Laughter in the Wind (18 page)

Rebecca grabbed Olivia by the hand and led her to her room. She closed the door behind them then leaned back against it as she pulled Olivia to her for a long kiss. She felt like a nomad roaming through the desert, finally finding water after going without for days. She drank in Olivia’s kiss, feeling the heat from her soft lips travel right through her down to her toes. Olivia pressed her firmly back against the door and hungrily intensified the kiss. Tongues danced excitedly and their breathing became short gasps, interwoven with soft moans. The heavy tread of Rebecca’s father as he headed down the hallway brought them both back to the reality of their surroundings. Olivia stepped away quickly and, in unison, they began, “I’m sorry, I…” Then both hesitated and began to laugh.

Rebecca grabbed both of Olivia’s hands in her own. “I guess I got carried away,” she said softly, “but I’ve been thinking about doing that all week. You look fabulous by the way. It’s all I can do to keep from staring at you.”

Olivia grinned at this admission. “I’m so glad. As long as you’re staring at me, I don’t have to worry about someone else catching your eye.”

“I’m more worried about making a fool of myself tripping over my tongue ’cause it’s hanging down to the floor.”

Olivia laughed. “Please don’t trip over your tongue.” She shot a naughty, sideways glance toward Rebecca. “You might hurt it and I have other plans for it.”

“Hmmm,” Rebecca pulled her closer again and traced a path up her neck to her ear where she nibbled until she felt Olivia shivering against her. “Was that what you had in mind?”

“That and more,” she whispered, seductively. “When I finally get you alone and the time is right, I promise so much more.”

“You are determined to bring me to my knees,” Rebecca said, feeling them try to buckle at Olivia’s words.

“That might not be so bad,” Olivia hinted suggestively.

Rebecca stepped past her, knowing she needed to try to put some space between them. With Olivia talking to her and looking at her like that, she wasn’t sure she could walk far, so she sat near the door at her desk chair. Olivia sat on the edge of the bed, putting a little physical distance between them but keeping the fire burning, with her eyes tracing Rebecca’s breasts and hips as surely as if they were her hands. Her tongue traced her sensual red lips and Rebecca swore she could feel it touching her own lips.

“Stop,” Rebecca pleaded. “I’m never going to be able to go back out there and face them if you don’t let me get control of myself.”

“Oh, all right,” Olivia said, taking pity on her. “I just couldn’t resist. I don’t think you realize how damn sexy you are or what you do to me.”

Rebecca would have never thought of her skinny frame and loose-jointed mannerisms as sexy. Certainly none of the guys had ever given her that impression when they looked at her. But with Olivia she was surprised to realize that she did feel sexy. Somehow Olivia made her feel more like a woman and glad to be one.

“I’d like to take a rain check on that promise for more,” Rebecca said, smiling suggestively at Olivia.

“Now, you said I had to behave, so you do, too,” Olivia complained, laughing. “Tell me about your week instead. Are you ready for your finals?”

They talked about school for a while then Rebecca remembered the conversations she’d had with June and her father. “I need to catch you up on a few things around here, Olivia,” she said, turning the topic from school to home. “I’ve been having some interesting discussions with some of my family.”

“Really?” Olivia was immediately interested. “Can I guess the topic?”

“Probably. On Thanksgiving Day my middle sister June came over in the afternoon and I told her about me…us.”

“How did she take it?” Olivia seemed wary of the answer she would hear after her own experiences.

“Pretty good, actually. I really don’t think she was that surprised once she allowed herself to think it. That was a lot easier than the one this morning, though.”

“Uh-oh, what happened this morning?” Olivia looked as if she were almost afraid to ask.

“Dad and I talked while Mom was at the grocery store. Dad and I don’t ever talk about things like feelings, so it was tough. I don’t think he really likes the idea of me being a lesbian, but I think he’ll be there for me. You know, I’ve been pretty fortunate overall. God gave me a pretty good family.”

“Yes, he did,” Olivia said, sounding a little envious.

“Oh, Olivia, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to compare.”

“I know, Rebecca. I’m really happy for you. You are really blessed, you know.”

“I’m even more blessed now, after meeting you,” Rebecca said, looking across the room into Olivia’s eyes.

