alex was good with cars, ever since she took auto shop in high school. But she really just wanted Cyn to leave the car and retrieve the note from her truck. “Hey Cyn, while you’re waiting for your carburetor to drain all that gas you just pumped into it, would you do me a favor and go read the note that is on my car?”
Cyn looked up at Alex with a concerned look on her face. “You’re kidding right, I mean about the note?”
“I wish I was, but I just can’t read it. Would you look at if for me, and only tell me if it isn’t from you know who, okay?” Alex was really hoping someone had hit her car, but was sure it was from her admirer.
Cyn walked over to Alex’s truck, a classic 1948 F1 Ford Pickup in fire engine red, and read the note. It seemed like it took her a very long time to read a note on such a small piece of paper. Cyn looked up at Alex and slowly walked over to her friend. “I don’t know if you really want to read this. I think the person that left it needs some serious help.”
Alex reached for the folded note, but stopped when she heard Cyn’s statement.
“What do you mean serious help? With spelling, punctuation or are we talking therapy?” Alex was trying not to show how scared she was and trying not to cry.
“Therapy help,” Cyn replied. “Alex I think we need to get the police involved in this matter.”
Now Alex was really scared as she finally took the note from Cyn’s hand and opened it. It was a poem. Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet,
And so are you.
Roses mean Love,
And mine is true,
But beware of the thorns,
They can hurt you.
Alex realized this wasn’t from one of her students as it dawned on her that her admirer was closer to her age. The St. Christopher, roses, and poems were all things that would have been given as presents back when she was in High School – well, at least poems minus the ominous verses. She figured that Cyn thought the same thing and that’s why she wanted to involve the police.
“When did you realize it was an adult and not one of the students?” Alex asked as she looked her friend in the eye.
“The minute I read the poem. Like 8 Tracks and Pong, that old poem is way before their time.” Cyn was worried for her friend and didn’t know how to comfort her in this situation. Although Cyn was younger than Alex, being a History teacher she always loved to read the list of items that the current graduating class had never heard of. She started to reach for her cell phone when Alex stopped her.
“If you’re going to call the police, please don’t.” Alex folded the note neatly and put it in her pocket.
“Why not?” asked Cyn who was ready to dial 411 to get the number for the county sheriff.
“Because I’m a lesbian teacher at an all girls school. Do you really think this isn’t going to get me fired, even though it isn’t my fault?” Alex was starting to think about her career and the thought that maybe someone was out to get her job. “Think about it Cyn. We don’t have the same rights as everybody else. We get the police involved and my life could be front page news, not to mention dragging Dez into it. I just can’t, not yet, maybe never.”
Cyn closed her phone as she realized her friend was right. This wasn’t the big city. The locals were tolerant of the teachers who were gay, but a scandal could be a good excuse for a witch hunt. Alex and Cyn stood looking at each other realizing they were on their own.
Alex’s thoughts then shifted back to Cyn’s little blue Mustang. She told Cyn to pop the hood so she could take a look. It was very apparent why the car wouldn’t start. Someone had taken the distributor cap off and the rotor was missing. But why disable Cyn’s car when it was Alex who got the note? Maybe because Cyn was Alex’s friend, or was this some kind of campaign to drive them both out of the school? No one else on the staff was openly gay, but there were others. But why? Cyn was the only new staff member and she was hired last year. So it had to be someone Alex had been working with for the past 5 years. It seemed that everybody liked both Cyn and Alex, or so they thought.
The problem became even more strange when Alex saw the missing rotor sitting on the battery. It was odd that someone would remove a part and then leave it there in plain sight. The only thing obvious here was that someone wanted to keep Cyn from driving home. Fortunately, Alex was able to quickly put the pieces back together.
The women looked at each other wondering about the latest puzzle piece when Alex’s cell phone
rang. It was Dez. Alex was happy to hear her lover’s voice but not what she had to say.
“Hey Babe. I will be late tonight. Sally’s daughter’s pony is sick again out there at Parkers’. I may need to run IV fluids, as he hasn’t been drinking all day and is dehydrated. I could pass a tube and give him water, but you know passing a tube is very stressful and he’s been through so much lately. I don’t know when I’ll be home. Go ahead and eat and don’t wait up.” Dez’s phone was breaking up and she got off very quickly before Alex could reply.
