Chapter Fourteen

“WOULD YOU LIKE to go to the Westfield Art Show?” Gerald shoved his phone along the kitchen island countertop toward Nüwa. “I think you’d like it.”

From her place in the living room, Lian looked over her laptop screen. “I hardly think a crowded art show is the best place for Nüwa.”

Nüwa set her coffee aside and picked up the phone. She scrolled through the website, looking at the images of works that would be displayed and featured artists list. She paused at an image of a marble sculpture. The delicate carving of two women, one sitting the other standing, appeared to glow with its own light. The woman standing had her hand tangled in the sitting woman’s hair and appeared to be tugging her head back for a kiss. She leaned over the sitting woman, their mouths a breath apart. Although static, the tension between the lovers, the heat of their relationship was evident in their positioning and their expressions.

Julia’s name under the exquisite sculpture would have been enough to make her agree to her father’s invitation, but her mother’s dismissive tone pushed Nüwa over the edge. “Yes.” She passed her father’s phone back to him. “What day do you want to go?”

“If we go to the opening the artists will be there.” Gerald held Nüwa’s gaze. Nüwa lifted an eyebrow at her father and wondered how much he understood about her relationship with Julia. They had been discreet, after their Sunday together, meeting only when Nüwa’s parents were away from the house. Nüwa had made sure to avoid staring at Julia as she repaired the wall. The almost finished wall, despite several afternoons of work lost to delightful scenes.

“You can’t be serious.” Lian abandoned her laptop and strode into the kitchen. After pouring herself a cup of coffee, she turned. Her razor-sharp glare focused on Gerald and Nüwa. “Don’t you think a quiet lunch out would be a better way to ease back into the world instead of an art show with who knows how many people?”

Nüwa placed her hands flat on the countertop. “I want to go to this. I will go to this.”

Her mother shifted her gaze between Nüwa and her father. “Fine. What is the date?” She pressed her lips together in a thin line.

“This Saturday. Starts at eleven.” Gerald turned his teacup in a circle in his hands. “We don’t have to be there right when it opens. It will take us at least forty-five minutes to get there.”

Lian turned from them. “I have a phone meeting at eleven thirty.” She crossed the living room, picked up her laptop, and settled herself on the couch.

“What if we go early afternoon?” Nüwa stood and picked up her coffee cup. “Leave around one?”

“Fine.” Lian picked up her laptop and settled it across her knees.

Gerald lifted his teacup in salute. “To a family outing.”

Nüwa raised her cup briefly before she sipped the last of her coffee. She glanced at her mother. Lian ignored them as she pounded the keys of her laptop. The sharp click-click-click echoed off the vaulted ceiling. Nüwa shifted her gaze to her father. Their gazes met, and forty-two years of understanding passed between them. Lian’s withdrawal, so painful when Nüwa was a child, was so expected now she didn’t even register it. Her father shrugged and went back to scrolling on his phone.

 

“I CAN’T BELIEVE I said yes.” Nüwa groaned and buried her face in her hands.

“Take a breath. No decision is final.” Dr. Henderson’s soothing voice flowed over Nüwa.

“I can’t not go now. I want to go. I want to surprise Julia.” Nüwa lowered her hands.

“Things are going well with you two?”

“Very.” Nüwa flushed, heat spreading up from her chest. “Very well. It’s why I said yes. What kind of lover would I be who didn’t support their…” Nüwa frowned as she sought the right word to use for Julia. Not partner, nor sub, and although Julia had stated her desire to be Nüwa’s submissive, they had no formal commitment.

“Friend?” Dr. Henderson supplied.

Nüwa snorted. “More than friends. Lover, we will leave it at that.” Love? Did she love Julia? Nüwa turned their new relationship over in her mind. Maybe. Could she trust herself to make the assessment?

“Nüwa?” Dr. Henderson’s voice drew Nüwa from her thoughts.

“Sorry. Yes. Friend.” The imprecise nature of the label settled over Nüwa’s shoulders like a poorly fitting jacket.

“Let’s get back to your plan for the day. What things are you doing to prepare?”

“I’ll probably take a sleep aid the night before, get up in time to exercise before I go. Eat. I’ve pulled up a virtual map of the building, so I know where the exits are. I’ll get my dad to drive because my mom scares the hell out of me when she drives.”

Dr. Henderson chuckled. “That bad?”

“Let’s just say she’s obsessed with Formula One cars, imagines herself on the course at Monte Carlo and leave it at that. She’s totally into this engineer from Italy, Lana Baroni, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think my father wasn’t the only bisexual in the family.”

“It sounds like you’ve thought of everything. I’ll encourage you to do the things that help you stay calm. And to have an agreement in place for what will happen if you find yourself not being able to enter the space, or if you need to leave.”

After the usual exchange and talk of refills, Nüwa signed off the call with a promise to make an appointment if she needed to talk sooner. After shutting down her computer, Nüwa picked up her book, walked to her door, and stepped out onto the top step. The scent of fresh mowed grass floated over the yard. In the distance the maze glowed with bright-green leaves and white flowers. Nüwa trod the steps lightly and made the crossing to the maze without hesitation or coaching. Keeping the plan to go to the art show a secret from Julia had been hard but it would be so worth it to surprise her. If she had timed it right, Julia would be in the center of the maze, working. Nüwa smiled to herself as she dreamed of all the wicked things she wanted to do with Julia.

 

SPRING WARMTH HAD given way to summer heat. Bees buzzed lazily around the yellow and orange blooms in the pot on the patio. Nüwa sat on the bottom step of the terrace, her body angled toward Julia. “How do you know which stones to place where?” She shaded her eyes with her hand.

Julia settled a large stone into place, stacking it neatly. Once she had placed it, she checked it for wobbles and gave it a single tap with her hammer. She straightened and turned to Nüwa. “How do you know when a note is wrong?”

“It sounds off, feels wrong when you play it.”

“And if it’s right?”

“It’s magical. The music flows.”

“It’s the same. If I put a stone wrong, it feels off. If I have them all placed correctly, the wall flows, it’s solid. When I tap it with my hammer, if something is off it will sound wrong. I don’t know if I can explain it. When I first started working with my dad, he’d tell me to go with my gut. To test different stones or keep turning one until it fit. To not be afraid to start over if the base was wrong. He used to take me to go see old dry fit barn foundations and walls all the time growing up. Those are real masterpieces, nothing holding them together but skill and dirt.” Julia pointed to two rusted lengths of metal. “These types of anchors aren’t even to code anymore. That’s why this part of the wall came down in the storm.” She frowned.

“Nothing is forever.” Nüwa shifted her gaze to the pile of rubble at the base of the wall and back to Julia’s face.

“It’s damn near—if you build it right.” Julia held her gaze.

“And how is that?”

“With patience. Finding the right stones to fit…”

“Stones that ring true? Magic?” Nüwa lifted her chin.

“I was going to say work.” Julia lifted her eyebrow. “But I like the idea of magic.”

“So do I.” Nüwa rested her chin in her hand.