I caught the mysterious smile she tried to hide as she sailed down Main Street. There must be something about one of them, and for the first time in years, I was actually looking forward to meeting anyone she or her friends wanted to introduce me to.
We pulled around the side of the building supply store and parked. As we got out of the truck, I recognized Molly walking toward us. Was this how it was in small towns? Mention someone and ten seconds later, she appears?
“Hey there,” she greeted, coming to stop before us. Despite it being a cool late April day, she had on cargo shorts and short sleeve polo. Muscular biceps peeked out from under the cuffs of her shirt. Her calves were just as toned. Tan, too, which contradicted the season and elevation. Overall, she was an impressive total package for someone who went for that type.
“Hi, Mol. Viv said you got in some good practice for the pool tourney last night.”
“We might even take James and Spence this year.” Delight at the prospect animated her serious face. “Good to see you again, Falyn.”
“Hi.” My eyes lingered a bit. Definitely impressive, and if she went for the same kind of woman I did, major competition.
“You up for a bike ride on Sunday afternoon?” She somehow remembered Natalie’s request about showing me the bike trails. Damn, she was nice, too. Now I’d never be able to compete.
“Sounds great,” I agreed, already looking forward to it. For the first time in two years, I wouldn’t be hanging out in a building store parking lot hoping to pick up a day job.
“We’ll get some others to join us and find a scenic trail. Nothing too demanding. Should be fun.”
“Great, thanks, Mol.” Natalie patted her arm.
“I’ve got a tour group leaving in ten minutes.” She pointed to a shop two doors away.
“Hike?” Natalie guessed.
“Horses, which means lots of griping about sore behinds. Yee-haw. I’ll see ya.” She tipped her head and moved past us.
Natalie glanced at me and must have read something in my expression. “She’s great. You’ll like her, really.”
“I overreacted yesterday. I get that now.” I had to stop it. With my conniving ex and the hypersensitive convicts, overreacting was a way of life. Before both, I was more reasonable and mellow. I wanted to work toward achieving that Zen again.
“It came from a good place.” She pushed us into the store where she waved at the woman behind the counter and steered me to the power tool section. “Let’s get you set up.”
My feet reacted for my pocketbook, stepping back. I knew she was right because everything I had was low grade. They wouldn’t last long on the job. I just couldn’t afford to replace them now. “Listen, I’m a little short.”
She nodded. “On me.”
That pesky lump lodged in my throat again. “I can’t do that, Nat. You’ve already done too much.” Way too much.
“We’ll work something out.”
Swallowing hard, I tried to remember if the help I’d given her as a young woman compared to this. I didn’t think it did, but I wasn’t in a position to reject it anymore. “Thank you.”
With my show of gratitude, a vaguely familiar feeling ran through me. Trust. After being ratted out by someone on the burglary crew and my ex-girlfriend taking advantage of my incarceration, it was hard to trust again. Prison didn’t foster the feeling and parole was even worse. I trusted Natalie and she trusted me. Both felt better than anything I’d experienced in years.
The Sweeneys and I headed into the bar together. Natalie had offered to take me, but I knew she’d rather go straight from work with Vivian. It was nice of everyone to include me. This first week on the job had been long but satisfying. I was ready to unwind and have a day off.
“Sweeneys!” half the bar shouted when we walked inside.
A laugh escaped for probably the hundredth time this week. More than I’d laughed in the last eight years total. These guys were funny, childish sometimes, but funny. Apparently their antics were known everywhere.
Cole pulled on my arm to make sure he didn’t lose me in the crowd we were slaloming through. My initial instinct was to yank my arm back, but I recognized in time that the gesture was thoughtful in this setting. In prison it would have been threatening.
“Hey, guys,” Natalie greeted when we made it to the pool tables in back.
Vivian was lining up a shot. Molly and two guys were standing next to her table with cues in their hands. The rest of the tables were occupied by other teams competing in what Natalie told me was a charity tournament. The boys had entered as a team. I was here for moral support.
“Hey, Falyn.” Glory appeared at my side with her partner.
“Good to see you, Glory. Hi, Lena.” I nodded at the woman I met last night as she was walking her dogs past the house. Like with her grandfather, it only took a short conversation to know we’d get along fine.
“Have you met Vivian’s sister-in-law, Cassie?” Glory asked, gesturing to the blonde behind her.
I hadn’t but I’d met her husband when he came to check on his sister’s house yesterday. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nat’s so happy you’re here,” Cassie bubbled, bumping her fist against Natalie’s shoulder.
“We’re up,” Cole told me as he brushed past. “Sure you don’t want to play?”
“I’m good.”
“We could play for Joanna and Brandy,” Natalie suggested to me. “Believe me, they’re more concerned with who they’ll be going home with than winning enough to stay in the tournament.”
“I’m okay to watch.” My eyes instantly searched for the two she mentioned. There were three female pairs at the tables. One of them did indeed seem more interested in the people around them than the games. If they were the pair, Natalie was wrong. They most definitely wanted to keep playing for the attention.
