“A jeweler and a botanist. We make an unlikely pair.”
Shawn gazed at Jill as they strolled lazily along the sidewalk. “I’m willing to see where it goes.”
“Me too.”
*******
When they returned to Jill’s place, Shawn stopped her from climbing the stairs and pulled her close. “I really like you, and I need to make a confession. I’ve been breaking my jewelry intentionally just for an excuse to see you.”
Jill stared at her in surprise. “You’ve been coming to my shop for a year.”
“At first, I thought you and Rene were a couple, but I wasn’t sure, so I had to break something and come back.” Shawn winced. “I did tell you I was shy. You just seemed like a dream that would never come to life.”
“I’m…flattered…and a little stunned.” Jill put her hands on her hips and stared at the floor for a moment. “You’ve been single for a year, and all that time…you were interested in me?”
“Yes,” Shawn said, wishing she’d not been so honest.
Jill released a heavy breath. “Wow, if I had known this, I would’ve dressed better, maybe done something with my hair.”
“You’re perfect. You don’t realize that?”
Jill closed the gap between them, clasped Shawn’s face, and kissed her. She felt the electrical shocks that Rene had described again as their tongues met, and she pulled away with a shuddering breath. “This was the best first date I’ve ever had.”
Shawn looked stunned for a moment and smiled. “You are perfect,” she said as she backed toward the door. “I’ll see you at Christmas.”
“I look forward to it. Good night.”
“It is a good night.”
Chapter 7
“Was it romantic? Did you have a good time? Are you gonna see her again? Did you get naked?” Rene asked as she came tearing through the door the next morning.
Jill didn’t look up from the bracelet she was working on. “Yes, yes, yes, and no.”
“Oh, you’re so lucky.” Rene took off her coat and sighed. “I love first dates. I try to make Nadia ask me out like we’re going on our first date, but she says, ‘We’ve been together for eight years, Rene. If you want to play pretend, dress up like a maid and clean the house.”’ Rene threw up her hands. “Who wants to pretend to clean? I might as well really mop, and we all know that isn’t gonna happen. What’re you working on?”
Jill hunched over her pad. “I’m not done, don’t look at it.”
Rene’s eyes sparkled as she asked, “Is it for me?”
“Shawn.”
“The woman is hot, but she’s destructive and goofy. She’s just gonna break it like she does everything else.”
Jill smiled. “I don’t think so.”
Rene walked over to the window. “Theo’s got a new sign, it says, ‘Want a gift that’s unique? I’ve got something that’ll make her shriek. Shrunken heads half off.” Rene was silent for a moment. “Do you think that means the heads are half off the bodies or they’re on sale?”
Jill sighed and continued to attach charms to the bracelet.
“She’s coming over, and she has presents! I didn’t get her anything,” Rene said in a panic as she looked around.
“Merry Christmas, fools,” Theo announced as she walked in clad in a red dress and matching turban. She set a wrapped package on the counter in front of Rene, then strode over to where Jill sat and put one in front of her. “Open these right now.”
Jill’s brow rose as she regarded the present. “I’m afraid, and, Theo, my mind has been elsewhere, I didn’t get you anything. I’m sorry.”
“I did!” Rene pranced over with a display holder for rings, it had a little bow around it.
“Well, look at that, my own felt-covered finger. I’ll put it on my mantel.” Theo kissed Rene’s cheek. “Thank you, baby.”
Rene’s eyes went wide. “Do you live down in the swamp in an old wooden house?”
“Rene,” Jill said indignantly.
“Don’t fuss at her.” Theo put a hand on Rene’s arm. “You should come see it sometime. It’s always surrounded by fog comin’ off the water. I got me a gator as a watchdog.”
Jill stared at the chicken foot dangling outside of Theo’s dress. “Marie been on the warpath this morning?”
Theo nodded. “She in a mood. Marie ain’t never liked the holidays.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “’Cause she’s cheap.”
