Lorella tried to concentrate on the text on the web page before her, but she was constantly distracted by Noelle. She just couldn’t seem to shake her from her mind. My God, I must really have a thing for her, she thought to herself.
It had been a few days since their first meeting. Since then, Lorella had taken the number Noelle had scribbled down for her out of her purse many times and had gazed at it with a mixture of thoughts. She knew Madison would want her to move on, to meet new people, to be happy. But was she really ready for anything serious? That wasn’t the only question she had to ask herself. Another question was how long she would be in Oregon. Would it really be all that sensible to start something just to end up moving back down to Nevada not long afterward? She hated the cold and the snow, so for her to remain in Oregon indefinitely would mean she’d have to meet someone pretty darn special or keep the relationship purely intimate.
She decided at that moment that she needed to get out, stretch her legs, and enjoy some fresh air. She pulled on a light sweater and headed towards downtown. She eyed the small, old houses with distaste along the way. She always preferred newer, more spacious homes. She had never been one to care for antiques or historical things of any kind.
A car with a loud stereo passed by, base pounding down the street and annoying her with its obnoxious, vibrant sound. She wondered how the driver could stand it themselves.
Not quite ten minutes later, she came upon a strip of stores and began to walk at a slower pace as she gazed in through the store’s windows.
Someone called her name. She glanced around her and saw a tall, attractive woman coming towards her from nearly a block away.
It was Noelle!
Lorella’s heart jumped forth with excitement as Noelle approached her. She didn’t recognize her at first, being in street clothes. “Hi there, cute stuff. What brings you out and about today?”
“Oh, I just thought I’d get some exercise and enjoy the fresh air after being cooped up inside all day working. What about you?”
“I just came into town to run some errands. Dad asked me to pick up some of his favorite bagels and donuts from the bakery around the corner while I was at it. Care to join me?”
“Sure,” Lorella said with a smile. “I must admit that it’s nice to run into you like this. I probably would’ve called by tonight, though.”
Noelle smiled. “Oh yeah?”
Lorella nodded just as a scruffy-looking black guy approached them, begging for money.
“Don’t have any for you. Sorry,” said Noelle.
The guy’s expression darkened. “Yeah, I’ll bet you don’t. And if you did, would a nice upper-class white chick like yourself exactly care to give to a poor black man? Well, of course not!”
Noelle’s expression darkened as well. With a mixture of annoyance and impatience in her voice, she said, “Hey, look, buddy, you approached me. If you don’t like the answers people give you, then perhaps you shouldn’t approach strangers to ask them for money. Try getting a job instead.”
The man held his ground. “I hate people like you. I really do.”
“Is this what you do all day?” asked Noelle. “Do you just walk up to people you don’t even know and provoke them for no damn reason at all?”
Just when Lorella thought the man might attack, not that she doubted Noelle could flatten the guy in self-defense, he waved a hand and said, “Aw, fuck it. You ain’t worth shit. I ain’t even gonna bother wasting my time talking to y’all, cuz y’all’s just too self-centered.”
Noelle looked like she was about to say more, and she might have had the guy not stormed off down the street.
Lorella looked at Noelle, unsure of what to say. Then she said, “I can see you’re not exactly big on minorities.”
“Well, it’s not that so much as it’s the way they’re using the past to gain sympathy, freebies, and to basically get away with all kinds of things. I was in a restaurant once when I overheard a conversation this couple had about the problems their neighbors were causing.”
“Yeah?”
Noelle nodded and continued. “I can’t remember if the neighbors were black, Mexican, Asian, or what they were. Nonetheless, one of the people talking wanted to go to the police while the other was trying to dissuade them. They had said, ‘If you go to the cops, not only do you look just as vengeful, but you won’t get anywhere because you’re white. All that will happen is that these sickos will claim you threw a bunch of racial slurs at them, the cops will automatically believe them, and you’ll end up nowhere other than with those assholes having one more reason to pick on us.”
Lorella appeared to be thinking, then she said, “I guess one has to decide when it’s best to take crap from others and when it’s time to fight back.”
“Yes, I suppose, but don’t worry,” said Noelle with a wink. “Fortunately, we don’t have too much trash like that around here.”
“Oh, they don’t worry me. There are lots of minorities down in southern Nevada.” Lorella walked alongside Noelle. “They’re really no problem. People are people, you know?”
