All My Tomorrows

by Karen D. Badger

  Lena and Elliot just purchased an historical mansion in the French Quarter of New Orleans. They couldn't believe their luck, securing the home for much less than appraisal value. Not long after moving in, they find out why their new home was such a bargain as a series of horrid events take over their lives, and they learn the terrifying truth about 1140 Rue Royale.

  Sweet Angel

  Book V of the Commitment Series

  Coming soon from:

  BADGER BLISS BOOKS

  CHAPTER 1

  It was an early Saturday afternoon. The sun was bright and high overhead. A slight breeze filled the air, but did little to dispel the heat. The sounds of suburbia were everywhere. Children playing… birds chirping… water splashing in a backyard pool… the sounds of a sprinkler gracing the neighbor's lawn with a much needed blanket of moisture… the steady hum of a lawn mower.

  Billie pushed the mower back and forth across the front yard, leaving neat, overlapping stripes of mowed grass behind her. Beads of sweat lined her upper lip while streams of the salty sweat rolled down the side of her face from her hairline. The sun beat down across tanned arms, shoulders, and long muscular legs, left bare by a scantily cut tank top and cut off denim shorts. On her head sat a baseball cap, lent to her by her son more than a year ago to cover up baldness from brain surgery. Dark hair, having long since grown out beyond her shoulders, was pulled back and neatly entwined in a French braid. White ankle socks and construction boots adorned her feet, while aviator sunglasses protected her piercing blue eyes from the sun's rays. The sun reflected off her bronzed skin that shimmered under a sheen of sweat. Motorists and passersby alike extended greetings as Billie pushed the mower across the yard.

  Along the walkway leading from the front porch to the sidewalk, Cat busied herself planting fresh perennials. Kneeling in the grass along the walk, she dug straight, neat trenches with her garden spade, readying the soil to accept the colorful flowers. With a complexion too fair for prolonged exposure to the sun, Cat wore a wide-brimmed straw hat banded in white silk on her red-gold hair, which had also been entwined in a perfect French braid. A sleeveless button-down shirt with tails tied under her breasts exposed a firmly sculptured abdomen and tiny waist, while cut-off denim shorts adorned her slim hips and thighs. Leather sandals graced slender feet while John Lennon sunglasses perched on her finely chiseled nose. White garden gloves with red polka dots protected delicate hands from the grit and grime of gardening.

  Cat sat back on her heels and wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her gloved hand, spade still hanging loosely from it. She looked around and caught sight of Billie out of the corner of her eye and for the next few moments, watched her push the mower back and forth. She found herself admiring the way the muscles in Billie's legs contracted with each step, while deltoids bulged with the effort to push the mower along in a straight line.

  Now that's what I call eye candy, she thought to herself, grinning smugly at the knowledge that the bronze goddess was all hers.

  Cat couldn't believe she and Billie had been together for more than six years already. Seth was only six years old, and Tara was four when they met. She remembered how tenuous her relationship with Billie had been in the beginning. When they first met in an aerobics class, Cat didn't know Seth even existed. She only found out later that he had spent nearly six months in a coma after being hit by a drunk driver passing his school bus. That certainly explained why Billie was reluctant to spend time with her in the evenings. She discovered later that Billie spent each evening after teaching her aerobics class, sitting by the little boy's bedside in the hospital.

  To be fair, Cat had to admit that she wasn't forthcoming about Tara's existence either at first. Billie only found out about her when she showed up at her apartment one day and the little girl answered the door because Cat was too ill with appendicitis to answer it herself. Cat credited Billie with saving her life that day. By that time, they had fallen in love and although their joint secrets added complication to their lives, they worked through it and committed themselves to each other and their children.

  So much had happened to them since that first day at the gym. Not long after they blended their families and moved in together. Billie's ex-husband Brian broke into their home with intent to rob them in punishment of Billie for not giving him money for drugs. Unfortunately, Cat and the children were home, and in an attempt to protect the children from him, she succumbed to Brian's advances. The only good thing that came from that encounter was their baby girl, Skylar, who had just turned six years old.

