Sometime Yesterday (21 page)

Tonight, she would concentrate on Van. After that, or better yet, tomorrow, she would get busy on a list of things to be done and write out in detail what she could remember of her dreams. It would all wait. It had been waiting for years.

She rolled over and tried to push all the dark, racing thoughts out of her mind and just relax. Easier said than done, but in spite of the inner turmoil, she felt herself starting to float easily before she fell asleep.

*

Van pulled her truck in the driveway and laid her head back for a second. Between the scare she’d had with her father and Natalie and her crazy house, she was exhausted. In addition to that, she had meetings with three suppliers today, each of whom tried, unsuccessfully, to raise their prices. She looked at her filthy clothes. Maybe she could grab a shower before dinner. She noticed Natalie’s car on the street. In spite of how tired she was, Van wondered if she could charm Natalie into said shower with her.

Natalie opened the door before she got to the porch. Van stopped to look at her and her breath caught. Her hair was loose around her face and she was wearing a white tank top and cropped yoga pants. Unexpectedly, her throat closed with emotion. She hadn’t had anyone she wanted to come home to for a long time, and she didn’t realize until that very moment how much she had missed it.

Natalie smiled slowly with a small question in her eyes. “Hi,” she said, “I made myself at home like you said. Actually, I’ve slept most of the day.”

Van smiled. “Hey, honey, I’m home.”

Natalie opened the door wider and went out on the porch to hug Van. “How’s your father?”

“Cranky as hell, but well. I’m dirty,” Van said, pulling away from her slightly.

“Okay,” said Natalie and hugged her anyway, burying her nose in her neck. “You smell good.”

“I smell like work.”

“You smell like sunshine baking on naked skin. I love that.”

Van made a purring sound in the back of her throat and pulled her close. “Oh yeah?” She kissed Natalie’s soft neck. “You smell like…mine.”

“What an incredible thing to say. Do you have any idea what you do to me?”

“I hope it’s at least half of what you do to me.” Van looked down at Natalie’s open face, her beautiful eyes heavy with brimming tears. “I hope those are happy tears,” she said, running a finger gently under Natalie’s lower eyelashes.

“What I’m feeling is so big, I don’t know where to put it all.”

“Aw, that’s easy, honey.” Van led her into the house. “Let me show you.”

*

Van started the shower, stood in the bathroom, and stripped. Natalie felt herself flush and immediately felt the heat between her thighs. Her skin tingled in anticipation as she watched Van step under the spray.

Natalie stared at the blurred flesh-colored image through the frosted glass and swallowed. Van peeked out after a second. “Feel like getting wet?” She crooked her finger at Natalie.

Natalie hesitated for a moment then laughed. “I believe, ma’am, that I already am.”

Van grinned wickedly. “Show me. Come here.” She stood aside to give her room to get in.

Natalie quickly took off her clothes then pressed herself against Van’s wet back. When she moaned at the contact, Natalie felt the sound travel straight to her center and she shivered. There it was again, that wonderful surge of sexual power. She reached around Van to get the soap and a scrubby hanging on the wall. Natalie’s breath quickened and her nipples went taut.

The sight of Van standing spread-eagle with her perfectly sculpted arms high on the shower wall, hands flat against the tile was incredibly erotic. She was so beautiful, Natalie could only stop and appreciate her. Van turned to look over her shoulder. “What?”

“You’re perfect.”

Natalie heard Van’s quick intake of breath. “Don’t move.” She lathered the soap, and beginning at Van’s neck, she slid the foam along her skin in long strokes, finally dropping the scrubby because she didn’t want anything between them.

Natalie continued to stroke Van until she heard her strangled gasp when she reached around to caress her breasts, rolling her nipples between her fingers. Natalie moved her own naked and wet body against hers, marveling at how amazing the friction felt.

Van tried to grab her, but she was too slippery. “Uh, huh,” Natalie said. “My turn.” She wasn’t going to let Van distract her. Until this moment, it was always Natalie on her back and on the receiving end.

