Belle marveled at Ally’s efficiency in stripping the meat off the bones of her buffalo wings. She hadn’t allowed even one drop of excess sauce beyond the perimeter of her lips, whereas Belle had surrounded herself with enough crumpled, orangey napkins to torch up a summer bonfire right there at the table.
“You take the last one,” Ally said with a dainty lick of her thumb.
“No way. I had more than you.”
“You did not.” Ally shot her an imperious look. “If I can direct your attention to this pile of bones, you’ll notice I have more on my side.”
“No, you don’t.” Belle flicked them around with her finger. “You arranged them to look that way.”
Ally grinned. “Are you accusing me of evidence tampering, Ms. Ashford?”
Belle laughed. “You’re just defensive now that I’ve figured out how you can eat wings and beer and still maintain your slender, rockin’ bod. You pawn the excess fattening stuff off on your dinner dates.”
“Rockin’ body, huh?” Ally narrowed her smoky, seductive eyes. “I guess you would know.”
“I speak with authority on that subject. The memory of it can be quite forceful at times.”
Ally downed the last of her beer. “So can the dream of it.”
Belle stared at her for a moment, allowing the thought of Ally having dirty dreams about her soak in.
“Should we get the check and shoot some pool?” Ally asked.
“You’re not having a second drink?” Belle was suddenly worried Ally was trying to cut the evening short. “C’mon. You can’t fly on one wing.”
“You know how many calories are in craft beer?”
“There are ways of working off an extra two hundred calories.”
“I’m aware of that. And with every alcoholic beverage I drink, I come that much closer to suggesting one to you.”
“I’m always open to suggestions.” She took Ally’s hand. “From you.”
She squeezed Belle’s fingers as her brow crinkled in concern. “I’m picking up Chloe Friday.”
Belle smiled, still holding her hand. “Good. I’m looking forward to meeting her.”
“Have you ever dated a woman with a kid before?”
“A couple, but their kids were in college.”
Ally didn’t seem convinced. Belle signaled their waitress over and gave her the two-finger point for another round of beer.
“For what it’s worth, I like kids,” she added. “I teach young adults for a living, and although I’ve never pursued having my own children, I also never ruled out having them in my life.”
“Okay.” Ally’s smile gleamed with relief. “Thanks for clarifying.”
The waitress brought their beers, and Ally took a slow sip of hers, savoring the flavor with an “ahhhhhh.”
“Is everything okay?” Belle asked.
Ally paused as if what she’d say next would irrevocably change the course of their relationship. Belle froze in anticipation.
“I like you, Belle. A lot,” she said finally, issuing forth a breath she’d seemed to be holding for centuries. “And I’m not quite sure what to do with all the emotion you’re stirring in me.”
“I like you, too, Ally. My heart hasn’t had a minute’s peace since we made love. And the fact that our lives are crowded with people and things demanding our attention hasn’t deterred my feelings in the least.”
Ally sat back in her chair and folded her arms. “I know. I keep trying to reason with myself that I shouldn’t get involved with you right now, but like you said, it doesn’t matter. I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“What do you think about?”
Ally looked down as a blush tinted her caramel cheeks crimson. “Um, lots of things—but mainly your inviting smile, your determination, your passion for justice for a troubled teen and an infant you didn’t even know. Those are rare, remarkable qualities.”
“That’s so sweet.” Belle’s throat lumped at the sincerity in Ally’s eyes. “When you think about it, you and I have something major in common.”
“Great sex and a love of craft beer?” Ally said.
She giggled. “Besides that. We both have careers that involve looking out for the welfare of kids. I think that’s a perfect place to start.”
Ally raised her glass to Belle’s.
“And the sex was great, wasn’t it?” Belle said.
Ally whistled her agreement. “But you know, that could’ve been beginner’s luck. I don’t think you can define the state of anything after one experience.”
“How about we take a rain check on pool and go back to my place…you know, to verify?”
“Fantastic idea,” Ally said.
***
After they made love, they lay in Belle’s bed draped in moonlight shining through the naked window. Ally cuddled close, her head resting on Belle’s shoulder. They said nothing for a while, stroking each other’s arms with the tips of their fingers, Belle drinking in the scent and texture of Ally’s soft skin.
Holding her in peaceful silence erased any doubt Belle might have had as to the authenticity of her feelings. Once again, the words I love you wrestled to be free, but she reminded herself that even though they’d met more than six weeks ago, it had been an even shorter time since they’d crossed the threshold and become more than friends.
“I love how the trees are making crazy shapes in the moonlight,” Ally whispered.
“When it comes to this house, a full moon and craziness are part of the ambience. I should have the realtor showcase that feature.”
Ally pointed to her nose in agreement. “It’s funny how many times I came here on wellness checks for Marion and never noticed anything out of the ordinary.”
“Not that I’m doubting your intuition as an officer, but I find that so hard to believe, given what I’ve discovered after being here only two months.”
