Chapter 28 Rory
RORY
Rory felt sick. Her stomach tied in knots, and her legs felt like lead.
“Oh, my darling.” Her mother’s voice cut through the fog surrounding her thoughts. “What on earth possessed you to cut off your lovely hair?”
Rory sent a pleading look to Gemma, hoping that her girlfriend picked up on her unease.
Every argument with Darcy rampaged through her head.
Every disparaging look that she’d had over the past couple of weeks danced through her mind.
The disgusted look of the woman in Spike’s office pressed on her brain.
Blackness swam around the periphery of her vision, and for a horrifying moment she thought she might black out.
She felt Gemma's fingers curl around her bicep and was grateful for the grounding touch of her girlfriend.
“Oh, hello you lot.” George appeared from the bar. “Drinks are in, what’s holding you up?”
He looked over at Rory and Gemma. “Ahh you’re here as well, lovely. Gin and tonic okay for both of you?”
Rory shot him a grateful look and dimly heard Gemma agreeing that gin would be fine for them both.
She didn’t know how they got to the lounge area or indeed how she and Gemma ended up sitting together on a sofa.
She heard all the family talking at once, and their voices overlapped like a horror show.
What have you done to your hair?
Did you mean for it to be that short?
Have you lost a bet?
Do you want to be a boy?
Do we call you ‘they’ now?
Is this why you wore a suit last time?
“Oh, be quiet, all of you!” Rory heard her grandmother’s voice cut through all the noise and the chatter.
The families instantly fell silent as Phyllis’ voice lanced through all the others and her commanding presence held everyone at bay.
For a moment, Rory imagined her grandmother on a white charger with a lance, fending off anyone who would attack her granddaughter.
She lifted her face to see a familiar pair of blue eyes staring back at her.
Only now did she notice her grandmother was sitting next to her, clasping her hands.
“You look very handsome, Rory.”
Rory gulped. Her grandmother had only ever called her Aurora. For anyone else she hated her long name, but from her grandmother it was as comforting and familiar as one of her hugs.
Phyllis reached out with the hand that wasn’t clasped around Rory's and elegantly picked up her drink.
Rory had never known her grandmother to be anything less than elegant.
With a swift tilt of her head, she downed the contents.
“Peter, George.” She rattled the ice in her glass at them.
“Be good boys and get another round of drinks, will you?”
Recognising the dismissal for what it was, both fathers scuttled off to the bar. Rory felt a weak smile cross her face. Even at seventy-five, her grandmother could command the family as easily as she always had.
“I didn’t get to ask you why you are here so early.” She patted Rory's hand.
“Um, we decided to treat ourselves to some time at the spa tomorrow.” Rory spluttered.
“Yeah,” Gemma piped up, and Rory silently thanked her by pressing her thigh against Gemma's. Gemma pressed back, and Rory felt a small weight lift off her.
“We thought as we were coming down for the opera we’d have a girls’ day in the spa.
We’ve been reconnecting as friends, and it seemed an excellent opportunity to spoil ourselves.
” Gemma’s voice was so innocent that Rory wondered if she too was thinking of just how well they had reconnected over the past couple of weeks.
“We thought the same.” Isabelle agreed with her daughter. “At least until your fathers remembered the golf course nearby. We’re going to go for a round of golf in the morning.”
“Well, that means we can have some granddaughter time,” Phyllis declared. “Will you mind if we gatecrash your girls’ morning?”
Gemma and Rory looked at each other, both blissfully aware that it really wasn’t a question from Phyllis. That, regardless of how innocently Rory’s grandmother posed the question, it wasn’t really a question at all.
“That would be lovely Granny.” Rory replied. Her heart was only just returning to its normal rhythm, and her voice sounded slightly less breathy. The anxiety she’d felt as the family bombarded her with questions eased.
“Marvellous. I guess the four of you will be up early to get to the golf course, so shall we have a late breakfast and then head to the spa?”
“But mother. We should have breakfast together as a family.” Rory’s mother spluttered next to her.
“Oh, really Amanda.” Phyllis waved an elegant hand at her daughter, and the diamond ring on her finger glinted in the light.
“Rory and Gemma have been working hard and deserve a lie-in, and Mary and I don’t want to be up at the crack of dawn to eat just so you can get off to chase a silly ball around.
