Thy Neighbor's Wife (7 page)

to Jackie for the serve and the game began in earnest.

Jennifer was amazed by how quickly everything came back to

her. She hadn’t played in several years, since intramural volleyball

her first semester in college and quite simply, she had forgotten how

Thy Neighbor’s Wife 33

much she enjoyed the game.

She and Alex played like they’d been teammates for years. Jen-

nifer instinctively knew just where to set the taller woman in order

to get her to hit most effectively. Alex was spiking kills left and

right, much to even her own surprise. The other team was left

strewn in the sand on more than one occasion. They all had a fan-

tastic time and the rain actually held off until just before they

decided to call it a day.

Rita had seen it coming and had Hannah all packed up in the

car when the players scrambled for their belongings. The poor tod-

dler was completely tuckered out and had fallen asleep in her car

seat in a matter of minutes after being strapped in. Rita really

wanted to get her home and into her own bed.

Knowing Jackie and Rita had picked up Alex, Jennifer offered

to give her a ride home.

“You’re sure?” she asked. “I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

“Of course I’m sure. Alex, you live next door. How inconve-

nient can it be?”

Alex smiled a goofy grin. “Okay. I’d appreciate it.” She jogged

over to Rita’s car and leaned in the passenger side window to talk to

Jackie. Jackie punched her playfully on the arm and waggled a fin-

ger at her, like a mother scolding a child. Alex slapped her in

return, then hurried back to Jennifer as her friends drove away. She

just got into the car when the sky opened up and drops of rain the

size of ping pong balls fell.

“Damn,” Jennifer muttered. “I can’t see a thing.”

“It’s okay. We can just sit here for a bit. This won’t last long.”

It only took a few minutes for the combination of the body heat

inside and the falling rain outside to cause the car windows to fog

over. Jennifer looked around at the sudden cocoon they’d found

themselves in.

“People are going to wonder what we’re doing in here,” Alex

said, waggling her eyebrows.

Jennifer smiled. “Or they’re going to assume they know what

we’re doing in here.” She swiped at the windshield and they sat in

comfortable silence, watching the clouds roll over the lake. Jennifer

was not usually okay with a total lack of conversation, but with

Alex it was relaxing. She reveled in the simplicity of just being in

the other woman’s presence, of having a friend who expected noth-

ing from her, who had no role for her to play. It was the most peace

she’d felt in a long time.

“So, did you have fun?” Alex asked, breaking the silence gen-

tly.

Jennifer smiled widely. “I had a blast. Your friends are wonder-

ful.”

34 Georgia Beers

“Does that mean you’ll at least consider becoming a regular?

We sure could use you.”

“I don’t even have to consider it. I’d love to.”

“Terrific.”

They were quiet again until the rain died down to an accept-

able rate of descent, and Jennifer turned the key in the ignition and

pointed them home.

“Can I ask you something?” she ventured, hoping she wasn’t

about to step out of line.

“Sure.”

“What’s the deal with you and Nikki?”

Alex felt her heart skip a beat, as it usually did when that par-

ticular type of subject was broached. “Um…what do you mean?”

“She seems kind of…possessive is the wrong word…” Jennifer

searched the air. “Clingy. She seems to cling to you. Are you lov-

ers?”

Alex’s face visibly blanched and Jennifer hid her smile.

Amused by her shyness, she allowed Alex to stutter and stammer

for a minute or two before trying to help.

“You are gay, right?”

“Me?”

“Yes, you.”

Alex cleared her throat awkwardly. “Yes.”

Jennifer furrowed her brow. “What’s the matter?”

“I’m…um…just surprised. That’s all.”

“Surprised that I knew or surprised that I asked?”

“Yes.”

“Alex.” Jennifer chuckled. “It is the twenty-first century, you

know. Will & Grace. Ellen. Queer as Folk. It’s not an uncommon

thing.”

She smiled shyly. “No, I suppose it isn’t.”

“So, what about Nikki?”

“Nikki.” She took a deep breath as if trying to decide how

much to reveal.

