“Why on earth did you do that?”
“I did it because I felt you’d need someone to talk to, just in case. Things happen.”
“She’s seeing her therapist this morning and is going to call me when she’s done. Her husband was a history nut and I get to look at his books today. She wanted to know what started all of my books, so I’m going to show her some of my dissertation.” Brie set her coffee on the desk and gave Emma a disconcerted look. “Emma, for God’s sakes, I didn’t come by for a lecture. I just wanted to see your gallery and visit a little.” Just as Emma began to answer, Brie’s phone rang.
“Hey,” Jordan said when Brie answered, “what are you up to?”
“I’m at Emma’s gallery, downtown.”
“How about some lunch? It’s after eleven, and I’m only about ten minutes away. Why don’t you leave your car and I’ll pick you up?”
Brie turned to Emma. “Could I leave my car here in your private lot?” Emma nodded. “Pick me up out front of the gallery,” she told Jordan.
They drove to the restaurant, a small place out by an inland lake. It was busy but they found a table by the windows and were able to order quickly. Jordan took a quick breath as she watched Brie take her coat off, framed in the October sunshine. “That’s a nice look.”
“Emma asked me if I was going to a Harley convention,” Brie snickered. “Nice haircut, by the way. When did you find time for that?”
“Someone canceled this morning and I went in early.”
“It’s trendy and fits you,” Brie said, appraising the new, somewhat-shaggy hairstyle.
“How’d it go with the therapist?” Brie asked, watching Jordan adjust the shakers, move a napkin, set the silverware somewhere else. Jordan was shifting around in her chair. Something had gone on with the therapist.
“I have to see him again in a month. I hadn’t seen him in over a year, so we had a lot to catch up on. My health, the kids, my new mother, sex—”
“Sex?” Brie interrupted, starting to laugh.
Flustered, Jordan made a face. “I didn’t mean to say that.” She frowned and shifted the shakers once again.
“Too much? Too little?” Brie leaned across the table playfully. “All right, no sex talk, but you should eat,” she said, pointing at the food that was being placed on the table.
Jordan looked at Brie’s food. It was salmon, drizzled with a spicy-smelling sauce. There was a variety of cheese, fruit, and bread on another plate. “What is that?”
“Their special. I’m not a huge seafood fan, but their salmon is out of this world. Here.” She forked a piece of the fish and held it across the table to Jordan. “Open up.”
“Omigod,” Jordan said, closing her eyes, tasting lemon but also something a little sweet. “You find the best food.” She looked at her hamburger.
“I’ve got to get you off the burger binge,” Brie said with a big grin.
Jordan stabbed a slice of peach off Brie’s plate. “The therapist and I also talked about Pete, and it reminded me of something. Would you mind if I talked about it? It’s the day of the fire.”
“Sure,” Brie said, beginning to smile, but she stopped when she saw Jordan’s serious expression. “Did you and Dr. Bauer talk about this?”
“I told him about our date.”
“Date?”
“He said that I’m shining.” She made a wry face at Brie. “No one, except you, has said anything close to that for years.” She rushed on nervously. “The day that Pete died, we had overslept. I always got Jen ready for the daycare at my school and was in the bedroom, trying to get both of us dressed. Pete was doing the same thing with Tyler, getting him ready for kindergarten. Somehow, we got in each other’s way and began arguing. I don’t think either of us ever said such mean things to each other.”
The waitress came with more coffee, quieting them for a moment.
“Anyway, we took the fighting out of the bedroom and down the hall to the kitchen. Jenna was screaming in her crib and Tyler was standing between us, trying to tell us that she was crying. Pete picked him up, grabbed his bag, and started out the door. He looked at me and said, ‘Don’t forget to get the damned kids on the way home.’ That was the last time I saw him.”
“When was this?”
“Five years ago yesterday. It’s the first year I’ve forgotten.” She took a drink of coffee. “I’m still mad at him. I never, ever, forgot the kids. I know it was said in anger, but it was such a dumb thing to say.”
All Brie could do was reach across the table and take Jordan’s hand.