  Life changed significantly from that point on. As a lawyer, Billie successfully lobbied to change the marriage laws in their home state of New York, allowing them to legally marry, followed by the adoption of each other's children. Then the unthinkable happened — Brian once again invaded their lives and kidnapped Cat and the kids, shooting Billie in the head during an attempted rescue.

  Cat felt tears fill her eyes as she recalled the painful memories. They almost lost Billie that day had it not been for the medical training Cat received years earlier while studying to become an anesthesiologist. She managed to tend to Billie's wounds while waiting for the ambulance and after a time, Billie made a full recovery… at least they thought she did.

  Nearly a year after the shooting, Billie was unresponsive one morning and landed back in the hospital. It was discovered that scar tissue from the gunshot wound was blocking vital functions in her brain. Cat found herself in the unfortunate position of having to make a potentially catastrophic decision about Billie's treatment, one that may have put her in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. As it was, Billie recovered full mobility, but not her memory. Worst of all, Billie insisted she wasn't gay when she awoke from surgery.

  Cat was devastated at the thought of losing the one person who made her complete. With the help of her family and their best friends, Jen and Fred Swenson, Billie's memory slowly returned. Cat truly didn't know how she would have coped without Jen's help. Jen kept her encouraged at times when Billie's lack of memory seemed hopeless, and she was always there for them when they needed someone to watch the kids at a moment's notice. She truly felt blessed to have such dedicated and loving friends in Jen and Fred.

  Billie stopped and made eye contact with Cat. The lawn mower continued to purr beside her as she stood with one hand on her hip, the other holding the safety shutoff bar on the mower, her weight shifted to one hip, and her eyebrows perched high on her forehead. "You look like you're a thousand miles away, Cat. Is everything okay?" she asked.

  Cat rose to her feet and approached Billie, stopping only when a hair's breadth separated their bodies. She looked into Billie's face and smiled seductively, then reached behind her neck to pull her down into a kiss.

  The mower suddenly died as Billie released the emergency shutoff bar to wrap her arms around Cat. The kiss deepened until Cat's knees were too weak to support her. Little did they care that they were in full view of passersby and neighbors alike. Moments later, they broke apart and looked once more into each other's eyes.

  "Not that I'm complaining, mind you, but what was that for?" Billie asked.

  "That was for being the most beautiful creature on Earth," Cat replied, grinning ear to ear.

  "Not true," Billie replied. "And I know this because I am looking at the most beautiful creature on Earth right now," she added as she smiled and lowered her head for another kiss.

  Suddenly, the sound of a man clearing his voice echoed in her ear. The ladies' heads turned quickly in the direction of the sound.

  Cat smiled as she lowered her arms from around Billie's neck and turned around in her wife's embrace. Billie maintained her current position, with her arms circling Cat's waist from behind.

  "Hi Bert!" Cat said cheerfully. "What have you got for us today?" she asked.

  "Good afternoon, ladies," he said. "Well, let's see, a few bills, a sales flyer, and, oh yes, a letter, from… ah, let me see… yes, from Michigan," the elderly
mailman said, shuffling through the envelopes before handing them to Cat.

  Bert smiled at the ladies as he watched Cat flip through the envelopes. These two ladies held a special place in the old mailman's heart. Not only were they sociable, kind and very beautiful, but they treated him with respect, even going so far as to insist he come in from the cold and share hot chocolate with them one very frigid winter day as he delivered mail. And as far as their lifestyle was concerned, it didn't concern him one bit. He had seen some pretty unique people in his many years of delivering mail, but all that mattered to him was that they were good, decent people, and treated him considerately… just like these two ladies did. Bert wished all of his deliveries were this pleasant.

  Cat handed the letter from Michigan over her shoulder to Billie. She thanked Bert as he walked away then said, "This one's addressed to you, love. It's from your Mom."

  Billie released Cat from the circle of her arms as she took the letter. She looked at the handwriting, nervously recalling the first meeting she and Cat had with her mother just three months earlier.

