“I did for a while, but not now. I’ve never been more attracted to a woman than I am to you, but I’ve also never been more interested in anyone. Talking to you makes my day and that’s all I need to be happy.”
Noel squeezed her tightly. “That’s all?”
“I wish you lived closer, but distance isn’t that big a problem. Lack of spark is. Been there, hated it.”
“I’ve never had that experience.” She pulled Toni close and kissed her. “And with you, I never will.”
***
After they went back to Noel’s apartment, Toni quickly shucked her clothes, brushed her teeth and got into bed while Noel was still carefully putting her jewelry away. Sensing Toni’s eyes on her, and she looked over her shoulder and said, “What are you thinking about?”
“How can you tell I’m thinking?”
“I know you.” She turned all the way around and gave her a love-filled smile. “I love that that’s true.”
“Me too. It’s nice to be known. I was just thinking about how nice it is that you have all of the benefits of a really pretty woman and none of the detriments.”
Noel slipped out of her dress and hung it in her closet. Wearing just a black strapless bra and black panties she knelt on the bed. Resting back on her heels, she said, “That’s a very nice compliment, but I’m not sure I know what you mean. I get the really pretty part, of course,” she giggled, “but what are the detriments to being attractive?”
“Oh, they’re not detriments for the attractive person. It’s the people who surround the attractive person who have to suffer. For instance, most beautiful women have a very screwy relationship with food. I love that you can eat everything that isn’t nailed down and not gain weight. That’s so much nicer than going out with someone who acts like food is toxic.”
“I know what you mean. Some of my friends have a very conflicted relationship with food. I really lucked out.”
Toni ran her hand across Noel’s concave belly. “You sure did. Max always looked like she was about six months pregnant. She couldn’t lose it no matter what she tried”
Noel balled her hands into fists and shook them in front of herself. “Eww! Thank God I didn’t inherit that trait.”
Toni grasped Noel by the shoulders and pulled her close. “You got all of the best genes.”
Now draped across Toni’s body, Noel said, “I love the genes that made you so strong. I’ve always wanted a girlfriend who could pick me up, and now I finally got one.”
“I was gonna ask about that. Janet was pretty femmy.”
“All of my girlfriends have been, even though that’s not really who I’m naturally attracted to. I’m attracted to women like you,” she said, poking all over her body with her finger, “but you’re the first woman I’ve ever met who had the personality and the character and the body that I love. You are the whole, beautiful package.”
“I feel the same way about you. That’s why I didn’t even waste my time trying to make do with someone who didn’t measure up.”
“I find that hard to believe, but I’m very glad someone didn’t get to you before I did.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder then used Toni’s hips to push herself up into a sitting position. “When we kissed at midnight I decided on a New Year’s resolution.”
Toni’s eyes were shining brightly. “I did too,” she said excitedly.
“Mine is that you’re more important to me than my job or my home.”
“That was my New Year’s resolution!”
“I decided to…”
“I decided to…”
They stared at each other, then slowly added word by word, “To move to…Rehoboth…Baltimore.”
“Baltimore?” Noel gasped.
“Rehoboth?”
“I need to be with you.” Noel put her arms around Toni, who was struggling to sit up. “Nothing is more important than you are.”
“I need to be with you. I’m sure I could make a living in Baltimore. You could sell The Sandpiper and we could renovate a really nice home here. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course I would. But you wouldn’t. You’d have to give up way too much to move here.”
“You’d have to give up teaching to be with me.”
“No, I wouldn’t. I’ve been talking to Gloria, and she’s done some looking around for me. I’m pretty sure I could get a job teaching in the county, if not in Rehoboth itself. To be honest, it might be nice to teach some kids who aren’t so needy. Sometimes it really wears me down.”
“But you said you can retire in just couple of years. You can’t give that up. That’d be crazy!”
“Yeah, it is crazy. But I don’t want to be away from you for that long.”
“Then I’ll move here for a couple of years.”
“No! You’d have to give up fire fighting.”
Toni looked like all the wind had been taken from her sails. “Oh. I hadn’t thought about that. I really love fire fighting.”
“I argued with my family about this over the holidays. My dad flipped his lid when I said I was going to move without waiting to get my retirement.”
“Your dad is right.”
“Of course he is, financially. But there’s more to life than money.”
“I miss you, Noel, and I wish we lived together, but I think things have been going pretty well. I’m happier than I ever have been.”
“I am too. But don’t you want more?”
“I do. But I can wait a little while. You’re well worth it.”
“That’s what my mother said. She thinks I should spend some time checking out the school districts in Delaware before I do anything rash.”
“She probably thinks it’s a good idea to make sure I can be in a relationship for more than ten minutes too.” Toni’s chin dipped down a little bit and her eyes were clouded.
