by KG MacGregor
"Hi, Emmy. It’s nice to meet you."
"Yeah, same here…You look familiar."
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"Probably the wanted poster in the post office."
Emmy smiled, but her mind was stuck on placing this new person.
"Carly has a very fascinating job that takes her all over the world. She hasn’t spent much time in Leland since we all went off to college."
The girl’s face lit up. "Now I remember you. You delivered our washer…the Sharpe house on Lakeside, about two weeks ago."
Carly nodded. "That’s right. Good eye." She was careful not to admit that she recognized Emmy too from that day, or she’d probably have to explain why.
"That is a really fascinating job. Do you deliver washers all over the world?"
Carly smirked. She appreciated a smart aleck. "Well, we don’t just do washers. We do other appliances too, and sometimes bedding."
Justine sighed, not grasping that her daughter and friend were on the same playful wavelength. "That’s not her job, silly. She just helps out with deliveries when she’s in town because her family owns Griffin Home Furnishings."
"I was kidding, Mom."
Justine saw Carly’s twinkling eyes and realized that her friend was teasing as well.
"Oh…well, since you two are already such good friends, you’ll excuse me to get dinner on the table."
"Do you need any help?" Carly and Emmy offered their services in tandem.
Justine had set the dining room table for herself and Carly. "Emmy, set another place for yourself, and–"
"Why don’t we eat in the kitchen?" the teenager said as she passed the dining room. "It’s so formal in here."
"Because we have company."
"Carly won’t mind. It’s…friendlier."
"She’s right. And that way, Emmy won’t have to carry things so far when she cleans up the kitchen." The blonde woman grabbed the teenager’s shirt as she went by and pulled her backward, stepping in front to lead the way into the kitchen.
"And we should use the everyday dishes, because Carly’s not used to eating off the nice stuff."
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Justine whirled around and looked at the two as if they were from Mars. Both stopped dead in their tracks and pasted sweet smiles on their faces, batting their eyelashes innocently. "Emmy, set the table. Carly, open the wine." She watched as her daughter’s eyebrows arched. "Two glasses." Eyebrows down.
Dinner was a continuation of the playful exchange, but Carly and Emmy soon allied in making Justine the object of their mischief. She didn’t care, though. She was delighted to see two of her favorite people clearly enjoying one another. The three joined forces to load the dishwasher and retreated to the den, where Carly answered a barrage of questions about all the places where she’d lived and worked.
"Mom, is it all right with you if I stay the night?"
Justine was surprised by the request, but pleasantly so. "Of course. You’re always welcome to stay here, honey. This is your home too." Emmy was lounging on the couch again, her head in her mother’s lap. Justine trailed her fingers through her daughter’s hair.
"But you should go call your father and tell him." She nudged her to sit up. "Go on. It’s getting late."
When she’d first planned this night, Justine hoped to have the chance to talk to Carly about how she was feeling. Instead, they had enjoyed a relaxing evening with Emmy, and after the first few minutes, there wasn’t even any anxiety about what her daughter might think about her mom having a friend over for dinner.
"I should head on home. We have a couple of refrigerators to drop off in Bangkok tomorrow…and we need to beat the traffic."
"You think you’re so funny." Emmy swatted at the blonde woman as she walked by.
"Let me know if you want to drop out of school or anything. I can get you work riding on the truck."
"Don’t encourage her," Justine chided, standing up to walk Carly to the door. Emmy disappeared into the kitchen to make her call as they stopped in the foyer for Carly’s coat.
"You were great with Emmy tonight."
"She’s a good kid, Justine. I can see why you’re so proud of her."
"Thank you. Thank you for everything." Justine leaned in to plant a quick kiss on Carly’s cheek.
Carly smiled and squeezed her hand. "Thanks for dinner. I’ll see you soon…I hope."
"Definitely." Definitely.
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Chapter 15
"But we still haven’t had a chance to talk about anything, so I don’t know where it’s all going to go." Justine couldn’t suppress the smile as she told Valerie about her week. Her night out with Carly at the club was a major event, and the dinner on Saturday night with her daughter and friend had left her feeling on top of the world.
Valerie was pleased…proud, in fact. After three years of sessions, Justine Hall was suddenly knocking down one wall after another, thanks to her emerging feelings for Carly Griffin. There was still Trey, and Justine would undoubtedly face a few problems eventually when the kids had to deal with the issue of their mother’s sexuality. Heck, teenagers didn’t want to confront things like that even if their parents were straight. But Justine was a lot stronger than she’d been three years ago, and her children were older and more mature.
"Where do you want it to go, Justine?"
"I…I think I’d like to…well, I know I’d like to…"
"Explore the sexual part?"