You four go off and enjoy yourselves, and Mary and I can have a lovely catch up with Rory and Gemma. ” She swished her hand through the air.
Rory wasn’t sure if she was trying to look like a judge bringing down a gavel or if she were summoning her son back with the requested drinks.
Either way, it effectively stopped the conversation and told everyone what was happening the next day.
The parents would go out for the morning, and Rory and Gemma would be subjected to interrogation by grandmother.
Later that evening, after an awkward family dinner that she would rather forget, Rory held Gemma in her arms. They were both in their nightclothes as neither of them had felt especially sexy after an evening of stilted conversation with the family.
No one had said another word about Rory's haircut or clothes, and they had all headed to bed almost as soon as dinner was over.
Desperate not to give the families anything more to gossip over, both Rory and Gemma had taken separate and equally convoluted journeys back to their room.
It had been torture to get changed into her sleep shorts and tank top rather than slip naked beneath the sheets, but since the car journey and the awkward meeting with the family there had been something hanging between her and Gemma.
The terror she had felt at the family’s inquisition was nothing compared to the terror she felt at the thought that there might be something between her and Gemma.
She knew Gemma was anxious about being in a relationship and hoped that it wasn’t going too fast for her.
Rory knew she was in love with Gemma but hugged that to herself.
She was determined not to push Gemma too far too soon.
“You’re thinking again, aren’t you?” Gemma's lips moved against the column of Rory's neck.
“How do you do that?” Rory turned so their lips met gently.
“Do what?”
“Know that I'm in my head and catastrophising.”
Gemma chuckled, and Rory felt it vibrate into her own chest. It allowed warmth and light to ignite in her heart.
“Part of the job.” Gemma lifted her head.
“What job?” Rory felt her eyebrows wrinkle.
“The job of girlfriend and Rory protector.”
The light and warmth grew inside Rory as she chuckled back. “Do I need a protector?”
“From the grandmas tomorrow morning? I should think so.” Gemma slung a leg over Rory and tightened the arm that was around her waist. “But I'm here to protect you. We just need to make sure that they don't try to divide and conquer!”
Rory allowed herself to be held for a moment. Finding this much comfort in Gemma's arms was something she never thought she would have. But her Gemma was always ready with a warm hug and a wide smile.
Gemma fiddled with the hem of Rory's vest for a moment. The movement caused tantalising shots of pleasure and excitement throughout Rory's body. She didn't know if Gemma meant it as a turn-on, but it was doing some lovely things to Rory's body.
“When we were in the car and talking of coming home. Was there something else to it? I felt it wasn't all about the woman at Montague’s. Is my dad pressuring you?”
Rory turned and saw a worried expression on Gemma's face.
She took a deep breath and released it slowly, partly to calm her suddenly racing heartbeat and partly to give her time to think.
How could she answer that question without scaring Gemma away?
How could she tell Gemma that her thoughts of moving home were full of family and a future together?
She’d obviously spent too long pondering as Gemma sat up and looked at her.
“Rory?” Gemma's voice was tight. “What are you not telling me?”
Rory gulped.
“I, um, I just thought that in the future, not now, just in the future, being closer to our parents might be a good thing. You know, if this goes somewhere and we think about having a family, then retired parents who can fit into a babysitting schedule are quite helpful.”
Rory waited for Gemma to pull away. She knew this was too much too soon, and Gemma was allergic to commitment.
“Oh.” Gemma's voice was small and she fell back into Rory.
“Oof.” Rory gasped as Gemma’s body fell solidly onto her. Surprise overshadowed her discomfort when Gemma snuggled her face into Rory’s neck.
Rory swallowed. “I’m sorry, I know it’s a bit much to be talking about all that and we’ve only just got together and...”
Whatever she was going to say next was muffled by Gemma's lips crashing into hers. Not questioning a kiss from her girlfriend, Rory returned the kiss with vigour. The now familiar feel of Gemma's lips on hers was comforting and grounding.
“I thought you were leaving without me.” Gemma buried her head again. “I’m not great at relationships when we live in the same city. I don't know how to handle being away from you.” Her words were muffled, and Rory strained to hear them.