Natalie got down on one knee, and then the other, keeping her eyes on Van’s. “Let me taste you.” Natalie moaned when she felt Van’s hot flesh pulsate against her lips. She’d hoped she would be good at this, and seeing and feeling Van’s reaction told her she was.

Natalie pressed more hot kisses then let her tongue explore and taste. God, she was so soft. Her hands grabbed Van’s ass to bring her even closer. When she found the rhythm that had Van moaning the loudest and squirming against her tongue and teeth, she doubled her attention and increased the tempo. She dropped one of her hands to the ache screaming between her own legs and stroked herself. Van’s thighs trembled then tightened and Natalie felt her orgasm down to her own core and she came with her, nearly blacking out in the process. Van turned off the water and slid down the wet tiles to sit next to her. Natalie folded her up in her arms and loved feeling the pulse in her neck beat erratically because she knew that she made it happen. It was an amazing feeling. She couldn’t wait to do it again. “Chinese food,” she said.

Van laughed. “We deliver.”

Natalie covered her face in kisses.

*

Later that night, Van lay awake in the dark with Natalie curled next to her, head on her shoulder. She could smell her shampoo and the love they shared. She smiled at the ceiling recalling their lovemaking. Wherever she turned, Natalie was there, wherever she wanted to go, Natalie went with it and then took her there as well. She was proving to be a little sex goddess. As if Natalie could read her thoughts, she sighed and held her tighter. Van’s heart swelled. She had thought she would never know this feeling again. Her thoughts stopped cold, and her body went from relaxed to coiled and tense. She knew this feeling. Van had been in love exactly one time before. Lust, plenty of times, but this, this feeling she knew well. She had worked hard over the years to never even get close to it. Love meant pain, excruciating pain. And loss. And yet, hadn’t the good years been worth it? For the first time in a long while, she could remember the joy that being in love brought.

She searched her heart and yes, incredibly, she had fallen for Natalie. If she was honest with herself, and she usually was, she had known Natalie was different that first night on the beach. Love at first sight she reasoned, and Van was lucky enough to have experienced it twice in her lifetime. She turned Natalie onto her side and curled to spoon behind her. Tomorrow held promises she hadn’t dared to hope for in years.

Natalie was surprised when she woke up refreshed. No dreams or flashbacks during the night to haunt her. She carefully unwound herself from Van’s embrace and pulled a T-shirt over her head while she padded into the kitchen to make coffee.

When she pulled a stool up to the counter, she spotted Van’s bullet list she’d made the other night when they laid out the events that had occurred in her house. Natalie had refused to talk about any of it last night. She put her energy instead to pleasing Van. She felt herself blush when she recalled how many ways she’d found and loved.

Natalie sighed happily. The coffee smelled wonderful.

“Hey.” Van stood in the doorway wearing boxers and a thin ribbed tank. Natalie felt her nerve endings wake up and tingle pleasantly.

“I’m sorry. Did I wake you?”

“No, the bed got cold without you. What are you doing up so early?”

“I’m adding another revelation to our connections. I didn’t tell you about my last experience or even touch on what Sarah wrote in the diary I found in that case.”

“Another one? What happened?” Van kissed the top of Natalie’s head then filled two coffee cups and brought them over. “A diary?”

“I’ll be right back.” Natalie ran back to the bedroom to get Sarah’s book out of her purse. When she returned, she paraphrased the contents for Van then flipped to the last entry. “Richard kept Sarah prisoner in the root cellar. Do you think—”

“Here’s how I see it,” Van interrupted. “I’ve taken the day off. We can beat our heads against the wall trying to solve your mystery, or we can forget this for a while, be normal, and spend the day together doing whatever feels good—without any dead relatives from the past and without poltergeist behavior going on over our heads. What do you think?”

Without waiting for Natalie to answer, Van tossed the book onto the counter then slipped her arm under Natalie’s legs and headed to the back of the house.

Natalie laughed and tried to pull her shirt back over her naked thighs. “Stop it; I’m not wearing any panties.”

