by Elena Graf
“I understand.”
“How about you?”
“About the same. Since I left Shreveport.”
Brenda grinned. “Do you think we’ll remember how?”
“Oh, I think so.” Cherie took Brenda’s hand and placed it between her legs. Soft fingers began to stroke her gently.
“Your underwear is very sexy,” said Brenda, smiling against Cherie’s cheek.
“I’m glad you like it.”
Brenda kissed her, filling her mouth with her tongue. Her hand slipped under the waist band of her panties. Fingers stroked gently, finding their way around. Cherie could hear how wet she was. The sound of her slickness aroused her even more. Brenda pulled Cherie’s panties off and flung them over her shoulder. She pulled off her own and dropped them on the floor.
Cherie found it exciting to be skin to skin with a woman after such a drought. She rolled Brenda on her back and climbed on top of her. Brenda’s little sigh of approval encouraged her. Cherie gently nudged her legs apart and pressed against her. Brenda moaned softly.
“You like that?” whispered Cherie into her ear.
“Oh, yes. Don’t stop.”
Cherie gently rocked her body, pressing closer. “Can you come like this?”
“Probably not, but it feels really good.”
Cherie paused to give Brenda’s breasts some attention. They were large and soft. The nipples instantly stood at attention when Cherie’s tongue teased them.
She rolled off. “I like it to be mutual,” said Cherie, taking Brenda’s hand.
“I find it hard to concentrate, but all right.” She mirrored what Cherie was doing, then surprised her by going inside. Cherie opened her eyes and saw she was grinning like a guilty child. “I couldn’t wait any longer,” Brenda explained.
Cherie closed her eyes again to enjoy the drag of Brenda’s fingers inside her. Brenda expanded her presence with another finger, enhancing the feeling of being filled. Cherie knew she was close now. When Brenda’s fingers emerged to stroke her clitoris, Cherie was right on the edge. Then it surged through her. She felt her face and breasts flush as the climax rushed to completion.
She saw Brenda looking at her intently even as Cherie tried to remain focused enough to return the favor, but Brenda reached down and stopped the motion of Cherie’s hand.
“Don’t you like what I’m doing?” Cherie asked anxiously.
“I’m just sensitive right now.” She brought Cherie’s hand to her lips and kissed it. “It’s hard for me to trust someone enough to come the first time. Sometimes for a while. Is that all right?”
“Of course!” said Cherie, squeezing Brenda’s cheeks. She kissed her too for reassurance. “Everything is all right as long as it feels good and no one gets hurt. Take as long as you need.”
“I like the way you make love. I’m sure it won’t be long. Lucky you. You came so quick.”
“I was very excited…and you have good hands.”
“Can I make you come again?”
“No, that’s enough for now.”
Brenda nodded and pulled Cherie closer. “Can you spend the night?”
Even though Brenda couldn’t see her, Cherie shook her head. “I can’t leave my father alone.”
“I was afraid you’d say that.”
“Do you understand?”
“Of course, I do. Can you stay a little longer? Please?”
“Yes.” Cherie snuggled deeper into the curve of Brenda’s body.
Chapter Twenty-One
Erika opened the refrigerator to get cream for her coffee and felt something wet seeping into her socks. No, it’s too damn early for this. She looked down and saw a puddle under the refrigerator. There was water dripping from the freezer compartment. “Fuck!” she said aloud.
She opened the freezer. It was packed. The day before they’d gone shopping and stocked up to comply with the governor’s stay-at-home order. Erika had noticed when they rearranged the meat to make better use of the space that everything in the freezer was covered with ice crystals. She’d thought the frosty appearance was because they’d left the door open too long. She touched a pack of chicken parts. Usually, it was rock hard. Now, it gave to the touch. “Fuck!” she repeated.
Lucy, wrapped in her flannel robe and wearing fuzzy slippers, came into the kitchen, looking for her first cup of coffee. She went straight to the coffee maker to fill a pod. Usually, Erika would have heated a cup for her by now, but the refrigerator situation had distracted her.
