It didn’t work. “As in?” Susan repeated.
“You and Tess,” Steph said. “New love makes me think of when my love was new.”
“You forgot to mention Amy and Parker,” Susan said.
“All right, them too,” Steph said. She pinched off a few sage leaves and added them to the basket. “I want you all to be happy like Rosa and me. It’s time.”
“Time heals,” Susan said.
“Does that mean you’re healed?” Steph asked, her excitement apparent.
“Now let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
“Geez, can’t you two hop into bed and heal through sex like in most lesbian romances?”
“That’s lust, not healing. I don’t know where that idea came from. It’s a recipe for disaster.” Susan crossed her arms over her chest. “Big, bad butch reads lesbian romances. Huh, who knew?”
“It’s my little secret, so keep your trap shut,” Steph warned.
“I won’t tell. I’ve known you long enough to know that you’re a secret romantic. Don’t the guys at work give you a hard time when you’re reading those romances?”
“I have a kindle. No covers that way. I tell them I’m reading Stephen King.” Steph was saved from further embarrassment by the arrival of Amy and Parker. Rosa followed them out the door and onto the deck.
“Got enough herbs going there?” Parker teased. She pulled two Coronas from the ice chest Steph had filled earlier.
Steph ignored the teasing. “There’s limes in there too.”
“I see that,” Parker said. She opened Amy’s beer and put a lime slice in it before handing it to her. She did the same for Susan.
“Ever the gentleman. I mean, person,” Susan said.
“Don’t go P.C. on my account,” Parker said.
Susan took the beer and sat in the chaise.
“Where’s Tess?” Amy asked.
“She’s cleaning up the mess I brought in. She’ll be along shortly,” Rosa said, easing herself into the chaise next to Susan.
“What mess?” Steph asked.
“I brought in this kid. He was shoplifting those packaged deli sandwiches. Mac called it in. Come to find out, his mother went out of town three weeks ago,” Rosa said. “He doesn’t know when she’ll be back. We went in. There was no food, and I mean no food, in the house,” Rosa said.
“How old is he?” Parker asked.
“Nine.”
“That is so sad,” Amy said. She leaned against the deck railing.
“Why the hell do people like that have children?” Steph asked, anger coloring her face.
“Because they can and they do,” Parker said.
“Tess is getting him set up in foster care,” Rosa said. “Mac isn’t going to press charges on the kid’s shoplifting.”
“Mac’s a good guy. I fixed his back door after someone tried to kick it in,” Parker said.
“See, Fenton is not as safe as we think it is,” Steph said, looking straight at Rosa.
“Don’t start. I’m careful,” Rosa said.
“You better be,” Steph said.
Susan’s phone buzzed. She looked at it. “It’s Tess, she’s on her way now.”
“Good,” Rosa said. “I was feeling guilty.”
“Don’t,” Susan said. “Tess loves her job.”
“She’s good at it, too. We need more people like her and fewer bad parents,” Steph said. She was obviously still angry.
“Hon, calm down,” Rosa said. “He’s in a safe place with a full belly.”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. I’ve got to go cook,” Steph groused. She headed inside.
“Do you want some help?” Amy asked. “I’m not much of a cook, but I do know how to chop things.”
“Sure. I’ll put you on pesto duty,” Steph said.
Amy followed Steph inside. Once they were in the kitchen and out of earshot of the others, Amy whispered conspiratorially, “I want to learn to cook.”
“You do?” Steph asked. “Why?”
Amy grinned. “Let’s just say I’m feeling a little nesty.”
Steph put the herbs on the counter. “Nesty?”
“You know that thing lesbians do—have sex, move in together, get a pet, and start dressing the same,” Amy said.
Steph furrowed her brow. Did she and Rosa dress the same? Sometimes she’d come downstairs and discover that they had the same color combos going. Then she’d go change again. What did that say? Was she bucking the system? Saying yes, we are together, but no, we don’t dress the same?
Amy must have read her mind. “Don’t worry, you and Rosa don’t do that.”
