In This Small Spot (37 page)

Mickey stared at her for a moment, then
threw her head back and laughed.

“It took a while to set it up in such a way
that the diocese can’t touch it. It all goes to the abbey,” Lauren
said happily. “I’d give a lot to see my mother’s reaction to
that.”

Jennifer looked confused. “How much?” she
asked innocently.

“Just over fifteen million.”

Jamie dropped his fork. “Fifteen million
dollars? You gave up fifteen million dollars? You didn’t keep any
of it?” he asked as if he was having trouble comprehending this
notion.

“I’ve never wanted my mother’s money.”
Lauren looked down at her plate, pushing her food around with her
fork. “I kept a few thousand, enough to set up a new life
somewhere…” she looked up at Mickey uncertainly.

“Here? I hope,” Mickey said, her eyes
shining.

Lauren’s face was radiant as she smiled back
at Mickey. After a few seconds, she turned to Jennifer. “Tell me
about you and Jamie, and the museum’s restoration work.”

Jennifer chatted happily as they finished
their meal, filling Lauren in on Jamie’s latest work. The
tapestries they had nearly finished before the fire were now on
display at the Mannheim, but, “Mother Theodora hasn’t been able to
tell me whether or not the abbey will be able to resume any
restoration work for us,” she said as she rose to carry some plates
into the kitchen.

“You’re forgetting something,” Mickey said
as she caught Jennifer, wrapping her arm around Jennifer’s waist.
“We’re pregnant,” she announced, patting Jennifer’s abdomen.

Lauren looked from Jamie to Jennifer and
back to Mickey. Smiling, she asked uncertainly, “‘We’ are?”

“Yes,” Jamie replied, grinning. “We
are.”

“You and I are going to be aunts!” Mickey
said happily.

“And when are we due?” Lauren played
along.

“In September,” Jennifer answered. “And I’m
going to remind all of you of the ‘we’ part when it comes time for
labor!”

Mickey struggled to her feet, getting her
crutches in position, and began walking into the kitchen.

“Michele!” Lauren exclaimed, her hands
pressed to her chest. “I didn’t realize – the last time I saw you,
you weren’t walking.”

Mickey burned a deep red. “I don’t know if
you can call this walking, but it keeps me out of a
wheelchair.”

She stood propped at the sink to rinse the
dishes as Jamie loaded the dishwasher and Jennifer and Lauren put
away the leftovers.

“And now we are going home,” Jamie announced
as he put the last plate in the dishwasher. Mickey walked them to
the door. “Call us when you’re ready for company,” he whispered as
he gave Mickey a kiss on the cheek.

Mickey closed the door and turned to Lauren.
She suddenly felt very self-conscious now that they were alone.
“Let me show you around?” she suggested, turning to the stairs. She
led the way up, showing Lauren the layout of the rooms up there. In
the furnished bedroom, she explained awkwardly, “This room, this
whole floor can be yours, if you want.” She stared at the floor,
blushing again. “I didn’t know… I didn’t want to assume…”

Lauren stepped close and took Mickey’s face
in her hands. Mickey felt she was drowning in those soft, grey
eyes. Wordlessly, she brought Mickey’s mouth to hers. The softness
of her lips stunned Mickey who had almost forgotten what a kiss
felt like. “That’s not fair,” Mickey whispered, resting her
forehead in the crook of Lauren’s neck when they parted. Lauren
wrapped her arms around Mickey in a strong embrace. “I’m already
weak in the knees.”

Lauren pressed her soft cheek against
Mickey’s and murmured, “Why don’t you show me to our room?”

Mutely, Mickey led the way back down the
stairs. Suddenly, several thoughts occurred to her. “How did you
get here? Do you have any luggage? And how did you find the
house?”

Lauren smiled. “I flew into Syracuse and
rented a car. I found Jamie and Jennifer’s house, and Jamie drove
with me here. I’m sure he and Jennifer will have an interesting
conversation tonight. I’ll go get my bag.” She was back in a moment
and followed Mickey through the family room into the new master
bedroom.

“That dresser can be yours,” Mickey pointed.
“There are clean towels, t-shirts, robe – anything you need. I’ll
let you wash up while I go lock up the house.”

She took her time locking the doors and
windows. When she got back, Lauren was just coming out of the
bathroom, wearing a sleeveless night shirt.