"Definitely that." She nodded quickly and blushed, not looking up. But I’ve been thinking about…more than that."
Valerie chewed her pencil and waited.
"I’ve been wondering about…the possibility of having…a real relationship with Carly.
But she’s only going to be here another few weeks, so I’m not sure if it’s realistic to even think about something like that."
"Are you looking to experiment here…try things out maybe?"
Justine blew out a breath of mild frustration. "I’m not…really…This isn’t about wanting to try something anymore. I think I might be falling in love with Carly."
Unconsciously, the therapist pushed against the floor with her toe, causing her chair to rock softly.
"You’re surprised." Justine read her perfectly.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because you always start to rock whenever I say something you didn’t expect."
Valerie rested her foot on the floor, bringing the chair to an abrupt halt. "Always?"
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"Pretty much." She could see the concern this revelation brought, and gave a reassuring smile, not unlike the thousands Valerie had given her through the course of her therapy.
"It doesn’t bother me. If anything, it’s nice to know that I can still shake you up after all this time."
The therapist shook her head to dismiss the thought. She would have to squelch that habit. "How do you feel about falling in love, Justine?"
"Like everybody else, I guess. There’s no other feeling like it. I just…want to be with her all the time, day and night. I want to know everything there is to know about her. And I want her to feel the same way about me."
Valerie folded her tablet and set it on the table with her pencil. "You know, over these last couple of weeks…," since you first ran into Carly, "I’ve started to notice some changes in you, Justine… good changes. I get a sense that the things you’re experiencing now are significant…and that they’ll affect you for a long time…."
"There’s a but, isn’t there?"
"Yes, I’m afraid so. I’m not telling you that you should slam on the brakes or try to control your feelings in any way…but I want you to be cautious. I think it would be unwise to rush into anything without thinking it through. Do you understand what I’m saying?"
Justine nodded. "I don’t even know if she feels the same way."
"If you and Carly keep spending time together, I’m sure you’ll find out eventually."
"Let’s just hope it’s what I want to hear."
"I hope it is too. But if it isn’t, I want you to keep something in mind, okay? You are a strong person. You’ve been through a lot these last few years, and you’ve pulled out of it.
No matter what she says, or what she feels, it isn’t going to change the strong person you are."
The redhead nodded grimly. She didn’t want to think much about Carly not returning her feelings. "She came with me today…if you want to meet her."
"She’s been outside all this time?" Valerie’s office was over her garage in a residential neighborhood. If Carly was waiting in the car, she was probably freezing!
"No, she needed to run over to the mall and pick up some presents. We talked last night–
that’s become our new thing, talking on the phone late at night–and she said she needed to make one more shopping trip, so we came together and we’re supposed to go somewhere nice for dinner."
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"Justine…I don’t know how to break this to you, but…it sounds to me like Carly feels the same way."
The redhead let a hopeful smile escape.
By now, the therapist was intrigued enough to accept the invitation. "Do you think she’s out there now?"
Justine looked at her watch. "Probably. I told her to be back at seven-thirty."
"Well, let’s go."
The two stood up and put on their coats. The temperature had been up and down over the last week; right now, it was below freezing and threatening to snow.
"There she is." Justine spotted the rental car at the curb. When they reached it, she opened the passenger door and leaned in. "You wanna meet Valerie?"
"Sure." Carly hopped out and came around.
The counselor reached from her pocket to shake Carly’s gloved hand. "Valerie Thomas.
It’s really nice to meet you."
"Carly Griffin. Nice to meet you too."
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Justine asked.
"Sure did. My Christmas shopping is officially finished."
"I envy you," Valerie interjected. "Justine, I hope you have a really nice holiday. Thank you very much for the leather folder. I’ll probably be using that when you come back after the New Year."
Without reservation, Justine enveloped her therapist in a strong hug. "Merry Christmas, Valerie."
"You too, Justine."
Carly held the door while the redhead got in and got settled. When the door clicked shut, she turned back to Valerie and extended her hand once again, this time removing her glove. With her back to Justine, she mouthed a silent "thank you", bringing a knowing smile to the therapist’s face.
Oh, yeah, Justine. I’d say Carly probably feels the same way.
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**********
"I’ll get dinner this time because you got it the other night," Justine announced as they opened their menus.
"Nope. You cooked on Saturday, so it’s my turn again; and when it’s my turn, we go out.
Believe me, you don’t want to be forced to eat my cooking."
"I’m sure you’re not that bad."
"You’d be surprised. In all the places I’ve lived, the only time I had a real kitchen was with Isabel, and she was the cook. All the rest of the time, I made do with a hot plate or eating out."
"Then maybe we shouldn’t eat out so much. We should have gone back to my house so you could have another home-cooked meal." And a fireplace…and pillows on the floor.
