by Anna Cove
"She must really love you," Laura said.
"Or you." Dylan lifted her eyebrows. Laura noticed they were more sculpted than they had been when she'd first met her. Not that Laura cared. Dylan looked handsome any which way she did her eyebrows. But why was she thinking about eyebrows right now?
It was time. No more procrastinating. She took a breath and stilled her bouncing knee.
"I want to apologize for my behavior the other day. I had no right to talk to you like that, to push you. You were right. It was none of my business." But I want it to be, she didn't add. I want everything you are to be my business.
Dylan cringed. "I shouldn't have said fuck you. I got emotional. I'm not used to emotional. It overwhelmed me."
Laura smirked. "It happens to the best of us. You know my track record. Example A, the back of your head."
"Eh, the stitches were worse than the actual blow."
"And then there was that photographer outside my apartment, and the guy at Love Falls Library."
"The library? You never told me about him."
"Yeah. He tried to touch me a few times and I may or may not have—"
"She's dead."
Laura swallowed the smile that had surfaced in their quick and easy banter. Her heart beat loud in the silence that followed. She didn't know what to say. "Who's dead?" came to mind, but she swallowed that back, too. It was Katie. Katie was dead. It all fell into place now. The avoidance. The kiss. The way people talked about Dylan. It wasn't because Dylan had someone on the side, but because she felt guilty for falling for someone again. Laura hadn't wanted to admit that this could be the case, that she'd been hurt like that. Loss was not something she liked thinking about. It tended to bring her to a low place, a place she didn't like to frequent, a place from which she had a hard time extracting herself.
"Katie." Dylan stared at her hands. "She was the one who picked out the cabin. She was the one who loved the mountains."
Laura tried to see the whole situation from Dylan's point of view. "It must be difficult for you to see it again. To see me in that space."
"Yes, but..." Dylan shook her head as if shaking off a fly. "I'm glad you're there. It's right."
"I'm sorry," Laura said. She wanted to ask when, but did it matter? A dead loved one was a dead love one. She knew that better than most. "My parents died in a car accident when I was little. I can't say that I understand what you're going through now, but I know what it's like to lose someone."
"I'm sorry for your loss, too."
Laura stood and pulled her chair closer to Dylan. She reached out and took her hand. "You can talk to me about anything, you know. I want us to be friends, at the very least. Honestly." She swallowed. She couldn't believe she was about to say this. "I want more with you, but if you're only ready to be friends, I totally understand. I—"
Dylan's hand covered Laura's. Laura looked up. Dylan's jaw ticked with the force of her clenching. Laura wanted to kiss her on her sharp-angled jawbone, to loosen it up, to let whatever it was she needed to release flow out of her. She would take it into herself. She could do that. She was strong enough. She'd built up defenses.
"I want more, too." Dylan's hand trembled as it held Laura's. "I just... I don't know if I can. I don't know how anymore. And every step I take feels wrong."
Laura's heart sang a gospel chorus. Here was a possibility. Like fresh foliage in early spring, it was delicate. It was new and fresh, and she would cherish it. But she had to protect it in case of a frost. "How about we take it slow, then? There's no pressure to rush. No pressure to define anything. We'll just be us, me and you. Okay?"
"I'd like that," Dylan said, almost shyly.
"The only thing I ask is that we be honest with each other. I won't push you, but, if you can, please try to trust me. I know it can be hard, but will you try?"
"I will." Dylan smiled, glancing through her lashes, surprisingly dark, though makeup-less. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too."
"I feel like an idiot for ghosting you."
Laura shrugged it off, and all the anger tumbled from her shoulders, leaving her feeling loads lighter than she had days before.
"Can I hug you?" Dylan asked.
Laura nodded, then she wrapped her arms around Dylan's neck. Dylan buried her face in Laura's hair. "I'm sorry I swore at you."
Laura chuckled, soaking in the contact between them like it was sunshine on a cool day. "I deserved it."
