Lesbian Stepmother (19 page)

“It’s her. She’s here.”

“Jesus, dad, relax. We were expecting her,
remember?”

He released the drapes and backed up, rubbing his hands
together. You’d have thought he was a teenager preparing for
his first date. No wonder I was such a mess. He glanced at me,
tugging at his chin. “I think I’ll have a little drink.
A real one.”

I know he kept a bottle of scotch in the cabinet above
the refrigerator. He rarely touched the stuff, but he did imbibe
every so often. I think he went through a fifth every two or three
years. “That’s probably a good idea.”

He nodded and then unlocked the front door. He opened
it before Susan had a chance to knock or ring the bell; there was
just no way he could wait that long.

He smiled as he greeted her. “Susan! Hi!”
He held the door open wide, a cold gust of January air blowing into
the room.

As I watched, a woman appeared in the doorway. My
father moved aside to allow her to enter, and she stepped up and into
the living room, her blonde hair blowing around her head. “Hi,
Jeffrey. Nice to see you.” She was carrying several dishes,
all of them covered in aluminum foil. She took a moment to kiss his
cheek and then she was right there in the room, trying to pull the
hair out of her face with one hand as she looked around.

My father closed the door, cutting off the wind. “Come
on in. Let me take those.” He hoisted the dishes out of her
hands and stepped off to one side. “Susan, this is my
daughter, Amy.”

Still trying to fix her hair, Susan turned and looked
at me. I was almost stunned when I saw her. I had been expecting
someone rather unattractive and maybe even ugly. At the very least,
someone with an obvious physical impairment. I’m not sure why;
like I said earlier, my father was a relatively handsome man. But he
was odd, too. Whatever the reason I had thought what I did, I
couldn’t have been more wrong. Susan was beautiful.

“Hi, Amy. It’s so glad to finally meet
you.” She smiled at me, showing off her perfect teeth. My
father had said she was a few years younger than him, but she looked
to be almost a decade younger. I’d be amazed if she was a day
over 30, and she could have easily passed for 27. Her face was
lovely, almost shaped like a heart with a cute little tapered chin.
As she removed her overcoat, I could see that she was also very trim
and shapely. She looked so good that it caused me to freeze up
momentarily, unsure of what to say or how to act. I think what
struck me the most were her eyes. Her eyes were a pure, icy blue.
They were the same color as Dianne’s eyes.

“Hi,” I finally managed. I tried to smile,
but I’m not sure if it worked. “It’s nice to meet
you, too.”

As my father hurried into the kitchen with the food,
muttering to himself about how hot the plates were, Susan draped her
coat over one arm and reached out a hand for me to shake. “I’ve
heard a lot about you.” She was wearing a silky white
button-down shirt and black slacks, and she had furry snow boots on
her feet. She was gorgeous; there was no way in hell this was my
father’s girlfriend.

I reached up and took hold of her hand. It was cool
and soft, the nails painted a pale pink. “I haven’t
heard much about you,” I admitted. “But I’m
looking forward to getting to know you.”

She smiled brightly at my words. “Oh, that’s
so sweet! You’re father told me you were a very amiable
person. I see now he wasn’t exaggerating.”

I liked her right away. The only problem was, I liked
her a little too much. I knew I’d have to be careful around
her, or I’d end up doing or saying something stupid. I
shrugged, feeling slightly embarrassed. “He said amiable?”

She giggled, causing my heart to flutter. “No,
that was my word. I believe he said polite and gracious.”

I nodded. “That sounds a little more like him.
Would you like me to take your coat?”

Susan looked around for a place to put it. There were
no coat racks or anything; my father hung his on a little hook off to
the side of the front door, and I kept mine in my room. When she saw
the empty rocking chair she motioned to it. “May I just set it
on the chair?”

“Of course. That’s fine.”

I watched her fold it carefully and set it gently on
the seat. It was a lovely coat; I recognized it as a belted white
faux fur Shearling. It went wonderfully with her hair and her furry
boots. She set it down and then looked around again, taking a
hesitant step toward the couch.

“Please, sit down,” I told her. The couch
was full sized, and I was scrunched off to one side of it. There was
plenty of room.

“Thank you.” She smiled at me again and
took a seat, setting her small white purse on the coffee table.

Just then my father appeared in the doorway, rubbing
his head. “Um... I’m not sure what you want to do about
dinner. Shall I get it set up now, or should we wait?”

“I guess we could eat now, if you’re
hungry,” Susan answered. “That way nothing will need to
be reheated.”

My father nodded. “Okay, good. I’ll get
it ready.”

“Do you want help?”

“No. Just relax. It’ll just take a couple
of minutes.” He disappeared back into the kitchen.

Susan sighed and settled back on the couch. She turned
her head and looked at me. “It’s a very nice home you’ve
got here. So cozy.”

“Thank you.” She was wearing a very subtle
perfume, and I found it to be very alluring. I wanted to sit closer
to her, but for all the wrong reasons. I felt very confused about
this sudden development, and wasn’t sure what to say or how to
act. If she’d been a homely old cow it would have made things
much easier, although certainly not as interesting.

She saw the book I was holding and smiled again. “Wow,
I haven’t seen that book in years.”

It surprised me that she’d ever seen it. It was
very obscure, and I was really enjoying it. “You’ve read
it?”

“I think I’ve read it three times. Have
you read his first book? Journey?”

“No. Not yet, anyway. But I’d certainly
like to. I love this one.”

“It’s wonderful. Did you meet Courtial
yet?”

It took me a moment to realize she was referring to a
character in the book. “No. Not yet. I’m not even
halfway done.”

