Chapter Ten
August 2024
“I still can’t believe you’re getting married,” Dani said. She was leaning on the wing and staring down through the engine at Caz.
“Well, I can’t believe I got you a job here and you haven’t fucked it up, but we live and learn,” Caz said sarcastically, but with a grin on her face.
“I know.” Dani grinned back. “But…still—you, married…I just can’t imagine it.”
“Why not?” Caz asked. “Pass the ten, will you.”
Dani leaned across to the toolbox and found the relevant wrench. “This one?”
Caz peered up. “Yep.” She squeezed her fingers through the gap and caught it when Dani dropped it.
“Because…it’s Grace.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“She’s like the straightest person I’ve ever met,” Dani laughed, “and she fancies you? Even after knowing you all these years?”
Caz rolled out until her head and shoulders were clear and she could properly frown at Dani. “Sometimes people just love each other; nothing to do with labels or sexuality. And anyway, maybe Grace is pansexual and my being a woman doesn’t make any difference.”
“But she’s never dated a woman before, has she?”
“Does it matter? Is there a time limit on when anyone can do something by?” Caz grabbed a screwdriver and pushed herself back under. “Anyway, she’s been dating me, as you well know.”
Dani shrugged. “I’m just curious…what’s she like?”
“What do you mean, ‘what’s she like’? You’ve met her.”
Leaning as close to the engine as she could, Dani whispered, “In bed.”
“None of your fucking business, Dani. What the fuck kind of question is that?” Caz rolled out from the car completely and jumped to her feet, dropping the wrench with a clang to the floor.
Frank turned. So did Rob and Kev, but nobody moved except for Dani, who flinched backward a step.
“Look, I’m sorry, alright…I was just curious.” She held her hands up, aware she’d pushed too far. “Caz, I’m sorry, you’re right.”
“Totally out of fucking order, am I clear?” Caz’s face went red. She’d rarely gotten this angry, unless it came to Grace. “I love her. I’m marrying her, and I don’t care if nobody here understands, or thinks she’s not gay enough.” She glanced around at all the eyes on her and watched as, one by one, they all looked away.
“I got it.” Dani took another step back. “I swear, not another word. I believe you.”
“Fuck’s sake, we’ve been together for months and now you say you believe me?”
Dani held her finger up. “That didn’t sound how it sounded in my head and wasn’t what I meant. I just…we’re all surprised, that’s all.”
“What the bleeding hell is going on out here? I’m trying to speak to a customer and all I can hear is a racket.” Ron looked back and forth between the pair of them.
“Nothing, boss, I just dropped a tool,” Caz said, bending to pick it up.
“Yeah, and we got a bit rowdy, you know, woohoo,” Dani offered.
He wasn’t buying it but nodded anyway. “Well, keep it down.”
They watched him walk away.
“Stop being surprised and just accept it,” Caz said quietly, “because it’s not going to change. We are getting married and she’s my person, alright?”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
“Right, then we’ll say no more.” Caz wiped her hands on her vest and stuck out a palm. “Shake on it.”
Dani eyed the greasy palm and pulled a face. “Really?”
“Want me to spit on it too?”
“Nope,” Dani said quickly, and thrust her hand out, shaking Caz’s hand. “Friends again?”
Caz grinned. “Always.”
When Grace got home and poked her head around the living room door, she found Caz with her feet up on the couch, bottle of beer in hand and the TV on a game show, looking like the world had caved in. She took a step back into the lounge and prepared for whatever might come.
“Hey, I’m home,” she called out, and then went with a low-end, small-talk comment to test the waters. “God, it’s so hot out still.”
Caz didn’t answer.
“Hey,” Grace repeated, coming into the room, “I said it's still so hot out.”
“Yeah, scorcher,” Caz said absently, not looking at her. She swigged her beer and started flicking through the channels.
“What’s up?” Grace asked, perching herself on the arm of the sofa.
Caz shrugged. “Had a row with Dani today and it just got me thinking…”
Grace waited a moment to see if the thinking developed into words, but it didn’t and the silence continued. She slid down onto the cushions.
“So, what did you row about?” she probed gently.
