Sweet Hearts

by Melissa Brayden

  “Yes,” Elaine said, her smile filled with mirth. “We people do have a thing about confidentially, but I’d have never known you knew that.”

  “I get the feeling Lisa knows a great many things she won’t admit to knowing until she’s ready to show her hand.”

  “I’d say that’s pretty accurate,” Joey said, a hint of weariness in her voice. “The biggest question is how she intends to use those powers.”

  Lisa eyed her best friend, those deep brown eyes filled with worry and perhaps warning.

  “I’m just glad you two each found someone so wonderful to keep you company tonight,” Elaine cut in. “I wish I could keep up with you, really, but I’m exhausted.”

  “What? The party’s just getting started. Nothing has to end,” Lisa argued, perhaps a bit too adamantly, then caught herself. “I mean, it’s not even midnight.”

  Joey rose first and offered her hand to Elaine. “But I have to get the missus home before the clock strikes twelve, or she’ll turn into a pumpkin.”

  Elaine kissed Joey lightly on the cheek. “Thank you, Prince Charming.”

  “What a sweet way of saying you two can’t wait to start the honeymoon.”

  Joey shook her head, but Elaine shrugged. “Maybe that too.”

  She gave Joey’s hand a little squeeze before letting go and turning to face Lisa. “Thank you again, for everything.”

  “It’s nothing, really.”

  “It is,” Elaine said evenly, then she pulled Lisa into a hug. Not the lean-in-and-back-pat kind of hug, but a real full-on body squeeze that always made her feel a little awkward. “I hope you know how happy we are.”

  “I do,” Lisa admitted, finally relaxing into the embrace.

  “We want the same for you,” Elaine whispered. “So do me one favor tonight, please.”

  “Anything.”

  “Be open to the same kind of happiness for yourself.” Elaine gave her one more squeeze, then mercifully let go before forcing her to answer. Not that she had an answer. When Elaine went all life coachy, all Lisa felt was mild embarrassment for both of them.

  Thankfully the moment was short-lived as Elaine turned to Marty, and Joey caught hold of Lisa’s arm. “You rock. You know that, right?”

  “Totally.”

  “Yeah, I thought so.”

  “Enjoy the honeymoon, Prince Charming. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

  Joey threw her arm around her shoulder, giving her a little shake. “Got it, and you, be careful.”

  “Me?”

  “I mean it.” Joey’s voice was low. “Don’t do anything we’ll all regret later.”

  The hair on Lisa’s arms stood on end as she shook Joey off and turned to see if Marty had heard that. She didn’t appear to, as she stood back from Elaine’s embrace and immediately sought Lisa’s eyes. The two of them stood staring, their slow smiles a mirror to one another, as Elaine and Joey slipped away. Finally Lisa held out her hand to Marty once more.

  As she took it, her soft fingers sliding smoothly across her open palm, she nodded resolutely and repeated Joey’s words, or at least the only part that mattered. “No regrets.”

  *

  “It’s getting pretty late,” Marty said as Lisa led her out of the ballroom. “I’m not sure I should be letting a maid of ill repute lead me down dark hallways alone.”

  “You probably shouldn’t,” Lisa agreed. “And yet you are.”

  “I am.” Amusement filled her voice. It wasn’t so much that she couldn’t resist Lisa’s charm as she simply didn’t want to.

  “I bet you have an early flight in the morning.”

  “I do,” she admitted. “I need to go to the airport at seven o’clock in the morning.”

  “I bet you won’t have any time to sightsee either.”

  “I won’t. I’ve only seen the airport, the church, and now I’ve seen this building.”

  “It’s called the Marcy Casino,” Lisa said, leading her up a flight of dimly lit stairs, feeling along the wall as she went. “And you were only in the Pan Am room, so you haven’t even really seen the best part yet.”

  As they reached a landing atop the staircase, Lisa found and flipped a light switch. It took a moment for Marty’s eyes to adjust to both the light and the sight before her. The room’s gray stone walls were rimmed in beautiful hardwood finishes and wrought-iron accents. A series of archways encased windows along one side of the room, and the light from the chandeliers danced along the glass before spilling onto a covered terrace.

