Beth had no doubts about Audie, though. Their friendship seemed to grow more solid with each passing day. In fact, Audie was invading her thoughts more often as they got to know each other—though, technically speaking, thinking about someone while using one’s vibrator was called something else.
“We have plenty of time. Did you have a good breakfast?”
Audie’s question brought her back to the here and now—not a bad idea, since she was about to take the most important test of her life. “I was going to eat when I got there. I thought it would help me relax, but now I won’t have time.”
Audie took a sudden turn into downtown Sumter.
“Where are you going?”
“You need something to eat.” She pulled up in front of a coffee house and got out. “Stay here and take deep breaths. I’ll be back in three minutes.”
What part of anxious about being late didn’t Audie understand?
Beth tried to calm herself. The last thing she needed in her tumultuous stomach was food. This was her own fault for not having a better backup plan.
Audie returned in no time with a brown bag and a tall cup with a lid on it. “Here you go.” Before Beth could even check out the contents, they were underway again.
“That was fast.”
“You don’t have to eat it all. I just wanted to make sure to get something you’d like.”
Knowing Audie’s eating habits, she was afraid to look inside the bag. Probably donuts or sugary coffeecakes. Her headache would start about halfway through the morning section of the test. But to her delighted surprise, she extracted a bran muffin with nuts, a cup of fresh fruit and a container of nonfat yogurt.
“Why didn’t you turn around back there? Shouldn’t we be going out the Sumter Pike?”
“Nah, it’ll be too busy. This way’s faster.”
“Audie, this isn’t the most direct route. I mapped it out on my computer and even timed it on Saturday to make sure I could do it.”
“Trust me, this will be quicker. Back before we started using the designated driver, Dennis and I used to drive home this way from the Gallery because all the cops were on the Pike.”
“But isn’t this two-lane? What if we get behind a tractor?”
“There are six passing lanes between here and Four Forty and where it comes out is a reverse commute. We won’t have to fight the traffic. What time do you have to be there?”
“Eight sharp.”
“I’ll have you there by a quarter till.” She reached over and patted Beth’s thigh. “Now relax and enjoy your breakfast.”
Beth stared at the hand that still rested on her leg, amazed at how reassured she suddenly felt. And Audie was right that she needed to eat something before going in. They wouldn’t get a lunch break until twelve thirty, and there was no way she could concentrate with her stomach making embarrassing noises. She opened the yogurt first. “I was wrong about you, Audie. All this time, I thought you didn’t know what healthy food was.”
Audie grinned at her. “I just picked three things I wouldn’t want to eat.”
“I should have known.”
“How’s BD doing?”
“He’s great. He likes to get on the windowsill in the dining room where he’s eye-level with the trees outside. That way, the birds and squirrels can sit out there and taunt him. He’s so funny when he makes that cackling noise.”
“They’re probably still pissed at him for eating their relatives.”
“I can’t believe how much he’s calmed down in just a couple of weeks.”
“That’s because of you. Whatever you’re doing with him, he likes.”
“Well, he should. He sleeps in my bed and practically eats off my plate. And the last couple of days, he’s waited for me to get out of the shower so he could jump in and lick the water.”
“Then he’s way past happy. He’ll be rotten soon. Is he sitting in your lap?”
“Not yet, but he leans against me so I’ll pet him.”
“Then he wants you to touch him. I bet if you didn’t reach out to him, he’d move over into your lap.”
They talked more about BD and how to bring him out, and before Beth realized it, they were pulling onto the campus at Tennessee State. It was twenty minutes to eight.
“I can’t believe how fast we got here.”
“I always keep my promises. Now where’s your building?”
Beth directed her through the maze of one-way streets, past the barricaded lots to the fine arts building. “It’s up there on the third floor.”
Audie peered through the windshield. “So what’s the schedule?”
“We should finish up about four, I think.”
“What about lunch?”
“It’s supposed to be from twelve thirty to two. I brought a— damn it!”
“You left it in your car.”
“Shit.”
Audie pointed to a bench that faced an adjacent courtyard. “I’ll see you right there at twelve thirty.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“It’s no big deal. But first, I’m going back home to get that shower you wouldn’t let me take. Then I’ll go by and see Grammaw.”
Beth gaped at her in disbelief. “I really appreciate all you’re doing. This could have been such a disaster.”
“But it wasn’t. Now relax and go in there and show them what you know.”
Beth opened her door and got out, looking back one last time.
“Thank you, Audie.”
“Just remember one thing.” Audie leaned across the console and said in her most serious voice, “You have to eat whatever I bring you.”
Audie tipped her sunglasses onto her head as she entered the small shop and waited a few moments for her pupils to adjust to the dim light. For some reason, people didn’t want to shop for sex toys under a fluorescent glare. Go figure.
“Hello.”
She turned toward the voice, locating the shopkeeper, a balding man of about forty, atop a ladder near the back of the store. “Hey there.”
