Prologue
“Carol!” Holly called loudly. Standing in their kitchen, she rolled her eyes to glare at the ceiling above her. “No answer,” she muttered. Wiping her hands on a towel, she left the remaining dishes to soak.
The stairs creaking beneath her steps, her fingertips trailed along the smooth wood of the banister, its fine craftsmanship soothing her ruffled disposition. The girls loved their house, after all, and for a moment her mind flitted back to the day Gerald Ford had taken them on a tour of the enormous dwelling. A smile teasing her lips as she reached the second-floor landing, she steeled her nerves to face her partner.
“Caroline?” Her voice calmer, Holly inched forward, her feet sliding slightly across the glossy hard wood of the hallway. Reaching the far end, she hesitated, the shape of a woman darkened by the bright light of the window before her. “Baby, are you ok?” she rasped as she eased into the room.
“It should have rained,” Carol huffed, her breathing ragged. Her fingertips swiped at her cheeks, removing drops of sadness while her eyes remained fixed on the scene below.
Outside, warm sunshine illuminated the freshly trimmed grass of their sizable yard. On the far side, a gentle breeze disturbed the roses, causing them to dance. “It’s too beautiful,” she sighed, imagining the rows of chairs and the arch she longed to stand beneath.
Reaching her, Holly’s hand started at the small of her lover’s back, her fingers kneading firmly as they worked their way up. At least two inches shorter, she gave a firm squeeze at the top, then rested her cheek against a warm shoulder blade. “Our day will come, Love.”
Carol sputtered a muted reply, then twisted to slide an arm around the other girl’s waist. Drawing her forward to stand beside her, she pointed. “I think the placement will be perfect, but we will definitely want an awning for the dancefloor.”
Holly winced, her mood sinking. “You’re holding out for a summer wedding, then?” Her heart heavy, she felt the strain of losing an entire year…another year.
“Of course,” Caroline coughed, squeezing as she elaborated. “I’m going to marry you beneath a bright, warm sun. Out in the open for all the world to see. If I have to wait a full year to see our matching gowns, well…” Her voice trailed away as she bent slightly, her lips grazing the warmth of Holly’s, “We’ll just have to watch our figures so they still fit,” she teased.
The flutter within her chest giving her courage, Holly blurted, “I’ve done something.” Her eyes flicking between Carol’s stern gaze and the lush lips she had just tasted, she added, “Please, don’t be mad.”
Her hands dropping, Carol stepped back. When an explanation did not come, she folded her arms across her chest.
“I just got off the phone, actually,” Holly gushed, her anxiety uncharacteristic of her. As the sturdy and level-headed member of their relationship, she tightened her jaw. “I was talking to Ben.”
“Ben.” Carol’s brow knitted in confusion, expecting some connection to their postponed nuptials. “That’s a bit random. What did he want?”
“He’s lonely, I think,” Holly blurted. “You know he lives alone. No family close by, no friends to hang out with due to current circumstances.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I offered him a room.” Her words tumbled out, a thick silence hanging in the air when her lips pressed shut.
“A room!” Carol shrieked. Taking a step back, she glanced out the window, the bright sun below suddenly too much. “Why would you do such a thing?”
“I thought the two of you were friends,” Holly defended, squaring her small frame. “Ben needs us. And we have plenty of rooms!”
She glanced around the room’s bare walls, the one they occupied held a chair, a table and a lamp, then muttered with a sigh, “I told Gary it was too much house for us.”
“Oh, baby.” Holly laughed, closing the distance between them and wrapping her arms around her best friend. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, too,” Carol spat, “but you could have at least asked me before you invited someone to come live with us.” Her mind jerking to the obvious, she demanded, “And why is he coming anyways? It’s not like he can’t afford his place.”
“I told you, he’s lonely. They’ve had courts suspended for months. He has nothing to do and no one to talk to.”
“So, you thought it would be any different over here? We still have jobs, Holly.”
“He can manage the roses,” the other woman teased, snuggling against Carol’s chest. “Please say yes.”
“Do I have a choice?” Caroline demanded, her voice still gruff.
Grinning, Holly sighed. “Thank you. I’ll let you pick which room he gets.”
“Well, obviously it won’t be this one,” Carol sniffed.
“What’s wrong with this one?” Holly gasped, stepping back to turn and inspect the room for herself.
“It doesn’t have a bathroom, silly. We can’t have him wandering around with his man-parts hanging out, now can we?”
Holly laughed aloud at the thought of it. “We can give him the one on the front of the house, with a full bath.”
“Exactly,” Carol agreed with a firm nod. Her eyes drawn to the window, her lips curled into a lopsided grin. “You aren’t charging him rent, are you?”
“I told him he could chip in. I didn’t specify how much.”
“Good.” Carol’s lips curled deviously. “It might be kind of fun to boss him around for a change.”
Rolling her tongue as she picked up on her lover’s dark humor, Holly agreed, “We’ll have plenty for him to do around here, I’m sure.”
1
Uncertain Times
Glancing down at the phone resting on her knee, Candy smiled and accepted the call. “Hello?”
“Hey, Sunshine!”
“Hi, Cat.”
“How are things going with the little momma?” Catherine Douglas had a musical quality to her voice, its warm tones drifted out of the device. “Am I on speaker?”
“Yes, you are,” Candy replied with a giggle.
“Oh, are you busy?” Cathy paused. “Hello?”
“I’m just tired,” Candy confessed, resting her chin on the back of the couch, her eyes still fixed on the man across the street. “I’m sitting here watching Benjamin Monroe trim the girls’ shrubs.”
“And you don’t have the strength to hold your phone to your ear,” Cathy mocked.
“Something like that.”
“So, how is Ben doing? He’s been there a couple of months, hasn’t he?”
“About a month, I guess,” Candy replied. “He was a little depressed when he moved in. Everything from his law firm went into storage. He’s doing ok now, I think. We all are, I guess.” The sadness creeping into her voice, she made no attempt to hide it.
“Hey, don’t go there!” Cathy challenged. “How are things with Daks? Are you going to let him go live or is he doing the distance learning?”