Kat had never experienced having to work for the basics. Her parents had covered their needs with enough frugality that growing up she typically got what she wanted. Jack had made enough that he had never set any limits for her. It didn’t make her feel especially proud of herself. When they separated, she had chosen to live with her parents rather than look for a job that would have paid her enough to sustain her own home. “I’ve never lived by myself,” she said softly.
“What about when you went to college?”
“The university was three miles away.”
“Have you thought about living on your own?”
“It never seemed important.” Kat studied Wendy’s expression, but she was checking over her shoulder to merge onto the 10. “You think it’s important.”
Wendy glanced at her. “Maybe not for everyone.”
“You think it would be good for me to live on my own. I can tell by your face.” Wendy’s guilty expression told her she was right.
“Your parents are nice, and I think it’s great that they have room for you and Travis. But they seem very…present in your life.”
“Kind of a red flag.” Kat looked out the window, the blue of the Pacific now within view.
“I don’t know. I guess it depends on whether you see yourself living there forever.”
“I don’t think about it,” Kat said honestly. “Travis talks about going away to college. He’s already warning me that he’s considering out-of-state schools.”
“I think that’s great. You learn just as much living on your own as you do in the classroom.”
“I don’t know if I’ll stay at my mom and dad’s after he graduates.”
“You don’t have to decide now.”
“Whew!” Kat smiled, thankful that Wendy was giving her an out.
“What you do have to decide now is what our focus is here. Rides? Food? Games?”
“Food first.” When Wendy pulled off the freeway, Kat rolled down the window and filled her lungs with sea air. “I think I can already smell the churros!”
“We’ll be first in line!”
* * *
An ocean breeze swirled the sounds of the pier around them—the roar of the metal coaster, the screams of the riders and music clashing from various carnival rides as they walked under an octopus sculpture into the throng. Kat watched as the crowd of tourists and locals shuffled together like a deck in the hands of a magician, taking in the colorful souvenir shops and restaurants that lined the arcade side of the pier. Blue surrounded them, not a cloud in the sky, the ocean stretching to the horizon, the salty breeze competing with the sweet aroma of the food stands.
Cinnamon and sugar from a churro dusted Kat’s lips and sorely tempted Wendy though she didn’t dare kiss Kat with an audience. She settled for holding her hand. Each step seemed to take years off Kat, and when they reached a ride that had spinning shark heads, she jumped up and down like a pre-teen. “Can we ride this one?”
“You stand in line. I’ll get us some tickets. Should I get the wristbands, so we can hit a bunch of rides, or are we just going to do a few?”
“Someone has to work later. I don’t think we’d get our money’s worth.”
“Good point.” Not for the first time, Wendy wished there was someone else to take over the dinner service. José only asked her to take a few days each month, and he deserved the time off. She knew his family always made plans. Still, she felt just as she had when her dad had taken her to Disneyland. From the minute they stepped into the park, she wanted to slow down time to take in every tiny detail. “Do you want to take a look at the other rides first?”
“You said to tap into my irresponsible teenager,” Kat reminded her. “That means instant gratification, doesn’t it?”
“As you wish,” Wendy said.
They stepped forward into the gaping mouth of a great white shark and pulled the bar down on their laps. “The Dread Pirate Roberts could have been a woman.”
“Absolutely,” Wendy said. “In fact, when Inigo was ready to retire, he asked me to take over. I must be back on the ship before it leaves the harbor.”
“Is it docked nearby?”
The ride started to spin them around, making conversation more difficult as Wendy clung to the lap bar. “We may be able to spot it if we ride the Ferris wheel.” Head thrown back in laughter, Kat radiated carefree happiness that Wendy wanted to bottle. Wendy tried to tell her how beautiful she looked, but the centrifugal force got the better of her grip, and she squished Kat against the outer edge of the shark’s mouth.
Kat squealed with delight and let go of the bar to hold onto Wendy.
Too soon, the ride was over, and they stumbled back onto the pier. “That was so fun, and I don’t need to do anything like it ever again.”
“You didn’t look like you were feeling your age in there. You were glowing like a teenager.”
“I’m not that hearty anymore. It’s a good thing you didn’t get the wristbands. Can we really see your ship from the Ferris wheel?”
Wendy bumped her playfully with her shoulder. “You’re a lot of fun, you know that?”
“If I recall, this was your idea. That makes you the fun one.”
“I still argue it’s the company.”
They people-watched while they waited at the Ferris wheel. They held hands as it rotated to the top, and when they crested, Kat squeezed Wendy’s hand, but it squeezed Wendy’s heart, and she knew that her stomach bottoming out was from more than gravity. When Kat had opened up and shared her past and her fears, Wendy got a taste of intimacy she had never known. Spinning around and around, she discovered that she wanted to be by Kat’s side for both the highs and the lows.
She was certain that other couples had their eyes closed and were lost in romantic kisses. In their cart, they scanned the horizon for Wendy’s imagined ship, but Wendy was far from lost. She was exactly where she wanted to be.
“The Ferris wheel was always my favorite! Thank you for bringing me here,” Kat said when the ride ended.
