Chapter 23
The walk back to the house together was awkward after their kiss. When she had saved her from falling into the water, reality had hit them both hard. Now they were acting as if nothing had changed in those quiet moments together.
Once they had finally made it back to the house, Marlene had all the dishes done and was shut up in her room.
Not wanting to draw her out for another confrontation, the two had gone to the living room.
Court had pulled out her computer while Stephanie read on her phone for almost an hour.
She was sure that neither actually did anything but pretend not to look at the other one.
When Marlene had finally ventured out to start making lunch, she hadn’t asked either of them to help her. Instead, she had gone to the kitchen and slammed around pots and pans. Probably expecting Stephanie to go in and help. But she had stayed right where she was.
The only way it had stopped was when the wives and Laura and kids had come back to the house. They were loud and insisted on helping poor Marlene with the meal. Laura gave them a dirty look when she insisted, they set the table since they had been no help so far.
But the task was just an excuse to be close to each other.
Reaching around Stephanie to put a glass by the plate she was setting down, Court ran her hand across the other woman's back, just needing to touch her. Innocent or not, she needed to touch her. And keep touching. A feeling that Court wasn’t used to.
She had always had the ability to control herself around women.
Stephanie leaned back into her hand, pressing into her palm. Court nearly pulled her into her arms until Marlene came from the kitchen. “The boys are back.”
Pulling away from Stephanie and putting an entire table of distance between them, Court put down the other glass in her hand before anyone walked into the house. Making sure that the two looked perfectly normal, setting the table.
Well, except they didn’t seem like enemies anymore, which meant that Court would only have to be on the lookout for pranks from three. So far today there hadn’t been any, so maybe they had grown up overnight. She wasn’t very sure of that.
The distance between them grew as everyone filtered into the room, the men talking adamantly about their game and high points as well as the low.
Nobody was any the wiser about what she and Stephanie had done on the dock.
Not that she expected them to, but how could they not notice that the distance between them was gone?
“Who won?” Marlene asked brightly as she brought a salad into the room, ignoring Court completely as she did.
“Dylan, I think he’s been working on his short game.” Calvin said, following her into the kitchen to help. Without being asked to.
“Because he has natural talent.” Aaron shouted into the kitchen, but didn't go in there. But as if on cue, his wife came out, and he wrapped her in his arms, kissing her forehead.
They two had been together since high school, and it showed in how comfortable they were together.
“Wash your hands.” Stephanie scolded her brother.
“You’re not the boss of me.” He reached for the bread.
“Wash up, guys.” Marlene said, another bowl in her hands and a scowl on her face. At least it was for someone other than Court this time.
Calvin came in with a dish that Stephanie had told her was lasagna, Aaron’s favorite.
It seemed that every meal this weekend was going to be someone’s favorite.
Though she was sure that she wouldn’t see any of the Korean dishes she had fallen for since meeting Ji Ellis, who feeds anyone in the house who is there and doesn’t let anyone complain about what is served.
Court managed to find a place next to Stephanie, not by mistake this time. Both were the first to sit, and Court tried not to look over at her. Though neither had planned it, they had chosen seats that were side by side. And Court knew they both were acting guilty about it.
The meal was another boisterous one with constant talking, though Court abstained completely from it. The golf game interested her about as much as the shopping trip. Instead, she focused on her food and keeping to herself. She didn’t want to talk to the entire group about anything again.
Stephanie seemed as interested in the conversation as she was.
Court caught her more than once, not paying attention.
Each time her siblings made fun of her and she let them, she did not fight back.
She even laughed at herself for being distracted.
Each time, the others around the table would move on and leave her behind again.
Soon enough, the meal was over, and it was announced that the Bexley kids had to clean the kitchen and do the dishes. Court took that as a perfect chance to talk to Calvin. But by the time she had delivered her plate to the kitchen, he and Marlene had vanished.
