Visiting Hours

by Tagan Shepard

  That caught Alison’s attention. She snapped her gaze to Beth, trying to give her a warning, but looking more excited than anything else.

  “I don’t have any plans.” She smiled this time when she looked at Alison. “Not yet, anyway.”

  Beth put a long finger to her chin, tapping thoughtfully with her manicured nail. “You know what you need? An introduction to Virginia.” Her gaze slipped to Alison for the briefest moment. “Since you just moved here and all. You should get to know the place.”

  “I’ve heard there’s some nice spots on the river. I’d thought about…”

  “Not the river.” Her voice was so liquid smooth that her dismissiveness didn’t even come across as rude. “It’s not the right season. Save that for the summer. Fall means mountains around here. They won’t be anything compared to what you’re used to from the west coast, of course, but the foliage is beautiful.”

  “I’ve heard the leaves can be nice this time of year.”

  A scheming light flashed in Beth’s eyes. “You haven’t had a weekend off in a long time. You need something relaxing…indulgent.” She paused and snapped her fingers. “You should go to a winery! There are some wonderful wineries up in Charlottesville. It’s not that far away, right at the foot of the mountains.”

  Jess shook her head and laughed. “I do love wine.” She shot Alison a wink. “Even if I am usually more of a beer person.”

  “Well, that settles it. You should go visit a winery this weekend!”

  With the air of someone playing along when they know they’ve been tricked, Jess said, “That’s not exactly the kind of trip a person wants to take alone.”

  “I absolutely agree!” Beth scowled theatrically. “You need an enthusiastic partner to share the experience with. Someone who can whet your appetite for adventure and deepen your enjoyment of the experience. I would volunteer, of course. Sadly, my cruel doctor has put me on bed rest so I’m not available to play tour guide.”

  Alison shook her head. “You’re incorrigible, Beth.”

  “I don’t know, Alison.” Jess leaned against the end of the bed, clearly enjoying the game. “Your poor friend here is locked up, held at the whim of a terribly cruel doctor. I think it’s only right that I should take her suggestion and find the happiness she is denied.”

  “Not you too!”

  “You know, Ali, I just had the most amazing idea!” Beth turned the cheesy smile on her. “You love Virginia. You know all the secret spots. All the hidden treasures that would take her breath away. And the best part, you’re off this weekend too!”

  “I’m a teacher, Beth. I’m off every weekend,” she deadpanned. “You just noticed?”

  “You’re off this weekend, so Jess can play with you.” She cleared her throat and started again. “You know how wonderful Virginia wines can be. Maybe she’ll gain a new appreciation for the benefits we have to offer if she does a tasting with you.”

  There was a protracted silence that Beth smiled into, ignoring the squirming discomfort of the other two at the double entendre.

  Jess finally spoke up. “I think that’s my cue to ask you if you’d like to go to Charlottesville with me on Saturday.” She gave a weak laugh and continued, “Although I generally don’t have an audience when I ask a woman out on a date, so forgive me for being even more awkward than I normally am.”

  Despite herself, Alison felt her heart rate pick up. She rested her chin on her knee and answered, “And you’ll have to forgive me for having such a meddlesome best friend.” Beth just blinked at her and she continued, “I’d love to go. My favorite is Jefferson Vineyards.”

  “It’s a date then. I’ll email you so we can make plans. Sound good?”

  “Sounds great.”

  “Then I am going to leave before I start stammering and generally making a fool of myself.” She started backing out of the room. “Goodnight!”

  She pulled the door shut as she left, and Alison waited exactly three seconds before she stood up and smacked Beth hard on the shoulder. “What is wrong with you?”

  “Ouch!” She swatted back, but missed. “Come on, are you really going to pretend to be upset? She just needed a little encouragement, and I was happy to oblige.”

  “Your hormones are out of control. She doesn’t need any encouragement. She asked me out just fine without your help before.”

  “Yeah, but those were the usual. Coffee, dinner, blah, blah, blah. This. Now this date has potential.”

  “Maybe so. But you are still too much.”

