“Yeah. I thought Heather might have told you when you all were down in Dallas. Halloween this year . . . I was still having some . . . trust issues. After what happened with . . .”
“Don’t say her name girl,” said Michelle with some grit in her teeth. “Otherwise, I might not be able to stay in a good mood.”
Alice smiled, wondering what would have happened if Michelle had been there after what had happened with Jamie. “Well, Heather and Laurie decided I needed to be able to relate sex and trust again. They knew I trusted them, so . . . well, you can guess the rest.”
Michelle looked pleased. She had worried about how the impressionable young Alice was going to get over what had happened, and apparently her young friends had figured something out.
Alice continued. “It felt so good and it helped a lot, and everything was fine for a while. Then . . . I was the only one who didn’t come visit Jane. I’m the only one who doesn’t have someone in her life. And with you and Freddie and Jane getting exclusive, I keep feeling more like an outsider. Whether anyone means to or not, that’s how I’m feeling. I want what you have, and the waiting is killing me.”
The big woman took Alice in a big hug. “I think you’re a little stronger than you give yourself credit for. You’ll find someone . . .”
“But how?” Alice almost whimpered. “The only time I went out on my own, things turned out like poop.”
Michelle took the young woman’s face in her hands. “Darn you’re hard to reach sometimes,” she said smiling. “You are NINETEEN years old. Some people spend decades findin’ that special someone. I’m almost a decade older than you, and I still make mistakes. I still break down and cry, though Lord I try and stop anyone from seein’ it. I’m not perfect. None of us is. Think about Jane. You know I think the world of her, but she had a king-sized stick up her pretty little ass when I first met her, and she was about what . . . thirty back then? So the next time you think you need to have all the answers, remember that the smartest gal I’ve ever met still didn’t have those answers when she was over ten years your senior. And she’ll be the first to admit she still don’t got all the answers.”
Whether it was the logic of it or just the fact she’d finally gotten to say some of that stuff out loud, Alice was feeling better. Michelle gave the young woman a moment to compose herself before, with no warning, she threw the young woman over her should again and carried her into the house. Alice was feeling good enough that she was even able to crack a small joke.
“You know, you’ve done this so often now I could almost draw an upside-down picture of your butt from memory.”
Michelle carried her into the living room where everyone else had gathered. Jane looked up and scolded Michelle for carrying one of their guests around like a sack of potatoes, then when back to debating the finer points of feminist literature with Heather. Jane’s mother still had Laurie cornered, showing her scrapbook after scrapbook of pictures of her daughter. Apparently Laurie felt obligated to say “She was so CUTE,” for every picture of Jane until she was at least nine, at which point word changed from “cute” to “beautiful.” Marvin was trying to convince Freddie that “such nice young ladies” really should have some guard dogs on the property, and that he knew a Rottweiller breeder of good repute. Freddie assured him they would think about it when they didn’t have to take off for Jane’s medical appointments quite so often. Michelle deposited Alice in one of the loungers before sitting at her feet and inquiring as to the possibility of a shoulder rub. Alice smiled, more than happy to accommodate. They talked about how school was going and about the band. Once the subject of the band came up, Heather and Laurie quickly became distracted, heaping praise on Alice’s songwriting ability. Alice decided that one of the best ways of getting over a little depression was to have people you care about cater to your ego with gratuitous praise.
Finally the night wound down and everyone headed off to bed. Since the heating hadn’t been worked out in the saloon, everyone had to stay in the main house this trip. Jane, Michelle and Freddie went off to their bedroom and Marvin and Pamela went to the most comfortable guestroom. Alice found herself the recipient of one of Laurie’s foot rubs while Heather discussed some song ideas. Eventually, the shy, brown-haired girl fell asleep in the chair. Heather and Laurie smiled at their sleeping friend, covering her with a couple of blankets before they each gave her a kiss on the cheek. Finally, they headed off to bed themselves.
—————- ——–
Christmas Eve . . .
