Just This Once (19 page)

Wynne felt a little guilty at her mother’s questions, and vowed to come clean eventually;

but for now, she kept to herself the purpose of her frequent visits. The sight of the moving van as she pulled into the complex today made her spirits soar, but it was the white sedan in the garage instead of the green Miata, and that worried her more than a little. It might mean that Paula hold sold the place or was renting it again, but her familiarity with this new woman in the white car was unmistakable. Was it possible that the two were moving in together? That was certainly disconcerting.

———

“Look at all you’ve done!” Paula was ecstatic to walk in and find her furniture in place, the kitchen and baths set up, and both of her beds dressed in crisp clean sheets. The closet by the entryway held a stack of cardboard boxes, broken down flat for the recycle bin.

“I didn’t know what you wanted to do with all your books and pictures, so I left them in their boxes on the porch. Oh, and I hate to tell you this, but everything you own needs to be ironed.” Maxine McKenzie was sprawled on the couch, the red-stained plate nearby a telltale sign of the pizza she had ordered.

“Mom, I can’t believe you did all this. You must have worked all day.”

“Not all day. The truck didn’t get here until about two o’clock.”

“What did you do all morning?”

“I scrubbed the bathrooms and the kitchen…swept out the garage. Oh, and I cleaned all the windows.”

“You’re kidding! And I thought I had a rough day!” Paula had worked a double shift, filling in as promised in the Senior Shift Manager post while the new hire settled in. “You get to name your reward.”

“You mean that?”

“Anything you like. You want a professional massage? A manicure and a pedicure? Name it.”

“Okay. What I want is for you to start living more of your life away from that hotel.”

Paula looked at her mother perplexed. “You mean not work as much?”

“Yes, but more than just not being there. Now that you’re working on the day shift — at least as soon as you get through this temporary duty — I’d like to see you start having more fun, start doing things with friends, maybe even meet somebody.”

“From your lips to God’s ears, Mom,” Paula said sincerely.

Maxine sat up, surprised at her daughter’s easy agreement. “Really?”

“Yeah, really. I’ve been thinking about it a lot.” The younger woman kicked off her shoes and sat down in her favorite chair, tucking a foot underneath her. It was almost midnight and both of them were beat, but ever since the talk they’d had when she’d come back for Rusty’s wedding, Paula realized that she really wanted to start sharing more of her personal life with her family. It felt good to be able to connect with her mom this way, and she liked to think that when she did meet somebody special, they’d be happy for her.

“I’m going to make a real effort to get out and meet people.”

“Do you have a lot of…women friends?” Maxine meant
lesbian
friends.

“No, but I think the most important thing is just to make friends — all kinds of friends. Eventually you start to meet people here and there who you have things in common with, and then you meet their friends, and their friends, and so on. But I’m serious, Mom. I’m not going to live every minute of my life for the Weller Regent. This last year has really taught me the consequences of not having a life outside of work.”

Her mother smiled. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear that, honey. I guess all parents want to see their kids happy, but I’ve been a little selfish about that. I’ve wanted to see you happy with somebody, not just at work. Your dad and I are really proud of what you’ve accomplished at the Weller Regent, but it would pale next to seeing you in love with somebody.”

For some reason, Paula blushed as she thought about of being in love. Clearly, she had further to go with feeling completely comfortable talking about this stuff with her mom, but it was sort of freeing in a way. That said, she hoped her mother would never ask about her sex life.

“We should go to bed. Don’t you have to be at work early?”

“My shift starts at seven,” Paula answered, standing wearily. “I really appreciate everything you did today. You should sleep in tomorrow, okay? I’ll come down and pick up Slayer after work.”

“I might take you up on the sleeping in part, but don’t worry about Slayer. He can stay with us as long you need.”

“But I’ll miss him, and besides, he’ll be excited to get back to his old haunts. I bet the lizards line up on the window to see him. They’ll all be fat, though, because they haven’t had any exercise in a year.”

