Lorella opened the door to find Noelle looking as wonderful as ever. I hope I’m not making a mistake here, she thought to herself as she returned the sensual kiss Noelle planted on her rosy lips.
“Hey there, beautiful. Ready to go?”
“Sure. I’m going to take my laptop this time, okay?”
Noelle nodded. “But how could you get online up there?”
“I have a wireless connection. It works like cell phones do only better because this should work most of the time up there, unlike the phone.”
“Sometimes cells work up there too, but it’s pretty much hit or miss with them things.”
Once they were on the road and settled in for the long drive up to the mountain, Noelle said, “Look at this,” and handed Lorella the local newspaper. It had pictures of several of the cars they had spray-painted.
“Oh my God!” Lorella exclaimed. She didn’t feel bad for those whose cars they had painted. As far as she was concerned, they’d asked for what they’d gotten by openly expressing their bigotry. But she did feel quite nervous to see it splashed all over the front page like this. “I can’t believe they’d put this on the front page.”
“Oh, it’s big news, believe me. This isn’t a big city, so something like vandalism is quite a thing around here since the most this town has to deal with is usually nothing more than just petty traffic offenses and maybe a few fights.”
“Well, I don’t feel sorry for these people, but it really bothers me to see this.”
“There’s nothing to worry about so long as we don’t open our mouths, Lorella. Did you say anything to your brother?”
“Of course not. Keeping quiet won’t be a problem for me, but I’m not doing anything like this again.”
“No problem.”
“I won’t even say anything when I go back home in a couple of months, I assure you.”
Back home, my ass! thought Noelle. What was she to this girl? Just someone to use and to play with until she started shivering with the cold and felt like bailing out on her, sick of her summer toy? Instead, she smiled and said, “Still dreading that cold, huh?”
Lorella nodded. “Yes, I’m a warm-weather creature.”
“You might like it so much up there with me that you find it worth it. If you do, I’ll make sure you’re always toasty warm.”
“Would you?”
“I sure would. There’s nothing like a big old roaring fire in the fireplace to chase away the cold, along with warmer clothing too, of course.”
“I don’t have much in the way of warmer clothing.”
“That’s okay, there are plenty of stores here that do.”
“Why don’t you just keep me nice and cool for now?” she said, becoming uncomfortable with Noelle’s pushiness and seemingly die-hard determination to get her to stay. She had to wonder how she’d take it when the day finally arrived for her to leave.
After about a week, they had settled into a comfortable routine. Lorella worked at the cabin while Noelle worked, and they often went on hikes and ran errands together to keep Lorella from getting cabin fever. The sex was one of the best parts of their relationship.
She met Noelle’s father, who lived within walking distance of the cabin. Lorella found she neither liked nor disliked the six-foot, average-looking man. He didn’t come across as aggressive or mean in any way, but there was nothing jovial about him either. He was more on the serious side and didn’t seem to laugh or joke much. She wondered if he had been any different before his wife was killed.
She kept in touch with her family and Shalinda on a weekly basis. Sometimes she called them, sometimes she emailed them, although her sister didn’t have a computer, so they had to call each other.
One particular Sunday in mid-July started off wonderfully. It was warm and dry as they set out to picnic at their favorite spot by the pond.
“So you were just seven years old when you and your sister went on this vandalism spree?” Noelle asked with a laugh.
Laughing as well, Lorella said, “Yup. Once or twice a year, during the off-season, our family would drive to our beach house to check things out. Once Dad finally managed to tug the door open through God knows how many feet of snow, Sharon and I would go off exploring, but those explorations often turned rather pranksterish and destructive. We’d bust screens and do all kinds of things to the closed-up cottages.”
Laughing even louder, they reached their spot and began to set up. Noelle spread their blanket out and asked, “Ever made love on the forest floor before?”
“No, I can’t say that I have,” replied Lorella. “But I’m open to suggestions and new experiences.”
A moment later, Lorella’s panties were off, the hem of her sundress was lifted, and Noelle’s wonderfully skilled tongue was hard at work driving her wild. Because Noelle was on her period, all she could do was take care of Lorella, and take care of her she did.