“I don’t mean to pry,” Jennifer said, suddenly worried that

maybe she had offended Alex. “It’s none of my business. I was just

curious.”

“No, no. It’s okay. Nikki is my ex. We were together for a fairly

short period of time.”

“Oh. And you still hang around together?”

“Yeah. The Curse of Lesbianism. You’re doomed to remain

friends with all your exes.”

“Ick.” Jennifer thought about how awkward that could be.

“Why?”

“Nobody knows.” Alex smiled. “Actually, Jackie and Rita are

Thy Neighbor’s Wife 35

really fond of Nikki, so she gets invited to the same gatherings as I

do.”

“That must be hard for you.”

“I got used to it, I guess.”

“How come you broke up?”

“It just didn’t work, you know?”

“Yeah. Sometimes it doesn’t. Is she seeing that other woman at

the party?”

“Diane? Yeah, she’s seeing her.” Alex scowled as she answered

and Jennifer laughed aloud.

“Tell me how you really feel about her.”

Alex laughed, too. “She’s a bitch and a control freak.”

Jennifer kept laughing. “No, no. Don’t sugar coat it for me.”

Alex sighed and hastened to correct herself. “You know what? I

shouldn’t say that. That’s not very nice of me. Nikki loves her—I

think—and Nikki’s my friend and I shouldn’t say things like that. I

don’t care much for Diane. How’s that?”

“Much more PC,” Jennifer commended. “She’s not great to

Nikki, is she?”

“You noticed, huh?”

“At the party. All anybody has to do is watch them for a few

minutes. Diane sat around the whole time I was there and Nikki

waited on her. I don’t think I heard Diane say thank you once…or

anything nice that I noticed.”

“Yeah, well, that pretty much sums up that relationship.”

“Poor Nikki.”

“It’s too bad. She’s a nice girl.”

They pulled into Jennifer’s driveway just as the sun broke

through the clouds.

“What weird weather,” Jennifer remarked.

“You’ll get used to it.”

“Hey, have you had dinner?” Jennifer asked as she reached for

the door handle.

“No.”

“Eric’s staying in Buffalo tonight, so I’m on my own. I was just

going to whip up a salad. Would you care to join me? Keep me com-

pany?”

Alex smiled widely. “Can I run home and grab a shower first? I

have sand in places where sand has no business being.”

“Me, too. See you back here in half an hour?”

“Sounds great.”

Jennifer watched as Alex jogged across the yard to her own

place. “And bring Kinsey!” she hollered after her, smiling as she

waved back. She couldn’t recall ever having connected with another

woman so quickly. Well, at least not since…

36 Georgia Beers

She literally waved the thought away with her hand and she

grabbed her shoes and towel from the back seat. I will not go there,

she told herself. Several times.

Chapter

Five

As Alex approached the back deck of Jennifer’s place, she

stopped and ran her fingers through her hair one last time. The din-

ner invitation was totally unexpected, but she’d been more than

happy to accept. She was finding herself more and more excited

about this new friendship and she was looking forward to getting to

know her neighbor better. The fact that Jennifer had pegged her on

her sexuality unnerved her a bit, though she was unsure as to why.

It wasn’t a big secret or anything. Jennifer had seemed so straight-

forward and unaffected by the whole thing; Alex found it refreshing

and odd at the same time. As had happened in the past, she began

to suspect that maybe the hang-up about her gayness was her own

and not anybody else’s.

She looked down at Kinsey, who sat at her feet scowling with

barely disguised impatience.

“How do I look?” she asked him quietly.

She could have sworn he rolled his brown eyes at her.

“Oh, thanks a lot. Come on.” She led him up the stairs, maneu-

vering his leash and a bottle of wine in one hand while she rapped

lightly on the sliding glass door with the other.

Jennifer appeared momentarily, bouncing to the door and smil-

ing; she looked happy to see them as she slid the door open.

“Hi. Long time, no see.” She looked fresh as a flower and

smelled just as sweet. Alex squinted suspiciously at her.

