CHAPTER 35
“Thank you for coming in,” Etta said.
“No problem,” Larissa replied. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes. We just got back from our trip and both needed to go to the doctor. Being away for six months meant we got a little behind,” Etta shared and sat down in the office chair.
“We’re not old, but we’re not exactly young anymore, and we had a lot of fun on our trip.
Our bodies might have suffered for it.” She chuckled.
“But we also needed to go in for some routine maintenance, if you catch my drift.”
“You’re definitely not old, Etta,” Larissa returned with a smile.
“Do you have to run right away? Frances is out there parking the car. The only spot in the back was that super small one by the trees, so I got out of the car before she attempted to control her road rage and park.” Etta laughed again.
“Frances?”
“My wife,” Etta said.
“Oh, I didn’t know.”
“That I was married?” Etta held up her hand with her ring prominently displayed on her finger. “Or that I’m married to a woman?”
“Both, I guess. You and I haven’t spent a lot of time together, and I don’t think that I’ve asked you any personal questions. I only knew you were away for a while.”
“We were on our honeymoon,” a woman that Larissa guessed was Frances said as she walked into the room. “Hi, honey,” she greeted her wife.
“Frances, this is Larissa. Larissa, this is my wife of one year, Frances.”
“Our anniversary was last week, technically,” Frances added.
“Congratulations,” Larissa said.
“Are you married?” Frances asked as she moved to stand beside Etta’s chair.
“No, I’m not,” Larissa replied with a little laugh.
“Larissa is our resident doctor,” Etta said.
“Oh, I’m not a doctor yet; I’m working on my Ph.D. I’m way behind on it, actually, but I should be done soon.”
“That’s great. In what?” Frances asked.
“Psychology.”
Frances laughed and asked, “And what would your psychology degree tell you about us?” She nodded toward Etta.
“I don’t know. What should it tell me?”
“A whole book’s worth of stuff, probably.” Etta laughed.
“Why?” Larissa asked.
“You haven’t told her our story? You love telling our story,” Frances said.
“Larissa is only part-time because of school and hasn’t worked here that long, dear. We’ve been gone for six months. Give me a few minutes to catch my breath.”
Larissa smiled at both of them and said, “Can I ask you two something? You can say no.”
“Okay,” Frances replied.
“I’m working on a book that’s about finding love and how things get in the way of it sometimes.
I’ve been interviewing people about that, having them tell me their stories, and I’ve been looking for things like stress hormones and the science, but I think this book is going to be more about obstacles and conquering them than about the science.
I have years to write about science, and I’ve got an almost finished dissertation that does enough of that.
Could I maybe interview you when you have some time?
I’d love to hear your story, and if you’d be okay with it, include it in the book.
I can change your names and anything else you might not want people to know. ”
“You want to interview us?” Etta asked.
Larissa sat down in the chair opposite Etta and replied, “Love has always alluded me, so I think that’s why I’ve been so fascinated with it.” She paused when she realized something. “You know when I started getting these ideas for this book I’m trying to write?”
“No. When?” Frances asked.
“I think right about the time I realized that I was in love with my best friend.”
“Oh,” Frances said, pulling up a third chair to sit down on. “Do tell. This sounds like it’ll be good.”
“I don’t want to keep you two,” Larissa replied.
“You’re not. We were going to close up and head home, so as long as the door is locked up front, we’re good,” Etta replied.
“I have to text her,” Larissa said.
“Who?”
“Harlow.”
“Who’s Harlow?” Frances asked.
“My best friend,” she said as she pulled out her phone. “We have a date tonight. I need to tell her I’ll be a little late.”
“Go back. The best friend you’re in love with? You’re dating?” Etta asked.
“We just started dating, yes,” she said as she pulled up her messages with Harlow. “Would you mind if I invited her over here? If we’re doing the interview, that is. She’s sat in on most of them as sort of my assistant, but she’s really more like my partner in this.”
“It sounds like she’s your partner in a lot of things,” Frances teased.
“She is. Pretty much in all things now, I think.”
“Invite her over. I’ll put on some coffee in that old coffee pot,” Etta said.
“Or, I could walk next door and grab something from the Indian place,” Frances volunteered.
“Indian?” Etta asked Larissa.
“Sure,” she replied and texted Harlow.
Harlow: I can be there in twenty. Need me to bring anything?
