by Radclyffe
Honor regarded Phyllis suspiciously. “You never oversleep. Are you sure you’re feeling all right?” Now that she looked carefully, Honor noticed that Phyllis had an unusual amount of color in her face that morning. She appeared flushed. “Cough? Sore throat?”
“There’s no need to worry, Dr. Blake,” Phyllis said with a laugh. “I had a late evening and just forgot to set my alarm.”
“Okay,” Honor relented. “If you’re certain that’s all it is.”
Phyllis reached across the space between them and fondly squeezed Honor’s hand. “I saw Quinn arrive when I was leaving last night. Every time I see her, I like her more.”
“So do I.”
“Arly’s already more than half in love with her.”
I think I might be, too.
As if hearing the unspoken words, Phyllis turned to look into Honor’s eyes. “You certainly don’t need my permission, nor would I presume to give it. But that young woman has a great deal of feeling for you, and it’s a pleasure to see.”
Caught off guard, Honor stared at her hands, linking her fingers and resting them in her lap. “She spent the night here last night.” She raised her head, met Phyllis’s kind gaze. “I haven’t wanted...to be with anyone since Terry.”
“Then she must be as special as I imagined.”
Honor colored, still shaken by the furor of emotions that Quinn stirred in her. “She’s very special.”
“When are you going to tell Arly?”
“Tell her what?” Honor’s voice rose in surprise.
“That you and Quinn care for one another.”
“Oh, it’s far too soon for that.” Honor’s words came out in a rush. “We haven’t known each other all that long and we’ve only had a few dates and Quinn could decide that she doesn’t want a ready-made family and I’m not even certain that I want anything serio—”
“I wasn’t suggesting you tell her that you and Quinn are getting married,” Phyllis chided with a laugh. “But you might want to tell her that you and Quinn are special friends and that sometimes Quinn might stay for a sleepover.”
Honor tried out the word. “A sleepover.” She closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “God. I didn’t expect this kind of complication.”
“It seems that more often than not, we never do.” Phyllis smiled a secret smile, recalling her own evening. “Do you want me to talk to her?”
“No, I will. I just thought I’d have more time to see...to see about Quinn.”
“You know how bright that child is, and she sees everything. It will be easier for her to accept the changes in your life if you let her be a part of whatever happens with you and Quinn.”
“I don’t know that anything’s going to change,” Honor protested.
“Oh, Honor,” Phyllis said tenderly, “it already has.”
Before Honor could reply, Arly gave an excited shout. “Quinn!”
“Hey!” Quinn called back. When the child and dog came racing toward her, Quinn knelt down, caught the dog’s collar in one hand to forestall a wet tongue in the face, and held out a small yellow rectangular object to Arly with the other. “This is for you for when we go to the zoo today.”
“Wow! Thanks!” Arly took the present and then streaked across the yard and up the stairs to her mother. “Look, Mom. Quinn gave me a camera.”
Dutifully, Honor made appreciative noises over the disposable automatic camera. “That’s terrific, honey. Why don’t you go get cleaned up, and we’ll leave in a few minutes.”
“Okay.” After retrieving the gift from her mother, Arly ran into the house.
Honor’s pulse raced alarmingly as she observed Quinn, who now leaned against the porch post, a happy grin on her face. She looked casually attractive in a navy blue T-shirt, new jeans, and old Nikes. It was hard for Honor to believe that they’d only been apart a few hours, because the only thing that she wanted to do was pull the shirt from Quinn’s jeans and run her hands over the hot, smooth skin beneath. God, I’m regressing. I don’t think I was this bad when I first discovered sex.
“Thank you,” Honor said abruptly, struggling to keep her feelings from showing on her face.
“My pleasure. Hi, Phyllis.” Quinn hooked her thumbs in her pockets, wondering if Honor really thought she hadn’t noticed the way Honor’s eyes had traveled over her body. She liked being looked at that way, as long as it was Honor who was doing the looking. It gave her a nice warm feeling, a trickle of arousal in her stomach that wasn’t quite enough to make her crazy, but left her feeling unmistakably alive.