“Hey. Didn’t you just finish playing over an hour of intense

volleyball in the sand? Weren’t you as dirty and sweaty as the rest of

us? How is it you look like this so fast?”

Jennifer blushed an attractive pink and Alex made a mental

note to make her new friend blush as often as possible. It was ador-

able.

She held out the wine. “I come bearing gifts.”

“I see that. You didn’t have to do that, you know.”

“You didn’t have to invite me. It was very sweet of you. We

were going to have cereal.” Alex looked down at Kinsey as Jennifer

38 Georgia Beers

laughed. “She thinks I’m kidding,” she muttered to her dog.

“Hi there, handsome.” Jennifer squatted down and gave Kinsey

the attention for which he’d been waiting patiently.

Alex took the opportunity to study her new neighbor from

above. Her hair was still damp. She had pulled it back into a quick

braid that reached just past her shoulders and Alex noticed for the

first time several streaks of red that ran through it. She wore baggy

gray sweatpants emblazoned with NYU on the hip and a maroon

sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off, which showed her surprisingly

muscular shoulders. Alex’s eyes lingered there for several delicious

seconds before sliding down and taking note of the rest of her pleas-

ing shape.

Kinsey sufficiently bathed Jennifer’s face, but Jennifer appar-

ently couldn’t get enough and scooped him right up in her arms,

much to his delight. It was Alex’s turn to roll her eyes when the

pooch shot her a look of pure glee.

“You’re such a ladies’ man,” she accused him, laughing.

“He is just a doll.” Jennifer was as much in her glory as Kinsey

was, evidently.

Alex gave them a few more minutes before playfully interrupt-

ing. “I hate to bust in on your little love fest, but some of us came

here to eat.”

Jennifer laughed a sweet, musical sound that made Alex smile.

She finally put Kinsey down, and unsnapped his leash from his col-

lar. “The queen has spoken,” she whispered to him. “Come on.”

She picked up the bottle of wine off the table where she had placed

it and handed it to Alex. “You can open this.”

Alex followed Jennifer and her dog into the kitchen, unable to

keep her eyes from drifting over the blonde woman’s rear end. She

smiled inwardly, pretending to chide herself for her wandering eyes.

So I love to look at women. Is that so wrong? she thought with a

grin.

Jennifer opened a drawer and handed Alex a corkscrew. As she

set to work on the bottle, Alex let her eyes wander around the room.

She tried hard to keep her gaze neutral, though she was unsure

about her success. It wasn’t often that she was so obviously sur-

rounded by money.

The kitchen was a cook’s dream, which surprised Alex given

how much she knew about—and disliked—Mrs. Cavanaugh. Alex

wasn’t much of a cook, but the modern design of the room wasn’t

lost on her. The appliances were all state of the art, the counter tops

were Corian, the floor was ceramic tile. The color scheme was black

and gray, with all the appliances stainless steel. It had a very profes-

sional, expensive feel to it. She wondered if Jennifer was as good a

cook as her kitchen would have somebody believe, or if it was all

Thy Neighbor’s Wife 39

just for show.

She popped the cork and Jennifer handed her two crystal wine

glasses. As she poured, she said, “You really were very good out

there today.”

Jennifer waved a dismissive hand at the compliment. “I haven’t

played in years.”

“Well, you’d never know it. You were right on the ball, no pun

intended. And you set me right where I like it best.”

“I noticed that.” Jennifer nodded. “We worked well together.”

“Damn right, we did. I haven’t had a teammate set me that

accurately in ages.”

Jennifer held up her glass. “Here’s to a season full of accurate

sets and scorching kills.”

With a smile, Alex touched her glass to Jennifer’s, the crystal

pinging pleasantly. Jennifer held her gaze for several seconds before

releasing her to sip.

“So, what kind of dressing do you like on your salad?”

* * *

“Who would have thought a person could be stuffed to the

point of explosion just from eating salad?” Alex groaned as she

plopped onto the couch.

The question about whether or not Jennifer could cook had