Van chuckled. “Even better.”

*

Van came out of the bathroom and felt a wave of tenderness at the sight of Natalie lying sprawled across the top of the bed mumbling into the sheets. “What’s that, sweetheart? I didn’t hear you.” She leaned closer and Natalie sprang, catching her by surprise, and pinned her to the bed.

“Water,” Natalie said. “Need water.” She fell back on her side.

Van went to the kitchen to get her some and when she returned she found Natalie fast asleep. She drew the sheet over her and decided to make them something to eat.

At the doorway she turned for one more look. Natalie took her breath away. Stole it, just like that. Van teetered on the razor edge of panic. What if she lost her? Logic told her it was an old fear, but her heart still cried in the shadows of her grief over those she had loved in the past and lost.

She pulled the bacon from the refrigerator and glanced at the clock. Well, not breakfast time, so she’d make a late brunch. While the bacon was frying she thumbed through Sarah’s diary. Van couldn’t imagine living in those times. She couldn’t understand it at all.

Something kept nagging at her conscious, but every time she tried to focus on the thought and figure out what it was trying to tell her, it slipped away again.

“Smells good in here.”

Van hadn’t heard her get up. Natalie crossed the room to her looking very young with her hair pulled into a high ponytail and wearing Van’s T-shirt again. Natalie’s nipples showed through the thin material and Van reached for her.

Natalie laughed and danced away. “Uh, huh, you have to feed me before ravishing the body again.”

Van smiled. “Ravishing?”

“Don’t you read romance novels? Never mind. How come all women aren’t lesbians?”

Van nearly choked on her coffee and raised an eyebrow.

“I mean, I know I’ve asked before, but is making love
always
like this? I feel kinda ripped off for all the years I’ve wasted. I think at one point this morning, I forgot how to breathe.”

Van thought of the empty sex she’d been accustomed to. “I think that when it’s just physical, it doesn’t touch your soul. It’s like our spirits recognized each other, and making love is our soul’s way of rejoicing.” Van shut her mouth. Where the hell had that come from? She’d never spoken so esoterically in her life.

Natalie put her fork on her plate. “That is, without a doubt, the most wonderful thing that anyone has ever said to me.”

The phone rang, making them both jump.

“Don’t answer it.” Natalie stared at the ringing phone like it was a coiled rattlesnake.

“It might be my dad.” Van reached for the receiver. “Hello?”

Nothing.

“Hello?” Van strained to hear who was on the other end. She wasn’t sure, but it sounded like someone was screaming in the background far, far away. Her heart began to accelerate. “Freak.”

A male voice broke through the static, low and guttural. “Bitch.”

“What did you just say?” She was ready to disconnect when the voice on the other end bellowed so loud she had to hold the receiver from her ear.

“Stop fucking my wife.”

“Who is this?” Van felt as if someone had just thrown ice water in her face.

Silence.

“Hello?” The phone went dead. “Asshole,” Van said and clicked the off button. She looked up and saw the look of absolute horror on Natalie’s face. “Nat? It’s okay, honey. I’m right here.”

“Did he say what I thought he said? Did he say ‘stop effing’ my
wife?
Did I hear that right? Tell me he didn’t say that.”

Van didn’t answer. She had absolutely no idea what she could say to make it better. This situation was so beyond her scope of reality, she couldn’t wrap her mind around it. She was so high on this new relationship she hadn’t really dissected what had happened in Natalie’s house, let alone the fact that the dark man was calling her, and at her home instead of Natalie’s. She tried to be reasonable. “Nat? Do you think that could have been Jason?”

“Who?” A quizzical look crossed her face. “My ex-husband? Oh yeah, him. No, that wouldn’t have been Jason. There is nothing confrontational about him whatsoever. Besides, how would he have gotten your phone number? He’s married to someone else now, remember? This is so…so…I don’t have any words to explain it other than unbelievably unreal. I don’t know how much more of this that I can handle, Van. I really, really don’t.”