by C S Joseph
†
Julia came out of the shower and found Reese unpacking some of her things into the drawers. “We go home on Sunday. Why are you unpacking?”
“There’s no reason for us to live out of a piece of luggage. The purpose is to transport the clothing to a destination. We are at said destination, and here is a perfectly fine dresser. They put these in here for this reason.”
Julia rolled her eyes. “Okay, you can take your shower.” She looked at her watch, it was five minutes to six.
Reese placed the last bit in the dresser and went into the bathroom. Julia knew that she would come out at seven, dressed to the nines. She turned on the gas and lit the fireplace in the living room. That gave her enough time to get dressed as well. She went downstairs with her dress and grabbed her small makeup bag. She moved everything into the small powder room next to the kitchen and began to prepare for dinner. When she went back upstairs to the bedroom, she saw three people hurrying around the balcony. Outside the large glass wall, patio heaters banked a small table. The staff was putting on the final touches. Reese was still in the bathroom. Julia sat on the bed and looked around.
Timing. This was all about timing. Julia was well versed in dating. She knew exactly what to expect. She had taken home plenty of women. However, for the first time, she was a little bit nervous. She smiled to herself and heard a small knock against the window. The chef waved to her. She looked toward the bathroom, then hurried and opened the glass door.
“Should we pop the champagne, or do you want to do that yourself?”
“I’ll take care of it. Thanks.” She closed the door quietly and watched them turn and leave around the other side. She heard a noise behind her. Reese looked absolutely gorgeous.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“This is our dinner. Would you care to join me?”
Reese blushed and walked toward her. Julia reached out and pulled Reese’s hand up her to lips and kissed her knuckles. Still holding her hand, she opened the door and ushered Reese out to the table. A single red rose adorned the center of the table, which Julia explained was Zach’s idea. Julia opened the lid of the warmer. Inside were two plates of food and a large tureen of soup. She served them both and placed the leftover back into the warmer.
“First of all, let me say that you look absolutely stunning tonight,” Julia started. “You are simply breathtaking.”
“Thank you, Julia.” Reese tried a small spoonful of soup and daintily dabbed the corner of her mouth with her napkin. “This soup is excellent.”
Julia followed suit and took a taste. “Wow. That’s good. I ordered the lobster bisque, but I’ve never had any that tastes like this.”
“My compliments to the chef. So, how did you manage to set up all of this while we were out skiing?” Reese asked with a curious look. She delicately grabbed her champagne flute and brought it to her lips.
Julia wiped her mouth with her napkin before answering. “Actually, I ordered the private chef option this morning, when we checked in. I didn’t want to share you with anyone else tonight.”
“I’m glad you chose a private dinner. It’s so nice to be here with you finally.”
Julia reached across the table and took her hand. “It’s been a long time coming. I’m happy you came with me this weekend.”
The heaters kept them plenty warm to enjoy their dinner and conversation, until both women were ready to go back inside. They decided to change into comfortable clothes. Reese balanced on one leg to take off her heel, and Julia noticed her wince slightly. She cited sore muscles. “Let’s go downstairs and enjoy the fire,” Julia suggested. Reese busied herself in the kitchen, opening a bottle of wine. Julia waited for her on the couch and accepted the glass of wine she brought her.
The moment Reese sat down beside her, the air seemed suddenly charged. Julia immediately stood up, so that she could shake off the last bit of nervousness. She paced back and forth and chanted in her head to take things slowly. She reminded herself that timing was everything. She saw Reese smiling at her.
Those dimples drove Julia crazy every time. Reese took a step toward her and winced again. Julia grew concerned. “Are you feeling it from today?”
Reese rubbed her thigh slowly with her palm and frowned. “I should have stretched when we got back.”
Julia put her glass on the side table and sat down in the center of the couch. “C’mere. I’ll see if I can help a bit.”
Reese sauntered to the couch. Her eyebrows knit in a frown. “How do you want me?”
