Summer Wine

by Barbara Winkes

“Why not?”

  Maybe he even had an idea what to do about his successor’s shenanigans—and there was another subject Callie wanted to approach, if she found the courage to do so. She didn’t have to see him in person for the invitation.

  * * * *

  After about twenty minutes of pleasant small talk about life in Autumn Leaves and the planned vacation, Callie was frustrated enough with herself to be brave. At least, if this didn’t pan out, Father Langdon wouldn’t talk to anybody about this conversation. She trusted him that much.

  “Okay. I’ve been meaning to ask you something. Hypothetically.”

  “Sure. Go ahead.”

  “You know Rebecca well, but you don’t know a lot about me. Other than what was the talk of the town last year,” she corrected herself ruefully. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure you made up your own mind. It wasn’t my first intention to break up a marriage, even though Father Reynolds insists on that interpretation. I love Rebecca.”

  “I don’t doubt that…”

  “Actually, marriage is what I need to talk to you about. I’m sorry for interrupting you, but I’m afraid that otherwise, I’ll run before I have the guts to ask you,” Callie admitted.

  “That sounds serious. Are you and Rebecca planning something?”

  “No. I’m aware it’s too early to even think about these things. I wanted to ask you if you would give us a blessing. If, one day, we wanted to get married. It would matter a great deal to Rebecca.” The thought sprang to mind sometime this morning when she’d been clicking on one wedding picture after the other.

  “I don’t see why not,” Father Langdon said, and Callie let out the breath she’d been holding.

  “Thank you so much. I didn’t mean to insinuate…You know how things are in Autumn Leaves. A person can get paranoid.”

  “I understand. Can I ask you a question too?”

  “Yes, sure.”

  “Does it matter to you?”

  “What?” Callie felt startled in spite of the genuine interest in his question.

  “Getting married is about two people, and both of their beliefs, after all.”

  “I know that…and come to think of it, yes, it matters to me too. Spirituality matters. I’m just getting so fed up with people who need an excuse for their screw-ups and use religion to dress it up nicely. It doesn’t work. Underneath, it’s still ugly.” She took a deep breath. “Wow, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to rant.”

  “I understand what you’re saying,” Father Langdon conceded. “It can be distracting.”

  “Yeah, that’s putting it mildly. Don’t you want to come back? I know the majority of people in Autumn Leaves would appreciate that. Apparently, Father Reynolds preaches his sermon to a dozen people every Sunday. You can’t change those who choose to be ignorant, but that’s not all of the people.”

  “Well, it’s not up to me, but it sounds like a situation that is not acceptable to anyone in the long run. There are a few people I could talk to, but I’m afraid I can’t make any promises. However, when you and Rebecca are ready, let me know and we can talk about your wishes for the wedding.”

  Callie couldn’t help the smile that spread on her face, even at the fragment of an idea. It was going to happen someday, maybe not this year or the next, but it wasn’t impossible.

  “Thank you. I have to go invite more people now.”

  “Good practice,” he said with a wink.

  When Callie left, it was with a much lighter heart.

  * * * *

  “Maggie will be at Stella’s tonight?” Callie said, attempting a casual tone and not quite succeeding. “Why don’t I take you out to dinner? Start the celebrations?”

  Rebecca was well aware of the preparations that were going on around her, Callie and Maggie whispering together, Dina staying on the phone with Callie longer than her usual “Hi, is Mom there?” She didn’t want to spoil their fun, so she did her best to pretend not to notice. Truth be told, she was getting a bit nervous, with her parents coming into town tomorrow, on her actual birthday. They’d stay over the weekend for the party.

  “I don’t know. Do we have time for that?”

  “We do,” Callie assured her. “The house is squeaky clean, there’ll be food and drinks and friendly people on Saturday…I can’t think of anything else.” She laid a hand on Rebecca’s, her voice softening when she continued, “You’re still worried about your parents? They’ll be fine. You said your mom was okay, and that she talked to your Dad. I’m sure they really want to see you and the girls.”

