Turning the Page (30 page)

"You've really fixed it up nice."

"Thanks," Melanie had said again.

Samantha had squirmed visibly at that point, unaccustomed to wallowing in her own guilt, part

of her becoming annoyed that her cousin had not been making this easier for her. She had

blinked in surprise as Melanie had reached around her to take a book from the hand of the

customer who'd appeared soundlessly. Sam had stepped awkwardly to the side at the

murmured "excuse me" and had watched her cousin.

"Find everything okay?" Melanie had asked the customer, a young, tomboyish black woman, a

cheerful note in her voice.

"I did, thanks," the woman had replied with a friendly nod. "Impressive selection."

"Thank you." Melanie had smiled, enjoying the compliment immensely. She'd handed the woman her change and bag, effectively ignoring her cousin while making the transaction. "Have a

great day."

"You, too." She'd smiled apologetically at Samantha as she'd passed.

Only when the customer was actually out the door and onto the street had Melanie returned

her gaze to her cousin expectantly, silently waiting for her to continue.

Samantha had taken a deep, steadying breath and studied her well-manicured, blood-red nails

with grave interest.

"You were right," she'd finally said softly.

Melanie had cocked her head, like a puppy listening to a high-pitched sound. "Pardon me? What

was that?"

Sam had narrowed her eyes. So this is how it was going to be. "I said you were right," she'd repeated through clenched teeth.

"I was right? Right about what, Sam?" Oh, Melanie was enjoying this.

Sam had grimaced. Her baby cousin was going to make her spel the whole thing out. She had

sighed, resigned to her fate, and had lowered her eyes to the floor. "It was none of my

business that you chose to sleep with Taylor, and I had no right to react the way I did," she'd finally said, her voice barely audible. "I'm sorry."

Melanie had never seen her larger-than-life cousin look quite as vulnerable and young as she

had at that moment. Apologies had never been Sam's strong point. As a matter of fact,

Melanie had been hard-pressed to think up even one example when she'd heard her cousin

admit she'd been wrong. The sight of Sam standing before her with her proverbial tail tucked

between her legs had pulled at Melanie's heartstrings.

"I didn't just choose to sleep with Taylor," Melanie had corrected gently. "I fell in love with her."

"That, too." Sam had nodded.

Though Melanie hadn't been ready to let her completely off the hook, she had accepted the

apology with a hug and a promise to have dinner together the following week. It was only after

Samantha had left, her step infinitely more bouncy than when she had arrived, that Melanie

realized how deeply the tension between them had been affecting her. She'd felt a weight lift

from her shoulders.

Lynda had popped in right around lunchtime, a big smile on her face, food stains on her apron.

"I come bearing gifts," she'd announced. She'd placed a plastic container of fruit salad and a foil-wrapped sandwich on the counter in front of Melanie, handing over a peach Snapple as the

finishing touch. "Can't have you starving to death on your first day of business, now can we?"

She held out a spork.

"You are a goddess, you know that?"

"So I've been told." She had stared openly at Melanie. "Wait a minute. You're glowing."

Melanie had felt her face growing red at the comment.

Lynda had leaned closer to scrutinize her friend’s face carefully, cupping her chin and turning

Melanie's face from side to side.

"As a matter of fact, I'd say that's more than a happiness glow. Correct me if I'm wrong, but

I'd say this glow definitely has the distinct qualities of the I've-been-getting-laid-every-

night-since-I-returned-from-Chicago glow."

Melanie had blanched, the redness draining from her face as quickly as it had appeared.

"Lynda," she'd hissed, not only worried that a customer might have heard, but astounded that Lynda had read her so easily.

Lynda had merely pinched Melanie's cheek affectionately and laughed. "Relax, babe. I'm happy

for you. I've seen Taylor popping in and out of here, and if it makes you feel any better, she's

glowing, too."

That had made Melanie feel better. A lot better. Tons better. Lynda had rolled her eyes.