  The meeting had been uneasy and tense. Billie had learned that her mother, Laurel, sold her as a baby for drug money nearly thirty-four years earlier. She also learned that she had a half brother, Dylan, and a homophobic stepfather named Jim, whom she had yet to meet. That was one confrontation she was not looking forward to.

  The search for her mother had started quite by accident. While attempting to construct genealogies for themselves, she and Cat discovered that the two people Billie had spent her entire life believing were her parents were in fact, not. They had purchased her on the black market and had raised her as their own. It wasn't until ten years after their deaths that she learned the truth.

  While searching for their roots, Billie and Cat interviewed Cat's grandparents, Josephine Wycliffe and Alexandria Spirakis, a wealthy elderly couple from Charleston, South Carolina. The physical resemblance between Billie and Alexandria was stunning, so much so, that further investigation lead to the revelation that Alex had given birth to what she was told at the time, was a stillborn baby girl fifty-five years earlier. Even though Alex was told otherwise, she was convinced in her heart that the child was still alive. The connection she felt to Billie, combined with the physical resemblance between them, was too strong not to wonder if the child she had lost so many years earlier could be Billie's mother. So started the search that led to Laurel… Alex's daughter and Billie's biological mother.

  Billie's first encounter with Laurel was unpleasant to say the least, mostly due the intense feelings of anger and betrayal she felt for the woman. She just could not understand how a mother could sell her child for drugs. Admitting that her life probably would not have turned out as wonderful as it had if Laurel had kept her was not enough to erase the feelings of desertion and betrayal.

  Several painful confrontations ensued before the women struggled to come to terms with each other in an attempt to build a mother-daughter relationship. Since that time, they exchanged letters, e-mails and phone calls, managing to build a friendly camaraderie, but lacking that deep emotional bond shared by a parent and child. Three months later, the relationship was still distant and admittedly, Billie was having a hard time completely letting go of the hurt.

  "Billie?" Cat placed a hand on Billie's arm and drew her out of her trance as she stared at the envelope.

  Billie snapped back to awareness at the sound of Cat's voice. She smiled nervously.

  "Billie, are you all right?" Cat asked.

  Billie just nodded and sat down on the porch steps. For several moments, she looked at the front of the envelope. The slope of the penmanship prompted a thought that her mother's handwriting was similar to her own. She slid her little finger under the flap and tore it along the top of the envelope. She retrieved the letter and placed the empty envelope on the step beside her and looked nervously at Cat.

  "Do you want me to read it to you?" Cat asked.

  Billie seriously considered Cat's offer for a few moments before she declined. "No, I'll do it, love."

  Cat lowered herself to the step beside Billie and picked up the empty envelope. She inspected it absent-mindedly as Billie read the letter to herself. When Billie was finished, she took a deep breath and sighed.

  "Is everything okay?" Cat asked.

  Billie pulled Cat in for a hug. "Everything's fine, Cat. At least it is now," she replied.

  "What do you mean?" Cat asked, concern edging her voice.

  Billie held the letter in front of her. "Laurel says here that she and Jim went through some rough times after she returned from South Carolina. Apparently, Jim feels threatened by my presence… and Alex's," Billie explained.

  "Threatened?" Cat asked. "How so?"

  "She thinks he's afraid of losing her to us, I guess," Billie surmised.

  "Billie, I hope he doesn't force her to choose between him and her child. If that happens, he will surely lose. Laurel made it very clear that she won't allow him to come between the two of you," Cat reminded her.

  Billie nodded as she scanned the letter once more.

  "Apparently, she let him have it with both barrels, accusing him of being insecure and close minded," Billie said, paraphrasing the letter.

  "Wow!" Cat exclaimed. "But didn't you just say that everything's fine? I guess they worked it out."

  "It appears so," Billie replied. "Maybe he realized that an open heart has limitless capacity?"

  Cat smiled at her wife's eloquence. "I sincerely hope so, love. In any case, I'm glad they're okay now. I'd hate to see a good marriage ruined because of ignorance and bigotry."

