A Dark Horse

by Cooper, Blayne

  Adele’s eyes grew round. “I’m not going to tell you that I rob liquor stores for extra cash, sweetheart.”

  With visible effort, Natalie let her arms hang loose at her sides. “Okay.”

  “C’mere.” Adele scooted to the end of the sofa and patted a cushion at the opposite end. She felt a stab of guilt for making Natalie worry. When Natalie sat down she motioned for her to spin around so she could rub her feet. “It’s nothing bad. So relax.”

  Adele began to massage a single socked foot as she spoke. “Both sides of my family have been in New Orleans a long time. Since the 1750s.”

  Natalie excitedly leaned forward at the mention of the time period that was her area of study. “Do you have family documents or records from back then?”

  Adele grinned and only just held back from rolling her eyes at the immediate interruption. “We’ve got tons of old papers and stuff. Talk to my mom.”

  Natalie squirmed happily in her seat and made a motion that she was zipping her lips.

  “My family has been everything from farm laborers to ferrymen to bootleggers to shopkeepers. It was my great-grandparents’ generation on Mama’s side that bought several shoe stores with their ill-gotten bootlegging gains as a way to go legit after Prohibition. Since then, the main family occupation has revolved around retail of some variety. When my sister, brother and I graduated from college, we were each given our own shop in the Quarter as part of the family business.”

  “‘Amelia’s’?”

  “Yes. Though it’s a lot fancier now than it was when Amelia took it over. ‘Jackson’s’ started as a small fine jewelry store on Decatur Street. He now owns four jewelry stores around town.”

  Curiosity filled Natalie’s eyes and Adele didn’t have to try hard to guess what she was wondering.

  “‘Adele’s’ sells antiques on Chartres Street. But I never wanted to go into retail, and my parents have always known that. They offered it to me, mainly as a formality, because we instantly struck a deal where they kept ‘Adele’s’ but invested in ‘Amelia’s,’ and later ‘Jackson’s,’ on my behalf instead. That investment let me pursue a career that made me happy. Today I own twenty-five percent of each of my siblings’ stores. It’s not like I’m super rich, and the money is wrapped up in the businesses, but I could probably live reasonably comfortably for the rest of my life from those investments, even if I didn’t work at all. I could easily support you, too. I sold back some of my shares of ‘Jackson’s’ to buy this place.”

  “But…wow.” Natalie blinked a few times. “I didn’t realize so much was yours personally. I thought maybe your parents…I mean, I’ve never even known someone who didn’t have to work at all.”

  “Sure you have.” Adele winked. “Biblically.” Natalie flushed a lovely shade of pink, which Adele found delightfully endearing, especially considering that Natalie was the opposite of shy in the bedroom.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “We would have talked about it eventually. I just…I was just happy to put it off. The guy I dated before Landry was a business major who was more interested in the family business than me. By the time I figured that out, I was deep enough into the relationship that it not only hurt, I was embarrassed. So I learned to keep my finances private. Money was a bone of contention in my marriage from the very start, and I didn’t want that for us.”

  Natalie pulled the elastic band from her hair and shook her head. It was damp with perspiration at the temples from hefting boxes. “When you and Landry were together you had a nice house and nice things, but you weren’t living like rap stars.”

  Adele snorted. “No matter what, I would never live like a rap star, darlin’. Anyway, when I was engaged to marry Landry I found out that he had a ton of credit card debt that he’d carelessly racked up while he was in his twenties. I made the mistake of casually mentioning to Georgia that I was going to pay it all off after we got married, and she went right to my folks with the information.” Adele smiled wanly. “The downside to a close-knit family is the lack of privacy.

  “My previous gold digger boyfriend had made my parents wary of my choices, but they quickly got over their worries about Landry when they saw that I was happy, and that he truly loved me. Landry, on the other hand, never completely forgave them for their initial concerns. He never wanted anything to do with my money. So except for me paying off his debt, which was necessary if we wanted to qualify for a mortgage, I really didn’t touch most of my investments while I was married. Over the years my folks have given me some nice gifts.” She gestured toward the watch on her wrist. “But that’s about it. My salary added to Landry’s was still a modest amount, but enough to live on, and real estate prices then weren’t what they are today.”

