Fresh Tracks (22 page)

to be friends—friends who shared custody of the little terrier who moved back and forth

between the two of them, giving equal amounts of love. Not twenty-four hours ago, they

had hated each other—or at least disliked each other immensely. Now they were laughing

and joking and winning at cards. Jo shook her head. Life is so strange.

"Way to go, partner," Sophie said with a smile. She slapped Laura's hand in a high-five across the table.

Molly grimaced at Amy. "We're getting our asses handed to us, Ames."

Amy sighed. "I know."

Laura grinned. "And they're such nice asses." Looking to Sophie, she said, "Maybe we should hang on to them for a little bit before we hand them over."

Sophie nodded with enthusiasm. "I like that idea. Can we touch them and play with them,

too?" ,

Jo's voice boomed across the room. "I've got a little bit of a problem with that."

The table erupted in laughter.

"Thank you, honey," Amy said, her voice managing to rise among the mirth of the rest of the table. Then she furrowed her brow. "What's that?"

"What's what?" Sophie asked.

"That humming."

The four of them looked around until Molly's eyes settled on the Blackberry Kristin had

left behind earlier that day. It had been moved to the kitchen counter to make room for

the card game and was now lit up as it buzzed in place, indicating a cal or an e-mail coming through.

Molly sighed inwardly, vowing not to let the annoyingly familiar interruption upset her

tonight. She was enjoying herself too much. "Kristin?"

Kristin continued staring into the fire.

"Kristin." Molly's voice was firm and this time Kristin flinched and blinked rapidly as if returning from a dream.

"Hmm?"

"Your Blackberry's ringing." Molly indicated its location with a jerk of her chin.

Kristin followed Molly's gaze until she saw the item in question. "Oh."

She stood up and walked into the kitchen, following the buzzing. Her face devoid of any

expression, she picked the device up, noted the caller, then set it back down. Without

preamble, she grabbed up the nearby mallet-shaped meat tenderizer Amy had used on the

chicken earlier, and with one vicious whack, smashed the Blackberry into useless plastic

fragments.

There, was no sound at all from anybody else in the room as she set the tenderizer back

down and returned to her seat near the fire, running a gentle hand across Molly's

shoulders as she passed her. Back

in her previous position, she resumed staring into the flames. The others simply gaped in

astonishment.

Life is so strange, Jo thought again, feeling the sudden urge to burst out in giddy laughter.

A sense of pride in Kristin welled up within her. Even after fifty years on this earth, I still don't get it.

Saturday, December 31

MOLLY

T

he only reason Molly opened her eyes was because of the loss of body warmth, the

realization that she was alone in the bed. It was morning and the sun was shining brightly.

It was the first time all week she hadn't woken up at the crack of dawn, and when she

thought back on her night, she couldn't remember the last time she'd slept more soundly.

Watching through slitted eyes while Kristin dressed, she also couldn't remember the last

time they'd slept so closely together. Kristin had fallen immediately asleep, as though her

body had been worn out from the day's activities. Any time Molly had rolled over or

adjusted positions, she felt Kristin—a hand on her hip, her leg thrown over Molly's, her

head on Molly's shoulder. Now her body was protesting the cold, wanting that proximity

back again, having gotten a taste of something it had been missing for months.

"Where are you going?" Her voice was hoarse with sleep as she questioned Kristin softly, not wanting to startle her.

Kristin looked up from her foot, sock in hand. She whispered, "I'm sorry, sweetie. Did I wake you up? I was trying to be quiet."

Molly stretched, reaching her arms over her head to grab the headboard as she willed the

sleep out of her system. "I just didn't hear you get out of bed."

"Did you sleep okay?"

"I slept great."

Kristin smiled. "Me, too."

She looked amazing, Molly noted. The lines of stress that usually marred her creamy skin

had eased and her blue eyes had softened, showing only a fraction of the worry that had

glazed them the previous

night. She'd pulled her blond hair back into a ponytail and it shimmered in the morning sun

that sliced through the window, golden highlights winking at Molly. She was wearing a pair

of jeans, a white turtleneck, and a navy blue sweater. She looked like she'd just stepped

out of an L.L.Bean catalog.

