Share the Road (Challenge Book 2)

by D. Blake

  Summer gave her a side hug for support. She didn’t know what Vanessa was thinking, and it bothered the piss out of her. She didn’t think Vanessa would do that, but in reality, she really didn’t know her that well.

  “Let’s just try to be supportive from here. Give her time Taryn. She needs to be with Victoria and you won’t do her any good if you’re worrying about your relationship.”

  “I know… but it hurts.”

  “She’ll call when she’s ready. Be patient with her,” Summer added.

  “When did you get so good at this stuff?” Taryn asked playfully. She knew Summer was right, and she needed to be there for Vanessa when and if she wanted her attention again.

  ****

  Monday evening, Taryn arrived at the gym early to help Kelly and the others with the basketball camp. It felt good to do something other than work and school, although it did help that she was busy, keeping her mind on other things beside Vanessa and Victoria.

  Myla and Kelly were there with matching shirts, red with black lettering that said “Green’s Basketball League” on the front, with a spinning ball in the center. Kelly had ensured with the funding that each kid was given a t-shirt to wear. They had enough kids that they were able to split them up into four teams, allowing them to play real games after a couple of weeks of practice. Kids were divided based on their skill levels with each team having both highly skilled players and first timers. The more experienced players were taking their role of teaching the others very serious, making Kelly even more proud of her camp. The kids wanted to be there, it was something they would not have been able to participate in otherwise.

  “Hey Kelly, what can I do?” Taryn asked as she appeared next to Kelly’s side.

  “Hi Taryn, I’m glad you could make it,” Kelly said giving her a quick hug. “When Summer gets here I think we can split them up into four groups and work with them on some of the basic skills. I have a shirt for you on the bleachers over there next to my bag. Go ahead and grab it before the rest of the kids get here.”

  Taryn smiled, feeding off of Kelly’s animated personality. She’s obviously in her element. She’s a completely different Kelly than what I’ve seen in the past. Kelly was glowing with excitement, a different person, and this side of her was rather beautiful. “Sounds great. And Kelly… thank you for asking me to help.”

  “Thank you, Taryn. You don’t know how much I appreciate this,” Kelly said touching her arm.

  Taryn smiled a subtle smile, but suddenly felt awkward. She wasn’t flirting with Kelly, and Kelly was obviously sincere.

  Kelly swiftly turned on her heels and headed towards the kids that were practicing under the net. “Okay everyone, it looks like we’re ready to get started.” When all the kids turned toward her and gave her their full attention, she began the introductions. Amazingly she went through all of the kids names and introduced each one of them to Taryn, their newest helper.

  As the introductions tailed off with the last child, Summer materialized, giving some of the younger kids that were standing near her high fives. Taryn looked at Myla and grinned as she caught her gazing at her lover. It wouldn’t be too long before Summer and Myla “officially” moved in together.

  During the next hour, they broke off into their assigned groups in order to practice some of the skills they were taught in the previous session. The kids were enjoying themselves so much that when Kelly called out for them, they didn’t want to stop regardless of how tired they were. At the end of the session, Taryn said goodbye to each of the kids in her group and joined the women on the bleachers.

  “Thank you again for getting me to be involved in this. I see why you like it so much.”

  Kelly smiled from ear to ear. “Thank you for joining us,” she said without any innuendo. She asked who would be joining her on Wednesday and all three agreed to return.

  When Taryn arrived home to her apartment, she showered and ate a quick bite before sitting down to her desk in order to log onto her class. It felt good to get out of the apartment, and she knew she would take advantage of the opportunity to help Kelly. She had fun with the kids, and was looking forward to seeing their improvement during the next month.

  At 10 o’clock she settled into her bed, realizing she had gone the entire day without looking at her phone, hoping for a message from Vanessa. Taryn didn’t know what it meant, especially since it made her both pleased and horribly sad at the same time. She now looked at her phone once and rolled over setting it on the night stand. Of course, she still wanted to hear from Vanessa, but she wasn’t going to obsess about it anymore. She’d take it one day at a time and see what happened. Vanessa was important to her, but she also knew that there was a chance that Vanessa would move again if Victoria’s job took her elsewhere. They hadn’t confessed love to one another, and they were really still in the early stages of their relationship. With her last thoughts of Vanessa’s blue eyes and incredible smile, she finally fell asleep after midnight.

