Without a Net

by Kimberly Cooper Griffin

  “Oh.” Meg’s smile faded. Her time with Fiona suddenly had a limit. “I haven’t actually settled on a date.”

  “Do you think we could pin down a date in the next few days?” She didn’t blame her for pressing it. They had a business to run. “I don’t want to pressure you, sweetie, and I would have waited to talk about it when you’re out for your dad’s birthday but, well… you’re the first of the family to know. I’m pregnant!”

  It was great news! She was elated for her aunt and uncle. They’d been trying for another kid for years, but Claudia kept on having miscarriages during the first few months. “What? How awesome! Congratulations. You’ve been trying for so long. When are you due?”

  “In January. We waited to get past the first trimester to tell anyone because we wanted to make sure nothing happened. The thing is, we also just discovered we’re having triplets.”

  “Whoa! Triplets?”

  Aunt Claudia blew a breath out. She sounded both nervous and excited. “It’s a long story, but in-vitro has a higher chance of multiples. That means I probably won’t work until I pop like I did with your cousin, seeing as I’m carrying a litter. Triplets also rarely go to term.” Aunt Claudia laughed. “I’d like to get you all set up and comfortable at the clinic before it happens. Do you think the first of September will work for you? It would give us at least two months to get you up to speed.”

  Her chest constricted. Aunt Claudia had been so supportive of her plans to stay in the city for the entire summer. It was the least she could do for her. “The first it is.”

  “Excellent! I knew I could count on you. Thanks, Megsie.” Her aunt sounded so relieved. “We’ll see you for your dad’s party in the meantime, right? It’s been so long since everyone has been together in one place. I can’t wait to see what you get him for his birthday.”

  Meg spoke with her aunt for a few more minutes without revealing anything about the gargoyle and hung up. She tried to ignore the battle in her heart between working with her aunt at the clinic and spending more time with Fiona. Who would have thought she’d have such a hard time choosing between her life’s dream and a relationship that might not even have a future?

  66

  “Mike. Seriously. You need to stop.” Fiona stood in the hot sun and grasped the wrought iron fencing in front of her apartment. She should never have answered the phone when it rang after seeing Mrs. Rickles to her door. He’d been cool the last time, though, so she thought he would be this time, too. She was wrong.

  “Fi, this isn’t just about you. It affects me, too. And our baby. It isn’t fair for you to pull this power play.”

  Had he really said “our baby”? “You’re getting way ahead of yourself. This isn’t some sort of power play.” She wanted to hang up. Who the hell did he think he was? “This affects my entire fucking life. I need some time to figure out what I’m going to do and I don’t need you breathing down my neck about it every day.”

  She heard him take a deep breath.

  “You asked for space. I’ve been giving you space. I call once in a while to check in. All I’m saying is you need to factor me into what you decide. I want this baby.”

  A swarm of responses flew through her mind, none of them very nice. She counted to ten. “I’ll let you know what—”

  “When? When will you let me know?”

  She almost hung up, but instead, she took a deep breath. “I’ll let you know what I decide in a few weeks.”

  “What’s a few? I need a date.” He was sounding like a lawyer now.

  “You’ll know when I call you.” She hung up.

  It was hot and she was angry. She took a few deep breaths and went back to her apartment. Meg would make her feel better.

  When her eyes adjusted to the lower light in the apartment, Meg was standing in the dining area staring at her phone.

  “Hey you. Waiting for your phone to ring?” The sight of Meg made her feel better. She wasn’t going to bore her with the details of yet another crappy call with Mike. She could use a hug, though, so she walked over to her and stood a few inches away.

  “I just got off the phone with Aunt Claudia.”

  “The one with the veterinarian office in Ooka—I give up.” She laughed.

  Meg smiled. “Okanogan.”

  “Is everything okay? You look… pensive?”

  “She wants me to start working on September first.”

  All the wind was sucked from Fiona’s lungs. “September first?”

  “Yes.” Meg looked down at her phone.