Dylan's arms surrounded her, and it felt so good, so right. It was better than what she had imagined in the weeks since their kiss.
"You smell so good." Dylan turned her face toward Laura, and Laura felt a featherlight kiss in the hollow under her ear. Heat shot downward, and before she could stop it, it puddled right in her center. Laura leaned her head back as Dylan trailed kisses up her neck and nibbled her ear.
"I thought we were going to take it slow," she whispered. This felt more intimate than even the kiss they had shared in the loft.
Dylan groaned. "Every time I'm near you I want to touch you," she said, and the words were as much a caress as the kiss had been. "Everywhere. I can't help myself."
It took every ounce of Laura's reserve to pull away. They didn't have much time here, not near enough time to do... this. Certainly not with Sky and Aaron in the other room. And Laura didn't want Dylan doing anything she would regret. They needed to take it slow.
"How about we go on a real date? Tonight," Laura asked. She didn't want to lose another minute with Dylan.
Dylan pulled back. "What about Aaron?"
"Should I ask Sky to babysit?" At Dylan's horrified look, Laura laughed. "Just kidding. By the sounds coming from your room back there, one diaper change is enough. I'll call Colleen to watch him. She's been begging to babysit."
Dylan smiled, then frowned. "I have to work tonight. In fact, I should have left about ten minutes ago."
"Oh." Here we go again.
"But how about tomorrow?" Dylan's face looked dewy with the shower, her skin smooth, her cheeks rosy. Her gaze was filled with hope and promise. This time would be different. Laura could sense it in that one look.
"I'd love that," Laura said. "I've got so much to tell you." Now that they had made up she didn't want to ruin the moment talking about Cal. They could speak of that later. For now, Laura would just hold Dylan's hand and try not to move as fast as she wanted to.
Just then Sky bumbled into the room. "Are you two all mended? Because I definitely overestimated my abilities for changing a diaper and there may or may not be poop smeared on the wall."
Dylan groaned. Laura volunteered to clean it up and she didn't feel one ounce of resentment for doing so. Not anything, not even poop, could bring her down now.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
ON THE ONE DAY DYLAN planned to keep the date between her and Laura, Love Falls conspired to keep them apart.
Dylan had made the proposal for their date on Monday, but in the moment, she had forgotten a few things. First, it was the week of the big communications center move and she had volunteered to work extra shifts Tuesday and Thursday and help with the move during the day on Wednesday and Friday. Wednesday night she'd promised the Better Together kids she'd work on the Summer Carnival. They'd made some good progress Memorial Day week and she wanted to keep that going. Thursday night, Colleen had her book club and couldn't babysit. So, the first evening they could make their date was Friday.
The wait was almost unbearable. They kept in touch via text and a few short phone calls. Laura had come down Big Badger to visit the new center on Wednesday, filming the move and the new space with her phone, but they'd had little privacy to talk.
The separation had given Dylan some time to get a very expensive haircut. Skylar took her shopping for clothes, too, which Dylan hated, but it had all been worth it for the look Laura gave her when Dylan showed up at the cabin wearing a tight smokey-gray velour suit. The parted lips, the widened eyes. And when Laura turned, revealing a deep
cutout in the back of her deceptively simple black dress, Dylan's jaw practically fell off her face.
They made it to The Glass Overlook, the fanciest restaurant in the Love Falls area, a little ways down Big Badger Mountain, without incident. Dylan had reserved a table on the private terrace with only three tables, so Laura would be less likely to be bothered or recognized. But when they arrived, the host frowned down at his paper and shook his head.
"I'm sorry. I don't see your reservation here."
"Can you check again?" Dylan needed this date to be perfect. It was supposed to be a new start. A chance to prove herself. "It's under Dylan Wilson."
The host ran his finger along the names. "Nope. I don't see it. But we just had a reservation cancel and a table free up in the main dining room, if you'd like."
"Are you kidding me? I made this reservation days ago. Can you check again?"
"I'm sorry, we're all booked for the rest of the night. There's only this one table."