  For the next three weeks Taryn fell into a routine with work, basketball, classes and homework. She missed Vanessa dearly, but didn’t try to call any longer. In the last text message she sent, which was two weeks ago, she expressed her concern for Victoria and told Vanessa she was missed by everyone. Summer asked her to join them several times at her house, but she really was content and busy, to say the least. She was doing fine and needed to focus on her studies.

  ****

  “When was the last time you talked to Taryn… or your friends for that matter?”

  Vanessa furrowed her brows. “I don’t know, I guess the week you got shot.” Vanessa had an idea where the conversation was heading, but didn’t want to deal with it yet.

  “I think it’s time for you to go back to D.C.”

  “Why? You need me here!” Vanessa said in an almost pleading voice.

  “Van, I know what you’re doing and you need to go see your girl. You’re withering away to nothing down here, and I know she must miss you something fierce.” Victoria wheeled the chair over to where Vanessa was sitting on the couch. She smoothly lifted herself from the chair and adjusted her body to the right height, just as the therapist had taught her.

  “I miss her,” Van said not looking up. She fiddled with the hem of her shirt before clutching her hands together.

  “I know what you’re doing. Please believe me when I say that I won’t think you are abandoning me if you return to D.C. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” Victoria held up her hand before Vanessa could interject. “I have a live in therapist, slash nurse. I’m in perfectly good hands,” Victoria said with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

  “Tell me you haven’t hit on her, too.”

  “Don’t change the subject. You miss her and I know you’ve been down these last couple of weeks. We’re starting to get on each other’s nerves and you need to get back to your woman and your work before you don’t have a job.”

  “I know, I’m just nervous. I’ve been a jerk, and I’m afraid she won’t forgive me,” Vanessa finally admitted.

  “You’re never going to know if you don’t return and beg her to take your sorry ass back,” Victoria replied hugging her sister from the side. “I’m going to be fine. And as soon as this damn trial is over, I’ll be returning to D.C.”

  “I’m going to miss you,” Vanessa said leaning her head on Victoria’s shoulder.

  “I know big sis, and I’m going to miss you. But I can’t watch you like this anymore. You’re miserable and you’re starting to bring down my MOJO.”

  “Oh shut up. You’re such a pain in the ass.”

  “I love you, too,” Victoria added before scooting back into her wheel chair. She had practiced the move for hours and finally did it smoothly, without falling in the floor. “Now get out of here before Faith gets here.”

  “You are so awful. I love you too, and I’m going to take your advice. I’ll book a plane for tomorrow.”

  Victoria saw her sister’s worried face, but let
her leave the room without more advice from someone that really didn’t know how to have a relationship. Of course, she appreciated that Vanessa stayed with her while she got settled into the apartment, but she also felt horrible that it had been at the detriment of her relationship with Taryn. Had she known what was going on, she would have insisted Van return to D.C. sooner.

  The following morning, Vanessa said her goodbyes to Victoria and Faith, specifically telling Faith to call her if her patient was a problem. Faith laughed, while shaking her head. The sisters had been a treat to work with, even though Faith was finding that Victoria was a handful.

  ****

  On Friday, October 20th, Taryn worked late to get caught up from all the time she had spent away from the office. Summer had told her to take half days so she could study and take her midterms without stress. She did well on both exams and was happy to begin her fall break.

  By the time Taryn arrived home, it was late and all she wanted to do was climb into bed and fall fast asleep. As she trudged up the stairs to her apartment, smiling about her week, she wondered what she would do the next day. She had lectures to watch, but wanted to take some time to herself, perhaps even take a long ride on her bike before the weather got too cold. She hadn’t been to see her parents in a while and thought maybe she was due to take the trip. Sunday… I can do that Sunday, she thought.