  Fiona blew out a long breath. They’d never talked about a date, only the end of the summer. September was technically summer, right? She wanted to negotiate, but she knew it wasn’t the time. “That gives us all of August, I guess.” She stepped toward Meg, who wrapped her in her arms.

  “Yeah, I guess it does.” Meg rested her forehead on her shoulder.

  First Mike and now this. Fiona’s chest tightened up. But Meg looked as upset about it as she was. Meg was always taking care of her. It was her turn to step up. She squeezed her tight. “I don’t want to worry about tomorrow and ruin the time we have.” She pulled her head back to gaze into Meg’s eyes. As usual, she fell deeply into the blue, blue depths.

  “I like the way you think.” Meg smiled and she lifted one of Fiona’s hands to rub across her cheek. Her hand was warm and soft.

  “Someone I know told me that.”

  “That someone is very wise.”

  “Yep. One of the wisest people I’ve ever known. Too bad she’s moving back to Washington.”

  “Yeah…” Meg let the word trail off and they stood there quietly for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts.

  67

  Fiona sat at her desk, looking around her miniscule office at Threadlocke and Guernsey. It seemed like a lifetime ago when her sole purpose in life was to move down the hall and into one of the corner partner offices. Now she laughed at her old blindered focus. Such a trivial thing to fixate on, when the rest of her life was in free-fall.

  Aside from the picture sitting on her desk, the one of her parents taken a few weeks before their accident, her office was bare. There were no pictures on the walls, no plants on the credenza in front of the window, no knick-knacks placed around the space. She hadn’t even brought in any of her own personal law books. Aside from the picture, there wasn’t a single thing displayed in the office reflecting her personality. Nothing. The irony of her nearly sterile workspace hit her like a gentle punch. Sterile office; sterile life. She hadn’t made any friends at the office, aside from Twyla. She never went out to lunch with anyone, preferring to work through lunch. In fact, she rarely left her office except to visit the firm’s extensive law library. At least leaving the firm would be painless, she thought to herself, as she opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out the stack of boring cases she was more than halfway through. Her goal was to be finished with them by the time she left on vacation with Meg. There would be more when she got back. There always would be. But, hopefully, when she got back she’d know what to do with her life. She was done with planning it down to the minutest detail, she just needed some sort of direction.

  Sighing, she flipped open the top file, powered up her laptop, and tucked into her work.

  The case happened to be for a company based in Seattle. She smiled at the synchronicity and thought how she would be there in a few short days. She looked up the company’s website to get more information for her research and she noticed an ad in the browser featuring Seattle jobs. On a lark she clicked on it.

  *****

  Several hours later, Fiona hadn’t completed a single case and she was deep into Columbia’s career development website. She hadn’t limited her search to Washington; in fact she found more opportunities on the east coast. Her research had also opened her eyes to career paths she had never even considered, including
opening her own firm. She didn’t think she’d have an opportunity to check into any of the Washington prospects when she was in Seattle with Meg, nor did she seriously consider them as real possibilities—after all, who picked up and left everything they knew for a relationship a few weeks old?—but the exercise gave her a much needed feeling of possibility, especially with Meg leaving in a few short weeks. And possibility felt good.

  68

  The clouds were low overhead but the late afternoon rain had stopped, at least temporarily, which was a good thing for the Wednesday after work traffic. Meg drove the rental car down interstate 5 on their way from the airport to Meg’s family home in the Highlands area of northern Seattle. Meg had the window partway down, and though it was a bit chilly, even in late July, it settled her soul. She breathed in the damp and salty air, tinged with pungent dankness. She was home, and she couldn’t think of a better feeling than to be here with Fiona. Her heart was full.

  She realized she’d been talking non-stop since they’d left the airport. Part of it was how much she wanted Fiona to love her family. The other part was how nervous she knew Fiona was to meet them. She stopped her running commentary and hoped the surrounding landscape, in its breathtaking, rain-rinsed clarity along the Puget Sound would give Fiona some peace. She imagined Fiona’s eyes taking in the handful of watercraft out on the water. Was she imagining walking along the water’s edge in heavy boots and a warm jacket, hands wrapped tightly around a steaming cup of coffee?

