Homecoming (23 page)

Lizzie pressed harder against her body, then fell asleep in what seemed like seconds. Jill idly studied the back of Lizzie’s head, fascinated by the wealth of colors in her hair. There was as much red as brown, with a little gold thrown in to make it gleam in the sun. Redheads were rare enough, but auburn had to be as unique. Just like Lizzie. Unique even in a family of redheads.

Jill must have dozed off as well, but only for a few minutes. She turned to look at her phone, seeing there were five minutes left on the alarm. Then she turned if off, deciding not to wake Lizzie with a harsh sound. She’d turned in her sleep, and was now lying on her belly, with her face turned towards Jill.

Damn, she was pretty. Pretty in a unique way. Sometimes women were conventionally attractive, with big eyes, a small nose and a wide mouth. Lizzie was a little different. Her eyes, while lovely, made her look a little crafty. Like she knew a good secret she wasn’t going to tell you. Her nose was small, but well-shaped, almost delicate. But it was her lips that Jill found herself staring at when she spoke. In sleep, they were mesmerizing, with her upper lip straight and even, her fuller, curved lower lip meeting it at the corners to form a tiny bow. Like Cupid could easily use those lips to shoot an arrow right into Jill’s heart.

Jill inched closer, now so close she could smell Lizzie’s wine-scented breath. Part of her wanted to wake her, to make use of every minute of this glorious day. But she was so pretty when she slept, Jill was sorely tempted to spend the afternoon just watching her. Lizzie resolved the conflict by slowly batting her pale eyes. Then that beautiful mouth eased into a smile. “It’s okay,” she soothed, and Jill found herself responding to the request she hadn’t vocalized. Her lips gently settled upon Lizzie’s, so warm and welcoming that she had a brief sensation of being exactly where she was supposed to be. Like all of the many decisions she’d made in her life had led her right there. To Lizzie.

Their lips molded together as Jill breathed in, filling her lungs with Lizzie’s scent, letting her brain fog with the captivating sensation. She reached out and touched her cheek, the softness astounding her. Then a hand settled into her hair, pulling her closer.

Lizzie’s lips parted and Jill’s tongue slid in without stopping to realize she’d wanted to—needed to do that. To taste her fully. A groan left her body as chills chased up and down her back. Then she gently pulled away and flopped down next to her. As she looked up, the bluest, clearest sky she could ever recall seeing filled her vision. Everything was bright and clean and clear and achingly vivid.

Lizzie’s face came into focus, hovering above her own. “Best first kiss. Ever,” she whispered.

Jill wrapped her arms around her and tugged her onto her chest, holding her tightly. “I didn’t plan that. I’m pretty fuzzy, Lizzie. I’m not at all sure—”

“Shh.” She put her fingers to Jill’s lips. “Don’t think. Just relax and enjoy the day. This winter, when it’s ten below and the wind is coming through every crack in your house, think about today, and how it felt to lie in the sun and eat tomatoes from the garden.”

“That’s not what I’ll think about,” Jill said quietly. “I’ll think about kissing you.”

“That’s good too. Maybe I’ll be sitting by you, cuddling you to keep you warm.”

“I hope so,” Jill said, closing her eyes and wishing with all of her might. “I really hope so.”

***

After lying on the rock for a long while, just feeling each other’s heartbeats, Lizzie finally put her hands on the ground and pushed herself up. “How would you like to lie there and have me feed you slices of fresh peach?”

“Mmm,” Jill closed her eyes, acting like this was a tough call. “I think that might be pleasurable.” Then she nodded decisively. “I can’t imagine not liking that.”

Lizzie got up and went back to her bag, taking out two perfect peaches and her trusty knife. She peeled one, then sliced off a big strip and dropped it teasingly into Jill’s mouth. “How about a little oil and vinegar on that?” she proposed.

“Couldn’t hurt to try.” The next piece had a tangy bite that Jill was darned fond of. “That’s fantastic. But I like it plain too. Pure sweetness, or tangy? Tough to choose.”

“We’ll alternate.” Lizzie lifted the knife above Jill’s face and let the slice drop into her mouth. “This could be a racy version of
Little House on the Prairie
.”

“Where Ma and Pa wind up naked and covered in peach juice,” Jill said, laughing at the thought.