  "Amen to that."

  "So what else does the letter say?" Cat asked.

  "Well, it says here that she wants to come for a visit next month."

  "That's great!" Cat exclaimed, sitting up straight, a smile beaming from her face. "I've been anxious for her to visit. I mean, she has yet to meet her grandchildren, and besides, the more time you spend with your mother, the stronger the bond will be between you. I think it's wonderful that she wants to visit."

  "Yeah, wonderful," Billie said, almost sarcastically as she pulled Cat back into her embrace and rested her chin on top of Cat's head.

  "Billie, I thought you agreed to work things out with her. Are you having second thoughts?"

  Billie released Cat and stood up. She moved a short distance away and turned around to face her.

  "Cat, while we were still in Michigan, I told you the anger is gone… and it is, but I am having a hard time letting go of the hurt. I'm having a hard time forgiving her. I really want to, but I don't know. It's just hard. I can't get over the fact that she sold me, Cat. She sold me! How could she do that? I would die before I did anything so heinous to any of our children."

  Cat stood on the step and opened her arms, motioning Billie into them. From her vantage point on the steps, she was face to face, nose to nose with her.

  "Well, we finally see eye to eye on something," Cat said, grinning. "Ouch!" she yelled as Billie slapped her behind. "I was only joking," she said rubbing her backside. "Look, honey, I totally understand how you feel. I could never do such a thing to a child, and to be honest, I'm pretty disappointed in Laurel myself, but she is your mother. Besides Alex and Seth, Laurel and Dylan are the only blood relatives you have," Cat explained. "Blood is thicker than water, you know."

  Billie stubbornly held her gaze, not wanting to agree with Cat.

  "Billie, you know I can see into your soul. You know I can see the struggle going on right now between your heart and your head. I can see it because your heart belongs to me. Sweetie, listen to your heart. It will never lead you astray as long as I possess it," Cat pleaded.

  Billie leaned her head back and looked up at the sky as Cat's arms remained locked around her neck. She knew Cat was right, but her stubborn nature would not allow her to totally forgive and forget. Laurel had hurt her deeply, and it was a hurt that would take a long time to heal. She closed her ey
es and released a long frustrated sigh.

  "Billie, look at me," Cat urged as she placed one palm on the side of Billie's face and pulled her head back into an upright position. "Open your eyes, my love."

  Billie never could resist Cat's requests. She opened her eyes and smiled at the mischievous grin on Cat's face.

  "That's, better," Cat teased before continuing. "Honey, I think it's a good idea for Laurel to visit. After all, she hasn't met the kids yet, and I really think the two of you need time alone together… you know, to get acquainted," Cat explained.

  "I'm not sure I want to get too acquainted with her, Cat."

  "Billie, I know you are worried about being hurt again, but anything worth having is worth taking a risk for. I would love to see you have the kind of relationship with Laurel that you have with your own children… that I have with my own mother," Cat explained. "Now wouldn't that be rewarding?"

  "Yeah, maybe you're right," Billie said as she lowered her head for a kiss, not quite reaching Cat's lips before a small body pressed itself between them.

  Looking down, both ladies saw their youngest daughter wedged between them, her arms wrapped around Billie's thighs and her head resting on Billie's abdomen. Billie took a step back and picked the child up. Skylar immediately put her head on Billie's shoulder and closed her eyes. A frown creased Cat's forehead at her daughter's odd behavior.

  "Where are brother and sister, love bug?" Billie asked.

  "They're still at 'Rissa's and Stevie's," the little girl answered softly.

  Cat brushed the red-gold hair off Skylar's forehead, noting the pale, ashen look to the child's skin. "Sky, honey, do you feel all right?" she asked. She placed her hand on the Skylar's forehead then looked at Billie. "She has a low-grade fever."

  Skylar nodded her head 'yes', but continued to rest her head on Billie's shoulder.

  Billie also reached up to feel the child's forehead. "Sky, are you sure you feel okay?" Billie asked. She glanced uneasily Cat.