“Good morning.” Phyllis rose, cup in hand. “It’s nice to see you again so soon.”
“Thanks. You, too.” Quinn grinned. “Did you have a nice evening?”
“Very fine indeed,” Phyllis said primly. She patted Quinn’s cheek on her way into the house. “And I don’t intend to ask how yours was.”
Honor looked after her mother-in-law and then raised mildly accusing eyes to Quinn. “Don’t tell me you two have been discussing our sex life.”
Quinn took one quick glance into the kitchen to see that they were alone and then leaned down to kiss Honor on the mouth. “Nope. Just Phyllis’s.”
“Is everyone in my family falling in love with you?” The words were out before Honor realized it. Embarrassed, she hurried to take them back. “Quinn, I didn’t mea—”
“No, don’t say anything else.” Quinn kissed her again. “It sounded nice just the way it was.”
Honor didn’t argue, because it had felt good to say it. She stood and brushed her fingers over Quinn’s chest. “I’m going to collect my daughter. Then let’s go play with the animals.”
“Why don’t you ask Phyllis to come with us?” Quinn called after her.
“I will,” Honor answered from the kitchen, touched that Quinn would suggest it. Falling in love. Is that what this feeling is? Of wanting to be with her, touch her, know her? How is it that I don’t know? That I don’t remember?
When she found Phyllis and extended the invitation to join them, her mother-in-law thanked her, but said that she intended to do nothing but sit with her feet up all day and read. Then Arly came running downstairs, her new camera in her hand and an enormous smile on her face.
“I’m ready, Mom. Are we going now?”
The swift surge of love was nearly overpowering, and Honor could only nod and smile. Love, it seemed—that critical connection that defied logic or definition—came in so many forms, none less essential than the others, only different. She took her daughter’s hand and walked out onto the porch, extending her other hand to Quinn. “We’re ready for our adventure.”
Quinn linked her fingers with Honor’s. “So am I.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Honor jumped as the beeper on her waistband vibrated. She glanced at the readout and grimaced.
“Quinn, can you keep an eye on Arly while I find a phone to answer this page? It’s the ER.”
Quinn turned away from the spectacle of cavorting sea lions, taking in Honor’s slight frown of irritation. “I thought you were off today. I don’t even have my cell phone.”
“I’m supposed to be off, so I left my cell in the car.” Honor shrugged in resignation. “It’s probably just some administrative issue and they need me to confirm the official party line. I’ll only be a few minutes.”
“No problem. We’re headed to the monkey house next,” Quinn replied. “We’ll wait for you there.”
Since arriving at the zoo, Quinn and Arly had been busy studying the pictorial map in the color brochure that came with the price of admission and plotting their course around the enclosure. Honor was amused to discover that her daughter and Quinn shared a very strong sense of order and a love for structure. Left to her own devices, Honor would have wandered in whatever direction her interest led. However, it had rapidly become clear that with Arly and Quinn in charge, this was to be a very systematic safari.
“Yeah, Mom,” Arly announced excitedly. “We’re going to take pict
ures of them when they’re outside in their...natural habitat.” She glanced at Quinn, who gave her a thumbs-up of approval for remembering the new term.
“That’s great, honey. I’ll be right back.” Honor fixed them both with a mock-stern look. “And don’t get into trouble.”
The angelic blond child and the devilishly good-looking dark-haired, blue-eyed woman both grinned, and Honor’s heart melted. Unfortunately, she looked at Quinn for just a second too long, and a few other parts of her anatomy grew disturbingly warm. She left in search of a phone before she could become any more distracted.
It was closer to fifteen minutes before Honor made her way back through the heavy throngs of visitors toward the screened-in expanse of tall grass, trees, and man-made climbing devices that composed the outdoor extension of the monkey house. Her daughter and Quinn were nowhere in sight. With just the slightest sense of unease, she turned slowly, scanning the people lined up along the railing that separated the paved pathway from the animal habitat. Then she heard, above the cacophony of the crowd, the sound of one child laughing. Unerringly, she pivoted toward the voice, and her gaze fell directly on Arly and Quinn.
