Collision Course

by C. P. Rowlands

  “You don’t have to answer. A lot of women do both.”

  The question had been asked kindly and Brie tilted her head to see Jordan’s eyes. “No, I don’t do both. It would confuse me, and that’s not too hard to do these days. However,” she grinned, looking away, “there were a few.”

  “Ha.” Jordan laughed. “I knew it. I can’t believe men just don’t mob you.”

  Brie grimaced. “The men happened because my first woman totally befuddled me. When I went to college, I tried guys the first year and I have a lot of good guy friends, but I…” She shrugged. “I prefer women.”

  Jordan shifted against the big stone. “Most of my ball team are fairly butch.” She looked at Brie with a question. “It would be hard to be more feminine than you are.”

  “Niki too, but we have good friends that are butch. As a matter of fact, I’m going out with one of them and her partner next weekend.”

  “Where do you go?”

  “Wherever there’s good food, like anyone else. Probably the Milwaukee Brewery, but they’re still treating me with kid gloves and—” She stopped. “Did that happen to you? Did people treat you like you’re going to break?”

  “Sure, for a while, but I complicated it with the bar scene,” Jordan said with a derisive little snort. “Like you, I also saw a therapist. He helped, a lot. And then there’s Mom. Every time I turned around there was another guy at the table.”

  Brie chuckled. “Richard.” She leaned against the rock, quiet for a bit. “My friends have suddenly left me alone. I don’t think they know how to handle me. They tend to try to think for me when we’re together.”

  “What are these women like, the ones you’re going out with next weekend?”

  “Nice. Peg’s an OR nurse with my sister, the one you saw, and Vet is a paramedic for Omni. She’s the one who got me to volunteer there.”

  “Vet? What kind of name is that?”

  “She was in the military and that’s why the name. She’s tough and totally butch. Her real name is—” Brie clamped her mouth shut. “I can’t tell you. She’d kill me.”

  “What?” Jordan said mischievously. “Do you think we’ll run into each other and I’ll give it away?”

  “You’d do it on purpose. You love to stir things up.”

  “Sure…but look who’s talking. I think we’re about even. Besides, if you worked where I work, you do it to survive. My foreman, Bix, and most of my crew are butch and I can handle them.”

  “Handle?”

  “They tease me constantly but I give it right back. So does my ball team.”

  Brie laughed. “Oh. I see. You understand butch rules?”

  Jordan raised her eyebrows. “Rules?”

  “Okay, not exactly rules, but let’s say, accepted behavior.”

  “How hard could it be?” Jordan said with a cocky grin. “I mean, we’re all women…the same equipment.”

  “You think?” Brie laughed even harder. “Oh brother, Carter, you have no idea. Competitive, are we?”

  Jordan gave her a sassy smile. “You’re right, I am. Did you and Niki argue?”

  “Of course. Who doesn’t?”

  “How’d you settle it?”

  Brie shrugged. “Like everyone. Yelling, talking or…in bed.”

  “Sex?”

  “Well, it’s been a while, but if you insist.”

  Jordan threw her hands up, laughing. “See what I mean?”

  Brie turned to watch the moonlight on the lake, quiet again. “All my life with Niki wouldn’t have been enough. How about you? Anyone ever make you…catch your breath when you looked at them?”

  Jordan shook her head. “No, not even Pete. Worse, after those miserable two years, I’ve lost interest. I’ve let my friends slide and don’t go out. It’s just the kids and me. Nothing seems to catch my eye or…” She shifted so she could look at Brie. “Whatever it is that gets caught in those moments.”

  Held by Jordan’s eyes, warm in the firelight, Brie lost her place but had a sudden idea. She should take Jordan with her this weekend. Her friend wouldn’t nag her to get back out into the dating world, for one thing. “How about going out with us next weekend? Run interference for me? I need to see my friends and you need to get out.”

  Jordan accepted without hesitation. “Not a bad idea. Maybe it’s time to stop being such a hermit.”

  Brie smiled. Perfect. Then she frowned. Jordan was so cute, what if someone came on to her, tried to pick her up? “Do you think you could handle someone making a pass at you?” She stood, brushing sand off herself. “Think about it while I use the bathroom. Do you want anything from inside?”