“I’ve never told that to anyone except the doctor. You’re the first real friend I’ve had since Pete was killed.”
Brie looked out at the thinning lunch hour crowd, her heart rate kicking up. “Thank you,” she said, her voice breaking slightly. Brie stood and tossed some money on the table. “Come on,” she said. “Give me your keys. There’s a place we need to be.”
Ten minutes later Brie pulled off the paved highway onto a short dirt road, kicking dust up behind the silver Camry. Foliage flew past the windows. Brie never took her eyes off the road until she stopped in a clearing. She tossed the keys at Jordan and walked ahead. Jordan pushed aside a low branch and saw Brie sitting on the ground, head on knees.
“What is this?” she asked.
Brie shook the hair out of her eyes. “I just need some quiet.”
Jordan walked over to the edge of a rock to see a small creek. They were surrounded by trees and wildflowers, then Lake Michigan to the east. It smelled like Brie’s backyard.
“This is our woods, where we’d dig up the flowers that we planted at our house.”
“Your novel? The place where they met in Midnight Woods. Is this it?”
“You remembered?”
“Of course, it was an important place. Is it in the second book?”
Brie nodded and took a deep breath, winding grass around her fingers. “Jordan,” she said carefully. “I’m not sure I can be the friend you think I am or that you deserve.”
Jordan blinked. “No,” she said softly, sitting beside Brie.
“What if I want more than just friends?” Brie rubbed her face hard.“I keep wanting to…” She looked into Jordan’s face helplessly. “I keep wanting.”
Jordan pulled Brie close and rubbed her shoulder. “We can do this.”
Brie shook her head. “I don’t know if I can.”
“We can be anything we choose.”
“I know what I’d choose,” Brie said, her voice shaking as she started to cry a little, “and Niki…”
“All right, it’s complicated.” Jordan exhaled and leaned back on her elbows. “I care, Brie.”
“My feelings, my life will confuse you. I can see it coming. You have two kids that I care about and I know you’re a talented carver, something you need to be doing.”
Jordan stretched out on the ground with her arms over her face. Brie went to all fours above her and pulled Jordan’s arms above her head, bending slowly until their mouths almost touched. “Just so you understand me perfectly…I will do this anytime I have the opportunity.” She closed the space, kissing Jordan lightly, first on the forehead, then on a cheek and finally, her mouth trailed very slowly down to the lips. Brie thought Jordan was pulling away and then realized she was pushing upward for more. She kissed her again, tasting her thoroughly. She tasted of coffee, surprise, desire.
Brie tried to steady herself against a rush of dizziness. They stared at each other, breathing the same air. The only sound was the light wind in the flowers around them.
“Do that again,” Jordan said in a low voice. When Brie hesitated, Jordan cupped her face in her hands and pulled her mouth back to her own. “You taste good,” Jordan said, her mouth still against Brie’s.
Brie lay fully on Jordan’s body, intoxicated and dazzled. If she didn’t stop now, there would be no stopping. She pushed up to her hands and knees.
Brie stood. “Come on. It’s time to get t
he kids.”
“Wait. Don’t stop.” Jordan tried to tug Brie back down.
Brie shook her head and pulled Jordan up, holding her hand all the way to the car.
Turned away, Brie felt both embarrassed and pleased. “I didn’t expect to do that, but I’m not sorry,” she said.
“I’m not confused, Brie, just high. Nothing about you is confusing. That was perfect.” Jordan said, her face glowing. “I want to do that again.”
*
They made tacos together with the kids. Brie dared Tyler to cook with her, showing him how to melt cheese over nachos, cleverly getting him to do almost the entire dish. She had Jenna help her with the salad, patient as they tore the lettuce. As Jordan watched Brie play around the kitchen with her children, her heart gave a strong tug. It looked right to see her here. She finished setting the table and realized she couldn’t remember driving to the school. It was as if they had gone from the woods to here. When had they picked up Brie’s car? There it sat, in her driveway.
