The Summer of Our Discontent (15 page)

Faith always enjoyed the playful banter with her fellow firefighters, and Rachel threw quite a few good zingers. What was really nice was having someone who related to her life to talk to. She had some lesbian friends in towns close to Michaud, but they all worked weekday jobs. When they were able to do something, Faith was on shift, and vice versa. It was hard to maintain those friendships and chat on a regular basis. Rachel surprisingly was even better to talk to because they worked in related fields.

It was getting harder to keep her guard up around Rachel. Trust seeped in like water into a leaky boat. Faith watched as she napped and wondered if the things she’d already revealed would be kept between them. As of late, her only confidant was Patty, but her sister, open-minded as she was, didn’t always understand the complexities that sometimes arose in relationships between women. Patty viewed it as simple and easy because she believed that two women could always relate. But for Faith, that was seldom the case. Rachel seemed to understand where she was coming from, and it made Faith want to open up all the more.

Rachel stirred and sneezed.

“Bless you.”

Rachel blinked and looked around. “Was I out long?”

“Just a few minutes. I have an eye on the kids, take your nap.”

Rachel pulled the back of the chair up. “I won’t sleep tonight if I do.”

“Good, you can keep me company.” Faith pulled her chair closer and glanced at the group beneath the pavilion. “They scare me with all their coupons and lady magazines. It’s unnatural.”

Rachel shivered and laughed. “They ought not do that in public. There are a lot of impressionable children out here.”

“Have any of the women you dated accused you of acting more like a man than a woman?”

Both of Rachel’s brows shot up. “Yes, did Kaycee tell you that, too?”

“No,” Faith said with a laugh and shrugged. “I’ve heard it a few times, too.” She nodded toward the rest of the chaperones. “I’ve never fit into a group like that, and I never wanted to. My sister would be right in the middle of them. She gets really excited about the latest fashions. I get excited about lawn equipment.”

“I think it has less to do with our interest in mechanical things than the way we cope with things. Again, I think part of that is the job. I have wants and needs like any other woman, but I’m more apt to just say it.
Cyn
used to pick fights or have these big emotional upheavals and make me try to guess what she was getting at. She just wanted my attention, and instead of saying that, she pitched a fit. The more she did that, the more I pulled away. Not all women are like her, though. Corey, Chance’s wife, is very blunt. She’ll grab a magazine out of his hands and say something like, ‘Take me to the movies.’ He says when it comes to sex, she doesn’t know the meaning of subtle.”

Faith laughed. “She has a husband and three boys. She’s adapted to her environment.”

“I take it you’re not the sparring type, either, when it comes to relationships.”

“If I want fire, I prefer it to be between the sheets.”

Rachel wrinkled her nose. “It’s all about sex for you, isn’t it?”

Faith shrugged. “I communicate better then. Action speaks louder than words to me. Are you going to tell me that it isn’t important to you to?”

“No, but if a woman wants to hold my interest in the bedroom, she’s gonna have to make me want to be there in the first place. Constant bitching at me for all the things she thinks I don’t do kills my libido.”

“What’re those things?” Faith asked curiously.

Rachel pursed her lips and looked out at the water. “Talk,
Cyn
complained that I didn’t express my emotions verbally enough. I thought I was, though. Maybe I didn’t gush over her every five minutes, but I thought taking care of her showed more than I could say. I cooked, took care of the house and yard, bought her anything she wanted. That was all fine and dandy until I got pregnant and had Kaycee. I needed her then, and that was too much for her.”

“Then she wasn’t worthy of you.” Faith stretched out her legs with a groan. “I’m curious, why were you the one that got knocked up? I mean, it sounds like you were in the provider role.”

“She couldn’t conceive. We nearly went broke trying. It’s not cheap to purchase and plant that stuff. I got pregnant the first try. It was like it was just meant to be, and looking back on it, I know it was.” Rachel smiled as she looked at Kaycee splashing around with Sophie. “I wanted the experience, to feel those first kicks,” she said wistfully. The smile dropped from her face. “The labor sucked, though. I know women have children all the time, but when they put Kaycee in my arms, it truly felt like a miracle.”

“I would’ve loved to have had a dozen kids.” Faith held up a hand. “Okay, maybe
not’ve
given birth to all of them. I see the people I work with and their kids. I know it’s not easy, but teaching them to play ball and ride a bike for the first time…” Faith sighed. “It’s probably for the best I didn’t have any. They’d all be covered in bubble wrap. I can handle all sorts of medical calls at work, but when Sophie skins a knee, I’m deeply traumatized.”

“You’re good with kids. You’d probably be a great parent. Although, seeing a dozen miniature versions of you would be
kinda
scary. The entire town of Michaud would probably be destroyed.”

“Ass,” Faith said with a laugh. “
Kaycee’s
a great kid, despite the fact that
you
hatched her. She’s so damn funny the way she gestures with her hands when she talks. Oh, and the day she imitated you when you’re mad had me in stitches. She looked just like you, little lips all thinned out and that brow furrowed.”

“You feel like another swim, Faith? You’re about to take one,” Rachel said with a playful warning tone.