“Just great. No emergencies all week and now she needs to run IV fluids.” Alex was beginning to think her luck was changing from no luck to bad. But maybe it was for the best. Alex wanted to follow Cyn home to make sure nothing else on her car had been tampered with. Her errands could wait until tomorrow. She really didn’t want to go home and be there all alone after receiving that poem, especially now that it was most likely an adult who was behind all this. “Okay, it looks like I’m a free woman tonight. I want to follow you home to make sure your car is all right. Better drive the speed limit or slower, just in case.” Alex tried to say it with an upbeat voice just so Cyn couldn’t tell how concerned she was about this new twist in her admirer’s antics.
Their trip to Cyn’s was totally uneventful. In fact, Cyn gunned it up the road to her house to see if it was going to do anything weird. All seemed to be fine. Cyn even slammed on the brakes to make sure they were okay. Well, one problem solved, Alex thought, as she walked over to Cyn with an idea.
“Hey, let’s go out to dinner, my treat, and when we get back we’ll fire up your car again and check for any puddles in case something is leaking. What do you say?” Alex was hoping her friend would agree.
“Sounds like a great idea. Where do you want to go? Someplace quiet I hope. I have a headache like you wouldn’t believe. I need to get something for it before we go.” Cyn had a pained look on her face.
“Absolutely, but are you sure you still want to go?” Alex was being considerate, but really hoped Cyn would bite the bullet and not change her mind.
“Hey, I’m not going to let a little headache keep me from a free meal. Not to mention, I don’t think you’ve ever taken me to dinner before. I mean, we’ve had lunch together a lot, but dinner this is a first.” Cyn’s mood was changing for the better even without medication.
“Are you sure we’ve never had dinner together before? I seem to remember the three of us going to Luigi’s in town.” Alex had a great memory, which could be a plus or a minus depending on the situation.
“You’re right about the three of us, but I’m talking about just you and me. This is so unexpected. I feel so special!” Cyn was unlocking her front door to retrieve the pain reliever as Alex gave her a friendly shove inside. “Go fetch your aspirin, you little butthead,” Alex chuckled at her friend’s comments.
“Butthead? You called me a butthead! I’m going to tell my mother that you’re calling me her pet name. You are in big trouble when she finds out!” Cyn was joking with her friend whom she had come to love over the year they had taught together. Oh how she wished Alex was single, as she would treat her so much better then Dez ever did. But then Alex was in love with Dez and not her. Maybe someday she would be, but not today, and maybe never. Alex was a dear friend and Cyn wouldn’t risk losing that for anything. She would just have to deal with her own feelings.
Opening the door to Alex’s truck Cyn realized it was the first time she had ridden in it. She waited as Alex cleared a place for her to sit. Like most teachers she had books and papers occupying the free space on the front seat. Alex moved it out in record time and Cyn jumped in. Alex apologized for the mess and Cyn responded with a comment of her car looking the same way. Making small talk about messy cars and their cleaning habits in general, they kept the conversation light as they drove to the restaurant.
The two arrived at the Tea Room feeling starved; as their little adventure had pushed dinner time back a couple of hours. Being teachers, they were used to early dinners, so that grading papers afterward wouldn’t keep them from a reasonable bedtime. As they walked into the restaurant, they were glad to see it was only half full. The sooner Alex could introduce Cyn to the best egg rolls on the planet, the better! The waiter knew Alex by name as it was her favorite restaurant in the town, if not the entire county. He put them at a secluded table over by the wall.
“Hi Ping, how have you been?” Alex already knew what she wanted and hoped Cyn did too.
Cyn looked at the menu and then at Alex. “What’s good, Miss Regular Customer?” Cyn didn’t go out much, as eating out was expensive. Being a single working teacher at a small private school, she wasn’t rolling in the bucks, and rarely if ever went out to dinner. She saved her extra money for her Olivia cruises and that only happened every couple of years.
“Do you trust me?” Alex gave Cyn a knowing look.
“With my life,” Cyn replied closing her menu.
“We’ll have the usual Ping, and two glasses of Plum wine.” Alex was really looking forward to the wine, as it had been a rough day and she wanted to relax.
