Laughter in the Wind (12 page)

She turned wordlessly and finished cleaning out the sink then wiped the counters and stove. Before she walked from the room, she reached around from behind and hugged her mother. She just got her bedroom door closed when the tears came, tears of confusion, tears of love for her mother and tears of relief that her mother knew how she felt about Olivia and wasn’t disappointed in her.

“Suck it up, Bec,” she whispered. After a few minutes, she pulled herself together then grabbed a textbook she needed to study. She started to sit on her bed to read like she had done all week, but changed her mind. She opened the door and walked back to the kitchen, choosing to sit at the table with her mother as they both read.

* * *

By two o’clock, Rebecca was starting to get ready. She remembered how she used to torment her sisters when they were getting ready for their dates. She had never understood what the big deal was. Did it really matter which way their hair was fixed, or whether they wore a pink blouse with frills or the white silk blouse? Now she felt a little foolish as she stood before her mirror trying to get her cowlick to cooperate. She wanted everything to be perfect.

Finally satisfied that at least her hair wasn’t sticking up wildly, she looked closely at her reflection. Hair—passable, better than usual and no hat ring. Complexion—she didn’t want to think about it. The new zit on her chin made her question whether she wanted to ask for her mother’s help in making it disappear. June and Kate had tried for years to teach her the ins and outs of makeup but she had never wanted to learn. Now maybe she should reconsider.

Outfit—okay. She was pleased with the yellow shirt she wore unbuttoned over a black tank, the sleeves cuffed at mid-forearm. Her black jeans and a black pair of loafers completed the package, leaving her still comfortable yet looking classier than she did in her normal attire—jeans, sneakers and T-shirt or flannel shirt, depending on the weather. She fastened a leather cord necklace with a turquoise pendant around her neck and checked her image again.

“Damn zit!” she complained loudly. After looking at her chin for the hundredth time, she finally decided it wasn’t going to disappear, nor was it going to become any less noticeable on its own.

“I wish your sisters were here to harass you,” her mother teased as she applied concealer over the small blemish on Rebecca’s chin. “You know you deserve it, right?” She finally pronounced her repair work complete and handed Rebecca a small mirror so she could see the finished product. “As long as you don’t rub your chin on your shirt tail before you get there, you’ll look fine,” her mother teased.

As Rebecca headed out to the Buick, she passed her father on the front porch.

“You look great!” he said, sounding a little surprised as he scanned her from head to toe. “My little tomboy grew up when I wasn’t looking,” he teased a little wistfully.

“Thanks, Dad,” she said sincerely. She gave him a quick hug. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Oh, that’s right. You’re going to meet Olivia. Have a good time and
be careful
,” he stressed.

“You know I will,” she said as she opened the car door to the Buick.

Rebecca gave her thoughts their freedom on the seventy- minute drive. It no longer seemed like a war being waged between her ears. Instead, it was a kaleidoscope of daydreams with Olivia in all of them. She was surprised at how quickly the time passed. Before she knew it, she was pulling into the parking lot of the steakhouse where they had agreed to meet.

Olivia’s car sat at the side of the building and Rebecca parked in an empty spot beside it. She turned off the old Buick and pulled the key from the ignition, reached into the passenger seat to retrieve her wallet. About to open her door, she looked out her window. Her breath caught as she saw Olivia standing between the cars, waiting for her.
Damn, she looks good!
Her dark brown hair curled softly around her face and her sensuous red lips curved in a warm smile as her eyes met Rebecca’s. Olivia made her pulse jump with just a look and Rebecca realized suddenly how relieved she was that it hadn’t all been a dream. This was a real date—with one beautiful and sexy Olivia Harmon.

“Hi,” Rebecca greeted Olivia as she stepped out of the car. “I got here early and you still beat me. Have you been waiting long?”

“I’ve just been here a minute,” Olivia said. “I hope this isn’t turning into a contest,” she teased. “If so, I may have to set my watch ahead so I can keep an advantage over you.”

They entered the restaurant laughing and joking. Rebecca could never remember afterward what she ordered or how it tasted. She knew she would always have good memories of the place, though. The meal flew by. Before they knew it, it was half an hour before the movie was due to start. They agreed to split the bill then headed out to the cars together.