Molly sat up in bed. "So, where are you going?"

"I'm going to take a walk, get a little fresh air."

"Do you want some company?"

Kristin hesitated. "Would you be okay if I said 'not yet'?"

Molly tried to ignore the small prickle of hurt that poked at her. "Sure."

"I just.. .I need to roll a few things around in my head, that's all." Kristin's face was clouded with a slight unease. "I wouldn't be terribly good company."

"Okay. I understand."

"I'd like to walk with you later, though. If you want to."

Molly could feel her own smile light up her face. "That would be great. I'm going to hold you to it."

"Good." Kristin approached her and bent forward. She stopped several inches from Molly's face and simply looked at her for a few long seconds. Molly held eye contact, reveling in the feeling of being Kristin's sole focus, something she'd become very unused to. Kristin kissed

her softly on the mouth. "I'll be back soon."

"Do me a favor?" Molly asked as Kristin moved toward the door.

"Sure."

Nodding at the dresser, she said, "Take my cell phone?" At Kristin's questioning look, she shrugged. "In case you fall on your head again."

Kristin grinned. "Okay." She clipped the phone to her jeans, waved, and left the room.

Molly lay in bed for a while longer, listening to the sounds of her friends and thinking about the previous day.

She still couldn't believe Kristin had smashed her Blackberry, or "Crackberry," as Molly liked to call it because of its addictive tendencies. It was her lifeline, her tie to her work, her boss, her clients. And now it was in several small chunks sitting in the wastebasket in

Amy's kitchen. Not to mention that it was Jack Reeves's connection to Kristin. What would

he do when he couldn't reach her? When she didn't return his calls or e-mails?

Molly, like the rest of the group, had no idea what to say after

the meat mallet descended. They'd all stared at Kristin in stupefied silence and then had

gone back to whatever activities they'd been a part of. It had been surreal. Molly had kept

a watchful eye on Kristin for the remainder of the evening, but she did nothing more than

stare expressionlessly into the fire. On their way to bed, Molly had asked if she was all

right.

"I think maybe I will be," was Kristin's rather cryptic answer. And that's all she'd said.

Now she was off wandering in the woods alone again and Molly wasn't sure whether she

should be worried or relieved by her behavior.

Downstairs, a short while later, everybody looked up as Molly approached, smiling hel os and

offering coffee. The smell of bacon was mouth-watering.

"God, I'm going to be a blimp after this week," she commented, grabbing a slice and nibbling on it with delight.

"That makes two of us," Sophie said with a smile. "Maybe a gym membership should be my New Year's resolution."

"I'm a member of the club over on Panorama Trail and I love it," Laura offered. "You should try there. They have so many different things that it never feels like a waste of money.

There's always something to do."

"I've driven past there a million times," Molly said, taking a seat at the table. "I know a lot of people who belong."

"It's great," Laura went on. "If you don't want to lift weights, you can swim. If you don't want to swim, you can play racquetball. If you don't want to play racquetball, you can shoot

baskets. There are yoga classes and step classes and spin classes. It's a great place."

A small smile touched Molly's lips at the way Sophie's eyes lit up and she hung on every

word Laura said. Molly recognized the beginnings of attraction blossoming and wondered if

the two could put aside their differences long enough to see how good they'd be together.

A tiny pang hit her chest as she recalled the initial zaps of attraction the day she'd first

been introduced to Kristin. The crystal blue eyes and sparkling golden hair had mesmerized

her. Molly had wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch Kristin's face.

A voice in her ear startled her. "How was Kristin this morning?" Amy was behind her, her warm hands on Molly's shoulders.

"Quiet. A little distant, but smiling." She looked up at her dear

friend as she tried to put her thoughts into words. "It's weird. She seems...different

somehow. In a good way. I think. Maybe she just needs a whack on the head more often."

"Did you talk about yesterday?"

