Chapter 3
THREE
SARAH
JULY
Thwack!
The blade of an axe biting into dense wood echoed across the still water.
Sarah sipped her iced tea, squinting into the Minnesota summer sun.
Her eyes fixed on Nell, standing a little ways away near the woodpile, backdropped by towering trees.
Warm light filtered through leaves, illuminating Nell in an almost surreal way, making her look like a literal goddess of the forest.
Her hair, long and inky dark, was pulled back in her usual fishtail braid, a few strands having wiggled loose to frame her face.
The white tank top she wore was becoming increasingly drenched in sweat with each log chopped.
Sarah watched a bead of sweat trail its way down the expanse of her neck and below the line of her tank top, and god, she had seen Nell naked hundreds of times at this point, but it was still lost on her how she was able to make everything look so damn effortlessly hot.
“Celibacy is a form of slow death,” Sarah muttered into her glass as she took another sip, pulling her eyes away from Nell.
Nell either didn’t hear her or was ignoring her. Sarah’s money was on the latter.
She leaned back in the Adirondack chair, tucking one leg beneath her, the other stretching out to rest on a nearby log she had been using as a foot rest. The scent of cedar and a touch of smoke from last night’s fire still hung faintly in the air.
It had been five months since she and Nell had decided to consciously uncouple, shifting their attention instead to focus on their friendship—something Sarah honestly couldn’t imagine her life without.
With Nell, she didn’t have to explain any part of herself, didn’t have to translate her sharpness or the parts of her that often contradicted themselves because Nell understood her in a way that made Sarah feel seen, not just for who she was, but for everything she tried carefully to hide from the rest of the world.
It felt good to have someone who knew her like that.
Since their uncoupling, not much had changed.
They had taken some time not to communicate—two months to be exact—as each of them had agreed that would be a non-negotiable.
Time meant for them to neatly wrap up any lingering emotional tethers before they fell back into the comfort of what had always been at the root of their relationship—a deep, unwavering appreciation for each other.
Constant texts, late-night debates over politics, and never-ending strategy sessions on the best way to dismantle capitalist wealth hoarding picked up as if they had never been interrupted in the first place.
But this weekend was the first they had spent together since their split.
“You’re staring,” Nell called without looking up, adjusting her grip on the handle of the axe as she positioned the next log.
“I’m just looking,” Sarah responded innocently.
They had agreed that, although each of them was technically single, continuing to sleep together probably wouldn’t be in the best interest of their friendship.
And Sarah was fine with that. Except for mornings like this, when Nell’s curved, sweat-slicked shoulders glistened under the sun as she grunted with the effort of splitting oak logs, causing Sarah’s stupid, stubborn hormones to stage a coup.
Thwack!
Sarah jumped as Nell brought the axe down in one strong, fluid swing, cracking the log clean in half. Nell looked up, those intense, steely eyes finding hers with a mischievous smirk. “No, you’re ogling, which is different from looking.”
“I was admiring,” Sarah offered, sitting up straighter, sipping her tea. “It’s called appreciation. Presumptuous of you to assume I would be ogling you. God, haven’t you heard of humility?”
Nell’s sharp laugh floated in the air between them as she raised the axe above her head once more, Sarah watching her strength as she swung the axe down swiftly, the split logs falling to either side of the stump.
“Not since I was a teenager when I realized humility is a tool used to keep women in their place.” Nell wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand.
“Come, your turn.” She motioned for Sarah to join her.
Sarah groaned. “I don’t want to get all sweaty. I already showered. I was planning on journaling or maybe doing a little yoga out on the dock.”
Nell held out a pair of gloves. “To protect those delicate hands of yours.” She winked, bending down and placing another log on the stump. “Gotta get your blood pumping to burn off some of that pent-up sexual frustration. You can’t journal your way out of a dry spell.”
Sarah rose from her chair, but not without sticking her tongue out at Nell, which only made the smirk on Nell’s face widen.
“I’ll even let you use the big axe,” she cooed, handing the tool to her.
“How generous of you.”