“I think we have a problem,” Erika muttered.
Still groggy from sleep, Lucy turned around and looked quizzical. “What’s the matter?” Erika pointed down to the puddle on the floor. Lucy blinked. “Where did that come from?”
“The freezer I think.”
“Oh, no!”
“Oh, yes, and everything in there is defrosting.”
“We just went shopping!”
“I know.” Erika nodded in the direction of the coffee maker. “Have a cup of coffee while I call Liz.”
“It’s a little early, isn’t it?”
“She has those kids over there,” said Erika, taking out the carton of half-and-half to hand to Lucy. “She’ll be awake.” She picked up her foot and stared at it. “My socks are soaked.”
“Go change your socks and then call Liz,” advised Lucy. She threw some towels in front of the refrigerator to absorb the water. “I’m praying this isn’t as bad as it looks.”
Erika went to change her socks. She despised wet feet with a passion. To make sure it didn’t happen again, she put on clogs.
She met Emily on her way to the stairs.
“Morning, Erika.”
“Good morning. Put something on your feet. We have a leak from the freezer.”
Emily made a face, but she went back to her room.
Erika tried to calm herself enough to think clearly. Being without a refrigerator in the middle of a lockdown was a disaster not even to be contemplated, but she forced her mind not to jump to conclusions. She was confident that Liz would figure out what was wrong and know exactly what to do.
Erika brewed a fresh cup of coffee and went into the dining room to call Liz. A moment later, Lucy came out and sat across from her, presumably to offer moral support. Her red hair was wild from sleep, and she was pale without makeup, but the mere sight of her could make Erika sigh.
“I love you,” said Erika.
Lucy offered a brilliant smile. “I love you too, sweetheart.”
Erika tapped Liz’s number in her favorites. She put the call on speaker so she could drink her coffee. “What would we do without her?” she wondered aloud as the phone began to ring on the other end.
“Good question,” said Lucy.
“What the fuck?” asked Liz on the other end. “It’s not even six-fucking-thirty!”
Lucy almost spit her coffee and began to laugh.
“Erika, do you have me on speaker?”
“Yes,” admitted Erika. “Do you mind?”
“Well, yes. I don’t want Lucy to hear me swearing.”
“Oh, Liz, we all know you love to use expletives. Your mouth could curdle milk. Right now, the cream in my coffee is rather lumpy.” Erika looked up and saw Lucy trying to keep from spitting her coffee again. Maybe she should take the phone off the speaker.
“Oh, for God’s sake!” said Liz.
“Eh, eh. Lucy will tolerate the F-bomb but not taking the Lord’s name in vain.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, then. What do you want at this ridiculous hour?”
Erika put on her serious persona. “We have a little problem over here. Our freezer is defrosting.”
“Did you bump a switch when you put things in?”
“Not that I know of. There are no switches.”
“I need the
make and model number.”
Lucy went into the kitchen. A few minutes later she slid a pad with the model number and manufacturer name written on it in front of Erika, who gave Liz the information.
“I’ll do some research and be over soon,” said Liz. “I need to get dressed first. Give me half an hour.”
The call ended without a goodbye, which was usual for Liz.
Lucy kissed Erika’s cheek on the way to the kitchen. “You’re lucky to have such a good friend.”
“Don’t I know it?”
***
Liz arrived, as promised, within thirty minutes. She brought her flashlight and a tool bag that looked like it weighed fifty pounds. Erika watched with her arms folded on her chest as Liz rolled the refrigerator away from the wall and unscrewed a panel on the back. With the flashlight, she carefully inspected the hardware inside.
“You’re the only doctor I know who still makes house calls,” said Erika.
“Only for refrigerators, not people.”
“You mean if I were sick and called you, you wouldn’t come?”
