by Jamie Conner
"Trés bien!"
"I must be out of my mind!" Megan confessed to Brandi as they walked back to the car. "Cooking isn't really my thing, but I just didn't like seeing her so upset about her strawberries going to waste."
"Well, it's too late to get cold feet now," Brandi teased. "But I tell you what. I'll come back to the house with you and give you a hand. Between the two of us maybe we can manage not to make a mess of things."
Megan looked over at Brandi and for the second time in as many days, she was overwhelmed with gratitude for her presence. After the gratitude, a flutter of concern rose up. It made her a little nervous that she was getting used to Brandi being around so much. She quickly dismissed the thought. She'd deal with that later. Right now they had jam to make.
***
"I found these sun visors in the tool shed where the strawberry baskets were," Megan said handing one to Brandi. "Here's some sunscreen too."
The two of them both grew quiet for a moment looking at the tube of lotion. It was obvious that they were both thinking about the same thing.
"Megan, I really am sorry about what happen back in…"
Megan held up her hand to stop Brandi.
"I know, Brandi. I get it. You don't have to keep apologizing. We were just kids then and it's obvious that things are different now."
Brandi smiled.
"Well, some things haven't changed," Brandi said. "You're still one of the nicest people I've ever met. I thought I was going to burst into tears when I saw you holding Mrs. Leroux's hand in the hospital. It… it reminded me of when my mom was sick," she said with a slight tremble in her voice.
Megan just stood quietly and listened. Even way back in high school Brandi never talked about her mom's illness and eventual passing and judging by the trembling in Brandi's voice it wasn't something she talked about much even now.
"They only let me visit her in the hospital once the week that she died," she said softly. "I kept asking my dad to take me, but he'd said my mom's immune system was weak and they were trying to stabilize things before she had any more visitors. They weren't expecting things to turn for the worse so quickly."
Megan could see tears forming in Brandi's eyes.
"I just wish I'd been at the hospital to hold her hand. I've never been able to shake the thought that she must have been scared — being there all alone."
Suddenly Brandi shook her head ending the story. "Sorry," she said as if she'd done something wrong. "I didn't mean to get so glum all of a sudden."
Megan reached out and took Brandi's hand. It was awkward at first, but Megan didn't let that stop her.
"You don't have to apologize for feeling what you feel Brandi. I'm sorry if no one's ever told you that before."
Brandi nodded and sniffled a few times.
"Thanks. Thanks for always being so nice — even when you don't have to be."
"I could say the same thing for you, Ms. Turner," Megan said with a smile. "You've certainly gone above and beyond the call of duty in the past few days. I really don't know what I would have done without you."
Brandis' mood seemed to lighten. "Well then, we'd better get to these strawberries so neither of us disappoints Mrs. Leroux."
By 3 pm the hot sun was beating down on both women mercilessly. They'd just about finished picking all the ripe strawberries they could find and Megan's body was aching for a break.
"I don't know how Mrs. Leroux does this every week," Brandi said as she walked doubled over picking strawberries from the low lying plants and depositing them in a little basket at her feet.
"I think they just made people in her generation stronger," Megan giggled.
"Yeah, you must be right," Brandi replied putting her hands on her hips and arching her back.
Megan couldn't help but notice the way Brandi's t-shirt pulled tautly over her firm breasts as she stretched.
"How many baskets do you think we need to pick?" Brandi asked once her body returned to a vertical position.
Megan shifted in her spot on the ground and pulled a little piece of paper from her back pocket. "According to the recipe, we'll need at least twenty pounds of strawberries to make the fifty jars of jam that Mrs. Leroux usually sells in the market."
"Fifty jars?" Brandi said with surprise. "I didn't think enough people lived in St. Amelia to eat that much jam every week."
Megan had to laugh. St. Amelia really was like a small country town and Brandi's observation was probably right — the residents alone couldn't eat that much jam even if they had it morning, noon and night.