“Ma and Pa didn’t do that kind of thing. Don’t ruin my pure childhood memories.” She dropped another slice of fruit into Jill’s mouth. “I’m happy to make new memories, though.” Her eyebrow lifted, seemingly in a challenge. Then she put her knife on the towel and smoothed the tension from Jill’s forehead. “I’m teasing. I promise I won’t push you, Jill. We’ll go at your pace.” Her mouth quirked up in a devilish smile. “But I can’t think of anything I’d say no to today.”

Images flashed across Jill’s mind, each one sexier than the next. “I need to think,” she said quickly, her confusion mounting by the second. “To make sure I feel comfortable before we go any further.”

“That’s all right,” Lizzie insisted. “I’m very patient. When I have to be.”

“I need time, Lizzie. I have to move slowly to make sure I don’t screw this up.”

“No problem. For now, we’ll just go along like we have been.” She leaned over and whispered in her ear, tickling the sensitive skin. “If you’re a good girl, you get cake.”

“Cake?” Her face lit up at the prospect. “I love cake.”

Lizzie put her hand on Jill’s belly and shook it. “Not much jiggle here. How do you drink beer and eat cake and stay thin?”

“I’ll give you the Jill Henry keys to fitness. Never take an elevator if you can take the stairs, never drive if you can walk, and only eat high calorie things when they’re really delicious.”

“Words to live by.” She pulled Jill up, sat very close, and turned her phone around. “I want a picture of us together. One we can show our kids when we tell them about the first time you kissed me.”

Jill had a feeling her fantasy family would laugh their butts off when they looked at the photo of her, mouth agape, with Lizzie’s head tilted close, grinning maniacally.

***

They would have been locked in if they’d parked in the lot, so Lizzie’s prescience paid off. The sun was almost fully set, and Jill had to fight to keep her feet under her on the walk down the darkening path, but they reached the car, their bodies intact, just as it got dark.

“We’re going to have to scramble for cake,” Jill said. “Don’t even think I’ve forgotten.”

“You don’t need dinner?” Lizzie started her silent car as they put their seat belts on.

“I’ll accept dinner if I can’t have cake. But I’d rather have cake and skip the foreplay.”

“Coming right up,” Lizzie said, grinning at her, but not commenting on the sexual innuendo.

They drove for just a few minutes, reaching Lizzie’s neighborhood to search for a spot at the charging station. “One day, in the distant future, I’d love to have a driveway,” she sighed. “With a big old 240-volt charger.” Luckily, they were one of the first cars to return from their travels, and Lizzie hooked the car up and patted it as they walked away.

“I think you should name her Sparky,” Jill said, giving the little car some thoughtful consideration.

“Sparky, huh? I don’t hate it. Let me chew that over for a while. I’m not used to naming cars.” She laughed softly. “Given this is my first car, that’s kind of a dumb thing to say.”

Jill carried the bag while Lizzie got her keys out. The outer door didn’t have a lock, and she had to jiggle the key in the second door to get it to open. It was an old door, probably original, with glass filling the upper half. As she closed it, Jill noticed the inside lock turned to open.

“What’s to stop someone from breaking the glass and walking right in?” she asked.

“Thanks. I’ll think of you when I’m cowering in my bed tonight.” Lizzie grasped Jill by the sleeve and pulled her forward to walk in front. “I have one more door to stop the mad killer. I just have to hope he’s not very strong.”

They climbed the narrow, seriously out-of-plumb stairs, with room for only one of them at a time. Lizzie put her key into a lock of a door that couldn’t possibly have been up to code. It was not only not a fire door, Jill was fairly certain it was a regular hollow interior one. It could have been kicked in, easily, and a child could have jimmied the lock with a credit card. They entered and Jill waited for her eyes to adjust to the dim light from the hallway.

“Remember when I said I’d had some sketchy apartments?” she asked.

“I know it’s a dump. But it’s cheap.” Lizzie switched on an overhead light, which cast harsh, unattractive shadows over the small space. “Well, not that cheap. A third of my take-home pay.”

Lizzie had a nice enough sofa, along with a biggish TV and a couple of lamps in the living room. “I could give you the provenance of everything, but to save time let’s just say it’s nice to have a bunch of older sibs who give you their cast-offs.”

“It’s nice,” Jill said. “Very cozy.”

“Wait… There’s more,” she said, with her eyebrows popping up and down. They stood at the doorway of the bedroom, a tragic sight. Half of it contained a full-sized bed, while the other half held a dorm-style, under-counter refrigerator, even though there was no counter, and a two-burner cooktop atop the sole cabinet. “Welcome to my bitchen. The bedroom/kitchen combo is perfect for the person who wants to grab a bite while lying in bed.”