She rose from the chair and crossed over to sit next to Olivia on the bed, although she knew it was dangerous to her emotional control. She had just touched her lips to Olivia’s when she heard her mother call them for lunch. They smiled at each other, their eyes speaking volumes as they rose together and headed out of the room.

When they drew near to the kitchen doorway, the aroma of food grabbed their attention. They sat at the table with their parents and enjoyed the baked chicken with roasted potatoes and vegetables Rebecca’s mother had prepared. Dessert was homemade apple pie and vanilla ice cream. Rebecca thought her mother made the best apple pie in the world. Eliza raved about it, confirming her belief.

“How long can you stay?” Rebecca asked.

“Well, I was hoping to have a chance to speak to you two about your detective work,” Eliza explained, her gaze taking in both Olivia and Rebecca. “Olivia, I saw your notebook lying open on the table when I was at your apartment last week. I wasn’t trying to pry but the notes caught my attention and I realized what it was about. I saw your list of questions and I can answer two of those questions…as soon as we help Beth clean up,” she said, noticing Rebecca’s mother had started to clear the table.

After much protest, Beth relented to having the help and Rebecca’s father escaped with a mischievous smile to the living room as the four women cleaned the kitchen. They sat down around the table afterward, eager to begin the discussion.

Eliza began. “There was something else I was keeping from you, but it was to protect Grandmama to avoid upsetting her more. Your two uncles and I had sworn each other to secrecy but under the circumstances they’ve given me permission to tell you what happened at Mary Farthing’s grave,” she continued.

Rebecca was surprised. She had expected to hear about the mysterious phone conversation, not an explanation of the disturbed grave.

“Gran made me promise in the weeks before she died to fulfill a last request for her. You know there was never anyone else in her life after Mary. She grieved for her all those years. Her request was difficult because it had to be done without Grandmama’s knowledge because Grandmama would have put a stop to it if she had known. So she enlisted my help. We grew close the last years of her life when we stayed for months at a time with The Greats while your father was deployed, Olivia. I couldn’t deny her this request.”

The suspense was getting to Olivia, who was wishing her mother would skip the explanations and get to the answers. Her mother recognized her impatience and waved a hand at her. “Okay, I’ll get to it. Gran’s last request was to be buried beside Mary Farthing. Grandmama had Gran cremated and had her ashes sealed into an urn, which she keeps on her fireplace mantel. Steve, Pat, and I had to figure out how to get the ashes without Grandmama’s knowledge. I took her out of town to a crafts festival two months ago while Steve took the urn to the crematorium where a friend of his works. They were able to unseal the urn, place the ashes in a smaller urn and replace Gran’s ashes with dust. Grandmama is to never know that the urn she keeps contains only dust.”

“Wow!” Olivia said. “I didn’t know you could be so sneaky. Aren’t you afraid Uncle Steve will let it slip?”

She smiled. “Your uncle is frightened enough of what our mother’s reaction would be that I think he may be able to keep this secret. Uncle Pat came into town for business the end of October and on Halloween night we drove here and buried the small urn at Mary’s grave. Gran said she missed a lifetime with Mary and didn’t want to be separated from her for an eternity. That’s why you found freshly overturned dirt at the grave,” she said, turning to Rebecca.

“Why did you wait so long?” Olivia asked. “Gran died years ago.”

“Grandmama can be a formidable foe,” she said, smiling a little sheepishly. “I guess I’ve gotten a little more brave as I’ve aged. You know, watching you make the choices you’ve made in your life has been inspiring to me, Olivia. If you’re brave enough to face the prejudice of a whole society, surely I could be brave enough to risk bringing my mother’s wrath down upon my head. Your uncles share the blame too, and that helps,” she reminded Olivia.

“What about the other questions?” Olivia probed. “We still don’t know who Grandmama’s father was or the story behind him.”

“I’m sorry,” Eliza said. “But that’s one question we may never be able to answer. Gran may have been the only one who knew the answer and if so she took it with her to her grave.”