  “I know. I’m glad they decided to come,” Rebecca said, surprised at the sudden rush of emotion.

  “Me too. About tonight, it’s a surprise, but be ready at six, okay?”

  Before Rebecca could answer, the phone rang. “I’ll squeeze it into my planner,” she said, shaking her head.

  “Rebecca. I need to ask you a favor.” It had to be a big favor if David called at seven in the morning, foregoing the greeting.

  “Dina’s all right?” She didn’t need this, at seven in the morning, or at any time.

  “Yes, of course,” he said, and the queasy feeling in her stomach vanished. “I’ve got a bit of a problem though. I have to catch a plane before noon, which means I should already be on the road, and Susan’s not coming back until late tonight.”

  “Oh,” Rebecca said, unsure where this was going.

  “I know Dina’s a big girl, and she can fix herself something, but I’d feel better if she wasn’t all by herself. Would it be okay if she came to stay with you a couple of days early? I wrote her a note.”

  When his use of past tense registered with her, Rebecca chose amusement over irritation. She didn’t mind Dina coming early, and besides, this was a pattern they’d always follow between the two of them.

  “No problem. When Maggie’s home, we’ll go and pick her up.”

  “Thank you so much. I’m sorry about this, but something came up.”

  “It’s okay. I’d much prefer for her to have a warm meal too. So…how are you doing? You seem very busy.”

  “Yeah,” he said with a rueful laugh, “you could say that. It’s all right. I might be in for a promotion soon, though it’s not a done deal yet.”

  “That’s great. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.” Rebecca reminded herself this probably wasn’t a good time for small talk. When she hung up, she couldn’t help smiling. Spending a couple of days more with her daughters actually meant David was doing her a favor. It had taken them some time to adjust to all the changes, but they succeeded. No one was broken. In the end, the truth always won.

  * * * *

  Callie didn’t mind the slight change of plans. She suggested going out for drinks after dinner instead. Both girls were fine with that arrangement. Maggie had a pile of books waiting on her nightstand, and Dina had a Skype window already open on her purple laptop. It didn’t look like poor Tomaso had gotten much sleep lately. On the bright side, Dina spent most of her weekends talking to him rather than trying to sneak into bars, a big plus in Rebecca’s opinion.

  “Where are we going?” she asked when they sat in the car.

  “You’ll see. It’s part of your birthday surprise,” Callie said with obvious glee.

  “Oh. That means I have David to blame that I’ve been downgraded from dinner to drinks.”

  She meant it as a joke, obviously, but Callie smiled to herself. “Don’t worry. I’ll make it up to you in other ways.” She was not joking.

  Rebecca, grateful not to be driving at this moment, leaned back in her seat, remembering their recent getaway weekend. Since they had guests over the next days, taking Callie up on her offer would have to wait. An evening out, just the two of them, was a nice start.

  “I can’t wait.”

  “Good.” Callie’s chosen destination took them out of Autumn Leaves, along a road where houses were few and far between. Rebecca realized they were almost in Marin County.

  “You’re still nervous about your p
arents arriving tomorrow?”

  “No. I’m nervous about the band you mentioned earlier.”

  Callie laughed. “I like that idea. Maybe I could arrange something last minute…but I won’t,” she said quickly when she saw the expression on Rebecca’s face. “It’s a dinner with family, old and new friends, and you know everyone better than I do. They will all be there for you. It will be awesome.”

  “Yeah, awesome. I’m sure.”

  It wasn’t like that was worried to present this new life to her parents, Callie, her new home. What made Rebecca wary was this new kind of relationship she had entered with her parents, where they, all of a sudden, started communicating, and talked about feelings. Was it something that would last? Time would tell.

  “No, really,” she added. “It’s about time we get to celebrate something.”

  “That’s what I’m saying. We’ll start right now. I know you’ve been curious for a while, so I thought that for starters, we’ll check this place out.”