  “Oh, Lisa, it’s beautiful.”

  She smiled broadly. “I’ve always thought this space was one of the prettiest in Buffalo.”

  “I’m impressed. I have to admit, I’ve always sort of thought of Buffalo as a Rust Belt relic.”

  “It is, in a lot of ways,” Lisa said, “but there are still a few jewels in her crown. I wanted to show you some of them before you fly away to the Big Apple again.”

  Lisa opened one of the glass doors, her hazel eyes containing a spark of magic or mischief.

  They stepped onto the stone terrace, away from the light and warmth of the room behind them and into the darker unknown of the night. Lisa’s hand found hers once again. The touch was more than comforting, the emotions it carried strong and stirring.

  “There,” Lisa whispered, looking across a frozen lake toward a skyline filled with light and shadows against the freshly falling snow. “I think it’s one of the most beautiful views of the whole city.”

  Marty’s heart gave a little flutter at the assessment. She couldn’t disagree. The view from where she stood was quite stunning. A gentle breeze stirred the ends of Lisa’s hair and the fractures of light behind them danced across her eyes like candles floating on a reflecting pool. Even in the near dark, her silhouette cut a handsome figure against the snowy backdrop, her tuxedo jacket open and her bow tie unraveled against the stark white of her collar. She looked like a classic photograph in black and white, but so much closer, so much more real than any portrait could ever be.

  Marty put her hand on the cold metal railing to steady herself, but Lisa leaned close behind her, pointing out across the winter scene. “See the building across the way, the one with the big Greek columns?”

  The warmth of Lisa’s body against her back took so much of her mind and physical response she could only nod.

  “That’s the Historical Society. They’ve got a museum, and there’s a playhouse on the lower level.”

  It looked like a little touch of Olympic history dropped down on a small city hill in some Doctor Who–type time travel gone awry.

  Lisa shifted, directing them to the left until they looked out past the end of the lake and up a beautiful set of stone stairs. “The one with the columns over there is the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. It’s got over six thousand pieces of art and only two hundred exhibition slots, so every time you go you can see something different.”

  “Impressive.”

  “Yeah, this part of town was the hot, happening place to be in America at the turn of the last century. We hosted the Pan-Am Exposition, and the whole hemisphere thought we were mack daddies. Music, art, history, and million-dollar mansions back when a million dollars meant something.” The low timbre of her voice floated softly against Marty’s ear. “I wish I could’ve seen it then,” she said wistfully.

  “I don’t know,” Marty murmured, leaning back more fully against her. “It seems pretty perfect right now.”

  “Actually, now that you mention it”—Lisa wrapped her arms around Marty’s waist and rested her chin on her shoulder—“I don’t think I’d trade right now for all the glory of a hundred years ago.”

  They watched the snow dance its ballet on the wind. So comfortable, so fitting, so at peace. “Thank you for showing me this.”

  “Thank you for understanding.” Lisa sighed contentedly, her breath warm against Marty’s neck, such a beautiful contrast to the cold around them.

  The sincerity of the comments tugge
d at something deep inside her chest. Could it be there was more to Lisa Knapp than her comedic façade? She wished she had more time to find out and wasn’t too self-assured to admit the depth of that longing scared her. This evening spent in her company had been surprisingly wonderful, but they’d both promised it ended here. This moment was purely theirs, but it was only the work of the moment. She wasn’t naive enough to think they couldn’t share a few more hours in more intimate ways, or too pure to admit the idea appealed to her, but she’d already seen enough to realize the dangers in going any further down this path.

  Their time together was almost over, and in her calmest, most logical center, she knew those constraints would likely save her. If she saw more of Lisa, she suspected she’d want more of her. More than either of them could really offer or accept.

  A shiver ran up her spine at that thought, and she trembled slightly in the circle of Lisa’s strong arms.

  “Are you cold?” Lisa asked, stepping back. “We can go back in.”

