From beside Jinx, her own eight-year-old image waved back. “After while, crocodile.” It was their customary farewell to one another, one adopted from their father when Nora wasn’t around. They’d shortened it to “Later, gator,” and “While, dile,” when they’d become more cool. Jinx smiled.
As she made her way along the side of the house to leave, she felt herself drawn to the servants’ entrance that led down a hallway to the kitchen and the back stairs. She inhaled the delectable smell of the meal being served to the wedding guests, reminiscent of those prepared by the Tanner family’s private chef years earlier, and she let the sounds of a busy staff comfort her. These were the people she’d always felt more connected to, more at ease with. In her younger years, this was the way she’d usually entered and left the house because it allowed her to go straight up to her and Andrea’s floor without having to walk through the ground level, where Nora was more likely to notice her. Later, after her father died and she’d been relegated to the small room behind the kitchen, this was the most logical way in and out.
She looked up the stairs, wondering how different the second floor was. Everyone was outside. I’ll just take a peek. At the top, she cracked open the door and peered down the long hallway. The past rushed in on her.
The color scheme was different. Newer carpet, some new chandeliers, but still, it was all the same. The floor she’d shared with Andi had a bedroom and bath for each of them, a play room, a library/homework/music room, and an entertainment room, with a big screen TV and sound system. Their father and Nora’s private quarters occupied the third floor.
She moved along the corridor, peeking into the different rooms. Some had obviously been used for the bridesmaids to get ready for the ceremony. And maybe the bride? Of course. This floor would have been Tiffany’s once Andrea’s family had moved to the estate. Her heart started to pound. She heard muffled voices. She pivoted toward the servants’ door.
“Aunt Michelle?”
Jinx froze, then turned slowly.
Tiffany rushed toward her from the doorway of Andrea’s old room. “I can’t believe I’m finally meeting you. I’m so glad you came.” She held the train of her wedding dress in a bundle in her arms. “I looked for you once the reception got going, but I couldn’t find you. Then I had to pee,” she said in a whisper and giggled. “So I came up here, and here you are. Oh my, I’m babbling. I’m so sorry.” She had stopped directly in front of Jinx and now stared at her expectantly.
Jinx had no idea what to say. “I…” Should she tell her she’d been in the tree house? No. “It’s…” She’d already told her it was nice to meet her in the receiving line. Hadn’t she? “How long have you known about—”
“Forever.” Tiffany seemed to vibrate with excitement. “Luke used to tell me about you and Mom when you were little. He had some old pictures. He always made you both sound like so much fun. You know, before you ran away and Mom…Well, I don’t know what happened to Mom. I love her dearly, but she gets a little crazy sometimes.”
Jinx chuckled. Well said. Before Tiffany could grab another breath and take off again, Jinx held up a hand. “You’re the one who invited me?”
Tiffany looked surprised. “Of course. It’s my wedding.”
“What the hell are you doing up here?” Andrea’s voice pierced the quiet of the hallway. “What the hell are you doing here at all?”
Jinx cringed. Andrea sounded so much like Nora. Loathing and contempt were an ugly mixture in her tone. Jinx hated it. She started to speak, but Tiffany’s hand on her arm stopped her. It was a good thing, since she didn’t have a clue what would come out of her mouth. She didn’t know what the hell she was doing there.
“I invited her, Mom. It’s my wedding. She’s my guest.”
Andrea’s burning gaze turned to ice, and she shifted it from Jinx to Tiffany. “It might be your wedding, young lady, but it’s my home, and she’s not welcome in it.”
Andrea was gone. All Jinx could see was Nora.
“I’ve wanted to meet my aunt for a long time.” Tiffany’s voice rose. “I told you that three years ago.”
Jinx had to hand it to Tiffany. The girl had guts. Jinx had never been able to stand up to Nora, nor had the younger Andrea, for that matter.
“And I told you…” Andrea stabbed a finger at Tiffany. “You don’t have an aunt.”
“I do have an aunt, and she’s right here, and you can’t—”
“You’re right,” Jinx yelled over the argument. She had to stop this. She was ruining this special day for both Tiffany and Andrea. She’d never wanted to do that. “I never should have come. I’m sorry,” she said to Andrea.
