Romeo Fails (8 page)

“Hey there, women!”

The engine was still running. The passenger door opened and Sarah got out, wearing shorts and a T-shirt. While she went to the back of the car to unload the trunk, Maggie leaned over to speak to Dorsey through the open passenger window. She looked a bit frazzled.

“Hey, Mags—what’s up?”

“Oh, you are not going to believe this! Mother tripped over that stupid Carmichael just as we were getting ready to leave and hurt her ankle. It might be broken.”

Carmichael was Mrs. Bigelow’s elderly beagle.

“Oh, no,” Dorsey said. “Is she going to be okay?”

“Well, I just left her at Dr. Melba’s office, but I may have to run her over to the ER in Grover to get an x-ray. And then I had to take that damn Carmichael to the vet as well. He and Mother both went down in a heap and it looks like he may have broken his ankle too! Can you believe it?”

“Uh…do dogs even have ankles?” Dorsey wondered.

“Well, whatever the doggy equivalent of an ankle is,” Maggie said shortly, uncharacteristically out of sorts. “In any event, I have to get back. But I brought Sarah and the picnic basket—there’s no point in all of us having our evening ruined.” She sighed, clearly unhappy with the turn of events.

Sarah had set a basket, a cooler and a beach towel down on the drive. She closed the trunk and joined Dorsey at the passenger window. As she crouched down beside her to talk to Maggie, the soft cotton of her shirt brushed Dorsey’s bare side. A visceral tingle ran through Dorsey’s body, releasing a shiver that was almost a shudder. She did her best to conceal her unexpected physical reaction. Be cool, she sternly told herself. But there was nothing cool about the way her body was responding to Sarah’s close proximity.

“Really, Mags, maybe I should come with you,” Sarah was saying. It sounded like the continuation of a prior conversation. “I can keep you company at the ER or wherever.”

“Yeah, I can come too, if that will be of any help,” Dorsey volunteered, although she already felt crushed with disappointment at the thought of abandoning their plans. She so rarely got to have just a fun night. Spending the evening at the Grover City emergency room—since there was no hospital in Romeo Falls—sounded utterly grim by comparison.

“No, no,” Maggie said decisively. “You know how Mother gets. The more people around her, the more she’ll just act up. It’ll be easier, really, to deal with her by myself. Hopefully, it’s just a sprain and I can just take her home when I get back to Dr. Melba’s.”

“What about Carmichael?” Dorsey asked, although she had zero affection for that scruffy hound. Despite the fact she’d been a regular visitor to the Bigelow house since long before Carmichael had arrived on the scene as a puppy twelve years prior, the damn dog still barked at her hysterically every time she went over. He’d also bitten Maggie twice over the years and was housebroken only when he felt like it. Lassie, he was not.

“The vet’s going to keep him overnight,” Maggie said. “Anyhow, I’ve got to run—I’ll come back if I can and join you two later, so save me a beer, for heaven’s sakes! I’ll need one by then. But if I can’t make it, Dorsey, you’ll give Sarah a ride home, right?”

“Of course,” Dorsey agreed.

“See you!” Maggie called as she executed a quick three-point turn and headed back into town, leaving a trail of dust behind her.

It seemed very quiet when she’d gone. Even the screeching of the locusts had died down for the moment, leaving only the chirping of crickets and the bubbling of the hot tub to fill the warm night air.

Dorsey and Sarah looked at each other.

“Wow,” Dorsey said, for lack of a better word.

“Yeah, poor Mags,” Sarah said, then added dutifully, “And Aunt Viv too, of course. That stupid dog… I think she was more worried about him than herself. Do you know that crazy mutt will come in my room and destroy my things if I don’t put everything out of his reach? He was chewing on my hairbrush the other day. Lord only knows how he got a hold of that.”

Dorsey couldn’t help but smile at her. Sarah smiled back. The night seemed suddenly full of possibility.

“Look,” Sarah said. “About the other night…”

“I’m sorry,” Dorsey interjected, just as Sarah simultaneously said, “I’m sorry.”

They both laughed then, relieved. Dorsey went on, glad to have the opportunity to share her feelings with the other girl, even if her words were tumbling over one another.

“It’s just that it’s a small town…and Maggie’s my best friend… and with you not being out to her…”

“I know,” Sarah said.

“Why aren’t you out?” Dorsey heard herself blurt out involuntarily. “I’m sorry, that came out kind of rude, I guess. It’s none of my business. If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s cool.”

