“Now it’s the end of October. People keep trying to book. I could probably have left it open year-round, but Barbara is booked elsewhere for November and December, so that won’t work.”
“Max usually took January and February off, so people are used to coming down for a weekend in the fall. She got a lot of birders.”
“Birders?”
“Yeah. Cape May and south is like Mecca for a lot of bird watchers.”
“Who knew?”
Smiling, Toni said, “I did.” She reached into her back pocket and took out her Blackberry. While making a note, she said, “Okay. I’ll put you on my schedule for some time in November. We’ll just have to talk about how much you want to spend and exactly what you want to do.”
“Great. Andy will be thrilled.”
“As long as Andy’s happy, I’m happy.”
***
Noel had parked Toni’s bag in a closet by the bedroom. Toni went to get it when she was preparing to leave and noticed cartons of energy bars, fruit roll-ups, and other nutrient-rich food. Next to the cartons were packs of colorful T-shirts and white socks, all looking to be just the right size for a third-grader. She smiled and felt her heart clutch with emotion at the thought of Noel quietly making sure her students had the most basic of their physical needs met. The fact that she hadn’t boasted about doing it made it all the more dear to Toni, and just made it that much harder to leave the woman she was growing more fond of day by day.
***
Noel walked Toni out to her truck and they spent a few minutes kissing, continuing the goodbye they thought they’d completed while they were in the apartment. “It’s so hard to say goodbye to you,” Noel whispered.
“It is.” Toni’s lips were pressed to Noel’s neck, and she didn’t seem to have any intention of removing them.
“Maybe we could see each other again…soon?”
“You could always come down and we could go shopping for fixtures for the new bath.”
Brightening, Noel said, “Excellent idea. Do you know your schedule?”
“I’m free next weekend.” Toni stood up and wiggled her eyebrows playfully.
“I have plans, but I’m gonna cancel them. See you Friday.” She gave Toni one last big kiss and practically skipped back to her apartment.
Part Eleven
Noel left Baltimore as soon as school was out the next Friday afternoon, so it was still early when she got to Rehoboth. Toni had waited to have dinner, and the two of them went to one of Noel’s favorite restaurants. As they were leaving, they ran into Heidi, who was with a woman neither of them knew.
Heidi and Noel both acted a little skittish, but Toni was cool as always. Heidi said, “This is Angela. Angela, these are my friends Toni and Noel. I thought I said goodbye to you a couple of weeks ago,” she said to Noel.
“Yeah, you did, but I’ve decided to do some work on one of the bathrooms. Toni and I are going to make plans this weekend.”
“Oh,” Heidi said, looking puzzled, but not asking any further questions. “Give me a call if you’re bored.”
“I will. It was nice to meet you, Angela.”
As they walked away, Toni looked perturbed. “Why didn’t you just say you were visiting me? I thought we’d kinda…settled this.”
“We did.” Noel winced, seeing a rare display of pique in Toni’s expression. “I just thought you might not want everyone to know.”
“Didn’t we already have this conversation?” Toni scratched her head and her frown disappeared. Now she looked more perplexed than angry, and Noel felt her heart flutter at Toni’s expression. She was so quick to forgive any transgression. What a wonderful trait that was.
“Yes, of course we did, but we didn’t discuss how you’d feel about Heidi.”
“Feel about Heidi what?”
Noel desperately wished she hadn’t said anything, but she had, so she continued, “You and Heidi have a…history, right?”
“Uhm, yeah. I don’t think you and I have ever discussed that, but I’m happy to if you’re interested.”
“I am. Let’s go to your apartment.”
***
They didn’t speak on the way home, but Toni seemed perfectly at ease. Noel was a little anxious, mostly because there was part of her that was worried that Toni wouldn’t want to give Heidi up. She’d known many people who had a lasting physical or emotional connection to a lover that seemed impervious to change, and she fervently hoped that wasn’t how Toni and Heidi were.