  “No,” Marty whispered, “please, not just yet.”

  “Okay.” She heard the smile in Lisa’s voice as she felt the rustle of fabric against her shoulders, followed by the silky warmth of a tuxedo jacket against her bare arms.

  “Oh, Lisa, no. Now you’ll be—”

  “Shh, I’ll be fine.” She wrapped her arms back around Marty’s waist, snuggling in once more. “Trust me. I’m anything but cold.”

  Marty smiled into the darkness and, running her fingers along the satin lapels, pulled them tighter around herself. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had given her their jacket, probably because no one ever had. The tenderness of the gesture confirmed her earlier suspicions that there was something special, something thoughtful and sensitive beneath Lisa’s already appealing veneer of playful bravado.

  She turned carefully within the circle of Lisa’s embrace, trading the gorgeous view of the city behind her for an even more compelling sight. She intended to tell Lisa that, to say she was amazing, to tell her how much she’d enjoyed their time together, to thank her for stirring something wonderful inside her, but when she parted her lips to speak, they somehow connected with Lisa’s.

  The kiss was both a surprise and surprising. Their mouths came together in such a natural way, not too fast, not too timid, but easy, knowing, perfectly fitting, exploring places they already knew. Marty arched onto her tiptoes to get more, and Lisa held her steady with an arm looped loosely across the small of her back. She tasted the wine on her lips, breathed the crisp frost in the air, and felt the warmth of Lisa wrapped around her.

  The kiss deepened, and she relished the warmth of their combined heat. Breaths, shared more than stolen, grew shallow. Marty cupped Lisa’s cheek in her hand, running her thumb along the smooth skin. Everything about Lisa was smooth, her skin, her lips, her easy way of being. She could get drunk on her, or even drown. The realization burned deliberate and steady through the haze of perfection. She could get lost in her, in this thing they were edging ever closer to.

  She wondered if Lisa realized it too, because slowly, as if by mutual, unspoken agreement, they parted. Marty took a step back and Lisa’s arm fell softly to her side. A physical gulf of inches felt like miles as the clock on their time together struck midnight.

  “Wow,” Lisa said.

  Marty smiled, not feeling any need to further describe what had already been so clearly expressed.

  “I…I’m…well…” Lisa sighed and smiled, finally giving in to what Marty already knew. There really was nothing left to say. There were plenty of options for next steps, most of them appealing in the short term, but the only real possibility for either of them to get out of this night without committing permanent parts of themselves involved a sweet and simple good-bye.

  “I’ve had a wonderful time with you,” Marty finally said.

  Lisa nodded.

  “I think it’s time for me to say good night.”

  Lisa opened her mouth, and Marty held her breath. Knowing right from wrong didn’t prevent her from hoping to be persuaded to choose the latter. If only Lisa would plead her case, she could so easily be convinced not to say good night until the sun painted the horizon.

  Instead Lisa nodded again, this time her smile more strained. “You made this a night to remember for all the right reasons. Thank you.”

  Marty fought the urge to ask for more, but the emotions behind the statement weren’t hers to uncover. She’d also heard the invitation that wasn’t issued. She wondered if Lisa found it as hard not to say the words as she did. It would be so simple, so natural to speak of a next time, of shared connections, or hopeful happenstance, but they both remained firm in their dedication to leave everything between them in the moment to which it belonged.

  Marty began to slip off the tuxedo jacket, but Lisa stopped her, stepping close once more. “Keep it.”

  “I couldn’t.”

  “It looks better on you than it does on me.”

  “Don’t be silly. It looks amazing on you.”

  “Trust me,” Lisa said, and Marty looked up, meeting her hypnotic eyes.

  Now it was her turn to nod, unable to speak for the truth clogging her throat. She did trust her. At least here, at least now, and perhaps that was a much bigger problem than if she didn’t.

  She quickly arched up on her toes and kissed Lisa on her cheek, then, brushing past her, headed for the door. Lisa turned as if to follow, but Marty froze in the doorway.

