by Elle Spencer
Ren picked up Lindsay’s jacket just in case there was a chill in the air. Their eyes met, and she said, “You make-a-me crazy when you wear that skirt.”
“Shh,” Lindsay said with a giggle. She took Ren’s hand and led her to the garage. “I get shotgun.”
* * *
When they arrived at the coffee shop, Deb looked up from the table she’d been wiping and put her hands on her hips. “Well, what have we here? Hi, Mrs. Stokely.”
“Hello, dear.” Mrs. Stokely sat at the first table she could get to. Once she was settled, she pointed at Ren and Lindsay. “Just get a load of these two lookers.”
“I am,” Deb said. “Damn, girls. Where can I get a zip-up suit like that?”
“1977.” Ren struck a pose. “You’re so jealous right now. I can tell.”
“Green,” Deb said. “Like, Grinch green with jealousy. And Lindsay, where’s your cocktail and tennis racket?”
“Don’t forget my cigarette.” Lindsay fake inhaled and blew the smoke back out.
“These were mine and Millie’s clothes. We sure had some fun in those outfits. The skirt hit a little lower on my leg than it does on Lindsay’s, but you get the general idea.”
“Those outfits are the bomb, Mrs. Stokely.” Deb waved a hand at Ren. “Stop showing off your assets. I know you have a nice ass.”
Ren pushed it out even farther. “And now, so will all of Salt Creek. By the way, these clothes may stand the test of time, but saying something is the bomb does not.”
Deb cleared her throat. “Attention, everyone. The Cool Word Police is in da house, so please keep your lits, as ifs, and yases to yourself. Also, whatever you do, don’t have a cow.”
Mrs. Stokely stared at Deb with a confused look. “We’re just having some fun. Me and the girls.”
Deb winked at Ren. “Good for you. Now, you said one of these outfits belonged to Millie?”
“The zippy one. It was a little too flashy for me, but boy did I love it when Millie wore it.” Mrs. Stokely got a look of panic. She cleared her throat and raised her voice. “We’ll have a slice of that lemon cake if you’ve still got some. And three forks.”
Deb leaned down and put her arm around Mrs. Stokely’s shoulder. “You bet. And just so you know, you can be yourself here. This is my shop, and in my shop, everyone, no matter who they love, is welcome.”
Mrs. Stokely smiled so big, her cheeks pinked up. “We sure are having a great time, aren’t we? Sit down, girls. We’ll be a little while.”
Ren pulled a chair out for Lindsay and set her sunglasses on the table. She scooted another chair close and put her arm over the back of Lindsay’s chair. “I feel so cool right now, I can hardly stand myself. I mean, look at the width on these bell bottoms.” She crossed her leg and held up the fabric.
“I told you,” Mrs. Stokely said. “Like ironing a tablecloth. But I never complained.” She cranked her neck to look out the window. “Oh, damnation. Speaking of having a cow, Little Miss Vintage is going to have two when she finds out I’ve been keeping these clothes from her.”
“Little Miss who?” Lindsay replied. Mrs. Stokely didn’t have time to answer. Patty walked in the door and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Lindsay and Ren.
Mrs. Stokely stood. “Tell me you sold a painting, dear.” She winked at Lindsay a little too obviously and hobbled over to Patty. “How are you, dear? I was planning on stopping in sometime tomorrow. I’ve got a real pretty one for ya. It’s small, but sometimes people like the small ones for a reading nook and whatnot.”
Patty hadn’t taken her eyes off Lindsay and Ren. “Is it Halloween?”
Mrs. Stokely huffed and sat in the closest chair. “I tried,” she said under her breath.
“Hefner dates a tennis bunny?” Patty got a little closer. “Oh God, where did you find those outfits?”
“Hefner always wore a smoking jacket,” Mrs. Stokely said. “Everyone knows that.” She shook her head and tsk’d.
Deb brought out a slice of cake and three forks. She set it on Mrs. Stokely’s table and sat next to her. Mrs. Stokely leaned in and whispered loud enough for Lindsay to hear, “This could get ugly. Do you have the cops on speed dial?”
Lindsay couldn’t quite tell if Patty liked the outfits or hated them. “What’s up, Cakes?” She patted the chair next to her. “Have a seat.”
