by Gerri Hill
school, she enrolled at the University of Texas, graduated in three years, and then continued until she had her master's degree. She had been teaching at Austin City College for ten years now, and didn't have any desire to move on.
Harry was waiting for her on the porch, sitting in his usual rocker. She parked in the shade of the old oak tree, walked up and hugged him.
"I'm so sorry," she began.
"Nonsense," he said, dismissing her apology. "You're entitled to oversleep now and again."
Harry Marshall, eighty years old, didn't look a day over sixty-five. He had thick white hair, which he wore much too long for a man his age. But he looked fit. He still swam the lake every day, even in winter. Only his eyes showed the years, and the sadness that had been there since his wife, Beth, died.
Jo had been coming to brunch on Sundays ever since college, and because her grandmother had passed away two years before, she often stayed the whole afternoon with Harry, fishing in the lake, going on a boat ride, or just talking.
She smiled and knew he noticed the dark circles under her eyes. Four hours sleep was not nearly enough for her, especially after a night like she had spent. She lowered her eyes, hoping he wouldn't ask. He didn't.
He served them chicken over a bed of rice, fresh vegetables from his small garden and iced tea in the same glasses she remembered from her childhood. The table was crammed into a nook at the back of the house, facing the lake, and they watched the boats on the water, some pulling skiers behind them, others just cruising by. She was quiet and knew she was not being very good company. Turning away from the lake, she smiled at him, murmuring how good lunch was.
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"Have a late night?" he finally asked.
"I went to a softball tournament yesterday and out to dinner," she answered, avoiding his eyes.
"Oh."
"With Betsy," she volunteered.
"You haven't brought her around in a while," he said.
"I haven't seen her in a while, either."
"Well, now that summer is here, you should have more time for your friends."
She looked up quickly. "Yes."
"I worry about you, you know."
"I know," she said. "Thank you. I love you for it."
"You need someone other than me.”
He gave her a smile and said what he always said. "I wish you had someone, Jo-Jo."
"Oh, Harry, I'm fine. You know that."
"But still, I won't be around forever."
She dismissed that comment. He had been saying that since the day her grandmother had died.
After they cleaned up the dishes, they took the boat out and cruised around the lake, taking their time as they marveled over the expensive houses dotting the shoreline.
"Hard to believe we were one of the first ones out here,"
he said, like he usually did.
She nodded, like she always did, and smiled at him. He was all she had left, and it saddened her. He had withdrawn some since Beth had died and she knew it was a struggle for him to hang on. Part of him had died with her, despite how much Johanna needed him. He had lost his wife, his partner and Johanna couldn't even begin to know what that must be like. The devastation she had felt when Nancy left couldn't even begin to compare to the death of a spouse after fifty-two years of marriage.
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"Let's go out for dinner this week," she suggested, as they were tying the boat up.
"Sure. Mexican food?"
The memory of last night flashed by, and she shook her head. "How about Italian?"
"Okay."
"Wednesday?"
"Sure."
They brought out the worn deck of cards and the pitcher of iced tea and settled at the picnic table. The breeze off the lake and the shade of a giant oak made the heat bearable.
They played cards and chatted, Jo thankful for anything to keep her mind occupied. If she concentrated really, really hard, she could almost forget that she had spent last night in the arms of a complete stranger. Occasionally, though, images would sneak through and she would feel herself go hot as she saw a flash of herself on the bed, arms reaching for Kelly, silently begging for her touch.
She grabbed her glass of tea, embarrassed by her thoughts. Touching her face with the cold glass, she sighed.
“Hot?”
Jo nearly sputtered at his innocent question and pretended interest in her cards. “I’m a little warm,” she said.
“But I guess it’s that time of year.”
“I don’t even think about it anymore,” Harry said. “If I get hot, I just strip down and take a dip.”
“Harry! You’re not still skinny-dipping during the day, are you?”
Last summer, Harry’s new neighbor had been near the property line, cleaning brush, and had spotted Harry in the buff, and called the sheriff’s department.