“No, we can talk about it,” Sarah said seriously, but then grinned. “I’m pretty sure that’s going to require some alcohol, though.”

“Oh, of course,” Dorsey said. “Where are my manners? Let’s get this stuff up on the deck. And then we can talk, or I can show you around, or whatever.”

“Whatever sounds good,” Sarah agreed, still grinning. Between the two of them, they moved all the party supplies to the patio table at the end of the deck.

“Would you like a beer?” Dorsey asked, opening her cooler to offer her a St. Pauli Girl.

Sarah laughed and opened the cooler she had brought to reveal more St. Pauli Girl, plus a bottle of wine.

“Yeah,” she said. “I’d love one of your beers.”

Their fingers touched briefly as Dorsey handed her an opened bottle. It was just a little thing, the two of them bringing the same beer, but it felt like a good start to the evening.

“So—do you actually want a tour of the farm, like Maggie said?” Dorsey asked. “There’s not much to see with the sun almost down, but I could show you their barn, at least. Take a picture of you sitting on the tractor that you can show all your big-city friends,” she teased.

“Well, as thrilling as that sounds, after all that medical drama I’d rather just chill out in the hot tub and drink a few beers, you know what I mean?”

“Absolutely,” Dorsey said. “You can change in the house, if you like.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Sarah said, setting her beer down and kicking off her flip-flops. “I’ve got my suit on underneath here.”

In one swift, graceful move, she peeled off her T-shirt, leaving Dorsey breathless as she saw first the shapely curves of her stomach, then a quick glimpse of the underside of a bikini-clad breast. Dorsey’s eyes followed upward from the bikini top to slender shoulders and an elegant neck.

Sarah was already taking off her shorts to reveal the bottom half of a swimsuit in radiant tones of pink, lavender and purple, much like the sunset behind her. She looked up to find Dorsey’s entranced gaze locked on her. The body was everything she’d remembered from that night by the lake.

“I like your outfit too,” Sarah said wryly to Dorsey, adjusting her glasses which had been knocked slightly askew by her quick change act. Her eyes slowly scanned down Dorsey’s lithe frame to take in her bikini top, abs, low-slung holey blue jeans and unlaced work boots. She lazily trailed a fingertip across Dorsey’s stomach as she walked past her to the hot tub. Dorsey stared after her for a second, taking in the very nice rear view, then hastily shed her boots and jeans, leaving them in a pile on the deck. Sarah was delicately dipping a toe in the water. Dorsey joined her after grabbing both their beers, the smaller of the two coolers and the bottle opener.

“How’s the temperature?” Dorsey asked, handing Sarah her beer and setting the cooler and opener down at the side of the tub.

“Very nice,” Sarah declared judiciously. “After you,” she gestured with a graceful sweep of her arm.

Dorsey stepped in and waded to the far side. Sarah serenely sat down opposite her. To Dorsey, it felt like they were a mile apart. She tried to relax, leaning back against the side of the tub and stretching both arms out at shoulder level along the top. Now that she and Sarah were finally, totally alone, they could both speak freely. She hoped. She looked up at the first evening stars in the vast sky above them and took a big breath.

“So…you were saying?” she prompted Sarah.

“About being out?”

Dorsey nodded and took a sip of her beer.

“Aunt Viv is my mother’s older sister,” Sarah began slowly. “My mom moved away from Romeo Falls a long time ago, before I was born. She and Viv are not alike in a lot of ways, but my mom is very conservative. Like Viv.”

There was a long pause while Sarah took a drink of her beer and seemed to be marshaling her thoughts.

“Anyhow,” she continued, “let’s just say it was difficult for her when I came out to my parents. My dad was pretty cool with it, once he got over the initial shock, but my mom…well, it’s been a hard road for her. And me.”

She looked down. Dorsey thought she looked like she might be blinking away tears. Compassion welled inside her.

Sarah shook her head as if to shake away unwelcome thoughts and went on.

“Anyway,” she said, “she made me promise not to tell anyone else in the family. Not yet, at least. Not until she’s ready. And I’ve been honoring that promise, although it’s getting harder and harder.” She laughed mirthlessly. “It’s been five years, so far.”

“Five years!” Dorsey exclaimed.

“Yeah. I told you she was having a hard time with it.”

“That sucks,” Dorsey said.

