Homecoming (38 page)

“Why aren’t you over there?”

The kid was a regular detective. No nonsense.

“Because I’m here,” Jill said, tired of being interrogated. “I can’t be two places at once, and sitting here, listening to the Sox makes me perfectly happy.”

“Where’s Gramma?” Grace asked, clearly needing to know everyone’s location.

Mike made a vague gesture towards the road. “She’s visiting Tim and his gang.”

The girl stared at him for a few long seconds, looking more like her mother by the moment. “Why would she go see Uncle Tim when Lizzie’s here?”

Mike started to laugh. “You’ll have to ask her that, honey. Come by tomorrow. We’ll have a cookout.”

“Will Lizzie be here?” She turned to Jill, her eyes narrowing slightly. “Will you?”

“No. We’re driving back tonight.”

Grace nodded soberly. “I’m gonna go find Lizzie.” She left with the dog following closely behind.

“Just like Lisa at that age,” Jill said when the kid was out of earshot.

“I wish that was a compliment,” Mike grumbled. “She’d be a nicer person if she took after her father more.” He took a drink of his beer, then shook it, indicating it was empty. “How about getting an old man another?”

Jill got up and fetched a fresh beer and handed it to him. “Forget what I said about Grace,” Mike said. “She’s a good kid. And wishing she was something else is just dumb on my part. You get what you get.”

“All true,” Jill agreed. “Think I should go get Lizzie?”

“Nah. She’ll come back if Grace bugs her. Lizzie doesn’t put up with much. You’ll learn,” he predicted, then laughed again, slightly devilishly.

The Sox were having a good night, scoring at will against a Yankee team that had been equally tepid that year. It was remarkably calming, even zen-like, just sitting in the backyard listening to Joe Castiglione take over the play-by-play duties in the third inning.

The fireflies were gliding around the yard, a few katydids were revving up, and the mosquitos had barely made their presence felt. This was what home was. Being with people who knew you well enough that you could be perfectly content to just sit. Conversation was fine, but certainly not required.

It had been fully dark for a while, and Jill decided it was time to find Lizzie. She pulled out her phone and searched for Lizzie’s, seeing it move, in fits and starts, down the street.

Then Lizzie walked around the side of the house, calling out, “What are you two doing sitting in the dark? The mosquitos are gonna eat you alive.”

“They must be busy somewhere else,” Jill said. “I thought maybe they’d gone over to the pool and bitten you so badly you’d passed out.”

She came over and stood slightly behind Jill, then put her hand on her head and ruffled her hair. “They don’t like me. But Grace hasn’t gotten the Davis skeeter immunity. She was slapping them away every two seconds.”

“You were over there forever,” Jill said. Her head snapped around and she stared at Lizzie. “You didn’t tell her about us, did you?”

“Silly thing.” Lizzie leaned over and kissed Jill’s cheek.

It was dark, so Mike couldn’t see how flushed Jill got. She just hoped they really eased into being affectionate with each other. It was going to take a while to normalize that.

“I pick my spots, and Grace is not the person to start with.”

Jill stood and stretched. “If you want to get back tonight, we’d better get going. What time do we have to get up in the morning?”

“We’re meeting at the dock at nine, so eight should do it.” She moved over to her father and bent to kiss his cheek. “We’re going on a boat ride to hold onto the last bit of summer.”

“Then you’d better get moving. If your mom comes home, you’ll be here another hour, telling her how our conversation went.”

“It went great,” Lizzie said. She leaned over and wrapped her arms around her dad, holding on for a long while. “I love you, Daddy.”

He patted her arms as she stood up. “And I love you. Both of you,” he added pointedly.

Jill bent to hug Mike as well. “Thanks for being so understanding. I knew you would be—eventually. But I was worried it’d take you a while.”

“You know what?” he asked as she stood and brushed her hair back over a shoulder. “When your body starts to fail you, you stop worrying about little stuff. And who your kids date is
very
little stuff.” He grasped Lizzie’s hand and pulled her down for a kiss. “But it’s big stuff to you two, and I’m glad you told me. Now scoot.”

“See you soon,” Lizzie said as she took Jill’s hand and started to walk.

“Tell Janet I said ‘hi,’” Jill added.