Rene opened her gift and held up a typical drinking glass. “Thank you, Theo,” she said, looking even more confused than usual.
“That’s a spirit glass, got a spell on it. You get a ghost in yo house that’s actin’ up, you tell it to go in there, then cover the top with foil.”
“Oh,” Rene said reverently as she stared at it.
Jill took a navy blue cloth bag from a drawer that they placed jewelry in after a sale. “This isn’t a Christmas present, but it might keep the nails on the foot from poking you at night when you sleep.”
“Yes, I like it.” Theo dropped the foot into the bag, then cinched the drawstring top. She gave it a pat with a smile. “You can be sweet, jackass. Now open yours.”
Jill tore into the gift and pulled out a small amber vial of powder. “What is it?”
“Sprinkle that on her food, and she’ll be yours forever.”
Jill shook the vial. “Will it make her sick?”
“It’ll probably give her the burps, but it ain’t gon’ cause anything to fall off her. It might even make her boobs bigger.”
“Do you have something to make booty grow?” Rene asked. “I don’t have one.”
Theo grinned. “Biscuits will do the trick, baby.”
This is beyond power of persuasion, or is it? Jill wondered as she stared at the powder. If she was the only one who knew about it, then she would be fooling her own self into believing that Shawn would belong to her forever. An even more pressing question was, did she want Shawn forever? Their first date was fantastic, and she was looking forward to getting to know Shawn better, but it was way too soon to be contemplating a lifetime with her.
“Does this have an expiration date?”
“It’ll keep as long as the cork stays on.” Theo smiled. “Go on and doubt me, child, but ticket 1207 is what you’ve been looking for all your life. Now I got to go. I’m closing up at noon, so I can go home and be with my babies.”
“Wait.” Jill got up and moved around the counter. She gave Theo a big hug and a kiss on her cheek. “Merry Christmas to you and yours.”
Theo patted her on the shoulder. “You startin’ to become tame…I don’t like it.”
“Merry Christmas, Theo,” Rene called after her as she left.
*******
Shawn looked like a chipmunk; her cheeks were full of Oreo balls. She was about to grab another handful from the serving table set up in the common area when she saw Vera saunter in the door. “I thought we’d do lunch since you’re getting off early, but obviously, you’ve already been stuffing your face,” Vera said as she looked at the treats lining the table.
Shawn swallowed. “I could eat.”
“Good, let’s go.” Vera grabbed Shawn by the arm and dragged her along. “Let’s go to that café that has the really good cranberry and walnut salad. You could probably use the roughage. Your diet is complete shit, yet you look like a goddess. You make me sick.”
“I love you, too.”
Vera pushed open the door and walked over to her car that was brazenly parked in a fire zone. “After we eat, we’ll run by your place so you can get dressed.”
“For what?”
Vera opened Shawn’s door and stared at her like she was crazy. “For dinner at my brother’s, we do it every year.”
Shawn climbed into the car and said, “We need to talk about that,” before she shut the door.
Vera marched to her side as fast as her high heels would carry her. She snatched open her own door and jumped inside. “What do we need to discuss?”
/>
“I can’t come tonight, I’m very sorry.”
“Shawn, why?” Vera whined.
“I want to surprise Jill with a tree. She doesn’t have one.”
“For the love of—just ask the woman out!”
“I did. We went on our first date last night,” Shawn said cockily.
Vera’s frown quickly turned into a huge smile. “You’re serious?”
Shawn nodded.
Vera banged on her steering wheel, then she turned her engine. “Champagne for lunch! How did all of this happen?”
“I went to see the voodoo lady, and she cast a confidence spell on me, and I just called Jill up and said, ‘Go on a carriage ride with me,’ and she did.”
Vera blew through a yellow light, her brow furrowed. “Voo…doo lady?”
“Yeah, she has a shop across the street from Jill’s place.” Shawn gazed out the window. “Don’t judge.”
Vera shrugged. “Hey, do what you have to.”