Julia’s stomach erupted in butterflies, and she held out her hands. “Just c’mere.”
Reese took her hands, and Julia guided Reese into her lap. Her silky nightgown hiked up slightly when she got into position straddling Julia. The contact was overwhelming at first. Julia fought to savor the moment and not rush.
Julia moved her hand along firm thighs softly, never breaking eye contact. She began to squeeze and knead, feeling soft skin beneath her hands. For a moment, eye contact was broken when Reese closed her eyes and let out a small whimper that sounded like half pleasure and half pain. Julia tried to say something. Her voice was thick and full of gravel. “How’s this?”
“Mmmm. That feels amazing, Julia.” Reese carefully shifted her hips against Julia and changed her position slightly. Julia looked down at her lap, she could almost see under the nightgown now. She dared her fingers to make their way beneath the soft material, just a little bit at a time, as she continued her massage. Reese rolled her hips again, and Julia saw her bite the corner of her lip. Julia slid her hands on either side of Reese’s hips, under the nightgown, and gently massaged. She pulled Reese toward her and tilted her head upward, as Reese met her lips.
They melted into the kiss. Julia instinctively knew that she should let Reese set the pace, so she would be comfortable. Reese gasped when Julia’s hands met her backside. Julia paused, waiting. Reese slowly pulled Julia’s lower lip into her mouth, lightly sucking before releasing and repeating with her upper lip. She tilted her head slightly and pressed her lips against Julia’s. Their tongues touched delicately, then Reese brushed the tip of her tongue across Julia’s upper lip. Julia was breathless with anticipation, as Reese’s hips lightly rocked against her.
Suddenly, Reese broke away from Julia, gained some leverage, and rolled Julia onto her back. Julia held up her hands in playful surrender. Reese sat up, still straddling Julia, and pulled her nightgown over her head. Julia was mesmerized. Every inch of Reese’s body was magnificent. She pulled Julia into a sitting position and tugged her tank top over her head with ease. Julia whispered into Reese’s ear. “I think it’s time we moved to the bedroom.”
†
Reese, who was still breathing heavily, laid her head on Julia’s shoulder. She draped her arm and leg over Julia’s sweat-covered body and kissed the skin beneath her lips lightly. As they recovered their normal breathing, Julia found her voice. “You.”
Reese giggled. “Me?”
“Yes. You. Are you serious? I’ve never felt like that during sex before.”
Reese was suddenly feeling insecure. She lifted her head and looked into Julia’s eyes. “Like what? Did I do something wrong?”
“No! You didn’t do anything wrong. I just meant that I’ve never felt such an intense connection with someone like that.” Reese relaxed and resumed her position. She smiled. Julia pulled her close and closed her eyes. “Are you going to sleep now?”
“No, just resting my eyes before round two.”
“Round two?”
“Yep. I plan on staying here in this bed with you for the rest of the trip. We can order all of our food, and we don’t have to get dressed again.” The light from the fire had died down significantly. Suddenly, Julia felt cold.
Apparently reading her thoughts, Reese asked, “Well, can we at least get under the covers? It’s getting chilly in here.” Julia snuggled with Reese under the blankets for a few minutes. Julia felt Reese relax against he
r, nearly drifting off to sleep. “So, ready for round two?” Reese laughed and kissed her. They both knew it was going to be a long night.
†
When the bags were packed in the car, Julia snuck off to the lodge to pay the bill without Reese’s prying eyes. Julia planned to pay for everything. She was a little nervous at how much this would set her back, but after the weekend they’d shared, she didn’t really care. She got to the front desk and the concierge greeted her with a warm smile. “Ready to check out?” Julia nodded. The woman clicked away on the computer. Wallet in hand, Julia looked around at the lodge as she waited.
“Okay, you’re all set! Thank you so much for staying with us.” Julia looked at her confused.
“The card I had on file was just to get the place. I’m paying with this one.” She pulled it out and tried to hand it to the clerk.