“I think she sits on her porch with binoculars,” Harry said, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “Maybe she’s just looking for a thrill.”
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“They warned you that they would fine you next time, Harry,” Jo reminded him.
“Oh, bullshit,” he laughed. “Wouldn’t that make good news? Slapping a fine on a shriveled-up old man for indecent exposure.”
Then he laughed again. “But I guess that would be an indecent sight.”
Jo laughed, too. Harry had not been in such good spirits in a very long time and, despite her headache, she stayed for another round of cards.
It was after three when she finally left. During the drive home she tried in vain to forget about last night. Without Harry to distract her, images of Kelly Sambino kept intruding. Her stomach did a slow roll as she remembered how her mouth had reluctantly left Kelly’s breast, only to travel down her body to a warmer, wetter place.
“Oh God,” she murmured.
She turned the air vent to her face, then the fan on high, stubbornly refusing to let her mind replay any more of the events of last night. Instead, she spent the rest of the drive chastising herself for acting like a wanton harlot!
She knew she was being foolish, but she parked in the driveway, not wanting to go into the garage and remember the long moments they had stood there, staring at each other across the car. But she sat in the car and remembered anyway, hands gripping the steering wheel, unaware of her accelerated breathing. She was aware, however, of the warm sensation between her legs, and her eyes closed slowly as she saw first Kelly’s hands, then her mouth move over her body.
She shuddered at the memory of her own urgent hands guiding Kelly to the ache between her thighs.
The low moan in her throat startled her, and her eyes 36
flew open. She buried her face in her hands, trying to erase the images, trying to curb her arousal.
When she went inside, her answering machine was blinking. Ignoring it, instead she took a beer from the refrigerator and poured it into a frosty glass from the freezer.
Despite the heat, she went out onto the deck and sat in the shade, drinking her cold beer and staring out toward Bull Creek as the clear water rushed over the limestone bottom.
She loved her house. It was a little bit of the Hill Country nestled in the foothills of West Austin. Thick groves of cedar and oak lined the creek and gave her privacy from her neighbors. It was a small creek, barely four feet deep during the wet season and only twenty-five feet across in some places, but it was a haven to her. On hot, sunny days, she would take a tube and float downstream, then paddle back up and do it all over again. The cold, spring water was a blessing during the hot days of summer.
She watched a cardinal land on her empty bird feeder and frowned. She had forgotten to buy birdseed again. The ringing of the phone echoed in the house and she shut her eyes, not wanting to talk to anyone. She knew it was Betsy, wanting to know all about last night, and she wasn't ready to talk about it. She might never want to talk about it. After three rings, the machine picked up. She let her mind go blank as she focused on the rushing water and the
hungry cardinal pecking at her empty bird feeder.
Her beer finished, Jo went back inside and stood before the answering machine. She had intended to ignore it, but the flashing light beckoned her and she pushed the “play”
button, her heart hammering in her chest. She expected to hear Kelly's voice, and she wasn't at all sure she wanted to.
She needn't have worried. None of the messages were from her. Betsy had called four times, and Susan Gruber, her 37
dean from the college, had called, inviting her to a barbecue the next weekend. She didn't know if she was glad Kelly hadn’t called or disappointed that she hadn’t bothered.
Perhaps Kelly was used to these one-night stands. Maybe she was feeling none of the anguish Jo felt.
Walking into her bedroom, she saw her clothes, still lying on the floor from the night before. She stopped, raising her eyes to the ceiling.
"Oh, God."
She gathered the clothing quickly and shoved it all into the hamper. Out of sight, out of mind, she thought.
The phone rang again, and this time she picked it up.
"Jo? Where have you been?" Betsy demanded.
"At Harry's.”
"I've been calling since early this morning," she retorted.
"Yeah, well I went early this morning," Jo lied.
"You didn't make the games," Betsy accused.
"I don't remember telling you that I was going today,"
she said dryly.