"No." Before Amy could scold her, she rushed on. "She was tired and seemed so.. .inside her own mind. I just didn't want to bother her, you know? I really get the feeling she'll

talk to me when she's ready."

Amy looked skeptical but dropped a kiss on the top of Molly's dark head.

Across the table, Darby sat with a Coke and the business section of the paper. Molly

caught her blue eyes as they darted up then dropped back to the paper just as quickly.

Molly knew they should probably have a chat, not only about what happened between Darby

and Kristin the previous day—Molly was sure something had been said, though she honestly

wasn't sure if she wanted to know exactly what—but also about that kiss behind the

garage the previous morning. Despite the fact that it had felt so good at the time, Molly

was appalled with herself now. The Catholic guilt was in full swing.

Of course, she wasn't at all surprised that her butt remained fused to her chair and her

legs did not force her to stand and cross the room to ask Darby if they could speak in

private. Annoyed, but not surprised. She sipped her coffee instead and then reached for

another slice of bacon.

!

RESOLUTIONS

B

y late morning, everybody was full and happy. Jo and Darby went outside to grab wood for

the fire so nobody would have to go out later. Amy was in the kitchen working on hors

d'oeuvres for the rest of the day and getting things ready for dinner that night. She

mixed a dip while Molly stood at the counter cutting vegetables to go with it.

"Sit, Ricky." Laura stood before the terrier in the dining room, a small tidbit of bacon left over from breakfast held in her hand. "Can you sit?"

Ricky cocked his head and his furry brown tail wagged furiously. He continued to stand.

Laura squatted in front of him, held the bacon to his nose, and gently pushed down on his

backside while simultaneously lifting the bacon, forcing his head up. His butt plopped to the ground. "Good!" Laura exclaimed, letting him have the bacon. "Good boy."

Sophie watched from her seat at the table where her crossword puzzle sat in front of her,

full of blank squares. "Nice job," she commented.

"I think he's really smart," Laura said with delighted enthusiasm. "He's going to learn fast." She repeated the task a few more times with the remainder of the bacon. On the

final try, Ricky sat on his own. After rewarding him, Laura swooped him up in her arms and

allowed herself to be bathed in dog kisses.

Sophie laughed at the spectacle. "Do you have stuff at home for him?"

"What do you mean?"

"Bowls, toys, a crate. That sort of thing. Dog food?"

"I have nothing at all." Laura grinned. "I guess I've got some shopping to do."

"Wel .. .I was thinking..." Sophie hesitated slightly before finding her nerve. "My good friend from college owns a pet store in the city. I'm sure they're closed tomorrow, but I

bet they're open on Monday and, urn, I'd be happy to go with you."

"You would?" Laura was surprised and pleased at the same time.

"Sure."

"I'd like that."

Neither Sophie nor Laura saw Amy gently nudge Molly with an elbow and wink at her, nor

did they see Molly's responding grin.

The front door opened just then, a chilling burst of winter air whipping through the small

cabin. Kristin stomped her feet on the mat and smiled. "Morning, all."

"Hi, there," Molly said as she abandoned her vegetables to help her wife out of her winter garb. "I was about to send out a search party."

Kristin's cheeks were winter-weather red and her eyes looked bright. "No falling on my

head today. Just a great hike." Looking into the kitchen, she said, "Amy, this place is beautiful. I was amazed. The sun was shining and the birds were singing and there was

fresh snow on the ground. Gorgeous."

Amy smiled with pride. "Now you know why I love it here so much."

"Absolutely." She fished in the pocket of her ski jacket as Molly hung it on a hook.

Withdrawing her hand, she said, "Here. I found something for you."

Molly held out her hand and Kristin placed her treasure in Molly's palm, suddenly feeling as

shy as a schoolgirl.

When Molly looked down, there was a perfectly shaped heart resting in her hand. She

looked more closely, seeing that it was actually a rock, but its shape was unmistakable. "Oh, wow," she said, her own heart soaring. "Where'd you find this?"