"Come on. This is your mistake. Can't you—"
Dylan felt a touch on her elbow. "It's okay, Dylan. We'll sit in the main restaurant area. No problem."
"I want this to be special," Dylan murmured back.
"It is, to me. We're together." Laura kissed Dylan's shoulder.
Dylan stared at Laura a moment. How did she get so lucky to find a woman like this? She was just a small-town girl, minding her own business, and she had somehow won the attention of a celebrity? It wasn't possible. She was in a dream. She had to be. But no, because in a dream, she would get the table she had asked for. She dragged her gaze back to the host. "We'll take the table."
"Excellent. Right this way."
The restaurant was cozy and warm, lit by dim sconces along the walls and candles on the tables. A row of floor-to-ceiling windows spanned the back wall, revealing the twinkling lights of Love Falls below and a vast clear sky filled with stars above. They didn't head for the glass wall for which the restaurant was named, though. Instead, the host led them to a two-person table, right next to the bathrooms.
Dylan raised her hand, about to protest, but Laura seemed to read her mind. "I don't mind at all," she whispered in Dylan's ear, close and intimate.
Dylan didn't want to ruin the night, and really, what could the restaurant do if there were already people in the seats? She thought about sneaking back to the host and using Laura's name, but Laura probably wouldn't like that. She hadn't used it, after all, so it wouldn't be right for Dylan to do so. So, she settled into her seat and instead focused on enjoying the most beautiful woman in the world.
She did this for all of five minutes before she lost control of the situation entirely.
They had just finished ordering their drinks—a pear martini for Laura and a Samuel Adams Boston Lager for Dylan—and settled into a banal conversation about how Laura was enjoying the area, when Dylan felt Laura's attention shift. She didn't even get a chance to look at who had just appeared next to them before a cupped hand slapped her in the back.
"Wilson! How are you, my friend?"
Dylan's cheeks flamed. She fisted her hands in her lap, her whole body riddled with tension, shaking from the intrusion. She looked up into Kell's face and begged without opening her mouth—please go away. Kell only kept smiling at her.
"Hi, Mayor Kell," Laura said. "Do you remember me?"
Kell turned to Laura and blinked twice. "My stars, it's you. Laura Munro, nice to see you again." She held out her hand for a shake.
Dylan's hatred for Kell coalesced into a pit of anger in her chest. From the over-the-top insincere way she spoke, to the way she was always invading her space, everything about her grated. Dylan seriously didn't understand how people liked her, how they voted for her. And now Kell was pulling one over on Laura and touching her. Dylan snaked her palms under her legs. She had to keep it together.
Laura didn't seem to notice Dylan's distress. She kept pouring her happy face—the face that was supposed to be turned on Dylan—into Kell. "Your mother is at my house with my baby right now. She's wonderful."
"She is. No one suspects we're related. Not even me."
"Oh, stop it." Laura swatted at Kell's sleeve playfully. "You're great, too."
Dylan openly rolled her eyes. "Are you meeting someone here?" she asked, willing to do anything to interrupt whatever was going on between the two of them.
Kell ignored her, inserting herself between their chairs, her back to Dylan, effectively shutting Dylan out. "How's the little one? How's motherhood?"
"Oh, it's wonderful. It's not as hard as I thought it would be, but I think that's because I have a sweet baby. And your mother's been around to help every so often."
"She loves taking care of people. She's in her element right now."
Dylan didn't trust Kell with Laura for one minute. She might talk a good talk, but on the inside, she was rude and obsessed with sex. She could only imagine what crude thoughts were going through her head now.
MILF, came to mind.
Never mind that Laura was exactly that for Dylan, but it was less about the mother and more about who she was as a person.
Damn it.
She had to stop this madness. But what could she do other than insert herself physically between them? That would only make her seem crazy and she couldn't seem crazy tonight, not after the way she'd been acting lately. As Kell leaned against the table, Dylan thought about what she could do.
What would Katie have done? She asked herself.