“Hey, Patty.” Ren gave her a little wave.
Patty raised an eyebrow. “Seriously. It’s not Halloween yet, so what’s up?”
Lindsay gave her their special shut-the-hell-up look, but Patty just stared at her with a blank look. “Mrs. Stokely was kind enough to let us try on some of her and Millie’s old clothes.”
Patty gasped. “That’s real vintage? Like, not from the Halloween store in Lake City?” She caressed Ren’s shoulder. “Real Crimplene polyester. Oh my God, Mrs. Stokely. How have you been hiding this from me my whole life?”
“What’d I tell you, girls? The whole town will want to buy my heirlooms for pennies on the dollar. Well, that’s not happening.”
Patty shook her head. “No. I’ll pay top dollar, Mrs. Stokely. Top. Dollar.”
“Well, it’d be a step up for ya. That’s for sure.”
Deb waved. “Hey, Patty. Large iced coffee and a cherry bomb muffin with vanilla frosting?”
Patty hesitated. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ll have a small skinny mocha, no whip.” She sat at Mrs. Stokely’s table. “So, Mrs. Stokely, I’m thinking about ripping out that old false wall my grandpa put up in the store years ago. I’ve got a sculptor who wants me to sell some of his stuff, but I need more room.”
“What are you telling me for? My paintings aren’t that big, and I have a contract with you, young lady.”
“No, it’s not that,” Patty said. “I’m just wondering if you remember what’s behind there. I can’t find anything in the old photo albums. I think that wall’s been there since at least the 60s.”
Mrs. Stokely gave her a nod. “At least.”
Lindsay furrowed her brow. “Wait. The wall at the back of the gallery is fake?”
“Plywood,” Patty said.
“It used to have shelves on it when it was the camera store,” Deb shouted.
“That’s right,” Mrs. Stokely said. “We took our film there once or twice.”
Patty rubbed her hands together. “I’m hoping to find a back office where my grandpa secretly ran a gambling ring or something just as nefarious. And money. I’m hoping for stacks of money. Maybe some moonshine and naked lady magazines.”
Mrs. Stokely burst out laughing. “Oh, you’d make good use of those, I’m sure.”
Patty’s eyes almost popped out of her head. “Did you just make a lesbian joke, Mrs. Stokely?” She offered her fist. “Give me some sugar.”
Mrs. Stokely huffed and reluctantly gave Patty a weak fist bump. “You act like I don’t have a sense of humor.” She tried to suppress a grin, but she couldn’t hold back. “Oh, it feels good to laugh again.”
“It’s dressing rooms.” Lindsay had no idea how she could possibly know, but she was sure it was dressing rooms behind that wall.
Mrs. Stokely’s smile faded. “Oh, dear. She’s right.”
“Dressing rooms?” Patty sank back in her chair. “Well, that’s about as boring as it gets.”
Chapter Eleven
Lindsay grabbed her clothes out of Mrs. Stokely’s room and followed Ren down the hall to Millie’s room. Ren seemed surprised as she closed the door behind them. She put her clothes on the bed and untied the scarf from her neck. “If I can’t have you today, I at least want to see you.”
Ren took a step closer. “Oh yeah?” She unzipped the jumpsuit so a little bit of cleavage showed. “How much do you want to see?”
Lindsay turned away and asked over her shoulder, “Do you know why shirts like this had a zipper back in the day?”
Ren unzipped the shirt and kissed Lindsay’s neck. “I imagine it was so they could get them o
ver those huge bouffant hairdos.”
Lindsay lifted her arms. “It’s hard to imagine putting that much work into a hairdo and then not washing it for days on end.”
“It’s even harder to imagine why they did it in the first place. Were men really that attracted to Marge Simpson hair?” Ren pulled the shirt over Lindsay’s head and kissed her shoulder. She gripped her arms and sank her teeth in.
“Was that a growl?” Lindsay felt goose bumps all over her body from Ren’s warm breath.
“I want you,” Ren whispered.
Lindsay turned around and took a step back. “Undress for me. I want to know if your panties are as wet as mine.” It wasn’t like her to verbalize her desires so freely, but that was how Ren made her feel—free.
