Amanda looked down at her hands. She honestly didn’t know.
“I don’t want her to be a lesbian.”
“I think that fits in the category of an ultimate sacrifice. What do you think, Anna?”
“Yes, I think asking someone to give up how she feels, who she loves, and the chance to live a life she feels is right is definitely asking quite a bit. Tell me, have you always been this homophobic or is this something new?”
Amanda scowled at her.
“Maybe she is afraid her mother will turn into a diesel dyke and lose all her feminine qualities. She’ll be embarrassed and forced to lie about her mother’s whereabouts—or worse, pretend she’s an orphan in case she meets the right man and he’s just as homophobic as she is,” said Olivia.
“I don’t have to sit here and listen to this crap. All I know is that my mother was normal until she hooked up with you fucking perverts,” Amanda said, getting up.
“Remember Amanda, perverted is a relative term. Don’t think that walking out on your mother is going to make her come back.”
“We’ll see,” Amanda said, walking away.
Celia looked over at Maggie as they walked along the river.
“Do you remember when I was leaving with Bridgette and you kissed me?”
Maggie looked at her and smiled. “Of course. That was my clue that maybe something wasn’t quite right.”
“I always wondered if you felt anything.”
“I knew I was losing more than a friend.”
“When you kissed me, I had a sudden insight that maybe I’d fallen in love with the wrong woman.”
“And who was the right one?”
“You, silly. Come here,” Celia said, pulling Maggie to her.
“I forgot what it was like to kiss with a cold nose.”
“Me, too.”
Olivia and Anna were making breakfast. Anna looked up from where she was chopping onions and potatoes. Amanda was halfway up the stairs before either one of them had a chance to move.
“Amanda, wait!” Olivia said, standing at the bottom of the stairs.
“I just want to talk to her,” Amanda said calmly. “I won’t do anything.”
“Amanda, let me get them. Come down and have some coffee.”
“No, I want to talk to her right now,” Amanda said, walking down the hall.
Olivia looked at Anna and bit her lip.
“I hope they’re just sleeping late.”
“Me, too.”
“Why do I get the feeling something awful is going to happen?” said Olivia.
“Because there is a pretty good chance that something could. Let’s be positive. Celia is taking a shower and Maggie is sitting propped up in bed looking virginal and reading the paper.”
“God, I hope you’re right.”
* * *
Maggie was rocking gently on top of Celia. She collapsed in delight. She looked over and saw Amanda staring at them with tears running down her face.
“Christ!” said Maggie, rolling off. Celia sat up to see Amanda dashing from the room.
“Amanda! Wait,” Maggie said, wrapping a sheet around her and scrambling after her daughter. But it was too late. When she got back, Celia was getting dressed.
“Maggie, I’m so sorry.”
“Amanda always did have a wretched sense of timing.”
Olivia and Anna watched as Amanda went screaming past. They looked at each other.
“They were fucking,” Olivia said, her voice flat.
“Good guess.”
Celia came down first. They both looked up, feeling guilty.
“We tried to stop her,” Olivia said.
“It’s not your fault.”
“Did she see anything?” Anna asked tentatively.
“A lot more than she should have.”
“How’s Maggie?”
“I don’t know. She’s taking a shower.”
Maggie came down dressed and looking calm. She smiled at them. They watched her as she pulled a bottle of tequila from the cupboard above the sink. She poured herself a shot and downed it quickly.
“Well, I guess I won’t be getting any more mushy Mother’s Day cards,” said Maggie. She burst into tears.
* * *
That night as they lay in bed, Celia thought about the afternoon Harold found her in bed with Bridgette. Now his daughter had seen very much the same thing. The circular nature of life was beginning to disturb her. She had left this place twenty years ago, vowing not to return. It had been too painful. People that she loved and trusted turned on her in rapid succession. She felt like the lone survivor of a firing squad, wounded and left for dead.
Later, Celia awoke to find Maggie crying in the night. They didn’t speak. They held each other, and together they cried. They both knew that like Harold, Amanda would hold a lifelong grudge.