“Beer?” Natalie asked as she took a step toward the bar.
“Thanks,” I responded, not wanting to be rude. Alcohol was a luxury item on my budget. I’d gotten used to being without it in prison. Same with caffeine. The fewer addictions you had inside, the easier you passed your time.
I glanced back over at Vivian’s table. Molly was lining up the eight ball. Her two opponents looked perplexed at getting bumped in the first round. The Sweeneys were setting up at the table next to them. Glory and Cassie were stepping up to Vivian and Molly’s table to take the next game. Odd pairings considering none of them were playing with their significant others. Never would have happened in prison or among my friends back in Denver. The women I’ve dated thrived on jealousy.
Natalie handed me the beer when she came back. She waved to get Vivian and Molly’s attention. “Nice shot, Molly,” she told her when they reached us.
“My donors are going to be pissed again this year.” Vivian wrapped an arm around Molly’s shoulders.
“They can’t be surprised anymore.” Molly didn’t seem bothered that Vivian’s sponsors might have been duped into a larger donation because of her billiards expertise. “Oh, hey, there’s Tessa.”
“Viv!” A blond woman pushed through two guys to get to us. “This place is packed.” Her long, blond hair swished forward, covering her face for a moment when she came to a stop in front of the table. “Hey, all.”
“Tessa!” Molly called out to a woman who wasn’t the one standing in front of us.
“How’d you do, Joanna?” Natalie asked the nearby blonde.
“Lost the match, but whatever.” Her blue eyes flicked to me then away then right back. “You’re new.”
“Falyn, this is Joanna. Oh, and Brandy,” Natalie said, pointing to a second blonde who stepped up behind Joanna, squishing into our little space.
“Newbie.” Brandy raised her brow at Natalie then shot a look at Joanna before extending a hand to me. “Hello.”
“Hi.” I shook her hand and nodded at Joanna whose eyes slithered over me. I stiffened before remembering that someone checking me out here wasn’t a bad thing. I glanced over at Natalie just to be sure. Her easy gaze told me this was exactly what I thought it was and probably the reason for her mysterious smile when she mentioned meeting other lesbians. Something about these two reminded me of attack dogs.
A woman bumped into Joanna, brushing her against me. Not exactly subtle, but it was a crowded bar. “Sorry, Jo,” the woman said.
“Hey, Tessa.” Joanna’s head barely turned to acknowledge the new woman.
“How ya doing, Tessa?” Molly asked, full of concern.
“Getting by,” she responded and took the chair that Molly vacated for her. This blonde was short and cute. The other two were taller and hotter.
“Still not crying over that bitch, are you?” Joanna asked her.
“Jo!” Vivian scolded.
“What? Kathleen dumped her with no warning.”
I glanced at Natalie again. She shrugged but gave me nothing else.
“I can’t believe it.” Brandy threw an arm around Tessa, who hadn’t yet noticed that there was a new person at the table. “She was, like, the perfect girlfriend, right? Did you guys ever fight? She always paid whenever we all went out. She sent you flowers at work all the time. Ideal girlfriend.”
Tessa’s eyes filled. Molly’s hand started rubbing her back as she shot a death glare at a clueless Brandy. “I don’t know what happened.”
“We’re sorry.” Vivian scowled at Brandy. “Breakups are really difficult.”
Molly nodded, edging closer and adding her other hand to rub Tessa’s arm. Her eyes looked as sad as Tessa’s. “They always take you by surprise.”
“No, I mean I really don’t know what happened. We just got back from a wonderful vacation, and all of a sudden, she says it wasn’t working anymore. I honestly thought she was joking, but the joke was on me.”
“Did she give you the, ‘I love you, but I’m not in love with you,’ speech?” Joanna asked.
Tessa’s face flamed as a tear raced down her cheek. “That’s just it. She never actually said the words.”
Molly straightened next to her, pulling on Tessa’s arms to face her. “What words?”
“It’s stupid, I know. She showed me all the time. I never thought about not hearing it. I just assumed she had a hard time saying it.”
“What?” Joanna asked as confused as everyone else.
“I’d tell her I loved her all the time. She showed me but never said the words.”
“Hold on, sister,” Brandy said. “You guys were together three years, and she never once told you she loved you?”
Tessa sagged against Molly whose eyes had turned lethal. Interesting. She either really didn’t like Tessa’s ex or she was a lot more involved in Tessa’s peace of mind than she first appeared to be.
“She didn’t, did she? Christ, Tessa, there’s a big clue for you,” Brandy scoffed.
Whoa. That sounded insensitive to me, and I dealt with some pretty mean bitches over the years.
“Back off, Brandy,” Molly barked at her.
My eyes flicked to Natalie again. She was wearing the same incredulous look I was. Even I, a complete stranger, was starting to feel sorry for Tessa.
“Fine. Let’s talk about your new friend here, Natalie.” Brandy gave me the same once over that Joanna had.
“She’s an old friend, actually.”
“What kind of friend?” Brandy asked while Joanna asked, “How old?”
“Knock it off,” Vivian said, clearly exasperated by these two.