“Oh, there’s a lot of good stuff coming
up.”

It impressed me that she’d read the book. It
also caused me to wonder further why she was interested in my father.
She seemed far too good for him somehow. Maybe I just wasn’t
giving him enough credit. “Did you read it in high school?”

“No. I didn’t discover it until college.
It wasn’t an assignment, it was just something I found on my
own.”

“Where did you go to college?”

“Rutgers.”

“Did you like it?”

“Some of it, sure. Not all of it. I was taking
eighteen credits a semester, and working twenty hours a week, so it
was kind of rough. I think I went two whole years without sleeping
more than four hours a night.”

The thought of it made me cringe. “I was
thinking about Rutgers. Or maybe Brown.”

She nodded thoughtfully. She looked so adorable I
wanted to scoot up next to her and put my arm around her. “I
suppose it depends on what you’re going for. What’s your
major?”

I smiled. “Watching TV and reading.”

She laughed. Her laugh was as beautiful as the rest of
her. It actually made me feel tingly, and a sudden wave of sadness
washed over me that Susan was almost twice my age. If only I knew
someone like her my own age, or if only Dianne hadn’t moved
away. Sitting beside her I began to feel even lonelier than I had
before. “Well, you’re in your final year of high school,
correct?”

“Yes.”

“I guess it’s about time to make those
tough decisions. If you really want to start college in the fall,
you’ll want to start applying as soon as possible.”

She was right. My father had never even brought it up.
I hadn’t either. I was just sliding downhill and he wasn’t
paying any attention. It occurred to me that Susan might be a very
good influence on both of us. “What did you go for? If you
don’t mind my asking?”

“I don’t mind at all. I went for business
administration. I can’t say it paid off very well, but I did
get a degree.”

“Are you working in your field?”

She frowned. “No. I was, years ago. I was
doing quite well until the economy went into a tailspin. Then I lost
my job, and was unemployed for a couple of years. I finally ended up
taking a job where your father works, but it’s...” She
shrugged. “Not what I really want to be doing. And it’s
only part time.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” I really
was. It hurt me to know that she’d lost what she’d
worked for. I felt certain she didn’t deserve it.

“You’re a very nice young lady.”

“Most people don’t seem to think so.”

“Really?” She seemed genuinely surprised
by my response.

I was going to say something else, but then my father
was calling us from the kitchen.

“Sounds like he’s ready for us,”
Susan said.

I nodded. We both stood up and made our way into the
kitchen.

* * *

Dinner was a vegetable lasagna, a large tossed salad
and garlic bread. It was delicious, and I ended up eating much more
than I usually do. My father seemed to love it, too, as did Susan
herself. The three of us polished off the entire thing, leaving not
a crumb uneaten.

No one said much during the actual meal because of the
focus we all had on the food itself. My father and Susan made a few
little attempts at small talk, mostly work related, but none of it
seemed to want to go anywhere. It didn’t appear to me that
they were all that close or fond of each other. Of course, it’s
hard to judge a relationship based on fifteen minutes, but that was
my impression.

I was drinking a diet soda, as was Susan. My father
had a glass of iced tea and a small glass of scotch. He’d
offered some to Susan, but she declined. He took occasional little
sips, as if it were medicine, which for him I suppose it was.

We sat around for a few minutes, sipping our drinks and
feeling sightly awkward. Then Susan tried to lighten the mood.

“Too bad I didn’t bring any dessert,”
she said. “I never even thought about it.”

“I couldn’t eat another bite,” I told
her truthfully. “But dinner was delicious. Thank you very
much for making it.”

“Yes, thank you,” my father chimed in.

Susan smiled at the comments. “You’re
welcome. I’m glad you liked it.”

“I don’t think there’s any doubt
about that,” my father said.

We looked at all the empty plates and dishes and Susan
giggled. “No, I guess not.”

After that, everyone got quiet again and for some
reason it occurred to me to suggest playing cards. It was something
Dianne had taught me, and I hadn’t had a chance to play with
anyone since she’d left.

“You mean, poker?” my father asked.

“Poker, or blackjack. Anything.” I was
just trying to be social with Susan there, instead of slinking off to
my room.

“I don’t know,” he said, pulling at
his chin. “I still have a lot of work to do...”

“It sounds fun to me,” Susan said.

It made me happy when she said that. She could have
easily blown me off and sided with my father, making some excuse why
she had to get going. By saying it sounded fun, it made me think she
actually liked me and liked the idea of spending some time together.

“Jeez, I don’t know,” my father
complained. “Poker?”

“It doesn’t really matter what game,”
I said. “I just thought it might be fun. Since we’re
all sitting here anyway.”

“I say we give it a try,” Susan said. “I
haven’t played cards in years.” She smiled at me. “As
long as we’re not playing for money.”

It was finally agreed on that we would give it a try,
and I went to get my deck of cards while they cleaned the dishes off
the table. We all refreshed our drinks, and Susan accepted my
father’s offer of a small glass of scotch. I would have liked
a glass, too, but none was offered to me and I didn’t think it
was a good idea to ask.

For the next half hour we played five card stud, taking
turns dealing. Susan knew how to play, but my father had to be
constantly helped along, and really bogged things down. I kept score
on a little pad of paper for some reason, even though it didn’t
really matter who won. Eventually we reached the point where my
father simply didn’t want to play anymore and began muttering
about all the work he had to do.

That was fine with me. It was impossible to have a
conversation with Susan anyway, with him and his never-ending
inquiries regarding what he should do next with the cards that he’d
been dealt.