Chapter Ten
Maggie and Celia sat on the Navajo rug in the middle of the now-empty living room. Nothing was left in the house but a mattress upstairs and the rug upon which they were sitting. They were having a picnic. It was cold outside, and the leaves had dropped from most of the trees. But sunlight poured in the large front window, and rainbow splashes of light from the lead glass panes danced across the floor.
“Thinking about the house?”
“How’d you guess?”
“I could see it in your eyes. Will you miss it?”
“No. I have a new home now.”
“Good.”
Maggie’s mother took them to the airport. Olivia and Anna had left early, eager to get back to work and get away from the bleakness of oncoming winter. They had all stayed longer than was intended, and each was grateful to be going home.
“Well, darling, you got your wish, and I’m glad.”
Maggie took her mother’s hand.
“Why can’t Amanda be more like you and less like Harold?”
“Stubbornness will forever find a foothold. It dies off in one place and crops up in another. She might come around someday. I’ll keep an eye on her. Give her time. She’ll miss you, and then she’ll learn to overlook what she can’t agree with.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Well, ladies, off you go. I’ll try to be down in February when I’m thoroughly sick of winter and need some respite. Celia, take care,” said Josephine.
She gave them both a hug. Maggie felt her eyes moisten. The attendant took their tickets. Maggie looked back to see her mother walking away. Celia took her hand, and they boarded the plane.
Olivia and Anna met them at the gate when they landed. It was good to be back. Good to have Celia’s hand on her thigh. Good to have Olivia and Anna cheerfully bantering as they drove back to the ranch.
Maggie stood on the porch listening to the wind as it rustled softly through the palms. The sun slowly dove into the sea of sand, and she heard the others making preparations for dinner, the clanking of plates and glasses, the friendly chatter, the pop as the cork was pulled from the bottle of wine. Celia cracked the door, sticking her head through it and smiling.
“Dinner’s ready.”
“I’ll be right there,” Maggie said, sighing. I’m home, I’m finally home, she thought as she walked through the door, taking one last look behind her.
Publications from Bella Books, Inc.
Women. Books. Even Better Together.
P.O. Box 10543
Tallahassee, FL 32302
Phone: 800-729-4992
www.bellabooks.com
THE GRASS WIDOW by Nanci Little. Aidan Blackstone is nineteen, unmarried and pregnant, and has no reason to think that the year 1876 won’t be her last. Joss Bodett has lost her family but desperately clings to their land. A richly told story of frontier survival that picks up with the generation of women where Patience and Sarah left off. 978-1-59493-189-5 $12.95
SMOKEY O by Celia Cohen. Insult "Mac" MacDonnell and insult the entire Delaware Blue Diamond team. Smokey O'Neill has just insulted Mac, and then finds she'
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NOT EVERY RIVER by Robbi McCoy. It’s the hottest city in the U.S., and it’s not just the weather that’s heating up. For Kim and Randi are forced to question everything they thought they knew about themselves before they can risk their fiery hearts on the biggest gamble of all. 978-1-59493-182-6 $14.95
HOUSE OF CARDS by Nat Burns. Cards are played, but the game is gossip. Kaylen Strauder has never wanted it to be about her. But the time is fast-approaching when she must decide which she needs more: her community of Eda Byrne. 978-1-59493-203-8 $14.95
RETURN TO ISIS by Jean Stewart. The award-winning Isis sci-fi series features Jean Stewart's vision of a committed colony of women dedicated to preserving their way of life, even after the apocalypse. Mysteries have been forgotten, but survival depends on remembering. Book one in series. 978-1-59493-193-2 $12.95
1ST IMPRESSIONS by Kate Calloway. Rookie PI Cassidy James has her first case. Her investigation into the murder of Erica Trinidad's uncle isn't welcomed by the local sheriff, especially since the delicious, seductive Erica is their prime suspect. 1st in series. Author's augmented and expanded edition. 978-1-59493-192-5 $12.95
