Anything Your Heart Desires

by AJ Adaire

Jo kissed Stacy's dimple. “Nights, too?”

  “Definitely the nights.”

  “I love you.”

  “Come show me how much.”

  Chapter 29

  THE TWO NEW LOVERS had a wonderful few days together. As the week progressed, the weather warmed up. Jo showed Stacy the living area above the boathouse. “This is lovely up here, really cozy. You said there are five bedrooms. Right? That means you can sleep ten?”

  Jo led Stacy to the balcony where they stood in the sunshine. “Yes, five. However, technically we can sleep fourteen. We have a futon in the corner of the little sitting room that can be used in a pinch. Plus the sofa in the living room is a sofa bed. We usually just put kids there because it's not private. We’ve also been known, during the summer when we’ve been crowded, to sleep people on a blowup bed on the porch. It’d be too brisk in this weather.”

  “I love the view from the balcony up here. In the sun, it's actually warm enough to sit outside for a while.”

  Later that afternoon, they dressed in layers and went for a rowboat ride. When they returned, they made up a room for Amanda and Mallory on the second floor.

  Friday night a little after nine, Amanda and Mallory arrived. Mallory was filled with news about Nic teaching Jo's class the night before. “She loves the people in your class.”

  Jo agreed. “Yes, I'm really enjoying them. It's a nice group of people, and despite everyone's differences, they all seem to like each other. Don't you wish the world could be that way all the time?”

  “Guess who I got a note from, Jo.” When Jo couldn't guess, Amanda continued. “My brother.”

  Amanda turned to Stacy. “I think you know that my brother and I have been estranged. I haven't heard from him in something like eleven years, ever since I came out to my family. My parents died having never spoken to me again after I told them about myself.” She looked away to hide the pain. “Now, my brother’s oldest kid is going to be eighteen. She's finishing up her freshman year of college. He has twin fifteen year olds, too.”

  “I’m sorry. That must have been so hurtful. I'm so glad my family didn't react that way. I haven't told my father about Jo yet. I thought it better to let him get over his angina first.” Stacy sighed. “Thankfully, my mother and sister were okay with my news about my new partner. They’re not thrilled, not by any stretch of the imagination, but they still love me. I know they’ll be happy for me eventually, especially after they meet her and see how happy we are together.”

  Angry on Amanda's behalf about the shabby way her brother had treated her, Jo asked, sarcasm evident in her tone, “What prompted him to write? Does he need a kidney or something?”

  Amanda laughed out loud. “Gosh, I never thought of that! No, I don't think so. Remember, a few weeks before Christmas, when Mallory called him? They had an interesting discussion.” Turning towards Mallory, Amanda said, “Tell them, Hon.”

  “Well, the conversation began on pretty shaky ground.” Mallory’s brows arched as she recalled the difficult conversation. “He called me a dyke. I told him that would be ‘Doctor Dyke’ to him. It made him laugh, and I guess that was a good thing. As our conversation continued, it seemed the harder I came back at him, the better he liked me. It ended up that I told him that there were lots of Democrats and Republicans in Washington. They, despite their different viewpoints, were able to be good friends and manage to get along, providing they didn't discuss politics. I suggested he try that approach with his sister since they obviously only disagreed about just the one issue. He ended up telling me he’d think about it.”

  “So that was the end of it?” Stacy asked.

  “No.” Mallory leaned back in her chair, took a deep breath, and finished the story. “I was surprised when I got an email from Spencer. He started by emailing me jokes about Democrats about a week after our conversation. His first personal note simply said, 'Put that in your pipe and smoke it!' I responded in kind with jokes about Republicans. I think I added a snotty little note at the end of my next email. Eventually, as we continued to exchange emails, I started just adding a little personal note about mostly nothing, maybe a movie we saw, or a television program that we’d watched that was interesting. You know, mundane little day-to-day things that happened in our lives like our favorite tree died or our plumbing leaked. Just the regular stuff you might complain about to a friend. In the past four months, we've written four or five times a week.

  “Not one word of me in all this chatter, mind you.” Amanda interrupted Mallory's story, her comment causing everyone to laugh.