  Jordan shook her head and watched Brie move away. “Women are just women,” she said to herself and shrugged. “How hard could it be?” Then she groaned. “Why in the hell did I tell her all of that?”

  Brie returned and held out a beer. “Let’s split this. After tonight, I think we’ve earned it,” she said and rearranged the logs before settling down next to Jordan. “So, you’d be comfortable, out with me? You’d have to wear underwear, however.” Brie bit her lip against a grin, testing Jordan’s comfort level. She didn’t want Jordan to regret their conversation.

  “You’d never know if I didn’t, and I never should have told you that,” Jordan said. “I love a challenge. Let’s be the odd couple. I’ll be your token straight woman and you’ll be my lesbian.”

  “And if someone tries to pick you up? I’d bet money on it.”

  “Easy. I’m not interested. Twenty dollars says you’re wrong.”

  “Twenty dollars? You’re on, Carter.” Brie put her hand out to shake.

  Jordan had a smug look on her face as she shook hands and Brie collapsed on the sand, laughing. “Sucker.”

  *

  Late the next afternoon, Jordan tossed the last bag in the back in of Brie’s car and slammed the door shut. Brie and the kids were on the pier, still in their swimsuits. More time would have been nice. Brie had curled up on her side of the bed last night, falling asleep almost immediately, but Jordan had lain there quite a while, hands under her head, thinking about their conversation on the beach. Those scars on her back were real. She’d never felt a gunshot wound before and couldn’t imagine what that was like. Brie hearing Niki speak was odd, but with all that had happened, it made sense. Sleeping in a closet to be next to Niki’s clothes? That was strange as well. The other thing, the not remembering, had to be horrible. She was going to have to treat Brie cautiously.

  She had rolled onto her side and watched Brie sleep. Simply talking to Brie and telling her the worst thing she could tell her about herself had made her feel like an idiot, but Brie had seemed to just accept it. Now she was glad that she’d shared it with Brie. It was a lot worse than sleeping in a closet.

  She remembered what she’d seen scribbled on the paper in Brie’s office at her house. It should have been me. Not her. She’d meant to ask her about that but had forgotten.

  Finally her mind got around to what she’d been avoiding. Something else was happening too. Standing on the porch, looking at Brie in that swimming suit, had literally made her heart skip. She’d been checking her out, the same way she checked out a man. Exactly like she checked out a man. That had made her sit up in bed, get up, use the bathroom, and take a drink of water. She’d fallen asleep then, but it was the first thought she’d had this morning. It was another reason she was going to have to be careful of Brie.

  That was something she was going to have to sort out later. It had been a great weekend. The kids laughed at something Brie said, pointing out to the water. Jenna and Tyler definitely liked Brie and she certainly had something special going on with them. She looked closer. Brie seemed to be gaining a little weight and the sun had colored her skin nicely.

  Jordan walked around the car and bent inside, looking for her camera. Brie’s swimming suit hid absolutely nothing. Leaning on the hood, she took several photos. She’d do sketches off these shots. If Brie ate properly,
she could get back that luscious figure she had in the photo on Niki’s desk. It was more than luscious. Sexy.

  Jordan began to walk toward them, smiling over the bet they’d made last night. Someone make a pass at her? Not likely, but someone certainly would make a pass at Brie. If she were a lesbian, she certainly would.

  Chapter Twelve

  Brie took a step back from her bathroom mirror and checked herself out, adjusting the waist of the pants a little. This was the last outfit Niki had bought for her for that wonderful night in Chicago. She drifted a moment, remembering. Not too long ago, this outfit would have made her sad. The hollowness inside her was beginning to fill even though it was a slow trickle.

  Tonight was the Annual Women’s City Softball Awards Banquet. They would announce Niki’s new two-and-a-half-acre sports center plus—ta da, she said softly—she was going to give Jordan the MVP Trophy. Brie mentally went over her speech again, repeating parts of it out loud.