“Plum wine? That sounds great. I haven’t had that before.” Cyn was in heaven even if Alex was out of reach. Tonight they were on a date, even if it was only in Cyn’s mind.
“So what made you want to become a teacher?” Alex realized she had never asked Cyn that question before.
“Summer vacations! What other job lets you have the best part of the year to go play?” Cyn thought it was a great reason.
“I see, so no desire to be a doctor or lawyer. You knew as a kid you wanted to be a teacher.” Alex was impressed at her very honest answer.
“Not as a kid. I didn’t like a lot of my teachers. But when I hit high school and was talking to my guidance counselor, we talked about careers. So I told him I wanted a job where I could have long vacations. He suggested teaching. I thought he was nuts until he told me that when we got out of school for the summer, so did the teachers. I think up until that point I always thought teachers still had to go to work, but they just didn’t have the kids around to bug them. So when he told me that, I knew it was what I wanted to do. I loved history, so he told me to major in that and here I am.” Thinking back, Cyn thought it sounded like she was all about goofing off.
“Well, actually I love teaching, and I would do it year round. But since it doesn’t require that, I love my three month vacations too.” Cyn thought that sounded better.
“So where did this love of history come from?” Alex didn’t know too many women who loved history as much as Cyn.
“My father loved it. He would tell me stories when I was growing up about the different wars; you know Civil, Spanish American, WWI and II. I could listen to him for hours and then I would go to the library and read all I could about them. I was a bit of a shy, quiet nerd in my youth. I wasn’t the suave party animal that I am today!” Grinning from ear to ear, Cyn knew Alex wouldn’t buy that one.
“Party animal? You? I had no idea.” Alex could see that part of Cyn, the part she tried hard to hide from everyone the quiet intelligent young woman.
“I see you aren’t buying that one. I guess being gay didn’t help me much in the party scene. Although I was well read on the subject by the time I hit college and did my fair share of experimenting.”
“Did anyone break your heart or did you keep it light?” Alex spent her time with her nose in a book or working.
“A couple of times I got too close in the beginning. But then it dawned on me that when we graduated we would be going our separate ways, so I didn’t lose my head after that.” Cyn just wished she and Alex had gone to college together. What fun that would have been.
Ping brought the wine and appetizers. Both women were hungry and made quick order of them before they continued their conversation.
“So after you graduated from college did you have an idea of where you wanted to teach?” Alex had wanted to move as far away from home as poss
ible to avoid her mother’s constant prying.
“Not really. I figured I would go wherever the job was you know, public or private it didn’t matter all that much. Although I really didn’t want to go to any big cities to teach. I guess I was afraid of getting a job at one of those big city schools where the kids are just killing time and don’t really want to learn anything.” Cyn wanted to pass along her love for history and not just collect a paycheck.
“I understand. The big city was a turn off to me too. I wanted a nice school where I could make a few friends and be in an area where I could keep my horse close by.” Having Beau near her was a priority when Alex looked at offers.
“How long have you had Beau?” Cyn never met anyone before who traveled with a horse as a pet.
“I bought him when he was six and I was twenty-eight and could afford to keep him. So I’ve owned him for almost fifteen years. It doesn’t seem that long.” Alex remembered when Beau was her only social activity. Without him, she would have gone out of her mind with boredom.
“So he’s twenty-one. How long do horses live?” Cyn thought a cat was a long term commitment.
“Oh, some live into their thirties and a few even make forty. It all depends on the kind of care they get, just like any mammal. It’s the same as it is with people some live longer than others.” The thought of losing Beau was unthinkable and she prayed she had another fifteen to twenty years to have him to love and care for.
“Forty wow that is old! So you’ve only taught in rural areas where you could have Beau close by?” Cyn figured she should have met a lot of lesbians living in the country all this time.
“Pretty much. But I can’t say living in the country is a good idea if you’re gay. After a few moves over the years, I’ve decided that lesbians head for big cities or small towns where they know they’re welcome. You know, like Providence in Rhode Island or several cities out in California towns where there is an established community. Most states have one or two cities that both men and women feel safe, but finding jobs and a neighborhood you want to live in is a whole other story. Do you know what I mean?” Alex felt like maybe in a hundred years you could find gay communities everywhere, but not right now.
Taylorwood (Alexandria Whitney Mystery) Page 3