“No, you shouldn’t have. And you…” Andrea was back on Tiffany, “never should have invited—”
Jinx stepped between them. “Andi, I’ll go.”
Andrea went rigid. Her eyes flamed. Her jaw tightened. “Don’t you dare call me that.”
She hadn’t meant to—too much reminiscing, too many emotions. “Andrea. I’m sorry.”
“Get out. Get the hell out of my house.” Her voice rose again. “My mother was right about you. You’re nothing but trash that came from trash.”
The words cut Jinx as deeply and as painfully as a steel blade. One of Nora’s favorite phrases, now coming from Andrea, sliced her open, and all the memories of Nora berating her, telling her she’d never be good enough to be a Tanner, calling her whore’s trash, came tumbling out from that dark place she’d imprisoned them for so long. She couldn’t breathe.
“Get out!” Andrea screamed.
Jinx fled. As she rounded the corner at the top of the main staircase, she came face-to-face with E. J.
E. J. stared at her, wide-eyed, for the briefest instant before Jinx ran down the stairs and out the front door.
CHAPTER FOUR
E. J. pulled her Lexus into the dirt parking area outside Bella’s Bar and eased it to a stop beside a tricked-out Chevy truck. The lot was much fuller than it had been two weeks earlier, on the night she had met Jinx, but that had been a Thursday. This was a Friday, and although it was still early, the place seemed to be heading into full swing. E. J. had found it on Yelp, and it was the kind of small dive she liked going to occasionally. While the bigger, glitzier gay bars had their appeal, she enjoyed a more casual atmosphere if she just wanted to unwind. Places like this reminded E. J. of the bar and grill her grandparents owned when she was growing up—minus the gays and lesbians, of course—where she had spent many summer days and after school hours rolling coins and playing pool. When she had first walked into Bella’s, she hadn’t expected to meet anyone, but tonight, she was specifically looking for Jinx.
Since the wedding, she hadn’t been able to get her out of her mind, hadn’t been able to shake those horrible things she had heard Andrea yelling at her, or let go of the pain in Jinx’s eyes as she had passed her at the top of the stairs. She wanted to make sure Jinx was all right. And then there were the memories of the night they had spent together she couldn’t shake either. So, when she had finished her workweek two weeks later already two hours from home, she’d convinced herself the additional two-and-a-half-hour drive in the opposite direction from her condo in Sacramento made perfect sense. She had already been on the road for three days, what was one more night? Besides, the traffic would be lighter in the morning. With that, it had been decided. She would see if she could find Jinx again, and Bella’s was the only place she knew to look.
She turned off the engine and watched two women, one in heels and a tight, short dress, the other in biker boots and black leather, walk arm-in-arm toward the entrance. She scanned the parking lot, trying to remember what kind of car Jinx had been driving, but she hadn’t paid much attention when they had left. She’d had other things on her mind.
When she stepped into the bar, she paid her cover charge and surveyed the mixed crowd. The beat of Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation” pounded in the air. There was no sign of Jinx. E. J. wondered if she would recogn
ize anyone Jinx had been with that night. She took a quick second appraisal of the room but saw no one who looked remotely familiar. Even the bartender was different. She sighed. Pointless. I’ll just grab a drink and then turn in.
Two hours later, after declining a number of invitations to dance and one offer to rock her world, she noticed a couple making their way between the tables toward the back corner, where a group of friends had been playing pool and partying all evening. A thin bottle blonde hung on a larger woman in jeans and a denim jacket, her arm around her thick waist and her hand shoved into her back pocket. The group in the corner applauded as the couple approached.
E. J. studied the bigger woman. She thought she recognized her. Damn. She wished she had paid more attention, but she hadn’t noticed anyone other than Jinx that night. She ordered a club soda and continued to study the big woman as she grabbed a pool cue and began to play. Finally, something clicked. E. J. didn’t know what—the flash of a grin, the brush of a hand over her short cropped hair, maybe just the tilt of her head—but something. Was she the one Jinx had stopped and spoken to on the way out? After another twenty minutes or so of dividing her attention between the woman and the door, E. J. made her way across the bar. What do I have to lose? At worst, she might look like a fool to someone she would never see again, but at best, she might get some information about Jinx. Just as she reached the pool table, the bottle blonde stepped in front of her.