Arly stood on the bottom rung of the metal railing that edged the moat surrounding the monkey house. She leaned as far over the railing as she possibly could with her camera at eye level, a posture which, Honor was certain, was frowned upon by zoo officials. Ordinarily, she would have been too anxious to allow Arly to climb up on the barrier. However, Quinn stood immediately beside Arly with her fingers curled around the waistband at the back of the child’s shorts. Honor had not the slightest doubt that Quinn would keep Arly safe.
As she watched, she saw Quinn point to two monkeys frolicking on a wooden scaffolding and caught a glimpse of Arly’s thrilled expression as she aimed her new camera toward them. The sight of her daughter’s pleasure and the easy, tender way that Quinn related to her brought Honor a surge of joy. Smiling, she joined them and rested her hand in the center of Quinn’s back, stroking gently up and down.
“Hi,” Honor said softly.
“Everything okay?”
“Mmm. Just an insurance snafu with an ER transfer.” She kept her hand lightly resting on the small of Quinn’s back. “You two look like you’re having fun.”
“We are.” Quinn continued her hold on Arly and, while the child was occupied taking another picture, leaned over and kissed Honor quickly. “Missed you.”
Honor’s lips parted in surprise and pleasure. Her stomach did a quick roll and she suddenly felt far more than warm. Quinn’s muscles tightened beneath Honor’s fingers and she saw her blue eyes darken with desire. That was all it took. She wanted to jump her. “God.”
Quinn raised an eyebrow, laughter and arousal warring in her expression. “Are you talking to me?”
“Definitely not.” Laughing, Honor wrapped her arm around Quinn’s waist and leaned into her. “What’s next, Captain Quinn?”
Grinning, Quinn turned to Arly. “Where to, navigator?”
Arly finally looked away from the primate enclosure. “What’s a navigator?”
“The person who’s in charge of directions,” Quinn explained.
“Where’s the map?”
Quinn retrieved it from her back pocket and held it out. Arly climbed down from the railing and studied it, then looked around. With a frown that was a replica of her mother’s, she held out the map to Honor.
“I can’t tell where I am.”
Honor knelt down and looked at the simplistic diagram of the zoo. She pointed to an image that was presumably the monkey house.
“This is where we are. See? There are the monkeys.” She drew her finger to another image. “What about this?”
“It’s a lion.” Arly turned in a circle and gestured triumphantly toward the stone statue to their right. “There! Right?”
“Very good.” Honor stood and handed the map back to Quinn. With a salute, she declared exuberantly, “To the lion house.”
Quinn was about to reply when Arly slid a small hand into hers. She glanced down to see that the child had taken Honor’s hand, too, linking the three of them. It seemed so completely natural and right that for an instant, Quinn had the sensation of always having been with them. Then, just as quickly, she realized that had fate and circumstance been less fickle, less cruel, someone else would have been standing there with the woman she loved and her child. She experienced a sudden surge of sadness, but it was quickly replaced by the certain knowledge that the past, with all its tragedy and heartbreak, was truly behind them. Fate, it appeared, was not fixed, but fluid, and Honor and Arly were her destiny. She knew it as certainly as she had ever known anything, to the depths of her soul.
“Lead on.” Voice husky, Quinn smiled into Honor’s eyes and was rewarded by a long sultry look that was both tender and hungry. “I’ll follow.”
“For a little while.” Honor let her eyes drift down over Quinn’s body and then slowly rise once again to meet her gaze. She was pleased to see the flicker of arousal in Quinn’s eyes. “I like it—sometimes—when you’re in charge.”
Quinn’s stomach clenched. Sweet Jesus.
Arly tugged their hands and forged ahead, dragging the adults behind her. “Come on. We don’t want to miss anything.”
Laughing, Honor and Quinn hurried to keep up.
“Quinn?” Arly asked. “Can you stay and read with me after my bath?”
After the zoo, they’d had an impromptu barbecue in Honor’s backyard, just the three of them and a happy Pooch, who had had his fill of dropped morsels. Now it was nearing nine, and Honor had just announced that it was time for Arly to get ready for bed. Quinn looked questioningly over Arly’s head to Honor.