  Fiona laid her head against the headrest in the rented vehicle. “I finally understand the tone of longing in your voice when you speak of Washington.”

  Some of the tension between Meg’s shoulder blades melted away.

  “I can’t imagine living anywhere else. The clinic is more inland, but it’s beautiful there, too.”

  Fiona took her hand. “The closer we get to your parents’ house, the more I want to throw up.”

  Meg took her hand and glanced over at her. Fiona looked cute for someone who was about to be sick. “Are you sure it isn’t morning sickness?”

  “Aside from the fact it’s late afternoon and I haven’t experienced much morning sickness so far, I think I can safely say it’s probably the thought of meeting my girlfriend’s family for the first time that’s making the salad I had for lunch want to decorate the inside of the windshield.”

  Meg looked over at her. “Am I officially your girlfriend?”

  Fiona blinked a couple of times. Meg wondered if she was about to take it back, but then she smiled. “I’d say you’re my girlfriend. I don’t let just anyone into my pants, to use Mrs. Rickles’ phrase.”

  Meg squeezed her hand. “I like that.”

  “The girlfriend part? Or the getting into my pants thing?”

  Meg kissed her palm while watching the road. “Oh, I definitely like getting into your pants, but I think you already knew that. I was talking about the girlfriend part.”

  “Good. It’s settled, then. We’re girlfriends.” Fiona giggled, making Meg laugh. “Can I call exclusive rights to you now?”

  She held Fiona’s hand to her chest. “Honey, you’ve had exclusive rights to me since the day I saw you with those guys at Helga’s.”

  “What guys? Oh, wait. You mean Josh?”

  “Yeah, and the other guy you had coffee with on the patio.”

  Fiona seemed to search her mind and frowned. “Oh, yeah. Mike.”

  Meg wasn’t sure why she hadn’t put two and two together. “The blond guy was Mike?”

  “The one and only.” Fiona paused. “Speaking of which, I’d kind of like it if you didn’t bring up the baby to your parents this weekend, if it’s okay.”

  Meg tried to think if she’d already said something to them in their weekly calls, but she didn’t think she had. Her mom had been so focused on making sure her dad didn’t find out about the surprise party, she’d rushed off the phone each time, so she hadn’t had a chance to talk about much.

  “No problem. I figure it’s your business to bring up, if you want to.”

  “I suppose we might want to tell them some time.” She laughed nervously. “Actually, you and I should talk about it first, don’t you think?”

  Meg swallowed hard. “About the baby?”

  Fiona shifted in her seat and faced her. “We agreed we’re girlfriends. But what does that mean? I’m having a baby. I haven’t even said that out loud more than a handful of times. I have no idea what it means for the future, including our future.”

  “And I’m moving back to Washington in September.” The turnoff to her parents’ house came up. She sighed. “We’re here.” She pulled up to the gate at the end of the driveway and stopped the car.

  Fiona grimaced. “I hate thinking about you leaving. I shouldn’t have brought it up, especially now, when I already feel queasy.”

  Meg took her hand again. “It’s stuff we need to talk about. But you’re right. Now’s not the time.” She pointed at a camera mounted on the wall near the gate. “They know we’re here.”

  Fiona looked around. “You didn’t tell me you live in a fortress.”

  It was Meg’s turn to grimace. It hadn’t even crossed her mind to tell Fiona about her family’s wealth. Unlike other girlfriends, some who had been attracted to her for the money, it had never seemed like a thing she needed to discuss. Besides, it was her parents’ money. Not hers. At least not for a long time, she hoped. “I should have told you, but—”

  Fiona caressed her hand. “It never came up. Why should it?”

  Relief washed over Meg. “I guess we have some things to talk about. But maybe, just for this weekend, we relax and let you get to know my family? We can figure all the other stuff out later. Deal?”