  Beth lay back, trying to adjust herself to a more comfortable position. “I agree. Anyway, just remember, she has me all lined up for the OR Monday morning. Let her get some sleep. She needs to stay awake for my procedure.”

  “The date’s on Saturday!”

  Beth closed her eyes. “Somehow I think Sunday will end up being involved too. Just make sure it’s only Sunday morning.”

  Alison made her way as quietly as she could to the door.

  “Oh, and Ali?”

  She stopped, her hand halfway to the light switch. “Yeah?”

  “You’re a terrible liar.” She turned onto her side as best she could. “I’ll be nice and let you keep whatever happened on the roof to yourself. But only this once.”

  Alison flicked the light switch off and backed out of the room, pulling the door closed behind her as softly as possible.

  “She’s always like that, isn’t she?”

  Alison jumped at the voice so close to her, and Jess put out a steadying hand. She leaned against the wall next to Beth’s door. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  Alison pressed a hand to her chest as though she could slow her racing heart with enough pressure. “You startled me is all.” She looked over at Jess, who still looked mildly concerned. “I thought you would have run for the hills.”

  “I’ve gotten used to her by now. I told you she and Stephen have earned a reputation around here. It’s mostly Beth. Pregnancy hormones can be very potent.”

  Jess stabbed her thumb over her shoulder. “I would offer to walk you to your car, but I’m pretty sure she would flay me alive if I even try to go to the bathroom.” But Nancy’s attention was elsewhere for once. “Email me later?”

  Alison simply nodded. She was suddenly afraid of what she might do if she opened her mouth around Jess. Probably something suited more to the dark and deserted rooftop than an open hallway with a half dozen people around to see. Jess gave her one last dazzling smile before pushing herself off the wall and walking away.

  Alison considered it a small victory that she only stumbled once on the way back to her car.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The picnic was Jess’s idea. Alison had described Jefferson Vineyards to her while they planned the date, including the wide expanse of grass near the tasting room. Unlike many of the wineries in the area, the vines at Jefferson were far away from the public buildings. This left a wide lawn that they used for weddings or, as was the case most weekends when it was warm enough, guests who wanted to lounge with their glasses in the sun.

  They’d been lucky enough to get fine weather, and Jess suggested they spread out a blanket in a quiet spot and have lunch. The spot they chose was near the bottom of a slight hill. A few mature trees bordered them on the right. A raised platform forming a stage blocked the view from the tasting room behind them. The spot offered the best direct sunlight, but was also secluded. They could hear the chatter and laughter of others from a happy distance. Strangers’ voices floated by on the wind. They may as well have been on another planet, Alison thought happily.

  Alison and Jess chatted easily while they shared food and a bottle of Meritage. The food was light and refreshing, the wine heavy and dry. The air here on the edge of the mountains was cool, but the sun had decided to grant a few bonus days of warmth before giving way entirely to the changing season and Alison felt it through the thin weave of her sweater and the flowing cotton of her skirt. It made her closed
eyelids glow. She lay on her back on top of the coarse blanket, the weight of her curls splayed around her head. She’d finished her glass of wine and put it aside, balanced precariously among the blades of grass.

  Opening one eyelid a fraction, she looked at the spot where Jess stretched out. The blanket was small, just wide enough to accommodate the two of them. She hoped Jess had selected it for that reason. Hoped that she craved closeness as much as Alison did. Jess lay propped on one elbow, her eyes scanning the horizon, tracing the distant swell of hills and the jagged tree line, a contented smile on her face.

  Alison turned and propped herself up on an elbow, facing Jess. Those green eyes moved from the horizon to her face, and her smile widened. Jess still held her empty wineglass loosely between her fingertips. Those same fingertips that had wandered so agreeably just a couple of days ago. Here in this place, the rest of the world blocked from view, Alison hoped that they would pick up where they left off. As though she had read Alison’s mind, Jess leaned back, discarding the glass in the grass behind her.