It was a lovely evening, still warm but with a nice breeze. Noel borrowed one of Toni’s sweatshirts, and they went outside with glasses of wine to sit in the rocking chairs.
When they were settled, Toni held Noel’s hand. “I’m pretty sure we’ve never talked about my relationship with Heidi. How do you know about it?”
“You can chalk that up to my unerring tendency to spy on you when I don’t mean to.”
“Spy on me? How could you spy on me?” Toni turned halfway around in her chair to look at Noel.
“I saw you two about a month ago. I should’ve said something…” she trailed off, looking embarrassed.
Toni closed one eye and cocked her head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. What did you see us doing?”
“I saw you going out to dinner. You kissed her and she had her arm around you. It’s okay,” she said hurriedly. “I don’t mind.”
“You don’t mind what? That I have dinner with people?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t mind if you see other people.”
Toni’s eyes popped open wide. “You don’t? Are you seeing other people?”
“No, but I don’t want to.”
“I don’t, either. How do you think we can consider having a relationship if we’re dating other people? That’s kinda screwed up, Noel.”
“I just assumed that you had something special with Heidi.”
“I do! But we haven’t had sex since we broke up.”
Amazed, Noel stuttered, “You haven’t? But you treat each other like you’re lovers. I noticed that the first day we met.”
Toni’s open expression closed down. Her tone was composed and careful when she said, “I don’t treat Heidi that way. I’m careful not to.”
Noel had no idea what type of land mine she’d stepped on, but it was a big one. Toni hadn’t looked so emotionally impenetrable in weeks. She knew she’d really have to press to get anything else out of her, so she decided to move on.
“I’m really sorry. You just looked like you were going out on a date.”
“If we were dressed up and going to The Seafarer, we were. It was her birthday. We always take each other out on our birthdays.”
“God, I feel so stupid.”
“There’s no reason to feel stupid.” She settled back into her chair and took Noel’s hand. “It’s not unbelievable to guess that Heidi and I were sleeping with each other. But don’t assume things like that. If you want to know what’s going on, I’ll tell you.” She turned her head, meeting Noel’s eyes. “I don’t play games. Honestly, that’s one of the reasons I haven’t been in many relationships. They’re so complicated.” She looked tired, and Noel wanted to kick herself for bringing the whole thing up.
“I’m very sorry. I just thought you might be like a lot of people I know who continue to have sex with ex-lovers.”
Toni made a face, one that Noel had come to learn meant she was embarrassed about something. “I didn’t say I’ve never done that, but I never have with Heidi.”
“Wanna tell me about it? You kinda look like you want to.”
She showed a reluctant smile. “I don’t really, but I should. It’s somebody you’ve gone out with.”
“Roxy?”
“Yeah. It hasn’t happened in a year or two, but every once in awhile the winter blues overcome us.” She chuckled, looking embarrassed. “It’s kind of funny. It’s like two male dogs trying to mount each other.”
Noel grinned. “
One, that’s kinda hot. And two, Roxy and I didn’t actually go out. I made it clear that I just wanted to talk about making improvements on the house.”
“Really?” Looking very pleased, Toni put her arm around Noel’s shoulders and pulled her close. “That’s interesting.”
“Which part?”
“Both, really. But I’m curious about what seems hot.”
Noel reached over and tickled her waist, making her giggle. “I should have known.” She took a breath, thinking. “Well, you’re both pretty butch, and I’d imagine you’d have kind of wild, aggressive sex.”
Toni’s dark eyes bore into Noel. “Would you like to have wild, aggressive sex?”
“I thought we had,” she said tentatively. “Haven’t we?”
Laughing, Toni said, “Every once in a while. Especially at first. We’ve been pretty…I’m not sure what we’ve been lately, but it feels different. When I’ve had sex with Roxy, it’s like we’re both trying to get what we want. It’s much more selfish than sex is with you.”
Noel’s eyes were shining with interest. “I’d like to hear about you having aggressive sex. Can you tell me a sexy story?”