"Well, I just assumed. . . after last night."
Johanna let that pass and rolled her eyes to the heavens.
"How did they do?" she finally asked.
"They lost the first one, then won the next two and made it to the finals but lost five to four."
"Oh.”
She wanted to ask how Kelly had done but bit her tongue. She shouldn’t even care.
"Listen, we're going out to Adam’s Ribs for barbecue this evening. Why don't you come along?"
"Oh, I don't know," she said. "It's too hot to stand in line.”
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She was scared to death of seeing Kelly again, although she wondered if she had already left for San Antonio.
"Come on, it'll be fun. Bring some beer. You know they don't sell any.” When Jo didn’t respond, she added, “We'll stand in the shade."
Johanna finally agreed, against her better judgment. She chastised the part of her that wanted to see Kelly again, and prayed that she had already left town.
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Chapter Four
Adam’s Ribs was crowded, even for a Sunday. Located some twenty miles south of Austin, it had the reputation for the best barbecue around. People waited outside under the cedars, milling around the coolers of beer they had brought, waiting for tables to empty inside. Hummingbird feeders hung from every tree, and ruby-throated hummers buzzed around, dodging people as they fought for a turn.
Johanna sat in the back seat of Betsy's car while they parked along the road; the parking lot was full. They had dumped their beer into one cooler, and Janis carried it into the crowd as they looked for familiar faces. Jo had not asked if Kelly was going to be there, and they had not offered the 40
information. She scanned the crowd, looking for their friends, spotted Kay and waved, then followed Betsy and Janis.
"Hey, you came," Kay said. "You missed some good ball today."
"I heard. Sorry you lost."
"We made it further than we thought we would. It was fun," she said.
Jo scanned the crowd, seeing Deb, Sharon, Mattie and a few others she knew. Her eyes stopped when she spotted Kelly talking to a very attractive blonde.
She looked away quickly, pretending interest as Kay, Betsy and the others talked about the last game.
"Man, Kelly came that close to scoring," Kay said, holding two fingers millimeters apart.
"Who's the girl with her?" Deb asked. Jo listened intently, ignoring Betsy's glance her way.
"I guess it's her girlfriend. She showed up for the first game and has been here all day."
Jo felt a sinking feeling in her stomach and busied herself with the cooler, digging a beer out from beneath the ice.
Girlfriend? Girlfriend? Good God, she had a girlfriend?
Why did this surprise Johanna? Of course a woman like Kelly would have one, wouldn't she? Oh, God! She had taken a stranger home from the bar, home to her house, and had made love with her all night long, and she had a girlfriend!
Oh, God! She rubbed her forehead and squeezed her eyes closed tightly. What have I done? I'm no better than Nancy, she thought. She took a long swallow of beer, trying to still her pounding heart, trying to ease her shaky stomach.
Christy came over, and Jo smiled absently at her as she downed the rest of her beer. She wasn't driving. She could 41
drink, she thought, as she reached into the cooler for another. Anything to quell the embarrassment she felt. Oh, God, what had she been thinking?
"Who's that with Kelly?" Betsy asked.
"Sherry. One of her girlfriends," Christy informed them.
One of them? Oh, God. Jo took a deep breath and smiled, pretending to be unaffected by their conversation.
"I think she's pretty much got her pick," Christy added.
"She goes out a lot. I always see her with someone new,"
Christy continued, oblivious to Jo’s discomfort.
"I would guess so," Betsy said. "She's gorgeous."
They don’t know the half of it, Jo thought. Thankfully, the conversation turned away from Kelly. Jo actually was amazed with herself. She managed to contribute some, all the while keeping her eyes firmly away from Kelly and her girlfriend, Sherry. She decided at that moment that remaining celibate the rest of her life wasn’t such a bad idea.
