by Beth Burnett
I lean forward and wrap my hand around her head, kissing her on the forehead. “I love you, Renee.”
“Love you back.”
Heather comes up behind me with her coat on. “I’m going to leave now. You can call me tomorrow if you want.”
“I want you to stay.”
“I have to work in the morning.”
“Call in sick.”
“Andy, I can’t change my life around to suit your schedule.”
I put my arms around her and she doesn’t pull away, but she doesn’t lean into the hug either. “Look, Heather. I’m sorry I introduced you as my friend. But we aren’t girlfriends yet. We’re dating. I don’t know what you wanted from me.”
“I just don’t want to feel that you’re just dismissing me as soon as another woman walks into the picture. It’s rude.”
“What is it with women telling me that I’m rude these days?”
“Maybe you should take stock of your behavior and figure it out.”
“I don’t think I did anything wrong, Heather. And I can’t help the way you react.”
“No, you can’t. But you can act like a respectful human being.”
Great. Another woman telling me that I’m not a human being. “All right. I’ll try to be more respectful. Now, will you please stay?”
“No.” She gives me a hug and kisses me on the mouth. “I still have to work tomorrow.”
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow then.”
She closes the door behind her. I sprawl in the couch and think about Maggie. Man, it is good to see her. Davey is right, Maggie does look fantastic. I close my eyes and picture her face, more lined now, but still smooth and beautiful. Then Heather’s long red hair and sweet mouth come into my mind. It doesn’t matter. Whatever happened in the past, Maggie is an old friend and there is no harm in going to lunch with her.
Chapter Ten
The sun is shining through a slit in my curtains. I throw a pillow at the window to try to knock the curtain back into place, but it gets stuck on the sill, opening a bigger space for light to beam through. Fine. It’s got to be getting late anyway. Providing my guests with food and drink all evening kept me from over-indulging. Testing my head for pains, I decided that I’m not hung over. That’s a bonus. I imagine the rest of my guests are feeling a bit slow today. Rolling over, I grab my cell phone from the nightstand. Nine A.M. I’ve been lounging long enough.
Strength training and a hard cardio workout leave me sweating on the living room floor. Looking at the ceiling, I start to process the events from last night. Is Heather still mad at me? I’m not sure and I’m not sure if I want to do damage control. Who is she to be bothered how I introduce her? And why shouldn’t Maggie have slept over last night? Renee slept over the night before and Heather didn’t get pissed when I told her about that. I don’t know if it is a failing in me, but when women in my life start to get insecure, it pisses me off. Heather has been confident and outgoing from the beginning. Why is she suddenly acting like I owe her something?
A steamy shower helps to take my mind off of Heather. I droop under the heat, letting the pounding water take the ache from my muscles. The thing is—I like Heather. I like her a lot. She’s smart and funny and beautiful, and I want to get to know her more. But I don’t want to do it at the expense of my freedom.
I towel off quickly and dress, grabbing my cell phone to send a text to Maggie. “Coffee? Lunch? Talk?” She writes back within minutes, “Y to all. Pick me up at S & E’s.” “Bout Noon,” I reply.
A thrill of anticipation runs through me as I run a few errands. A quick call to Heather leaves me talking to her voice mail. “Hey, it’s me. I’m really glad you could be there last night. I want to see you again soon. Call me, okay?”
Text to Leah while stopped in line at the drive-through bank. “Thanks for last night. Couldn’t have done it without you. Love you.” Finally get to the front of the line and the clerk says, “Good morning, sir.” I smile brightly and hand her my deposit slip. It’s like I can almost see the hamster running around as she reads my name on the paperwork. “Sorry, ma’am,” she mutters as she continues the transaction. I pick up the phone as I pull out of the bank and dial Renee.
“Andy,” she answers with a smile in her voice.
“Renee.”
“Quite a party.”
“Thank you for your help.”
“My pleasure, Andy,” she says, her voice warm. “I enjoyed it.”
“I had a dream about you last night.”
“What was it?”
“I dreamt that I was walking on a stone wall and I kept stepping on places where the rocks were crumbling, and every time I did, I’d put out my hand for balance and you were standing next to me.”
“Sounds like real life.”
“I can always count on you, Renee.”
“Always, Andy.”
“I’m having lunch with Maggie.”
She pauses for a second. “Is there anything there, Andy?”
“I doubt it.” I shake my head. ”Probably not. I mean, she looks great, but it’s been over twenty years.”
“She has a loving face.” Renee has always been amazing at reading people.
“She does at that.”
“I’m at the bookstore. I better go before this customer gets to the checkout.”
“Renee, I don’t mind if you call Maggie.”
“I know you don’t.”
We hang up and I put my phone in my pocket as I pull into Steve and Erik’s driveway. They live in a two story wooden house with a big wrap around porch. Maggie is sitting in a rocking chair when I pull up. She jumps up and takes the stairs in a single leap. I sprint to the stairs and catch her up in a big hug, picking her up a bit to squeeze her tighter. Joy is flooding me, and I am grinning like an idiot. Putting Maggie down, I see that she’s smiling hugely, too.