Afterward, Lorella said, “It’s too bad we don’t get our periods at the same time. That way we’d both have to suffer together.”
Noelle laughed. “If you shower before sex and put in a tampon, it’ll be fine. Me, I don’t wear them things personally. I figure if it wasn’t meant to flow out, God would’ve stuck something up there to see that it didn’t. Besides, taking care of you takes care of me enough.”
They ate sandwiches and chips, then played a few card games before heading back. They were about to turn down the long drive that led to the cabin when they heard movement behind them. They quickly turned to find a young woman who had turned onto the road somewhere between the pond and the cabin. The woman was tall and thin like Noelle, but didn’t appear to be nearly as muscular. She appeared to be in her early twenties and had brown eyes and blond hair. Normally, Lorella didn’t find that combination attractive, but it looked nice on the woman.
“Hi,” said the woman.
“Hello,” said Noelle. “Are you lost?”
“Oh, no. My husband and I recently bought the cabin over there,” she turned and pointed to the start of a drive that was perhaps a hundred feet from the start of Noelle’s, “and I was just out exploring. My name is Denise.” She extended a hand to Noelle, then to Lorella, who smiled a greeting in return.
“Well, this here is Lorella, and I’m Noelle. We live over there.” She pointed to the drive with her last name on a stick.
“Oh, yeah. The one marked Hutchinson.”
“That’s it,” said Noelle. “Lorella here just moved in with me.”
“That is, until it gets cold. Then I go back home to southern Nevada,” Lorella chimed in.
Noelle suddenly felt the urge to slap Lorella. She was sick of hearing about Nevada. Nevada this. Nevada that.
“Now that’s the place to be,” Denise said with a smile. “My folks are snowbirds themselves. They head down to Arizona in the wintertime.”
“At least the summers here are beautiful,” said Lorella.
Denise studied Noelle. “You look familiar. Have I seen you around before?”
“You might have. I’m one of the local forest rangers around here as well as a cop over in Bonanza.”
“Oh, yeah. I think I have seen you.”
“Well, I hate to cut you off,” said Noelle, “but we’d best be going before this leftover food spoils.”
“Okay,” said Denise. “It was nice meeting you two. I’m in and out during the day if you ever need anything or just want to visit.”
“Thank you,” said Noelle, turning to head down the drive.
“I’m home alone during the days myself,” Lorella told Denise. “Stop by if you get bored and want a cup of tea or something.”
“Thanks. See you later.”
Lorella turned to catch up with Noelle. She was walking in long, brisk strides, which suggested that she was upset. Lorella had to struggle to keep up with her. “What leftover food, and what’s wrong, Noelle?”
Noelle turned to glance at her fiercely. The way her dark eyes gleamed with irritation was a bit unnerving. “Lorella, you don’t tell people you’re home alone all day. That was foolish.”
Lorella thought about it a minute, then said, “I suppose it was. I’ll be more careful next time.”
“That isn’t just it. I don’t want people around here to think they can just drop in on us at will and bug us. When I come home from work or wherever and close that door behind me, I don’t want to know the outside world exists. That’s why I live up here in the first place.”
“Are you saying we can’t have company? What if my brother wants to visit before I leave?”
“That’s different because he doesn’t live around here.”
“Okay, I understand,” said Lorella, placing a gentle hand on Noelle’s arm. “We just won’t open the door if she comes by when we’re busy or just want to be alone. Then again, people always say they’ll do things they don’t, so she was probably just making small talk. I doubt she’ll ever really come around.”
“Yes, she will,” Noelle said knowingly. “Rural people are a lot friendlier than city folks. They love to socialize with their neighbors. Of course, this doesn’t make a damn bit of sense to me. What’s the point of living up here so isolated if you want to mingle with neighbors?”
“After growing up with little to no space between me and my neighbors, it hardly feels like she’s a neighbor. She must be at least an eighth of a mile away.”
They put their stuff away, and Noelle went to relax by the TV while Lorella went to take a shower. As she let the warm water caress her body, she wondered yet again if she should just go back home. After all, Noelle was nothing more than a summer playmate.