“Did you ride it every time?”
“Too expensive. We alternated between the Ferris wheel and the carousel. That was Ava’s favorite.”
“Did you play the carnival games?”
“Every once in a while, we could cajole my dad into trying to win us a bear. None of us were any good at them, though.”
“We’ll have to give it a try, then!” Wendy steered Kat toward the games. “What prize do you have your eye on?”
Kat walked slowly past the offerings. “My dad always said if we wanted a toy, it was smarter to save our money than waste it on trying for toys that were cheap anyway.”
“I guess I see his point, but what shop ever has a giant purple bear like that?”
“You think you could win it?”
Wendy watched a trio of boys try their hand at the beanbag toss. They threw them as if the milk bottles were empty, and Wendy guessed that they were weighted at the bottom to make them more difficult to topple. It seemed likely that strikes at the narrower tops were more successful in knocking them over. “You need that bear.”
“It’s a pretty awesome bear!”
“It’s as good as ours.” Wendy paid for three throws. Two of her bean bags didn’t even hit the bottles. The last toppled only one of the six.
“You can walk away. There are other bears in the world.”
“I am not giving up. I can hear that bear, and he wants you as much as you want him.”
Two of the next beanbags found their target, but not the third. Kat looked worried. “This isn’t fun for you, is it?” Wendy asked.
“I don’t want you to waste your money.”
“Stop worrying. I’m not paying for a bear. I’m paying to have fun, and I’m having fun figuring out how to beat this.” Kat relaxed, and Wendy shook out her arms in preparation for the next throw. She rolled her neck from one side to the other, and Kat massaged her shoulders. “That’s the ticket!”
* * *
Both arms clasped around the huge purple bear, Kat beamed like a five-year-old. She had always wanted to be the kid holding the toy everyone wanted, and though she knew some of the grown-ups’ smiles were mocking, the kids’ awestruck looks were so worth the wait.
“Do you want me to carry that to the car?” Wendy asked.
“I’m sorry I’m so slow. It’s not the bear, it’s the food coma. I didn’t need that ice cream after the pizza.”
“But it was good!”
“If I just lay my head down, I could fall right asleep.” Kat made the mistake of shutting her eyes. It felt much too nice with the sun warming her back.
“One more block and you can snooze in the car.”
“I’m sure that would make me the worst date ever.” She yawned and then laughed. “I’m already a terrible date. I swear it’s not the company.”
“I didn’t take it personally. If I didn’t have to get to work, I’d take a nap with you.”
“So you are trying to get me into bed.”
Wendy blushed hard.
“Now who’s worried?” Kat said to rescue her. She bumped against her shoulder playfully.
Traffic was kind to them on the way home, and though Kat thought she would take Wendy’s suggestion to close her eyes, she found she couldn’t take her eyes off her. She could get used to looking at Wendy’s profile, the way she always looked on the verge of smiling, her ringlet curls. Kat wanted to nuzzle past those curls and inhale the spiciness that was all Wendy.
“You’re staring.”
When Wendy glanced at her, Kat’s whole body fluttered. “I was.”
“Next time, you’re driving, so I can stare.”
Though it felt forward, Kat reached across the console and rested her hand on Wendy’s thigh. Wendy’s surprise thrilled her. She dropped her hand down to the seam at her inner thigh, watching Wendy try to control her reaction. Even though Wendy kept her eyes on the traffic, Kat knew she was completely tuned into her. And turned on? Was that her intent? Did she really have that kind of power? She knew she did, had always known that she had the ability to turn Jack on. She just hadn’t wanted to.
Kat closed her eyes to explore her feelings about following through on what she was starting here. Today she had the safety net of Wendy having to work, but what about another day? Wendy said that that there was more to intimacy than sex, but did she believe it? There had to be a point at which she, too, would grow frustrated with Kat’s vacillation.
“What are you smiling about?” Wendy asked.
“Was I smiling?” She opened her eyes. Wendy held hers for a moment before looking back to the road.
“You were, and it looks good on you.”
“I was maybe thinking about whether, if you didn’t have work, and we did take a nap…” It was difficult to vocalize what she’d been imagining, and she waited for Wendy to help her. When she didn’t, Kat cleared her throat and tried to keep her voice level. “If there would actually be very much sleeping going on.”
“You’re making it extremely difficult to go to work, you know.” Wendy shot her a mock glare.
They passed the miniature golf course, and Kat put it on the list of places she’d like to go with Wendy. She could see Wendy shaking her tush as she leaned over for a putt. “You make me want to do all sorts of things I’ve never done before,” she said, her gaze still focused on the trees and rooftops visible from the freeway.
“What kinds of things?” Wendy’s voice seemed to vibrate across Kat’s skin.
“Miniature golf, for one,” Kat admitted.
Wendy burst into laughter. “I did not see that coming!”
Too soon, Wendy slowed for Kat’s exit and navigated the few blocks to her house. She was not ready for their date to end. The clock warned her that she didn’t have very much time to say goodbye, and she wanted to make it a good goodbye. But when Wendy pulled into the drive, they saw the back-up lights of a familiar sports car.