  Dannie Brown, Niki’s best friend and a well-known local sportscaster, had created a filmed preview of the Willis Family Center that would open that weekend. Brie had worked to keep tonight a secret, even when Jordan had cancelled their dinner at Patrick’s, explaining that she had a softball “thingy” to go to.

  The two days at the cabin had been a miracle. The sunlight and water had cleared her mind. Pieces of herself that she had thought lost had floated to the surface. She laughed a little at the memory of Jenna and Tyler roasting marshmallows. The kids had been fun. So had their mother. The secrets she and Jordan had shared that night on the beach had been more than a relief. It was a beginning of something new for both of them.

  She frowned at herself in the mirror as she adjusted her silver earrings. The regret and embarrassment on Jordan’s face as they sat on the sand stayed with her. Her days in the bars are over, Brie stubbornly said to herself. She was certain she could help Jordan believe that as well. Brie gripped the counter. The interest and questions she had seen in Jordan’s eyes that weekend at the lake stayed with her as well.

  The doorbell rang and she set her brush down. Dannie was giving her a ride to the banquet.

  *

  Jordan flew into her house, headed for the shower. The kids were staying all night with Uncle John and she had a fleeting impression of how quiet the rooms were without them. Forty-five minutes and she’d be at that damned banquet. Not that she wasn’t grateful, but she’d rather be at Patrick’s with Brie.

  After the shower, she stood in front of her closet in a lacy black bra and panties, hands on her hips. “What?” she yelled at her clothes. She’d planned on her standard black business suit, but then remembered she’d have to say a few words when she received the trophy. Pushing each hanger aside slowly, she saw the rich, dark burgundy Oscar de la Renta suit that her mother had bought for her. She gave a little laugh. An Oscar de la Renta for a softball banquet? Adding a soft pink silk tee and gold accessories, she thought of Brie. She’d still rather be with her tonight.

  It took Jordan twenty minutes to drive into the city and Montgomery Hall. Jordan hurried across the parking lot with Kay Kendall, her first baseman, both of them complaining about traffic and praying the food would be good. They were starving.

  Jordan finger-combed her still-damp hair and nudged Kay. “Is my hair standing up or…”

  Kay snickered. “Would I tell you if it was?”

  “You clean up nicely, Carter,” Shelly, her catcher, said, “for a straight woman.”

  “Go to hell,” Jordan said in a low voice and caught sight of Dannie “Downtown” Brown, the WLAK-TV sportscaster. Jordan pulled in a breath. Dannie was holding Brie’s hand, firmly tugging her along as Brie lingered, speaking to people. There were those gorgeous feminine moves again. Brie was not only the most beautiful woman she’d actually known but she was accessible, stopping and talking with a genuine smile. Women’s faces lit up as Brie went down the line, speaking to them. Dannie didn’t let go when they stepped up onto the platform, her hand casually on the small of her back. Damn, she just pressed Brie’s hand to her cheek. Is this a date?

  Jordan followed Brie’s every move. She was dressed in white flowing pants and a top. No, not white. Was it barely blue or was it silver? Every way Brie turned, the clothing changed color. She was bright and shinning. Jordan shifted her gaze to Dannie Brown. Tall and lean, she wore a black suit with a dark purple vest and a white shirt open at the neck. If this had been a bar with guys, Dannie Brown would be the female equivalent of a stud, Jordan decided. Brie leaned past Dannie and shook hands with the Softball Association president. Jordan’s eyes widened. Brie’s low cut top gaped open and some of the audience got a stunning view of gorgeous breasts. Jordan heard her entire team take a collective breath.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Kay nudged her with her elbow.

  “Huh?” Jordan mumbled.

  “You’re practically touching that woman with your eyes, the blonde with Dannie. You know who she is, right?”

  Jordan came back to earth, realizing her entire team was staring at her.

  “Carter, have you been struck by lightning? We’ve played ball together over nine years, and I’ve never seen you look at anyone, man or woman, with that expression,” Kay said and began to laugh.

  “Ha, Jordan, I knew it’d catch up with you sometime.” Bev snickered. “You’re finally batting for our team.”

  “Stop it,” Jordan said.

  “Here. Let me wipe your chin. You’re drooling.”

