Please do, Lindsay thought as she felt her face grow warm.
“So how far has this relationship progressed? Do you live together already?”
“Oh, no,” Lindsay said, “I own a home not far from here.”
“Lindsay has a seven-year-old daughter,” Nicole said, knowing that would derail her mother’s line of questioning. “We haven’t told her about our relationship yet.” She turned to Lindsay. “Would you go get your phone so they can see a picture of her?”
Lindsay nodded and retrieved it from the bedroom. The home screen had a picture of Nicole holding Alexis. They were smiling as they pressed their faces together. Lindsay handed it to Elise so she and Darrin could look at it together. Elise grinned. “This is precious. Are there more?”
Nicole nodded. “Just tap the gallery icon, and they’ll come up.”
Elise laughed and held the phone up for everyone to see the photo of Nicole and Alexis sitting at a table with chocolate cream pie mustaches.
Darrin smiled at Lindsay. “From the looks of this, Nicole isn’t just wrapped around one finger.”
“We’re the ones who’re wrapped,” Lindsay admitted as she regarded Nicole.
“Oh, how sweet.” Everyone turned to Elise as she stared down at the phone. Darrin leaned over and looked at the picture that had softened Elise’s tone and grinned. Elise held the phone up for Nicole and Lindsay to see. Nicole was asleep on Lindsay’s couch. Alexis lay in the crook of her arm with one leg thrown over Nicole’s.
Lindsay looked at it warmly. “They’re snuggle buddies.”
A phone started to ring, and Darrin pulled it from his breast pocket. “Ah, Kim, she’s been checking on us ever since we left the house.” He stepped away from the table and began talking to Nicole’s sister.
“She’s afraid we’ll decide to stay down here and miss the big Christmas party at her house.” Elise handed the phone back to Lindsay. “I’ve managed to keep all my little chicks in the nest, or close to it rather, but the baby had to sneak out and fly south.”
Nicole rolled her eyes at her mother’s pitiful expression. “You have plenty of chicks and grandchicks to keep you company.”
“You’ll understand one day how I feel when that little one you’re so attached to begins to spread her wings.”
“I did mention that Lindsay owns a hardware store,” Nicole said. “At our fingertips, we have many materials with which to build a coop. Hopefully, she’ll be like her mother and stay close to the henhouse. And she may just grow up and partner with me because she says she wants to be a vet.”
“She’s already been doctoring on Peepers, our cat,” Lindsay added. “She got really upset the other day when he chewed up her bandaging.”
“He got really upset when she taped his legs together,” Nicole said with a laugh.
Darrin snapped his phone closed. “Kim sends her love. Where’s the closest hotel, so your mother and I can get settled? Afterward, we’d like to take you ladies to dinner.”
“Well, Dad, there is no hotel in St. Claire, and the closest is eighty miles away. You’ll have to take my room. Welcome to Motel Allen.”
“And where will you sleep?” Elise asked.
“Lindsay’s six blocks away.”
“I’m sorry, dear. We should’ve planned better. Please tell me there are restaurants.” Elise looked at Lindsay and Nicole, who only grinned in response.
“Fast food, T-John’s, the local diner, or Stoner’s Fish Camp,” Lindsay offered.
“Fish…camp?” Elise looked wary.
“I like that place,” Darrin said. “Gary took us there when we first came to see St. Claire.” He looked confused for a moment. “And we did stay at a hotel.”
“Eighty miles away.”
He scratched the back of his neck. “Now that you mention it, I do recall an awful lot of driving.” He clapped his hands together and rubbed them briskly. “Fish camp it is. How fast can you girls get dressed? I’m starved.”
*******
While they waited for Lindsay to return from her house where she was getting dressed, Elise gave Darrin the TV remote to keep him occupied. She ordered Nicole to the porch where they could have a few moments alone. “You’ve only been here just shy of two months. That’s a really short time to get involved with someone and decide you want to marry her.”
“I know.” Nicole toyed with the chain in the swing rather than look at her mother. “It all happened very fast, but I know this is what I want.”
