On the rocks, p.19
On the Rocks, page 19
Vanessa chuckled at the similarity to the words she’d been thinking earlier. “We sure have.”
“What do we do now?”
“Not a clue.”
“Perfect. Glad we got that all sorted out. Good talk.” Grace gave a nod and a sly grin, and the silence fell again. This time, though, it wasn’t quite the companionable silence that seemed to work for them. Vanessa’s brain was still whirring, and she got the impression from the way Grace’s dark brows dipped slightly toward the bridge of her nose that hers might be as well.
“Big plans for your Saturday?” Vanessa asked, then almost winced at the sheer corniness of the line.
But Grace looked relieved to have something else to focus on. “I have to work for a few hours today. Gonna go in at noon. It’s our busy season.”
“Really? I mean, I get that Christmas is coming, but the whole month is busy?”
Grace sat up so she could meet Vanessa’s gaze and there was a brightness, a spark in her eyes as she spoke. “Oh, yeah, definitely. Between mid-November and just after New Year’s. Crazed. Think about it. You get deliveries from out-of-state friends for Christmas, but they don’t just come the week of Christmas, right? You might get something early in the month or mid-month. Any time during December.”
Vanessa nodded. “I never thought of that.” She reached out and stroked some dark hair behind Grace’s ear. “You’re passionate when you talk about your job.”
Grace lifted one shoulder. “I really do love it. Flowers and the flower business and business in general.”
“Yeah?”
“It was my major in college. I think I told you that I always wanted to run a small business. Working for somebody like Ava wasn’t really what I had in mind…” She laughed.
“She’s a hard-ass, right?” Vanessa laughed too. “She’s worked at that place since I was a kid. I think her dad started it, didn’t he?”
A nod. “She’s a hard-ass and we have our issues, but I can honestly say that she loves that shop. And so do I.” Grace took another sip of Vanessa’s coffee. “I have lots of ideas, but I have to be strategic about suggesting them because Ava is set in her ways and I wouldn’t call her ‘receptive to change.’” She made air quotes as she chuckled, but Vanessa could see that it frustrated her a bit.
“What time do you have to leave?” she asked. “Can I make you breakfast?”
“You want to make me breakfast?”
It was Vanessa’s turn to give a half-shrug. “Yeah, ’cause you get your own coffee then and I can have mine back.”
Grace pushed at her playfully, then grew more serious. “Are you busy tonight?”
“I do not currently have plans, no.” Vanessa ran her fingertips up and down Grace’s bare arm. “Why?”
“Because I would like to be your plans.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, please.”
“I think that can be arranged.” Vanessa leaned in and kissed her softly.
“How about,” Grace said, her lips just millimeters from Vanessa’s, “I bring dinner and we eat here? That way, you don’t have to worry about leaving Delilah.”
Her heart warmed at Grace’s cognizance of her dog and she nodded, rubbing her lips softly along Grace’s. “I like that idea.”
“Good.”
And then they were kissing. Softly at first, but the urgency grew and before she realized it, Vanessa found herself on her back, Grace tugging at the tie on her robe until it fell open, baring her heated and flushed skin to Grace’s eyes, her hands, her mouth…a mouth that was suddenly everywhere and all Vanessa could do was feel, rock, moan. When Grace’s mouth closed on her throbbing and very, very wet center, Vanessa was pretty sure she’d lost all ability to think. Grace’s fingers pressed into her and her mouth coaxed her and then she was at the precipice, teetering, and Grace gently nudged her over the edge and she was falling, floating, gloriously sated and happy…
How much time had passed?
She opened her eyes to find Grace smiling down at her, twirling a hunk of her hair around a finger. “Well, hello there,” she said, her smile knowing.
“You look particularly satisfied with yourself,” Vanessa teased.
“And you look particularly satisfied,” Grace countered, then gave the hair a gentle tug.
A tingle ran through Vanessa’s entire body, like the way a full-body shiver hits when you’re anticipating something exciting. “I am,” she said, and she hadn’t meant to whisper it. Or to sound so damn serious when she said it. But she did both, and she wouldn’t have seen the quick widening of Grace’s eyes unless she’d been looking for it. “I really, really am.”