“I’ll just be a minute,” Mickey said. She
quickly showered and brushed her teeth. Her heart was hammering as
she buttoned up her pajama shirt. She braced her hands on the sink,
inspecting her reflection in the mirror. She could see the shadow
of the agitated pulse beating in her neck. Taking a deep breath,
she reached for her crutches. When she emerged from the bathroom,
the bed was turned down, and the bedside lamps were on their lowest
setting. Lauren was sitting on the side of the bed, her blond hair
falling loose down to her shoulders.

“It looked like this might be your side of
the bed,” Lauren said shyly as Mickey sat beside her, laying her
crutches within reach on the floor. She reached up to run her
fingers through Mickey’s red hair. “I see you’ve kept it
short.”

“I always liked it better that way,” Mickey
said. She took Lauren’s hand in hers, gently intertwining their
fingers. “I can’t believe you’re finally here.”

“I feel like I’ve been in purgatory, just
waiting to be able to come to you. I’m sorry it took me so long,”
Lauren said sincerely. “I wanted to come immediately when Mother
wrote that you had left, but every time it seemed I might be able
to leave, my sister pulled some new legal trick to drag things out.
I’m so sorry I was never able to give you a date, but I was afraid
of saying I’d come and then not be able to. I had to be sure she
couldn’t undo everything I’d been working on.”

“I’ve missed you so much,” Mickey
murmured.

Lauren traced her fingers over the contours
of Mickey’s face. “And I’ve missed you, more than I would have
believed possible.” A smile flickered across her face. “But you
were waiting for me? You had a room ready for me? You trusted me
that much, even after so long?”

Mickey looked at her, all the love she was
feeling leaving her totally defenseless. “Yes.”

Lauren again pressed her lips to Mickey’s,
but this time Mickey was ready, her lips parting, tongue gently
exploring, asking Lauren to respond which she did.

Mickey pulled away after a moment and said
softly, “I haven’t done this in a very long time.”

Lauren blushed. “It’s been even longer for
me, and I’ve never… with a woman...”

“But,” Mickey said nervously, “now… some
things are working, some things aren’t… I don’t know…”

Lauren brought her lips to Mickey’s cheek
and murmured reassuringly in her ear, “We’ll figure it out
together.” She remained there for a few seconds, breathing in
Mickey’s ear. “Would you let me see your back?” she whispered.

Mickey nodded and let Lauren unbutton her
pajama top. She slid it off Mickey’s shoulders, her eyes admiring
Mickey’s muscular arms and shoulders, her small breasts. Mickey
stretched out across the bed on her stomach. She understood. Lauren
was as scarred by everything that had happened as Mickey was, only
her healing had been put on hold while she was gone. The healing
she needed to do had to be done together. Lauren pulled her night
shirt off and lay gently next to Mickey. Mickey’s skin still had
large areas that were numb, but she could feel Lauren’s fingers as
they gently probed and caressed the scars and ridges on her back.
Lauren shifted so that she was partially lying on top of Mickey,
the soft pressure of her breasts and stomach warm against Mickey’s
skin. She could feel Lauren’s hair and her breath and her lips as
she tenderly kissed Mickey’s back, and she could feel her
tears.

“I never dreamed anyone could love me this
much,” Lauren whispered.

Mickey rolled over and wrapped her arms
around Lauren, pulling her close. “I love you so much more than
that,” she said fervently. Everything else that needed to be said
was said with her kiss.

╬ ╬ ╬

Mickey woke with her cheek nestled against
Lauren’s shoulder, her arm rising and falling with Lauren’s
breathing as it lay draped over her chest. She shifted her hand to
feel Lauren’s heartbeat. Closing her eyes, she smiled. She had
always felt blessed beyond reason to have the love of a woman as
genuine and good as Alice, but she never expected to experience
that kind of joy again. And yet, lying here, warm and soft, was a
woman she would love, and who would love her in return, for the
rest of her life. She glanced at the bedside clock, and woke Lauren
with a kiss on the cheek.

“Good morning,” she smiled. “I want to show
you something. Let’s get dressed.” Mickey slid out from under the
covers, and reached for her crutches. “Oh my gosh!” she yelped as
the cold metal brushed her naked hips. In a few minutes, they had
brushed their teeth, dressed and were going out the kitchen
door.