“Jack’s here to take Travis to rehearsal.”
Wendy nodded and put her car in reverse. She backed into the street far enough to let Jack out of the drive, but instead of pulling away, Jack kept the car in reverse and pulled up next to Wendy, the passenger-side window lowered.
“Hi!” Travis said, waving like a much-younger child.
Jack ducked forward across the console. “Have fun at the pier?”
The tone in Jack’s question hinted that he would just as easily believe that they had spent the last few hours at a hotel together. “We had such a good time!” She tapped Wendy and said just for her to hear, “Roll down the back window.” When she did, Kat projected her voice again. “Look what Wendy won for me!”
Jack backed his car up adjacent to theirs, so they could look in the back seat.
“Sweet!” Travis said.
Jack pulled back up parallel to the driver’s window. “We need to talk when you have some time.” He looked uncomfortable, but she couldn’t tell if it had to do with Wendy being there or something else.
“Sure,” Kat said.
Travis waved adorably again as the window went back up and Jack sped away.
Wendy pulled back into the drive. “I have never been less motivated to go into work.”
“If I remember correctly, we both have Mondays off. I could be convinced to keep my calendar clear.” She gathered her things and Wendy got out to retrieve the bear from the back seat. Kat took it from her. “Thank you for this, for such a wonderful morning.” She kissed Wendy like she wished she had on the Ferris wheel, her stomach still spinning and spinning.
Chapter Seventeen
“If you found this on your desk, would you think sweet or she’s trying too hard?” Wendy held her phone out, so Cory could see the picture of the arrangement of a dozen red roses. She’d been thinking of something to do since their date a few days earlier.
“Who are they for?”
“Kat. Remember the whole kissing thing?”
“You could still be dating Erin.”
“Um. No! I am not dating two people at once.”
“How’d Erin take it when you told her you were going to date Kat?”
“You’re hilarious.”
“You haven’t told her yet?”
“Not about Kat. Just that I was sorry it wasn’t going to work for us.”
“She looked like she was willing to put in the work for two. She let you off that easy?”
“I didn’t say it was easy. I was as honest as I could be.”
“Are you going to sign the card ‘I love you’?”
“No! I can’t write that in a card until I’ve said it. I haven’t said it yet.”
“Then you can’t send a dozen red roses.”
“This one has red and yellow.” Yellow was Ava’s favorite color. If she sent those, she risked reminding Kat of her loss. That was far from the intended message.
“You don’t want to send a mixed-message bouquet. Red and yellow says ‘I’m not sure if we should be friends or lovers.’ Wait. On second thought, that’s exactly what you should send.”
“Couldn’t it represent the shift from friends to lovers or how lovers can be friends?”
“Let me see again.” He held out his hand for the phone. He looked closely at the screen and yelped. “Have you seen how much these are!”
“I wasn’t asking if you thought I was getting a good deal. I’m asking what’s appropriate.”
“What’s the card going to say?”
“Something that says I want to be serious. I want her to know I’m courting her.”
“What does that even mean?”
“You know, sending flowers and sweet nothings to let her know that I’m thinking about her. Cards and poems and such.”
“Going on a buggy ride.”
“A drive will suffice. I don’t think I need to rustle up a pony and wagon.”
“Are you sure? Cars go pretty fast.”
“You think I’m a dork?” Was it just Kat’s
house that made her think of an old-fashioned approach to dating?
“I don’t know. To me, courting means marriage.”
“Asking for someone’s hand means marriage. Courting means I’m interested in something serious.” Wendy scrolled through the bouquets trying to find something right.
“Marriage is serious.”
“The timer for the zucchini just went off.”
“She has a child,” Cory tossed over his shoulder.
“You say that like she’s got a nursing infant who is up all night. She has a teenager who seems super cool.” A bouquet of roses and stargazer lilies caught her eye, and she clicked on the link for more choices with the latter.
“What do you think of stargazers?”
“What are those?”
“Those big pink lilies that smell really good.”
Cory removed the sautéed vegetables from the heat. “Let me see.” Wendy gave him her phone. “Hmmm.”
“What?”
“It looks like a funeral flower.”
Wendy quickly tabbed his observation into a search bar. “It says here that white is associated with sympathy. Pink ones are romantic. And look. They symbolize opportunity and optimism. That’s perfect.” Aware that Cory was looking over her shoulder she ordered a bouquet of lilies and irises.
He whistled softly. “You’re spending more on flowers than I spend on a dinner date!”
“Maybe you should take your date to a place without a drive-through window.”
“Maybe someone needs to give me a raise.”
“Earn it,” Wendy teased.
“As far as I can tell, I’m the only one working here.”
“I’m almost through. But I have to put something pithy on the card.”
“Roses are red, violets are blue,” Cory prompted.
Wendy grabbed that and ran with it. Roses are red, she typed. Violets are blue. But only a stargazer can sparkle like you.
She hit submit and pocketed her phone. When she looked up, Cory was staring at her. “This seems serious,” he said.
“I know.”
“Do you know what you’re doing?”
Kat's Nine Lives Page 18