Lorella awoke the next morning to find Noelle already gone. As she lay in bed, slowly drifting up towards wakefulness, she recalled the dreams she’d had about Madison. Madison hadn’t warned her of anything this time. Instead, the dream had simply been about them doing the things they used to do. They had been having so much fun driving through the desert, AC and radio blasting, singing along to the music, and laughing merrily when one screwed up and forgot the words. Lorella hadn’t wanted to awake from the dream. It only left her with a sense of sadness and emptiness when she did.
It sucked to know that now that she was ready to speak of her days with Madison, she couldn’t do so because somehow she doubted Noelle would want to hear it, not that she felt the need to pour her entire heart out to someone she’d know for what would only amount to about ninety days anyway. Maybe I’ll start a journal, she thought to herself. She would leave the real world for the things she should say and use the journal for what she wanted to say. It wasn’t that she didn’t speak from her heart in the real world; it’s just that some things were better left unsaid or kept private.
She pulled herself out of bed and went downstairs. She got her coffee brewing and her laptop booted before using the bathroom. She found she had an email awaiting her from Trevor. He had tried to call last night, but the call wouldn’t go through. He wanted to know if he and Shayla could come up for a visit sometime. She replied, saying she’d speak to Noelle as far as a good time to visit went, and also gave him the landline number. When she told Noelle about it later on, she was not happy.
“Lorella, I don’t want you giving this number out to just anyone.”
“But I didn’t give it to just anyone. I gave it to my brother.”
“Fine, then. Just tell them to come up anytime on Saturday.”
“Okay,” said Lorella as she watched Noelle remove her gun and holster from her work belt and place them on the counter by the wall. She admired how good she looked in uniform before it was fully removed, then said, “You know, I was thinking.”
“’ Bout what?”
“That maybe I should leave soon. I feel like all I’m doing is intruding. I seem to be doing one thing wrong after another.”
Noelle turned to look at Lorella, and her expression softened. She gathered her in her arms. Noelle was so tall that her head barely brushed her chin. “I’m sorry I snapped at you, honey. You’re not intruding or doing one thing wrong after another.” She kissed the top of her head.
Lorella pulled back, looked up into Noelle’s ebony eyes, and asked, “You sure?”
Noelle smiled the lovely white smile that always melted her heart and said, “I’m sure.”
Lorella smiled too, and reached out to run her fingers through Noelle’s shiny black hair.
“Lorella, I may as well be honest with you about something.”
“What’s that?”
“You see, in just the short time we’ve known each other, I’ve fallen rather hard for you. I love you, babe.”
This revelation took Lorella by surprise. It was not something she expected to hear. “Y-you love me?”
Smiling, Noelle nodded.
“Wow, I’m amazed. But how can that be? You don’t really know me, so don’t you think it’s a little too fast?”
“You can never fall in love too fast if it’s with the right person,” Noelle insisted. She felt hurt but mostly angry that Lorella wasn’t appreciative of her love, but she kept her feelings in check.
Lorella shrugged, still taken by the news. “I guess not.”
“We can’t help the way we feel, and well, the way I feel is the way I feel, and it’s something I’m very sure of.”
Lorella supposed she should at least credit Noelle for being honest enough to admit her feelings to her so soon and out of the blue like this. It must’ve taken some pretty serious guts to do so. She smiled and said, “Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.”
“I look forward to it,” Noelle answered back as she went into the bathroom to shower. “Smells wonderful.”
As Lorella headed into the cabin’s tiny kitchen, she realized with regret that she didn’t feel the excitement and happiness she had felt when Madison professed her love for her a few months after they’d begun to see each other on a non-professional basis.
Saturday was cloudy, but nice just the same. Trevor and Shayla arrived after lunchtime that day. They spoke of nothing too important during the first hour of the visit, then the talk turned more personal.
“So, little sis, you like it up here or what?” Lorella’s brother asked.
Lorella reached for a potato chip in the large bowl that sat on the coffee table. “Well,” she said as she put it in her mouth and crunched down on it. “The place sure makes for a beautiful summer resort, but I still don’t think I’d be happy here in the winter.”