“Andy.” Her voice is as soft and sweet as I remember.
“You look amazing.”
“You told me that last night.”
“You looked amazing last night.”
She laughs, shaking her head. Her hair is beautiful and the gray only serves to make her look more like an earth mother. She looks into my eyes and I’m half-captivated again by the way they seem to look right through me.
“Come on.” She puts her arm through mine and we stride over to my vehicle. I usher her into the passenger seat and slide in behind the wheel. She plays with the radio until she finds some Eric Clapton.
“Some things never change,” I say, sighing.
“Oh? Like what?”
“Like your penchant for classic rock of the seventies.”
“Eric Clapton is just a classic, no matter what era he is in.”
I make a dismissive wave with my hand. “Do you have a preference as to where we eat?”
“I’ll eat just about anything,” she quips.
I sneak a glance at her, but her face looks perfectly innocent.
“I have something in mind.”
“I’ll trust your instincts.”
“Good, because I already ordered something.”
“What if I had said I wanted something else?”
“I would have called Leah and told her that she had a beautiful free lunch if she was just willing to go get it.”
Maggie laughs, throwing her head back. “Andy. You have grown into a beautiful woman.”
Beautiful? I glance at myself in the rear view mirror. Sure, I have high cheekbones and bright blue eyes. My hair is pretty shockingly blond, but since it is barely more than peach fuzz, it’s hard to tell that. Strong, yes. Beautiful? That’s stretching it.
She reads my mind. “I mean it. You were so adorable when I knew you before with your slicked back hair and your hard attitude. You were like a little greaser. I expected you to take a switchblade out of your pocket and start cleaning your nails with it.”
Laughing, I turn into the parking lot of a cafe in Lakewood. “I was kind of a stereotype, wasn�
�t I?”
“We all are, in one way or another.”
“I’ll be right back.”
I run into the cafe and picked up our order. Coming back to the Trailblazer, I find Maggie going through my CD collection.
“Some things never change,” she grins.
“Like what?”
“I see you still have a penchant for lesbian singers of the eighties.”
“Ha! You’ll find that there are lesbian singers there from the nineties as well.”
“If I’m not mistaken, here’s a CD that was released in 2003.”
I nod. “See?”
We pull into the Metroparks, and I find a parking place near a trail. “Do you mind a bit of a walk?”
“Never.”
Grabbing the bag of food from the backseat, I come around and open the door for Maggie. “Again, some things never change. You’re still a gentlewoman.”
“I’ll still light your cigarettes for you, too.”
“I quit almost fifteen years ago.”
“Good. That shit will kill you.”
We hike along for a few minutes, and then I lead us onto an overgrown path. About ten minutes later, it opens up into a copse of trees overlooking a small waterfall. There are flat boulders arranged in a circle in a little clearing.
“What’s this? Pagan place of worship?”
“Maybe. I found it years ago. The flat rocks make a great resting spot.”
She perches on one and I lay the food on another. I serve us some stuffed mushrooms, fried green tomatoes with a mango chutney dipping sauce, rare roast beef, sliced thin and piled on little pieces of homemade bread, and some of the freshest fruit a person could hope to find.
Maggie looks impressed. “Wow. Whenever I go on a picnic, it’s bologna sandwiches and a bag of potato chips.”
I glance at her glowing eyes and her soft skin. “Maggie, I find it hard to believe you eat that processed crap.”
“To each his own, Andrea. I try to eat healthy, but when I feel like it, I eat some effin’ bologna.”
“Maggie.” Touching her knee, I look into her eyes.
She looks back seriously. “Yes?”
“I want to know everything that has happened to you for the last twenty years.”
She laughs again. “Well, let’s see. When I left your apartment, I went home to my place and sat around eating ice cream all night. I watched several black and white movies from the fifties. Many hours later, I brushed my teeth, and got into bed, where I continued to eat ice cream and watch old movies. In the morning, I brushed my teeth again. This might take a while. How many days are in twenty years?”
“Too many. Just give me a summary.”
“Even a summary will take forever.”
The food is delicious. Maggie is obviously relishing it, too. She reaches over to our makeshift table and takes a bottle of water from the bag. She takes a long drink, then hands it to me.
I drop to the ground in front of my rock and lean back against it, letting the sun warm me. Maggie stretches her legs out to entwine her feet with mine.
“Andy,” she says, finally. “Why don’t I just tell you who I am now?”
“Sounds fantastic.”
“I’m a photographer. It took me years, but I finally started getting paid to do what I love. I have my own small business. People pay me to take pictures of them. Eventually I want to do nothing but art photography, but right now, this is paying the bills.”
“I like that. I always figured you would do something creative.”
“I like the freedom. I can choose what assignments to take, and when I’m not doing a wedding, or some boudoir pictures for a bored housewife, I can travel. In fact, I just got back from a freelance assignment that sent me to Greece to cover a boating convention.”
“I’m impressed. I’d like to go to Greece.”
“Why don’t you?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know, Maggie. I have the money to go. I have a passport. I’ve been to Europe a few times. Italy. France. I like Ireland. I’d like to go to Australia sometime.”
