Taylorwood (Alexandria Whitney Mystery)

by McCarthy, G. L.

  “Sure, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven when I found out there were more than a couple of lesbians at Taylorwood. Although, finding them all to have partners did deflate my little happiness balloon. But having another lesbian around to talk to has been great and I could always try internet dating if I want to start driving all over the state.” Cyn didn’t mind driving, but not for hours and hours to go meet someone for coffee.

  “Well, we’re going to take a weekend road trip once in a while to venture out into the world to find more gay friends. How does that sound?” Alex knew Cyn would never ask her to take a weekend trip, as most couples are weekend exclusive in that department.

  “Really? That would be great. I could plan a weekend trip no problem. Do you like to camp? I’ve got all the equipment.” Cyn had gone several times alone and really would have preferred to have company anyone, even a straight person.

  “I love camping. This spring and summer we can really have fun. I haven’t been in a long time and would love it.” Alex hadn’t been camping since she moved here five years ago.

  “In fact, if you want to go with me we can go out to my friend Jessie’s guest ranch in New Mexico. We can hike, ride, swim and just hang for a week. It’s a great place and the scenery is breathtaking. Would you like to?” Alex could never get Dez to leave town for the day, let alone a week.

  “Absolutely, I think I’m done with the cruises. I always meet women who are looking for a shipboard romance or live on the other side of the country. I might as well just spend my money having fun and let fate take it’s course.” Cyn thought falling in love with each other could happen in the right romantic setting.

  “All right then. We have the makings of a plan for this coming spring and summer. This is a great start.” Alex just hoped she didn’t get any flack from Dez if she did decide to start spending time with another lesbian.

  As Ping brought the main course their attentions focused on eating and they never did talk about the odd occurrences of the day and what they needed to do. It was such a nice relaxed evening, which Alex really needed and enjoyed. When the check came Cyn realized her alone time with Alex would be ending soon.

  The thirty minute drive to Cyn’s place seemed more like ten in Cyn’s mind. When they arrived, Alex took her flashlight out from under her seat to look for possible puddles under the mustang. Cyn jumped in to fire it up, partly wishing it wouldn’t start and partly wishing it would. The little car started on the first try and there were no signs that any fluid was leaking. All seemed to be okay.

  Alex gave her friend a parting hug and kiss on the cheek, and thanked her for an evening of great companionship and good conversation. She stated they needed to do it again soon. Cyn was hoping for the next night, but knew that was not going to happen. Alex was part of a couple and the chances of making this a regular event were slim, if that.

  As Alex drove home she thought about the great time she had with Cyn and wished it had been with Dez. The evening had reminded her of their early dates and how special each one had been to her. But over the years the feeling of being pursued had waned into comfortable coexistence. Was she part of the reason the sparks between them had died? Had she lost her allure?

  The first year had been fantastic and like a dream, with them spending as much time together and in bed as possible. But then it was like someone else had gotten a hold of the remote to their love life and had changed it from the “Hot and Sexy” channel to the “Boring Old Married Couple” channel. Alex couldn’t remember the last time they had a romantic dinner out and a fabulous evening of making love afterward. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time they had sex of any kind, hot or not! Was this what everyone was talking about after you’ve been together for a long period of time? Was this “Lesbian Bed Death?” Had LBD struck and Alex hadn’t realized it until now?

  Having been together for five years was a long time for lesbians. Not having kids like most straight couples to occupy their time it was tougher to keep the spark alive. Having kids to raise helped fill in the spots where other couples would be sitting on the couch watching DVD’s for hours at a time. The outside activities of soccer, baseball, tennis, etc. would also help with the social part. Making friends with the other parents helped prevent boredom and gave them places to go for tournaments and just watching local games. Plus school activities like plays and holiday concerts were also a distraction from looking at their relationship too hard.