"Oh, wipe that stupid grin off your face and eat your lunch. I've got to get back to work." She had turned on her heel and started for the door.

"Hey, Lynda?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For everything."

They had held one another's gaze for a long beat, Lynda easily catching the intended message

in the words.

"That's what friends are for, Mel. Eat."

She'd smiled a satisfied smile and exited the shop, leaving Melanie feeling warm and loved.

"This is a great little shop."

The voice startled Melanie out of her reverie and back to the present. She blinked once and

focused on the pleasant-looking woman standing in front of her, three books on the counter

between them.

"Thank you very much."

"It's nice to have a decent selection of fiction to choose from. The Barnes & Noble down the street has one shelf of lesbian fiction and actually refers to it as a 'section.'" She made

quotation marks in the air with her fingers.

Melanie chuckled as she rang up the purchases. "Well, I'm glad we could help you out. I'm

going to do my best to keep the inventory plentiful and up-to-date. Those seem to be the

biggest complaints."

"Glad to hear it." The woman nodded, as she took her bag from Melanie.

"Have a great night."

"You do the same."

Melanie heard the bell over the door jingle as the woman left. She squatted to straighten the

pile of plastic bags on the shelf near her knees, retrieving the handful that had somehow

ended up on the floor during the course of the day. She stood back up and was immediately

startled by the form standing directly at the counter, barely a foot away.

"Jesus." She placed her hand on her chest, hoping to slow down her racing heart.

"Hi, baby." Dark eyes twinkled at her.

"You scared the hell out of me."

"Sorry. You know, you need to pay more attention to the world around you," Taylor chided,

then pointed to her feet, as well as the hardwood floor. "I have heels on. It's not like I could sneak up on you."

Melanie laughed, grudgingly conceding the point. Besides, she was too happy to see Taylor to

be mad at her. She took in the figure before her, mentally nodding in approval at the navy

blue, pinstriped pantsuit and navy pumps. The cream-colored silk shell under the jacket had a

scooped neck, and Taylor's collarbone peeked out invitingly over the trim. "It's good to see

you. You look fabulous."

"Back atcha." Taylor smiled. She leaned forward and gently brushed Melanie's lips with her own. Melanie fought the little voice of panic in the back of her mind, the one that screamed in

horror at such a public display of affection with another woman. She succeeded in ignoring it,

but knew it was something she'd be working on for a while, the whole idea still being new to

her. Being in private with Taylor was one thing, but being out in the open, in a public place

where other people could see them was something Melanie wasn't sure she was ready for.

Taylor seemed to sense her anxiety and drew back a bit.

"You okay?"

Melanie grinned, nodding. "I'm great."

Taylor studied her face for several seconds, before deciding to broach the subject at another

time. "How was business on your first day?"

"I have to say, it was pretty damn good. A beautiful woman delivered coffee to me this

morning. And you'll be pleased to note that I received in excess of seven compliments on the

name."

Taylor clapped her hands in delight. "Excellent." "I thought you'd like that."

"Are you hungry?"

"Famished. And I'm having a craving."

Taylor raised an eyebrow mischievously. "Really."

Melanie slapped at her, blushing. "For food, you barbarian."

"Oh. Food. Silly me. What would you like?"

"Lynda's been filling me so full of healthy sandwiches and salads that my body is threatening

to revolt if I don't feed it some grease soon. Could you stop at McDonald's for me?"

Taylor glanced at her watch. "How long you staying open tonight?"

"Seven." Melanie rolled her eyes. "Which may change in the future. This has been a long day."

"Okay. How 'bout I go home and change, hit the drive-thru and come back here to help you

with your last hour?"

"You are the best."

"Shh." Taylor put a finger to her lips. "Don't you go spreading that around."

"No way. I'm keeping you all to myself."

The subtle clearing of a throat brought them out of their own private world and into that of

everybody else. A tall, woman with graying hair smiled sheepishly at the couple, holding up a

book. "Can I pay for this?"