  When Taryn walked out of the elevator, she was met with a perfume that she knew very well, yet hadn’t smelled since Vanessa had left for Florida. She looked down the hallway and no one was there, but she still had a feeling that Vanessa had come home. Quickly she pulled out her phone and looked for any messages that Vanessa may have left. Sorting through her 11 text messages she found those from Summer, Eddie, her brother, her mother, but yet, there were none from Vanessa. But then she noticed a voicemail from someone, and the number was familiar.

  “Hi Taryn. I stopped by to see you tonight, but you must have been out. If you have time, I would like to see you tomorrow. That is if you don’t already have plans. But, I understand if you’re busy, or perhaps don’t want to see me again. Taryn, I miss you and I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I didn’t call. I’m not making any excuses for myself, but I needed to make sure Victoria was okay… before I left her. Shit. This isn’t coming out the way I planned it.” There was a pause before Vanessa ended the message. “Please call me when you get in. Anytime, I’ll still be awake.”

  Taryn didn’t want to call because she knew her voice would waver. Instead she calmed herself down, both from the emotional turmoil she had been put through and from the excitement of finally hearing Vanessa’s voice again. With shaky hands, she typed in a text message. “I hope this means that Victoria is doing well, or at least better. I have time in the morning.” She was nice, but didn’t give Vanessa any idea as to how she was feeling. She nodded her head and pressed send before she could change her mind and beg her to come over.

  Just seconds later a second message came through. “Thank you!!! Victoria is doing better, but I can tell you about it tomorrow. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Taryn took a deep breath, knowing she wouldn’t get any sleep tonight. She thought about her feelings, and for the first time she wasn’t sure how she should act. She loved Vanessa and understood her connection to her twin sister. That part was easy. Yet still, she was hurt that Vanessa didn’t think she could talk to her. Or was she just plain avoiding her?

  Taryn quickly shook her head and closed her eyes. She wouldn’t know what Vanessa was thinking until she talked to her and allowed her to explain. Of course she wanted to be angry with her, but knew as soon as she saw her that her resolve would melt away.

  The following morning, Taryn climbed from her bed just before hearing a knock on her apartment door. “Holy shit, it’s early.” Shaking the cobwebs from her head, she dragged her feet, looking through the peep hole before opening the apartment door.

  “Hi,” Vanessa said shyly with a nervous smile pressed on her face. “I was anxious to see you and thought I would bring you breakfast. I hope that’s okay.”

  Taryn nodded her head and moved out of the way to allow Vanessa to enter. As the shorter woman walked past her, she smelled the incredible fragrance that she had noticed in her hallway the night before. She would never forget that smell.

  Vanessa took in Taryn’s long hair that was still tangled from sleep, her stringed tank top and long pajama bottoms. “You look good, thank you for seeing me,” Vanessa said hopefully.

  “Thank you,” Taryn said taking the coffee Vanessa held in her hand. “Come to the kitchen.”

  Vanessa blew out a nervous breath, following Taryn into her tiny kitchen. She was nervous as hell and could see that Taryn was reserved and waiting for her to explain. She set the bag of food on the table and busied herself, pulling out mixed fruit and croissants from Taryn’s favorite breakfast place. Taryn’s appraisal made Vanessa even more nervous as she stood watching her fix their breakfast.

  “Please, sit with me. I have so many things that I want to say to you.”

  Taryn nodded once and pulled out the chair to sit across from her. She waited while Vanessa gathered her thoughts, not giving her an inch to work with.

  Vanessa looked up into Taryn’s hazel eyes and started from the beginning. “When Victoria was shot, I shut down. I stayed by her side as long as they would let me, of course that wasn’t really a problem since they had us both under protective custody. I was angry and wanted to kill the person that had done this to her. Obviously, I wasn’t thinking straight.”