“Where are we going?” Lauren yawned, pulling
the collar of her jacket more tightly around her neck to ward off
the pre-dawn chill.

“You’ll see,” Mickey told her excitedly.
“This was the one extravagance I allowed myself.”

They were walking along a six-foot wide
pathway built of decking boards. Benches were positioned every
hundred yards or so, and the walk was lit, dimly now as dawn
approached, by a series of solar lights. Even though it was chilly,
Mickey was soon panting and sweating with the effort of the steady
uphill climb.

“Why don’t we sit and rest?” Lauren asked
worriedly.

“I’m fine,” Mickey insisted breathlessly.
“We’re almost there.”

With one final climb up some steps, the path
ended at a screened-in gazebo with two chairs facing to the west.
Behind them, the eastern sky was just beginning to lighten.

“Wait,” Mickey gasped as they sat in the
chairs.

Lauren sat beside her, patiently waiting for
a moment, and then she heard it. The bell for Lauds was ringing.
She turned to Mickey in the rosy light, an expression of amazement
on her face, and reached for her hand.

“Listen,” Mickey whispered. Faintly, they
could hear singing. When it ended nearly forty minutes later,
Lauren wiped tears from her cheeks. “You can only hear the singing
for Lauds and Prime most days,” Mickey said, “and sometimes in the
evening the voices will carry over here from Matins, but you can
hear the bells all day long.”

“I can’t believe it,” Lauren said, still
weeping. “I’ve been so cut off from everything I’ve cherished – the
abbey, you – it felt like I’ve been exiled or imprisoned somewhere
I didn’t want to be.”

“You’ve given up so much,” Mickey said
guiltily.

Lauren looked over at her. “I didn’t give it
up for you, but I gave it up because of you.” She clasped Mickey’s
hand more tightly. “You have opened my heart to a world where love
and joy and trust are simply there – without any games or deceit.
Believe me, after spending the last several months in a place where
none of those things exists, it reminded me how rare and precious
you are. And last night,” she closed her eyes, remembering. “I
confess, I’ve struggled a bit. Not with the fact that I love you,
but our love has been so esoteric, so spiritual that part of me
worried whether giving in to the sexual desire I feel for you would
ruin things somehow, leave us feeling empty and lost once that part
was satisfied. But last night… last night felt holy to me. I never
knew what it could feel like to be so connected to another person,
body and soul.”

Mickey kissed Lauren’s hand. “I love you so
very much.”

A bell rang in the distance and they could
hear voices again, singing the hour of Prime. They sat side by
side, holding hands, lost in the music as the dawn grew brighter
around them.

“That’s the last we’ll be able to hear until
maybe the evening,” Mickey sighed when the singing faded. “I guess
the air currents change as the day warms up.” She reached for her
crutches. “There’s something else I want to show you.”

“There’s more?” Lauren laughed as they
started back down the path.

“Jamie found this place and convinced me to
buy it sight unseen,” Mickey explained on the way back toward the
house. “The original garage was too far from the house to be
practical for me, but it was perfect for something else.” When they
got to the garage, she opened the door and flipped on the
lights.

“Oh, Michele,” Lauren breathed, bracing
herself against the wall. “I can’t believe this.”

There was a floor loom, empty, waiting. To
one side was a large work table and embroidery frames of various
sizes. Along the wall were three utility sinks with drying racks
attached to the wall.

“I didn’t know if you would want to start
working on your own creations, or maybe take on some restoration
work. From what Jennifer says, even if St. Bridget’s resumes some,
there’s a lot more waiting, even from other museums that have
contacted her.” She looked anxiously over at Lauren. “If anything
isn’t the way you want it, we can change it. I’d be willing to
help. Just tell me –”

Her words were cut off by Lauren’s kiss – a
deep, passionate kiss as her arms held Mickey strongly against her.
Lauren pulled away, holding Mickey’s face in her hands and looking
at her with a gaze that was hungry, almost angry, in its intensity.
“Come back to bed with me,” she said.

Inside, Lauren knelt and undressed Mickey as
she sat on the side of the bed, caressing and kissing her as she
did, and then undressed herself and lay down on top of Mickey.
Remembering which areas had seemed the most sensitive the night
before, Lauren touched and kissed and teased until Mickey was on
the edge of orgasm and then positioned herself so that Mickey could
touch her also. Together they came in a tumultuous climax that left
them both trembling.