  The movement pulled the sleeve of her black button-up shirt higher, revealing an inch of tattoos. Alison reached out and traced the lines of color with her fingertips. She had meant to ask what they meant, why Jess had gotten them, but as her fingers brushed against her skin, a shiver ran through Jess’s body. She traced up Jess’s arm, past her shoulder, to the smooth line of her cheek. She eyed the movement of her own hand as her palm settled against Jess’s jaw and her thumb caressed her lips. She leaned in and her eyelids fluttered shut.

  Their mouths met tentatively at first, just a brush of bottom lips. Jess leaned in, pressing them closer together. The weight of Jess’s hand rested on her hip, its solidity comforting even though it maintained the distance between their bodies as much as it increased the intimacy.

  Soon Alison was practically melting under her kiss. Any modesty she might normally have felt in such an exposed setting was pressed from her mind by the gentle force of Jess’s lips. Her body responded in a flash. She ached for Jess’s touch. Ached for the feel of her skin. Ached for the heat so tantalizingly close. Alison leaned in, slipping her hand from Jess’s cheek to the back of her neck. The hand around her hip tightened enough to keep her at a safe distance.

  Alison didn’t want safe. She didn’t want distance. Thoughts of Jess had kept her up far too late for far too many nights. The sunlight on her face and the chatter in the near distance were not enough to still her body. She trailed a finger down Jess’s throat with the lightest touch. The hand on her hip loosened a fraction. Alison found the top button of Jess’s shirt.

  The kiss ended abruptly as the sound of conversation came noticeably closer. Jess snapped back, her hand retreating from Alison’s hip to her own. Alison looked at her in confusion, but Jess stared over her shoulder, refusing to meet her eye. Alison rolled onto her back, pulling her arms tight around her and staring at the pale blue sky, feeling suddenly cold. A moment later, a middle-aged couple walked past them off to the right. They didn’t look over in the direction of the blanket, but continued down the hill hand in hand. Alison shot them daggers as they squatted in the grass a few feet away.

  Jess cleared her throat. “It’s getting late. We should pack up and head back to town.”

  Alison frowned, but Jess was already standing up, packing away their glasses, her discomfort over their unwelcome company obvious.

  Doubt gnawed at her as they walked back up the hill toward the car. She was acutely aware of the distance between them. Of the way Jess refused to meet her eye. She analyzed the way Jess had held her, literally, at arm’s length when they kissed. Jess tucked the picnic basket in the trunk of her car next to the bottles of wine they’d bought, and Alison moved distractedly to the passenger’s door, getting in without waiting for her date.

  She got over her uncertainty embarrassingly quickly. How could she not when Jess was so captivating? Not to mention the way Alison’s heart started tap dancing against her chest every time she looked over at Jess smiling through the windshield. They hadn’t even made it the couple of miles back to the highway before Alison was snorting with laughter at a witticism of Jess’s. As the trees whipped by in the median of Interstate 64, they fell back into easy conversation and she settled deeper into her seat. The sun and the wine had made her sleepy, and the whistle of the tires across pavement wasn’t helping.

  Jess rested her arm on the console between them. Alison reached out impulsively to take it. She wore a ring with a Celtic knot on her right thumb, and Alison pushed her fingers in between Jess’s, spinning the ring with her fingertips. Their hands fit together well. Her palm settled against Jess’s in a way that felt pleasantly familiar and altogether brand new. Her heart thudded in approval. The swoop in her chest made her bold, and, using the excuse of wanting to examine the ring, she pulled Jess’s hand closer.

  “What’s this?”

  “Hmm?”

  “The ring. What does it mean?”

  “Does it have to mean something?”

  One side of the wide band was flattened out of its usual shape and there was a noticeable tarnish to the metal. “It looks like you wear it a lot. Doesn’t that have some significance?”

  “Just that I like cheap jewelry and intricate designs. I bought it on a whim at a street festival years ago for five bucks. I wear it more out of habit than anything else.”

  Alison laughed and dropped both of their hands to rest on her thigh with a studied casualness. “How disappointing.”

  Jess’s throat bobbed as she swallowed, but she didn’t move her hand. “Should I have lied and said that I’m a leprechaun?”