"I think she sells quite a bit to the tourists who come in to visit St. Amelia's Cathedral in the afternoon. I remember seeing a huge group of people when I first got to town. Most of them had shopping bags in their hands and I suspect many of the bags had a jar of Mrs. Leroux's jam inside."
Brandi let out a sigh, walked over and dumped her share of strawberries into the large plastic bucket at the end of the row. "Well, it looks like we've got almost twenty pounds already. Once we add what you've got in your basket we should be finished with this part of the process."
Megan was struggling to get to her feet as Brandi walked back to the spot where they'd been picking.
"I think my legs have fallen asleep," she giggled. "I don't get it. When I was a kid I could sit cross-legged for hours with no problem."
Brandi reached out and offered Megan a hand. Once she'd pulled Megan to her feet the two women were standing only inches apart. The close proximity made Megan's brain rush back to the kiss that didn't happen yesterday.
"Well, I guess we're not kids anymore," Brandi said with a smile.
Something sparked inside Megan and she knew she didn't want to make the same mistake she'd made last night.
She looked up at Brandi — who was standing like a statue. It was obvious she wasn't going to make the first move.
Finally, Megan inched forward and pressed her lips to Brandi's softly. A wave of heat flowed through her body and she felt Brandi's hand touch the small of her back and pull her closer. That little bit of encouragement emboldened Megan and she pressed her mouth even more firmly into Brandi's parting her lips so their tongues could dance together.
When they finally parted Megan smiled broadly. "I've been wanting to do that all day," she said.
Brandi's face flushed red and she let out a seductive laugh.
"And I want to make something very clear," Megan continued, her tone sounding suddenly serious.
Brandi just looked at her wide-eyed.
"If anybody walks through that gate, I'm not going to stop kissing you."
With that Megan pressed her body even more firmly into Brandi's and they fell passionately into a real French kiss — a kiss in France!
Chapter 12
All Brandi had been waiting for was permission. Once Megan kissed her she was finally able to let all the passion that she'd been feeling bubble to the surface and move through her body. She wrapped one arm around Megan and with the other reached up and gently ran her fingers through Megan's hair. It was as if she couldn't get close enough to Megan to satisfy the longing she felt inside. It didn't matter that they were standing in the middle of a strawberry patch acting like two teenagers — Brandi was euphoric. It was like she'd been holding her breath for the past week — for the past decade. Something inside her clicked and the feel of Megan's tongue in her mouth, the feeling of her hands roaming over Megan's body felt more right than anything had ever felt before.
When they came up for air, Brandi's mind was abuzz with thoughts of exploring more of the woman now nuzzled in her arms.
"Maybe we should take the strawberries inside," Megan said breathlessly without loosening the grip she had around Brandi's waist. "I mean, not that I'm not enjoying this, but we'll have hell to pay if we don't get Mrs. Leroux's jam made."
Brandi let out a big sigh. "You're right. First things first. I'll keep my hands to myself — for now." She winked at Megan and then bowed extending her arm tow
ard the backdoor to the house.
Megan leaned over and gave Brandi one more light peck on the lips and then scurried away, picking up the full bucket of strawberries as she went.
"See, I was trying to be a good girl," Brandi laughed. "But you don't play fair." She hurried after Megan as if she was chasing her inside.
For the next few hours, they moved around the kitchen — bumping into each other whenever they could. First, they washed the strawberries in cold water to get the dirt off. In the process, Brandi accidentally splashed Megan with water and a short water fight ensued. Then it was time to mash the fruit. Megan placed several cups of strawberries at a time into a mixing bowl and pummeled them with a potato masher as Brandi watched.
While Megan was hard at work Brandi kept stealing strawberries from the pile Megan hadn't mashed yet.
"Stop that! If you eat them all we won't have enough for the jam," Megan protested.
"Don't these smell sweet?" Brandi asked ignoring Megan's protest and waiving the ripe red fruit under her nose.
When Megan leaned forward to take a bite, Brandi snatched the strawberry away bringing it close to her own mouth instead. She licked the fruit seductively with her tongue and held Megan's hungry gaze as she bit into the strawberry.