  Adele lifted one shoulder. “In the end, Landry got his wish about the money, because we had a prenuptial agreement in place. I kept all my family business assets in the divorce.”

  Natalie wrinkled her nose. “Most guys would consider themselves lucky to have a wife who could pay them out of debt.”

  “He was proud, and I think it just made him feel small, knowing that I was bailing him out of his poor decisions.” Adele gently set down Natalie’s foot and picked up the other.

  “But, Ella, none of this explains why I shouldn’t contribute more to the house. I don’t love you for your mon—” Natalie groaned when Adele hit a tender spot in the arch of her foot, “money. Ugh, God, that feels so good! Surely you know that.”

  “Duh.”

  Natalie’s eyes twinkled. “But I can’t lie. I do love you for your clothes and especially the purses you let me borrow.”

  Adele laughed. She pinched Natalie’s big toe and earned a high-pitched yelp for her efforts. “If ‘Amelia’s’ ever goes out of business, I’m in deep trouble.”

  Adele sobered. “You’ve already contributed financially what’s reasonable based on what you can afford. That shows me you’re serious about us and you’re fair. I don’t want a bunch of percentages between us. I don’t want a roommate where I own everything and you live in my house. I want things to be equal between us regardless of who contributed what and when. In my mind, they already are.” Adele thought about it for a second before adding, “I’d actually like to enjoy not having to live on a couple of cops’ salaries for once. Can’t we just consider the house ours and take things from here?”

  Natalie mulled over what Adele said long enough that the blonde began to fidget. It was clear Natalie wanted to argue, but the words seemed to stall in her mouth. Instead, what eventually emerged was simple, but heartfelt, “I love you, and I accept.”

  Adele was too shocked to do more than blink stupidly for a few seconds. Then she pumped a fist in victory. “Yes!”

  “But,” Natalie held up her index finger, “only on one condition.”

  Adele’s eyes narrowed in challenge. Her mind raced, but she was unable to think of a single thing she wouldn’t do or give up to get what she wanted. “Anything.”

  “If we ever sell the house, and don’t buy something else together, we each take out the percentage that we chipped in.”

  A rush of happiness chased its way down Adele’s spine, making her shiver. She had no intention of letting this place or Natalie go. Ever. “Deal. I love you, too. Just so you know, I’m well aware that what you do contribute is something I can never buy. It’s priceless. That’s your fair share.”

  Natalie moved so quickly that Adele didn’t know what hit her as her body, and Natalie’s right along with it, flew deeper into the corner of the sofa with a loud oomph.

  Adele’s eyes rolled back when Natalie nudged her chin up with her head and attacked her throat with wet, sucking kisses, hard enough to leave faint marks. Warm hands flew beneath her shirt, and then her bra, and began massaging her breasts before she could register what was happening. “Wh-what…oh, God!” Adele arched her back, pushing harder against Natalie’s insistent touch.

  “I’d like to…” Natalie nuzzled closer, murm
uring against tender skin, “continue my relationship contributions right now.”

  Suddenly feeling hot all over, Adele moaned. “Yes, yes, yes…g-g-good idea.” A leg slid between hers and pressed upward. Adele gasped and her head swam.

  Light footsteps banging on the wooden floors interrupted them.

  Natalie quickly pulled her hands out from under Adele’s shirt and moved to sit up, but Adele held her firmly in place and linked their hands together in plain sight. Natalie eased her leg from between Adele’s.

  With a steadying exhale, Adele smiled calmly at Natalie’s slightly panicked expression. “It’s okay for him to see us together.”

  Logan came to a stop in front of them, tears in his eyes, completely unfazed by their current intimate position. “I need Band-Aids.” He winced and looked down at both skinned knees.

  Adele cringed.

  Natalie hissed in a breath between her teeth. “Ouch! You sure do. And more than one.” She shifted. “Just let me move so your mom can—”

  “You can do it, Nat,” he said earnestly. “I like it when you blow on the scrapes. It feels really good. I’ll go get the Godzilla Band-Aids!” Without waiting for confirmation of his request, he hobbled quickly in the direction of the bathroom.