“I will. Listen to the Sox on the way home,” he advised. “They’re playing like they should have done in May. If they’d gotten off to a better start, we’d be listening to a game that might mean something.”

Jill didn’t say what she was thinking. That listening to the game with Mike had meant a great deal to her, whether the Sox won, lost, or tied.

***

They got into the car, and as Jill guided them down the silent, empty street, Lizzie reached over and picked up the card that was lying on the dash. “What’s this?”

Jill took a quick look. “Oh. My birthday card from my mother. You can open it if you want.”

She placed it back on the dash. “I don’t need to pry into your personal things. I just noticed it because it wasn’t here before.”

“It’s not personal. Trust me.”

Lizzie shrugged and pulled the card from the envelope. Something fell out and she picked it up and held it in front of Jill. “Two twenties.”

“Yeah. I get whatever age I am.”

Lizzie didn’t comment, but she read the card in silence. “One question. Why does she put ‘Mom’ in quotes?”

“She does?”

“Yeah. That’s a little…”

“Odd?”

“Yeah. It seems odd. Like she’s using a title that isn’t hers. Or a nickname or something.”

“That sounds about right.” Jill took in a breath, then said, “I’d decided I was going to tell her about us. I didn’t expect to get anything in return, but I felt like a jerk insisting you talk to your family while I skated by.”

Lizzie briskly rubbed her hand across Jill’s thigh. “You’re a long way from being a jerk.”

“I didn’t do it. As soon as I got there, my mom asked me to cut the grass, then I was allowed to put together some ugly frames she puts around her favorite evergreens. While I was doing that, she went to the garden center—after locking me out of the house, of course. We didn’t say more than twenty words to each other.”

She must have sounded sad about that, because Lizzie leaned over and nuzzled against her cheek for a few seconds. “I wish she knew how lucky she was to have you.”

Shrugging, Jill said, “I’m not sure she feels that way. I don’t think she dislikes me or anything. But I’m also not sure it would bother her if I never stopped by again.”

Lizzie didn’t reply verbally. She just kept her hand on Jill’s leg, idly touching her for a long time.

Once they were on the highway, Jill said, “Are you and Grace pretty close?”

“Yeah, not as tight as we were when she was young, but still close. I ran over there every day after school to help out when she was a baby. But… You know how it is. As they grow up, they only need you in fits and spurts.”

“What was today’s fit? She seemed very intent on talking to you.”

“She wanted to talk about choosing a college.”

“Is she a junior this year?”

“Yeah. It’s decision time for her.” Lizzie clearly had some unspent energy, and she recounted, in detail, the advice she’d given the kid. As they got closer to home, she started to wind down, with her comments coming less frequently and her voice getting softer. Jill took a look at her when they passed Williston, finding her seat back, with her head slumped to one side. Luckily, they were about twenty minutes from home, so her neck wouldn’t be too stiff.

Home
, Jill thought. She wasn’t sure if Lizzie had everything she needed for the boat ride, but they could run by her apartment in the morning if they needed to. Jill needed to sleep with her, so she headed for her own home, smiling at the thought of cuddling up next to her…girlfriend. Now that Mike and Janet knew, they were on much more solid ground—at least in her view. She put her hand on Lizzie’s leg, feeling the baby-soft skin of her thigh. The shorts Jill had bought for her had been about a foot too long. These were perfect. Simply perfect.

Jill woke to one
of the cats delicately licking her cheek. It was too early. She put up a hand to push him away when she encountered something much bigger than a sleek little cat. Lizzie started to laugh.

“You’re already pushing me away? Damn, give me a chance first!”

“More sleep,” Jill murmured, nuzzling her face against Lizzie’s nearly bare chest. The sensory message finally reached her brain and she lifted her head and blinked. Jill’s face had been pressed against warm, soft skin covered by only a tank top and she wanted to sleep? Maybe she
was
too old for Lizzie.

“What time is it?”

“Almost eight.”

“It’s cloudy?” she asked, her voice so plaintive it made Lizzie laugh.

She got out of bed and opened the blinds, letting in bright, warm sunlight. “It’s a beautiful day, and we’re going to have fun. Let’s get going!”

Jill crooked a finger, while trying to adopt a sexy expression. “I’ve finally gotten over my skittishness, and you want to go out? Shouldn’t we spend the day in bed?”