“It worked. I was nervous when I arrived at her place, but we started to talk, and I completely relaxed. She made me feel so at ease, and I could be myself. She’s perfect.”
“Baby, Jill isn’t perfect, no one is. All men are Mr. Right when I first start dating them, then I realize they’re all like the Seven Dwarfs’ dysfunctional cousins Dorky, Cheap, Dickhead, Droopy—you get the gist.”
*******
After the salads and champagne were ordered, Vera folded her hands on the table and stared at Shawn with a smile. “I’m proud of you for going after a woman you’re interested in. I’ve known you since college, and you’ve always been kind of blasé when it comes to dating. Women have pursued you, and you kind of let them catch you.” One of Vera’s red brows rose. “I have to know, are you that passive in the bedroom, too? Because I really can’t imagine you lying there staring at the ceiling.”
Shawn frowned. “I’m shy in social situations and when I first meet people. I assure you that in the bedroom I’m anything but passive.”
“You sure made Natalie scream. I used to sleep with a pillow over my head when she stayed over.” Vera smiled sadly. “I miss the days when we were roommates who survived off of peanut butter and pizza. I couldn’t wait to graduate and get a real job. Here I am twenty-something years later, and I wish we were back in that crappy apartment worrying about passing our tests.”
“Why would you want to go back to that place?”
“Because everything was simple.” Vera looked away. “I found another line on my face this morning.”
Shawn tapped the table with her finger. “This is about you turning forty in February. Vera, it’s no big deal. The only thing that changed for me is that I have to wear reading glasses sometimes.”
“Don’t you realize that’s the first part of the downhill slope? I don’t look good in glasses!”
Shawn held her reply as the server arrived with an ice bucket and opened the champagne. She poured them both a glass and went to check on their salads. Vera stared at the bubbles, a pout marring her face.
“It’s more than just the revulsion over aging. This thing with Jill could really work out, and there’s no one on the horizon for me.” Vera waved a hand. “I’m happy for you, and at the same time, I’m so jealous.”
“Constant worrying is a sign of aging, too.”
“Stop it, Shawn!”
“Have you considered that you just haven’t been ready to settle down, and if I do, you’re going to feel like you have to do the same? Think about it. You only date men like Dustin who come into town briefly. If a guy is readily available, you’re not interested, no matter how good-looking or sweet he is.”
“I like to be in a state of want. Too much of a good thing is annoying. You don’t like to be smothered, either.” Vera released a heavy sigh. “I’m ruining your feel-good first date glow.” She picked up her glass. “To you and Jill, may she live up to the dream.”
Shawn raised her glass and stared at it. “This is kinda scary.”
“It’s a café, baby, they don’t keep Dom on hand. You’ll have to settle for the cheap stuff.”
“I’m not talking about the champagne. What if Jill is really everything I’ve dreamed of, but I’m not what she wants?”
“Then she’d be a fool. Hey, go back to the voodoo woman and have her cast a spell on her if you have any doubts,” Vera quipped. “I may pay her a visit, too. Maybe she can make me young again.”
Shawn sipped the champagne and contemplated the powder that Theo had given her.
*******
“All right, we’ve traded gifts,” Jill whispered to Rene. “I’m sneaking out the first chance I get.”
Rene frowned. “They notice every year, and your mom bitches about how unsocial you are.”
“She bitches endlessly anyway. I want you to promise to poison me if I ever become like that,” Jill said as she listened to her mother.
“…and I marched right up to the manager and shook the rubbery celery in his face. I don’t think he even realized it was supposed to be crisp. They just hire these kids off the street and put them in charge. None of them know their asses from a hole in the ground.” Her captive audience nodded sympathetically as Patricia wound up for one of her usual speeches. “That’s the trouble with this country, too many foreigners, they’ll eat anything. We have to lower our standards because there’re so many of them here now…”
Jill bumped Rene. “She always conveniently forgets that her grandparents came here from Portugal.”