“Yet,” Steph said. “But it’s not necessarily a bad thing. You could think of it as the love uniform.”
“Love uniform?”
Steph put the herbs in a colander and rinsed them. “Yeah, like we dress the same so other lesbians on the prowl will know that we are a united force and they’ll stay away.”
“You’re not serious?”
Steph didn’t know if she was or not. It was a new idea to her. “I don’t know. It’s hard when you’re a couple not to pick up some of your partner’s idiosyncrasies.”
“I wouldn’t know. I haven’t had a relationship that got that far.”
“Why not?” Steph hoped this wasn’t a red flag. She hadn’t vetted Amy like she normally did with anyone remotely interested in Parker. She’d been pushing the two of them together without considering why Amy was single.
“Here, let me chop those,” Amy said.
Steph got her the cutting board and a French knife.
Amy began chopping. “I haven’t had a long-term relationship because I haven’t found the right person. Now I have. It’s that simple.”
“Okay,” Steph said. She pulled out the food processor and rummaged around in the pantry for the pine nuts and olive oil.
“You don’t believe me.”
“It’s not that. I can’t bear to watch Parker get hurt again,” Steph said.
“I love her, Steph. I want to make a life and a home together.”
Steph refrained from doing a happy jig, but she wanted to. “Which is why you want to learn to cook.”
“Bingo,” Amy said.
“No, that’s tomorrow night.”
“Corny.”
“I couldn’t help myself,” Steph said. “We’re all coming to watch, you know.”
“What?”
“It’s your first assignment for the paper and it’s also your bingo debut. How could we miss it? I’m bringing my video camera.”
Amy went white. “You can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Please don’t. You can read about the whole thing in the paper. You don’t need to come. Really.”
Steph cocked her head. “What are you hiding?”
Amy didn’t reply. “And you especially can’t bring Parker.”
“Is your other girlfriend going to be there?”
“I don’t have another girlfriend,” Amy snapped. “I would never do something like that to Parker.”
Steph was surprised at her vehemence. “You really do love her.”
“I do love her and I plan on spending the rest of my life with her, if she’ll let me.”
“Does she know this?”
“Not yet. And don’t you tell her either. I don’t want to scare her off,” Amy said.
“All right.”
“You have to promise,” Amy said.
Steph took the chopped basil and put it in the food processor. She sprinkled in parmesan cheese. “I promise I will not disclose any of this. It’ll be a struggle, but for you and Parker, I can do it.” She hoped she could. Keeping secrets, especially the good kind, was difficult for her. “Can I tell Rosa though?”
Amy rolled her eyes. “Of course. That’s another given in lesbian relationships.”
“Yeah, I guess it is. What about New York?”
“I sublet my apartment. And it’s not like I can’t visit if
I get antsy.”
Steph suddenly threw her arms around Amy’s waist and lifted her up off the ground, swinging her around in a big circle. “I knew you’d stay,” she said.
“What do we have here?” Parker asked, walking into the room.
Steph put Amy down. “It’s not what you think.”
“And what do I think?” Parker asked.
Both Amy and Steph looked at each other. Steph had promised not to tell. “I can’t tell you. It’s… a surprise.”
“I hate surprises,” Parker said.
“You’ll like this one,” Steph said. She turned to the counter and began to furiously chop more basil. “By the way, I told Amy we’re all going to the Bingo-a-thon.”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Parker said. Her eyes sparkled when she looked at Amy.
“You can’t come,” Amy said matter-of-factly.
“Why not?”
“If you must know… we all wear these team uniform things.”
“Oh, I get it,” Steph said. She turned on the food processor. The noise stopped all further conversation.
“What kind of a uniform?” Parker asked once the noise subsided.
“Not a flattering one,” Amy said.
“In that case, we’re coming for sure,” Steph said.
“Please, don’t,” Amy pleaded.
“I already know what you’re wearing,” Parker said.
“How?” Amy looked mortified.
“Millie texted me a pic.”