Grace’s eyes held hers, their gazes locked, and it felt…serious. Meaningful. Unexpected. “Well. Good. That’s good. I’m glad.” She wasn’t stuttering, but she was definitely fumbling for the right thing to say, which Vanessa found kind of adorable.
“Were you worried?” Vanessa asked, suddenly wondering.
Cheeks flushed a deep pink. Eyes cast downward. More toying with hair. A clearing of the throat. “A little?”
Vanessa felt her own eyes go wide as she pushed herself up on an elbow. “Really? Why?”
“I mean, it’s been a while since I’ve been with a woman.” She saw Grace swallow, could almost feel her nerves.
“Grace.” Vanessa put a hand on Grace’s warm hip, squeezed. “You have nothing to worry about. And I mean nothing.” She said the last line with a lilt in her voice and then flopped dramatically back to the bed with a huge sigh. “Seriously, did you hear me?”
Grace barked a laugh. “Oh, yes, and I think your neighbors might have too. You were very…vocal.”
Vanessa’s turn to flush. Heat flooded her cheeks, her neck, and hell, why not encompass her ears, too? “You should know that…” She cleared her throat. “That’s unusual for me.”
“It is?”
Vanessa nodded, feeling suddenly vulnerable. “Yeah. So…nothing to worry about.”
“Well.” Grace smiled and it grew.
“Okay, now you really look like you’re satisfied with yourself.”
Grace reached for her and wrapped her in a hug that they laughed through and Vanessa felt that acutely. The laughing. The joy. The happiness just to be with this person. It was new.
And it was scary as hell.
* * *
“You’re very smiley today, Gracie.” Jack opened a box of doughnuts and offered her one. “It’s nice to see.”
“Maybe I’m smiling because there are doughnuts for my Saturday afternoon.” She took a cruller, felt her mouth fill in anticipation. “Ever think of that?” She shot him a grin, took a bite, and set the doughnut down next to the Christmas arrangement she was putting the finishing touches on, adding some greenery to balance the colors.
“I actually did think of that, but you were smiling before I offered the doughnuts, so I don’t think that’s it.” He winked at her, and it warmed her heart. Reminded her of her grandpa, the only person she knew who actually winked. Well, him and now Jack. He didn’t press her, though, just gathered the deliveries and loaded his minivan up. She handed him the Christmas arrangement, all tucked into its cardboard brace so it wouldn’t tip over and spill everywhere during its ride and sent him on his way.
“Thanks for the doughnut,” she called as her phone rang from her back pocket. She pulled it out, hoping it was Vanessa or Oliver, then frowning at the name on her screen. She sighed, steeled herself, hit answer. “Hey, Mom, I’m working, what’s up?” She didn’t know why she bothered, knowing that her working wasn’t going to make her mother pull up short or be extra quick. She’d tried to get her to text instead of calling, but her mother never seemed to hear that suggestion. Or more likely, she heard it, didn’t care, and ignored it.
“What is going on with you?” her mother asked. Her tone was testy, which wasn’t unusual, but the question was direct and vague at the same time, which was.
“What do you mean?” Grace shook her head at herself for even engaging in conversation. Ava wouldn’t be happy.
“I mean that Oliver made a comment to me and I asked Michael about it and he told me you’re seeing your son’s teacher? And that you were…in a compromising position with her in front of Oliver? Really, Grace?”
Oh my God.
It wasn’t just the judgmental tone. She was used to that from her mother. It was almost the only tone she ever got. Well, that and disapproving. But the facts she’d just spewed… “Wait, when did you talk to Oliver?”
“This morning when Michael brought him over.”
“He’s with you? Why? He’s supposed to be with his father this weekend.” Her blood was on a low simmer now.
“He had to run some errands and asked if Oliver could hang with Grandma for a few hours. Right, honey?”
She heard Oliver’s “yes!” in the background and the simmer increased.