BEACON OF LOVE by Ann Roberts. Twenty-five years after their families put an end to a relationship that hadn't even begun, Stephanie returns to Oregon to find many things have changed... except her feelings for Paula. 978-1-59493-180-2 $14.95
ABOVE TEMPTATION by Karin Kallmaker. It's supposed to be like any other case, except this time they're chasing one of their own. As fraud investigators Tamara Sterling and Kip Barrett try to catch a thief, they realize they can have anything they want--except each other. 978-1-59493-179-6 $14.95
AN EMERGENCE OF GREEN by Katherine V. Forrest. Carolyn had no idea her new neighbor jumped the fence to enjoy her swimming pool. The discovery leads to choices she never anticipated in an intense, sensual story of discovery and risk, consequences and triumph. Originally released in 1986. 978-1-59493-217-5 $14.95
CRAZY FOR LOVING by Jaye Maiman. Officially hanging out her shingle as a private investigator, Robin Miller is getting her life on track. Just as Robin discovers it's hard to follow a dead man, She walks in. KT Bellflower, sultry and devastating... Lammy winner and second in series. 978-1-59493-195-6 $14.95
LOVE WAITS by Gerri Hill. The All-American girl and the love she left behind--it's been twenty years since Ashleigh and Gina parted, and now they're back to the place where nothing was simple and love didn't wait. 978-1-59493-186-4 $14.95
HANNAH FREE: THE BOOK by Claudia Allen. Based on the film festival hit movie starring Sharon Gless. Hannah's story is funny, scathing and witty as she navigates life with aplomb -- but always comes home to Rachel. 32 pages of color photographs plus bonus behind-the-scenes movie information. 978-1-59493-172-7 $19.95
END OF THE ROPE by Jackie Calhoun. Meg Klein has two enduring loves—horses and Nicky Hennessey. Nicky is there for her when she most needs help, but then an attractive vet throws Meg's carefully balanced world out of kilter. 978-1-59493-176-5 $14.95
THE LONG TRAIL by Penny Hayes. When schoolteacher Blanche Bartholomew and dance hall girl Teresa Stark meet their feelings are powerful--and completely forbidden--in Starcross Texas. In search of a safe future, they flee, daring to take a covered wagon across the forbidding prairie. 978-1-59493-196-3 $12.95
UP UP AND AWAY by Catherine Ennis. Sarah and Margaret have a video. The mob wants it. Flying for their lives, two women discover more than secrets. 978-1-59493-215-1 $12.95
CITY OF STRANGERS by Diana Rivers. A captive in a gilded cage, young Solene plots her escape, but the rulers of Hernorium have other plans for Solene--and her people. Breathless lesbian fantasy story also perfect for teen readers. 978-1-59493-183-3 $14.95
ROBBER’S WINE by Ellen Hart. Belle Dumont is the first dead of summer. Jane Lawless, Belle's old friend, suspects coldhearted murder. Lammy-winning seventh novel in critically acclaimed cozy mystery series. 978-1-59493-184-0 $14.95
APPARITION ALLEY by Katherine V. Forrest. Kate Delafield has solved hundreds of cases, but the one that baffles her most is her own shooting. Book six in series. 978-1-883523-65-7 $14.95
STERLING ROAD BLUES by Ruth Perkinson. It was a simple declaration of love. But the entire state of Virginia wants to weigh in, leaving teachers Carrie Tomlinson and Audra Malone caught in the crossfire--and with love troubles of their own. 978-1-59493-187-1 $14.95
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FORTY LOVE by Diana Simmonds. Lush, romantic story of love and tennis with two women playing to win the ultimate prize. Revised and updated author's edition. 978-1-59493-190-1 $14.95
I LEFT MY HEART by Jaye Maiman. The only women she ever loved is dead, and sleuth Robin Miller goes looking for answers. First book in Lammy-winning series. 978-1-59493-188-8 $14.95
TWO WEEKS IN AUGUST by Nat Burns. Her return to Chincoteague Island is a delight to Nina Christie until she gets her dose of Hazy Duncan's renown ill-humor. She's not going to let it bother her, though… 978-1-59493-173-4 $14.95
Saxon Bennett - The Wish List Page 14