“I’m sorry. I thought you knew.”
Julia cocked her head. “Knew what?”
“We didn’t charge your card. We received a call from Helena Iverson, who took care of your bill earlier this morning.”
“What? No, here.” She held out the card between two fingers. The woman shook her head.
“Mrs. Iverson insisted she handle the final bill. She said it’s your Christmas present, even if it’s a little late.” Julia shook her head. She smiled and put the card back into her wallet.
“Thank you. I’m sure we’ll see you again soon.” The woman smiled, and Julia left to meet Reese at the car. She made a mental note to thank Helena for such a generous gift.
Epilogue
Swirling snow danced across the shimmering, dark surface of the road. It was that time of year, when all the Pacific Northwest trees were covered in so much snow that the limbs were reaching for the ground. The recent snow storm had brought with it new drifts of fluff. The road was difficult to see, but the moving van continued as if it had no trouble at all discerning where the edge was located. The vehicle’s draft left a trail of snow clouds spinning into the air.
Zachary was sitting between Reese and Julia, his nose stuck in a video game. Reese was talking with Julia, who was driving. “Now that I found a place in the same school district, Zachary can start junior high with his friends. I just wish we had finished the renovations sooner.”
“The timing happened as it did for a reason. Spencer picked up the pace and brought in a huge crew to get it done as quickly as he could. You found the perfect house. You took the time to really look around and find what works for you and Zach. Also, I can’t believe how quickly that house sold.” As she listened, Reese saw a passing sign; they were getting close to the city.
“I’m not surprised at all. The property is beautiful. I’m just relieved that closing went smoothly. This will make drop offs with Aiden so much easier. He will just pick up Zachary from school on his Friday’s and drop him at school on Monday. I’ve gotten tired of driving so far for the exchange.”
“Bonus, you won’t have to see Aiden as much either.” Julia laughed. Reese didn’t chuckle along. “Don’t tell me that you enjoy your two-minute conversation with him.”
“Not really. It’s just complicated. He’s been trying to be friendly. I forgot how much we had in common. I think I could be friends with him,” Reese said.
“You weren’t meant for marriage, but I could see friends. There were times when he was funny. I used to roll my eyes a lot when he told stories about how amazing he was.”
“You and everyone else.” They both laughed. “After this week, I should have the house in order. I want to take the journal back to Joan and Emma. They were so sweet to give me a family heirloom to borrow. I also have been thinking. Now, that my latest book is off to the printer, it really was the final wrap up of that entire story. My agent is already asking what my next idea is going to be. She doesn’t care if it’s a new series or a one off. I think I want to talk to them about fictionalizing Clara and Emma’s story. I think it would make for a great read. I could barely put it down.”
“Wow. Don’t you think that would be tricky, since it’s based on someone’s family?”
“That’s why I want to discuss it with them. I want to be respectful.”
“Hey, not to change the subject, but are you still having brunch tomorrow with your mom?”
“Yes. I’ll be meeting her at the café at ten thirty. Why?”
“I was just curious.”
“I know you are excited that my mother and I are working on our relationship. Please, just let me handle it.” Julia had asked about the lunch several times in the last few days. Reese knew that Julia had a wonderful relationship with her father. Sometimes, she felt like Julia wanted to put Helena into the same mold as Alexander.
“Understood. I’ll drop it. I was asking so that I knew what time to come over to help you unpack.”
“Oh. I’ll just call you when I’m on my way back from the café. I shouldn’t be there for more than an hour, most likely.” They were finally pulling into the outskirts. She tapped Zachary on the shoulder and asked him to turn off his game. There was a loud groan. She shook her head and sighed at the dramatics.
†
Reese pulled up to the small house. She walked up and knocked. Joan opened the door and welcomed her inside. “I’m so glad that you could make it for tea. My mother’s in the living room.”
“I hope I’m not too late.” Reese looked at her watch.