After the kids were in bed, they curled up on the couch together as if nothing had happened and read through parts of Brie’s paper. Politics or history had never interested Jordan, but Brie’s ideas immediately intrigued her, and suddenly it was late.
“You need to get up early,” Brie said, slipping into her boots. “Let me check Pete’s books and I’ll go.” Jordan followed her into the office and helped her look through the books from the Civil War. Brie took two books. Jordan didn’t move. They were a breath away from each other. Her eyes began to close, heart racing, leaning to the lips in front of her when two little arms wrapped themselves around her legs. They jumped apart.
“Mommy, I had a bad dream,” Jenna said. Jordan gathered Jenna and carried her to her bedroom, soothing her. She tucked her in and made sure she had fallen asleep before she left.
Brie was ready to go when Jordan came back into the living room. She gave Jordan an inviting smile, held her face in her hand for a moment, then gave her a light hug and brushed her lips with a light kiss. Her leather jacket creaked against Jordan.
Later, Jordan lay in bed, feeling as if her world was upside down. Or maybe it had just rotated into the right position? Dr. Bauer had said she was alive. Alive would be Brie kissing her. Or leaning into her on the couch, reading, as if they did that every night of their lives. Jordan turned over restlessly and watched the breeze move the curtains on her open window. All she could hear in the dark night were the oak leaves touching one another. Touching. Brie had touched her every possible moment all night and stayed close. Then the moment in her office tonight, and Brie’s eyes, warm and wanting.
Brie had whispered something as she left, but Jordan wasn’t sure what she had heard. “Thanks.” Had that simply been it? She thought again about the kisses. One thing was certain. Of all the times she’d been kissed, she had never imagined anything like Brie’s mouth.
Chapter Seventeen
After a night of deep and dreamless sleep, Brie woke early, full of energy. She tugged on a pair of heavy sweatpants and a hoodie, humming an old TV orange juice ad from her childhood. First cup of coffee in hand, she stepped out to the deck and looked over the glistening backyard. It had rained last night. The flowers were still perky even though there’d been frost warnings around Milwaukee. Something caught her eye. A spider’s web floated across the yard, sparkling in the early sunlight. Sparkling, like Jordan’s face yesterday. She felt a punch of exhilaration and walked along the deck, almost dancing.
She had left as early as possible last night. Jordan needed time to think about yesterday. Never mind wanting to rip her clothes off as they sat on the couch, Brie laughed to herself. How had she gotten through that paper she had read to Jordan?
The steps creaked as she walked off the deck to the grass, and she tested several boards. Perhaps Jordan would help her with those? The foundation of the cottage had to be visually checked every fall. They had reinforced the structure inside, in the basement, but the outside, almost one hundred years old, was untouched. Niki had wanted to keep the ambience of the cottage and refused to put anything over the old fieldstone.
The ivy that ran up the back of the house was still green. She touched the leaves, sending a shower of droplets to the ground. Her mother had contributed this ivy and Niki had loved it.
The long windows were next. They had redone the casings five years ago, one of the hardest jobs they’d undertaken. The old windows were uneven and odd-sized. She ran her finger along the bottom and the side. Everything felt tight, but she leaned in closer, testing the caulking with her nails. What had Niki said? Check for long cracks. She did, but there weren’t even any short ones.
Almost an hour later, she had gone entirely around the cottage and went back inside for a bowl of cereal and some fruit. Afterward, with another cup of coffee, she stepped into Niki’s office, opened the cupboard, and stared at the discs. “Chicken,” she said. “Come on, Brie, suck it up.” She started to walk away and then turned back. Did she have to listen to the discs?
She had a departmental meeting today at eleven thirty that was combined with a lunch. It certainly wouldn’t be anything like yesterday’s lunch with Jordan. Was there time to see Jordan this morning? She went to her bedroom to dress.
