by Jae
Are those lesbian romances?
She was tempted to find out, but Drew would be out soon. While she straightened the sheets, she looked at the gold and silver trophies on the bookcase’s top shelf.
The engraving told her that Drew had won first and second places in archery competitions five years in a row. Not this year, though. Is that because her parents died?
She sat on the edge of the bed and put a fresh pillow case on the pillow. Her glance fell on the photo on the bedside table. A couple was strolling through a vineyard, a little girl with long, curly hair riding on the man’s strong shoulders. A broad grin dimpled the girl’s cheeks and revealed a gap where one tooth was missing.
Annie smiled back at the girl, who seemed so happy with her parents.
The bathroom door swished open, letting a cloud of steam escape into the bedroom.
When Annie glanced up, Drew leaned in the doorway, clad in just a large towel that was wrapped around her upper body. Annie gaped at the damp skin of Drew’s muscular shoulders and then took in her bare thighs.
“I forgot to take a fresh T-shirt with me into the bathroom,” Drew said. The towel parted when she bent over a drawer.
Annie wrenched her gaze away. “I’ll ... uh ... I think I’ll get a few groceries for you.”
Drew straightened and turned, then swayed.
“Careful!” Annie hurried over and wrapped one arm around Drew to steady her.
“Just turned too quickly and got a bit woozy,” Drew murmured against Annie’s shoulder.
A fresh ocean-breeze scent drifted up from Drew’s skin, and Annie became aware of Drew’s warmth pressed against her side, separated by just a towel. “I think you’re running a fever. You’re really hot.”
“Oooh, thank you. I’m glad you think so.” One dimple made a momentary appearance as Drew grinned at her.
“You’re impossible. You know what I mean.” Annie guided Drew to the bed and pressed her down on it. “Sit before you fall down. Where are your sleep shirts?”
Drew pointed to one of the drawers. “And ... um ... can you get me a pair of clean underwear too? They’re in the bottom drawer.”
Her cheeks now probably as red as Drew’s, Annie got the two items of clothing from the drawers and handed them over without glancing at the black panties. “I’ll get the groceries now.”
“Annie?” Drew called after her.
Already at the door, Annie turned.
“Thank you,” Drew said. “There’s a set of keys on the table in the hall. Take them. Then you can let yourself in.”
Annie nodded. Fetching Drew’s underwear and having my own set of keys. You’d think I really was her girlfriend.
* * *
Normally, Annie bought only the bare necessities when she went grocery shopping. But this time, as she unpacked the paper bags, she realized she had gone overboard.
Three different kinds of teas, half a dozen bottles of Gatorade, cough medicine, nose spray, a package of Tylenol, three boxes of tissues, and fresh fruit covered the counter while the soup heated on the stove.
She placed a bowl of soup, sage tea, and the medicine on a tray. Cab shadowed her as she tiptoed upstairs with the tray and opened the bedroom door.
Drew lay in bed with her eyes closed and the covers pulled up to her chin. Her usually tan face had gone pale.
Cab squeezed past Annie and ran up to the bed. Before Annie could stop him, he nosed one of Drew’s hands and whined.
“Hmm?” Drew opened one eye, then the other and looked around for a moment. “Oh.”
When Drew sat up, Annie noticed with relief that Drew had managed to put on her sleep shirt.
Drew cleared her throat. “You’re back already?”
Annie had been gone for an hour and a half. She’s really out of it. “Do you feel up to a bowl of vegetable soup? Or maybe just some tea?” She helped Drew sit up and placed the tray across her lap.
Wrinkling her nose, Drew stared at the tea, but then she lifted it to her lips and blew on it before she took a sip. Her face brightened. “Yum. You put honey in it.” She sipped her tea for a while, then reached for the cough syrup. Her fingers trembled, and she wrestled with the childproof cap of the medicine bottle.
“Let me.” Annie sat on the edge of the bed and took the bottle from Drew. When she had it open, she took the spoon from the tray and poured out a spoonful of cough syrup. Instead of handing it to Drew, she held the spoon to Drew’s lips.
Like an obedient child, Drew opened her mouth, swallowed the syrup, and then shook herself. “Ugh. No honey in that.”