  “This place” turned out to be the Lavender Lounge, where both Sara and Andy tried their best to stay under the radar. To say Rebecca was curious was a big understatement. She was grateful to have Callie by her side to help her navigate the premises.

  The Lavender Lounge turned out to be much like any other bar she’d been to, not that there had been so many, except for one detail: All of the patrons were women. The drinks were pretty good, too. Rebecca chose to focus on that instead of wondering what she had expected. Granted, it wasn’t a place for a sixteen-year-old, but she was amazed that Andy would come to this upscale, not exactly cheap place to find a one-night-stand. Then again, she’d never understood the dynamics of hooking up. The dates she’d had in college were friends of friends, someone in the extended environment. David had shared some classes with her best friend’s brother, and they’d met at a birthday party.

  “I’m sorry there’s no leather, and no half-naked girls dancing on the bar,” Callie said, gently teasing. “For that, we’d have to go elsewhere.”

  “I’m fine, thank you.”

  Rebecca was proud of herself for not choking on the last sip of her Mojito. As soon as she’d set down the glass, the friendly waitress appeared, beaming at her. “Can I bring you something else?”

  “I’d like to wait a bit. Thanks.”

  “No problem. I’ll be back later.”

  When she had left, Callie shook her head. “She didn’t ask if she could bring me something else. The girl’s been giving you the eye from the moment we walked in.”

  “Oh, come on.”

  “So did the bouncer.”

  “I don’t think…” Rebecca started to protest before she realized Callie was yanking her chain. “That’s funny.”

  “No, not at all.” Callie took her hand, holding it on the table. “You’re not uncomfortable.”

  “No. Why should I be?”

  Callie smiled in response, and then she leaned close for a kiss, one that lasted longer than it would have in public, under different circumstances. Rebecca had never been fond of public display of affection anyway, but damn it, it felt good to be able to do this without people staring. The days of awkward conversations, doubts, questions, were long gone—that was what put her in a different place from Andy. She had made mistakes, taken detours, but in the end, Rebecca had arrived in a place where she was indeed comfortable with herself, in the daily life in Autumn Leaves, in a women’s bar with her beautiful lover by her side. Truth be told, she had noticed the looks Callie had been talking about, and they, too, answered a longstanding question. Silly, maybe, because she didn’t want to be with anyone but Callie.

  After everything she had believed about her life seemed to be untrue, she had felt invisible. Asha had been testing her, Nicole had openly despised her. Callie, as much as Rebecca loved her, had a story very different from hers as well. It wasn’t until she found Amber’s group that she learned her own story wasn’t that outrageous. There were other women like her, who had lived most of their lives with the sliver of a suspicion, or maybe not even that. She wasn’t invisible. She had every right to be here, and maybe, so had Andy. The difference between them was Andy had accepted the view of the people around her, and when she came to meet another woman, to her, it was confirmation that something was wrong with her.

  “You know, I don’t really mind turning forty,” she said. “It took me that long being honest, but I made it, just under the wire.”

  “I’m proud of you.”

  Rebecca was a bit proud herself as well. In fact, she was looking forward to the weekend. If the party was a bit bigger than she would have imagined, it meant her friends stood by her.

  They danced. After almost a year, there were still new, magical experiences to be had, something greater than the banging your head against the wall of other people’s prejudice. After midnight, Callie ordered champagne for the two of them. “To the best year of my life,” she said, raising her glass. “Happy Birthday.”

  All of a sudden, Rebecca felt like crying in the face of this heartfelt affection. There was no doubt that in some respect, it had also been the worst year for Callie, given the assault on last year’s Halloween that, horrible as it was, could have turned out so much worse. Even before the parents of one of the perpetrators moved away from Autumn Leaves, Callie made the decision to stay, even though her old circle of friends in New York would have welcomed her back. She had stayed for Rebecca.

  “We made it through a lot of crap, but here we are. We made it through. Please, don’t cry. I know those weren’t the real Shania Twain lyrics.”

  Rebecca had to laugh, though her vision was still suspiciously blurry.

  “You are the one, Rebecca. I never thought I’d find anything like it.”