After talking about it with Valerie, Justine was emboldened to push forward and find out if Carly shared her feelings.
"I like going out with you." The blonde said it casually, without even looking up from her menu. "I’m used to eating alone. It’s nice to have company for a change."
Justine tried not to show her disappointment at Carly’s remark. "Well, I hope I’m good company." And not just a warm body sitting across the table.
"I’m sorry…I didn’t mean that the way it came out." Carly dropped her menu and gave her friend a warm look. "What I meant to say was–"
"Chardonnay?"
Arghhhh! "That’s mine."
The waiter deposited their drinks and took their order, but by the time he left, the personal tenet of their conversation was lost.
Carly didn’t want to say what she was really thinking–that she would rather be out with Justine Hall than with any other person in the world. That would just lead to an uncomfortable moment for both of them. "I like this place. It’s elegant, but it’s also kind of relaxed."
Justine, on the other hand, was dying to hear what exactly Carly had meant to say, but when it was clear that her friend had moved on, she decided instead to go ahead and say what she had rehearsed at home. Unknowingly, Carly had just provided the perfect segue.
Here goes. "I find it easy to be relaxed when I’m with you, Carly."
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That brought a smile to the blonde woman’s face. "Me too. I guess it’s easier to loosen up when we’re not in Leland. I remember one time when Isabel and I went to Buenos Aires.
All the restaurants and clubs were so festive…a couple of women in love just faded into the background. It was nice to be able to relax and not worry who was going to walk in and see us holding hands or whatever."
Isabel.
"It was just the opposite in Shanghai, though. Alison and I had to be careful all the time. I remember once when we…."
Alison. If one wanted to kill all hope for a romantic moment, trotting out the old girlfriends would do the trick.
**********
Carly peered at the lighted porches, looking for 415 Hinkle Lane. She was pretty sure she remembered which house belonged to Rich Cortner, but the neighborhood had changed a lot in twenty-five years. The number above the door confirmed that her memory was correct and she pulled into the driveway behind a battered pickup truck and a brand new Mini Cooper with Massachusetts plates.
The front door opened and Daniel came out to wave her in. Taking her coat, he explained,
"Dinner’s ready. Rich is upstairs putting his dad to bed."
"How is he?"
"Not good. We’ve had the hospice people in this week. They did an evaluation, and told us it wouldn’t be long…maybe a couple of weeks or so."
That would be after Christmas; but Carly hated to think about someone losing a loved one during the holidays. "I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do?"
"I don’t think so. It means a lot to Rich to have you come over."
Just then, the artist rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs and headed into the kitchen. Carly recognized him easily, though he’d filled out from the skinny boy he’d been in school. He had been cute back then, but as a grown man, he was incredibly handsome.
"Carly, it’s good to see you again."
"You too, Rich."
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The two shared a light hug and got reacquainted while Daniel put the finishing touches on their dinner.
"Daniel says you’ve been a lifesaver down at the shop." Carly had helped out every morning this week, coming in at eight and staying until ten.
"You know, I’m having fun. Everybody’s really nice…once they get their coffee, that is.
Some of them can be pretty grumpy before that."
Rich laughed. "Yeah, that’s what Daniel says."
"Listen, I’m really sorry about your dad."
"Thanks. He’s not really aware of much anymore. And he’s not in any pain…at least not right now."
"That’s good."
"You know, when I left Leland, I swore I’d never be back. But it’s been pretty nice to be here after all that time away."
"Really? I felt that way about it too when I left, but it’s al
ways good to come home and spend some time with my folks."
Daniel brought in the plates and the three of them took their places at the dining room table.
"I was expecting things to be like always, but it’s changed. The jobs are good and people are prosperous. They have parks and a community center, an adult theater group." Rich saw his guest’s eyebrows go up. "Not that kind of adult theater."
They all laughed.
"But it’s still kind of conservative," she added.
"Yeah, but so is the rest of Kentucky…and a lot of other places. But it doesn’t feel so…oppressive anymore. Have you been to the drug store downtown?"
Carly shook her head.
"There’s a gay flag sticker in the window, right there beside the one for United Way."
"You lie."
"Seriously. I couldn’t believe it," Daniel added. "I’m going to put one in my window too."
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"You’re not worried about getting a rock thrown through it?" she asked.
"Not really. Most people don’t know what it means, and by the time they figure it out, they’ll realize that they’ve been in and out of the store a hundred times and it didn’t kill them. But if somebody does throw a rock, I’d like to think that there would be people here that would speak out about it."
"In Leland?"
"Tell her the other thing, Rich."
"When we first got here, we were at the hospital waiting for Dad to be released. The nurse on his floor was Darlene Johnston. You remember her?"