*
Jordan checked a window sill on the second floor and pushed against it. She’d check it again. In fact, she knew she’d check all of them again before they moved forward on this house. The yard was busy below her. It had rained earlier and the construction site shimmered with puddles. She watched Bix carry a small saw toward the house, navigating the wooden planks they’d thrown down against the mud. She tapped her fingers on the window casing and considered talking to Bix about last weekend and maybe yesterday.In less than twenty-four hours, her life had somehow turned around and faced the other way. Someone had jerked a filter off everything and the world was bright again, for the first time in years. “Happy,” she said out loud. “Revved up,” she added and started down the steps with her thermos.
Bix was sitting against the wall in the framed-in porch when Jordan reached the bottom of the stairs. She was just pouring herself coffee. Jordan settled down against the wall beside her and opened her own thermos.
“How’d it go last weekend?” Bix asked, stretching her legs out in front of herself.
“Good,” Jordan said as she screwed the lid back on her thermos. “Do you ever get out like that?”
“Sure. We had just had our thirtieth anniversary and I took Carol out. Did you go to the new club?”
“Thirtieth? Congratulations,” Jordan said, grinning. “Yes, we went to the new place. I’d only been to the Crow’s Nest, so it was kind of a surprise.”
Bix grinned back. “I like that club. Carol likes the music but I like the wood, the way the place is designed. Lots of room to dance but also private places where you can hear yourself talk. Did you notice the wood?”
“The wood? No.” Jordan thought about that. She hadn’t noticed wood? How had that happened? “We’re exciting dates,” she said drily. “Looking at wood?” They both laughed.
“It was from an old bar, downtown. It’s real wood, not the new stuff. One of my friends co-owns that place and we got to see it before it opened.” Bix sipped her coffee. “Everything else went fine?”
Jordan nodded. “I loved it all. The food was good and the clothing you recommended was fine. The music was great, but the women were different than I expected.”
Bix nodded. “Times are changing. It used to be that everything was like the Crow’s Nest, but today’s woman is a different person than what I grew up with. Now we just look like everyone else, some better, some worse, a sort of anything goes atmosphere. The new clubs are fun and classy.” She took a drink of coffee. “How’d it go with your friend?”
“Wonderful,” Jordan said enthusiastically. “I haven’t danced that much in forever. We had a little scuffle with someone but, other than that, it was a great night out.”
�
��Scuffle?” Bix frowned.
Jordan started to answer but saw that Bix was looking over her shoulder, her attention riveted on something behind her. She turned and her heart bumped hard. “Oh, it’s her,” she said and scrambled up. Brie was moving carefully on the temporary walk, her trench coat open to a form-fitting light gray dress and high heels.
“That’s the woman you took out?” Bix said, her eyes widening. “It’s Niki’s girl, Brie O’Malley.”
Jordan went out to meet her and led Brie back to the porch where Bix stood.
“That was a trip.” Brie laughed and flashed her dimples as Jordan did the introductions. “I hear you helped Jordan,” she said to Bix and then took a second look. “I think we’ve met before.”
“Jordan and I talked, and yes, we’ve met. Carol and I used to volunteer for Niki now and then. Good to see you again, Brie.” Bix smiled as she picked up her thermos and left.
Brie stepped back a bit and looked up at the house. “This is Thomas’s new house? Wow, it’s huge.”
“Do you have time? I’ll take you through it.” Jordan pointed to the second story. “Look at those lovely long windows.”
She turned and caught Brie staring at her.
“Busted,” Brie said, with a little half-embarrassed smile. “I admit that I just wanted to see you this morning. And, yes, I could have called.” Brie’s eyes twinkled. “I told you, anytime, anywhere…” She ran her fingers down Jordan’s bare arm. “I have a meeting, so I have to go. Talk to you tonight?” Jordan escorted her back to her car and stared at the empty street after Brie drove away. She’d dreamed about the kisses last night and woke up ready. Still ready. “No wonder men like to kiss us,” she said as she walked back to the site.
Bix was waiting for her. “Jordan, I’m not sure what you’re doing,” she said.
“I’m not either,” Jordan replied, staring out into space. Then she grinned. “But I sure love it. Something else, Bix, I’m beginning to think of carving again. I’m about done with a small piece.”
Collision Course Page 16