“They just make no sense. I mean, they say they are the way they are because they were oppressed for so long, yet the Jews were pretty damn oppressed themselves for quite a while, but they’ve succeeded, so why can’t the blacks and Hispanics?
Lorella shrugged and looked over at Noelle. The officer was casually dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, just as she was.
Noelle smiled down at her, aware of her gaze. “So, where were we? Oh, yes. I was running errands, and you said you wanted to get out and get some fresh air and exercise.”
“Something like that.” Lorella continued to study Noelle. She was stunningly beautiful. Although she had a nagging feeling in her gut that suggested she’d be better off to ignore her, she couldn’t help but follow along. It was as if Noelle put some kind of mesmerizing spell on her, hypnotizing her, drawing her to her like a magnet.
Noelle admired the way the sun shone upon Lorella’s copper-colored mane. “You have beautiful hair.”
“Thank you.”
They were pushing through the door of the bakery.
Stay away from her, the tiny voice in her head warned. But I can’t, she answered silently. She’s too good-looking. Besides, if I can’t get involved with someone, I can at least have a little fun, can’t I? I’m only human.
The elderly woman behind the counter recognized Noelle right away. “Hi there, Noelle. How goes it?”
“It goes pretty well,” Noelle replied. “Any of my dad’s favorites in today?”
“Oh yes. I’ve got the chocolate donuts and the cinnamon bagels both.”
“Good.” Noelle turned to Lorella. “Would you like to take a seat by the window and enjoy a little treat with me?”
“Well, I’m not really all that hungry,” Lorella said at the same time she thought it would be a shame to waste an excuse to hang out with Noelle, “but why not?”
“Okay,” Noelle said with a chuckle as if amused by Lorella’s indecision. “What would you like?”
“Just a sugar donut will do.”
“A sugar donut along with my usual grape jelly donut, Noelle told the woman. “Oh, and don’t forget the drinks. What would you like to drink?”
“Diet Pepsi’s good,” Lorella said.
They took seats at a small round table by the window a moment later.
“So,” Noelle said.
Lorella gazed into Noelle’s ebony eyes. They sparkled with life, confidence and command.
“Anything exciting happening lately?”
Lorella shook her head. “No, just the same old, same old. Only I’m in Oregon instead of Nevada.”
“You miss home?”
“Somewhat, I guess. I like the summers up here better, but once again, I doubt I’ll like the winters very much, and I take it the winters are long and cold.”
“Well, they are,” Noelle acknowledged with a degree of hesitancy. “But they are what you make of them, you know? It’s a fun time for not only things like snow sports but also for cuddling up with a loved one by a fireplace while you sip hot cocoa.”
A wistful expression suddenly came over Noelle as Lorella said, “That much I can see. Do you have anyone to cuddle up with by the fire and sip hot cocoa?”
Noelle smiled. “Not right now, but perhaps I will this winter. Ever been skiing?”
Lorella shook her head. “Just water-skiing, if that counts at all.”
Noelle laughed. “Skiing is skiing, though you won’t be doing any of that on water throughout the winter here. I can guarantee you that much.”
They left the bakery not long afterward when a heavyset and disheveled Hispanic woman came hurriedly towards them. “Have you any spare change?” the woman asked in broken English.
Instead of replying, Noelle simply let out a sigh of frustration and placed her hands on her hips. “Two times in one day? God, Lorella, you’d think we were in a big city!” The tall brunette stalked off with Lorella trailing close behind. Her SUV was parked just around the corner. “Since when did this place become such a beggar’s haven?” Noelle muttered more to herself than to anyone else.
Lorella turned back to see the woman shouting in rapid Spanish in the manner that a spoiled child who didn’t get their way would. They both ignored the shouts, and Noelle asked, “Would you like to spend the day with me up on the mountain or perhaps someplace else? The day is still young, and I have lots of free time on my hands.”
Lorella looked back at Noelle, unsure of what would be best to do. She didn’t want to just up and take off without letting Trevor know where she was. He’d no doubt wonder what in the world became of her if he came home to find her gone without so much as a note left on the refrigerator. “Well, my brother would worry if I took off without leaving a note.”
“No problem. You can either leave a message from my cell phone or we can stop by your place first, in case you want to just hang out there or take something with you back to my place. That is if you’ll accept my invitation, of course.”
Lorella smiled, flattered that such a beautiful person could want to spend time with her. “Sure, I’ll accept. Let’s go to my place first, then we’ll decide what we want to do from there.”