  Mallory continued. “Anyway, when I got shot, I told him how Jo had saved my life. Later, I told him about Meg going off the deep end and kidnapping Jo.”

  “Bet that went over great. He must love this.” Jo turned to Stacy. “First he disowns her because he disapproves of her sexual preference, and now there's the added component of shootings and kidnappings.”

  “Yeah,” Mallory agreed. “Funny thing is, I was pretty philosophical in one of our exchanges. I've always said to him that life is fragile and can be gone in an instant. Poof! Like a box of talcum run over by a truck.”

  “Now there's an analogy that certainly paints a vivid picture.” Everybody laughed at Stacy’s comment.

  “I guess so.” Mallory shrugged. “For whatever reason, it seemed to have a special impact on Spencer. I got a call the other day from him. I couldn't believe it when I saw his name on my caller ID. I answered the phone with just my name. I said, 'Mallory Barnes.' He said, 'Is this Doctor Dyke?' I laughed at him and said, ‘Is this Mr. Bigot?’”

  “It made him chuckle,” Mallory said. “It's weird. The ruder I am to him, the better he seems to like it. I can't figure him out.” Mallory was obviously enjoying relating the story. “Anyway, back to my story. Spencer said that he’d given a lot of thought to what I'd said about life ending unexpectedly. He said he wanted to talk to his sister, although he didn't know how to do that after so long.”

  Amanda interjected that she thought maybe her sister-in-law had been working on him to make amends. “Perhaps it helped and everything finally sank in.”

  “Hon, your brother, after our correspondence where I detailed all that had been happening in our day to day existence, also said he realized that our lives were really not that different from the life he lived. He told me that when his sister,” Mallory touched Amanda's hand, “had told their parents and him that she was a lesbian, he envisioned that she would be promiscuous, drinking, and running around with all sorts of women. He never realized that she'd settle down in two stable relationships and lead as mundane a life as he did.”

  “Assuming one doesn't consider the shootings and kidnappings.” Jo added with a snort.

  “Yes, I guess.” Mallory grinned, looked around the table at her friends. “So, I invited him to come up to visit us.”

  “And is he going to do it?” Jo asked.

  Amanda took up the rest of the story. “Mallory says he's saying he'll come. We had such a nice Christmas with Nic's mom and Mallory's folks. We're thinking that we might do a Memorial Day or a Fourth of July family thing.”

  “You know,” Jo said. “We've been thinking about inviting Stacy's family up here, too. Let's do a family thing, and all of us come up here and invite our families to join us. There are lots of things to do that time of year here like fishing, hiking, swimming, and boating. It might make it easier than sitting there eyeball to eyeball with your brother one-on-one.”

  “Umm, maybe.” Amanda glanced around. “That’ll be quite a mob. Jo, can you fit everyone here?”

  “I don't know,” Jo said. “How many people are we talking about?”

  “Well, I don't think Spencer will bring the kids. So probably just him and his wife,” Amanda said.

  “Okay, so that's two. The six of us is eight. Stacy's parents make ten. Nic's mom is eleven, and if her sister comes, that'll be twelve.”

  “What about your parents, Jo?” Amanda asked.

 
“No, it's their anniversary, and they always take a cruise then. I’ll definitely mention this shindig to them. They might make an exception this year.”

  “Twelve we can do here with no problem. If the kids come, we can always throw up a couple of those blow-up beds. It's only a couple of days, so I'm sure they'd survive. If my parents come, we could be too crowded.”

  “Isn't that a lot of people for three and a half bathrooms?” Mallory wondered.

  “The only time it's an issue is in the mornings. We usually have a crowd at Christmas, and that's the only time of day it's a problem.” Jo thought a minute. “You know, the people next door rarely come up any more. They rent their cabin out to people they know. Maybe we could rent the place next door. Their house is similar to this house in square footage but laid-out differently—it has more bedrooms. If we can get their house, we'd certainly have no issues with space then. If you're serious about us doing this, I can give them a call tomorrow.”