“So? Is this true?”
“Mom, you’re asking me this with Oliver sitting right there, listening to everything you say?” Jesus Christ, what was wrong with her?
“Well, he obviously knows, Grace.”
Ava peeked her head around the doorjamb and her eyebrows made a V on her face because she was clearly unhappy with the sight of Grace on her phone. Grace held up a finger at her. There was no way she was just hanging up now.
“Mom. First of all, Michael is supposed to have Oliver for the weekend. That’s less than three days and he can’t manage to do that without asking you to babysit? And two, what I do and who I see on my own time is nobody business. Not Michael’s, not Oliver’s, and not yours. I am working right now, and my boss is not happy with me for being on the phone, so I have to go. I love you. I’ll call you later.” And she hung up. She hung up. On her mother! She’d never done that before. She stared at the phone in her hand, then lifted her gaze to Ava and said in disbelief, “I just hung up on my mother.”
“Sometimes, that’s all you can do,” Ava said with a shrug, then returned to the front of the shop without another word, Grace blinking after her.
Had everybody been body-snatched today? Changed out for completely different versions of themselves? What the hell?
For the rest of the afternoon, she did her best to focus on work. Ava would be in tomorrow, but told Grace not to worry about it. Honestly, Grace could use the money, but the idea of a Sunday off was lovely; she’d expected to work the whole weekend. Maybe she and Vanessa could do something before Oliver came home.
Of course, it seemed Michael was dropping him off all over the place. She wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he came home early…one of the reasons she’d suggested they do dinner at Vanessa’s house. Not that she was proud to admit that. And it wasn’t because she didn’t want her son. Of course she did. But she wanted Michael to want him too.
Which was out of her control. She knew that. And it was hella disappointing, and she had no idea what to do about it.
“Grace.”
She blinked, met Ava’s gaze from across the room, her tone—and not-so-subtle eye roll—making it clear that wasn’t the first time her name had been called.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m right here. Tell me what you need.”
* * *
The three Martini cousins often met up in the back of the bar on Saturday afternoons. Julia was always there, doing the books or coming up with new cocktails for the coming weeks. If Savannah hadn’t grabbed a shift as a home health aid, she was often set up on the couch studying for her nursing degree. Amelia would pop by at some point and so would Vanessa. It was never an official gathering, but more often than not, they all ended up stopping in at one point or another.
That day, Vanessa entered through the back door from the parking lot. All three of the others were there, Julia behind the practice bar shaking a martini shaker, Savannah, as predicted, on the couch with textbooks and a laptop open on the coffee table, Amelia in Julia’s desk chair, slowly spinning it with the toes of her shoes. Vanessa floated in, arms out from her sides like wings. She did a makeshift pirouette in the center of the room, let out a ridiculously dreamy sigh, and dropped onto the couch next to Savannah.
“I’m gonna go out on a limb here,” Amelia said, “and say somebody got laid.”
Vanessa sat up. “You know what? I’m not even bothered by your frat boy vocabulary.”
“Yup,” Amelia said with a nod. “Laid.”
Savannah simply looked at her, brows raised in question.
“She is vulgar,” Vanessa said. “But she is not wrong.”
Savannah clapped her hands together and smiled. “Oh, yay! I’m so glad.” She dropped her voice as if the others in the room couldn’t hear her and wouldn’t want to know the same thing. “How was it?”
Vanessa flopped dramatically back into the couch cushions.
“I’m gonna take that as an ‘it was amazing, you guys,’” Julia said, pouring the contents of her shaker into a glass, then squinting at it.
“Beyond,” Vanessa said. “It was beyond amazing. I’m sore in places I forgot I had.”
Savannah lifted her shoulders up to her ears and gave a full-body shake. “Oh, man, I love when that happens.”
“Do I make you sore in places you forgot you had, baby?” Julia asked.
“You make me sore in places I haven’t even discovered yet,” Savannah replied, to which Amelia made gagging sounds from her still spinning chair.
“Hey, a little sympathy for those of us who are currently not having sex.”