Her eyes were as hard as her stance. “Hold on there, sweet cheeks. This mama’s taken.” She wrapped an arm possessively around the larger woman’s waist.
E. J. stopped short. “Excuse me?” She wasn’t sure she had heard correctly over the Bonnie Raitt song playing on the jukebox.
“You’ve been checking out my woman all night. I’ve been watching you.” She pressed a hip into her date’s. “Back off.”
Suddenly understanding the misunderstanding, E. J. flushed. “Oh. No. It’s not what you think.”
The other woman turned and arched an eyebrow at E. J., then grinned. She leaned on her pool cue and gave bottle blonde a tender smile. “Easy, sweet pea.” She returned her attention to E. J. “This pretty lady isn’t here for me. She’s here for Jinx.”
“Jinx?” Bottle-blonde-sweet-pea eyed E. J. suspiciously. “What do you want with our Jinxie?”
This wasn’t going at all the way E. J. had hoped. Who was this woman? “I just want to talk to her. Do you know where she lives?”
“Yeah,” bottle blonde said with a scoff. “She lives on Nofriggin Way.”
The big woman chuckled. “I’m Reggie,” she said in a friendly tone. She extended her hand.
E. J. exhaled in relief and shook it. “My name’s E. J.—”
“I know who you are,” Reggie said. She turned to bottle blonde. “Sweet pea, this is the lady Jinx left with a couple weeks ago, that night you went to your sister’s.”
“Really?” She looked E. J. over again, this time with curiosity.
“This is my wife, Sparkle,” Reggie said.
Sparkle? Who names their baby Sparkle? “It’s nice to meet you,” E. J. said, wanting to get past all this so she could find out about Jinx.
“What do you want to talk to her about?” Sparkle asked. Her manner lightened, but she remained an obvious force to be reckoned with.
“I’m sure that’s private,” Reggie said before E. J. had to come up with an answer.
It gave her the opportunity to change the subject. “Do you know if she’s coming in tonight? I came here looking for her in hopes that maybe she hangs out here.”
“Hangs out here? Jinxie?” Sparkle snorted. “Honey, you might’ve gone home with her, but you didn’t learn squat about her, did you?”
E. J. glanced at Sparkle but kept her attention on Reggie. She was obviously the better bet. “Do you know how I can reach her?”
Reggie studied her for a long moment, then pulled a cell phone from the breast pocket of her jeans jacket. She tapped the screen. Several seconds later, she moved away and spoke into the phone. The music drowned out her words.
E. J. turned to find Sparkle staring at her with an inquisitive expression.
“You look a little fancy for a place like this,” Sparkle said, sounding not quite conversational. “In fact, you look a little fancy for this end of town at all.”
E. J. remembered her tan linen slacks and black, short-sleeved shell she had put on that morning. The outfit was enhanced by a necklace of three graduated length strands of two-toned gold, decorated with clear crystals. Matching studs adorned her ears. She hadn’t considered a need to blend in, and suddenly wished she’d stopped to change. “I came straight from work,” she said. She glanced at Reggie’s back.
“What brought you here? Slumming it tonight?” Sparkle asked. “Had a good roll with Jinxie a couple weeks ago and thought you’d come back for more?”
E. J.’s temper flared. Who did this woman think she was? “Look, you don’t know me. You have no—”
Reggie stepped up beside Sparkle and eased an arm around her shoulders. “I apologize for my wife,” she said.
Sparkle slapped her hand. “I don’t need apologizing for.”
Reggie smiled at her. “Sometimes you do, sweet pea.” She kissed Sparkle’s forehead. “E. J.’s a friend of Jinx’s.” She looked into Sparkle’s eyes. The sentence was simple, but a deeper communication seemed to pass between them.
Sparkle turned back to E. J. “I’m sorry if I was rude.” Her tone lacked sincerity.
“She’s protective of Jinx,” Reggie said with a gentle smile. “We both are.” Her gaze was soft, but it still held the slightest hint of a warning.