Ren slowly unzipped down to her panty line. “I guarantee they’re just as wet.” She took her arms out of the sleeves and let the jumpsuit slip off her hips.
“Your nipples are so hard.” Lindsay had no idea she could say things like that out loud, either.
“I really don’t need to take off my bra. In fact, Mrs. Stokely is probably wondering what’s taking so long.”
All Lindsay could do was stare at the nipples barely visible through the thin material. She wanted to taste them. Suck on them. Roll her tongue around them. Squeeze them. “You’re right. Maybe you should just…” The words came out softer and sultrier than expected. As if it had a life of its own, her hand lifted the short skirt and slid into her panties. She whimpered when her finger hit her clit. God, she was so turned on. And Ren was intently watching her every move. She slid her hand back out. Her fingers were glistening with her wetness. She held up her hand and waited for Ren’s reaction.
“You’re fucking amazing,” Ren whispered. She pulled her bra down so her breasts were visible while she slid a hand into her panties. She took her time getting some wetness on her fingers. “I wish this was your hand,” she whispered.
Lindsay lunged and grabbed Ren’s hand through her panties. “Let me,” she whispered. Ren took her hand out, and Lindsay slid hers in. Ren’s pussy was so warm. So wet. So silky smooth, she wanted to stay there all day.
“Fuck.” Ren pushed her panties all the way down and moved her hips in rhythm with Lindsay’s fingers.
This was happening. Lindsay was going to have sex with a woman in Mrs. Stokely’s house. “Spread your legs,” she whispered. “I need to be inside you, if only for a minute.”
Ren complied. Lindsay slid her hand lower. She wrapped her arm around Ren’s waist to steady her and pushed in with one finger and then two. It felt exhilarating. Magical. Ren was hers at this moment. All hers.
Ren’s hips bucked with every push, and it was clear she was trying hard to stifle her moans. “Fuck. Fuck.”
Lindsay felt Ren tighten around her fingers. Should she keep going? Should she pull out and touch Ren’s clit instead? She didn’t have to wonder for long. Ren moved her hand from Lindsay’s shoulder to her own clit and whispered, “Keep fucking me.”
Lindsay kept up her pace and watched in awe as Ren threw her head back and bit her lip. God, she was so gorgeous. So soft and sexy.
Ren’s expression tensed. Her breathing almost stopped, and then she came undone in Lindsay’s arms. Lindsay held her while she came back down. She kissed her temple and kept her from falling to her knees. “That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever done or seen.”
Ren grabbed her face. “Thank you. I really needed that.” She pulled Lindsay into a hug. “You have no idea how badly I needed that.”
“Do you think Mrs. Stokely heard anything?”
“God, I hope not.” They giggled in each other’s arms for a moment. Lindsay pulled back and looked her in the eye. “That thing you did when you pulled down your bra—sexiest fucking thing ever.”
Ren ran her hands up Lindsay’s thighs and under her skirt. She rubbed her clit through her panties. “I want to run my tongue all over you. Inside you.”
“Brooke stays with her dad on Friday nights,” Lindsay said.
“Does that mean we could have a sleepover?”
“You’re so adorable,” Lindsay said.
“Hey, I thought I was sexy as fuck.”
Lindsay gave her a big nod. “That too. And beautiful and kind and—”
Ren laid a kiss on her that left her speechless. And breathless.
* * *
“I don’t kiss and tell.” Lindsay took a sip of the hot coffee Patty had just brought to her studio.
Patty smirked. “Oh yeah? Since when, Linds? And you’re welcome for the coffee. Deb says hi.”
“Thank you for the coffee, Cakes. Heh, I just said coffee cakes. Where’s the cake for my coffee, Cakes? Okay, I’ll stop.” Patty eyed the small cot she kept in the corner. “Hey, don’t get too comfortable. I’m working here,” Lindsay said.
Patty ignored the warning and spread out on the cot. “Trust me, there is absolutely nothing comfortable about this old camping cot.”
“I needed something for Brooke to nap on while I was working. It’s not supposed to be for an adult. At least, I don’t think it is.”
Patty’s eyes popped open. “Hey, when Ren stood up in You Mocha Me Wet and showed off her ass, I think my mouth literally started to water. I mean, that jumpsuit thing was just so form-fitting.”