Sarah stepped squarely in front of the stump, appeasing Nell because this was them: challenging each other, endless banter, and safe surrender—repeat on a loop.
She grabbed the axe, Nell stepping close behind her to adjust her grip—deliberately, Sarah was sure. She breathed in the fresh and sweet scent of Nell, a woodsy scent mixed with sunscreen.
“That’s cheating,” Sarah said, her voice low as Nell gently corrected her hand placement.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Nell said, unbothered.
“You know this isn’t as effective when you’re shorter than I am.”
Nell’s fingers tightened around her wrist, sending a flash of memory through her to their first meeting.
“I’ve had the pleasure of having you in plenty of positions over the years that shouldn’t have worked given our height difference, but what you should have learned by now is how resourceful I can be when it comes to getting the job done.
” Sarah gulped as Nell stepped back. “Whenever you’re ready.
” Nell motioned to the log in front of her.
Sarah rolled her eyes. “You’re so full of shit, you know that?
” she muttered, raising the axe and bringing it down, the blade landing awkwardly in the log, cutting a path only partially through.
She glanced at Nell who was watching her without comment, arms crossed, trying to contain her laughter. She was enjoying this far too much.
After five minutes, Sarah’s arms were burning as she leaned the axe against the stump, giving up after successfully splitting two logs. She was panting, droplets of sweat forming around her hairline as she pulled her honey-brown hair back into a ponytail. “Shut up,” she said, not looking at Nell.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You don’t have to. I can always tell what you’re thinking. And right now, you’re enjoying my humiliation and thinking dirty things.”
“And we’re having so much fun, aren’t we?” Nell replied, handing Sarah a water bottle she took without complaint.
“Always.” Sarah took a sip, the liquid cool on her tongue. “Fuck, it’s good to spend time with you again, but we should probably figure out how to do it without flirting with each other.”
“You started it with the look,” Nell murmured, turning to survey the expanse of lake before her.
They stood in silence for a moment as Sarah sipped the water, listening to the lake lapping against the rocks nearby and a bird calling in the distance—a loon, maybe? She’d have to check the bird book Nell had given her as a gift.
“So, celibacy? I thought you were dating again?” Nell asked abruptly.
To others, Nell’s quick pivots of conversations might come off as cold, but Sarah knew better than anyone that her mind was always moving in a thousand different directions at any given moment in time, and you just had to keep up.
“I am—well, I’m trying to. I’ve gone on a few dates in the last few weeks, but nothing has resulted in anything more promising than a first date.
And I’m looking for love, not a hookup or a fling, so I don’t want to lead with sex, you know?
” Sarah sank back down into the chair she had occupied earlier, Nell taking the one beside her.
“Well then, I think that will make the surprise I have for you even more meaningful.” Nell’s mouth curved into a grin. “I hired a matchmaker for you. And not just any matchmaker—the Janet Starr.”
Sarah sputtered on the water she had unfortunately tried to swallow as she processed Nell’s words. “You what?” she said, clearing her throat.
“You want to fall in love,” Nell said in her matter-of-fact business tone that Sarah had come to know so well.
“I still want you to have everything you want, even though we’re not together, and honestly, it’s been painful hearing about your dates with mediocre women.
I refuse to be followed by someone who isn’t even in your league.
So I hired the best. You’re welcome.” Nell placed a hand on her hip, raising an eyebrow as if to challenge her.
“You hired…” Sarah said slowly, still processing.
“She’s the matchmaker for the elite and usually has a fifteen-month waitlist, but I called in a few favors for you.”
Sarah’s first thought was to be pissed off at Nell—at the audacity of her to swoop in to try and “fix” a problem that wasn’t there. She was doing fine with landing dates; that wasn’t the problem. No, the problem was finding dates where she actually felt something remotely resembling a spark.
“We have a call with her in fifteen minutes.” Nell’s smile widened, all teeth and no regret behind her eyes.
“You’re incorrigible, you know that?”
“You love it,” Nell said smugly.
She was right. Sarah did love it. Nell, for as much as she could be sometimes, was absolutely, unapologetically, and unequivocally herself. And that, Sarah had always loved about her.