“Yeah, it does. Especially with Maggie. I hate having to lie to her, or hold things back from her. She probably thinks I’m here because I broke up with my boyfriend.” She laughed her cheerless laugh again. “Although…I know from what Maggie’s told me that she’s had no problem with you being gay, but I don’t know how she’ll react when she eventually finds out I am. She’s such a devout churchgoer, you know? Which is weird for me, because usually I can’t stand religious people. They’re such hypocrites. But Maggie’s like a little sister to me. And when she finds out I’ve been keeping this from her all these years, I don’t know what she’ll do…”

They both contemplated this while drinking more beer. Dorsey was ready for a new one. But the cooler was on the other side, off behind Sarah’s right shoulder on the deck. She cursed herself for not thinking ahead. If she stood up now, would Sarah think she was making a move on her? Should she make a move on her? Why did she always have to make things so complicated? Fuck, she thought and looked at the empty beer bottle in her hand again. She stood up abruptly, causing Sarah to look up at her questioningly.

“I, uh, need another beer,” she said, simultaneously realizing that “wade” and “graceful” were two words that cannot be put together, but trying anyhow as she maneuvered across to the cooler. “How about you?”

“Thanks,” Sarah murmured.

Dorsey put the two empties in the cooler, opened two new ones and passed one over to Sarah. She stood there for a moment while she tried to decide on what to say next. There was so much more Dorsey wanted to talk about with her, but she wasn’t quite sure where to start. She definitely didn’t want to be caught between Sarah and Maggie. That was for the two of them to work out on their own, she knew. But she didn’t want to miss this opportunity to speak privately with Sarah. Who knew when they might be alone together again? Or how much time they even had that evening? Maggie might be on her way back very soon. The sky was darkening above them, with Venus and a scattering of stars now clearly visible. The moon was a bright sliver as well. She took in some air and tried to find the right words for what she wanted to say.

“We’ve, uh, never really talked about that night at the festival,” she said, sinking down onto the seat on Sarah’s side of the hot tub. Closer, but still with a good foot of space between them.

“No,” Sarah agreed. There was a pause where it seemed like each was waiting for the other to speak. Sarah finally broke the silence.

“So you were working there?” she asked. That wasn’t what Dorsey wanted to talk about, but maybe it was a good idea to start on safer ground.

“Yeah, I was on the crew as a carpenter, helping to set up and then break down the festival. I’ve done that a few times, sort of a working vacation,” Dorsey said. “If you can call living in a tent in the woods for a month with a hundred lesbians a vacation. Which I do,” she ended with a smile.

“Great way to meet chicks, huh?” Sarah said, her eyes twinkling.

“Not really,” Dorsey replied, her smile fading. “At least, not for me. I…well, I guess I haven’t had much luck in that regard, in general.”

“Why not?” Sarah said. She was serious now too.

“Well, there are people who do the festival circuit all the time, you know, year in and year out. They’re sort of a private club. I mean, they’re friendly enough, but I always feel like kind of an outsider there. It’s probably my fault…I know I’m not the most outgoing person… Anyhow, there’s really no one here in town, of course. No one who’s out, at least, except for the Sizzle Sisters.”

“Who?”

“The Sizzle Sisters—they’re not really sisters. They’re these two old lesbians in their seventies who’ve lived together forever. I think one’s a retired army nurse and the other’s a retired secretary. They moved here from Grover City a long time ago. People call them the Sizzle Sisters because they’ve eaten dinner at the Sizzle’N’Shake every Sunday night without fail for something like the last seventeen years. You’ve probably seen them around town.”

“Who else?” Sarah prompted.

“Nobody. Just me. There was a rumor that one of the high school girls was gay, but I’m pretty sure she started it herself, just to get attention. Oh, and some people think the new doctor is queer, but I don’t get that vibe.”

“Dr. Melba?” Sarah asked. “No way. Totally straight.”

Dorsey felt warmed by her agreement.

“Is that it?” Sarah said.

Dorsey shrugged. “That’s it. It’s a small town. If there’s anybody else, they’re way deep in the closet.”

“But…the festival…” Sarah’s voice trailed off as she couldn’t figure out how to end the question.

“Oh, there’ve been a few hook-ups along the way,” Dorsey said, trying to sound casual and lighthearted. As well as not like a total loser. She really wanted Sarah to like her and she wasn’t sure this cataloging of her past romantic failures was the best way to go about it. But at least they were talking. She went on.