———

The white car was gone today. A green Miata with Colorado tags sat in the open garage, and Wynne caught a glimpse from afar of a petite blonde woman lugging flattened cardboard boxes across the parking area to the recycle bin. After one more trip, she backed out of the garage and was gone.

“What do you keep watching out there?” Janelle asked.

“Just…somebody moving in.”

“Somebody in particular?” Kitty walked into the living room, now interested in her oldest daughter’s answer. Since that day at the pool, she too had noticed that Wynne was keeping a watchful eye on the goings-on at the end unit of the first building.

Lying to and about Paula McKenzie had already caused her enough problems. Wynne knew she should just come clean. If she were going to try to pull the hotel manager back into her life, everything needed to be in the light of day.

“Yeah, it’s somebody I know,” she confessed. “You remember when we first looked at this place I told you that I knew someone who used to live here?”

Kitty nodded.

“That’s who it is. She moved to Denver right after I got the job here, but I guess she held on to her place. Then I read that she’d been promoted and was coming back.”

“Is she a friend of yours?” her mother asked.

Wynne sighed. “She used to be. But I…screwed things up.”

If Kitty was surprised at this, she didn’t show it. “Why don’t you tell me about her?”

Pulling a chair up to the window, she waited for the details. She didn’t want the glossedover version.

“Okay, her name is Paula McKenzie and she works downtown at the Weller Regent. That’s where I used to stay when I was coming back and forth. We got to be friends and we…went out a few times.” Hopefully, her mother wouldn’t press for more than that.

“So what happened?”

What exactly did happen? “We just…. What happened was that I didn’t really expect to have the feelings that I had, or for her to feel the way she did about me. It started as something casual and it took off.”

“Isn’t that what you wanted to happen?” she asked, not yet getting the picture.

“Well, there was Heather…,” as if that explained it.

“Oh,” Kitty said simply, as she started to comprehend. “So this was going on while you and Heather were still…together.” Her tone was one of understanding, not judgment.

“Yeah,” the dark-haired woman confessed, not quite believing that she was having this kind of conversation with her mom. “But then when I found out about the VP job, I realized that I’d screwed up by not being more upfront about my situation. It wouldn’t have mattered if we’d kept things on just a friendship level, but we didn’t.”

“Why was that was a problem? You split up with Heather before you moved down here.”

Wynne shifted uncomfortably. “That’s right, but the things between Paula and me happened when I was coming down here, when I was still living with Heather. They didn’t know about each other. Before I got the job offer, I never figured we really had any possibility of making anything out of it, so I just didn’t see the point. But then she called the house one night and Heather answered the phone….”

“And that ruined everything,” Kitty finished.

“Well, it was certainly the last nail in the coffin. I’d already made up my mind that I had to tell her, sort of no matter what happened, but I was hoping that we could find a way to maybe step back and start over. But when she found out on her own, things just sort of fell apart, and the next thing I knew, she’d moved to Denver.”

The two women sat quietly in the living room, both reveling somewhat at the unusual closeness they felt. The last time they’d had a heartfelt conversation like this was when Kitty had asked her daughter if she’d done something to cause such a problem for Heather. Wynne had tried to explain away her lover’s rudeness as a product of her upbringing, but in the end, she’d conceded that there was no legitimate reason for Heather to treat her family that way. But she’d assured her mother that Heather would never come between them.

“So does the fact that you’re watching her again mean that you’re still interested?”

Wynne nodded solemnly. “It’s been a year and I haven’t really been able to get her out of my mind…or to stop kicking myself.”

———

“I can’t believe how out of shape I am,” Val wheezed as they rounded the final turn and headed back toward Paula’s condo.

“You and me both. This air seems so heavy,” the blonde woman complained, out of practice with running in the heat and humidity. She’d gotten used to Denver’s mile-high climate, even though that meant running indoors on a treadmill for much of the winter.

“You sure you don’t want to go back to the night shift? It would be better for my health and body image.”

“Not a chance. This is what I’ve been working toward for 11 years.”

“Yeah, I envy you. But I guess as long as I stay in the sports bar business, I’m never going to get to have a normal life.”