“For you, I would come. For Lucy. Or Emily. Hell! Of course, I would come!”
Liz frowned as she looked at the circuits behind the refrigerator. “It looks like the defrost switch got stuck. It’s an auto, not a manual switch. It probably got damaged during that power outage after the ice storm. All that cycling on and off will do it. Eventually, the circuits fry and your compressor goes. Then you’re fucked.” Liz glanced at Lucy with a wordless apology.
“But it’s only six months old!” groaned Erika. “It cost over two thousand dollars, and it was on special order for months!”
“I told you not to get fancy appliances,” said Liz, switching off her flashlight.
“Says the woman with the Aga stove in her kitchen.”
“That’s different.”
“Of course, it is. Everything’s different for Liz Stolz.”
Liz gave her a filthy look. “Thanks, I like you too.”
As much as Erika enjoyed their sparring, she realized she was being unnecessarily mean to a woman who’d just dropped everything to come to her rescue. She noticed Lucy giving her a very disapproving look. Fortunately, Liz never seemed to care about the insults they exchanged, nor did Erika.
“I brought some coolers,” Liz said. “We have room in our refrigerator in the basement. I turned on the refrigerator in the apartment over the garage. You and Lucy can stay there. Emily can stay in the house.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Erika.
Liz gave her a look that said, “don’t be dense.” “Obviously, you can’t stay here with no refrigerator. You’re coming to stay with us.”
Lucy, who’d been anxiously watching this exchange, said, “We could stay in the studios at the rectory. There’s probably space in the refrigerator in the common room.”
“Forget about it,” said Liz in her New York accent. “You’d kill each other in those little rooms. This stay-at-home order is not going to end any time soon. The apartment is very nice.” She counted off its benefits on her fingers as she enumerated them. “It has a sitting room, a little alcove study, a large bedroom, its own kitchen, a great view of the garden.”
“Why do you have an apartment when you have so much room in the house?” asked Lucy.
“I built it for my mother. You know, my mother who never wants to come to Maine? It would be nice if someone used it. Maggie and Alina are doing a quick clean and changing the linens.”
“You assumed that we would accept your invitation?” asked Erika, giving her a fish-eyed stare.
“Of course, I did. You never turn down my invitations.”
Erika glanced at Lucy to get her opinion.
“I think it’s very generous of Liz. She’s right. We can’t stay here without a refrigerator. Even if we order a new one today, it will take weeks to arrive,” said Lucy in a sensible voice. “We can’t ask Tom to move out of the rector’s apartment, and we’d go crazy in the curates’ studios. I vote we accept Liz’s kind invitation.”
Emily came into the kitchen. “What’s going on?”
“The refrigerator is no longer functional,” explained Erika, “and your mother says we’re moving in with Liz.”
“Oh, okay,” said Emily. “I’ll take a shower and pack.”
Lucy’s brows rose in surprise. She glanced at her wife. “You have the magic touch today. If I’d said that, I’d get an argument.”
Erika raised her palms. “What is she going to do? Stay here alone?”
Liz started taking soggy food boxes out of the freezer and tossing them on the island. “All this stuff will have to go to the dump. Can I have a big trash bag?”
“I can do that, Liz,” said Erika.
“Go pack. This is a team effort, and your stuff is defrosting fast. Now, let’s go!”
Erika remained to hand Liz the food as she arranged it in the coolers. Everything was packed and ready to go within twenty minutes. Liz carried the coolers out to her truck and strapped them to keep them secure in transit. She threw the black bag of frozen food that couldn’t be saved into the back. “I’ll bring it to the dump on the way home.”
Erika went up to pack. She watched Lucy laying out her black suits and clerical blouses.
“We can come back later for our clothes,” said Erika. “We only need things for a few days.”
Lucy gave Erika a firm look. “We’re not coming back for a while. Why not move as much as we can today?”
Usually, Erika was the practical one, but the refrigerator problem had put her off balance. It was a relief to see Lucy taking charge.