Annie suppressed a smile. She’s cute when she’s sick. After hesitating for a moment, Annie handed over the spoon. Feeding Drew the soup might be too much.
Finally, when the bowl was empty, Drew wordlessly took the Tylenol Annie handed her and swallowed it. She leaned back against the headboard and closed her eyes. “Can I ask one last favor before you go?”
“Go?” Annie shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere as long as you’re this sick.”
Drew opened her eyes. They were still glassy. “You don’t need to stay. I’m not that sick.”
“Oh, no?” Annie pressed her palm against Drew’s forehead. “You’re burning up.”
For a few moments, Drew leaned into Annie’s touch before she turned her head away and sighed.
“What favor did you want to ask?” Annie asked.
“Cab,” Drew said. “Would you take him on a short walk around the lake? He hasn’t been outside since this morning. We had another wine tasting today, and I didn’t want him to bother the guests, so I kept him inside.”
“You did a wine tasting while you’re this sick?” Annie shook her head.
“No. Heather, one of my employees, was pouring. So, will you walk Cab?”
“Sure. If you think he’ll go with me.”
Drew closed her eyes. With a tired smile, she mumbled, “He will. He’s a sucker for pretty blondes. Just pick up his leash from the hall table, and he’ll follow you to the end of the world.”
“I’m not planning on walking that far.” She wanted to be back at Drew’s side as quickly as possible.
When Drew didn’t answer, Annie realized that Drew had fallen asleep sitting up. She lifted the tray off Drew’s lap and wrapped an arm around Drew’s shoulders to urge her to slide down. “Come on, Drew. You need to lie down. You can’t sleep sitting up.”
Without opening her eyes, Drew let her body be guided down.
Annie stood looking at her for a few moments, taking in the dark shadows beneath her eyes. It was disconcerting to see the strong, vibrant Drew so weak and helpless. She tugged the covers higher around Drew and tiptoed out of the bedroom.
Downstairs, she called her neighbor to tell her she wouldn’t be home tonight, so she should feed Amadeus. Satisfied that her cat would be taken care of, she took Cab’s leash from the hall table.
Cab was at the front door before Annie reached it. He danced around, barely standing still long enough for her to clip the leash to his collar. When Annie opened the door, he pulled her out into the darkness.
* * *
The lights in the large barn next to the main house switched off just as Annie and Cab completed their walk around the lake. Two men stepped out of the barn and crossed the yard.
Annie froze. Who are they? It was nearly ten by now, so they weren’t visitors who had just finished a wine tasting.
Cab wagged his tail and licked the older man’s hands, obviously familiar with him and his companion.
Annie let her breath escape. They probably work here.
The older man tipped the bill of his baseball cap. “Evening, ma’am. Martin Salerno. I work for Drew.”
Drew, Annie mentally repeated. Not Ms. Corbin. Obviously, Drew was on friendly terms with her employees. She nodded at the two men. “Annie Prideaux. I’m a friend of Drew’s.” She had never been one to make friends easily, but calling Drew her friend felt right.
“How
is she?” Martin asked.
“She’s sick as a ... um ... dog.” Annie glanced at Cab.
“That’s what I thought. She didn’t look good this morning.” Martin took off his baseball cap and raked stained fingers through his gray hair. “Take good care of her, please.”
“I will,” Annie said and watched the men walk away. They hadn’t questioned her presence or the fact that she was walking Cab. Do they think I’m Drew’s girlfriend? Maybe she brings women home all the time.
The thought made her frown, and she got rid of it with a shake of her head. You’re just pretending to be her girlfriend, so stop acting like a jealous lover!
When she returned to the house and peeked into Drew’s bedroom, the bed was empty. She opened the door more fully.
Drew shuffled through the room as if rocks weighted down her feet.
Annie rushed over and gripped Drew’s elbow to steady her. “What are you doing up? If you need anything, just let me know and I’ll take care of it.”
“Then can you please empty my bladder for me?”
“Oh.” Annie let go of Drew’s elbow so she could continue on her way to the bathroom. “Sorry,” she said with a rueful smile, “you’re on your own with that.”