“Then switch jobs,” Paula advised, puffing as her tired feet continued to pound the paved jogging trail.

“Easy to say, but what would I do?”

“Are you kidding? You could manage a restaurant anywhere in town. You might not make as much to start as you do at Flanagan’s but you’d get to have friends, and go out at night. What’s the point of making all that money if you can’t ever do the things you want to do?”

“I really like Flanagan’s, though.”

“Yeah, I know, and I like the Weller Regent. But I’m not going to let it take center stage any more. I want more out of life than just a good job.”

“Yeah, me too, I guess. Turning 30 really made me start thinking about it more.”

“You could always wait like I did until you start pushing 35, but then you’d have lost another five years with nothing to show for it.” The women reached the end of the path, where they both gratefully stopped, bending over with their hands on their knees. “You want to come up for a drink?”

“No, I have to go. Some of us still have to work Saturdays,” Val groused.

“You really ought to think about finding something new. Did I tell you that I joined a women’s volleyball league?” That was in fact Paula’s first step at creating a social life.

“Yeah, that’s cool.” Val held her car door open a moment before getting in to allow cooler air to circulate inside. “So when do we get to do this again?”

“I’m off tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday. Then I work 10 days in a row. It’s going to be hard to get on a schedule to work out together, unless you can come over on the nights you’re off.”

“We’ll see. I’ve really missed seeing your red face nearly every day.”

“I’ve missed you too, Val. I’d give you a mushy hug, but you’re all sweaty,” she laughed, making a face.

“Call me.”

“You got it. Maybe I’ll stop by Flanagan’s some night.”

“Do that. Your drinks are on the house.”

Paula wearily climbed the stairs and entered her condo. A shower would feel great, but first she needed something cold to drink. Had she not stopped in the kitchen, she’d have missed the small knock on the door.

“Forget something?” she called as she returned to the entry. The sight of Wynne Connelly nearly stole her breath.

“Hi.”

“Wynne.” It was all she could say as the shock registered. The long-legged beauty stood before her, looking tanned and relaxed in shorts and a white sleeveless top.

“I, uh, moved here to Orlando while you were gone,” she began. “And I read in the paper last week that you were back at the Weller Regent.”

“You moved here?” This was unbelievable.

“Yeah, right about the time you left. Eldon-Markoff made me an assistant VP,” she explained. Wynne had hoped for an invitation to come in but it was not forthcoming.

Either she had underestimated Paula’s anger toward her, or the blonde woman still wasn’t fully convinced that what she was seeing was real.

“This is…I don’t know what it is.”

“It’s good to see you again. Really good.”

“Wynne, I….”

“Anyway, the reason I stopped by was to make sure you knew about this.” From the pocket of her shorts, the tall woman pulled a folded blue flyer announcing a Labor Day picnic next weekend for those living in the condo complex.

“You live here?” This conversation was growing more bizarre by the minute.

“No, I live across the highway, in a house off Terrell Drive. But my mom lives here…right over there in Building 4,” she pointed to the building nearest the community pool.

The stunned look on Paula’s red sweaty face was priceless.

“She moved down here last March, and I thought she would like it here,” she continued.

“She does. She likes it very much. So I was hoping that you were planning on coming to the picnic so you can meet her, now that she’s your new neighbor.”

Paula took the flyer and studied it. She had gotten one in her mailbox and made a mental note to put in an appearance, even if only for a few minutes; Labor Day was usually a day for family things in Cocoa Beach. “I, uh…I think I have other plans.”

“Well, I understand. But I hope you’ll reconsider. I’d really like for my mother to meet you.” On that note, the blue-eyed woman smiled and turned back toward the stairs. “And it’s really good to see you again,” she called as she slowly descended.

Finally assured that she wasn’t hallucinating, Paula watched as Wynne made her way back to her mother’s building. Her limp was much better, and she looked fabulous.

Chapter 16

Wynne scanned the complex anxiously as she waited to see if Paula would show. She’d seen the blonde woman from afar a couple of times in the evening as she went in and out of the condominium’s fitness facility, then onto the jogging trail that circled the adjacent golf course.