“So, have you decided what show you’re taking me to see?” Olivia had insisted if she chose the restaurant, then Rebecca must choose the movie.

“I had a couple of ideas but I wanted your input,” she said. Olivia put a hand on her hip and began to protest, but Rebecca quickly interrupted. “Let me explain. There is a good movie showing, but there’s also a state park about five miles out of town. The gates stay open until nine. I thought we could drive out and talk for a while. But if you’d rather see the movie, that’s okay with me.”

Olivia looked intrigued. “That sounds great to me,” she said. “Can we take your car and leave mine here?” she asked.

Rebecca unlocked the Buick. A mile outside of town, Olivia unbuckled her seat belt and slid to the center of the bench seat, fastening the waist belt then snuggling in closer to Rebecca as she drove the dark highway. A few minutes later, Rebecca turned into the gate of the park. Her headlights illuminated the sign warning that the gate would close at nine. “Help me watch the time,” she told Olivia.

“I’ll set the alarm on my phone for eight-fifty,” she said, quickly digging in her coat pocket for her phone.

“I knew you were a genius when I met you,” Rebecca teased lightly.

“I knew you were hot when I met you,” Olivia countered. In the dim light coming from the dashboard, she saw Rebecca blush deeply and she chuckled.

Rebecca drove the car to the end of the drive, stopping in the middle of the road at one point to allow deer to pass in front of the car. Olivia counted fourteen deer before they finished passing by and the herd walked slowly to the center of the deserted campground before bedding down. Rebecca slowly eased the car on past them, careful to not disturb them. A single light illuminated the parking lot at the end of the drive and Rebecca parked the car in a shadowy corner overlooking the river, which stretched out dark and forbidding before them.

Rebecca removed her seat belt so she could turn in the driver’s seat to look at Olivia. She shook her head, still slightly amazed. “I have to keep reminding myself that this is real, that I’m really on a date with you,” she explained. “I’m afraid I’ll wake up and it’ll all be a dream.”

“Why?” Olivia sounded puzzled. “Why wouldn’t it be real?”

“Because…because you’re you and I’m me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Of course you’re you and I’m me. Who else would we be?”

“I mean…” Rebecca was trying hard to explain but wasn’t exactly sure what she was trying to say. “You’re so beautiful, and I’m sure there are several women you know who would love to go out with you, yet here you are with me.”

“I’m not sure about all of that,” Olivia said modestly. “Besides, why wouldn’t I want to be out with you? Have you looked in the mirror lately? If you were any hotter, Bec…your strong arms, that sexy hair that fights to do its own thing, just everything about you. You’re real, not like so many people I know. You’re not pretending to be something you’re not. Do you know how rare that is?”

It seemed unbelievable to her that being Rebecca Wilcox could be considered desirable. All her life, she felt she had come up short of people’s expectations for what she should look like, how she should dress and how she should act. She didn’t chase after guys like her sisters and her girlfriends. She didn’t wear dresses or makeup. She hadn’t even played with dolls when she was a child, preferring to climb trees or jump out of the hayloft.

She looked at Olivia in wonder. “How did I find someone as special as you?”

“Just lucky, I guess,” Olivia said with a wink. “So, tell me this. What’s your plan now that you’ve found me?”

Her sudden question left Rebecca momentarily speechless. “Do you mean, what are my plans for this evening, or what are my plans for the future?” Rebecca asked, unsure how she would answer either question.

Olivia lifted her eyebrows. “This evening might be interesting, but first I want to know about the future. What do you want to do with your life, Bec?”

“I don’t know. I never thought much beyond getting out of high school and getting into college. Mom’s always nagging at me to figure it out, but I just don’t know what I want to do.”

“You showed me your dream house, remember?”

“Yeah. But I never thought about a time frame for it. Will I retire there? Will I build it when I get out of college? I just don’t know.”

“Do you want to have a farm?”

“Maybe. I like working with animals. I guess it’s kind of like what you said about people. So many people pretend to be something they’re not. People are confusing and hard to figure out. Animals are easy. They operate under pretty basic instincts for the most part and as long as you understand what motivates them, you know what they’re going to do.”

“Do
people
make you nervous, Bec?”

“Yeah, a little. Especially large crowds.