“She also forgot to put on her underwear. Unfortunately, I was standing behind her when she bent over to look in the oven. Somebody needs to tell her that dress is a tad too short,” Nadia said as she joined them. “Plotting your annual escape?”
Jill nodded. “Oh, yeah, especially after hearing that. If y’all love me, please don’t tell Mom about her dress and take a lot of pictures to share with the family. That might be enough to put an end to this holiday tradition for good.”
“Why wouldn’t we celebrate Christmas just because she forgot her undies?” Rene asked.
Nadia shuddered. “If you saw what I saw that close to the food, you wouldn’t have to ask, baby.”
“Stag again, I see.” Aunt Bertie staggered over to Jill with her drink sloshing out of the glass, clad in her holiday red velvet pantsuit. “You need to do something with yourself, a little lipstick and mascara wouldn’t hurt. Time’s running out for you to find a woman who can dress herself and you, too.”
The usual question and comments didn’t have the same gnawing effect on Jill, but a sharp retort flew out of her mouth anyway. “And you’re still pickling your egg, I see. Your mustache is looking really lush, have you done something different with it?”
“Please don’t go,” Nadia whispered behind Jill with a snicker.
“It does look darker, did you dye it, Bertie?” Rene asked innocently.
Bertie snarled and walked away. Jill chuckled and kissed Rene and Nadia on their cheeks. “I love you two. Cover for me.”
Chapter 8
Shawn had let herself through the gate behind Jill’s building. She sat in her car wondering if perhaps she was being too presumptuous. She didn’t tell Jill that she was coming by. Suddenly, a notion struck her hard. Jill could be seeing someone else, as well, and what if she showed up with her date? In a panic, she shifted into reverse and prepared to make a hasty escape when the gate suddenly opened. Like a deer, she was trapped in the headlights.
Jill pulled in beside her and hopped out of her car with a huge smile. “What a nice surprise, and I thought this night was going to totally suck.”
“I brought you a Christmas tree. It’s little, but I thought you should at least have one to bring in Christmas. It’s live, so you can enjoy it year-round.”
Jill’s jaw sagged as Shawn pulled the miniature cypress from the trunk of her car. “It’s adorable. It’ll go perfectly on the table next to my French doors,” she said and planted a quick kiss on Shawn’s lips
. “Thank you.” She grabbed Shawn’s arm. “Come inside.”
Shawn was thrilled that Jill didn’t seem the least bit put off that she was there. “I realize now that I should’ve called, but I wanted to surprise you.”
Jill looked over her shoulder as she unlocked the door. “You can surprise me anytime. Can you stay for a while?”
“As long as you want.”
“What do you normally do on Christmas Day?” Jill asked as she climbed the narrow stairs ahead of Shawn.
I sleep in, then I treat myself to something really unhealthy for breakfast. This is followed by hours on the sofa where I eat junk food and catch up on work. What do you do?”
“I’ve been sick every Christmas Day since my dad died—well, not really, but that’s my excuse not to go to my mother’s. I pretty much do the same as you.”
Once they were in the apartment, Shawn went directly to the table Jill had mentioned and set the tree on it. “What do you think?”
“It’s adorable, thank you so much.” Jill pursed her lips as she stared at it. “Now I regret throwing all my decorations away. Do you know how to string popcorn?”
“I’ve never done it, but I can be trained.”
“Okay, you go into the pantry and find the popcorn, and I’m going to rustle up a needle and some thread.” Jill turned to go, then spun around. “Are you hungry?”
“I could eat.”
“Pizza?”
Shawn grinned. “I can always eat that.”
Jill pulled her phone from her pocket. “Got ’em on speed dial.”
In the pantry, Shawn found the popcorn and howled with delight. She turned on the stove and set the metal pan atop the burner. She was shaking the hell out of it when Jill returned a few minutes later. “I love the swami hat kind! Look at how it’s rising.”
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