Jill met her eyes, but could only make herself comment about one thing. “The flowers look nice there.”

Lizzie had put her birthday flowers on the shelf right over the head of the bed. If Jill had a shelf in that position, she’d hit her head every time she got up, but Lizzie must have been more careful.

“I dreamed I was out in a beautiful field, with flowers surrounding me,” she admitted, smiling contentedly. “I must have been smelling them all night.”

Turning slightly, they were in front of a dismal bath, with a plastic enclosure around a rusty tub, the room illuminated by a light that couldn’t have had more than a twenty-five watt bulb in it. Jill met Lizzie’s eyes at the end of the brief tour. “You’ve gotta move.”

“I’m looking. My lease is up in October, and that’s one of the reasons I didn’t want Chase or Mason or whichever one of them knows how to do electrical work to bother putting a new light in the bathroom. Besides the fact I didn’t want to have sex with him,” she added, pointing at Jill menacingly. “Go sit down. I’ll deliver your cake.”

“You actually have cake? I thought you were teasing me.”

“I don’t lie about anything important, Jill,” she said, letting her mouth curl into a grin. “And cake is important.”

Jill went into the living room and switched on the lamps, turning off the harsh overhead light. It honestly wasn’t a bad room, very small, but neat and sparingly decorated. She might have been happy there when she was Lizzie’s age, but she hated to see someone she cared about in a place that seemed so easy to break into, as well as a fire hazard. With that thin wooden door, a fire could easily breach the interior, and with no fire escape…

Her concern about fire grew when Lizzie carried a cake, candles blazing, into the room. She sang “Happy Birthday” with a sweet, confident voice, leaning over to kiss Jill’s cheek as she finished. “I hope you have a fantastic birthday,” she said, sitting next to her on the sofa.

The cake was obviously homemade, but it was so skillfully executed, only the lettering on the top gave it away.
Nooooo!
it read. Jill laughed, nodding her head. “That’s about it.”

“Forty looks very good on you,” Lizzie said, scooting closer.

Jill leaned over, made a wish, and blew the candles out, managing to keep the darned things from turning the whole place into an inferno. “This is one fantastic looking cake. Don’t tell me you got up and made this today.” She blinked. “You don’t have an oven.”

“My neighbor on the ground floor lets me use hers. I was a little tipsy when I was making it, so I can’t guarantee how it’ll taste. But I enjoyed doing it. I was singing away, really entertaining myself.”

“Thanks so much,” Jill said, turning to smile at her. “I really do appreciate this.”

“I wanted to make sure you had good cake. Mary Beth and Kathleen sent me an invitation to your party tomorrow, but I’ve got an event at work I can’t get out of. And even though they seem like nice people, I can’t tell if they’re trustworthy cake providers.”

“They’re trustworthy in that they don’t try to cook anything complex. But they know how to go to a good bakery.” She picked the candles from a quarter of the cake and cut very generous slices for each of them. Digging in with her fork, she moaned in pleasure. “I’ve had double chocolate, but this tastes like triple. Fantastic,” she said. Jill leaned over and kissed Lizzie on the cheek. Then it dawned on her that Lizzie had been one hundred percent true to her word. She hadn’t tried to convince Jill to kiss her again, or even bring up the topic of intimacy.
Really nice.
A woman who kept her word raised her attractiveness level significantly, and Lizzie’s was already darned high.

Jill managed two slices, each bigger than most people would ever accept.

“I love a woman who isn’t afraid to eat dessert,” Lizzie said, as she curled her legs up under herself like a cat and leaned against the back of the sofa. “You’re not even skittish, much less afraid.”

“I love dessert. But only good ones. If this had been one of those cakes where the frosting tastes like oil…” She made a face. “I’d move it around on my plate, but I wouldn’t eat more than the minimum required to be polite.” She pointed at the cake, now missing a third. “That wasn’t politeness.”

“I didn’t get any yesterday, but since this is my birthday weekend, I’m satisfied.”

“I hope you’re having as good a weekend as I am,” Jill said, her heart swelling with tenderness. Lizzie could bring out the most surprising feelings, just by looking at Jill in a certain way. Those eyes seemed to reach inside to
see
her feelings, a sensation Jill was going to have to get used to.