Improvisation (16 page)

“It was during a day trip we took to Lake Coeur d’Alene. We were on the boardwalk, and she kissed me. It was so romantic,” Jan said, realizing it sounded dull, and not very romantic, when she spoke in such a monotone. The actual walk they took, etched into her memory, had been anything but boring, anything but chaste. Holding Tina in her arms had affected her more than she cared to admit. The bland lie was easier to deal with than the truth.

“Sounds like poetry,” Andy observed, her eyes on the pool table.

“My heart skipped a beat, and I heard a choir of angels,” Jan said as Andy sank the three on a lucky shot. “Are we allowing slop?” she asked. “You didn’t call the shot, and I know you were aiming at the five.”

“Seems to me, we’re letting a lot of things slide tonight,” Andy said. She dropped the six ball in the corner pocket. “You know I love Tina, but I have to admit she’s a player. How’d you manage to capture her heart?”

Jan dropped the twelve in a side pocket with a decisive smack after Andy missed a shot on the four. She peered down her cue stick at the thirteen. “Just lucky, I guess. How’re you managing without her in your quartet?”

“Oh, we’re doing quite well. Our temporary second violinist will be a fine replacement if Tina decides to stay in Spokane. Since she’s so in
looooove
.” Andy drew the last word out for several syllables before she started laughing.

Jan missed her shot by a wide margin and stood up, frowning at Andy. “What, you don’t think I’m attractive enough for someone like Tina?”

Andy shrugged. “I think you’re stunning. And exactly the kind of woman Tina needs,” she said as she sank the one but only grazed the two, leaving Jan without a shot. “I just find it hard to believe
she
realizes it.”

“Well, she does,” Jan said as she sank the ten in an impossibly tricky bank shot. She struggled to find a way to express her pretend relationship with Tina to this woman who was so obviously in love with Brooke. Andy would see right through any lies she told, so she stuck with the uncomfortable truth. “She makes me feel sexy, and it’s all I can do to keep my hands off her whenever we’re together,” she said, sinking the nine on her second try at it. The fifteen followed right after. “And she challenges me to be more than I am. To be spontaneous and relaxed and living in the moment.” The thirteen dropped into a corner pocket, nearly followed by the cue ball since Jan hit it so hard. Luckily, it caught the edge of the pocket and caromed back toward the center of the table. “And I can’t stop thinking about her, even when I’m supposed to be in class or at the store or talking to someone else.” Jan knocked in the eleven.

“Well, you’ve convinced me,” Andy said with a low whistle. “It just seemed pretty convenient that you and Tina suddenly started dating the minute she came to Spokane. After spending two years refusing to be in the same room.”

“What can I say? We finally had a chance to get to know each other.” Jan wondered if she was laying it on too thick, especially since they’d need to break up soon. And believably. “But we are such different people, and like you said, Tina’s a player. Who knows how long this will last?”

Andy shrugged. “Who knows?” she echoed.

Jan tapped her cue stick near a side pocket. “Eight ball right here, and you stop hounding me about Tina. You can even keep your twenty.” She hit the cue ball against the edge of the table and it angled back to the black eight, tapping it gently into the designated pocket.

“Nice,” said Andy. “All right. You and Tina are a cute couple, and I don’t have any doubts about your relationship. Plus, you can have the money. You earned it.”

Tina and Brooke walked over to the pool table as Jan was pocketing her money. Tina draped an arm around Jan’s shoulders. She had been spending the evening trying to look like Jan’s girlfriend without being more physical than she thought either one of them could handle. No hands roaming beyond arms or shoulders, and definitely no kissing. She remembered the boardwalk and the feeling of Jan’s arms around her. She stood close for Brooke’s benefit but held herself stiffly, so her body barely made contact with Jan’s “Did you win, sweetie?” Jan glared at her and she tried again. “Honey? Sweetheart?”

Jan finally laughed and playfully pushed Tina away. “My students call me Ms. Carroll. That’ll do.”

“Okay, teacher,” Tina said in her most seductive voice as she scooted closer to Jan. She didn’t mind a chance to play along with one of her fantasies. “How can I earn some extra credit?”

“Do we really have to listen to this crap?” Andy asked.

“Oh, I think it’s cute,” Brooke said, her arms looped around Andy’s neck. “It’s nice to see them so in love.”