—————- ——–
Alice had regained her composure by the time Christmas was approaching. Strangely, it was Heather who seemed a bit out of sorts. The dark-haired girl had few good memories of that jolly holiday. For her, Christmas was just another day to peel her drunken father off the floor or roll her mother out of bed. If Heather was lucky, she got something her father had picked up at the convenience store on the way home from the bar the previous evening. More than likely, she got a punch upside the head.
But Christmas on the ranch was an entirely different experience. Everyone seemed to be in a state of breathless anticipation. The tree was up and decorated and presents lay in wait underneath. Everyone had agreed to keep gifts under a certain dollar amount so the younger people wouldn’t feel financially inadequate. Heather had been eternally grateful for that. The money she had saved up over the summer, even when combined with her student loans, wouldn’t last forever, and she already planned on looking for a part-time job in the spring to help out.
Heather had struggled to buy gifts for people. Shopping was Laurie’s forte, not hers. She had bought a pen set for Alice, since the girl was constantly writing song ideas. They looked nice and had her name engraved on them. She’d gotten a couple of CD’s by local bands for Freddie and a painting from Art Department’s student exhibit for Jane. She’d found a neat book on restoring antique furniture which she thought Michelle might find useful, and she’d picked up chocolates for Jane’s mother and cinnamon-roasted almonds for Jane’s father. The gift she had picked out for Laurie was so ‘girly’ that Heather almost couldn’t bring herself to give it. She had taken a picture of the two of them together and had it sealed in a locket she had found at a pawnshop. The locket itself wasn’t particularly ornate, but it polished up nicely. Heather was still a bit unused to the idea of sentimental gifts, but for some reason she thought Laurie would like it.
Apparently, Christmas Eve dinner was a big deal in Jane’s family. Jane was actually ejected from her own kitchen by Pamela, who proceeded to cook enough food to feed the entire population of Western Europe. Jane sat out in the den, fuming at being usurped. Michelle and Freddie both enjoyed teasing their lover about the whole situation, particularly when Alice got called in to help out. Mr. Voorhees just watched football, wanting nothing to do with the other proceedings. Heather really wished she could join him, particularly since it looked like the Cowboys were going to get spanked, but she had decided to give Laurie her present that evening rather than waiting for the morning. It seemed the longer she dwelt on the issue, the sillier she felt, so she wanted to just get it over with. When everyone else was distracted, she told Laurie to grab her coat before leading the young woman outside. Laurie snuck her hand into Heather’s as the wandered through the chill of December Texas air.
“I’m so glad we got out of there,” Laurie said. “Those smells were making me so hungry! I could swear someone was making gingerbread cookies or something or maybe sugar cookies . . .”
Heather listened with no small amount of delight to the blonde girl talk for a few minutes about anything that came to her mind without apparently needing to breathe. She was discussing the finer points of green versus red frosting on cupcakes when Heather just cupped the girl’s chin and planted a slow kiss on Laurie’s lips. It was her preferred method for getting her girlfriend to quiet down for a moment.
“Listen,” Heather said, “I was hoping to do something now rather than wait until tomorrow.”
“Cool,” was Laurie’s reply as she unbuttoned her jacket and reached to pull her shirt out of her pants. Then something crossed her mind. “Wait. You weren’t talking about sex were you?”
Heather had to hide a smile behind her hand. “Not this time. Though we might want to discuss that later.” Laurie sighed and buttoned her coat back up as Heather continued. “I’m not really good at this gift stuff, so I kind of wanted to give you yours now.” She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the small, neatly wrapped package. “You know, so you can be disappointed in private and everything . . .”
Laurie had stopped paying attention and had greedily snatched the parcel from Heather’s hand. “I’m sure I’ll love it,” she said in that voice that indicated that she would at least pretend to like it. She ripped the paper off and opened the little box. “It’s beautiful,” she murmured, and she didn’t even sound facetious. “Is this a clasp? What’s in . .?” Laurie’s eyes opened wide and started to glisten. Then she started shifting her weight rapidly from foot to foot while fanning her face with one hand. “It’s us! It’s a picture of us combined with jewelry! It’s ‘us’ jewelry!”
Heather wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but Laurie seemed to be inordinately pleased with this particular bauble. “I wish I could have gotten you something a little more upscale but . . .”