A few minutes later, Drew returned from the bathroom. When she walked around Annie to crawl back into bed, Annie realized that Drew had her T-shirt on backward. She hadn’t noticed it before.
“What?” Drew asked. “Why are you staring at me?” She rubbed her red nose as if afraid that pieces of tissue might be clinging to it.
Annie smiled. “You have your T-shirt on backward.”
Drew glanced down at herself and ran her hand over her chest. “Oh.” She slipped her arms out of the sleeves so she could turn the T-shirt without taking it off.
Seeing Drew struggle, Annie reached over and tugged on the fabric to help.
Finally, the T-shirt’s front was facing forward, displaying in rainbow colors: “the other team.”
Was it little things like this that made Annie constantly aware that Drew was gay? Or was it all in her head? Annie wasn’t sure. She watched Drew settle into bed, her eyelids already drooping. “Do you have a T-shirt I could wear? I didn’t plan on a sleepover.”
“You don’t need to stay,” Drew said again.
Annie folded her arms and looked down at Drew. “I’m staying, so don’t waste your energy protesting.”
“Okay, okay. There should be a T-shirt that will fit you in the top drawer.” Drew lifted one hand from beneath the covers and pointed.
Annie pulled out the drawer and took the T-shirt on top. Her eyebrows rose as she read the words on the front. “Sorry I missed church. I was busy practicing witchcraft and becoming a lesbian.” She glanced at Drew, who watched her with a tired smile. “Do you have a whole dresser full of T-shirts like these?”
“I have a few, but I just wear them around the house. Lynn gives me one or two for every birthday.”
Lynn. Annie wondered how long Drew had known her. How long had they been together? And was their relationship completely over? She couldn’t bring herself to ask.
“Do you want another T-shirt?” Drew asked when Annie said nothing.
“This one is fine. Maybe I should wear it on Thanksgiving.”
Drew laughed, then coughed. “I have two guest rooms. One is right next door, and the bigger one is next to the stairs. Take your pick.”
“I’ll be next door.” This way, she would be nearby in case Drew woke up and called out during the night. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to wake me up, okay?”
Drew nodded. Her eyes fell shut.
“Good night, Drew.”
Deep breathing was her only answer.
Annie tiptoed across the room and switched off the lights. At the door, she stopped and glanced back at Drew. She couldn’t make out Drew’s face in the almost darkness, but Drew slept without moving, completely defenseless. The intimacy of the situation struck Annie like a punch to the chest, robbing her of breath. After one more glance at Drew, she stepped out of the bedroom, leaving the door ajar.
* * *
Annie woke and stared into the darkness. The alarm clock was on the wrong side of the bed. I’m at Drew’s. Another glance at the alarm clock showed that it was just after three. What had awakened her in the middle of the night? Had Drew called for her?
She felt wide-awake now and knew she wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep before she checked on Drew. Sighing, she threw back the covers and walked to the door, then opened it and peered across the hallway.
A sliver of light fell through the bedroom door that Annie had left open slightly.
Not taking the time to get dressed, Annie crossed the hallway and listened.
Bed springs creaked. Drew sneezed and blew her nose.
Annie hesitated. When she glanced down, she realized that she wasn’t fully dressed. With one hand already raised to push open the door, she tugged on the T-shirt with the other hand. On Drew, the shirt probably ended mid-thigh, but it reached just below Annie’s hips. Get over yourself. She’s sick. And she wouldn’t ogle you, even if she were up to it. That constant flirting is just her type of humor.
Shaking her head at herself, Annie opened the door farther and peeked inside. “Drew?” she whispered. “Everything okay?”
“I’m sick,” Drew said, her voice nasal and childlike. In the light of the lamp on the bedside table, sweat gleamed on her forehead. Her cheeks were flushed.
Damn. I thought the medicine and some sleep would help. If anything, Drew looked worse than she had a few hours before. Even though Annie told herself that it was just a cold and Drew would be fine, she couldn’t help worrying.
She stepped into the bedroom and closed the door to deter Cab from rushing in and disturbing Drew’s rest. A few crumpled tissues were strewn around the bed, and on her way over to Drew, Annie picked them up and threw them onto the heap of tissues already in the trash.