Chapter Nineteen

A warm late afternoon breeze blew over Rachel’s skin as she watched the girls play kickball. Faith was right in the middle of them coaching both teams. Rachel smiled at the way the kids looked at her with total admiration and did their best to do anything she told them. Kaycee seemed to be especially taken with her. When Faith mopped sweat from her brow or tugged on the leg of her shorts when they crept up, Kaycee did the same.

“You can’t play football with a kickball, unless you mean soccer,” Rachel heard Faith say as the girls swarmed around her already bored with the game. “Oh, no, I’d mop the field with your little bodies. I’d run you down and step on your little butts.”

Kaycee said something to Faith, and they all turned and looked at Rachel. The expression on Faith’s face was so diabolical that Rachel swore she could see horns start to sprout on her forehead. “Whatever it is, the answer is no,” Rachel called out.

Kaycee came running over to where she sat. “Momma, we wanna learn how to play football. Ms. Aunt Faith said she’d teach us if you play quarterback.”

“Baby, she just wants an excuse to run over me and step on my butt.”

“Momma, come on, please. You can step on her butt, too.”

It was sound reasoning and enticing. Rachel rose to her feet and the challenge. “What’re the rules, Leblanc?”

“It’s touch, except when the quarterbacks have the ball, they can be tackled.” Faith’s grin was impish. “You and I will play those positions. First, we pick our teams. I draw first.” She grabbed June by the shirt and pulled her close.

June’s grin was huge; it was probably the only time she’d ever been picked first for any team. Rachel frowned. “I was gonna pick June, she looks tough. All right then, let me see who I want.”

Kaycee moved close to Faith. “Don’t pick me, Momma, I wanna play on Ms. Aunt Faith’s team.”

Rachel put a hand over her heart. “My own daughter? I’m so wounded.”

“I’ll play with you,” Sophie offered as she went to Rachel’s side.

The children were quickly divided up, and the team captains began to teach them about the positions they had been assigned to. After a mild debate, it was decided that Rachel’s team would kick off first. Candace, who was known for home runs in kickball, launched the ball deep into the field, and the game was on.

“Okay, remember when you’re blocking, just keep your hands low so no one gets poked in the eye,” Rachel said as her girls lined up against Faith’s.

June was the center and rolled the ball to Faith when she called for it. The first handoff earned them three inches. The second play was a fake handoff, and Faith tried to gain a few yards, but Rachel’s girls and even a few from Faith’s own team climbed her like a pack of wild cats and brought her down.

“June, are you making mean eyes at me?” Rachel teased.

“Yes, ma’am. It’s my job,” she said seriously. “Ms. Faith says I’m supposed to look like a bad dog.”

On the third play, Faith poured on the steam and tried to get the ball down the field. With great relish, Rachel intercepted her, and they went down, grass and dirt flying. Both teams piled on top of them screaming and laughing.

“Your ball, consider this my punt,” Faith said as she handed Rachel the ball when the pack finally broke up.

“If you look really closely at the back of my feet, there are little wings sticking out,” Rachel taunted. “You won’t catch me.”

“Yeah, well, I chewed your wings off just now when your feet were in my face.” Faith pretended to spit and called her team to huddle when Rachel’s did. “All right, go for the lanky leprechaun the minute she gets the ball. Take her down.”

“Who’re you talking about?” Kaycee whispered.

“Your momma.” Faith tweaked her nose. “No offense, this is just game talk.”

Rachel didn’t have a whole lot of confidence in her offensive line. One was digging her shorts out of the crack of her butt, a couple were dancing, and one was turned the opposite direction. When Candace rolled the ball to her, Faith’s team came through like a pack of lions, and Kaycee led the charge. Even though she’d handed the ball off, a wave of girls hit her and took her to the ground.

“I guess your wings got clipped,” Faith shouted as she did a little dance.

Rachel laughed and pointed down the field. “Touchdown.”

Kennedy Galloway was still running with the ball and didn’t stop until she reached the mess hall.

“You missed the dinner bell, girls,” Keely said as she clapped her hands. “Go wash up, it’s time to eat. Leblanc, peel your partner in crime off the ground and chat with me a moment, won’t you?” She waited until Faith pulled Rachel up to speak. “I’m really proud of you two for getting along, even though you’ve organized a way to maim each other in a friendly manner. But here’s the deal, I’m paying a crap load of money in insurance premiums on this place. I can’t afford to have the girls play a full contact sport that will result in injuries.”

“We weren’t playing full on,” Faith argued.

“Leblanc, I watched Chauvin steamroll you. And I now have half a dozen little girls spitting all over the place. Which one of you taught them that?” Keely eyed them both.

“I don’t spit.” Rachel held her hands up.

Faith rolled her eyes. “I was pretending to spit out Rachel’s wings.”

“Okay,” Keely waved a hand, “I don’t even want to know what that means. No football, no spitting, and stop rolling around in the grass together. If you two want to get all touchy-feely, please do that at home. Don’t look at me like that, Leblanc. This isn’t an antigay thing. If a man and woman were body slamming each other into the ground, I’d put a stop to that, too.” Keely turned on one heel. “Play nice,” she said as she walked away.

Rachel put a hand on her hip. “Did she just accuse us of groping each other? Because I totally trounced your ass. There was nothing sensual about that.”

“That’s
kinda
what it sounded like. Touchy-feely. She’s obviously never played football before.”

Rachel shrugged. “I did feel your ass. It landed in the pit of my stomach when I took you down.”