The line moved and they did also, shoving their coolers along with them. The sun was setting in the west, the air had cooled, and Jo was on her third beer. I should be at home, she thought, anywhere but here, where she had to shield her eyes from the sight of Kelly listening so intently to Sherry. Try as she might, she couldn't avoid looking at her. Kelly’s head was bent toward Sherry, and she spoke to her softly, a smile on her face. Sherry was blonde and beautiful, her hair flowing nearly to her shoulders, and she frequently touched Kelly's arm when talking. Why she had to touch her, Jo didn’t know. And her hair? Surely that wasn’t natural.
Jo watched them, remembering last night and all she had shared with Kelly Sambino. She watched her lips and she watched her hands, thinking of them touching her intimately. Oh, what a fool she had been! She hoped she had 42
learned her lesson, taking a stranger home from the bar, how dare she!
She looked back at Kelly and was startled to find her staring intently. Kelly turned and said something to Sherry, then made her way through the crowd toward her, her eyes never leaving Jo's. Jo wanted to turn away, but Kelly’s held her captive and she waited for her.
"How are you?" Kelly asked quietly, moving between Johanna and the others.
"I'm fine," Jo managed to say.
"I'm sorry I left like that, but I didn't want to wake you,"
she said softly, her dark brown eyes peering into Jo's. “Well, I did want to wake you,” she teased, “but then I would have been late for the game.”
Jo didn’t answer but she couldn’t look away from those eyes.
"I called a cab," Kelly offered.
Jo shrugged and finally turned away. God, how she remembered every detail of the night before, the intimacy they had shared washing over her. She clenched her jaw, then raised her eyes to Kelly. She wanted desperately to forget everything about last night.
"Are you okay with everything?" Kelly asked.
"No," she said honestly.
"No? Jo, last night was . . .”
"Last night was a mistake," Johanna said, almost angrily, meeting Kelly’s eyes. "A big mistake. I'm going to pretend last night never happened.”
"Why? It was incredible.”
"No," Jo said, shaking he
r head. She motioned toward Sherry. "Shouldn't you be getting back?”
Kelly followed her eyes to Sherry, then looked back at Jo. "Jo, she's just a friend."
"Right. So I've heard."
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"I can explain," Kelly said.
"No, there's no need, really.” She looked away, then back at Kelly, drowning in her dark eyes despite her best attempt not to. "Last night was something I don't care to repeat. I don't know about you, but I've never done anything like that before and good God, you've got a girlfriend! How could you?" she hissed. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"It's not like that," Kelly protested. “We’re not involved.”
Jo raised one hand and shook her head. “It doesn’t really matter. It’s none of my business.”
Kelly looked frustrated. “Look, we had a relationship at one time, yes. But that’s over. Jo, we’re just friends. I swear.
Let's go somewhere and talk, please.” She tried taking Jo’s hand but Jo pulled away.
"I've nothing to say to you, and I told you, it’s none of my business" she whispered, just seconds before Sherry joined them.
"Kelly? Are you coming? I think we're next," she said sweetly, and Jo bit her lip. The woman looked like she had just stepped out of the pages of a magazine. Jo hated her.
"Yeah. I'll be there in a second.” Kelly turned to Johanna again. "We need to talk," she said quietly. “You have to let me explain.”
"Don't bother. Just leave," Jo said and turned away.
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Chapter Five
When Deb called on Wednesday to invite Jo out to dinner, she still hadn’t recovered from the weekend and had no desire to go out. Instead, she invited Deb to her house on Friday for steaks. It would give them a chance to catch up, maybe renew their friendship.
She had just put in a CD when Deb knocked. Jo took time to straighten the magazines by the sofa before greeting her.
“It’s so good to see you.” Jo stepped back from the door and motioned her inside.
Deb, holding a bottle of wine, gave her a quick one-armed hug. “You, too.”
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She looked around Jo’s living room and nodded. “I’ve always loved your house. I’ve missed coming here.”
Yes. Jo remembered, before Nancy, that Deb would sometimes spend the entire weekend with her. They would cook a meal together or just spend a lazy afternoon on the deck talking.