Her brother looked at Noelle. “Think she’ll change her mind?”
“I hope so,” was Noelle’s reply.
“How are you guys getting along?”
“Okay,” Lorella said, not wanting to mention the little squabbles they’d had so far. They were minor anyway, and she knew no relationship was perfect, be it a short-term one or not.
“Just okay?” Shayla asked inquisitively.
Lorella chuckled, trying not to show her discomfort.
“Oh, we’ve been having ourselves a merry little blast,” Noelle said, grinning. “Lorella’s wonderful to have around.” She changed the subject. “How about you two lovebirds?”
“Well, let’s see,” Trevor began, “Shayla here, she beats me up, starves me, makes me suffer all the time.”
They all laughed heartily at once.
A while later, Lorella and Shayla left Noelle and Trevor to play a few hands of Gin Rummy like they used to do in the tower on their breaks before Trevor was reassigned to a new area and went out for a walk.
“So, tell me the truth,” said Shayla. “How are things really going?”
Lorella glanced sharply at Shayla. “You can tell things aren’t perfect, huh?”
Shayla nodded.
“Well, if she weren’t so pushy about my staying here, things might be better.”
“I hate to say it, Lorella, but…”
“I know, you’ve had bad vibes about her ever since. Trevor told me.”
“I don’t know why I have such feelings, but I just do. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. We can’t help the way we feel. Now it’s your time to come clean. No relationship is perfect, so what’s not so cool with you and Trevor?”
Shayla inhaled a deep breath of air. “He wants me to get a tubal ligation.”
“He does?”
Shayla nodded.
“Are you going to?”
“I don’t know. I’d really like to get into private investigating sometime soon, but as I told him, we may change our minds ten, fifteen years from now. Don’t you want to one day procreate? I asked him, and don’t you want extensions of yourself? His answer to that was that he’s plenty extended enough.”
“Yeah, that’s Trevor for you. I’d give it time. You guys are in your twenties, so while you may be a little young to turn your freedom in for a family, you’re also a bit young to say it’s something you’ll absolutely never have. Tell him I said that if you still feel this way in your thirties, provided you’re still together,” – Shayla smiled at that one – “then it’s okay to really start talking tubals.”
“Hi there.”
Lorella and Shayla glanced further up the street.
“Oh, it’s Denise,” said Lorella with a smile. “She’s our nearest neighbor at a whole eighth of a mile away.”
“Yup, a whole eighth of a mile at least,” said Denise with a smile of her own. “How are you today?”
“I’m fine, and you?”
“Okay.”
Lorella turned to Shayla. “This here is my brother’s girlfriend, Shayla. They’re up visiting today from Klamath Falls.”
Shayla and Denise exchanged greetings and handshakes.
“Out on a nature walk?” Lorella asked.
“Actually, I was coming to see you,” Denise said. “I just thought I’d be friendly and drop by to say hello, but since you’ve got company, I wouldn’t want to intrude.”
“Oh, it’s no intrusion at all. If you can, stopping by around lunchtime during weekdays would be ideal. It’d give me a break from my work.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Lorella and Shayla headed back to the cabin a few minutes later.
“Where were you?” Noelle asked Lorella when she was in the kitchen getting a drink of lemonade, as Shayla was telling Trevor about Denise.
Lorella looked into Noelle’s eyes. What was she seeing? Concern? Anger?
“Not far. We ran into Denise and got to chatting.”
Noelle continued to gaze at her in that odd sort of way that was both penetrating and intimidating.
“Don’t worry,” Lorella said reassuringly. “I’d never go into unfamiliar areas where there’d be a threat of getting lost or anything.”
“Okay,” Noelle said resolutely.
Trevor and Shayla were ready to leave by dinnertime. They hugged Lorella and left for a restaurant they would eat at in a small town called Dairy, which was between the mountain and Klamath Falls, before driving back to Shayla’s place.
“They have excellent barbecued ribs there,” Noelle had assured them. “I’ll have to take Lorella there sometime.”