Noel put her hand on Toni’s face and tilted it up. “She didn’t say anything like that. April has been singing your praises longer than I have. Besides, my parents aren’t the types to give me relationship advice unless I ask for it. My mom just doesn’t want me to give up my retirement benefits unless I absolutely have to.”
“You don’t have to. It’s only two more years, right?”
“After this one. That seems like such a long time.”
“It is. But you can spend that time deciding what to do with The Sandpiper…”
“Oh! I’ve already decided that. Andy spent a long time with me going over the best things to do. We think it makes the most sense to keep it open all year. He’s got all sorts of ways to make sure you’re protected financially in case it doesn’t work out between us or if I die—”
“Wait! Wait! What’s going on?”
“You’re going to manage it, right?” She smiled, her heart soaring when she saw the excitement on Toni’s face.
“You want to keep it?”
“Of course I want to keep it. Max knew exactly what she was doing when she left it to me.” She cleared her throat, trying to keep talking through the emotion she felt welling up. “Somehow she knew.”
Toni kissed her hard, her kiss packing the punch of a heart full of joy.
Noel tapped her on the shoulders, anxious to get back to sorting out their plans. “I’ll do the paperwork and run the business side. You make nice with the guests, and make them feel at home. I think we can make enough money running it that neither of us would have to do other jobs if we didn’t want to.”
“I’ve never had a better offer in my life.” Toni nearly glowed with happiness. “But we’re not going to live there. You won’t be happy. We’ll live at my house.” She was wriggling around the bed, bubbling with excitement. “I’ll put a second story on with a guest room and a bath for when your family comes to visit.”
“Oh, Toni. That’s so sweet of you. But could we get that finished in two years? We still haven’t touched that first bathroom, you know.”
“You’re so funny.” She tickled Noel’s sides, makin
g her giggle and fight to get away. “You’re the one who keeps me in bed all day. If you weren’t so darned sexy, I could get something done.”
“I wouldn’t give up a minute we spend in bed. Not a minute.”
“I wouldn’t either. The best moments of my life have been lying in bed with you.” She took a deep breath and stretched her arms out. “When I let myself think about it, it’s hard for me to imagine how happy we’re going to be.”
Noel brushed a few warm tears from Toni’s cheeks. “You’re thinking about Max, aren’t you?”
Toni’s eyes shot open. “Do you know me that well?”
“No, I can’t read your thoughts. But I’m thinking about her, too.”
Sniffling, Toni asked, “What are you thinking about?”
“I was thinking about how happy she’d be to have you and me running her favorite place.”
“You have no idea. That would have let her…” She trailed off, wiping away her tears. “She would have been at peace.”
Noel sat next to Toni and leaned against her body. “I think about her a lot, you know.”
“You do? You don’t talk about her much.”
“I’m still sorting things out in my head, but I think I’ve finally figured out why I didn’t want to search for her.”
“Because you were angry,” Toni said, her voice soft and filled with understanding.
“Furious. To my very core.” She put an arm around her, holding her close. “That’s been hard to confront.”
“It makes sense, Noel. It makes complete sense.”
“But I’m not angry any more. Max made a huge sacrifice, and she did it to make sure I had the best upbringing I could have.”
“That’s why she wanted to meet you. She wanted to rest easy with her decision.”
“I wish I’d been able to meet her. I could have thanked her for the second important gift she gave me.”
“Second?”
“Yes. She took you under her wing, and helped make you into a fantastic woman. She was like a second mom to you, and that’s a role she was great at.”
“That’s the truth. She propped me up when I really needed it.”
“So she did her very best to be a good mother, even though it wasn’t in the traditional way. I will always be immensely grateful to her for that.” Noel didn’t even try to stop her tears from flowing. “She was a very generous woman.”
“She would have been so proud of you.”
“And you.” She shifted around so they were face to face. “Let’s agree on a joint New Year’s resolution. Let’s work on getting The Sandpiper in shape, figuring out how to manage it together and—”
Toni leaned over and silenced Noel with a kiss. “All we have to do is keep letting ourselves fall deeper in love. Everything else is just details.”
Noel spent a few seconds staring into the warm depths of Toni’s eyes. “I couldn’t stop falling in love with you if I tried. And I’m never, ever going to try.”
The End
By Susan X Meagher
Novels
Arbor Vitae
All That Matters
Cherry Grove
Girl Meets Girl
The Lies That Bind
The Legacy
Serial Novels
I Found My Heart In San Francisco
Awakenings
Beginnings
Coalescence
Disclosures
Entwined
Fidelity
Getaway
Honesty
Intentions
Anthologies
Undercover Tales
Outsiders
To purchase these books: www.briskpress.com
Author website: www.susanxmeagher.com
twitter.com/susanx
facebook.com/susanxmeagher
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
Part Eight
Part Nine
Part Ten
Part Eleven
Part Twelve
Part Thirteen
Part Fourteen
Susan X. Meagher - The Legacy Page 26
