Winds of Heaven (7 page)

Liz bit her lip anxiously and walked out onto the deck. “I-I’m sorry if I disrupted you.”

Casey was standing there leaning against the railing staring out at the lake. “It’s not you,” she said with a heavy sigh. “I’ve got a deadline, and I’m just not clicking, that’s all.”

“What do you usually do to click?”
 

Casey turned to her, her green eyes narrowed into a wicked grin. “I have sex. That usually works.”

“Sorry if I’m crimping your style.”

Casey raised an eyebrow. “Don’t worry. You’re not.”

Liz felt her anger rising and Casey laughed, which did nothing to abate her anger. “Look,” Casey started, “I don’t have much in the way of food.”

“Yes, I noticed.”

“I can go into town and pick up a few things for the next couple days. You look all done in, and I’m sure
Shortround
is still pooped,” she offered with a shrug.

Instinctively, Liz put a hand to her hair, suddenly feeling tired and bloated. She looked up at Casey, who fidgeted in the awkward silence. She was sure Ms. Bennett was not used to this at all—neither was she. “I could make a list. I’m afraid I need a few things for Skye.”

 
“Sure, make your list.” Casey walked into the house.

Liz jotted down a few items and turned to Casey, who picked up the keys. “Oh...Skye’s toilet trained, but at night she still needs the occasional
Huggie
.” She stopped and looked up into the green eyes. “You do know what
Huggies
are, don’t you?”

“Yes, I know what
Huggies
are, for
chrissakes
,” Casey countered and snatched the list out of her hand. She slipped on her sunglasses and headed out the back door.

“For three-year-olds...” Liz called and waved.

“Toilet trained!
Huggies
,” Casey repeated angrily as she parked the Lexus at the small grocery store in Rhinelander.

She took a cart, and as she walked down the aisle, she stopped and glanced around. “What the hell am I doing?” She took out her cell phone and dialed the number. “Gram?” she said in a gruff voice.

“Hmm, you sound frazzled. How’s the domestic life so far?”

“This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”

“Ah, ah, remember Suzette. What’s Liz Kennedy like?”

“I dunno. She’s…” Casey stopped and thought of the long auburn hair, the blue eyes that shimmered when she was trying not to cry. “Pregnant.”

She heard her grandmother laugh. “You be nice to that woman. She has a lot to deal with.”

“Her?” Casey voice screeched as she perused the list. “What about me?”

“What about you? Are you five months pregnant with a three-year-old and no money?”

Casey took the phone away from her ear and looked to the heavens.

“Where are you?”

“I-I’m at the grocery store in town.” She winced when she heard the peal of laughter.

“Don’t tell me,” her grandmother said. “She gave you a list.”

“Gram,” Casey warned as she guided the wobbling cart down the quiet aisle.

“So why are you calling me, dear?”

“I…what the hell is a
Huggie
?” Casey blurted out. Again the laughter.

“It’s a diaper, you fool. Good heavens, you’re a woman.” Casey stopped and closed her eyes. Meredith Casey cleared her throat. “Go down the aisle with the toilet paper and all that.”

Casey steered the cart and found them. “Okay. Got ’em.”

“Anything else... Mom?”

Casey took the phone away from her ear and almost threw it across the store and remembered it was her phone. She took a deep breath. “No. Thanks. Goodbye, Grandmother.”

“I think I want to meet this woman and—”

“No,” Casey said. “I’ll call you later. You know I love you.”

Neither spoke for a long moment. “Of course I know. I love you, too. Where did that come from? Ms. Kennedy or the little one? What’s her name, by the way?”

“Skye,” Casey said with a chuckle and juggled the phone while she picked up the next item on the list. “She’s
kinda
feisty.”

“Hmm.”

Casey felt her face getting hot. “What does that mean?”

“Oh, nothing, nothing. You go and finish grocery shopping. I’m sure laundry awaits.”

“Very funny,” Casey said. “Bye, Gram.”

“Goodbye and good luck, dear.”

She was too busy reading the last item on the list to hear her grandmother’s laughter as she hung up. “Chocolate fudge swirl and whipped cream,” she repeated. Then it dawned on her, and she laughed in spite of herself. Cravings... She picked up two.

Liz was throwing away all the old junk in the fridge when Casey came in the back door struggling with the bags.

“Did I have that much on the list?”

Casey gave her an incredulous look. “Did you have...?” She stopped as she set the bags down. “Yes.”

Liz handed her several folded bills. “I-I’d like to help pay.”

Casey looked from the money to the proud blue eyes. She gently pushed the money back to her. “I’ll take care of this round. We’ll talk later about the future.” By the look on Liz’s face, Casey wasn’t sure if she was going to argue or start crying again.

“Thank you,” Liz said.

The awkward silence between them, which was getting all to frequent, was mercifully interrupted by a small voice.