“She didn’t!” Amy said.
“She did. And you looked adorable.”
“I did?”
Steph watched Amy’s face glow. It made her heart swell with the happiness of her friends finding that one special person.
“Half the town is going to see you anyhow. Dressing up is a town tradition. No one is going to think you’re stupid. It’ll show your solidarity. People like that. Your article will sell a lot of papers,” Parker said.
Amy beamed at her. “How come you’re so good at making me feel better?”
“Because I care.”
Steph said, “Ooooh, how sweet.”
Parker laughed. “I came to see if you wanted me to put the chops on the grill. And to make sure Amy hadn’t chopped her fingers off.”
Amy whipped a dishtowel at her backside. “For your information, I’m going to learn to cook and then I’ll surprise the pants off you.” Her eyes went wide and she clasped her hand over her mouth. “Oh my god, I can’t believe I just said that.”
“Is that the surprise? Getting my pants off?” Parker asked, raising one eyebrow. “’Cause I could definitely get behind that.”
Amy just smiled and whipped the dishtowel at her again.
Chapter Nineteen
“Are they wearing crocheted pants?” Amy asked, staring across the VFW room at a rival bingo team.
“Yep, those are crocheted all right,” Millie answered. “Crochet Olé, the yarn store, had a going-out-of-business sale and they came up with that stupid idea. C’mon, let’s go get a good table before they’re all taken.”
Amy couldn’t imagine what a good table looked like. The room was lined with long plastic fold-up tables, uncomfortable steel chairs, and flickering fluorescent lights. She could feel a headache brewing behind her eyes.
One side of the room had the bingo tables and the other had the same uncomfortable steel chairs set up for the audience—with the exception of the lesbians, who’d brought their own folding camping chairs. Amy stopped and looked around for Parker.
“Come on, honey,” Millie said, taking her elbow. “Don’t worry, she’ll show up.”
“Who?” Amy asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
Millie smirked.
“Part of me wants her here and the other part is embarrassed because of this,” Amy said, looking down at her Wonder Woman costume. “I wish I had an invisible airplane to hide in.”
“Look at the bright side: you could be wearing those afghan pants. Besides, they have a surprise for you,” Millie said, taking a chair at one of the long tables.
“I don’t know if I can handle any more surprises,” Amy said.
“You’re just nervous. Everything is going to work out just fine,” Millie cooed. She pulled a selection of neon daubers out of her purse and set them down on the table. “You hold our place while I go get our bingo cards.” She scurried away, leaving Amy alone at the table.
At that moment, Clara and Mabel bustled in through the front doors. They nodded at spectators, called out hellos to their friends, and in Mabel’s case, flipped the bird to a woman wearing quilted overalls. She belonged to The Quilters, a team that wore all-quilted clothing.
Clara grabbed Mable’s hand. “You promised you wouldn’t cause trouble,” Clara scolded.
“Sorry. I forgot,” Mabel said, not looking the least bit contrite.
Amy looked over at the quilted woman who returned the bird with gusto. “Who is that?” Amy asked.
Mabel closed her mouth and did the lock-the-lips-and-throw-away-the-key gesture. She cocked her head at Clara as if to say, “See, I’m being good.”
Amy raised her eyebrow at Clara. “I’m writing a story for the paper. It might make good copy.” She couldn’t believe she was doing this, but a reporter did have an obligation to her readers.
Mabel unlocked her lips and said, “You better tell her before Edna does and I get lambasted.”
“All right, but you go get our cards and do not cut in line. Just because Millie is almost at the front of the line does not mean you are to cut in with her. You know how the Afghans are sticklers for rules. We don’t need a war before the game even gets started.”
Mabel cursed under her breath.
“Sorry, I didn’t hear what you said,” Clara said.
“I just said it’s looking real nice in here with all these foo-foo decorations. Who knew there were bingo decorations?” Mabel said. She trotted off, scowling, and huffily stood at the end of the line.
“So, what’s the feud with that other woman about?” Amy asked Clara.