“She seemed like your typical elderly woman who’d outlived her family. After she retired from working as a visiting nurse, it seemed like she spent her remaining days with pets and pictures of Judy all over the house. It was actually rather sad. My official wellness checks became more like visits with an old friend. She’d always have a pot of tea and something baked from scratch waiting for me.”
“Really? How often would you check in on her?”
“It got to be a standing date, once a week for at least that year before she died. Then she fell, so we put her in a home to rehab, but she passed a week later.”
When Ally suddenly became silent in the semi-darkness, Belle hugged her tighter.
“She wasn’t supposed to be there permanently. I told her it was only until she got better.” Ally’s voice was somber, almost in rhythm with the shadows of tree branches slow-dancing against the wall.
“I didn’t realize you had an actual friendship with her.”
“She was a kind woman, but aloof,” Ally said. “Her personality seemed almost muted, like losing her daughter shut down her ability to connect with anyone after that. I suppose I could’ve asked her more about herself, but I felt like I was prying. I just listened to whatever she had to say.” She laughed softly. “But she did love my arrest stories from my days in patrol.”
“I’m glad she had you to talk to in her last days. That must’ve made her feel good. And safe.”
“I enjoyed having tea with her. But I must say, never once did I imagine one day I’d be back in this house in bed with her gorgeous great-niece. Or investigating long-dormant crimes.”
Belle laughed. “That must be a bit of a mind-freak.”
“Yeah, a little bit.” Ally giggled, then added, “But I can’t imagine any place I’d rather be right now…as macabre as that may seem.”
Belle kissed her head. “I’ll take macabre if it’s with you.”
“You and I should go into business writing wedding vows.”
Belle guffawed at the suggestion and locked Ally in a bear hug. They jostled each other under the covers until their silliness ebbed. Belle then pulled Ally up, and they began kissing tenderly, exploring each other as if they were discovering their desires for the first time.
Soon their hands were exploring each other in other places.
Ally’s kisses and caresses swept over her like passionate winds, and she swayed and bowed like a palm tree under her masterful touch. No other woman had ever taken her on such a sensual journey.
Nothing could pull her out of it—except for the sound of…thunder?
No, wait. That wasn’t thunder pounding on the front door.
“I think someone’s at your door,” Ally said.
“Who the hell could be here at this hour?” Belle glanced at her phone on the nightstand. Almost eleven p.m.
“Let’s go see.” Ally jumped up and gathered her pants and shirt.
Belle sat up and bunched the sheet up to her chin. “Um, no. I didn’t invite anyone over. Let’s ignore it.”
The pounding was louder and more persistent this time.
“I don’t think your guest cares what time it is.”
Belle flung the covers aside and grabbed her clothes, begrudging whoever had the gall to keep knocking at such an inopportune moment.
As they walked downstairs together, a voice emanated from the front porch.
“Open the door, Belle. I know you’re in there.”
Belle skidded to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, causing Ally to rear-end her. “For the love of Christ,” she whispered.
“I’m guessing you know her.”
“It’s fucking Mary.”
Ally jerked Belle toward her by the shoulders. “Your ex, Mary? The one who lives in your condo? And probably believes you’re still a couple?”
“Correction. Who used to live in my condo. She got the eviction notice. That explains why she kept blowing up my phone with texts and calls.”
“Didn’t you answer her?”
“She was already served. I didn’t think it was necessary.”
“Clearly an oversight on your part.”
“I didn’t think she’d stalk me up here.”
“You have her listed as ‘Crazy Mary’ in your phone contacts. How could you have missed this?”
“I thought I was just being clever. Perhaps I underestimated her.”
“Ya think? Please answer the door and see what she wants. Do you want me to go upstairs or stay with you while you answer it?”
“Do you have your gun?”
“No. I don’t have my gun,” Ally snapped. “Do I need it?”
“No, but it would be the perfect touch if she saw it in a holster on your hip.”
“Open the door, Belle. I’d like to know exactly what I’ve gotten myself into with you.”
“With me? I’m not the one banging on someone’s door in the middle of the night.”
“Belle, stop pretending you’re not home,” Mary shouted. “I can fucking hear you talking in there.”
“I’m leaving out the back,” Ally said.
Belle grabbed her arm. “No, don’t. Please. Go upstairs. I’ll take care of this.”
She refused to budge as she skewered Belle with skepticism.
“Ally, please. This isn’t as horrendous as it seems.”
“There’s not a lot of room for interpretation here.”
Belle jumped at the next round of battering. “Please.”
Reluctantly, Ally retreated up the stairs as requested.
Belle whipped open the door. “What?”
“You fucking twat! You actually went to a lawyer and got me evicted?”
“That’s what people do when the tenant ignores their repeated requests to leave.”
“Tenant? How could you be so cold?”
“Mary, you seem to have forgotten that I gave you months to find your own place without even charging you rent. You ignored my texts, but did I come pounding on your door? Which, in this case, would also be my door.”