  “Shut the fuck up,” Jordan said and the team hooted at her.

  Brie looked out at the crowd and Jordan caught her eyes. Brie smiled and wiggled her fingers at her. Jordan knew Brie had caught the surprise on her face.

  The food was good. Jordan ate steadily, watching Brie at the head table. For the first time since she’d known her, Brie was literally sparkling and truly alive. This must be what she was like…before? The talk at the table ran around her and it occurred to her that no one knew that she was Brie’s friend. She smiled inwardly. She was going to have some fun with this…particularly with Brie, flashing the audience like that.

  Finally, the meal done and cleared, Dannie Brown stood and picked up a microphone. “Good evening.” Dannie grinned at the crowd and was met with huge applause. Everyone knew Dannie and that smooth television delivery. “LAKE-TV is here tonight,” she began, pointing at the cameras in-house, “because we are honoring a very special lady.” She turned to the three large screens slightly above and behind her that showed a gangly young girl with curly hair. “This is Niki Willis, the first week that I met her. She was just thirteen years old and already a phenom.”

  The room broke up with an enormous ovation.

  “Niki and I…” Dannie’s voice broke a little and Jordan saw Brie look up anxiously. “We finished high school, attended college together, played in these leagues until I broke my arm and had to quit, something she never let me forget. I never knew she was two years younger than me until our second year in college. She actually went through high school in three years and was only sixteen when we entered college.” Dannie stopped again and took a drink of water. “We were out drinking one night and they carded us. They should have. She was only eighteen and I didn’t even know it.” The crowd laughed as someone yelled “jailbait.” Dannie just grinned. “I wasn’t legal either, so you know what that meant.” Whistles and laughter interrupted her again.

  “I got off the subject, didn’t I?” she said with a crooked smile at the crowd. “I get to be the first to show you what Niki has left us.” The screens behind Dannie came alive with film of the new sports pavilion. “In conjunction with her foundation, I’d like to present the Willis Family Center.” She pointed at the film as it did a tour of the facility. “There is a gym, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and ten softball, baseball, and Little League diamonds, all free of charge to everyone in this city.”

  The applause began again as the film ran on, showing Niki playing at various moments on the bal
l diamonds throughout the years. Finally, the film stopped on a breathtaking few seconds in slow motion of Niki at shortstop, catching the ball mid-air and throwing across her body to first base, the famous eleven-inning championship game that her team had won seven years ago, one to zero. It was the game that Jordan had remembered.

  Dannie gestured at the film and began speaking again. “I present to you my best friend, Niki Willis,” and the center panel showed Niki accepting her final MVP award, the only player to win it three times and the night she announced her retirement.

  Like everyone else, Jordan’s eyes were riveted to the screen, but she looked at Brie in the semidarkness. Brie’s head was down, her eyes away from the film. Dannie took her glasses off and reached for Brie’s hand again. The piece ended with Niki handing the trophy to her team and blowing a kiss to the crowd.

  The quiet that followed was intense and Jordan saw many of the women wiping their eyes, but finally, the applause thundered again around the hall. Dannie straightened as the lights came back up and she put her glasses back on. “There’s a lot less warmth and goodness in the world without Niki Willis.” She cleared her throat. “It is now my true pleasure to present the woman that Niki constantly talked about, driving us all crazy.” She stepped back. “Brieanna O’Malley. We just call her Niki’s girl.”

  “Thank you,” Brie said as the noise quieted. “We were all the better for knowing Niki, and she loved this game.” Another ovation stopped her and she waited, smiling and poised. “As some of you know, from now on the MVP trophy will be named the Niki Willis Trophy. The other trophy has been retired in the new gym that Niki designed, and I sincerely hope all of you are able to use that facility. It’s free and the entire area belongs to all of you. Tonight, I have the honor of presenting the new trophy to this year’s MVP. I used to keep stats for Niki, so I understand and appreciate the figures I’ve just seen. This woman earned the award with some impressive batting, outstanding defense, and a love of this game. She was fourth in the city in home runs, but led all of you in RBIs. Her team elected her captain and she is a true leader. It is my honor to present to you your new MVP, Jordan Carter.”