  “I love you.” Those were all the words she had in return, but they were enough.

  * * * *

  Callie had left for the restroom, and Rebecca waited for her at the bar, where Juliet, the friendly waitress, was about to finish her shift.

  “Good night,” Rebecca said to her, earning another bright smile.

  “Good night.” She lingered, put on her jacket, then shrugged out of it again. It was a still warm at this time of night. “You guys were celebrating an anniversary?”

  “It’s my birthday. Forty.”

  “Wow,” Juliet said. “You don’t look forty.”

  “That’s nice of you to say—but I’m pretty okay with it. You know, a year ago, I had no idea.” It might be a questionable idea to have this conversation with a total stranger, but Juliet seemed sympathetic. “We were planning on some big reno in the house. Maybe have another kid—though that was more my husband’s idea. No, come to think of it, it definitely was his.”

  “What happened?” Juliet asked, intrigued.

  “I fell in love.” Rebecca was more than happy to tell her. “With the most beautiful person I’ve ever met. This is it. If I could make it here, forty’s not so bad, right?”

  “Not bad at all.” Juliet was probably no older than twenty-five, but she was either nice enough to humor Rebecca, or she had intentionally missed the part where Rebecca talked about falling in love. “She’s very lucky.”

  “Yes, she is,” Callie, who had returned from the restroom, confirmed. “Are you ready to go home?”

  Rebecca slipped off the barstool and wrapped her arms around Callie, tightly.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  The next morning, Callie did even more to ease her gently into the day. Rebecca woke, grateful for the lack of a hangover, to the warm touch pulling her towards awareness. When Callie’s hand moved from her side to her stomach, and further downward, she was wide awake a moment later. “Good morning,” Callie whispered, her fingertips brushing the seams of Rebecca’s panties.

  “Great even, but—” She gasped. “There are people in the house.”

  Callie chuckled. “The people in the house are asleep. You just have to be quiet.”

  It wasn’t ex
actly dirty talk, but at this point, it wouldn’t take much. Rebecca struggled to keep silent as the heat was pooling between her legs with Callie’s explorations. Fingers teased, caressed, finally entered, their slow glide making her shiver. She bit her lip until Callie leaned over to kiss her deeply, and that was much better. She was beginning to think this could be the best birthday ever. In any case, it was off to a great start.

  Chapter Four

  “So, do you have any plans to get married?”

  “Dad,” Rebecca chided, obviously self-conscious with her father’s question. “It’s a bit early to talk about that.”

  She was right, of course. They had picked up Rebecca’s parents, gone to lunch with the girls and hadn’t even made it to dessert. However, that was probably not how Rebecca meant it. One fantasy Callie had for Rebecca’s birthday was likely not to come true.

  “It’s a legit question, Becca. You shouldn’t wait too long,” Margaret Salter, Rebecca’s mother said. Callie realized she hadn’t known Rebecca’s maiden name before and wondered what would happen should they ever get to the point of making a legal commitment. Hyphenate? Keep their respective names? She was drifting a bit with those questions.

  “See,” Margaret continued, “it’s also about legal protections. Even small towns like Autumn Leaves will eventually catch up with the times.”

  “Callie can’t really change her name,” Dina said, as if that was the only issue. “The people who buy her books wouldn’t recognize her. I wouldn’t mind taking Tomaso’s name though. It sounds better than mine.”

  If anything, she succeeded to turn the conversation around and made all the adults at the table worry that the word “wedding” might have been dropped. Not that anything could have happened to make it necessary, with an ocean between the two lovesick teenagers.

  “That’s right, you’re going on a vacation soon.” Rebecca’s dad didn’t seem to mind the change of topic. “Since Rebecca’s party is on the weekend, she’ll get her present then, but Margaret and I brought something for you girls too. Sure you have to be shopping for a lot of clothes now,” he handed an envelope to Dina and Maggie each. Maggie made a bit of a face, and he chuckled. “If you prefer, you can buy books with it too.”