"Mmm, so sweet," she said in a sultry voice.
She tilted her head to the side and smiled, enjoying the look on Megan's face that had nothing to do with a desire for food.
"You're a tease," Megan said feigning irritation.
"Yep," Brandi said as she moved her lips close to Megan's sharing what was left of the sweet taste of the fruit in a kiss.
"Okay, I need to focus!" Megan said pushing Brandi away playfully. "Stop distracting me! Once I put these into the pot, I have to add lemon juice and pectin," she said reading the recipe out loud. She was pretending to ignore Brandi, but Brandi could see Megan's eyes occasionally glancing in her direction.
Brandi decided to behave herself and she sat back and watched Megan work for a while. There was something really sweet about the amount of concentration Megan was putting into the process. She really wanted to get the jam perfect for Mrs. Leroux.
Megan added the ingredients she'd named, then poured sugar into the pot.
"Now what?" Brandi asked.
"Now we wait for the contents to boil," she said not realizing that Brandi had stepped up behind her.
"So we have a few minutes to kill?" Brandi asked whispering into Megan's ear. She felt a shiver go through Megan's body.
"Wait," Megan said weakly. "I have to keep stirring to make sure it doesn't burn.
"Okay. You stir," Brandi said. "I'll just watch."
As Megan's arm began to move in a circle stirring the boiling strawberries Brandi pressed up behind her and moved her hands around Megan's waist. The sweet fragrance of the strawberry jam was mixing with the peppermint smell of Megan's hair and Brandi thought she was going to go nuts. She dipped her head and nuzzled her lips against Megan's neck. She felt Megan reacting to the slow kisses she placed around Megan's collar bone.
"Um. Um. I think maybe we should…um" the speed of Megan's breath was increasing and she was having trouble finishing her sentence.
Brandi opened her lips and gently sucked at Megan's neck until she heard Megan let out a slight moan.
"Oh, I love that sound," Brandi whispered in Megan's ear. "I bet I can make you do it again."
"Oh, you think so," Megan's said with a breathy tone of sarcasm.
"I know so," Brandi replied accepting the challenge.
As she lowered her lips back to Megan's neck she slipped her hands underneath Megan's t-shirt and cupped her full breasts.
Brandi let out a moan of her own as she tweaked Megan's nipples and flicked her tongue in and out of Megan's ear.
Megan's body trembled, but she remained silent.
A huge smile spread across Brandi's face as she realized she'd been issued a challenge.
"Oh, so that's how you want to play it?" she teased. "Okay. Just make sure you don't stop stirring what's in that pot."
Brandi went back to tweaking Megan's nipple with one hand, but the other was slowly descending to the waist of Megan's pants. She inched her fingers under the elastic waistband happy that Megan was wearing something so pliable. She eased her hand into Megan's panties, enjoying the increasingly rapid breathing pattern Megan was exhibiting.
Brandi felt her own breath speed up when her fingers reached the soft wet lips of Megan's pussy. She clenched her teeth together as her fingers began to trace Megan's slit and in turn, Megan's body began to gyrate against Brandi's. The two of them were moving in slow circles at the same speed Megan was stirring the pot. Then Brandi found the center of Megan's wet lusciousness. She dipped first one, then two fingers into her hole all the while rubbing her thumb against Megan's clit.
She felt Megan's body begin to quiver.
"That's right baby," Brandi whispered. "Now just let it out. Let me know how good that feels to you."
She increased the speed of her probing and Megan's hands fell away from the spoon.
"Oh, Brandi!" she finally uttered. "Don't stop. Please don't stop!"
Brandi happily obeyed the request plunging her fingers inside Megan and matching the movement with her tongue in Megan's ear. She could feel Megan on the verge of an orgasm as she ground her pelvis down to meet Brandi's fingers. Brandi increased the pressure on Megan's clit and pulled her body tightly against hers as the waves of pleasure finally crashed down on Megan.
