Chapter Twenty-Seven
Harlyn
Janene and I spent two months trying to make a long-distance relationship work but we both needed more. I hated to admit it, but being in two different states, in two different time zones wasn’t even the problem. Living in New York City wasn’t where I wanted to be, especially without the woman I loved. I learned that it was a great place to visit and it held many great memories for me, but it was not home. It was not the place that made me feel whole, as Madeline had said. I’d found what I was looking for and that was Janene. Where I lived didn’t matter as long as I had her. So, I packed up my things and moved back to Texas ten months after I’d left the state. I never thought I’d end up back there but it was, unlike Denver or New York, where I wanted to be.
“I can’t believe you thought my wife was hitting on Janene,” Lou said as we sat down for what was now our monthly dinner with Sophie and Lou.
The morning after I talked to Janene about where we stood, I went downstairs and apologized to Sophie for my bad attitude. That’s when I found out she was married to the love of her life, Lou. Lou was a commercial pilot and had been ever since they met so Sophie had plenty of understanding for what it was like to be away from the person you loved. It was Sophie that got me through those first two months. It was Sophie that told me to follow my heart because everything else was manageable once your heart was at peace. She was right, of course. Once I decided that Texas was where I wanted to be, everything else fell into place. Caitlin offered me a place to live so that I could transfer back to Linear Design Group in Austin. In kind, Janene offered me, with Madeline’s approval, a junior associate position with RedPrint in San Antonio and a place to stay with her. It wasn’t a tough decision to make.
“Hey, to my defense, she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring and she was being way too nice to Janene. We Midwesterners are not that nice unless we want something other than friendship,” I said.
Lou laughed. “You would never believe it, but when I first met Sophie, she was so shy and quiet I thought I’d never get her to go out with me.”
“Oh, I believe it,” Janene said.
Sophie blushed. “You two be quiet. I like the forward woman Harlyn made me out to be. Let me dream a little.”
Lou put her arm around Sophie and pulled her in for a kiss. “You’re perfect the way you are baby.”
Janene leaned over and planted a kiss on my cheek. “You too,” she whispered into my ear. “You’re absolutely perfect.”
I leaned into Janene and placed a hand on her muscled thigh. It was nice to feel her cool skin against my palm. I had finally convinced her to lose her jeans for a comfortable pair of shorts when I explained that eighty-degree weather in spring was only a taste of a hot Texas summer. Now that we were in the middle of the hottest part of the summer it was rare to see Janene in jeans unless she was visiting a job site.
“I want to hear the story about how you all met.” Janene said. “I’ve been promised this story for almost a year now and have yet to hear it.”
Sophie and Lou had been together for ten years. They had two sons, Aiden and Trevor who were not twins but both eighteen and off at college. It was a story I wanted to know more about as well.
“That’s a story for another day,” Sophie said. “Today I want us to focus on celebrating this beautiful love that is blooming before our very eyes.”
“Here, here,” Lou added.
Janene pulled me even closer and then kissed me. I never thought there would be a moment when we could openly kiss this way and yet there we were. Sharing our love for each other with the world. I leaned my head against her shoulder and reveled in the feeling. It was still awkward, after five months of living together, to be affectionate in front of Caitlin or even Madeline when she visited. It still felt a little taboo but I was getting used to it. With Sophie and Lou, it was different. They’d only ever known us as two women in love and that was nice.
My mom still had a hard time accepting that Janene and I had found our way back to each other and that we were more than friends, but she also understood that if she wanted a chance at repairing our relationship, accepting Janene as my partner was a priority. The rest of my family didn’t seem bothered by the news when I finally told them and I was happy for that.
“Come, on,” Janene said, “Enough stalling. I want to hear the story.”
“Alright,” Lou said. “It goes something like this…”
The End