Smiling, Honor nodded.
“Sure,” Quinn replied. “I’ll pick up down here while you go with your mom.”
When Quinn had covered the grill, carried in the dishes, and stowed away the condiments, she went upstairs to Arly’s room. A pajama-clad Arly sat up in bed, the covers drawn up to her waist and an enormous book propped on her knees.
“Harry Potter, huh?” Quinn remarked as she crossed to the bed.
Honor stuck her head in the door. “Don’t make her read the entire thing tonight, okay, honey?”
“Mom.” Arly giggled. “It’s hundreds and hundreds of pages.”
“Well then, no more than half.” Honor gave Quinn an amused look. “If you can handle the storytelling duties, I’m going to take care of a few things downstairs.”
Quinn kicked off her Nikes, propped a pillow against the headboard, and settled onto the bed next to Arly. “You go ahead. We’re fine.”
Honor was ambushed by a sudden swell of affection and blinked away an unexpected wash of tears. The picture before her was not the one she had imagined night after night, standing alone in this doorway. It was not the picture she had longed for, ached for, wept for. To her astonishment and confusion, she felt nothing but happiness now. Unable to speak, she merely nodded and slipped away.
“Okay,” Quinn said briskly. “What’s the drill here?”
Arly gave her a perplexed look. “You’re supposed to read the story to me.”
“How come you’re not going to read it to me?”
“Because some of it is too hard for me.” Arly’s tone suggested that Quinn should know that.
“Oh. Okay.” Quinn leaned closer and held one side of the book open as Arly held the other and began to read.
“Quinn,” Arly interrupted after a few minutes.
“Huh?” Quinn had quickly become engrossed in the story.
“Do you like my mom a lot?”
Uh-oh. Quinn stiffened. “Yes, I do.”
“Do you like my mom like Linda and Robin like each other?”
Oh, man. Where’s Honor? Quinn cleared her throat, cursing herself for not having seen this coming. “I don’t know. How do you mean?”
Arly closed the book and shifted on the bed to regard Quinn seriously. “Linda and Robin like e
ach other more than anybody else in the world, and that’s why they live together.”
“Well, I like your mom more than anybody else. And you, too.” Honesty seemed the only course, and Quinn desperately hoped it was the correct one. She took a long breath. “But living together is very special, and it’s something that you have to think about very hard before you do it.”
“Are you thinking about it?”
God, she’s single-minded. She’s going to be a surgeon some day. Or president. Quinn forced herself not to fidget. “Well, right now, your mom and I are just finding out if we like each other the way Linda and Robin do.”
“Oh,” Arly replied, sounding sleepy. “When will you know?”
“Don’t worry.” Smiling, Quinn rescued the book from where it was about to fall onto the floor and eased to the side of the bed. She tucked the covers around Arly and leaned over to kiss her on the forehead. “We’ll let you know first thing.”
As Quinn moved quietly toward the door, Honor appeared outside in the hall.
“Everything okay?”
Quinn hurriedly took Honor’s arm and led her further down the hall.
“She’s asleep.” Quinn leaned against the wall. “She asked me about us.”
Honor struggled not to smile at the hint of panic in Quinn’s voice. She’d rarely seen Quinn show nerves over anything. “What about us?”
“If we liked each other.” Quinn’s voice was a desperate whisper. “You know. Like liked.”
“What did you tell her?” Honor bit her bottom lip, but the laugh was about to erupt despite her best attempts to contain it. Quinn looked adorably flummoxed.
Quinn ran a hand through her hair. She felt like pulling it out. “I told her I liked you a lot but that we’re not ready to live together yet.”
“Live together?” Honor’s voice rose along with her eyebrows. “That’s a leap.”
“You had to have been there.”
“I’m sure.” Honor took Quinn’s hand and drew her to the door of her bedroom. “So, you wanna have a sleepover?”
“I do, except...” Desire leapt like a living thing into Quinn’s throat. “I’m not really tired yet.”