  Granted, Dez wasn’t the most romantic person she had ever met, but Alex had accepted that. Maybe it was because Dez was raised by her dad, who never remarried, and had only brothers. If Alex hadn’t had that first year she may have thought differently. She knew Dez was happy with things as they were now, but that wasn’t going to be enough for Alex for the rest of her life. She loved Dez so much, but she knew she needed more and maybe they needed to talk about it. Hopefully Dez could be a little more affectionate and that would be enough for Alex for the long haul. Tonight had reminded her of what could be and Alex wanted it again. Oh how she wanted it to be that way forever, but the chances of it coming true were up for grabs. She and Dez really did need to talk about this problem and the one at school. In the meantime, tomorrow at lunch she and Cyn needed to put their heads together and come up with a plan to protect their jobs and find out who was behind it all.

  Chapter 5

  Alex arrived home close to ten and was extremely disappointed that Dez wasn’t there yet. In her mind, it had been more than enough time to run IV fluids to a pony. They were a lot smaller than horses and didn’t need as much. She went into the empty house and felt very lonely, as lonely as she had felt before she and Dez had gotten together. What was happening to them? Does it end just like this, or was this the tough time everyone talked about getting through? All Alex knew was that she didn’t like it one bit and something needed to change. At the very least, she needed to know that things would get better and not worse. Maybe she was just blowing the situation way out of proportion. She just missed Dez and what they had. What she did know was that she wanted more, and that was not being blown out of proportion.

  Climbing into bed Alex looked at her book and she had enough frustration for one night. Reading about someone else’s great relationship was not a good idea when you weren’t that happy with your own. Hopefully her dreams would be more upbeat.

  When the alarm went off, Alex woke up feeling depressed, and felt even more so when she realized that Dez had never come to bed. She wasn’t worried, as Dez had pulled all-nighters before when she was working on a tough case. But at least she had always come in to kiss her good night and tell her what she was doing. Last night nothing, unless Alex was so tired she didn’t wake up when Dez came in.

  Alex showered and dressed and went downstairs to check Dez’s office. There was no sign of her and her truck wasn’t in the garage. She checked the answering machine, as it was flashing one message. She pushed the button with a sick feeling in her stomach. What if something had happened to Dez and she was in the hospital? Alex sat down to listen to the message.

  “Hey Babe, I won’t be home tonight. I’m too tired and it’s a forty-five minute drive from the Parker place. I’m going to sleep in my truck and I’ll see you tomorrow. Sleep well and I hope you had a good day.” The machine said the message had come in at ten-fifteen p.m., so she must have been in the bathroom and didn’t hear the ring. Rats, drat, fudge and every other non curse word she could think of. This day was not starting well, but maybe in her current frame of mind she wasn’t really ready to talk to Dez anyway – not about their problem or the one at school.

  Alex walked into the kitchen and heard the thunder of little feet heading her way. Since Dez wasn’t home to feed the kitties, Alex needed to be the morning chef and litter box monitor. At times having six cats seemed like six too many, but Alex loved every single one of them. Samantha and Bear where both jet black and absolutely perfect cats. Then came Bianca, the calico, who was the most opinionated o
f the bunch. They were followed by big sweet George who was a classic gray tabby. Last, but not least was the brother and sister team of brown striped tabbies, Wilbur and Wilma. Feeding raw was a little more tricky than dry, as you only wanted to put out enough food for all six cats to consume at one time, whereas dry could be left out all day. Alex always fed on the light side so no chance of any of it going bad before it was all eaten. Dez would be home soon and she could feed more. What a great life, being one of our cats. If only Dez would pay this much attention to Alex.

  Then on to cleaning three litter boxes which were quite full as Dez hadn’t been home to clean them last night. Trying to clean with six supervisors at times was hard. The only plus was that everyone was eating, but kept looking at her to see if she was doing it right. Finishing the last one, before George could jump in to help, Alex made her escape.

