Fresh Tracks (6 page)

"Okay," Darby piped in. "If that's true, then give me a reason for this: why is there no Christmas tree in this joint?" Darby looked around, her blue eyes scanning the downstairs just to be sure she hadn't missed one someplace. "Are you slipping, Aunt Ame?"

Molly smiled. "You know, I almost asked the same question."

"Me, too," Sophie said. "You're the queen of interior decor, it's only two days after Christmas, and you're having a party. Where the hell's the free?" The good-natured tone

of her voice took any sting out of her words, letting Amy know she was razzing her.

Jo tugged at a lock of Amy's hair. "Told you."

Amy held up her hands in surrender. "I didn't get to it. We had such a ridiculously chaotic holiday, we only just got here Sunday night, and I completely forgot."

"Then I say we get to it now." Darby- stood up, tugging her low-rise jeans a bit higher on her hips. "There are seventy-five acres out there and I know my Aunt Jo has a saw. Let's go find a little tree." She glanced expectantly around the room for support from the

others.

Amy seemed a little panicked. "I don't have any decorations for it here."

"I saw popcorn in the cupboard," Molly offered. "We could string some of that. Some pinecones would work, too. Cranberries?"

Amy looked uncertain, no doubt seeing her neat and organized living room in unplanned-for

disarray.

"We'll figure it out, baby," Jo reassured her often anal-retentive wife. "The fresh air will do us all good. Let's show off our land. Wanna?"

The sky was once again a crystal blue, the sun shining so brightly some of the women had to

shield their eyes and scramble to their cars for their sunglasses. Jo and Amy led the way

along a path that wound through the woods which Jo had worked on for almost two years.

Sophie jogged up beside them, leaving Molly and Darby to follow.

"I really despise winter," Molly said as Darby fell into step beside her, "but I have to admit there are times when the snow is just gorgeous. I'm almost hesitant to say that if I lived

in a warmer climate, I think I'd miss it just the teeniest bit."

"I'm right there with you," Darby agreed as her old, beat-up boots crunched through the whiteness. "I hate being cold, but this..." She made a large sweep of her arm to encompass their surroundings, being sure to include Molly. "This is breathtaking."

Molly smiled and looked off into the woods, pushing her sunglasses up onto her head as the

trees filtered out the sun. "So. Darby. What do you do? You've graduated, I take it.

Weren't you majoring in computer science or something brainy like that?"

"Yep." Darby nodded, inordinately pleased that Molly remembered her course of study and trying hard not to stare at her. The white down ski jacket looked adorable on her and the

sunglasses that now held her dark hair off her face added a sexiness that caused a wave

of desire Darby had to swallow down. Molly's hair fell in waves around the back of her head

and when she turned her eyes in Darby's direction.. .Darby cleared her throat and tried to

focus on the conversation. "I got a degree in computer science and I actually had a job at Langford for a while."

"Wow. Impressive." Langford was a well-known, up-and-coming software technology firm in the area. Landing a job there straight out of college was quite a feat. "What happened?"

Darby shrugged. "I didn't like Corporate America, you know?"

Molly nodded.

"It was all designer suits and ass kissing and...I didn't feel like I could be me, like there would ever be a chance,of me fitting in. I thought a software company would be more hip,

more open-minded, but it felt like high school all over again. The cliques and the hierarchy.

I couldn't stand it. I stayed for three weeks before I bailed."

"Wel , I admire you. It takes guts to stand up for what you believe in."

"Now I manage a Blockbuster."

"Oh. That's...a change."

Darby laughed. "It's okay. You can be horrified. Everybody else is. But it's a good company to work for. I get great benefits, I can watch whatever I want for free, and I like it

there. I'm happy."

"Happy counts for a lot," Molly said, her voice wistful. "Happy counts for just about everything." She stepped slightly off the path and her boot sank into the snow up to her calf. "Damn." She reached out and balanced herself on Darby's shoulder, feeling Darby's surprisingly strong arm slip around her waist to keep her upright.