“It’s one thing for two adults to change their minds about a relationship, but when a little one is involved, you also have to consider the child’s feelings.”
“I know that, too.” Nicole laid her head on the back of the swing and stared up at the roof. “If I were in your shoes, I’d be saying the same thing, but this is right. I know it is.” She looked at Elise. “This is going to sound really stupid and far out, but when I first visited this town, it felt like home, and now I know why. Everything I’ve been looking for is right here.”
Elise wrapped a strand of Nicole’s hair around her finger. “I’m not lecturing you, baby. I slept with your father on the second date, and we married two months after we met. I had an orgasm, and I went bonkers.”
“There are some things that children don’t want to know about their parents, and what you just said falls into that category.”
“We’re both adult women, my dear, and let me remind you that when you opened the door today, you were sweating like a pig and smelled like a brothel. So woman up.” Elise tugged on the strand of hair she was toying with and released it. “Your father and I had an amazing sexual chemistry, and it deluded our thinking.”
“Are you about to do more damage to my psyche by telling me you have regrets?”
“I was about to say that, even though I had temporarily lost my mind, I knew it was right, too. I could’ve taken my parents’ advice and dated other men, but Darrin in two months’ time had my heart.” Elise nudged Nicole. “He still does, so you don’t have to worry. My dad once said after we celebrated our ten-year anniversary that our love was one of a kind, but I know that’s not true. It’s happened to others, and more than likely has happened to you, too...I hope.”
“I’ve dated plenty of women, had a few relationships, but none of them compares to Lindsay.”
Elise smiled. “Does she say the same about you?”
The conversation was going well until that moment, and Nicole knew when she answered honestly the smile would slide from her mother’s face like a fried egg on the wall. And it did when Nicole said, “I’m the first woman she’s ever been with.”
Elise slapped her leg. “And I was just prepared to really like her. Nicole!”
“You just said we’re adults. Don’t scold me like a child.” Nicole sat up straighter. “Lindsay and I have been very frank with each other. I’m going to take her at her word and her actions. And if my heart gets broken, then so be it. And for the record, you have despised every woman I’ve ever been involved with, so don’t bait me by saying you like her.”
Elise scowled and looked away. “I do like her. She doesn’t appear to be like all the others. That’s why it was so easy for me to understand how this happened so quickly.” Elise whipped her head back around, and Nicole could see the fire in her eyes. “But it’s not just you and Lindsay. Like I said, there’s a child involved that also appears to have gotten attached very quickly to you.”
“And I have made it very clear that I’m aware of that.” Nicole’s voice rose louder. “If I had any reservations, I’d back off. Lindsay’s crossing a lot of boundaries,” Nicole pounded her chest, “for me. I don’t take that lightly, and neither does she.”
The screen door opened, and Darrin stepped out, looking down at his watch. “It’s a record. You two actually talked for five minutes before the screaming started.”
Elise stood and held up a finger, her head bobbed back and forth as she said, “All I’m trying to do here is get our daugh
ter to think with her head and not the other parts of her body she’s been using lately.”
“Darling, that’s so Jerry Springer. Put your finger down and realign your spine.”
“Well, thank you very much, Oprah.” Elise walked past him and slammed the screen door behind her.
“Were you listening to the conversation?” Nicole asked as her father took Elise’s seat.
“Yes, there’s nothing on TV.” He held up both hands in front of him. “No lectures, I’m only going to say this once. You both look like you’re in love, and that should be enough. Keep your eyes wide open and be honest about what you see and feel because, honey, you’re obviously in up to your neck. That’s all you can do.”
Nicole nodded. “That’s all I needed to hear. Will you go in there and calm her down before Lindsay gets back? I don’t want Mom pouncing on her like a jungle cat.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Whatever Darrin had said to Elise seemed to work, or else Nicole’s mother had found the bottle of rum she had stashed in the kitchen cabinet. As the four of them enjoyed their broiled shrimp salads, the conversation was pleasant, even though Nicole figured Lindsay felt like she was being interviewed by Elise, who shot one question after the other.
“Is Alexis with her father tonight?” Elise speared a shrimp with her fork. “I’m looking forward to meeting her.”