  In the time it took Alex to drive to school she was in a much better frame of mind. She had to remind herself how devoted Dez was to her work and that she put the animals’ well being first even if it meant sleeping in her truck all night.

  Alex arrived earlier than usual. She pulled into the faculty parking lot and spotted a man wandering around. She stopped to take a look, and saw him picking up litter. He didn’t look familiar, so was he new to the staff. Or had he worked there for years and she’d just never noticed him?

  As she pulled into her parking spot (all the spots were personalized with each teacher’s name), she realized she may not know everyone who worked at Taylorwood. She sat there wondering how she could get a list of all the employees, and not just faculty. Just then Cyn pulled into her space and gave a little honk. Alex never realized how early Cyn got to school. Was this normal or was today an exception?

  “Hey lady, what are you doing here so early? I thought I was the only one who got here at this time of night.” Cyn was in a very good mood.

  “Ha, ha. My significant other pulled an all-nighter at a client’s so no one to so slow me down this morning. Why on earth do you get here this early?” Alex never realized how dedicated Cyn was to her job.

  “I like to get in early to make the coffee in the teachers’ lounge and have my toast and jam. That way I don’t have to rush around and do dishes at home. Not to mention, no one makes coffee the way I like it. Picky, aren’t I?” Cyn felt closer to Alex after last night and joking with her was much more fun now.

  “Toast and jam, did you bring enough for two? I didn’t feel like doing anything domestic this morning. I just showered, dressed, fed the cats, but not myself and drove straight here.” Alex suddenly felt hungry and toast and jam did sound good.

  “Ah, well if you’re starving, I’ll have to get into my reserve stash of bread. But I guess you’re worth it, considering you did buy me dinner last night, which I’m not sure I thanked you for. It was fantastic and the plum wine was yummy.” Cyn smiled to herself remembering last night and what a great time she had.

  “My pleasure. I hadn’t realized how long it had been since I’d gone out to dinner with someone other than Dez. It was great not talking about equine medicine or work. And yes, you did thank me several times at the restaurant, in my truck, and at your door. Your mother would be proud of your excellent manners.”

  Alex gave Cyn a wink as the two walked towards the faculty lounge, but had the uneasy feeling they were being watched. She tried to take in as much of the campus as she could without appearing to be looking for something specific. She even dropped her bag, giving her an excuse to take a peek behind her. Slowly picking up the bag, Alex’s eyes scanned as much as she could without moving her head. No one in sight. But she did notice another car in the lot that she was sure wasn’t there a moment ago. No one was in it or even near it. How did they not hear the door slam shut, or maybe the driver didn’t want anyone to hear? She made a mental note of the car and would see if it was still there this afternoon when she left. It would be a good idea to get the license number too. Alex decided to start writing down everything out of the ordinary from now on and to be more aware of her surroundings.

  As the two friends sat in the teachers’ lounge eating their toast and jam, Alex looked at Cyn and thought it was time to bring up the note.

  “Well I guess now is as good a time as any to talk about my little problem,” Alex said with a hint of anxiety in her voice.

  “You mean our problem. This person or persons messed with my car, and that makes it my problem too.” Cyn wasn’t going to let Alex stand alone against this creep.

  “You don’t know how much I appreciate this, Cyn. I think I can deal with it much better knowing you are in it with me.” Alex looked at her friend, who was ten years younger and realized how close they had become since this all started.

  As an only child, Alex wondered if this was what it would be like to have a sister, someone to confide in and tell your deepest secrets to. She had never been able to talk with Dez like this, as it seemed to Alex that Dez didn’t really understand what she needed from her. Alex didn’t want Dez to fix her problems, but just to listen to her and give her a sympathetic ear, to be a cheerleader and tell her to hang in there and that she was doing a great job. It seemed that over the past few years Dez was all about the quick fix. If you are having trouble at work, quit your job. If your car is acting up, buy a new one. These are things you don’t want to hear from someone who you want to care about you and your feelings. The more Alex thought about her relationship with Dez, the more her perfect little world was beginning to look like a piece of Swiss cheese.