Lizzie walked back to her and stood by the bed, then pressed her hand to the back of Jill’s head, cradling it against her hip. “If you want to cancel, you won’t hear a complaint out of me.” As Jill turned her face to look up at Lizzie, she added, “But I don’t want to hear any crying about how you didn’t get to go out on a boat on a lovely, warm Labor Day. Maybe our last chance for the year…”

“I’m up, I’m up,” Jill said as she tried to get everything moving in the same direction. “Do you have to go by your apartment?”

“Yeah,” she said, making a face. “Unless you want to lend me a swimsuit.”

“We’ll stop by your place,” Jill said. “I only have one piece suits, and I can’t wait to see you in that bikini again.”

“Someone’s libido is waking up,” Lizzie teased, giving Jill a pat on the butt. “Finally.”

“It’s awake. More awake than the rest of me, that’s for sure. Can we stop for coffee?”

“Sure can. As long as we can stop for Pepsi too.”

“Let’s hit it.”

***

They were dutifully waiting on the dock at nine a.m. sharp, with Jill nursing a giant cappuccino, while Lizzie still worked on her equally large Pepsi.

“You haven’t told me a thing about the guy who owns the boat,” Jill said. “Is he a co-worker?”

She made a face. “Kinda, but not really. His dad’s on the board of directors. Jeffrey’s a spoiled rich kid, but he’s also pretty committed to Hollyhock Hills, so I try to ignore his faults.”

“Those are…?”

“Lizzie!” A man called out.

Jill turned towards the voice and almost laughed. The guy walking down the dock was a caricature of a young, wealthy, show-off. Aviator sunglasses covered his eyes, and his longish brown hair tumbled across his forehead as he walked, despite his snapping his head to the left to urge it back. His golf shirt had the words “Stiff Ripples” embroidered on the breast. The shirt was loosely tucked into Madras plaid shorts and his feet were in very old Topsiders. As he got close, Jill noted the heavy stainless steel watch and a bracelet woven into nautical knots. Given his tan, he spent a heck of a lot more time on the water than he did behind a desk.

“Hi, Jeffrey,” Lizzie said, her usual relatively laid-back personality amped up a little. “Ready for a fun day on the lake?”

“I am. Have you seen Madison and Alexis?”

“I don’t…” She paused as she narrowed her eyes in thought. “The girls who just started working at the restaurant?”

“Yeah. They’re coming with us. Do you know anyone else who wants to come? I can take six, and I’ve got enough beer, tequila and vodka for an army.” He moved close and extended his hand. “Jeffrey Collins.”

“Jill Henry,” she said. Now that he was right next to her, she saw that Jeffrey was at least her age. He just gave the impression he was a kid.

“I can’t think of anyone off the top of my head,” Lizzie said. “But let me know in advance next time, and I’ll be able to fill any available spots.”

“Do you work at Hollyhock?” Jeffrey asked Jill as he lifted his glasses to get a better look. It had been a while since she’d felt like she was on display before a man, but Jeffrey’s gaze started at her head and moved very slowly down her body. Had no woman ever told him to knock that crap off? She didn’t want to make things tough for Lizzie at work, but she was going to be the first to disabuse Jeffrey of the habit if he didn’t look her in the eyes. Given that he didn’t seem to be interested in her answer, she didn’t bother replying.

“Jill works at UVM,” Lizzie supplied, obviously fine with putting up with a leering dude in exchange for a boat ride.

“Good old UVM,” he said, letting out a low chuckle. “I wouldn’t have minded staying close to home, but we’re Yale people.” Jill swore he’d adopted a weird preppy accent somewhere in the middle of that sentence. His attention shifted, and he turned and waved when a couple of very young women called out his name.

“Here’s our girls,” he said, gazing at them like they were the latest additions to his meat rack. “It’s gonna be a good day. Four pretty girls and a fast boat. What could be better?”

Lizzie introduced herself and then Jill to the newcomers, both students at the U. Given how old they looked, they were still undergrads. Great. Just what Jill needed. A senior administrator getting caught by the harbor patrol for serving minors liquor. What in the hell had Lizzie been thinking to accept an invitation from this sleezeball? As much as Jill loved the water, it would have been nicer to have stayed in bed to start their relationship off with a bang. But it would be unconscionably rude to leave at this point, so she bit her tongue and followed along.