  Natalie looked worriedly at Adele and bit her bottom lip. This would be the first time, while they were both available, that Logan had asked for her comfort instead of his mother’s.

  Adele’s face relaxed into a devastatingly wide smile. They were becoming a real family. “How about you patch up Logan, and then join me in the bathtub upstairs?” She watched, mesmerized, as the words registered and Natalie’s eyes darkened and then smoldered.

  Natalie licked her lips and her voice sank deeper. “We, um, don’t have any towels unpacked yet. Or a bed.”

  Adele chuckled a little wickedly as Natalie rose to her feet, and then offered a hand up. “Hon,” she drawled, “the only things that are not optional in this scenario…are me and you.”

  * * *

  Six months later…

  Natalie, Adele and Logan sat around a large firepit they’d recently added to the backyard, the women side by side on a wooden bench, and Logan in his own New Orleans Saints folding chair. The sky was crystal clear and blanketed with a million stars, and the night air was brisk and growing colder by the minute. Snug in jeans, warm sweaters, and with blankets slung over their laps for extra warmth, they peered into the dancing flames and spoke in low voices. Logan dug into the fire with a long stick, causing the wood to pop and snap and ashes to rise up in a plume before disappearing into the inky sky.

  Adele’s eyes turned to slits. How could this have happened again? “This is impossible! Impossible!”

  Natalie and Logan laughed at how distraught Adele was over losing another Christmas tree hunt to her sister. Earlier in the day, Jackson had been even more vocal in his displeasure. The claim of fraud had caused an argument that Adele’s parents finally had to break up.

  Adele gritted her teeth. “Amelia must be bribing the kids. Or putting them under a spell or something.”

  “Aunt Amelia told me you’d say that. She doesn’t bribe us, Mama!” the second-grader insisted. “Her tree was way taller.”

  “But my tree was perfect. Size isn’t everything!”

  Natalie failed to cover her snicker.

  “But hers was wider too,” Logan added, tossing his stick into the flames and watching intently as it caught fire.

  Adele gave her son an incredulous look. “That’s it? That’s her secret? That’s what you kids like? Just something huge?”

  Logan yawned. “Well, yeah, I guess.”

  Adele crossed her arms over her chest with a playful grumpiness that left both her girlfriend and her son smiling at her.

  With a soft giggle, Logan looked up at the stars. Seeing their twinkling lights reflected in his sleepy, soulful eyes seared itself into Adele’s memory. He was happy. He loved their home. He loved Natalie. His relationship with both Landry and her was stronger than ever.

  Life was verging on spectacular.

  “Don’t worry. There’s always next year, Mama.” Logan had recently lost his two middle front teeth and his words now held a slight lisp that continually made Natalie grin. Tonight was no exception.

  Adele sighed, already wondering what it would cost to ship in the tallest tree ever from California or Montana or wherever it is they grew enormous trees. She would ask Natalie about Wisconsin later. “I know, buddy.” She turned to Natalie with an arched eyebrow. “Was Amelia’s tree really better than mine?”

  “Impossible, sweetheart.”

  Adele laughed. Natalie always played along seamlessly. Adele rose and plucked the blanket from her son’s lap. “Bedtime.”

  “But—” His protest was interrupted by another mammoth yawn.

  “No buts.” Adele nudged his chair with her foot. “It’s already late. I’ll walk you inside.”

  With a sigh, he jumped to his feet, his sneakers thudding lightly against the ground. He hugged his mother, while she pressed a kiss to the top of his head. Then he went to Natalie, who regarded him fondly and happily accepted her goodnight kiss on the cheek.

  Natalie snuggled deeper into her blanket and swept her legs up underneath herself. “Night, Logan.”

  “Night, Nat.”

  “Be right back.” Adele rested her hand on Natalie’s shoulder and gave it a little squeeze before following her son inside.

  Once inside, Logan turned around excitedly. “Are you ready?”