“Oh, Edna made the mistake of making fun of Mabel’s Green Lantern costume. She didn’t do it to Mabel’s face. Had she done that, Mabel wouldn’t have been so angry. It was the backhandedness that made Mabel furious. Ever since then, there’s been a lot of bad blood.”
Millie returned with the bingo cards. “I’m impressed that Mabel followed the no cutting rule.” She sat down and spread out her and Amy’s cards.
“She promised to be on her best behavior,” Clara said, pulling out four water bottles and handing one each to Amy and Millie. “You can get dehydrated very quickly in bingo.”
“I brought the Cliff energy bars,” Millie said.
“Good, we don’t want anyone crashing from low blood sugar,” Clara said.
“Keep the sugary stuff away from Mabel,” Millie said. “You remember what happened when she ate too many rum balls.”
“What happened?” Amy asked wide-eyed.
“Last year, Edna and Mabel got arrested for causing a public disturbance in the parking lot,” Clara explained. “They both spent the night in jail.”
“What was the fight about?” Amy asked.
“Cheating,” Clara answered. “But it was never proven.”
“How can you cheat at bingo?” Amy asked, thinking she’d never heard of such a thing.
“Fake cards,” Millie said. “I think Edna had fake cards and her nephew, being the caller, had something to do with it, too. Mabel says she saw it happen. Unfortunately, it was difficult to prove. Now we have a different caller and a witness to the ball being called out as a safeguard.”
“It was messy,” Clara said. “Edna is still their team leader which doesn’t sit well with most of us.”
“The commission couldn’t come to a definite conclusion. They said there was no actual physical evidence, but that’s because Edna got rid of it. So it ended up being a she said/she said thing. Which is a complete pile of crap,” Millie sai
d, her face turning red.
“Now, Millie, it’s water under the bridge. No reason to get all worked up over it. You and Mabel have to let it go,” Clara said.
“I’ll never let go,” Millie said through gritted teeth.
The conversation abruptly ended as Mabel took her seat next to Clara. She handed Clara her cards. “That rat bastard Clayton asked if I were going to get down and dirty with Edna in the parking lot.” She scowled. “You’ll be glad to know that I didn’t say anything back. However, I will be putting dog shit on his car door handle at intermission.”
“You most certainly will not,” Clara said firmly. She let out a heavy sigh and looked at Amy. “You see what I have to put up with?”
Amy saw Parker, Steph, Rosa, Tess, and Susan come in the front doors. They were all proudly wearing superhero T-shirts.
“Oh, my god,” Amy said. “Look, we have a fan section.” She rose to go greet Parker, but Millie pulled her back down, saying, “No time for kissy-face. We’re getting started now. The bingo caller is here.”
Amy looked at the front of the room just in time to see Jeb stride in, his boot heels striking a hard note on the concrete floor. He poised at the front of the room before the bingo cage. Luke, looking like a younger version of his uncle, except for the man bun on top of his head, scuttled in a side door. He had a camera strapped around his neck.
Jeb cleared his throat, leaned into the microphone, and read off the rules. All teams listened intently even though most of them could recite the rules by heart.
Amy was surprised to learn that there was a five-thousand-dollar pot that went to the team with the most bingos. Also, two hundred dollars was awarded to each individual person who had a bingo. That explained the fierce competition.
“Is everybody ready?” Jeb asked the crowd.
Each team called out in the affirmative. Mabel stood up and yelled, “Damn right!”
Clara rolled her eyes. Mabel sat back down and looked at her innocently. “What?”
“Behave yourself,” Clara warned her.
“I am decorum itself,” Mabel said.
“Let the games begin!” Jeb said. The crowd whooped and clapped.
Jeb read off the balls. Millie bopped away, as did Mabel and Clara. Amy scanned her cards in a panic. Millie, not losing her stride, bopped Amy’s cards three times. The calling kept coming, fast and furious. Amy got better, and between Clara and Millie’s oversight, she grew more comfortable with her cards.
Heart to Heart Page 19