“Oh, not at all. You’re a bit early, and my mother’s always early.” They walked in and Emma wrapped Reese in a hug, while Joan went to the kitchen. Reese pulled the journal out of her bag and handed it to Emma.
“Thank you, so much for allowing me to borrow the journal. It was such an interesting read.” Joan brought in the tea tray, and everyone busied themselves preparing their cups. Reese wanted to jump right into it. “Since both of you are here, I had an idea that I want to run by you. The last few months have been an adventure for me, living at the old house and fixing it up, while putting the finishing touches on my latest story. My book is finally at the printer, and my publisher wants my next big idea. I love your grandparents’ story, and I would love to tell it. If you don’t feel comfortable with that, I completely understand. But I had to ask.”
Joan’s eyes went wide, and she looked over at her mother. “Maybe we should tell her, Mom.” Emma looked at her daughter, then to Reese.
“Tell me what?”
The corners of Emma’s eyes turned upward, as a smile grew on her face. “We would love for you to tell their story, but what you read is only part of that story. I have years of Emma’s journals. We had years of Clara’s, but at some point, they disappeared. It’s a shame, because that mystery will never be solved. Her journals held the key.”
Reese was confused. “What are you saying? The key to what?”
Joan swiped her hand toward her mother. “Mom, you’re making it seem like it’s a big deal. There isn’t really treasure. That’s a family myth. What my mother is trying to say is that, in the rest of Emma’s journals, there is an even better story that happened many years later. We would like for you to read those if you’d like. If you find the story interesting, we would love for you to write a book about them. It’s a shame we don’t have the other ones, because the rumor in the family, from my grandmother Grace, is that Clara kind of went crazy for a few years. It was very odd, but the two of them didn’t speak or see one another during those years. It was something of a break up. Clara came home one day, apologized, and Emma took her back.”
“Now, that seems like a story in and of itself,” Reese said, after taking a sip of her tea.
“My sister, Karen, was a little girl, but she swore that Clara came back talking about treasure. I wasn’t born yet, and my mother refused to discuss it. She said it was none of our business. It was between her mothers.” Emma had a very serious look on her face. “Regardless, we don’t have those books. I’m talking about what happened during the war. That is a great story.”
“Mom, I th
ink the murder in the family is enough of a story, don’t you? Reese, you really should be the judge. We brought over some of the journals today. Maybe we could meet up every so often for tea. We’ll give you more journals as you finish them and discuss the ones you read so that we can fill in the blanks.”
Reese was intrigued. “I love it! I always enjoy my time with you ladies.” She smiled. “Let’s have a toast.” They all picked up their cups and held them in the air. “To Clara and Emma, for bringing us together.”
“And to sharing two amazing women with the world,” Emma added. They clinked and took a sip. Reese was looking forward to this more so than any other book she had written.
†
On a sunny, cloudless day in August, the baseball field was packed with eleven and twelve-year-old boys in uniforms, hustling around during warm-ups. Aiden arrived at the baseball game a few minutes late. He looked into the stands and found Julia and Reese quietly chatting to each other. Reese waved. Janice breezed past him, climbed the stands, and took her seat next to Reese. He awkwardly carried the car seat above the heads of the parents who had arrived on time. After a few “excuse mes” and a near fall, he set the car seat next to Janice. “Sorry, traffic.” Janice rolled her eyes.
“Actually, someone had one job. Make sure the diapers were in the diaper bag. Olivia made a mess, and when we pulled over to change her, there were no diapers.”
Reese laughed. “You know, he did that with Zachary all the time. Every time he would swear up and down that he put them in the bag.”
“Hey now, in my defense, I did put diapers in Zachary’s bag. You just had five different bags for him, because you couldn’t decide which color you liked better.” Julia laughed at him and elbowed Reese. “I can see you doing that,” she said, and Aiden caught Reese giving her the look.
“Well, Olivia has one bag,” Janice said.