She would have stood up for herself. She wouldn't have let anyone trample on a moment like this.
Dylan stood, and rather than jumping in between them and forcibly wrenching Kell out of their space like she wanted to, she simply walked around Kell and faced her. "Kell, can I speak with you for a moment? Over there?"
Kell, with amusement and condescension in her eyes, like she was dealing with a child, practically pet her on the head. "Sure, Wilson, sure."
Dylan had no idea what she would say to Kell until she reached a safe distance from Laura. The moment they stepped out of earshot, Kell leaned over and asked, "So, how's that pussy?"
"We haven't made it there yet, Kell, and even if we had, that's an awful crass thing of you to say."
"Oh get the stick out of your ass, Wilson. I'm just letting you know how happy I am for you."
"You could just say I'm happy for you like a normal person. I know you can act. I see you do it all the time."
"Don't get your panties in a bind just because you haven't mastered the art of different strokes for different folks." Kell waggled her eyebrows.
Dylan resisted throwing up her hands and going back to her table, partially because she was afraid Kell would join them if she didn't say something to convince her otherwise. It was time to be clear with Kell, since straightforward and brash was the only language she seemed to understand.
"Listen. I'm on my first date with Laura and I really want it to go well, so if you could just—"
"Leave you alone. I'm on it. I cross-my-heart-hope-to-die-stick-a-needle-in-my-eye promise to stay out of what you've got going on over there."
"Thank you," Dylan said, relieved. She waited for Kell to go to her table, but Kell didn't move. Then she reached out a hand and stroked Dylan's arm. "Velour suit. I like it. It looks very—"
"Kell!" Dylan yelled. "Please go to your seat."
"Fine, fine," Kell muttered. She started walking back to their table. Dylan got ready to chase her, but instead of stopping at Laura she took the table beside them and sat with her back to them. Dylan sighed. Another thing she couldn't control.
At least Laura hadn't invited Kell to eat with them.
When Dylan arrived back to the table, the drinks were waiting. Martini in hand, Laura swiveled so that she was always facing Dylan. Dylan had to tell her heart to be quiet. It may have seemed a simple thing to talk to Kell like that, but she had spent so long keeping to herself, it had taken a lot out of her. That, and Laura was spectacular. Breathtaking. Lit
erally.
Laura leaned close. She looked through her long, mascara laden eyelashes with her magical mossy amber eyes. "What was that about?"
Dylan shook her head. "Nothing."
"Dylan, you can talk to me."
Laura thought Dylan was keeping something from her again. It wasn't like that. "I don't even know how to explain it. We just... It's complicated."
"Is her date going to show up?"
"I don't care," Dylan said, feeling the tension build within her again. "Can we change the subject?"
"I thought we were going to be honest with each other."
"We are. About things that matter. This doesn't matter. Really. Kell and I simply don't get along. So, tell me about your ideas for our documentary. You still want to do that with me, right? I didn't scare you away?"
"No. But..." Laura leaned back in her chair, and her eyes turned from flirty to scrutinizing to hard. She looked away before speaking. "It's not happening anymore."
"What?" Why hadn't she told Dylan about that? Now who wasn't the one being honest? Dylan resisted noting that fact, opting instead for de-escalating the tension. Fighting was not on her list of first date ideas. "Why?"
"I think I'm going to take a break from it all. It's a long story, but Cal took on a new client who I have a history with and I'm just not sure that he has my best interests at heart any longer. I just want to hit pause for now and focus on Aaron. And you."
Dylan's cheeks warmed at the thought. "I'm sorry. That sounds awful. It seemed like you really wanted to change your career."
"I did, but I'm not sure I can do it alone."
"You can, you know."
"I appreciate the confidence. But no one's going to take me on. I'm tainted goods, Dylan."
"If you feel like that, if Cal made you feel like that, or even if he made you feel like all this was your fault, you need to find a new agent, Laura. You need to find someone who will help you see that you could conquer the world if you set your mind to it. You could."