For a few moments, she stood looking at Drew. She hadn’t taken care of a sick person in years and never someone who was basically still a stranger. It felt weird to be in Drew’s bedroom in the middle of the night. Oh, come on. Drew has already seen your bedroom. Hazily, she remembered Drew putting her to bed after she had drunk too much. She gave herself a mental push and perched on the edge of the bed, leaving a respectable distance between her and Drew.
Drew watched her with drooping eyes.
Hesitantly, Annie lifted her hand and laid it on Drew’s forehead, then touched her cheek. The heat radiating from Drew’s skin worried her. “God, Drew, you’re burning up! Do you have a thermometer?”
“Hmm?” Drew sniffled and glanced at her through watery eyes.
“A thermometer,” Annie said. “Do you have one?”
Drew blew her nose. “Yes,” she mumbled from behind the tissue.
If Drew hadn’t been so sick, it would have been amusing. “Good. Where is it?”
“Hmm?”
“Your thermometer—where is it?”
Drew blinked as if she needed time to process Annie’s question. “Bathroom,” she said after a few seconds.
Annie got up and straightened the covers, making sure Drew stayed warm. She stepped around the bed and entered the bathroom.
When the light flickered on, Annie took in the white tiles and a bathtub that looked large enough for two. Instantly, an image of Drew in the tub with Lynn swept through Annie’s mind. She shook her head to chase away the mental picture and glared at herself in the mirror above the sink. Stop thinking about it. What Drew does or doesn’t do with Lynn is none of your business.
She slid open the mirrored front of the white bathroom cabinet. While she rooted through bottles of medicine, she felt like a snoop. Going through Drew’s bathroom cabinet seemed like a very private thing. She pushed a box of tampons to the left and peeked past a tube of hand lotion. Between a pair of nail clippers and a toothbrush still in its plastic packaging, she finally found the thermom
eter.
Annie ran it under water. As an afterthought, she took a washcloth from an open shelf next to the bathtub and wet it. Maybe a cool compress would help make Drew more comfortable.
When she returned to the bedroom, she half expected Drew to be asleep, but instead, Drew’s eyes were open and watched Annie as she settled down on the edge of the bed. Drew looked up at her with the trusting gaze of a sick person waiting for the miracle healer.
Annie squared her shoulders. She trusts you. Now help her. “We need to take your temperature.”
Drew licked cracked lips and continued to look at Annie through glassy eyes. Instead of taking the thermometer from Annie, she opened her mouth.
There were places that would give her a more accurate reading of Drew’s body temperature, but Annie didn’t want to even think about it. This would have to do. Annie turned on the thermometer, placed it beneath Drew’s tongue, and nudged her chin to get Drew to close her mouth. When the thermometer was safely in place, she put the cool compress on Drew’s forehead.
“Feels nice,” Drew mumbled around the thermometer.
For a moment, Annie thought Drew meant the washcloth on her forehead, but then she realized that she was combing her fingers through the damp curls on Drew’s temple. She stilled her fingers, stared at them, and withdrew her hand. Since when am I the touchy-feely type?
The thermometer beeped.
Annie slid it out of Drew’s mouth and glanced at the display. “103.8.” She frowned. “Jesus, Drew, that’s really high.” She needed to do something to bring Drew’s fever down.
Once she had read a book in which a character had been put into a tub full of cold water to cool down. She couldn’t safely maneuver Drew in and out of a tub, though, and undressing Drew was way out of her comfort zone.
One glance at the alarm clock showed that it had been at least six hours since Drew had taken the last dose of pain relievers. “Let’s try more Tylenol. If that doesn’t bring your fever down, I’m taking you to a doctor.” Annie opened the package of Tylenol and slid the water glass within easier reach. “Can you sit up a bit?”
When Drew struggled to lift her upper body, Annie slid one arm around her shoulders.
Instead of sitting up, Drew wrapped her arms around Annie too and nestled close. Her breath fanned over Annie’s collarbone, making Annie shiver. Through the thin cotton of the borrowed T-shirt, Drew’s face pressed against her breasts. Annie’s temperature skyrocketed until her cheeks felt warmer than Drew’s. “Um, Drew ...” Annie’s breathing picked up while she felt Drew’s slow down.