“Sure,” Toni said, confidently. “Does it have to be completely factual?”
“Of course not. Just make it hot.”
“No problem. No problem at all.”
She turned her chair around so they were facing each other, then picked Noel’s feet up and put them on her lap. Slipping Noel’s sandals off she started to gently rub her feet, seemingly using the distraction to allow herself to think. “Okay, I remember the last time. We have a big party around Christmas. The town puts the Christmas tree up on the beach and most people go to watch. It’s a lot of fun, and Roxy had some peppermint schnapps we kept sipping from. By the end of the evening we were both pretty gone.”
“I haven’t seen you drunk. Do you get funny or morose?”
“Neither. I get horny.” She grinned, showing her teeth.
Noel tried to tickle her with her toes. “Maybe I have seen you drunk. I’m sure I’ve seen you horny.”
“Funny, I don’t remember hearing any complaints.”
“You won’t. Continue.”
“Okay. So we were both a little looped and we went to Showtime. We were both looking for someone to hook up with, but the pickings were slim. It was getting late, and Roxy, who was standing behind me, put her hand up under my shirt and pinched my nipple. Hard.”
Noel’s feet rapidly tapped against Toni’s chest. “I like this story already, and it’s barely started.”
Toni grinned and continued. “She pulled me against herself and took a nip out of my ear. She was still holding onto my nipple, and I started to twist away because it hurt. But she held on to me with her other arm and wouldn’t let me go. She said, ‘I’m gonna take you home and fuck you rough.’”
“Whew!”
“That’s what I thought,” Toni said, grinning slyly. “When she released the pressure off my nipple, I turned around and grabbed her by the hips. I kissed her hard, trying to show that she didn’t control me. And I said, ‘You’re the one who’s gonna be fucked. I’m gonna have you naked on the floor by the time we get past the front door.’”
“Good story. Good story!”
“We stayed there for a few more minutes kissing each other so hard and fast that we almost bruised our lips. We left and I tried to go towards my house, but she pulled me towards hers.” She laughed, closing her eyes, either trying to remember or making up the details. “We must have been in front of that bar for three or four minutes tugging and pulling on each other. If the police had come by, they probably would’ve arrested us; for what, I’m not sure.”
“Drunk and disorderly sounds like a pretty easy charge to make stick.”
“Hey, this is supposed to be hot. Play along. So, jumping ahead, let’s say that the cooler head prevailed and we went to her house. As soon as we got through the front door, we started grappling with each other again, while still kissing, of course. It took a while to even get our coats off, but once we did, things started to move pretty quickly. I grabbed her shirt and yanked it so hard that some of the buttons popped off. So she had to do the same thing to me. She’s very competitive, you know.”
“I don’t want commentary. Just the facts.”
Toni saluted, and kept going. “Our shirts were off, and then we started trying to get each other’s bras off. As soon as we did that, we started to get hot.”
Noel was bouncing around in her seat. “Me too!”
“We were kissing and sucking on each other’s lips while we rubbed our breasts together. My nipples were so hard that they hurt, and every time Roxy’s nipples rubbed against mine it sent a jolt of pain up my back. Good pain,” she added. “The kind that gets you right here.” She slid her hand down and patted between her legs.
“Damn, you’re a good storyteller. You could be on NPR.”
Ignoring the praise, Toni continued. “She tried to pull me into her bedroom, but I didn’t want to wait that long. I put my arms around her and tried to bull rush her onto the sofa, but we didn’t make it. We got our legs tangled and we slid off the sofa onto the floor.” She closed her eyes for a moment, and Noel could just see her constructing the elements of her story. “She grabbed a remote control off her table and electronically turned on the fire in her gas fireplace.”
Noel nodded, willing herself to believe everything she heard.
“Now we were in a hurry, and we both stripped out of our jeans and panties. Very sexy panties. Roxy has a great ass, you know. All those years of climbing up and down ladders does nice things for your butt.”