Tina looked at her suspiciously. She had seemed to drag the word out longer than necessary. Jan tugged on her arm, distracting her.

“Why don’t you and Andy play this round,” Jan said to Brooke. “Babycakes and I will go get drinks.”

“Babycakes?” Tina asked once they were standing at the bar. “Are you serious?”

“Shut up,” Jan said. “They know we’re not dating. At least Andy does. And if she knows something, Brooke does, too.”

Tina tapped her fingers on the counter as she watched her two friends playing pool. They seemed more interested in playing with each other than actually making effective shots. “I thought Brooke seemed kind of funny when we were talking. I expected her to be happier because she had finally brought us together, but she barely talked about it. But they don’t—”

Jan took her by the shoulders and gave her a little shake. “If you say they don’t know we know they know, I am walking right out that door,” she said in a threatening voice. “What are we supposed to do now?”

Tina shrugged, pushing against Jan’s hands and feeling a strange sense of comfort in their weight. Jan increased the pressure for a brief moment, a gentle squeeze, before letting go and breaking the connection. “We go back to the pool table and take them for all the cash they have on hand,” she said, giving Jan a swat on the rear. “That is, if you can concentrate on pool with me around.”

Jan picked up two of the drinks the bartender put in front of them. “I think I proved how little you distract me during our last pool game,” she said.

“During the game, yes,” Tina said, moving into Jan’s space. And not just because Brooke and Andy were looking their way. She ran her fingers through Jan’s silky hair and watched it drift back against her cheek, her neck. “But what about later that night when you were alone? Was I a distraction then?”

Jan’s blush confirmed Tina’s suspicion. Jan had been as turned on that night as she had. Jan opened her mouth as if to answer, but she closed it again without saying a word and walked away, leaving Tina to take care of the other drinks. And the tab.

“You’re early,” Jan said when she cracked the door the next morning and peered around it at Tina. She had been planning to meet everyone for lunch, and having Tina show up on her doorstep—before she had even gotten dressed—wasn’t her idea of a great start to the day.

“Well, good morning to you, too, snuggle bunny,” Tina said, taking a paper cup of coffee out of the carrier she was holding and passing it through the narrow opening.

“Ugh, those pet names of yours are getting worse,” Jan said. She took an appreciative sniff of the vanilla-scented coffee, but she wasn’t about to be bought with caffeine. She kept the door open just enough to show her face. “Thanks for the coffee, and I’ll see you later.”

She was about to shut the door when her dad walked up behind her. “Who are you…Oh, hello, Tina.”

“Hi, Glen,” Tina said. “I brought you a cup of coffee, but your daughter won’t let me in.”

“That’s because she’s still in her pajamas,” he said.

“Dad!”

She turned her attention away from the door for just a moment, and Tina took advantage of the opportunity to push her way inside. “You won’t hear any complaints from me,” she said as she handed Glen his coffee and the newspaper from the front porch.

“I didn’t think I would,” he said as he accepted Tina’s offerings. “Thank you, my dear. I’ll be in the kitchen.”

Jan crossed her arms tightly over her chest. Her boxer shorts and tank top felt insignificant under Tina’s gaze. The flimsy material seemed to disintegrate when Tina merely looked at her, leaving her naked. Too exposed. “Okay, you delivered your coffees. Now go, and I’ll see you at lunch. Or are you waiting for a tip?”

“I wouldn’t mind one, but we don’t have time for that right now. There’s been a change in plans.”

Jan groaned. Plans were made for a reason. So everyone would know what to expect from the day. “What kind of change?”

“There’s a bluegrass festival in Wenatchee. We decided the four of us should go, and Brooke and Andy will just drive home from there. Small-town thing, tons of music and food. It’ll be a blast.”

“Wenatchee?” Jan asked, certain she hadn’t heard correctly. “A six-hour round-trip just to hear some people play the banjo?”

“Just to…Wow, are you in for a treat. And a musical education. Now get dressed because Brooke and Andy already have an hour head start.”

“We were going to have lunch near Gonzaga and walk around the campus,” Jan said, trying to sound as reasonable as possible since Tina was obviously going insane. Why’d she have to be so damned adorable when she acted so crazy? “I don’t have time for more than that. I have to grade class projects, prepare the final exam…and what if Dad needs me?”