Now Caz turned to face her. “Us.” She shrugged again. “Apparently she didn’t believe we were a real couple, or that you were suddenly gay, or that…” She looked away, her cheeks flushing.
“That?” Grace asked.
Caz huffed. “She had the nerve to ask me what you were like in bed.”
Grace snorted. “Oh, and you said?”
“I said for her to mind her own business, that’s what I said, then I got mad and we had a bit of a row.” She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. “Well, I said a lot of stuff and she backed down, but you get it, right?”
“You defended my honour like any good girlfriend would. Yes, I get it.” Grace smiled at her. “So, did she accept that?”
Caz nodded. “Yeah.”
“Okay, then.”
“But…if Dani doesn’t believe us, then what about everyone else?”
Repositioning herself so she was now sitting beside Caz, Grace said, “Does it matter? We’re getting married next year, and we will have a baby. We already own a house together. Who cares if one person is questioning if it’s real or not?”
“I guess. I just don’t like it that… What if they’re talking about us?”
“Again, does it matter?” She reached for Caz’s hand. “You love me, right?”
Caz nodded. “I do, yeah.”
“Right, and I love you. And just because how we choose to show and share that love isn’t the way society or our friends and family might expect, doesn’t change it.”
Caz smiled and offered her the bottle, which she took.
“You’re right.” Caz nodded. “I just got caught off guard. I didn’t think people would be expecting proof that we—”
“We can give them proof, if you want.” Grace swigged from the bottle.
“And how would we do that?” Caz laughed, accepting the bottle back.
Grace shrugged. “I don’t know. You could kiss me in full view of a few of them? Or… Oh, I know, we could stage some photos?”
“Stage photos?”
“Yeah, like…you’ve taken pics of girlfriends, right? When you’re all snuggled up in bed and they look all cute sleeping on you?”
Caz thought about it. “Yeah, maybe when I was younger. Would be a bit creepy now.”
Grace laughed. “Why?”
“Consent, init.”
Grace smiled. The idea of kissing hadn’t been turned down, but a staged photo pretending to be asleep was. “Alright, well, we can stage pics where I am awake. But under a duvet, naked shoulders, cuddling, looking at each other…candid stuff.” She shrugged. “And then you can show people how adorable we are together.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to have something like that…I mean, we should, shouldn’t we?”
Grace nodded. She thought back to all the mornings they had woken up like that. Not naked, but snuggled up on a sofa, in a bed, the back of a car, or a tent. Their entire relationship had been filled with moments most people would have assumed meant they were a couple, but then, most people didn’t see those times and they’d never thought to take photos. “Yes, we should.”
A phone beeped and Grace sat up properly to see which of them was being bothered. It was her own phone that lit up. She read the screen, then frowned, her mouth scrunched and moved side to side in the way it did when she wasn’t pleased.
“What’s up?” Caz asked, slightly concerned.
“Your day’s about to get worse.” Grace grimaced, “Mum and Dad are on their way over.”
“Alright, that’s not—”
“They want to stay the night.”
“Oh.”
Caz was like a whippet—up off the couch and heading up the stairs as fast as her feet would carry her.
“We’ll have to move your stuff into mine,” she shouted down at Grace, who was wearily making her way up the stairs. “It would make sense we’d share the bigger room, right?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Grace said when she’d gotten to the top. She stood on the top step, out of the way, as Caz whizzed past carrying armfuls of her clothes, still on hangers.
“Don’t just stand there, Grace,” Caz urged. “How long will they be?”
Grace glanced at her watch, “They said they’d pick up an Indian take-away as a thank you and then head straight over. We’ve probably got an hour.”
“Alright, doable,” Caz said, running past her again.
“Caz?”
She slid to a halt and turned. “Yes, Grace?”
“We don’t have to move everything. We can just say I have so many clothes that we use the spare wardrobes.”
“That makes sense.” Caz pointed a finger at her like a gun.
“I know…all we need to do is move my day-to-day stuff, the nightstand stuff, and…” She shook her head. “Definitely anything in the top drawer of my bedside cabinet.”