The women shared their feelings of sorrow over the tale of love lost. Then Eliza reached over to place her hand on Olivia’s where it rested on the table. “I believe Grandmama has chosen to ignore the things she disagrees about with you, Olivia. She asked this morning how you were doing, so I know she still cares about you. When I’ve tried to discuss it, she stops me immediately and says she refuses to have another word said about it. I know it’s not acceptance, Olivia, but can you settle for at least a superficial relationship with her for now? Maybe she’ll relent with time.”

Eliza waited for a response from her daughter, concern evident in her eyes. Rebecca could tell Olivia was struggling to smile, unshed tears threatening to overflow onto her cheeks. “Mom, I love Grandmama so of course I’ll take whatever relationship I can get. Just please don’t ask me to deny who I am.”

Eliza rose from her chair and came around the table to hug her daughter. “I will never do that again, sweetheart,” she said, and now the tears did fall.

Beth retrieved a box of tissues from the counter and set it onto the table near them. She sat down again, scooting her chair closer to Rebecca’s, and placed one hand on her daughter’s shoulder and the other over her hands on the table. She gave her a small squeeze, conveying her love and support through the simple gesture. The other two women regained their composure and dried their tears.

“Well, I guess that signals the end of
Harmon and Wilcox, Private Investigators
,” Olivia attempted to joke, but a sniffle still escaped.

Rebecca helped her in her attempt to lighten the mood. “I think we did a pretty good job, considering this was our first case,” she said, mockingly boastful. The two mothers quickly joined in the banter, praising the genius of their two daughters.

Another two hours passed with the four women sitting around the table, sharing stories and laughing about the misadventures of Olivia and Rebecca as they grew up. Rebecca blushed several times as her mother found embarrassing stories to tell, but Olivia was able to withstand the teasing better and didn’t even turn pink.

Eliza finally, reluctantly, rose to her feet. “I’ve had a wonderful day,” she said. “But I’m afraid it is time to go. Grandmama has probably gotten on Steve’s last nerve by now. I promised him I’d return no later than six. Beth, thank you so much for inviting us here.”

The others rose as well. Rebecca was suddenly shy in front of her mother and Eliza but managed to return Olivia’s quick kiss and strong hug, although her cheeks reddened again. They bade farewell to Rebecca’s father as they passed through the living room to the front door. He had been caught up in a Clint Eastwood movie marathon all afternoon. As their visitors drove away, Rebecca turned to her mother, gave her a hug and said, “Thanks, Mom. You’re the best.”

“I know,” her mother responded. “Just remember that tomorrow afternoon.”

“Why?” Rebecca asked, suddenly wary. “What’s tomorrow?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tie up more than three or four hours of your time, but we need to make a huge dent in our Christmas shopping or we will never get it done.”

“Christmas?” Rebecca said in an incredulous voice. How had her favorite holiday gotten this close without dominating her attention? Sure, she had noticed the mall decorations and Christmas sales, but she hadn’t even asked her mother if she could put the tree up yet. And she hadn’t even started thinking about buying gifts.

Wow
.
Olivia must have me more turned around than I thought.

Chapter Fifteen

Sunday afternoon found Rebecca riding with her mother to town. She knew her mother didn’t love shopping like Aunt Patsy did, but she tolerated it better than Rebecca. They found her dad’s gifts first—a six-inch-high replica of his beloved antique tractor for him to place on the mantel, and an antique-tractor calendar for his shop.

Then it was time to find something for Grandma. She was more difficult to shop for, always insisting she needed a new duster and nothing else. All of her children would buy her the same thing and her closet would overflow with new dusters. Rebecca had to admit though, the only day of the week she ever saw her grandmother in anything other than the linen snap-up dresses was on Sunday when she went to church, so maybe it was the perfect gift. She and her mother looked diligently for a different type of gift but inevitably found themselves standing at a small rack of dusters trying to decide which design to choose.

While her mother looked for gifts for June, Kate, and their husbands, Rebecca found herself enjoying the shopping for the youngest member of the family, baby Dean. She spent thirty minutes trying out nearly a whole row of baby toys and her mother laughed to see the sudden regression in her nearly grown daughter. They finally made their selections and Beth stated her satisfaction with the progress they had made.

“Mom?” Rebecca asked. “Can I ask your advice? I, uh, want to get something for Olivia, but I’m not sure what would be—”