Homecoming (16 page)

“If I have to, I can do sixty-five. Much colder than that and I just shiver.” She cocked her head and said, “Last year, some friends and I got a sweet boat ride on my birthday. If the guy offers again, want to double up? My birthday’s on a Friday, so yours is Sunday. We could split the difference and do it on Saturday.”

“Sure. Some friends are having a party for me on my actual birthday, but I don’t have anything planned for Saturday.” She bumped Lizzie with her shoulder. “You’re having a big birthday too. Does it freak you out?”

“Yes,” she said, as she gave Jill a push. “A lot more than yours does!”

“Aww…” Jill draped an arm around her shoulders as they stood on the banks of the lake and watched the sun dip behind the hills. “Why are you freaked out?”

She looked a little embarrassed, but said, “Because I feel like I’ve blown a lot of years and don’t have much to show for it. A lot of my friends are married or partnered, and I haven’t even had a date, except for Scott, since Jon dumped me.”

“You haven’t? Really?”

“Thanks for saying that like it’s impossible to believe. I could find someone to go out with, but I’m looking for a relationship. Like I have been since I was twenty-five,” she emphasized. “And I’m having zero luck. The people I’m interested in clearly aren’t interested in me.”

“You’ll get there, Lizzie. You’re pretty, you’re smart, you’re charming, and you’ve got a great job that you love. Who wouldn’t want to be with you?”

“Many people,” she said, pouting a little. “The list is really long.”

“That makes no sense at all. If I were a guy, you’d be exactly the kind of woman I’d be looking for.”

Lizzie turned and looked into her eyes for a few seconds. “Thanks,” she said, finally turning away, clearly embarrassed. “That makes me feel better.”

“You know what would make me feel better?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Dessert. Let’s go get it.”

***

Near the end of June, one of Jill’s co-workers popped his head into her office. “Do you like baseball?” Ramon asked.

“Yeah. A lot. Why?”

“There’s four tickets to the Lake Monsters floating around. I thought I’d ask you before I passed them on.”

“For tonight?”

“Yeah. Want ’em?”

“Sure. I think I can scare up some people to tag along. Thanks for thinking of me, Ramon.”

As he left, she pulled up her contacts list and scanned it. She could probably convince a few of her couple friends to go, but that left a spare ticket. Maybe Lizzie could take that one…

That put her on a different tack. She found the number and made the call, hoping she wasn’t making a mistake. She’d find out if she was overstepping quickly enough.

Jill was driving, and she texted her arrival when pulled up at Lizzie’s apartment. A minute later, Lizzie ran down the walk, looking particularly cute. As always, she wore jeans. Tight ones. Luckily, she was one of those people who looked long and lean in tight jeans. A black tank top showed under an open white man-tailored shirt, and Jill recognized the tank as the leotard she’d worn at the club. She looked more mature in a regular blouse, a little dressier than her usual T-shirt.

“My first game of the year!” she said as she threw the door open and climbed in. “And I can get hammered, since you’re driving. Who’s excited?”

“I’d be more excited if I could get hammered too,” Jill teased, “but I’m definitely up for this. Some of my friends like to go to games, but they don’t really like baseball. It’s more fun to go with a real fan.”

“I’m a real fan,” Lizzie declared. “Ever since I was little and saw my brothers put their uniforms on.” She held her hand over her heart and patted it. “They looked like gods to me. So tall and imposing in their uniforms and cleats. I always knew I’d play.”

“I would have loved to have played, but a girl had never even tried out when I was the right age.”

Lizzie reached over and poked her in the side. “Then you should have been the first.”

“Mmm.” She shook her head. Her mother would have yanked her out of school and sent her to a non-baseball playing country before she would have allowed that. “I wasn’t a risk taker back then. It took me a while to get the confidence to push myself.”

“You seem to have plenty now. And now’s when it counts.”

The team played at the UVM baseball stadium, so Jill was able to use her parking permit to glide right into a good lot. “We could probably park closer, but Freyja likes this lot,” she said. “She hates it when people ding her doors.”

“Yeah, Freyja seems like she’s really picky about stuff. She might need a few sessions with a counselor.”

They walked across campus to the stadium, chatting about the team. When they approached the gate, Jill waved to her guests. “I had four tickets,” she explained, “so I invited a couple of friends.”