“Okay,” Noelle said merrily. “I’ve been curious to see where you live.”
Had she?
“Well, I’d better warn you upfront that the place is quite a dump. Even Trevor admits it’s a real dump with a capital D.”
Noelle chuckled.
“It’s really old and small. It’s tilted, too,” Lorella added as they took off.
Eshoni sat in the eatery waiting for her sister. She tried not to smoke too much, something she often did when she was nervous. Instead, she poured sugar into her coffee and listened to the drama at the table next to her, just as a very pregnant woman approached the two women and the young girl already seated there.
“Hi, Auntie!” the little girl said with glee before her eyes came to settle upon the woman’s grossly distended abdomen.
“Any luck getting a hold of that hubby of yours?” One of the ladies with red hair asked the pregnant woman.
The pregnant woman shook her head dubiously. “He’s gone. The closer I get to delivering this baby, the harder he gets to get ahold of. Funny, ain’t it?”
“It happens to the best of us,” said the other woman, who was older and gray. “Really, hon, many women have a hard time finding men who want kids.”
“But now the child will have no father,” the pregnant woman said with a mix of sorrow and frustration. “He said he wanted kids, damn it!”
“All guys say that,” said one of the women. “Well, most of them do anyway. Just because a man says something doesn’t make it so, honey.”
“Yeah, well, how the hell are we supposed to be able to separate the ones who are just talking from the ones who are serious?”
“I don’t know what to tell you, hon. Just be glad that at least you got the kid. Some women don’t even get that much before the jerks take off. Maybe more women oughta consider pregnancy before marriage. That way, if the guy does anything to interfere with the pregnancy or takes off after the child is born, at least the woman won’t be locked into a marriage with the idiot.”
The little girl of perhaps six or seven spoke up. “Someday I’m going to have eight kids!” she announced happily.
The pregnant woman’s expression never changed while the other two women looked at each other, back at the child, then burst out laughing. “Good luck, honey,” said the older one.
The little girl frowned. “Why are you laughing?”
“Because it’s not that easy.”
Eight kids?! Eshoni thought to herself. My God! She couldn’t even imagine having just one. Even if she had money, she loved to live life, and she valued every minute of her freedom. Especially after being hostage to a certain psychopath in this very state for nearly a year.
“Sorry I’m late.”
Eshoni nearly flew out of her seat.
“Relax, it’s just me,” her sister said, sliding into the booth across from her. “Did you remember to lock up before you walked down here?”
Eshoni nodded. “I still don’t think we should spend much time here, Orianne. What if she comes in here? When we were dating, she and I would frequent this place.”
“What could she possibly do if she did? Drag you back up to the mountain and finish what she started?”
“I wouldn’t put it past her. She was crazy. She was also a cop, which makes it worse.”
“I say you’re overreacting, honey. That sicko left you for dead. She’s no doubt forgotten you by now and is probably picking on some other poor girl. You won’t even be in Oregon much longer anyway, so just enjoy the rest of your vacation, okay?”
Eshoni nodded again and forced a weak smile. She sometimes still regretted not taking the risk of reporting the assault to the police. The only reason she hadn’t was that she assumed it wouldn’t do her any good, and because she just wanted to get away from the area altogether.
“I’m so glad you came up to visit,” Orianne continued. “I promise I’ll come down to you in Sacramento next time. I’ll be vacationing throughout Christmas and the New Year. You know how it is for us teachers. Perhaps Mom, Dad, and I could all drive down to see you then. Besides, I’m sure we’d all like to meet your new beau.”
Eshoni smiled with more eagerness this time as her sister asked if she’d ordered yet. “No, I was waiting for you.”
The two sisters ordered their lunch. When the waitress collected their menus and walked away, Eshoni asked, “So what kinds of guys are you dating these days?”
Orianne rolled her eyes. “I hardly have time for dating, and when I do, I don’t know what’s worse, the older guys or the younger ones.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, they both have their pros and cons. The younger ones may be a bit immature, but the older ones are losing their sex drive little by little, and well, a forty-five-year-old’s sex drive doesn’t exactly compare to that of one in their twenties.”
Eshoni laughed for the first time. “Guess you can’t win ‘em all.” She tried to enjoy the moment and listen attentively as her sister spoke about life as a kindergarten teacher. Despite her efforts to have a good time, however, she couldn’t help but steal an occasional glance around the room and out the restaurant’s large windows.