Noel twirled her index fingers around each other to signal that Toni should continue.
“We were both on our knees, on her luxuriously thick rug, with the flames reflecting off our naked bodies.”
“Good. Very good. More.”
“We kissed each other hungrily for a long time. Roxy’s hands were everywhere, grabbing my breasts and squeezing them hard. Then she tried to tumble me onto my side, but I got the upper hand. I pinned her, but she got her leg up between mine and threw me onto my side. She tried to get me onto my back, but I wouldn’t give in. We wrestled, sweat glistening off our bare skin. It took all of my strength, but I got her where I wanted her. Flat on her back in front of the fire. She was trying to wrench away from me, but I got my hands on her shoulders and held her there while I kissed her possessively. She realized that I could overpower her and she slowly gave in. She begged me to let her taste me, so I slowly crawled up her body and settled myself over her mouth.”
“That does it for me.” Noel tossed her feet off Toni’s lap, stood up, and extended a hand. “I willingly admit that you overpower me. Now let’s pick up right where your story left off.”
“Another fine idea. You have millions of ’em.”
***
On Sunday afternoon, Toni and Noel stood in the street in front of Toni’s house. Each had her hands clasped behind the other’s back, loosely holding each other. “How can this be so hard?” Toni asked.
“I don’t know, but it sure is.” Noel put her head on Toni’s shoulder, trying to touch as much of her as she could. “It seems like I just got here.”
“I know. I had all of these ideas about things we could do, but we didn’t get to any of them.”
Noel chuckled softly, and Toni felt the rumbling through her own body. “I think we got to one of them.”
“Yeah,” Toni agreed, laughing along with Noel. “We got to an important one.” She turned her head just enough to be able to kiss Noel’s cheek. “You might not believe this, but I’ve never been this sexually…focused…or whatever it is I am. I always thought it was a joke when people said women didn’t reach their sexual maturity until middle-age, but I’m feeling a heck of a lot better about turning forty since I’m living proof that it’s true.”
Noel leaned back and looked into her dark eyes. “Is that true?”
&n
bsp; “Yep. Hard to believe it, but I’m going to be forty.”
Kissing her quickly, Noel said, “You’re a silly one. You know what I meant.”
“I don’t know if I’m truly hitting my sexual peak or if there’s some other mysterious force that’s making me horny all the time.” She made her eyes as wide as she could. “Maybe I’ve been abducted by aliens.”
Noel smiled, feeling like she could stand right there in the street for the rest of the day and just chat. “Did they insert probes into all of your orifices?”
“Not all of them,” Toni said, grinning evilly, “but I think they’re working their way up to it.”
“I don’t attribute my rampaging lust to anything but you.” She poked her finger into Toni’s chest. “You’re very, very good with your hands. And your mouth. And your…everything.” She smiled, lost in Toni’s expressive eyes. “You’re fantastic.”
“To be honest,” Toni said, lowering her voice as if telling a secret. “I think you have a little something to do with my libido too.”
“Both of our libidos stopped us from doing any planning on my new bathroom.”
Toni snapped her fingers. “I knew there was something I was forgetting. I should’ve written it down.”
“If you hadn’t written it on my body, you wouldn’t have seen it.” Noel put her arms around Toni’s neck and pulled her close to kiss her properly. “We’ll just have to get to that another day.”
“Next weekend?” Toni asked, looking like she was desperately hoping to receive a “yes.” “Even though I’m on call and might have to run out in the middle of the night?”
Noel couldn’t refuse. “Yes. Next weekend is perfect.”
***
On Thursday evening Toni sat at the bar, rather glumly staring into her beer. It was just seven o’clock, and there were only four other people in the place. She’d stopped by on her way home, feeling like she needed a little company.
Jackie noticed she didn’t seem her usual chipper self and made her way over to the end of the bar to talk. “What’s going on? Are you working too hard?”
Susan X. Meagher - The Legacy Page 19