Lindsay laughed. “You Mocha Me Wet. How apropos.”
Patty shot up and put her feet on the floor. “Spill, or I walk out, and my shadow will never darken your doorstep again.”
“So dramatic, Cakes.”
“Have you told her about Roo yet?”
“No.”
Patty shook her head. “Linds.”
“I know, okay? I know.” Lindsay set her coffee down and picked up a sketching pencil. “Can we change the subject now?” It never took long for Patty to come up with something else to talk about. Lindsay gave it about three seconds, tops.
“Is Mrs. Stokely finally out of the closet for real?”
Lindsay stopped sketching. “She’s so happy, Cakes. You should’ve seen her smiling and laughing because she can finally talk about Millie. They were so in love. So devoted to each other.”
Patty covered her heart with her hand. “Stop. You’re going to make me cry.”
“You should go visit her soon. I’m sure she’d love to show you Millie’s room.”
Patty sighed. “I had such a crush on Millie when I was little. She was this tall, sexy drink o’ water who always looked like she should be dating Warren Beatty, and instead, she was Mrs. Stokely’s lover. It’s moments like these when my belief in a benevolent God soars through the roof.” Patty tried to make the sign of the cross but got it backward and gave up.
“Have coffee at Mrs. Stokely’s with us tomorrow, Cakes. We’re kind of making it a thing until Ren leaves for Paris.”
“I don’t want to intrude on your little love affair. Unless, you know, you want to make it a threesome.”
“In your dreams, Cakes.”
“Well, it would be if you’d give me a little more than just, it was fly me to the moon good. I want all the wet details. Does she have a landing strip? A heart? Nothing at all?” Patty clasped her hands together and whispered, “Please be a heart, please be a heart.”
“You’re incorrigible, you know that, right?”
Patty stood and put her hands on her hips. “I’m happy for you, boo. I really am. But you have to tell her. Promise me you will.”
“Why? Why do I have to tell her? Why can’t we just have a nice little fling and then let her walk away into the sunset?”
“God, I love it when I get to teach you something. Paris is in the east. And number two, why should you let her go when you don’t have to? In fact, if you fuck this up, I’m going to be so mad at you because it’s damn hard to find someone like Ren, and you went and claimed her before I could.”
“I don’t think it works that way.”
“You don’t know. We might have hit it off.”
“I didn’t cla
im her, Cakes. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. It just did.”
Patty waved the comment off. “I’m kidding. She’s not my type at all. Too pretty. Too smart. My type day drinks and wears other people’s family reunion T-shirts. Who the hell are the Everetts?”
Lindsay tossed an empty beer bottle in the trash can. “Ha ha. That was from the other night. And I wasn’t going to let a perfectly good painting T-shirt that someone left in the park go to waste.”
“So that’s where we are? You take Sir Barksalot for a walk and scrounge trash cans along the way? Personally, I prefer the ‘country club wife who sleeps around with other women’ look.”
“I looked pretty cute in that outfit, didn’t I?”
“The cutest.” Patty sighed. “I think my work here is done. On to the next tragedy.”
“Say you’ll go visit Mrs. Stokely sometime.”
“Maybe we’ll go for a ride in the Buick and find a different view for her to paint. Something sans that black and white cow she loves so much.”
“You’re an angel, Cakes. I’d be lost without you.”
Patty leaned down to kiss Lindsay’s cheek, then pulled back and sniffed. “Did you wash that shirt before you put it on? It smells like the Everetts went hard on reunion day.”
Lindsay gave her a shove. “Of course I did. Now, get outta here.”
Patty snickered. “That wall in the gallery is coming down on Saturday. Be there at ten for the big reveal.”
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
* * *
Ren was so excited she could hardly stand it. Tonight, she’d be in Lindsay’s bed where they could take it slow. Get to know each other’s bodies better. Fall asleep and wake up together. She was on her way to the liquor store to buy a bottle of champagne when a truck pulled up and the driver unrolled their window. “Ms. Christopher.”
Ren cringed at the sight of Lindsay’s ex-husband. “Officer Hall.”
“Can I take a minute of your time?”
“I was on my way into the liquor store.”