E. J. nodded. Understood. She was glad Jinx had these two in her life, especially after seeing the way Andrea had treated her.
“She’ll be here in about fifteen minutes.”
E. J. smiled. “Thank you.” Relief ran through her, and she relaxed slightly. She had found her. And she wants to see me. The thought awakened butterflies in her stomach.
“You want to join us while you wait?” Reggie asked.
E. J. looked at the group who had been watching the entire exchange. Are they all Jinx’s friends? She turned back to Reggie. “I haven’t played pool in a while,” she said with a bit of a challenge. “Care to wager?”
Reggie grinned. “Rack ’em,” she called out. “The lady wants to play.”
When E. J. lined up her final shot and banked the eight ball into the corner pocket, a cheer went up.
Reggie laughed. “I think I got hustled,” she said as she handed E. J. the two twenties from the side of the table.
“What’s that they say?” E. J. teased her. “If you can’t find the one being hustled in the pool room, it’s you.” She fanned herself with the bills and batted her eyes.
“I demand a rematch,” Reggie said. “Soon.”
E. J. laughed and turned to find Jinx watching her from where she leaned against the wall, thumbs hooked in the front pockets of her blue jeans, a tight black T-shirt giving her a bit of a bad-girl look. A rush of desire flooded E. J. How long had Jinx been there?
Jinx winked and pushed away from the wall. “You’d better watch out,” she said as she approached. “You’ll end up a regular here if you’re not careful.”
E. J. tucked her money into the pocket of her slacks. “How are you?” she asked over the opening bars of a country song. She wanted to slip her arms around Jinx’s neck but stopped herself.
A tall butch slapped Jinx on the back as she passed and murmured something in her ear.
Jinx blushed and ignored her. “Can I buy you a drink?”
E. J. became aware of the number of women monitoring them. Her cheeks warmed under the scrutiny. “You know what? I’ve been here quite a while and don’t think I need any more to drink, but I’m hungry. Have you eaten? Would you like to get some dinner?”
Jinx hesitated.
In the brief interval, E. J. lost herself in those vibrant blue eyes she had see
n every time she had closed her own for the past couple of weeks. She struggled to keep from kissing her.
Finally, Jinx nodded.
As they started toward the door, hoots and woo-hoos went up from the group behind them. Jinx laughed and threw a wave in their direction. When they stepped out into the evening air, her face shone an even brighter red than before. “Sorry about that,” she said with a shy smile.
“Do you know everybody in there?”
“No, I’ve met a lot of them through Reggie and Sparkle, but I don’t really know many.” Jinx paused. “What sounds good to eat?”
E. J.’s mind went blank. “I don’t know.” She hadn’t thought past finding Jinx, but she couldn’t say that.
“Are you in the same hotel? We can get something nearby.”
“No,” E. J. said. She had forgotten she hadn’t found a room yet. Her assistant always handled that in advance, but this had been so spur of the moment.
“Are you staying with your son?”
“No.” She hadn’t thought about Jacob either. “He doesn’t know I’m—” She cut herself off. God, what had she been about to say? Had she really been about to admit she had come only to see if, by chance, she could run into Jinx again? She would have to admit that eventually, though, wouldn’t she? Unless…Maybe they could just grab something to eat, E. J. could casually bring up the scene at the wedding in conversation, and then they would go their separate ways. That wasn’t what E. J. wanted, though. Yes, she wanted to make sure Jinx was okay, but she also wanted to spend time with her, to touch her, to share another night like the one they’d had before.
Jinx waited expectantly.
“I—” Then something came to her. Thank God. The silence was awkward. “Jacob and Tiffany are still on their honeymoon.” The words came out too quickly.
Jinx didn’t seem to notice. “Where are you staying, then?”
“I haven’t gotten a room, yet. I’ll find one after dinner. I’m starving.”
Jinx frowned. “I don’t know that you’ll find one,” she said as she took E. J.’s hand and eased her away from the doorway to let a couple enter the bar. “There’s a car show and big race out at the track this weekend. The news said everything’s booked.” She still held E. J.’s fingers.
Embracing the Dawn Page 4