  Amanda looked to Mallory who nodded. “Let's see if that's an option. Call them and, if it's something they're willing to do, we can talk more about it then.”

  “Do you think it'll be easier for your brother if there are more people, or will he be overwhelmed?” Mallory asked Amanda.

  “He's pretty gregarious. I think it might be easier for him. With so many people, the topic won't focus on my homosexuality. It'll keep that subject more in perspective. He'll be able to see that none of us is to be feared, that we all have normal lives and families who accept us for who we are. Good examples for him, I think.”

  “One problem,” Stacy said. “My mom knows about us and so does my sister. We’ll want to tell my dad that weekend.”

  Jo took Stacy’s hand. “How about we take care of that by bringing your parents up a couple of days early. That’s assuming my bosses are willing to give me some extra time off.” Jo winked at Amanda and Mallory.

  “I can virtually guarantee that can be arranged,” Amanda promised.

  Mallory stood. “Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm ready to turn in. I'm bushed. It's been quite a week.”

  “Tell me about it!” Jo pointed. “Okay, you two are upstairs. I've put the heat on up there for you, and I'll stoke up the stove tonight so you should be comfortable. We'll see you in the morning.”

  Both couples talked separately about the potential family weekend, deciding that it seemed like a good plan. The next morning, the four women met for breakfast then went for a hike around the lake. After they returned to the cabin, Jo contacted her neighbor who said he was willing to rent the cabin. He gave Jo a price, which she reported to the others. She promised her neighbor she'd let him know before she left for home the next day.

  On Saturday afternoon, the four friends sat on the deck and played cards, enjoying their leisure time together. “This is great up here, Jo. I'm loving our time here, aren't you Mallory?” Amanda asked.

  “It's wonderful and so relaxing. It would be nicer for a long weekend than for the short amount of time we have here. Too bad we have to leave tomorrow afternoon. I'd love to be able to stay longer.”

  Amanda nodded thoughtfully as everyone agreed. Late in the afternoon, the four women went for a walk through town, stopping in at the Country Store to pick up another dozen eggs, some ham, and another loaf of bread.

  “French toast for breakfast,” Jo announced. “I’ll get some lettuce, lunch meat, and cheese for lunch tomorrow.”

  “Maybe we can start for home tomorrow around four and stop somewhere on the way for dinner. It'll break up the ride.”

  “Great idea, Stacy.” Amanda agreed. “Dinner will provide a great interruption to the long ride.”

  When they got back to the cabin, they were pleased to discover Nic and Dana's car in the drive and the two of them sitting on the rockers on the porch. “Thank goodness,” Nic said, grinning. “We were afraid we were on the wrong porch and you were coming to take us away.”

  “Hey there! What a pleasant surprise.” Jo exclaimed, hugging her friends in turn.

  “We lost power at the shop. Someone knocked over a pole. They told us that we'd be without power until they could repair it. We just decided what the heck, and here we are. Hope that invitation is still open,” Nic said.

  “The door is always open for my friends.” Jo opened the door and everyone went inside.

  “We had a wonderful time sitting on the porch. It was starting to get chilly, though. It feels good in here.” Nic rubbed her hand up and down her arm as she spoke.

  “I'll throw another couple of logs on.” Jo grabbed the log carrier and went to retrieve more wood.

  The evening went quickly as the women brought Nic and Dana up to date on their plans for July. Nic looked at Mallory. “I know my mom would love to see your mom again. They really hit it off at Christmas.”

  Mallory added with a mischievous grin, “We'll put Nic’s mom and my mom to work on your brother, Amanda. They'll get him in line.”

  Jo and Stacy made breakfast for the whole crew the next morning, after which they took the rowboat and canoe for a paddle and row around the lake. Later, as the temperatures rose, they enjoyed the sunshine on the deck as they talked more about the upcoming vacation together with their families.

  “Look how long it took us to make breakfast for just the six of us,” Dana commented. “Do you think we can feed all the people we want to invite? I mean, think about it, if we had eight or ten more people to feed, we’d have to start prepping for lunch right after breakfast and the same for dinner. We won’t be free to entertain and enjoy our time with our families and each other if we’re slaving away in the kitchen all the time.”