  “Do you have any idea how many people work here, besides teachers and administrative help?” Alex was counting on Cyn being up to date on this kind of information.

  “Well let me think, there’s Mr. Schmidt, who you already know. Then there’s Javier, the gardener, and Raul his helper, Gus, the bus driver, Ruby, the cook, and Joey, her helper. She’s a girl, by the way. Out in maintenance we have Don, and his helper, Marty. They handle minor bus repairs and the rest of the repairs around the school. I think that’s it.” Cyn looked at Alex like it was info everyone should know.

  “How do you know all this? I’ve worked here for five years and didn’t know any of that.” Alex felt really embarrassed that she had not been more aware of the other staff at the school.

  “Why would you know? You leave right after school is out to go home to your lover. I, on the other hand, have no life and often hang around after school correcting papers and chatting it up with the help. Say you have a light out in your classroom what do you do?” Cyn asked Alex with a big smile on her face.

  “Well, I fill out a maintenance request and turn it into the office. Why, what do you do?” Alex was learning more and more about Cyn with every passing minute.

  “Okay, you fill out the form and you’re done with it. I fill out the form and wait for Don or Marty to show up and help them. If the head lady is gone they let me help them with other repairs too. That’s how I spend a good amount of my free time here at school. Plus, I go to the library a lot. That’s where I got all my info on Taylorwood. Sounds pretty sad, doesn’t it? But you know this area. There isn’t a lesbian bar for two hundred miles, and the lesbians that are in this area are all paired up and stay to themselves. Sound familiar?” Cyn looked over at Alex and was waiting for her to realize who she was referring to.

  “Ouch, I resemble that remark. I never realized how alone you are, and I don’t mean that to sound like pity. I just thought you were off doing amazing things with your spare time.” Alex saw Cyn in a totally different light.

  “Alex, what exactly did you do with your free time before you met Dez?” Cyn was curious if Alex had been off doing amazing things with her spare time.

  “Well, I went riding a lot on Beau and hung around the stables. Before I moved here I pretty much did the same thing at my old stables. I had a lot of friends that rode English, so I would watch their lessons and go with them to different shows. That was also around the same time I met Jessie, who was what you woul
d call a horse whisperer before they called it that. She is 5’7”, with long black hair and green eyes. She’s half Zuni, and absolutely gorgeous, and very, very straight. But it didn’t stop me from having a big crush on her. When I was offered this job it was easy to move so I could get Jessie off my mind. But you’re right. I wasn’t off doing amazing things either, so I’m sorry for the remark.” Alex suddenly realized she might have hurt Cyn’s feelings.

  “You know, I think we should make a pact to spend one night a week with each other to go out and do amazing things. What do you think?” Alex knew down deep inside that spending time with Cyn wasn’t going to fix her relationship with Dez, but at least it would give her something to do instead of staying home and getting more pissed.

  Cyn looked at Alex in disbelief. “Are you serious? You mean like every Wednesday we go do something different? Absolutely! I’m all over that.”

  “Great. Wednesday it is. We’ll switch off coming up with new and amazing things to do. It’s a deal.” Alex’s mood was improving by the minute.

  “Deal. Now does last night count for this week, because today is Wednesday?” Cyn was hoping with every fiber of her being that it didn’t and she and Alex could do something tonight.

  “Nope. Last night doesn’t count, because we just made the deal. Do you want to make plans for tonight’s activity or shall I?” Alex really hoped Cyn took tonight as she didn’t have a clue what to do, which explained why she’d never done amazing things with her spare time either.

  “Uh, all right. But can I think about it?” I feel like I just won the lottery and can’t decide what to buy first. How about I tell you at lunch.” Cyn was thrilled and panicked at the same time. If she didn’t come up with something amazing, this could be a real disaster.