For nearly an hour, she hung out with the kids and their families but didn't see the couple. She had been reduced to asking about them, but not one of the kids knew where they went. She helped the kids wash dishes and put away leftovers, all the while staying as far from Stephanie as possible.
Though they hadn’t talked about it, Court knew she wasn’t completely out with her family, if she was out at all. Either was possible. And Court wasn’t going to out her. That was up to her. All she could do was stay as far away as possible when they were all together.
Once the kitchen was clean and everyone was settling in to relax, Marlene came in from the back of the house and announced. “Calvin wants us all to go out on the boat for the afternoon. It’s been years since everyone has been able to go out together.”
“After I take a nap, Mom.” Aaron pretended to sleep on his wife's shoulder. The woman couldn’t stop giggling at it even as she held their toddler in her arms.
“No naps today, Aaron. Calvin wants to go out on George Lake for an hour or so. Everyone has to go. This is a family event.” Marlene clapped her hands, which made everyone start getting up without another argument.
Following the group, Court knew that any alone time was not going to be happening now. The entire family on some small boat sounded like torture to her. She was also sure that someone was going to push her overboard before the end of the trip. Maybe more than one person.
Calvin had surfaced and had on a hat that covered his bald head and was rubbing his hands together as everyone left the house. After her earlier walk, she knew the dock wasn’t far and it wouldn’t take anyone long to get there. It would probably take the boat longer to get there.
“Why doesn’t Court go with Dad? He can show her the lake. It’s been years since she last saw it.” Stephanie said, as if she didn’t know she knew how to find it and had seen it. But that she was trying her best to help Court achieve her objective.
“Okay,” Calvin said, but didn’t seem too excited about it. “Courtney, get in the truck. There’s been a lot of changes in the last few years around here. Dylan, guide me in to hook up the boat.”
Dylan went towards the boat, and Court smiled a thank you to Stephanie before getting into the truck. It didn't take long before the boat was hooked up. But just as she was asking him again about the past, Calvin left the truck to make sure his son had hooked it up properly.
After a few minutes of Calvin working on something in the back of the truck, Marlene pulled open the cab door and was about to jump in when she spotted Court and stopped in confusion. “I always ride with Calvin to the dock.”
“Oh, I’ve wanted to talk to him. We thought the ride would be the perfect time.” She was in the middle of a stare-off with Marlene when the back doors swung open and Laura lifted her daughter into the back seat of the truck and then got in herself without a word.
“I need a ride, Mom. You know the kids can’t walk that far,” Laura said as she adjusted the kids, who had spent the morning shopping, in a vehicle to drive two blocks.
Realizing she was losing this battle, she shook her head at the stupid idea that she’d get a moment of time with Calvin.
Not saying anything, she got out of the truck and didn’t miss Marlene’s satisfied grin.
It seemed the woman knew exactly what Court wanted and was making sure that it didn’t happen.
Once everyone was situated in the truck and it had taken off heading for the lake, all without a word from Calvin about getting a moment alone to talk. He was just happy to be going out on the lake and didn’t care who was actually in the truck.
Everyone who had been walking had already started for the beach and dock, leaving her alone. For a second, she looked longingly at her car, the one that would take her far away from here. Back to her real life, the one where people wanted to talk to her.
Instead, she pushed herself to enjoy the day. There would never be another one like it. There was nothing that could make her come back here again. Not voluntarily, at least.
It was a good thing she had already been to the dock, or she’d have gotten lost, even so by the time she made it there, the entire family was settled into the boat, life jackets on and the parents with small children were applying sunscreen.
But what caught her eye was how little room there was on the boat and where was she even going to sit.
As she searched for a possible seat and started to get into the boat, she realized that sitting would not be an issue.
Dylan looked right at her as he pushed the boat away from the dock.
She knew she could call out to them, but didn’t know if they would actually come back for her.
Because at that moment, she didn’t want to spend an hour or so trapped on a boat with those people. So, she let them leave.