Lizzie put a restraining hand on her shoulder to slow them down. “Co-workers?”

“No. Chase is the electrician I use, and Mason’s his brother. Nice guys. You’ll like them.”

The Martin brothers were all cleaned up for a change. They each wore cotton shorts and plaid shirts, the first time Jill had seen either of them in anything other than T-shirts.

When they got close, Jill made the introductions, with the brothers both looking like they were glad Jill had called. She knew they were both single, with Mason, in particular, complaining about how hard it was to find a woman to date.

Lizzie’s enthusiasm had waned, along with her chattiness. Jill didn’t think she got shy around strangers, but maybe she was different when the strangers were single straight guys. Jill was certain the always jovial Martin brothers would soon have her under their spell.

Their seats were fantastic. Right behind home plate, just ten rows up from the field. Mason went in first, then Jill said to Lizzie, “Why don’t you sit next to Mason?”

“Can’t,” she said, shaking her head. “I need to be on the aisle.”

Jill was going to ask what made that so, but she didn’t want to embarrass her if she had some phobia about being in the middle of a row. So Jill went in next, followed by Chase, then Lizzie.

They’d barely gotten settled when Lizzie jumped up. “I’ll go for beers.” She was backing up as she looked at each person. “Everyone?” When they all nodded, she turned and jogged up the steps, gone before anyone could follow.

“That’s the woman who’s really friendly and looking for a boyfriend?” Chase asked, frowning at Jill. “I’ve had warmer receptions from
ex
-girlfriends.”

“She’s friendly. I promise,” Jill said. “Maybe she’s nervous.”

“She didn’t look nervous,” Mason said. “She looked pissed.”

Mason was wrong. Thankfully. After Lizzie came back with the beers, she seemed a little remote, but certainly not angry. Jill was pretty sure Mason and Chase would think she’d really opened up, but she hadn’t. Still, she seemed to be having a good time, and managed to impress the guys with the depth of her baseball knowledge.

“I’ve never known a girl who understood that the batter can run to first if the catcher drops the third strike,” Mason said.

“Then you’ve never been with a
woman
,” she stressed, a smile showing she wasn’t offended, “who understands baseball. By the way,” she added, “the rule’s only in effect if there’s no one on first or there are two outs.”

“No,” Mason said, sounding hesitant. He turned to his brother. “Really?”

“Uhm…I dunno.”

“Look at the logic behind the rule,” Lizzie explained. “If the ball was live with a man on first, the catcher would intentionally drop the third strike, then fire it to second to start an easy double-play. It’s the same thought behind the infield fly rule.”

“You
do
understand baseball,” Chase said soberly.

“I do,” she admitted, smiling to herself as she took a drink of her beer. “Damned well.”

When Jill returned from using the restroom after the seventh inning stretch, Lizzie said, “Mason lives in the South End, so I’m going to hitch a ride home with him.”

“Super,” Jill said. She smiled as she moved past Lizzie and Chase to settle into her seat. Maybe she was better at fixing up people than she thought.

A few days after the
ball game, Jill texted Lizzie, just to see if she’d had a good time with Mason. It was a busy day at work, and she was getting ready for her summer vacation, so she didn’t notice until she went to bed that night that Lizzie hadn’t replied. Tempted to send a follow-up, Jill passed it off as an oversight. Besides, she probably didn’t want to know how well Lizzie and Mason had gotten along. The last time she’d gotten an update on Lizzie’s dating habits, she’d nearly fainted.

***

Everyone from the bridge group had, once again, chipped in to rent a big house on the lake for two weeks. They’d been to this particular house last year, and found it so perfect they’d all agreed to rent it again.

Four bedrooms, with a wide, enclosed porch that harbored two sofa beds, along with three bathrooms, two of them located in the bedrooms. Then a cozy guest cottage that easily slept four.

The house was at the tip of a spit of land, providing glorious views in three directions. Kayaks, canoes and a row boat were all provided, and when the water was unkind, a forested walking path stretched out for a quarter mile, providing plenty of space to stretch your legs. A couple of bikes were serviceable, especially if you wanted to cruise along at a leisurely pace.