“You will, Meels. Hang in there.” Savannah turned back to Vanessa. “The ex didn’t walk in again, did he?”
“No, thank God, but we were at my place. And…” She waited until she had all their attention. “We will be at my place again tonight. She’s making me dinner and thought my house was the better idea so I wouldn’t have to worry about Delilah.”
“Or so the ex can’t walk in on you again,” Amelia pointed out.
Vanessa had thought about that. It wasn’t like it wasn’t fact. But she was so happy after their night together that she didn’t want anything else coloring it. “He can’t. Nope.”
“And you feel better now about sleeping with the parent of your student?” Julia asked.
“I feel fine about it if I don’t think about it.” Vanessa clenched her teeth and grimaced. “I know, I know, it’s not the best way of handling it.” She said it before any of the others could.
“You think?” Amelia asked. She’d stopped spinning and now sat facing the couch. When Vanessa glanced away, Amelia added, “You know I will always take Delilah if you need me to. I love that girl. She’s no trouble.”
As soon as she said it, Vanessa realized that maybe the reason she had agreed so easily to Grace coming to her place was exactly so what happened last time couldn’t happen again. She swallowed the sudden lump of dread in her throat.
There was a beat of silence in the room, then another. Finally, Savannah said softly, “Just make sure you’re okay with things, yeah?”
Vanessa nodded.
“It’s important.” Savannah rubbed her upper arm. “You’re important, and I think you really like this woman, so just make sure you’re clear on the situation and how you really feel. Both of you.”
Vanessa felt her shoulders drop as if she’d set down a heavy load, and she sighed loudly. “I know. I just…this is new. I’ve had some crushes on parents before. Found a few moms attractive. But this? The actual liking? The actual dating? The actual sex?” She shook her head. “It should feel wrong. Shouldn’t it? If it’s wrong, it should feel wrong. And it doesn’t. It just…doesn’t. It feels…amazingly right.”
“Then carry on,” Julia said cheerfully. “And taste this.” She brought the cocktail she’d been working on over and handed it to Vanessa, who sipped, then winced.
“Yikes. What is that?” She handed it on to Savannah, who also sipped.
“Gah, ew, no,” she said, shaking her head.
Julia sighed, took the glass, held it up in Amelia’s direction.
“Those two faces tell me I don’t need to taste it myself to know it’s awful. Hard pass.”
“Babe,” Savannah said, “the creamy and the fruity just don’t mix. Try chocolate or something decadent instead.”
“That.” Julia pointed at her. “That’s why I keep you around.”
“Well, that and my exceptional lovemaking skills,” Savannah corrected, not looking up from her laptop.
“That, too,” Julia agreed, back behind the practice bar.
“I’m gonna vomit,” Amelia said.
The conversation drifted on to other things. Savannah’s classes. Amelia’s surprising enjoyment at creating a business plan. Julia’s Christmas party reservations at the bar. Vanessa listened, smiled, laughed, and felt warm. Was she overthinking the situation with Grace? Was she under thinking it? Did it matter? If it was on her mind, it must, but was she worrying needlessly?
“That’s next week, right, Ness?”
Vanessa blinked, pulled back to the present by her name, but unaware of who said it or why. “I’m sorry?”
It was Amelia and she arched an eyebrow and gave her a look before repeating her question. “Don’t you have parent-teacher conferences next week?”
Vanessa shook her head. “Two weeks from Monday, actually. I have no idea why it’s so late this year. I hope more people show up this time, but it’s getting so close to Christmas that I’m sure people have other things to take care of.”
“They still have those?” Savannah asked.
With a nod, Vanessa explained, “It’s a lot easier for busy parents to email me or chat with me via FaceTime or Skype or Zoom or any other video chat platform if their kid is having a problem. But we still hold physical open houses and in-person meetings twice a year onsite. The December event gets way fewer parents than the spring one, and like I said, with the holidays and the weather… It’s just one night, but I’m not expecting much. I always make sure I’ve got a book or a lesson plan or something to keep me busy.”