  Fiona smiled. “Deal.”

  She punched a code into the discreetly hidden keypad inside of a manicured bush and the gate rolled open.

  Fiona peered down the driveway. “Other than the dress I brought for the party, all I packed was jeans and shorts.”

  Meg laughed and squeezed her hand. “They’re going to love you, Fiona. Jeans and shorts are fine.”

  She pulled the car into the portico near the front door of her parents’ enormous Tudor-style home. No sooner had Meg shut off the ignition, than the front door opened and Rebecca, the family’s housekeeper who’d been with them since before Meg had been born, raced out. The handsome, older women swept over and had Meg in a tight embrace as soon as Meg’s feet hit the clay-tiled ground.

  “Meg, Meg, Meg! I am so happy to see you. It feels like Christmas to have you here!” Rebecca released Meg and held her at arm’s length to look at her adoringly. “Your mother showed me the pictures of your graduation. I was so upset I couldn’t make it, but you won’t get me on a plane. No, sir! Maybe when I was younger. But now I’m older than the hills. I have to worry about blood clots and the flu.” She waved a finger at her. “I hope you took precautions. Airplanes are virtual disease factories.” She glanced at the other side of the car when Fiona’s head appeared over the roof. “Are you going to introduce me to your special friend?”

  Rebecca clasped her hands before her with barely contained emotion. Her sparkling eyes moved from Meg to Fiona and back again, waiting for an introduction.

  “Sorry, Rebecca,” Meg said, knowing full well she hadn’t had a chance to get a word in edgewise yet. “Rebecca, this is my girlfriend, Fiona.” It gave her a thrill to call Fiona her girlfriend, and the smile on Fiona’s face indicated she liked it, too.

  Fiona came around the car and extended her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Rebecca. Meg has told me so much about you.”

  “Give an old woman a hug.” Rebecca opened her arms wide and wiggled her fingers impatiently until Fiona gave her a hug. “I like you already, Fiona! Welcome to Chez Jordan!”

  “Are Mom and Dad home from work?” Meg asked.

  They stepp
ed into the bright, high-ceilinged foyer. Soft lighting from subtle wall lamps helped brighten the gray day seen through the many windows.

  Rebecca closed the front door. “Your mom stayed home today, and we expect your dad shortly. I’m surprised your mom isn’t down yet.”

  The words were no sooner out of Rebecca’s mouth, than a woman’s voice called out from above them. “Meg!”

  Meg took Fiona’s hand and squeezed. All eyes followed the graceful arc of the stairs, which rose along the wall to the right. A slightly older version of Meg appeared on the upper landing and paused briefly while a bright smile overtook her face. The resemblance was remarkable. Same smile, same build, same hair color, same stance. Meg watched Fiona look from her mother to her, probably amazed at their likeness. She’d been hearing it all her life and she was proud of it. Her mother was a stunning woman.

  Her mom raced down the wood stairs wearing a pair of black yoga pants and a flowing white-cotton shirt, enveloping her in a fierce embrace. “You’re here! You’re both here.” Her mother released her and gave Fiona the same warm hug. “Welcome to Seattle, Fiona.”

  “Fiona, meet my mom, Reese.”

  “Thanks for having me, Mrs. Jordan. So far, Seattle has been beautiful, as is your home.” Fiona no longer looked nervous. Meg knew she’d relax as soon as she’d met her parents. She was especially happy her mom wasn’t wearing her work clothes. Lawyerly Reese Jordan was a force to be reckoned with. Mom around the house Reese Jordan was way more easy going.

  Her mom waved at the windows. “You should see it when the sun comes out. Oh, and please call me Reese.”

  “I was telling her the same on the way from the airport,” Meg said. “It’s when people come crawling out of their caves in search of some vitamin D.”

  “I hope we see some sunshine, then,” Fiona said.

  Meg’s mother led them further into the house and Rebecca excused herself to check on something in the kitchen. “I’m glad to finally meet the woman who has caught our little butterfly! I’m happy you could come.”