“Why not come with us in your SUV so you can return here afterward by yourselves?” Shayla asked.
While Noelle hesitated so as not to seem too abrupt and anxious to be rid of their company, Lorella looked at Noelle and said, “It’s up to you.”
“Nah, I think I’ll just kick back and enjoy some of Lorella’s good old-fashioned home cooking tonight,” Noelle said with a smile.
And then it was just the two of them.
They didn’t speak much throughout the spaghetti dinner Lorella had cooked other than when Noelle complimented her on how well it came out. Lorella tried to lighten the gloomy mood that had obviously come over Noelle. “Are you okay?” she finally asked her.
Noelle nodded through a large mouthful of the stringy pasta.
“Trevor and Shayla are nice, aren’t they?”
Noelle swallowed and said, “Yes, Lorella, and remember, I knew your brother before I even knew you.”
“That’s true,” Lorella said, attempting a giggle.
“It’s Denise I’m worried about,” Noelle confessed.
“Denise? What are you worried about her for?”
“Because she’s a woman.”
“So?”
Noelle focused a stern gaze upon her. “Are you really that naïve?”
“I guess I am because I have no idea what you’re getting at.”
“Well, would you want me to hang out with another woman?”
Lorella shrugged, still not understanding. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“For the same reasons a man wouldn’t want his woman hanging with another man.”
“Oh, please!” Lorella said with irritation, putting her fork down with an audible clank.
Noelle looked sharply at Lorella, anger now rising and flushing her face red.
“You’re forgetting something, honey.”
“Oh yeah?” asked Noelle as she dropped her own fork. “And what’s that?”
“You don’t own me. And you know what else?”
Noelle gestured for her to continue, seemingly unfazed by the outburst in which Lorella was trying her hardest, despite her usual calm demeanor, to play up so as to appear firm and like no one to push around.
“It’s a damn shame you can’t trust me as I would trust you, and I’m not staying till the fall. I’ll email Trevor tonight to let him know I want out, and he’ll come and get me till my folks can get a ticket up to me, then I’ll fly away and be history, leaving you free to find someone who will basically drop their entire life and existence for you and be your sex slave while they’re at it.”
Noelle continued to eye Lorella very calmly. Lorella wasn’t sure what to make of it, but it was making her very nervous. The way her ebony eyes blazed suggested she may pounce any moment. Instead, she simply asked if she was through.
Lorella rose from the table and shook her head. “No, we’re through. There’s nothing I hate more than jealousy. It’s a total turn-off for me. Anyone who can’t trust their partner enough to have friends is one seriously insecure person, not to mention the fact that Denise is straight. And even if she weren’t, any person that could try to make a play for me while I was with someone else, not that we’re exactly with each other, isn’t someone I’d care to know.”
Noelle still sat there, elbows on the table, fingers entwined. Finally, she said, “Okay. Okay, you want friends, fine. Have them.” She rose from the table at that point, although Lorella could see that she was still upset.
Tough, Lorella thought to herself. I ain’t giving in to her. I have a right to see other people, and she’ll just have to live with that till I can get out of here. And I’m not going to let her melt my heart and change my mind about splitting with her deliciously skilled hands and tongue either!
Yet late in the night, while the shooting stars were beautifully visible through the loft’s small window, that’s exactly what she did.
Throughout the remainder of the summer, Lorella and Noelle got along extremely well. They were open and forthright with one another. They had lots in common and enjoyed spending time with each other whenever possible. The sex was, as always, adventurous and fulfilling. The only thing Lorella kept from Noelle was the fact that she had become friends with Denise, meeting her during the weekdays when Noelle was at work.
“I hate to do anything behind her back,” she had told Denise, “but I figured that what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.” Therefore, it had been agreed that they would see each other during lunchtime when Denise was around, and that was usually hit or miss.
Lorella had told her upfront that she and Noelle were lesbians, and that if she had a problem with that, she should say so upfront.