  “When they finally caught the guy and Victoria was out of ICU, all I could do was sit by her side. Taryn, I’ve never been so scared in my life. I even called mom to make her come see Victoria, thinking it was a good idea. Boy was I wrong.” Vanessa shook her head at her own stupidity. “Victoria told me not to call her, but I didn’t listen. When I finally did, mom basically suggested she was shot for her sins.”

  Taryn raised her eyebrows almost as high as her hairline and clenched her jaw. She couldn’t believe that their mother could treat them that way.

  “Anyway, after a couple of weeks Victoria began to recover pretty quickly. She’ll have a lot of physical therapy ahead of her, but I know now that she’s going to be okay.”

  Taryn’s body relaxed noticeably as she took another sip from her coffee cup in order to keep her hands busy. “I don’t have any excuses for myself, for what I did. I wasn’t myself and I…I was afraid that she would think that I was abandoning her if I left too soon.

  “I missed you so much that I knew I couldn’t keep my resolve if I called and heard your voice. I was afraid that if I did that I would want to return to you and … I just couldn’t do that to Victoria. Taryn, I was scared she would think I was deserting her. She’s been through a lot, and I would never want her to think that. But… she could see that I wasn’t myself. I thought about you constantly and was beginning to think that I would call you and beg you to come visit us.”

  “So why are you here now?” Taryn asked innocently.

  Vanessa blushed and gave her a shy look. “Victoria told me to get my ass in gear and get back to D.C. to beg your forgiveness. She didn’t realize that I had cut you off. God Taryn, I’m so sorry for my behavior. I love you and I want us to be together. If you give me a second chance, I promise to never abandon you again. I know it’s not much of a promise after what has happened, but I will spend the rest of my life letting you know just how much I care for you.”

  Vanessa was visibly shaking and Taryn couldn’t stand to make her suffer any longer. Of course, she believed her and she really did understand. She stood from her chair and knelt down in front of Vanessa. “I understand… I understand,” Taryn said pulling her into a tight hug.

  “I wouldn’t blame you if you told me to go to hell, but Taryn please let me make it up to you.”

  “Vanessa,” Taryn said standing and pulling Vanessa up from her chair. “I understand,” she said taking her shoul
ders. “She’s your sister and your whole world. It’s okay, but I was worried about you. I care for you a lot.”

  Vanessa sat back down and put her head in her hands. She couldn’t control her feelings any longer, her body became wracked with sobs and she trembled with exhaustion. Taryn pulled her up again and lead her into the living room where they could sit on the couch. Once seated, she wrapped her arms around Vanessa and held her until her body finally stilled – almost five minutes later. They sat in silence, while Taryn stroked her blond hair and pulled her closer.

  “Did you tell me you loved me?”

  Vanessa nodded her head as she wiped her face and rubbed her eyes, with a half-smile. She was exhausted, both from lack of sleep and from the emotional drain that the last month had taken on her mind and body. She had lost over ten pounds and her muscles felt like jelly from no exercise.

  “I love you. I want to make you happy,” Vanessa said with tears in her eyes again. “Please,” Vanessa said pleading with Taryn.

  “Come with me,” Taryn said pulling her into the bedroom. She made her lay down on the bed and held her in her arms, running her hands through Vanessa’s soft blond hair. “Sleep sweetie. I’m right here, and we can talk when you wake up.”

  Vanessa curled in tighter to Taryn’s body and within minutes fell soundly asleep. Taryn laid with her for an hour before pealing from her grip and heading into the bathroom for a shower. She would let Vanessa sleep as long as she needed to. It was obvious that she hadn’t slept well in a while, there were dark circles underneath her eyes and her skin was pale. She wasn’t taking care of herself, and was probably spending more time thinking about Victoria’s health than her own wellbeing.

  After showering and grabbing a cup of coffee, Taryn climbed back into bed, pulling up close to Vanessa. She opened her laptop and plugged in her headphones to listen to her lectures for the week. While lying next to Vanessa, she placed her left hand on the smaller woman’s arm to stay in contact. She wasn’t sure where they were going, but was content for the moment. She would be there for Vanessa no matter what she needed.