“If you don’t see what you want, we probably don’t have it.”
“Fair enough.”
Little had changed in the year or two since her last visit to the store, where most of the patrons were men. That was clear because their toys, books and videos dominated the shelves. The meager women’s section was to the left, just inside the front door. Audie took in the offering of books with a sigh. There were only a few, and they were practically the same ones that had been there the last time she was here. But she hadn’t come to look at books today.
Instead, she was interested in a card, something fun to congratulate Beth for getting the test behind her. She went straight for the rack near the register.
“What kind of card says good job?” she mumbled to herself as she spun the display. The images that leapt out were couples, either in erotic or otherwise romantic poses. That’s not what Audie had in mind. Beth was cute and sexy, but they didn’t have that sort of relationship. She was looking for something more—
A picture of two women holding hands stopped her short. For the first time in her hectic day, Audie thought of the dream she was having when the phone rang this morning. She and Beth were walking together along the path to Sumter Point, holding hands.
Or maybe it was someone else holding hands with Beth, and Audie was just watching them together. She frowned as she tried to recall the details, the most vivid of which was how soft Beth’s hand had been. So it was definitely her, not someone else.
That was confusing because Audie wasn’t much of a hand holder. In fact, she couldn’t recall holding hands with anyone other than Maxine, and that was usually for balance as she tried to walk around in a cocaine-induced haze. Hand holding was something lovers did.
Audie shook her head to clear her thoughts, turning her attention again to the cards. She needed something that said friends.
Why was she dreaming about Beth like that?
“Finding what yo
u need?”
“Yeah, sure… right here.” She picked up a card that pictured two women laughing. It was perfect. If there was one thing she liked about Beth, it was her easy laugh.
She tossed the card onto the glass counter, noticing it also served as a display case for a variety of personal accessories and sex toys. More than half the case was taken up by an assortment of silver cock rings and bondage tools, bringing to mind the time she accidentally opened Dennis’s dresser drawer in search of a roach clip. It had taken her years to bury that image and now it was roaring back.
“The woman that works here on the weekends says this one’s good.” The shopkeeper opened the case from behind and drew out a lime-colored, V-shaped dildo with two heads. The shaft was spindled and made from flexible silicone. “It’s called a Dual-Do… like a dual dildo. Get it?”
She was definitely intrigued, especially when she saw the battery compartment nestled at the curve. Closer examination revealed vibrating tines embedded in both ends of the shaft. This toy would be fun to share.
And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t help but envision Beth on the other end.
Beth broke into a grin when she spotted the booted feet hanging out of the driver’s window of the yellow SUV. She hated to think how things might have gone if Audie had not been there to save the day. Not only had she gotten out of bed at the crack of dawn to drive her to Nashville, she had given up practically her whole day in order to help things go smoothly with her test.
True to her word, she had returned midday to bring lunch—a veggie burger, of all things. She had even eaten one herself, and with tomato, no less. They laughed and made small talk about junk food, anything to keep Beth’s mind off the pressures of her test.
And now it was all over and Audie was here to drive her home.
So much for her notions about Audie being wild and irresponsible.
Not even Ginger would have come through for her the way Audie had today. Beth needed to find a special way to say thanks.
“You’re out early,” Audie said as she hopped from the vehicle.
Apparently, she had been keeping watch in the rearview mirror.
“I finished. The last part was all scenarios where you have to pick what you would do if this or that happened. I just imagined I was at work.”
“I bet you got them all right.” Audie held the door for Beth to climb into the passenger seat.
“It’s what Hazel told me to do. She said just to let my experience take over. She was right.”
Audie got in on her side and started the engine. “So all you have to do now is finish your class and you’re home free.”
“Yeah, but I’ll spend the next two weeks chewing my nails off while I wait for my scores.”
“But you feel good about how you did.”
“Yeah, but not as good as I’ll feel when I find out I passed.”
“Is it too soon to celebrate?”
“I don’t think I’m ready for that yet, but I wouldn’t mind taking a walk or something to unwind a little. You want to go down to Sumter Point?”
For reasons Beth couldn’t fathom, Audie’s jaw dropped and her face suddenly went red as she looked away. “I… if… sure, if that’s what you want.”
She couldn’t imagine why Audie would blush at such a simple invitation. “We don’t have to. I’ve already used up your whole day off. You can just drop me at home.”
“I don’t mind, really. I just…” The flush had left her face, but her voice was unsteady.
That’s when it occurred to Beth that Audie might have other plans for the night, maybe even a date. “You know, I should probably get home to BD instead. I have a couple of chapters I have to read for class tomorrow night.”
“Are you sure? We can go for a walk if you want.”
“It’s okay, really. I don’t know what I was thinking. It’s been a long day. And I have to see about getting my car fixed tomorrow.”
“I can help with that if you want. A friend of mine is—”
“I can’t ask you to do that.” Beth waved her hand in the air, reluctant to take continued advantage of Audie’s generosity.