“I can’t believe you’re already on to someone else. Does she know what a bed-hopper you are?”
Belle stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind her.
“I am not a bed-hopper, and you know it,” she whispered. “You and I both know that when you moved in, we realized right away it was a mistake, so don’t give me this wounded-heart shit because you’re angry I threw you out.”
“I was planning to be out by the end of summer when you were done up here. I’m still trying to get my jewelry-design website up and running. Money’s been tight lately, really tight.”
“So you’re not up here to try to win me back?”
Mary’s cigarette laugh rumbled like an idling muscle car. “I am still pissed at you and do think we could’ve made it work if you’d given it more effort, but no. I’m not trying to get you back. What I would like to win, however, is a check from you so I can afford to move my stuff into storage for a month until I can find my own place. I’ve been crashing on Lyla’s couch for the past three days.”
As hard as Belle tried to figure out how that was her problem, she agreed anyway to expedite the unpleasant matter. “Hang on. I’ll be right back.”
“I can’t even come in and see what you’ve done to the place so far?”
“Look at the pics on my Instagram,” she said, slowly pushing Mary off the entry step with the door as she closed it.
Ally was halfway down the staircase. “I’m gonna head out now. If it takes you that long to tell an ex to get lost, it’s obviously not over.”
“No, no, no.” Belle ran up the stairs and grabbed her hands. “That’s not even close to being accurate. Please trust me. Let me give her a check, and then I’ll explain everything.”
She ran into the kitchen for her checkbook and tried sorting out the mental cluster-fuck that had sucked her in like a vortex just when things couldn’t have been going any better. Ally would have to be a saint to overlook this.
“I can only spare two hundred dollars.” She handed Mary the check. “And this is a loan. Got it?” she added, knowing Mary would never pay her back.
“I’m good for it,” she said as she stuffed the check into her bra cup. “You’re a good egg, Belle…no matter what everyone says about you.”
“Thanks, Mary. And if by ‘everyone’ you mean your drama-stirring friends, I won’t be losing any sleep over it.” She closed the door with a sigh.
Ally joined her in the foyer. “You gave her money?”
“It’s easier to give it to her and get her out of my hair. She won’t bother me now that she knows I’m seeing someone.”
“Look, Belle. I don’t know about all this. You made it seem like you guys were over and done with. Next thing I know she turns up on your doorstep, and you’re paying her off like a married congressman.”
Belle tried to block her from reaching for the doorknob. “No. That’s not true—”
“I think you need more time to figure your shit out.”
“I know what this looks like, but I swear, it’s not even close. My shit is figured out, Ally. I want you, not Mary. Even if I didn’t have you in my life, I wouldn’t want her.”
Ally’s arms were tightly crossed, and the rest of her wasn’t moving.
“Look, in the last few months my life has really come into focus,” Belle said. “I know what I want, and equally as important, I’ve also learned what I don’t want anymore. I look around now, and I see the people who really matter in my life—my college friends, and my family, and you. It’s made me realize how different my life was from theirs. I wasted a lot of time with cocktail acquaintances who couldn’t figure out what they wanted or were too dysfunctional to keep what they wanted if they’d had it.
“Since I turned forty, I don’t want to be around toxic people anymore. And if it costs me two hundred dollars to get the last one out, then that’s money well spent.”
Belle complemented her plea with big, baby-deer eyes that may have been a bit hyperbolic, but the sentiment was a hundred percent sincere.
Ally resigned herself with a smirk. “What am I supposed to do with you when all my instincts are telling me to run?”
“Don’t listen to your instincts. They’re just jealous.” Belle smiled as she slipped her arms around her waist.
Ally smiled again as she played with the ends of Belle’s hair. “They’re going to say ‘I told you so’ when you leave here at the end of summer, and I never hear from you again.”
“I hate to disappoint them, but that’s not going to happen. I may not even leave at the end of summer.”
Ally burst into a luminous smile.
“Not if I haven’t found a house at the shore yet. I’m putting my condo on the market next month, so I’ll have no choice but to stay.”
“Oh.” Ally slowly backed away. “You really do have things figured out.”
“Ally, what’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” She padded over to the couch and plopped down. “What time is it?”
Belle landed in her lap. “I decided to sell my condo sooner than later because now that I’m here with you, I have no desire to go back. I’ll stay here until I find what I’m looking for on the shore.”
Ally wrapped her arms around her but wouldn’t give Belle verbal reassurance yet.
Belle lifted her chin and kissed her. “I thought we were going with the flow? Especially since our flow seems more like a tidal wave.”
Ally finally turned toward her. “That sounds like a great plan.”
“You really think so?”
“Yeah, I do,” Ally replied and teased her with a sensual kiss.
Belle began nibbling at her lips and cheeks. “Then what are we doing down here?”
“Wasting time.”
Belle got up, took Ally’s hand in hers, and led her upstairs.