“I would love to go to Australia. I keep looking for assignments that will send me there, but they seem to be few and far between.”
Maggie takes another tomato and dips it into the sauce. She hands it to me, and then gets one for herself.
“Let’s go to Australia,” I say suddenly, surprising both of us.
She blinks at me for a second. “Andy.” She’s laughing. I’m laughing too.
“I don’t know why I said that.”
“Old loves die hard.” She slides off of her rock and sits between my legs, leaning her back against my chest. I wrap my arms around her and press my face into her hair. The sun feels nice on my skin and Maggie feels fantastic against me.
“Tell me about you, Andy.”
“I work in a bookstore. I play softball. I’m independently wealthy. I like my vehicle. I have good friends.”
“And a lover?”
I pause, thinking about Heather. “Not particularly.”
“Not particularly? What about the young lady from last night who got so angry when you introduced her as a friend?”
“She is a friend.”
“A lover?”
“Yes.” I’m getting testy again. “But we’ve only recently started dating, and it is neither serious nor exclusive.”
Maggie nods. “I’m not trying to give you a hard time. Just pointing out my observation.”
“We’ve really only gone on a couple of dates.”
She leans back against me again. I tighten my arms around her and let my face rest against the top of her head.
“Are you happy, Andy?”
“Maggie, I’m mostly happy. Are you happy?”
“I am. I’m content. I love my life.”
“Is there anyone special in your life?”
“I have my soul sisters, Andy.”
“Soul sisters. Lovers?”
“Some are lovers, some are dear friends. All are part of my soul.”
“What does that mean?”
“In one way or another, they believe in the same thing I believe in.”
“Which is?”
“Love.”
“Love? I believe in love.”
“I’m talking about universal love.”
“So you still haven’t settled down with one person?”
“You’re missing the point, Andy.”
“Apparently.”
“Settling down with one person is not my style.”
“Nor mine.”
“Yes it is.”
I draw back, affronted.
“Oh settle down.” She pulls my arms back around me. “I just mean that you are meant to be a one-woman kind of woman.”
“I’m not. I’ve dated a million women in my life.”
“Of course you have. But that’s because in your heart, you always thought you belonged with Davey.”
“Maybe, but Davey is in love with someone else.”
“Danny. I met him last night. He seems very sweet.”
“He is very sweet.”
“So, with the possibility of Davey taken from you, maybe you can move on and look at other options.”
“Like you?” I’m only half-joking.
She turns in my arms and looks at me. Her face is so close, I could lean in and kiss her sweet mouth. I’m suddenly remembering what it was like to kiss her. She was an amazing kisser. I lean in a bit and close my eyes, breathing in her scent.
“Andy.” Maggie’s voice is serious and jars me back to reality.
Sighing, I open my eyes. “Yes?”
“I feel that you are in a state of flux. You aren’t sure what you want. Until you can figure that out, you aren’t going to be able to get it.”
“I know what I want,” I whisper, twining my hands into her hair. “I want to kiss you.”
She leans in and kisses me softly on the mouth, letting her tongue glide lightly over mine. She pulls
one of my lips between both of hers and sucks it gently. I open my mouth to hers and our tongues meet, circling carefully around each other. I was right; she is an amazing kisser. She presses herself closer to me and Heather’s face suddenly pops into my mind.
Dammit, now that’s just not fair. I’ve not made any promises to her. We barely know each other. I pull away from Maggie and press her head down against my chest, holding her to give me time to think. Whatever happens, I’m not having sex with Maggie here in the woods. It will happen in my big comfortable bed, if it happens at all. But there’s the idea of Heather. Whatever we’ve said to each other, I kind of feel that she’s the kind of woman who doesn’t play the field sexually. I know we haven’t made any promises to each other, but we have slept together and, in some women’s minds, to turn around and sleep with someone else is classless. Granted, I’ve done it before, but not with someone I want to keep dating. And I do want to keep dating Heather. There’s something about her that feels strange to me. There’s some kind of strength in her that speaks to the part of me that doesn’t show itself very often. Somewhere, deep down inside, I almost feel as if I can be vulnerable with her and she will be strong enough to handle it. I squeeze Maggie tight and kiss her forehead.
She smiles and nods. “Come on, Andy. Let’s hike out of here.”
After dropping Maggie off, I drive back to my side of town. I get Heather’s voice mail again. “Hey, I hope you’re not mad at me. Just give me a call when you can.”
She calls back almost immediately. “Hey,” she says. “I’m at work.”
“What time do you finish?”
“Five.”
I glance at my watch. It’s almost that now. “Can I pick you up at work?”
“No, I drove myself here.”
“Can I take you out to dinner?”
“No, I have to study tonight. What about tomorrow?”
“I have a full schedule tomorrow and Wednesday. What about Thursday?”
Papers are rustling in the background. “I work on Thursday and I’m meeting with a professor who might want to use my book in one of her classes. Friday?”
Laughing, I agree. “Are you off on Friday?”
“I am.”
“Want to do something ridiculous like play miniature golf or something?”