When her trembling ceased Megan turned around to face Brandi and gave her a long, deep, wet kiss.
"You win," she said with a smile. "But as soon as I finish this jam you're all mine!"
Brandi just grinned with anticipation.
She watched as Megan ladled the hot jam into the small glass jars they'd washed earlier. Once all of the jars were full Megan twisted a metal cap on each jar and then dipped them one by one into a tub of hot water to seal the lid shut.
"Are you sure you don't want me to help you with that," Brandi asked coyly.
"No!" Megan said laughing and holding her hand up in a warning gesture. "You stay right over there. You are banned from coming within touching distance until I finish canning this jam."
Megan's voice sounded serious, but it didn't stop Brandi from wanting to rush over to her and ravish her the way she'd done a short while ago.
Instead of going near Megan, Brandi stepped over to the sink and started washing the pots and other items they'd used while making the jam. As her hands splashed around in the warm soapy water she couldn't help but remember the dream she'd had about she and Megan in the bubbling hot tub. Brandi shifted her feet trying to ease the tingling that was building up between her legs.
"All done," Megan announced a few minutes later.
The counter was now covered with small jars filled with deep red jam.
"We can put the labels on the jars tomorrow after they cool. There's no need to stay up and do that tonight."
Brandi looked over at the clock on the wall. "Wow! It's almost 9 pm." The time had flown by and they hadn't even stopped working to have dinner. Of course between snacking on strawberries and eating some bread and cheese they'd found in Mrs. Leroux's refrigerator she doubted that either of them was hungry.
Brandi wiped her hands with a dish towel and stepped over to examine the jam jars.
"This looks great! I'm sure Mrs. Leroux will be very proud of you." She looked over at Megan who was wearing a big grin.
"There's only one problem," Megan said frowning.
Brandi had no idea what could possibly be wrong.
"I promised Mrs. Leroux that I'd test the jam before I took it to the market on Friday?"
"What are you talking about?" Brandi asked cluelessly. "I know I saw you lick the back of that spoon after you finished putting the jam in the jars."
A sultry smile spread across Megan's face. "Yeah, but I don't want to taste it by licking it off of a spoon."
/> She winked at Brandi and Brandi's mouth fell open. Megan twisted the top off of one of the jars and stick her finger inside.
"Mmm, it's still warm," she said as she stuck her finger into her mouth and began to suck the jam off while making soft moaning sounds.
She pulled her finger from her mouth and then stepped closer to Brandi.
"Don't you want to taste some too," she said softly. She stretched up to her tiptoes and brushed her lips against Brandi's.
Everything in Brandi's body got hot. She leaned down to kiss Megan, but Megan pulled back. She stuck her finger into the jam again and licked the jam off with long slow movements of her tongue.
"I think we'd better taste it in my cottage," she said and headed for the back door.
Brandi didn't know where this temptress had come from, but she certainly wasn't going to let her get away. She followed Megan outside and the two women almost ran down the path to the cottage.
When they got inside Megan turned off the lights so that the only illumination was coming from the bright moon light spilling through the large window.
"Take off your clothes," Megan said with a soft but determined voice. "All of them."
For a moment Brandi didn't exactly know what to do with this more assertive and in control Megan. She had to admit she was used to being the one guiding most of her sexual encounters, but the change of roles was strangely alluring.
Brandi reached down and pulled her t-shirt over her head and then wiggled out of her jeans. Next she unfastened her bra and slipped off her panties, letting both fall to the floor.
Even though the lights were off she could feel Megan's eyes roaming over her body. With no undergarment to stop it, Brandi could feel a certain wetness begin to run down her legs. Megan stepped forward pushing Brandi back onto the bed. She was still holding the jar of jam in her hand.
"I need you to hold this for a minute," Megan said as she placed the warm jar of jam between Brandi's legs pushing it forward until Brandi could feel the heat from the jar touch the lips of her pussy."
She let out a quiet moan.