by Jane Frances
“Oh, I think Maggie may just be able to hold out for a little while longer.” With Pete’s relieved expression Emma assumed a serious tone. “There are a few conditions to your employment though. There’ll be none of this Saturday stock-take business. And unless it’s a screaming emergency there’ll be no working through your lunch break. And when the situation calls for it, you’ll use the office phone to make personal calls. Local calls only though,” she warned.
The smile that had formed and spread while Emma “laid down the law” assumed a cheeky crookedness. “You strike a hard bargain, Em, but I guess I can live with that.”
“Excellent.” Her motive for arranging a late Saturday afternoon café catch-up achieved, Emma stood, checking her watch as she tossed money for their drinks onto the table. “I’ll call you sometime next week and we’ll set a time to get all the paperwork out of the way, but for now I’ve got to fly.”
“My turn.” Pete shoved the note back into Emma’s hand. “Another wedding rehearsal?”
Emma shook her head. That little torture was scheduled for Monday night, Justine’s wedding the following Saturday afternoon. “No. I have to go pick up the cake for tomorrow.”
“Ahh, yes.” Pete nodded, grinning. “The official opening.”
“That’s right.” Toni’s cat run had been erected at least six weeks ago, but now that both the decking and the landscaping were also complete, she’d decided it was time to present her masterpiece to the masses.
Once outside they hugged their good-byes. The embrace was swift, but Pete’s heartfelt “Thanks, Em” gave her a happy glow that lasted well into her journey to the patisserie located in the next suburb.
With the patisserie cake safely deposited in the middle of Toni’s large kitchen table, Emma followed the human noises coming from the back room. She got there just in time to see Toni’s head disappear through the cat flap that led to the run. The flap was close to ground level, and Toni was splayed out on the floor, propped up by her elbows. Her denim-clad behind wriggled appealingly as her head popped back into the house, then almost immediately out to the run again.
Stifling a laugh, Emma loudly cleared her throat, “Um, Toni. Just exactly what are you doing?”
Toni’s behind stopped its wriggle. Then her head slowly reappeared and she looked up to Emma with a sheepish expression, “I was just playing peekaboo with Virgil.”
Emma glanced out of one of the windows facing the backyard. Virgil was sitting on the decking, front paws tucked under her chest, facing the cat flap, but with a look of complete disdain. It seemed Virgil had not quite grasped the rules of the game.
Emma helped Toni scramble to her feet. “You’re completely mad, you know.”
“I know.” Toni’s mouth stretched into a grin and she planted a kiss on Emma’s nose. “But you’re still here, so what does that say about you?”
“Speaking of being here…” Emma followed Toni into the kitchen and watched her lift the lid on the cake box. “I hope you don’t mind me letting myself in.”
“This looks great. Thanks for picking it up.” The lid was closed and Toni frowned at Emma. “Why should I mind you letting yourself in?”
Emma’s glance fled to the set of keys she’d placed on the kitchen bench, next to the kettle. Her hesitation at Toni’s front door had not been entirely due to the balancing act she had to perform with the large cake box while she fumbled with her keys. It was because, as well as having to pick out Toni’s key from the ever increasing array she carried, Emma was not quite sure if she should be using the key at all. She and Toni had only recently swapped house keys and Emma was still battling with the finer points of house key etiquette. The question was, knowing Toni was home, did she just let herself in, or should she knock? The shifting weight inside the cake box, however, forced a decision and Emma, imagining the disaster of an upturned catering-size mud cake, turned the key in the lock. “I just wasn’t sure if, when you’re home, if I should use them or not.”
“Of course you should, silly. I wouldn’t have given them to you if I didn’t want you to use them.”
“But what if you weren’t expecting me and you got a fright—”
“You could always try the old ‘honey, I’m home,’ routine.” Toni interrupted, grasping Emma by the hand and leading her down the hallway to the front door. “Go on. Give it a try.”
The door was opened, and before Emma knew it, she found herself staring at the wrong side of the wood. She reached into her pockets but found them empty, her keys still on the bench next to the kettle. So she knocked instead.
The door opened and Toni rolled her eyes skyward. “Jeez, for a vet you’re not very smart.” The front door closed again before Emma had a chance to explain she had no key.