  Alison lounged against the headrest, her eyelids heavy. “I probably would’ve believed you. You can be very charming, Dr. Baker.”

  “I do my best.”

  It was the last thing Alison remembered hearing. The heaviness in her limbs stole over her so quickly that she didn’t have time to fight it. One moment she was studying the curve of Jess’s jaw, and the next the car was slowing and moving into the exit lane. The bright afternoon sun had mellowed to a deep orange. She sat up with a start and looked around, blinking gumminess from her eyes.

  “Shh. It’s okay. You fell asleep.”

  She flushed with embarrassment. Then she felt the weight of Jess’s hand still on her thigh. Her own hands had slipped away, but Jess’s was still there, resting comfortably just above her knee. Alison’s face flushed even redder at the feel of it through the thin cotton.

  “Oh, Jess. I’m so sorry!”

  “It’s okay. Really.”

  “No it’s not. I’m such a jerk.”

  Jess flashed her another thousand-watt smile as she turned into the quiet residential streets of The Fan. “You’re not a jerk at all. I’ve been totally monopolizing your time practically since the moment we met, your friend is in the hospital and you have a full load of classes to teach. You’re allowed to be a little worn out on the weekends.”

  “Will you stop being so understanding?”

  “Not a chance. Sorry.”

  Alison growled with mock frustration. “Stop apologizing! It makes me feel worse.”

  Jess smiled and looked over her shoulder to parallel park half a block from Alison’s front door. Once she was in the spot, she winked and said, “Sorry.”

  Alison laughed and leaned across the seat to lay a chaste kiss on her smiling lips. The movement made Jess’s hand slip farther down her thigh, but she still didn’t remove it.

  “Then let me make it up to you.” Alison hesitated, anxiety making her voice catch just a bit. “Come up for a glass of wine?”

  Jess paused for a heartbeat that lasted at least a century before answering lightly. “Sure. I’ll come up for one glass.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Alison couldn’t quite figure out her pace as she climbed the stairs. If she walked too fast, she might seem too eager. Too slow and she would seem uninterested. She noticed every little shift in her own movements, an
d fretted that Jess could too. She peeked over her shoulder. Jess carried the box of wine in one arm and looked perfectly at ease, her free hand trailing along the banister. Alison’s overactive imagination ran through all the possible meanings of Jess’s obvious comfort, but no coherent thoughts could attach to each other in the chaos of her mind.

  Through some small miracle, they made the journey without rousing Mrs. Crenshaw. Alison fumbled with the keys when she reached the door. Hers was the only apartment on the top floor, and the landing was narrow. She felt Jess’s body behind her and forced herself with some effort to focus on the small task of opening the door. Stepping inside and flipping on the light, the familiar space quieted the hum of her body. She looked at the place imagining how Jess was seeing it, hoping she approved.

  The living room wasn’t much more than a broad rectangle, broken at the far end by a bricked-over fireplace. The mantel over the fireplace was cherry, wonderfully carved and beautifully preserved. It was one of the main reasons Alison lived here. These little architectural oddities added a charm that was missing in the cookie-cutter houses of the suburbs.

  Jess clearly noticed the fireplace the moment she walked in. She deposited the box of wine on the coffee table, pulling one bottle out in a single, fluid movement, and walked over to the mantel. She bent to examine the carved filigree.

  Alison took advantage to slip into the kitchen. The tiny room, barely big enough to fit the appliances, was tucked away sufficiently to give her a moment to slow her breathing. She hurried to the sink and the small oval mirror hanging above it. The face looking back at her in the shimmering surface showed every inch of her nerves. She fussed with her hair, pulling one long curl over her eye in a way that could be interpreted as either seductive or careless. She flipped it back, but now her forehead looked too long. She brought a different piece forward, but it hung too low, catching in her lip gloss and sticking uncomfortably.

  “Where can I find a couple of wineglasses?”

  The words were muffled through the wall, and she yelled back a little too quickly and much too loudly, “I’m getting them! Be right there!”