It was the nicest place Jill had ever stayed—even though it was a little down-at-the-heels. But she didn’t go for luxury. She went for the peace and tranquility of the vastness of the lake spread out before her, as well as the fun of being around all of her buddies. It was like freshman year in college, where you stayed up all night talking, with the freedom to do whatever you wanted.

Even though the bridge group had arranged for the house, other friends filled any spare beds. Skip and Alice just came up for the weekends, and Karen usually had to go back to see a few clients, keeping the musical beds game going. But Jill took two full weeks off work, always the first to arrive and the last to leave.

The changeover day was Saturday, at three, and Jill was going down early just to hang out before she picked up the keys. The night before, she’d texted Lizzie again, on the off chance that she wanted to tag along for a day to take Mary Beth’s spot, who wasn’t able to get away until Monday.

After waiting a few hours for Lizzie to reply, Jill shut off her phone. She’d done something nice for her—something she considered thoughtful. But Lizzie hadn’t even called to acknowledge the gesture. She might have a good excuse, but Jill wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it. Her feelings were hurt, and she tended to withdraw when that happened. Lizzie could make the next overture—if she cared to.

Early on Saturday morning, Jill loaded up the car, adding her bike in case the weather was more favorable for rides than dips, kissed the cats goodbye, and started off. The cabin was only about thirty miles away, a long enough ride to clear her mind of work and home and focus on the good stuff—water and sun. There was precious little of the latter today, with the forecast calling for a high of sixty-five. Not an ideal day to go swimming. But it wasn’t raining, and that was good enough for her.

The coffee shop she’d met Lizzie at had become her new favorite, and she stopped in whenever she had time. Today she hoped she wouldn’t run into Lizzie, which seemed like a good bet, given that it was barely eight o’clock.

Jill went in and ordered her cappuccino, then chatted with the barista while she made it. The place was nearly empty, having opened just minutes before. She pondered the baked goods covered by big, glass domes, and pointed at a scone. “What kind is that?”

“Lemon ginger,” a low voice behind her stated.

Jill turned to find Lizzie, bleary-eyed and disheveled. She didn’t smile, but her expression wasn’t unfriendly. Actually, she looked a little like Janet did when she was disappointed in one of the kids.

“Hi,” Jill said, turning back to devote her attention to paying for her coffee and getting a scone. Her instinct was to offer to buy Lizzie’s coffee, but she resisted it.

“Hi, yourself.” Lizzie took her phone from her pocket and shook it. “Sorry I didn’t get back to you. Did you find a cat sitter?”

“Cat sitter?” Jill stared at the side of her face as she put in her breakfast order. After Lizzie had it squared away, she moved aside so the next person could approach the counter.

“Yeah.” She fussed with a few bills, finally crumpling them up and shoving them into her front pocket. “That’s why you called, right?”

“Nope.” Jill picked up her coffee and let the first sip, the perfect ambrosia, fill her mouth for a few seconds.
Heavenly.
“First off, if I’d been looking for a cat sitter, I wouldn’t let it go until the last minute.”

Lizzie’s pupils dilated a little as her eyes opened wide and focused on Jill’s mouth. Given how she looked, she was nursing a hangover.

“Secondly,” Jill continued, her voice a little sharp, “I’d never ask a friend to devote two full weeks to babysitting the boys. I found a retired couple who live in Rutland and wanted to spend some time in the big city. My usual cat sitter recommended them, so I’m only slightly freaked out.” She made herself smile, but her heart wasn’t in it. Lizzie was still giving her a sour look, for reasons Jill couldn’t fathom.

“Oh.” She reached over to pick up her coffee, then took it and moved across the big room to slide down the wall by the windows. Not a drop spilled.

Jill followed her, but didn’t try to duplicate her feat. Instead, she grabbed a chair and sat like an adult. “How’s your new light fixture?” she asked, knowing her gaze had gotten more pointed.

Lizzie didn’t meet her eyes. Instead, she sipped at her coffee for a moment, then set it on the floor. “I don’t have one,” she said quietly. Then her greenish eyes shifted up to land on Jill. As soon as Lizzie spoke, Jill wished she’d stayed quiet. “You know,” she said, sounding like she’d been trying to tamp down her anger, and had given up the fight. “I do all right at finding my own dates.”