  Adele nodded slowly.

  “Nervous?”

  “A little.”

  “Don’t be nervous. She’s gonna be happy.”

  “Fingers crossed. Don’t forget to brush your teeth.” Adele snorted to herself as Logan took the stairs two at a time and with boundless energy, despite the long day they’d all had. She paused before heading back outside, and with a deep breath, opened the back door. She could feel Natalie’s eyes riveted on her as she moved. She naturally squared her shoulders a bit and lifted her chin under the frank perusal. The closer Adele got to Natalie, the more Natalie’s smile grew and grew until it finally exploded and was blinding.

  Adele’s heart skipped a beat. God, I can’t believe that look is for me. “What?”

  Natalie sighed dreamily. “Your swagger is back.”

  “My what?” Adele’s ears felt hot and her palms sweaty.

  Natalie gave her a look. “Don’t play dumb with me, Ms. Lejeune. You know you have a sexy strut and that I’m helpless against it. When I first met you, I thought you swung your arms out as you walked to keep them from hitting the gun on your belt.” She pursed her lips. “Though that never explained the sexy sashay in your hips. But it wasn’t the gun, or even the job. It was just you.”

  Adele knew exactly what Natalie was talking about, but it wouldn’t do to admit that out loud. It was wonderful to once again enjoy the relaxed, confident feeling that went along with her normal gait.

  Two months ago, Adele rounded a significant corner in her physical therapy. While running still brought out a slight limp, her walk was almost back to normal.

  “I’m so proud of you, Ella. I know how hard you’ve worked for this.”

  Adele felt herself glow under the praise.

  Natalie reached down and picked up Adele’s cane, which was lying by her feet. Her eyes twinkled. “Are you ready?”

  Adele nodded and took the cane. With a shuddering breath, she tossed it on the fire. She snuggled down next to Natalie beneath the blanket, and they watched in silence for a few moments as the cane caught fire, and the rubber tip smoked.

  “Wow,” Adele said thickly, a tornado of emotions suddenly grabbing hold and spinning her hopelessly in its grasp. She recalled the first months that had melted into years after her stabbing, and the numb, confused feeling of going through the motions of a life so foreign it was as though she was watching it from afar rather than actually living it. There was an ever-present sting, li
ke walking around without any skin to protect her, constantly raw and hurting. Trust became something she no longer recognized, and was a commodity too scarce to trade. She thought of her failures and how she’d let self-pity bury her and damage the relationships she held dear. And, oh God, the precious time she’d squandered while she flailed and floundered.

  Adele considered her physical therapy and how many instances in the past months she’d been reduced to tears of frustration when nothing seemed to be working, and the tears of pain because things were working, but it felt as though she had to be ripped apart before she could be rebuilt again. She remembered the nights when sleep wouldn’t come because of the searing ache in her leg, her ego, and her spirit. The nights when sleep did come, she was often snared in a web of nightmares so sticky it was nearly impossible to tell what was real and what wasn’t.

  And then she watched all those things rise up in a plume of smoke and drift away into the night’s sky and she realized she hadn’t been rebuilt at all, but reborn.

  “Are you okay?”

  Adele just nodded, though in truth she was a little shaky. She felt a soft kiss pressed into her cheek, the lips warm and silky on her chilled skin. The gesture grounded her. She thought of Natalie’s words on the night of Al’s shooting, compelling her to stay in the here and now. Natalie grounded her.

  “Now, Ella, are you going to tell me what you and Logan have been whispering about all evening?”

  “You saw that, huh?” She nuzzled Natalie’s neck and drew in a deep breath. Natalie’s skin and hair smelled like flowers from her shampoo. Adele hummed her approval and couldn’t help but place a kiss just below Natalie’s ear, using her tongue to repeatedly tickle the tender skin.

  “Ella…” Natalie wriggled and laughed under the sweet torture, but wouldn’t be distracted. “Spill it.”

  Adele went serious. “The call came in this afternoon while you were talking with Amelia.”

  Natalie’s eyes widened slightly and her body tensed in anticipation. She turned to face Adele. “They offered you the job?”