Emma knew Toni wouldn’t be able to resist looking through her peephole, and when she did, she’d see Emma holding out the insides of her pockets, displaying their emptiness. Sure enough, in less than a minute Emma heard the scamper of footsteps down the hallway, followed by their quick return. The door opened a fraction and Emma’s keys dropped onto the front mat. Then the door closed again.
Emma turned the key in the lock, wondering how on earth she’d gotten herself involved with such an oddball. At least life promised to remain interesting. She eased the door open and found the hallway empty. Toni must have tiptoed away.
“Hi, honey, I’m home,” Emma called, heading toward the kitchen.
Toni caught her halfway down the hall, suddenly appearing out of the doorway that led to her bedroom. Emma wasn’t expecting it and almost jumped out of her skin.
“See.” Laughing, Toni gathered Emma into her arms. “I wasn’t frightened at all.”
“Don’t think you can win me over like that.” Pretending hurt at Toni’s practical joking, she tilted her head upwards, to avoid Toni’s lips making contact with hers.
“Kiss me.”
“No.” Emma continued with her charade, despite Toni’s attentions to her neck quickly dissolving her resolve.
“Then I’ll send you home before our visitors get here tonight.”
“We have visitors coming?” Emma chuckled at Toni’s empty threat, but also felt a little deflated. She had hoped this evening would be just the two of them. They would, after all, be seeing just about everyone they knew at tomorrow’s grand opening.
“Mmm.” Toni returned her attention to Emma’s neck, but her little bites were half-hearted. Emma could tell she was just bursting to tell her something.
While her curiosity was aroused, Emma also knew she did not need to dig for it. Sure enough, Toni could not stand keeping the information to herself any longer and blurted, “Cathy and Lisa!”
“Oh.” Emma shrugged, confused. “Why? Aren’t we going to see them tomorrow?”
“Yes. But apparently they have some news they want to share with us without everyone else around.”
It took Emma about ten seconds to figure it out. “Do you think they’ve found a donor?”
Toni nodded vigorously. “I think so!”
As they excitedly hugged each other in anticipation of the good news, another thought occurred to Emma. She held Toni at arm’s length. “Maybe they’d already found a donor and didn’t tell us in case it didn’t work out…”
Emma left her thought hanging and Toni caught onto it almost immediately. Her eyes opened wide. “You think Cathy may already be pregnant?”
“Maybe. We’ll just have to wait and find out I guess.”
Toni checked her watch and groaned. “It’s ages till they get here. God, I want to know now!”
“Me too,” Emma agreed, pulling Toni through the bedroom door. “Let’s see if we can find something to keep us amused until they arrive…”
Publications from
BELLA BOOKS, INC.
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18TH & CASTRO by Karin Kallmaker. 200 pp. First-time couplings and couples who know how to mix lust and love make 18th & Castro the hottest address in the city by the bay. 978-1-59493-066-X $13.95
JUST THIS ONCE by KG MacGregor. 200 pp. Mindful of the obligations back home that she must honor, Wynne Connelly struggles to resist the fascination and allure that a particular woman she meets on her business trip represents. 978-1-59493-087-2 $13.95
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THE KILLING ROOM by Gerri Hill. 392 pp. How can two women forget and go their separate ways? 978-1-59493-050-3 $12.95
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ALWAYS AND FOREVER by Lyn Denison. 224 pp. The girl next door turns Shannon’s world upside down. 978-1-59493-049-X $12.95
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MURDER AT RANDOM by Claire McNab. 200 pp. The Sixth Denise Cleever Thriller. Denise realizes the fate of thousands is in her hands. 978-1-59493-047-3 $12.95
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JUST LIKE THAT by Karin Kallmaker. 240 pp. Disliking each other—and everything they stand for—even before they meet, Toni and Syrah find feelings can change, just like that. 978-1-59493-025-2 $12.95
WHEN FIRST WE PRACTICE by Therese Szymanski. 200 pp. Brett and Allie are once again caught in the middle of murder and intrigue. 978-1-59493-045-7 $12.95
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BELL, BOOK & DYKE: NEW EXPLOITS OF MAGICAL LESBIANS by Kallmaker, Watts, Johnson and Szymanski. 360 pp. Reluctant witches, tempting spells and skyclad beauties—delve into the mysteries of love, lust and power in this quartet of novellas. 978-1-59493-023-6 $14.95
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SILENT HEART by Claire McNab. 280 pp. Exotic lesbian romance. 978-1-59493-044-9 $12.95