  “Maybe,” Nic suggested, “if we keep the meals simple, we could manage it. I think you’re right, though. If we can’t be free to enjoy ourselves and spend time with our guests, there’s no sense in inviting everyone up here. Maybe this isn’t the best solution.”

  After a minute or two of silence, Jo laughed. “I can almost smell smoke from all these wheels turning. The solution is simple. Let’s hire a caterer. I know a woman, Judy, who started her own catering business a couple of years ago. I’ve attended several events she’s catered. Her food is excellent. She’s single, so traveling here shouldn’t be an issue for her. For big events, her sister helps her. Maybe we could hire the two of them for the weekend. It would certainly make our lives much easier.”

  Everyone agreed it was a wonderful solution. Dana volunteered to coordinate the meals through the caterer, removing one huge obstacle from organizing the weekend.

  Jo called the neighbor and reserved his cabin for the July 4th weekend.

  The final hurdle that the group argued about was who should stay where. Opinion was split about the suggestion Nic made that the family members should be left alone as a group in one cabin. “We can stay next door. That way our families can talk about us.”

  Jo expressed concern. “But they're our guests. Shouldn't we be there to be fulfill our roles of hostesses?”

  Amanda pushed her hair back from her forehead and exhaled a sigh. “The caterer will be there during the day if none of us is around to take care of whatever anyone needs. If we’re organized, surely one of us can be available to hang out there with any family member who isn’t involved in an activity. After dinner we can stay until it's time for bed before we go next door. We can return early in the morning to help serve coffee and see that everyone is fed. It might not be a bad idea. It'd be a chance to support each other, too, without being under the careful scrutiny of our families.”

  “Let's not decide today,” Mallory said. “Let's get the invitations sent. Once we have a final count, we can fight it out then as to where everyone will stay.”

  “Great idea.” Jo added enthusiastically. Everyone seemed relieved that they had covered all the details of their family vacation. Everyone nodded approval of the plan. “If it’s this hard to plan, imagine what it’ll be like when everyone is here.”

  Having enjoyed relaxing t
ogether in the scenic location, all too soon it was time for them to pack up and leave for home. They agreed that they would meet at a restaurant Jo was familiar with that was a little more than half way home. They met for dinner before heading to their separate homes.

  Chapter 30

  THE NEXT COUPLE OF months sped by. Stacy's mom called her unexpectedly one day and told her she had found an opportune time to tell her father about her relationship with Jo. “So you might as well bring her down here to meet us.”

  “How did he take it, Mom?

  “He loves you, Honey. He wants more than anything to see you happy. It may not be what he'd have chosen for you, but it's your life.”

  “Mom, when you meet her, maybe you'll understand better. She's wonderful and we're very happy together.”

  A couple of weeks later, Jo and Stacy drove to Stacy's hometown in Virginia. Stacy's father and Jo hit it off when he discovered she liked to fish. Jo also met Stacy's friend Maria when they stopped in for an overnight visit on their way home.

  As for Stacy’s other hometown friend Monique, she was someone who, despite two attempts on Stacy's part, never responded again. She sent a note to Stacy saying that as long as Stacy was living her sinful lifestyle, she should no longer consider herself Godmother to her kids. Stacy was very upset by the hurtful rejection. “How can she hate me so much? I'm the same person I always was, except for whom I've chosen to sleep with, a fact that has no bearing on her life whatsoever.”

  Jo was at a loss for an explanation. The only thing she could do, was hold her lover while she shed tears of hurt and rejection.

  Following Spencer’s email exchanges with Mallory, he began a correspondence with his sister that eventually graduated into phone calls. Although Mallory wanted to take full credit for the recent and still tentative reconciliation, the truth was that Amanda couldn’t shake the feeling that Spencer wanted something from her. Her suspicions were confirmed when, during a phone call to firm up travel arrangements with Spencer, he asked, “Sis, do you think it’s possible for us to find some time to talk privately during the family gathering? I have some questions to ask you.”