“Then he’ll call, and we’ll come straight home. And you can do the rest tomorrow. Besides, you’re the one who’s always ten lesson plans ahead, I’m sure you already have the final finished up here.”

Jan swatted at Tina’s hand when she tapped her on the forehead, and then she recrossed her arms. “Maybe we can just move our schedule up a few weeks and tell them we broke up. They can console you at the festival while I stay at home and get my work done.”

“You know, when you cross your arms, you’re not really hiding anything. You’re just pushing your breasts together. Now go get dressed. I’m not leaving without you.”

Jan eased the tension in her arms and turned away to hide her embarrassment. She had a feeling Tina was as stubborn as she sounded. Jan could either argue more or just save them both some time and go along with the new plan. Either way, she wanted to be fully clothed. “I’ll get dressed,” she conceded. She started up the stairs with Tina on her heels. “You wait here.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Tina said. She watched Jan jog up the steps before she turned away. Before she
could
turn away. Those satiny boxer shorts, sitting low on Jan’s slender hips, and the tiny tank top had left just enough to the imagination. Tina considered trotting up the stairs after her, but she decided to obey Jan’s order to wait below. She went into the kitchen and found Glen at the table, struggling to open his paper with one good arm.

Tina took the sports page from him and carefully folded it into an easy-to-manage rectangle. “Thank you,” he said, propping it on a small vase. “I’m getting mighty tired of doing everything with one hand.”

“I’ll bet,” she said, pulling out a chair and sitting down. She cradled her hands around her mocha and watched him for a few moments. He looked normal and sounded normal, but she didn’t know him well enough to recognize any small signs of change. “I’ve come to kidnap your daughter for the day.”

“Have at it,” Glen said. “It’ll be good for her to get out and have some fun for a change.”

“Will you be okay?”

“Well, I won’t be as neat with the paper as you were, but I’ll get by,” he said with a smile. Tina kept silent until he sighed and pulled a small laminated card from the front of his shirt. It was looped around his neck on a cord. “My name and address, and Jan’s information. I wear it everywhere now, even to bed.” He shrugged. “I don’t think I need it yet, but I know it gives her some peace of mind. Besides, I’m going golfing with some old air force buddies today.”

“Golfing?” Tina asked skeptically.

“Don’t worry,” he said with a wry smile. “I do remember you need two good arms to play. But the walking will do me good. And I’ll be free to give the guys pointers while they play.”

“I’m sure they’ll appreciate the help,” Tina said with a laugh. “Just remember to duck if one of them comes at you with his club.”

She slid a piece of paper across the table. “This is my cell number, and my cousin Peter’s, too,” she said. She had been surprised by how easy it was to ask a favor from family when it wasn’t personal but was meant to help Jan. And gratified by how quick Peter was to assure her he’d be there for Glen if necessary. “He’ll be at the nursery all day, just a few minutes from here, in case you need anything.”

Glen thanked her and tucked the paper in his shirt pocket just as Jan came into the kitchen. Tan cotton shorts and a pale pink T-shirt had replaced the skimpier ensemble. Just as sexy. Damn. Tina had to give up the illusion that she had only been turned on because of Jan’s boxer shorts and tank, not the woman inside. But Jan could have duct taped brown paper bags on her body, and she’d have looked just as sexy.

“Do you have a change of clothes in case you get cold?” Tina asked. She had a jacket and jeans in the trunk of her car since she was expecting a cooler evening in the foothills of the Cascades.

“In here,” Jan said, shrugging her shoulder, a stuffed backpack hanging off it.

“What do you want to bet she has schoolwork in there, too?” Tina asked Glen.

“I’ll keep my money, thanks. You have a good time, pumpkin.”

Jan fussed over her dad, soliciting his promise to send a text when he got home from golf and explaining exactly how long he should microwave last night’s chicken dinner, until Tina finally managed to herd her out the door and into the car. Jan sat in the passenger seat and fidgeted. She had agreed to come because who knew when she’d have a chance to see Brooke again? And since she and Andy had already left for the festival, she couldn’t make them drive back to Spokane. She tried to put the extra work she’d need to do tomorrow out of her mind and focus on going with the flow for once.

Tina pushed firmly on her knee. “Stop bouncing. Your dad will be fine, and you’re going to have fun. Besides, it’s our very first road trip together,” she added in her best Chloe-in-love voice.