Caz nodded. “Okay, I’ll do that—”
“Oh, no you won’t,” Grace said, budging her out of the way to get past. “That is out of bounds.”
It took a minute and then Caz grinned. “Oh, the battery powered bestie is in there.”
Grace ignored her.
“What other little delights do you have in there, Grace?” Caz teased, launching herself onto Grace’s bed. She lay on her side, leaning on one elbow as she watched Grace go bright red.
“Nothing to concern you, nosy parker. And for your information, nothing in there is battery operated.”
“Are you running your orgasms off the national grid?” Caz burst into laughter. “No wonder the smart meter is always flashing red.”
“You think you’re so funny, don’t you?” Grace said, but she couldn’t hold back the laughter either. “Will you sod off so I can pack my stuff? It’s bad enough I’m going to have to kip in with you tonight.”
“Don’t pretend you’re not excited about it. It will be like camping out. An adventure!”
The doorbell rang.
“What the heck?” Caz said, jumping to her feet and standing up. She looked at her watch. An hour hadn’t passed. “That can’t be them already?”
Grace looked panicked. “Well, if it is, stall them.” She reached under her bed and pulled out a small travel case. “Go,” she urged, as Caz lingered.
The doorbell rang again, and this time Caz raced onto the landing and down the stairs, yanking the door open and forcing a grin onto her face.
“Hey,” she said, gawking at Lila and Ron and then at the suitcase that looked like they were planning to stay for a week, but seeing no take-away. “Come in.” She reached for the case, but Ron had hold of it.
“No need,” he said, and lifted it over the threshold once Lila had stepped inside and kissed Caz on the cheek.
“Where’s Grace?” she asked.
Caz turned towards the stairs and said loudly enough, “She’s just getting changed—long day at work.”
“Bloody workmen down the road hit a water mains. The entire street is without water for the foreseeable,” Ron explained while he pulled his jacket off. “Can’t even flush the loo.” He shook his head.
“And I said it’s fine, Grace and Caz won’t mind us crashing.” Lila smiled before heading off to the kitchen. “Dinner will be here soon. Shall I get the plates out?”
Caz looked to Ron, who rolled his eyes. “It was busy in the restaurant, so we said a delivery would probably be just as fast.”
“Right, cool,” Caz answered. “Must admit, I am famished.”
“Good, cos Lila ordered enough to feed the entire garage.” He glanced up and grinned at the sight of Grace serenely coming down the stairs. “Hello, Sweetpea.”
“Hey, Dad,” Grace said, sidling up to Caz, who instinctively put her arm around Grace’s shoulders and pulled her close.
“They’ve got no water…for the foreseeable future,” Caz said, kissing the side of Grace’s head for good effect.
“Well, let’s hope it’s not as bad as that, eh?” Ron said. “I like me own bed.”
“Me too,” Caz whispered. Grace grinned but poked her for good measure.
“Night, then,” Grace said from the landing as her parents went to bed in her room. She carried two glasses of water and nudged the door to Caz’s room open with her hip.
“Alright?” Caz said, sitting up in bed, wearing a pair of pyjamas Grace knew she wouldn’t usually be wearing.
“Yes.” She passed a glass to Caz. “Are you going to be comfortable sleeping in PJs?”
“Probably not,” Caz sighed, “but preferable to meeting Ron on the landing in the middle of the night in my vest and pants…so…”
“You have an ensuite,” Grace said, glancing towards the small bathroom.
“But I might need to get up and get a drink or—”
Grace held up the glass of water in her hand. “How thirsty will you get? Do you need to be checked for diabetes?”
“Fine. I didn’t want to make things awkward for you, that’s all.”
“I’ve seen you in your vest and pants a million times.” Grace laughed. “Get them off and go to sleep.”
Huffing, Caz reached under the covers and acrobatically removed her pyjama bottoms and then she unbuttoned the top.
“Oh, for God’s sake, you had your vest and pants on underneath?”
“I came prepared.” Caz grinned.
“For what? Me trying to strip you in my sleep?” Grace stared at her and laughed. “You’re an idiot.”
“I’m your idiot.” Caz reached out and flicked the light switch off. “Night, Grace.”