“So, this is where you’ve been hiding out?” Noelle said, standing in the tilted yet bright, sunny kitchen. Her hands were casually tucked just inside the pockets of her pants. Lorella found the casual pose to be rather sexy. She was surprised at the intensity of her attraction to the tall, dark cop. Lorella had been attracted to Madison right away, too, but not to this degree. She usually liked to get to know the person before she engaged in any intimate encounters, yet her desire was so strong that she would have loved to have done each other right there on the kitchen floor. Afraid she was blushing and that her eyes would betray her lusty thoughts and turn Noelle off, she turned and stepped back into the living room.
“Yes, this is where I’ve been hiding,” Lorella replied.
“Well, it’s like you said, much cheaper to heat, quicker to clean. To tell you the truth, it’s not much smaller than my cabin.”
“Yeah?”
Noelle turned to face her and nodded. Their eyes locked. As Noelle’s gaze bore into hers, Lorella was almost certain that Noelle could feel the depth of her attraction. She felt her face flush with heat and saw a smile of amusement slowly form on Noelle’s face. At least she’s not offended, Lorella thought to herself.
“Tell me, Lorella,” began Noelle.
“Yes?”
“Did you and your brother ever discuss a time when you’d go back down south or what?”
“We never agreed upon any specific date. Especially since I don’t have an out-of-home job to return to.”
“So, you’re just basically taking it one day at a time?”
“Pretty much,” Lorella said with a smile. “He told me to take all the time I needed, but, I don’t…”
Noelle’s brows knitted together with curiosity as she looked down at her. “Don’t what, babe?”
Lorella took a deep breath, hoping she wouldn’t spoil her chances of at least having sex with Noelle. “I don’t expect to be in Oregon past the summer. I really, really do hate the cold. As for snow, I won’t even get into how much I despise that.”
“Oh,” Noelle said, not appearing to be discouraged by the statement. “Well, I guess you should just play it by ear. Maybe you’ll change your mind.” Quickly changing the subject, she asked if Lorella would like to return to her cabin with her.
Trying to hide her enthusiasm, Lorella left a note for Trevor and packed a small bag. “I wonder if I should take my laptop to at least check for email every so often?”
“You can if you want to, but it’s Sunday,” Noelle pointed out. “Don’t you ever take a day off?”
“Well, I don’t suppose it’d hurt to take a little time off,” Lorella agreed with a nod.
“Okay,” Noelle said with a smile, happily tossing her keys in the air before she pushed her weight off the door frame of the bedroom she’d been leaning against. “Where’s Trev?”
“With his girlfriend. Knowing him, he probably won’t be back until tomorrow.”
They didn’t talk much on the drive up, and it wasn’t until they reached the base of the mountain that the talk turned personal.
“Ever been with guys?” Noelle asked.
“No, I prefer women only. What about you?”
“Since leaving Phil, I’ve stuck to women. I haven’t been with a lot of people, though, because I’m so picky.”
“Same for me. I’m practically a virgin compared to some of the people I know.”
Noelle chuckled.
“I think sex with other women is better,” Lorella continued, “because having the same bodies means you really know how to please each other. You can only teach a man so much, you know?”
Noelle nodded her agreement. “It’s definitely not the same with guys. They stink, they’re too rough, too quick, too slow, too quirky, too whatever, and it does get old.”
“Regardless of how they are in bed, I’ve always found women, in general, to be more appealing on an overall basis. I think a lot of folks think it’s body parts only that make a gay person gay, and as I’m sure you can understand, that’s just not so.”
“Oh, I can understand,” Noelle said with a nod.
“I’ve always been a bit old-fashioned in that I take it slow. Well, that’s how I usually am anyway,” Lorella added, not wanting Noelle to think she was off-limits at least for today.
Noelle cracked a smile.
They turned off the wavy paved road and wound through a narrow dirt road for about five minutes. When they pulled up to Noelle’s cabin, Lorella was amazed by what she saw. “Oh, wow! Talk about seclusion. You weren’t kidding when you said you had peace and privacy up here. Gosh, Noelle, I almost envy you.”
They exited Noelle’s SUV as Lorella continued to eye her surroundings with awe.
Noelle took delight in the girl’s reaction. “I also wasn’t kidding when I said that anytime you felt you needed to get away from it all and escape to the peace and quiet of this little sanctuary, just give a yell. My house is your house.” She unlocked the cabin’s only door and ushered Lorella in ahead of her.
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