“She’s with my mother and friends at Christmas in the Oaks. They’ll come back from New Orleans around two tomorrow.”
Darrin looked at Elise. “We crashed their party. They had the weekend alone.”
“That’s okay.” Lindsay smiled at Nicole.
“No, no, it’s not.” Elise set her fork down and picked up her wineglass. “We want to do some sightseeing tomorrow. You two do whatever it is you had planned,” she said with a wicked smile. “And perhaps tomorrow evening we can all get together for dinner.”
“That would be nice. I’d love to cook for y’all.”
“You cook?” Darrin looked at Lindsay. “Thank God, our child won’t go hungry after all.”
Nicole laughed loudly, though there was no cheer on her face as she glared at him.
“Our daughter can care for sick and injured animals, she’s handy with tools, can build just about anything, but she cannot cook.” Elise held her glass to her temple. “She did nearly fifty thousand dollars’ worth of damage to our kitchen one time making french fries, set half the house on fire.”
Nicole rolled her eyes. “I was fourteen.”
“You were thirty when you set the barbecue pit on fire at your apartment.” Darrin looked at Elise. “What was the price tag on that one?”
Elise pursed her lips. “That was only ten thousand. They were able to put the patio roof out before it spread to the building.” She looked at Lindsay. “She’s okay with washing dishes, but do not let her near anything that can cause a fire. Not even a toaster.”
Nicole returned to her food. “And you’re leaving when?”
Elise ignored the question. “Have you looked in her pantry, Lindsay? The freezer? It’s all microwave stuff. She knows not to turn on her own stove.”
Lindsay looked away from Nicole to hide her laughter.
“She was a sweet little girl, though,” Darrin said with affection. “Unlike her sisters, we never had a moment’s problem with her until she began to cook.”
Elise and Darrin broke out into fits of laughter, and Nicole looked at Lindsay. “I bet you’re rethinking teaching me how to cook.” Lindsay put the back of her hand to her mouth to keep from joining in with Darrin and Elise. Nicole frowned at her parents. “The question still stands, Mom and Dad. When are you leaving?”
*******
Lindsay crawled into bed and snuggled up to Nicole. “Aside from how your parents busted us in bed, I’ve enjoyed meeting them this way. I think I would’ve been very overwhelmed to meet all your family at once. This way, I can actually have a conversation with just them.”
“Yes, they’re charming, aren’t they?” Nicole said wryly.
“They’re hilarious.”
Nicole started to laugh. “Jerks, I should’ve known they’d bring up my most embarrassing moments. I shouldn’t have changed the sheets on my bed.”
“Just wait.” Lindsay ran her fingers along Nicole’s collarbone. “Rose is on her best behavior right now, but she’ll have her day at my expense.”
“I look forward to that. Will there be photographic evidence?”
“Not if I can help it.” Lindsay ran her fingers down Nicole’s chest and across her stomach. She smiled when she felt the muscles there flutter. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to discuss other things besides our folks.”
*******
A tiny shaft of light forced its way through the blinds the next morning, and Lindsay felt as though it was gouging her eyelid, forcing it to open. Her body was blissfully relaxed. Tension that built in her muscles upon the arrival of Nicole’s parents had been worked out the previous night and early hours of morning. Her workout partner lay halfway beneath Lindsay on her stomach and was still enjoying a deep sleep. Lindsay’s body was warm and content, but her mind was already awake and running laps in her head.
There was a confession she needed to make. For Lindsay, actions always spoke louder than words, so the night before while Nicole was in her arms, she poured every ounce of feeling she had into every stroke and kiss. Wonderful sex became powerful lovemaking, and Nicole had responded in kind. The words, the verbal confirmation pushed at Lindsay’s lips; she longed to give voice to what she felt. Timing was crucial, however. Even in her limited romantic experience, Lindsay knew that often when emotion was running high, things were said in that euphoric state that weren’t truly meant. And when she revealed her heart to Nicole, she wanted her to know that it was true and not brought on by a libidinous haze, so she waited.