“Mama,
uppie
.”

Casey looked down at the girl standing there, her arms outstretched.

Liz bent down and groaned as she lifted her. “Hi, sweet pea,” she said with a kiss on the cheek.

Casey watched the exchange for a moment, then concentrated on the groceries. Casey felt Skye watching her with great interest and became extremely self-conscious under her scrutiny. So much so that she dropped an egg on the floor.

“Damn it!” Casey cursed and grabbed a napkin.

“
Damment
!” Skye repeated.

Completely caught off-guard, Casey looked up and let out a hearty laugh.

Liz was less than thrilled. “Ms. Bennett, please.”

Skye laughed watching Casey, who was still laughing.

“
Damment
,” Skye repeated and clapped as she watched Casey, who now roared with laughter.

Casey sobered after seeing the blue-eyed glare from the mother; she looked down at similar laughing blue eyes. “Okay,
Shortround
, no.”

Skye stopped laughing but reached for Casey—Casey recoiled.

“
Uppie
,” Skye said.

Liz gave her a smug grin and made the introductions. “Skye. This is Casey.”

Casey gave Skye a weak smile. What in the hell is going on? she thought.

“
Cafey
.
Uppie
…peas,” Skye begged.

“Oh, all right. C’mon,” she grumbled and took the girl, who immediately hugged her around the neck. She turned bright red and avoided Liz’s smile.

Casey sat at the kitchen table bouncing Skye on her knee as she watched Liz prepare dinner.

“Why kids?” Casey asked out of the blue.

Liz gave her a curious look, then smiled and shrugged. “I love children. Just because I’m gay doesn’t change my love for them.”

“Yes, but look at what’s happened.”

“What? My partner died. It’s the same as if a husband died or a wife. Love is love, Casey, uh, Ms. Bennett.”

“You can call me Casey.” Still Casey thought it was irresponsible of this woman and Julie.
 

“If you keep bouncing her, she’s going to throw up again,” Liz warned as she chopped the tomatoes.

Casey lifted Skye over her head and looked up. “Nah,
Shortround
wouldn’t do that twice...” she started and stopped as the belch came.

Liz winced and took Skye as Casey angrily headed toward the bedroom. “I’ll run out of T-shirts at this rate.”

Dinner was an adventure. After making the statement, “How hard can it be?” Casey tried her hand at helping the little humanoid, and the spaghetti wound up on the floor, in her water glass, and all over Casey’s wristwatch. In the meantime, her dinner was untouched; so much for her ego.

“Please, I can’t watch anymore.” Liz took the spoon from Casey, who sat back and watched this pregnant woman not only feed her daughter, but manage to eat her own meal and keep the table and the surrounding area spaghetti-free.

Casey was grudgingly impressed. She watched Liz while she laughed and fed her daughter. “How old are you if you don’t mind?” She sipped her wine.

“Twenty-nine. How old are you?”

“Forty. Did you work in New Mexico?” She continued eating. The pasta was delicious as was the salad and garlic bread. I guess some people do eat at home, she thought.

“No. Well, that’s not exactly true. I worked part time. It paid well enough for me to contribute. A neighbor watched Skye in the afternoon…” Liz’s voice trailed off. All at once, she looked exhausted. Then she jumped and held her stomach.

Casey bolted up and in one stride was next to her. “This can’t be it. You’re not due till December,” she said in a panic.

Liz grimaced and waited for the pang to subside. “She’s just a little active, that’s all. Casey, please relax. We’ve got another four months.”

Casey’s heart was somewhere on the floor. She would never last four months.

After dinner, Casey watched Liz as she cleared the table. “Let me do that,” she said, taking the dish out of Liz’s hand. “Why, um, why don’t you go sit down?”

“If you’re sure,” Liz said, relinquishing the fork and knife.

“I can wash a dish, for
chrissakes
,” Casey said and walked to the sink.

“I didn’t mean…”

Casey heard her sigh heavily as she left the kitchen. Damn it, she thought. This is not going to work. She looked around for the dish soap, which was nowhere to be found. She then opened the cabinet and there it was. Casey grimaced when she realized it hadn’t been used yet. All at once, she felt inadequate in her own home. “This will not work,” she whispered.

When she finished, she put the coffee on, grateful Liz put it on the list; she put the last of the pots and pans away. She felt a tug on her shorts and looked down to see Skye standing there. “
Uppie
...” she said and reached way up.

“Look,
Shortround
, I can’t be picking you up all the time,” she said in a gruff voice.

“
Uppie
…peas!” Skye begged.

“Will you scram?” she asked. “Hey, you’re a pest.” She then dropped the pot on the floor. “Damn it.”

“Casey!” Liz’s voice called out.

Casey winced and looked down while Skye giggled. “See what ya did? Now bugger off.”