“Do you think you could ever live in the city?” Olivia asked.

“Sure. I thought I’d probably have to move somewhere to finish college and maybe even to work after college, depending on what I decide to major in. What about you, Olivia? What’s the future hold for you?” Rebecca reached up and tucked a wayward curl behind Olivia’s ear, smiling as it popped out again only seconds later.

“Well, I’m majoring in English literature. I haven’t made up my mind for sure but I’m leaning toward teaching. I’ve always loved reading. If a kid enjoys reading, it can open up a whole world of possibilities. If I can share my love for books with even one child, I can help change the world.” Olivia ducked her head. “I probably sound pretty crazy, don’t I?”

Rebecca ran a finger along her jaw to her chin and tilted her head up until she could see her eyes. “I don’t think you sound crazy. I think you sound pretty wonderful. I think you’d make a great teacher.”

Olivia’s pleasure at her words shone in her eyes and Rebecca nearly fell into them. She wanted to know more, though, so she reeled in the desire which had been simmering since she saw Olivia outside the car at the steakhouse. “Olivia, when did you know…when did you know you liked women?” Rebecca asked.

“I guess I knew for sure when I was seventeen. I wondered before that, probably since I was about fourteen or so, but then when I met Lacy, there was no denying it.”

“Lacy?”

“Yeah. She was my first girlfriend. We were in the same grade in high school. We had just moved and the principal at our new high school assigned her to show me around to all my classes. There was this immediate connection, like we had known each other before but we hadn’t. She had already come out to her family, but only her friends at school knew she was gay. Anyway, six months later her father deployed to Germany and he insisted the whole family go along. My parents offered to let her stay with us to finish high school but her father said no. We wrote and Skyped for a while, but slowly we went on with our lives apart. I haven’t heard from her in nine months.”

“Did your parents know you were girlfriends?”

“Not at first. They found out the week before she left.” Olivia’s voice was flat, emotionless.

“How did they take it?” Rebecca asked, suddenly wary.

“Mom went ballistic. Dad just stopped talking to me for about a month. They finally came around but it was pretty bad for a while.” The sadness of the past reflected in Olivia’s eyes.

“Oh, Olivia. I’m sorry. That must have been awful.”

“It wasn’t great. But it’s all in the past now. Let’s talk about something else. Let’s talk about you and me.” Olivia forced a smile. “Rebecca, I may have figured out what I wanted a little before you. But, this has been different somehow, with you. It’s like we connect at a different level.” She looked directly into Rebecca’s eyes, her own softly glowing in the filtered light from the distant parking lot light. “I’ve never known anyone who could melt me with a kiss the way you do. You must be a natural,” she teased, smiling at the slight blush that crept into Rebecca’s cheeks again.

Olivia placed a hand on either side of Rebecca’s fiery cheeks and gently pulled their lips together, as if to prove her point. Several minutes later, Rebecca looked up and noticed the steamy windows. Like one of those crazy movies, she thought. Their coats became hindrances and entirely unnecessary in the increasingly warm front seat, so they removed them and tossed them into the back seat.

They sat smiling at each other for a few seconds then their lips met again. The intensity of the sensations that flooded through her left Rebecca breathless, teary-eyed, and feeling like she might explode. Hands and lips roamed over faces and necks. She thought she would pass out when Olivia reached up under her shirt, caressing at first then gently teasing her nipples. Rebecca was surprised at how her own hands burned as she did the same, sliding her hands first under the back of Olivia’s blouse, marveling in the silkiness of her skin. Then she slid her hands slowly around the front to cup her breasts. Even through the thin laciness of her bra, she could feel the heat from her skin and feel the nipples harden under her touch.

She heard a deep moan and was surprised to realize she was making the sound, letting out some of the pressure building within her. Olivia pushed Rebecca back against the door and brought her knees up onto the seat so she could move over her. Seeking to get even closer, touch her even more, Rebecca slid down on the seat, pushing her leg up beneath Olivia. She reached around Olivia’s hips and pulled her down tightly against her. The electric shocks emanating from her lips and her breasts traveled down to her very center and she found herself lifting her hips to press against Olivia more. Olivia shifted slightly and brought her thigh between Rebecca’s legs, trapping her leg between her own thighs.