People admitted their love on a daily basis and never stopped to realize how much the word was trivialized. I love this tree. I love chocolate. I love this pair of sneakers. Lindsay had been guilty of the same, but would she kill or die for a tree, a pair of sneakers? Chocolate maybe, depending on whether it was dark or milk, but when one admitted to being in love, that was something altogether different.
She and Nicole had danced around the topic. Lindsay didn’t have to hear the words slip past Nicole’s lips because her actions had spoken loudly. Lindsay knew the words would come when Nicole was ready to express them, but for her, the time had come. Because to admit that she was in love was like an oath to Lindsay. It meant commitment.
She’d told Mike that she loved him, and she did, always would. She loved his kindness, his patience, the man he was, but she had never been in love with him. She knew the difference then, and even more so now as she lay snuggled up next to a woman who had been silently asking for her heart, all of it. And Lindsay would give it freely.
Nicole didn’t stir when Lindsay placed a soft kiss on her shoulder and climbed slowly out of bed. The house held a chill as she crept to her dresser and pulled out a pair of sweats. In the bathroom, she brushed her teeth and washed her face as nervous tension once again coiled in the pit of her stomach. What Lindsay had to say would tear down her last line of defense, though she knew it was all a façade anyway. Looking into Nicole’s eyes and baring her soul was almost like supplication. She would bow before her and admit that she no longer had the strength to try to control her own destiny. Love had come quickly and had already become the motivation for her actions while every other part of her obeyed and followed without question.
She closed the door to the bedroom behind her and crept downstairs. Peepers exclaimed loudly that even though he knew change had come to the household, his breakfast should be attended to first. He stopped yowling when Lindsay pulled the bag from the pantry and filled his bowl. But once he was finished with the kibble, he gently reminded Lindsay by rubbing her leg that he was also entitled to a bite of the eggs she was cooking, and he wouldn’t mind a smidgeon of bacon
, either.
The smell of the food must’ve wafted upstairs and yanked Nicole from sleep because Lindsay heard the pipes rattle in the wall when she turned on the water in the upstairs bathroom. As she poured the juice, she heard Nicole’s footfalls on the stairs. Seconds later, Lindsay was greeted by a sleepy smile and a soft “good morning.”
“I was about to send Peepers up after you.” Lindsay smiled as she dropped a piece of egg into his bowl. “I knew if I came up there, I’d be held prisoner, and our breakfast would go cold.”
“You’re very wise.” Nicole took both plates as Lindsay set them on the bar and moved them to the table.
Lindsay turned the coffeepot on to brew and joined Nicole, who waited patiently for her in front of a steaming plate of food. She grinned at Nicole, who was dressed in her sweats. In some odd way, it thrilled Lindsay that Nicole felt comfortable enough to wear her things. “Did you sleep well?” she asked after giving Nicole a brief kiss.
Nicole waved a piece of bacon as she spoke. “I’m not sure if it’s your bed that makes me sleep so deeply or if it’s what you do to me.” She bit the bacon slice and chewed slowly as though she were truly pondering a conundrum. “I think it’s both because I don’t sleep like that at home.”
“I’m in love with you,” Lindsay blurted out, surprising herself and shocking Nicole. She watched as the bacon dropped from her hand and landed in her eggs. Lindsay looked down at her loaded plate and found that her appetite had slipped away. “Nicole, I mean it.” She looked back up into her eyes. “We’ve only known each other a month and a half and have spent less time than that truly getting to know each other.” Lindsay swallowed hard as Nicole sat stock-still, her expression still showing signs of utter shock. “But you need to know that this has gone past dating and like for me.”
Lindsay hadn’t formulated a plan, but she had not intended to lay her heart out on the kitchen table with breakfast, either. She’d taken one good look at Nicole, and her confession rolled off her tongue as though she’d been interrogated for hours. Nicole looked like she was choking. Her mouth dropped open, and her bottom jaw started moving as she groped at the pockets of her sweatpants. Without a word, she held up one finger and left the table so abruptly the silverware clattered to the floor in her wake.
The Secret of St Claire Page 18