“You’ve done more than enough.”
Audie took the exit that would take them once again along the back roads to Sumter. They rode along in awkward silence, though how it got that way was a mystery. If Audie had a date, why didn’t she just say so?
An excited Buster met Audie at the door, leaping straight up on all fours.
“I can’t believe I’m such an asshole, Buster.” She grabbed his leash and held the door for him to run out.
Why hadn’t she just answered yes instead of swallowing her tongue and choking on it? She really had wanted to go, even if it meant shoving her hands in her pockets so she wouldn’t get freaked out by seeing her dream come to life.
Something was going on with Beth. Grammaw had seen it, and now Audie could too. It was as if she was back in high school, nursing a crush on her art teacher. Except her silly daydreams about kissing Miss Wilson senseless were replaced by visions of sweatsoaked thighs slapping together as she and Beth Hester did the nasty with a lime green Dual-Do.
Audie dropped Buster’s leash and plopped herself on the top step of the porch, burying her head in her hands. There she remained until the crunch of gravel announced a car in her driveway.
“Hiya, Tinkerbell. What brings you out of your cave?”
“I was hoping you could tell me,” Dennis said, dropping beside her to sit on the step. “I’ve called you about nine times today and you never answered.”
Audie pulled her cell phone from the breast pocket of her denim jacket. It was off.
“Oops.”
“Everything all right?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”
Dennis shrugged. “It’s your day off. Usually you call me. I just thought you might be pissed about something.”
“I’ve been busy. What am I supposed to be pissed about?”
“I don’t know. You were mad at me last time we talked. I don’t remember what it was about because I was drunk. So when you didn’t pick up my call, I figured it must have been bad.”
“You shithead.” She threw a gentle elbow into his side.
Dennis gave her a lopsided grin. “I know we’re still friends if you call me shithead.”
“If I ever got that mad at you, I’d tell you about it… while I was kicking your pansy ass.”
“Well since you’re not mad at me, how about you drive us to the Gallery tonight? They’re having a Muscle Man contest.”
“Be still my throbbing clit.”
“Ew!”
Audie checked her watch. It was only seven. That would give her time to make a call or two. “Pick you up at nine?”
“Perfect.” Dennis hopped up and started for his car.
“But I’m pulling out of that lot at midnight, with or without you.”
“Right,” he answered over his shoulder.
“And no weed.”
That stopped him short and he turned around. “What?”
“That cop’s going to be looking for us. I promised Matt he wasn’t going to find anything ever again. No poppers either.”
“Not ever?”
“You heard me. I gave him my word.”
“But getting high’s half the fun.”
“So get high at home before we go. We just can’t have it in the car.”
“Great! First Joel and Dwayne, now you. Pretty soon I won’t have any irresponsible friends left.”
Still on a high from taking her test, Beth awakened earlier than usual for her day off. “What is that, BD?”
The cat poised for attack as he followed the ripple of her hand beneath the blanket. His hips twitched in anticipation of pouncing on the mysterious prey.
“You’d better get it.”
He did, leaping across the bed to pierce her blanket—and her finger—with his razor-sharp claws.
“Ow!” Quickly she dr
ew her hand out to find a small scratch, the skin barely broken. “I’m going to have to get Audie to teach you to play without claws.”
She threw the covers back, and BD bounded from the bed and through the doorway, ready for his breakfast.
“I can’t believe how well you’ve trained me already. I should still be asleep.”
He wove between her legs as she filled his bowl. But the instant she set it on the floor, the doorbell rang and he darted back into the bedroom.
Beth couldn’t believe her eyes to see Audie on her doorstep at such an early hour. For a second, she considered grabbing her robe, but dismissed her modesty and answered the door when the bell rang again. She hoped nothing was wrong.
Audie greeted her with a broad smile. “Hi, did I get you up?”
“No, the Black Devil beat you to it. What’s up?”
Audie was dressed in her usual attire for a workday, jeans and a T-shirt, with the ever-present black baseball cap. She gestured with her thumb over her shoulder. “My friend Teri’s here to fix your car, but she needs your keys.”
“Audie! I said you didn’t have to do that.”
“I know. But she’s a friend of mine and I know she won’t rip you off.”
Beth handed her the car keys.
“Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
Beth watched from her landing as the two women popped open her hood to look inside. They exchanged a few words before Audie started back up the steps.
“Teri says your battery’s corroded. She has one on her truck that’ll work, and she’ll swap it out for sixty-five bucks.”
“Is that all? It would have cost me that much just to tow it to the garage. Tell her to go ahead.”
Audie gave her friend the signal and turned back to Beth, pulling a card from her back pocket as they walked into the condo.
“I forgot to give you this yesterday.”
“What is it?”
“Open it and see.”
Beth peeled open the envelope and pulled out the card, smiling to see the image of two women sharing a laugh. “Is this supposed to be you trying to talk me into taking another cat?”
“No, I think we’re discussing what we keep under our beds.”
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