  “No, now it’s your turn to trust me,” Marty said softly. “You need to stay here. Right where you are, just exactly how you are. Until I’m gone.”

  “Deal,” Lisa said, looking so beautifully resolute Marty couldn’t help but allow her eyes to drag over her one more time.

  Yes, if all this night would ever be was a memory, at least it was going to be a damn good one.

  Chapter Three

  The sun reflected a glaring white off the new layer of snow outside her bedroom window. Lisa covered her eyes against the light, but it was no use trying to fall back to sleep now. She rolled over and cracked one eye open just enough to look at the clock: 9:07.

  “That’s not enough,” she grumbled.

  It wasn’t enough sleep after the night she’d had, and it wasn’t late enough to keep this day from feeling endlessly long. The earlier she got up, the more time she’d have to kill in an already too empty house with too many memories threatening to overtake her. Marty’s deep brown eyes seemed to stare back at her from the remnants of a dream, or maybe something deeper.

  “No. No time for that.” She hopped out of bed and tried to shake some of the wrinkles out of the tuxedo pants she’d been too tired to remove before crashing the night before. Surely she had some work to do. She’d done nothing but work for months, and she’d never run out of projects. Grabbing her iPhone, she swiped open her calendar app and navigated through all the various settings she’d established to organize her time priorities. She flipped past wedding task after wedding task, tuxedo fittings, caterer’s meetings, seating charts, DJ catalogs. She also flipped through all her privately contracted programming jobs, only to confirm what she already knew. She’d marked them all completed before the wedding as well.

  Well, there was always something interesting to hack somewhere. And by somewhere she meant not in her empty living room. She could go to the coffee house even though she knew Joey wouldn’t be there today or any day for a long time to come, since one couldn’t student-teach and work the day shift at the coffee house at the same time. A new wife and a new job meant new routines all around.

  Still, even if the coffee house didn’t have Joey, it had coffee, which so far put it one up on her house. She padded into the bathroom and winced at her own reflection. Her dark hair stood out to one side, and she still had sleep marks from the fold of her pillow across her right temple. She looked like something out of a frat-boy comedy film, and she hadn’t even had much to drink last night.

  If she was left feel
ing hungover from anything, it would only be the amazing kiss she’d shared with Marty, who had made the room tilt and spin more than any drink she’d ever consumed. Smart and funny and sexy as hell, and best of all she had low enough standards to go slumming it with her for a few hours. What would’ve happened if they’d had a few more hours together? She stopped herself there because she knew the answer, the one that had ricocheted through her mind in the seconds following their kiss. She had to get out while she was ahead, and she had.

  Hadn’t she?

  She glanced at the clock again and sighed. Marty would be back in New York City by now.

  “And that’s a good thing,” she said to her reflection.

  She splashed water on the parts of her face that had grown pink with the heat of her memories, then set to work trying to brush the fuzz off her teeth.

  She threw on some new pants and a hoodie before jogging downstairs and grabbing her MacBook Pro. No time to wander, no time to think, no time to listen to the silence. She was steps from the door when her phone began to play the “Mexican Hat Dance.”

  She froze. Why would Elaine call her? On her honeymoon?

  “Y’ello,” Lisa said, lifting the phone to her ear.

  “Hi, Lisa.” Elaine sounded calm if mildly apologetic.

  “Good morning, Elaine. Do you miss me already?”

  “Terribly.”

  “I should’ve seen that coming, but I didn’t expect either of you to be up for air so soon.”

  “I love your high opinion of our abilities,” she said good-naturedly, and Lisa had to admit she wasn’t easy to rattle, even if that didn’t prevent her from continually trying to.

  “Well, the fact that you’re talking to me less than twelve hours into your honeymoon tells me you’re doing something wrong.”

  “I’ll strive to do better in the coming days, but I have a huge favor to ask you.”

  “Not sure I can help you at this point in the relationship,” Lisa quipped. “I tried to talk to Joey earlier about what to expect on the wedding night, but she wouldn’t listen.”