“You’re right, as usual,” said Erika and began arranging her clothes to pack.
***
To Liz’s frowns of disapproval, Maggie welcomed them all with hugs. “I keep trying to explain social distancing,” complained Liz. “It falls on deaf ears.”
“They’re our friends, Liz,” said Maggie, enfolding Emily in her arms. “They’re not going to give us anything.”
Liz opened her mouth to say something, then obviously thought better of it. Instead, she asked for Erika’s keys. “I’m going to move your car.”
Maggie gave Erika a hug. “Ignore Liz. She’s making such a big thing of this.”
Erika dropped her voice. “It is a big thing. She’s not exaggerating. We could be carrying the virus.”
“We’re all going to get it eventually. Liz said so.”
“The idea is that we don’t all get it at the same time and overwhelm the system,” Erika tried to explain.
“I understand,” said Maggie, “but we’re all going to be living together and eating together, so what’s the point?” She led them into the kitchen. “When Liz gets back, we can have some breakfast. I took some quiches out of the freezer.” She turned to Lucy. “I’ve planned some meals with your defrosted meat, but there’s way too much for us to eat. Maybe you know some elderly people or shut-ins who would like a home cooked meal?”
Lucy put her arm around Maggie and hugged her. “That’s a great idea! I do know some people. What are we offering?”
“We have all this sauce we made last summer,” Maggie said, gesturing to the sweating plastic containers on the counter. “You had lots of chopped meat. We have pasta. Baked ziti? Between your lettuce and ours, we can make an enormous salad. And we can turn your loaves of Italian bread into garlic bread.”
Lucy hugged Maggie. “How many extra people can we feed?”
Maggie shrugged. “Six? Maybe eight?”
“I’ll call around and see who’s interested,” said Lucy.
Liz came back into the kitchen. “Emily and I have all of your bags up in the apartment.”
“Oh, Liz,” said Erika, feeling genuinely guilty. “I would have helped you!”
“
I know, Professor, but you were soooo busy,” said Liz with obvious sarcasm. “So, has my wife told you her plan to multiply the loaves and fishes?”
Lucy turned to Liz. “I had no idea you knew about that.”
“Hah! I know a lot of things you don’t think I know.”
“I bet you do.”
“Come on. Let me show you to your new digs.” Liz led them upstairs. “The bridge to the apartment is on the second floor.” She pointed in the opposite direction. “Emily will be in the seashore room. The girls have already commandeered her for a game of Chinese checkers. Nicki hasn’t a clue, so Emily helps her cheat.”
“How very nice of her,” said Erika in a droll voice.
Liz unlocked the door at the house end of the enclosed bridge. “I turned on the heat pump, so it should be comfortable by now. I put your perishables away. If you need anything, I’m sure we have it.”
Liz unlocked the door on the other side of the bridge. “You can access it from the garage through that door.” She handed Erika the keys.
“I can’t believe you added this beautiful apartment for your mother, and she never stays here,” said Erika looking around.
“She hates Maine.”
“A shame. It’s such a beautiful place.”
“New Yorker’s chauvinism,” said Liz, as if that explained it. “I’ll let you get settled. Then Maggie expects you for breakfast.”
Erika was surprised to find the place much larger than she’d expected. There was a spacious living room with a gas fireplace, an efficiency kitchen, an alcove with a dining table for two, a nook with a desk, and a large bedroom. The bed was covered with a warm quilt and a colorful afghan crocheted by Liz’s grandmother. Erika remembered the pale-eyed, old woman, whose drop-dead look was terrifying, despite her obvious kindness.
“This is such a nice place,” said Lucy. “Why don’t you rent it?”
“I don’t want strangers walking around my property. Besides, I might need it for summer guests.”
“Not this year,” said Erika. “I doubt you’ll see anyone up here this summer.”
Liz nodded thoughtfully. “I’m afraid you’re right.”