Melanie flushed a deep pink, which made Taylor chuckle. "Sure."

Taylor tucked a strand of auburn hair behind Melanie's ear for her. "I'l see you in a bit."

Chapter Thirty

THIS IS GOOD, Taylor smiled to herself as she drove home from the bookstore. Things were

going well, and she couldn't seem to keep the smile from taking up permanent residence on her

face. She turned into the driveway, the sun beating down hotly through the sunroof, the air

conditioning blasting on her feet. Her father would roll his eyes at such a contradiction, but

that's the way she liked to drive. In the winter, she'd have the sunroof open and the heat

scalding her ankles.

Ben's car was nowhere to be seen and Taylor breathed a sigh of relief, then scowled at

herself in the rearview mirror. Although the two of them had talked several times, Taylor

being startled more than once by her father's sudden openness, she stil felt a twinge of guilt,

like she had stolen his property. Even though she'd been forgiven, it still didn't feel quite

right. She guessed it would be some time before that niggling in her brain disappeared. She

had managed to keep Melanie away from the house and Ben, not that it had been difficult

since the redhead was in no hurry to force an awkward situation. But come the holidays, she

wanted all her loved ones to be together. She hoped that, by that time, things would be much

more comfortable.

She quickly sorted through the mail, noting a letter from Gina, her college roommate, along

with a bill for her student loan payment. She chuckled at the fact that she had received

reminders of college from two opposite ends of the spectrum. She knew she owed Gina a

phone call, not just a letter. On the other hand, she didn't feel she owed the Student Loan

Servicing Center anything.

They should be retiring on her interest alone. She rolled her eyes and tossed the rest of the

mail onto the kitchen table, taking the steps two at a time up to her room.

She picked out her clothes carefully, something she found herself doing almost all the time

lately. She'd never been quite as concerned about how she appeared to the outside world

before. She knew she was a reasonably attractive woman. After all, her mother had been

breathtaking, and everybody Taylor knew told her how much she resembled the woman, so it

only figured. It had never been important to Taylor, though, until now. Until this charming,

kind-hearted, incredibly sexy redhead had shown up. Now, Taylor found herself spending

countless extra minutes picking just the right color shirt, just the right shoes, just the right

perfume.

She wanted so much to be beautiful for Melanie.

She ran a quick iron over her dark green shorts, thinking how Gina would scoff at the fact.

She envisioned her short, butch pal easily, and could almost hear her husky voice in the room.

You're ironing your shorts? What the hel for? They're shorts. They're just gonna wrinkle as

soon as you sit in the car anyway. And is that nail polish on your toes? Jesus, you scare me,

Rhodes. What the hel kind of dyke are you, anyway? Then, she'd throw up her hands in

disgust and pop open a beer. Taylor smiled at the scenario, so typical of her college life, until

she'd met Maggie. She and Gina hadn't exactly gotten along, and the two roommates had

drifted apart a bit. But, Gina had always stayed in touch, putting her friendship with Taylor

above her opinion of Taylor's choice in women.

Taylor decided they needed to get together before the summer ended. She wanted very much

for Gina to meet Melanie.

She ran a brush through her hair, debating about pulling it back in a ponytail and deciding

against it, knowing Melanie liked it down, liked tangling her fingers in it. She set her brush on

the dresser next to a gold-framed picture of herself and her mother at Taylor's college

graduation. They both sported huge smiles, their arms wrapped around one another. Taylor's

white cap and gown contrasted beautifully with Anna's simple, forest green dress. Their hair

and eyes were exactly the same color. Taylor remembered the moment fondly, with Ben

scolding them to stand still long enough for him to snap the damned picture. Anna had been

giddy with pride.

Taylor stroked a finger over the glass of the frame, tracing her mother's smiling face, her

eyes misting slightly. "I wish you were here, Mom," she whispered aloud. She smiled as she pictured Anna's subtle approval of Melanie. "I think you'd like her."