Getting Back
Page 24
If you come, we’re on the corner at Sixty-Sixth and Columbus. Find us.
She showed it to Paul, who grabbed her hand and said, “Off we go.”
Even with the street lamps and the headlights of passing cars, it was difficult to see in the darkness. People were bunched tightly together and more kept streaming out of the subway to join them. Many were holding signs.
Suddenly Paul stopped and Elizabeth looked around thinking he’d found Ruth.
“Well hello there, Ms. Goldberg. Nice to see you here.”
It was the actress Whoopi Goldberg, holding her own sign that said FOR MY FRIENDS—EQUAL RIGHTS.
She hugged Paul and he introduced her to Elizabeth. Even though she usually wasn’t impressed with celebrities, Elizabeth was moved that this famous woman would take the time to stand among them in protest. Suddenly it became urgent that she find Ruth. They needed to be there together as a couple. They needed to make that statement to the world and more importantly to one another.
She looked over toward the corner where Ruth said she’d be and began walking in that direction. It was Jaret she saw first. She was holding a sign that said “I didn’t ask her to civil union me.” Elizabeth smiled. She was so looking forward to their wedding, especially now that she and Reese were legally mother and daughter.
She quickened her steps when Ruth came into view. Paul Stanton ran beside her to catch up.
“I see them,” she said.
Ruth was standing, dressed in her heavy black jacket, a gray wool hat with a small front brim on her head. Was she trying not to be recognized? She turned and saw Elizabeth, her face breaking into a grin.
“You made it!”
Elizabeth grabbed her into a hug and kissed her hello.
“I would have been here sooner, but Mr. Stanton delayed me.”
“Hi there, Lauren.” Paul bent over and kissed Lauren’s cheek and then did the same to Ruth. Elizabeth greeted Lauren and took a few steps to the side to make sure Reese saw her. Reese stared at her with her usual slack-jawed look of surprise.
“Close your mouth, Reese. This is not my first demonstration, though it is likely that you were in grade school the last time I attended one.”
The crowd was still expanding and the chanting was getting even louder.
“Isn’t this turnout wonderful?” said Ruth.
Elizabeth kissed her. “You’re wonderful.”
“What did you mean Paul delayed you?”
“Mom.” Lauren stood next to them before Elizabeth could answer. “I called Mark so he could hear this. Say hello.”
Ruth took the phone from Lauren and tried to raise her voice above the crowd. “Mark, it’s Mom. Do you hear the chanting?”
Elizabeth leaned over to Ruth. “Mark,” she called out. “It’s Elizabeth. This is what I meant when I said you shouldn’t lose hope.”
Ruth smiled. “He agrees with you,” she said. “He’s going to the protest in LA later.”
Lauren took her phone back from Ruth. “Mom, Whoopi Goldberg is over there. Uncle Paul just introduced me.”
“I met her too,” said Elizabeth. “I was very moved to see her here.”
Ruth nodded. “It’s so wonderful when people like her show their support.” She turned fully to Elizabeth. “So how did Paul delay you?”
“Oh yes. Well, he spent such a long time explaining how the Catalyst Group works, that he made us both late.”
Ruth raised her eyebrows. “You’re joining?”
“It seems by chance, they’re meeting in New York this weekend, so I said I’d attend.”
“What about the Fowler campaign? Isn’t that going to take up all of your time?”
“Oh, you’re doing that with me, darling.”
Ruth opened her mouth in surprise. “I am? I don’t know a thing about raising money.”
Elizabeth waved the comment away. “I’ll teach you everything you need to know. It’s really very simple. You just ask. No one is going to refuse a judge.”
Ruth opened her arms to the space around them. The crowd’s chanting had become almost deafening. “I can’t believe you’re going to get involved in all this,” she said almost shouting to be heard.
“I’ll be donating money, not planning a revolution.” Elizabeth bent forward and spoke into Ruth’s ear. “Besides, who knows, one day I may want to marry you.”
Ruth grinned and tilted her head. “Oh? Are you proposing, Ms. Morrison?”
“I don’t know.” Elizabeth shrugged. “Am I the one who’s supposed to do that?”
“I’m not sure. I guess the old rules don’t apply.”
Elizabeth wrapped her arms around Ruth’s neck and stood as close as she could. “Well, then, when the time comes, and it will, we’ll just flip a coin.”
About Cindy Rizzo
Cindy Rizzo writes lesbian fiction with a focus on romance. Her first novel, Exception to the Rule, won the Golden Crown Literary Society Award for Best Debut Author in 2014 and was a finalist for the Rainbow Book Awards. Her second novel, Love Is Enough, was released in September 2014. A short story, “The Miracle of the Lights,” appeared in the award-winning anthology Unwrap These Presents (Ylva Publishing) and was also released on its own. A second story, “V-Day 1978,” was included in Ylva’s Valentine’s Day release, Love Times Two. Cindy was also the co-editor of a fiction anthology, All the Ways Home, published in 1995 (New Victoria), in which her story “Herring Cove” was included.
Cindy lives in New York City with her wife, Jennifer, and their three cats. They have two grown sons, a wonderful daughter-in-law, and a baby granddaughter.
Connect with Cindy online
E-mail her at: cindyt.rizzo@gmail.com
Visit her blog: www.cindyrizzo.wordpress.com
Like her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ctrizzo
Follow her on Twitter: @cindyrizzo
View the Getting Back Pinterest board:
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Getting Back
© 2015 by Cindy Rizzo
ISBN (mobi): 978-3-95533-392-8
ISBN (epub): 978-3-95533-393-5
Also available as paperback.
Published by Ylva Publishing, legal entity of Ylva Verlag, e.Kfr.
Ylva Verlag, e.Kfr.
Owner: Astrid Ohletz
Am Kirschgarten 2
65830 Kriftel
Germany
www.ylva-publishing.com
First edition: October 2015
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
Credits
Edited by Therese Arkenberg & Nikki Busch
Cover Design & Printlayout by Streetlight Graphics