Yet Denise had been very open-minded. “Trust me when I tell you that as straight as I am, I haven’t one prejudiced bone in my body. I accept people as they are and expect others to do the same with me. I agree with you about a lot of these bigots that call themselves conservatives, too. No, not all of them are so full of hate, but my mother, I’m sorry to say, is one of those who isn’t very tolerant or accepting of those who aren’t just like herself. I asked her, Mom, why should other people be expected to live their lives a certain way just because of what you believe? But she’s a very stubborn lady, so I try to avoid her at all costs. She’s just so critical and controlling. All she does is nag me to go to church and read the Bible, and I ask why, so I can believe everything is evil and want to tell everyone else that they should believe the same?”
After she briefly told Denise about Madison, she learned that Denise’s husband, Delbert, was twelve years older than her at thirty-seven years of age. “Although I do love him very much, I sometimes wonder if I made a mistake,” Denise admitted. “All he wants to do when he’s home is watch TV, and he’s hardly ever horny. Not very spontaneous or imaginative either.”
“It’s the other way around with Noelle and me,” Lorella told her. “The sex is great, yet that woman can still be one jealous, bossy bitch, and pushy, too. God only knows how she’s going to take it when I leave.”
When Lorella asked Denise if she wanted kids, she said, “Nah, I’m too busy for them. If I really want to get into real estate along with Del, I’ve got to give it my all. Do you want any?”
Lorella shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“Why is that?”
“Life.”
“Life?”
Lorella nodded. “That’s what it all comes down to for me. Living life and enjoying my youth, which means that right now my ambition isn’t to have a houseful of kids with a dog yipping in the backyard. But who knows how I’ll feel in the future? Right now, I’d just really like to build up a substantial business and be your typical money-hungry modern woman.”
“I love my Del. Just wish he had more of an appetite.”
Lorella looked at her quizzically.
“Where I sometimes feel inadequate is when he doesn’t seem so interested in me in the first place. At times, I have to run and look in the mirror just to make sure he hasn’t been seeing some giant, ugly creature that I don’t know exists.”
Lorella laughed. “Well, as much as I prefer brunettes over blonds, I can see you’re anything but fat and ugly, Denise. You’re even skinnier than Noelle, and Noelle’s pretty skinny.”
“She’s got a lot of muscle, your woman. I ain’t got squat,” said the tall, lanky, brown-eyed blond. “Anyway, the sex is also a bit rushed. It’s all foreplay and hardly any sex. I spend a half-hour doing him by hand or orally, and then we screw for all of sixty seconds and we’re done.”
“I hear a lot of women complain that the sex is over before it really starts. It’s almost a pity you’re not gay, though there are some women who are pretty lousy in bed, too. Anyway, it sounds like maybe he’s just a bit lazy. A bit selfish as well, perhaps.”
“He is spoiled. No doubt about that one. Once, I threatened to leave him to test his reaction, and he seemed so indifferent about it. It was like he didn’t care one way or another. He didn’t even make the slightest move to fight for me. It seemed I wasn’t worth it to him, and that really hurt, you know?”
Lorella nodded. “At least he’s smart and reliable, and while I hate to say it, there are so many women out there who wish to hell they had a guy who was so easy to please and not so physically or emotionally needy. Even other women can get to be a bit much. The sex is fabulous with Noelle and me, but sometimes I’ll be trying to work or read or watch TV and she’ll be there bugging me to get it on.”
Denise laughed as Lorella rose from Denise’s porch to head home. “Well, I gotta get a move on it. I want to finish up some work I have to do and tidy up the place before Miss Needy gets home. She’s taking me out to dinner tonight.”
“Ooh,” said Denise with a smile. “Any place special?”
“No, just a nearby diner we sometimes go to.”
“Have fun.”
“We will,” Lorella said, turning to leave. Just the walk down Denise’s drive, then across the road, then up her own drive could be a bit unnerving to her. She watched for pouncing bears or mountain lions, not that she expected to be able to defend herself against them. She had once heard that if you were up against someone or something that was bigger than you, then you needed to be stronger or at least faster. Well, she certainly wasn’t faster or stronger than a bear or a mountain lion, no matter how fit she may be!
Closing the cabin door behind her with relief, she set to work until Noelle arrived.
ns216.73.216.247da2