She tried to ignore the zing of pleasure that shot through her and dug the snow out of her

boot, taking longer than necessary. She was having trouble reconciling Darby the kid who

was stored in her memory and Darby the woman—the very sexy, attentive woman—who was

holding her steady now. Clearing her throat, she smiled up at her and felt a quick jolt of

surprise at the blueness of Darby's eyes, so completely different from the deep brown of

her aunt's.

"Thanks," she said.

"Sure." Darby kept her arm around Molly until she let go of her shoulder, not wanting to release her. They continued to follow the three up ahead, but Darby narrowed the space

between herself and Molly just a little bit, walking as close to the other woman as she

could without bumping into her. She could smell Molly's perfume and she tried to be subtle

about the deep, greedy breaths she took.

"Tell me more," Molly requested. "About you. Where do you live? Are you seeing someone?

What do you do for fun?"

"So many questions. Well...I have a little apartment in the city that I love. I could use a little more space, but mine is such a great place that I'm hesitant to give it up. I really

want a dog, but my hours are kind of funky, so I've settled for a cat. His name's Chuck and

he's very cool. Am I seeing someone?" She shrugged. "I see a lot of someones."

Molly laughed and Darby felt her heart warm at the sound, feminine and musical.

"For fun? I don't know. I go out with my friends. I play Softball in the summer. I read. I watch a lot of movies." The threesome in front had moved quite far ahead of them and

Darby had the sudden sense that she was on a stroll through the woods with just Molly.

She didn't dislike the feeling and she fought off the urge to simply push her against a tree

and kiss her senseless. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Where do you live? Are you seeing someone? What do you do for fun? Come on. Eye for an

eye."

Molly looked up at the blue sky and watched a chickadee zip by. "We've got a house by the canal. It's a little too big, but it's very pretty and it's in a nice neighborhood. I miss the city, though. We used to have a place on the East Side."

A house on the Erie Canal didn't come cheap, Darby noted. "And then suburbia?"

"And then suburbia. We thought that's what we were supposed to do, the next logical

step."

"And 'we' is?"

"'We' is me and Kristin. We've been together for a little over seven years."

"Wow. Congratulations." Darby forced cheerfulness into her voice. Of course somebody like Molly had a partner. Why wouldn't she? That didn't really mean anything anyway, did it?

"Thanks."

Molly's voice contained slightly less pride than Darby expected, but she left it alone for

the time being. "Is she coming this week?"

"She had some work stuff to take care of. She should be here today."

"Oh. Cool." Darby didn't like the far-off quality that suddenly encompassed Molly. Wanting to get her talking about happier subjects, she prompted, "Keep going."

"Going where?"

"Fun, smart-ass. What do you do for fun?"

"Ah." Molly nodded and Darby could feel her returning to their conversation. "Let's see. I garden in the summer. Flowers and vegetables. And I have a lot of houseplants, so that

helps to keep me busy in the winter. I love to walk. That's a huge advantage of living on the canal."

"I bet. I like to take my bike there and just ride and ride."

"I've got a bike, too." The corner of Molly's mouth turned up slightly. "You should come get me some time. We can ride together."

"I'd like that."

Before they could continue, they heard a shout from around the bend ahead of them. As

they rounded it, the others came into view, off the path and into the woods about twenty

yards.

"What do you think of this one?" Jo asked, squatting down next to

a small evergreen. It stood about five feet tall, its branches surprisingly thick and lush.

Molly had completely forgotten the hunt for a tree and realized she'd never even glanced

at one as they walked. "I think it's perfect," she said.

Darby nodded and stepped forward to help her aunt as she sawed.

"We'll have to remember to come out here and plant another one in the spring," Amy

commented.

"We're in the middle of a forest, Aunt Ame. Who's going to see one little bare spot?"

Amy shot a stern look at Darby. "We always replace what we take, unless it's fallen all on its own."

Darby made the face of a child who'd been scolded. "Okay, then."

Twenty minutes later, they were nearly back to the house, Darby and Jo dragging the small

tree behind them. Sophie was describing the design she was working on for a client when a

shrill beeping cut through the air, causing many of the women to jump.