“She’s on her way,” Larissa said after replying to Harlow that she didn’t need anything but her there in twenty minutes.
“I’ll go get the food. Anything you don’t like?” Frances asked her. “Harlow?”
“No, I’m not picky,” she replied. “Neither is she. And thank you so much.”
“Not a problem,” Frances said and leaned down to kiss Etta. “I’ll get your favorite and an iced tea.”
“Thank you.”
The mention of an iced tea made Larissa think of how, earlier that day, she had ordered their lunch at the union, and when she’d asked for a regular tea, the guy had grabbed the wrong, lemon kind that Harlow always said tasted like fake lemon, so she had him put it back and get her the right one.
Frances left the office to get them some food, and Etta and Larissa finished closing down the store together so that it could get done faster. Then, Larissa got a text from Harlow, so she went outside to meet her and let her in.
“Hey, babe,” Harlow greeted. “Have I mentioned how much I like saying that now?” she asked with a smile as she approached Larissa. “I’m probably going to say it excessively for a while now.”
“No, you haven’t. And that’s fine with me.” She kissed Harlow. “Thanks for being okay with the change in plans.”
“No problem. I just want to hang out with you, so anywhere is fine with me. Why is it here, though?”
“The owner, Etta…”
“Yeah?”
“It turns out, she’s married to a woman named Frances.
That six-month trip was their honeymoon cruise, I think.
I don’t have all the info yet, but they alluded to their story being interesting, so I asked if I could interview them.
They said it was fine. Frances is picking up Indian food for us, and we’re going to talk inside.
You’ve been present at nearly all of the interviews, so I thought you’d want to be at this one.
Is that okay? Not exactly a romantic date. ”
“Etta has a Frances, huh?” Harlow asked with a lifted eyebrow.
“She does. I had no idea. She hired me, but that was pretty much it. We didn’t talk much personally except about school.”
“Okay. Well, I’m in. And I love Indian food, so that’s a bonus. Maybe when we get home, though, we can have a little alone time,” Harlow suggested with wiggling eyebrows.
“Oh, yeah?” Larissa asked and kissed her quickly.
“Yes. I’d love to talk more about how you want me to spend every night in your bed.”
Larissa’s smile fell then because she thought about how that would be every night until Harlow moved out.
“What’s wrong?” Harlow asked, cupping her cheek.
“Nothing.”
“Larissa, I know all of your faces. That was disappointment.”
“Not disappointment. I–”
“Is this the Harlow?” Frances asked, interrupting them.
“Hi,” Harlow replied, stepping back. “And I’m assuming you’re Frances since you’re holding a lot of Indian food. Can I help?”
“Sure,” Frances replied and handed Harlow a bag.
“I’m the Harlow, huh?” she teased Larissa with a wink.
“To me, you are,” Larissa replied and kissed her on the cheek. “Let’s get inside. Etta is waiting.”
The office was a little too small for their feast, so Larissa and Harlow pulled out a folding table that they used for sales sometimes and set it near the back of the bookstore.
Frances set out the food options, and Etta readied the drinks.
Then, they all sat at the table and made themselves some plates.
“Is it okay if I record?” Larissa checked. “If you don’t want me to, I–”
“No, it’s fine,” Etta said. “We’ve got nothing to hide.”
“When you’ve waited this long to finally be with the love of your life, you want to tell everyone all about it,” Frances added. “Which is what we did on our six-month cruise: we told everyone who would listen.”
“And they hated us for it,” Etta added with a laugh.
Larissa looked over at Harlow, who was glancing back at her with a shy smile.
“Not all of them. The people at our table the first night liked it.”
“Yes, dear,” Etta said but winked at Larissa and Harlow.
“How did you two meet?” Harlow asked, giving Larissa time to set her phone up to record.
“Here,” Frances answered and motioned to the store behind them. “I was a customer.”
“You married a customer?” Larissa asked Etta.
“I did.” Etta laughed. “When she first started coming here, we were both married to other people, so it’s even more scandalous.”
“Oh, this is getting good. I’m so glad I came,” Harlow said.
“Buckle up, kid,” Frances replied. “I came here for years and bought a book every few months or something. I wasn’t here every week or anything, but when I started having more and more problems with my now-ex-husband, I started coming in more and more just to get out of the house.”
“Husband?” Harlow asked.