"Jesus." Amy laughed, pressing a hand to her chest.

"Sorry," Molly said sheepishly. "It's me. I forgot it was in my coat." She pulled a cell phone from her coat pocket and glanced at the screen. "l,t's Kristin. She's probably on her way.

I'll catch up with you." She walked backward, putting distance between herself and the

group.

Darby watched over her shoulder, barely able to register Molly's voice as she moved

farther away. She turned face forward just in time to catch a low-slung branch on the

forehead.

"Ow." She rubbed the spot.

Aunt Jo studied her with a cocked eyebrow. "Watch where you're walking," she suggested mildly.

"Now you tell me."

"Found it." Amy came up from the basement carrying an old metal tree stand and handed it to Jo. "I have no idea why it's here since we've got no decorations, but..."

"I brought it up last fall after we got a new stand at home, remember?" Jo had moved a knee-high table in front of the living room

window and she and Darby balanced the tree on top. The extra height centered it

perfectly. "What do you think?"

Amy suppressed a grin.

"You're warming to it," Jo said, waving a finger at her beloved. "I can tell."

"It looks terrific," Amy conceded. "Good call, Darby."

Darby looked pleased with herself as she took the stand from Amy and helped Aunt Jo

position the tree's trunk correctly.

Sophie came out of the kitchen with a bowl of microwave popcorn. "Got a needle and some

thread?"

"I'm sure I do." Amy glanced toward the door. "Where's Primo? Is she still out there?"

"Why do you call her that?" Darby asked, holding the tree straight in the stand while Jo tightened the screws against the trunk.

Jo chuckled in anticipation of the adorable story.

Amy rummaged through a drawer as she spoke, found a small sewing kit, and handed it to

Sophie. "I used to baby-sit Molly way, way back. She was four, I think, the first time I met her. I was twelve."

"Wow," Darby said. "You have known her a long time."

"Longer than you've been alive, honey. Anyway, when Molly was little, she had trouble with her Rs and she couldn't quite pronounce DiPrima correctly. She was 'Mauwy Pweemo.' I

started calling her Primo and it just sort of stuck."

Sophie and Darby looked at one another and then gave tandem awwwws at the idea of tiny

little Molly trying to pronounce her own name.

As if on cue, the front door opened and Molly came in, stomping the snow off her feet. Her

sunglasses covered her eyes and she made no immediate attempt at removing them.

"Everything okay?" Jo asked innocently.

"Oh, yeah. Fine. Kristin's going to be stuck longer than she thought, so she won't be here until tomorrow." The group was silent and Molly continued on. "Hey, the tree looks

fantastic. Very nice." She took off her boots and lined them up neatly on the mat, then

shed her coat and hung it up on the rack. Clearing her throat, she excused herself to the

bathroom upstairs, her sunglasses still shading her eyes.

Amy and Jo exchanged glances and Amy waited a couple minutes before following her

friend up the stairs.

The sun spilled through the window of the guest room, making the

dust motes floating in the air visible like tiny snowflakes and bathing the quilt-covered bed in warm, inviting light. Despite the ambience, Molly felt cold. She sat on the edge of the

bed, her hands tucked between her knees, and gazed out onto the snowy landscape. The

sunglasses were tossed onto the nightstand.

Amy sat gently next to her. "You okay?" Her quiet voice stil seemed a loud disturbance in the stillness of the room.

"Do you think she's having an affair?" Molly didn't turn to look at her friend.

Amy inhaled and slowly let out her breath. She tucked a lock of Molly's dark hair behind

her ear. "Do you?"

"I don't know. I want to say no. I want to say I know her better than that, that she'd

never do such a thing, but the truth is, how would I know? I never see her. We hardly ever

talk any more. I can't even remember the last time we made love. She spends so much time

working, it seems like all she thinks about is more money. I feel like I hardly know her

anymore. And she certainly doesn't know me."

"What do you mean?"

Molly stood and crossed the room to her bag. Rifling through it, she came out with a square