Sea Legs, page 11
“I want to see those,” Steph said. “Yvonne said it was gorgeous.”
Kelly pushed her chair back. “Let me run get my camera. I didn’t order an appetizer, so go ahead and start without me.”
Didi folded her arms and smirked at Natalie. “So now you’re outdoorsy. Does this mean you’re going to go get all your hair whacked off?”
“I will if I want to,” she answered sharply.
“Girls, girls,” Yvonne chided.”Antigua has a really nice beach. We were thinking it might be fun for all of us to go together. We can rent some chairs and umbrellas, and—”
“If we’re going to the beach, there will be no umbrella for us,” Didi said emphatically. “We have to make up for lost time. I’m not going back to Rochester with my skin lily-white.”
Kelly returned as they were starting the first course and passed her camera around.
“I think we’ve planned a day at the beach,” Natalie said. “So we’ll have to put off our adventure for another time.”
“That sounds like fun. I read in the brochure that Dickenson Bay is supposed to be one of the best beaches in the Caribbean.” She leaned in front of Natalie to address Didi. “It’ll be great to have you guys join us. You’ve missed out on too much fun. We’ll have to make up for it.”
Didi smiled stiffly and nodded.
Pamela was more gracious. “Kelly, it’s so nice of you to say that. You’ve had to listen to so much of our complaining.”
Natalie wanted nothing more than to sneer at Didi, but she resisted. There was sweet irony in having Kelly kill her with kindness.
Natalie dipped her toes in the warm, churning water of the spa. “This feels divine.”
“Wait till you get all the way in,” Steph said. “It feels like you’re floating in Jell-O.”
She inched into the hot tub and positioned herself so that a jet pounded on her lower back. It was a beautiful night and the winter sky was full of bright stars. “I wish I’d known about this place last night. Kelly and I would have been out here drinking champagne.”
“Did you see the look on Didi’s face when Kelly made nice with her at dinner? In all the years I’ve known her, that’s the first time I’ve ever seen her speechless.”
“It takes a lot to shut her up, that’s for sure. And Kelly was so sweet and innocent about it.”
“I like her, Nat. I hope she’ll come around when we get back to Rochester…dinners and things. She fits in well with our little group, don’t you think?”
“Is this going to turn into the same conversation we’ve had already?” She lowered her voice, suddenly aware they were shouting over the jets.
“I just can’t believe you don’t think she’s hot. She looks really strong and agile.”
“Like Yvonne, which explains why you like that.”
“No, Yvonne isn’t built like Kelly. She’s athletic, but she doesn’t have that sleek runner’s body.”
“But that athletic look isn’t my type.”
“How do you know? When did you ever date someone like that?”
This was a circular argument. “Never, because that look doesn’t appeal to me. I can’t just manufacture an opinion like that. It would be like kissing my sister.”
Steph scrunched her nose in disgust. “I’ve met your sisters. Kelly has it all over both of them.”
“Bad example. But the point is if I’m going to kiss somebody, there has to be some kind of spark that makes it interesting. I’m not saying”—she looked around to make sure they were alone— “I want to have sex with everyone I kiss, but I want the possibility to be there. To me, a kiss is intimate. I’m not going to share that with someone who doesn’t excite me sexually.”
“Is it just the way she looks?”
“No…yes. It’s hard to explain. The way she looks is the way she is. Everything about her is…” The word “masculine” seemed pejorative in this context. Besides, it was undeniable that Kelly had a distinctly feminine side. “There are things I like in a woman that don’t interest Kelly at all, like clothes, hair and makeup… jewelry. There’s nothing wrong with that in a friend, but it isn’t the kind of woman I want to have a romantic relationship with. It’s perfectly fine if some people find that attractive. Kelly obviously accepts who she is, and why shouldn’t she? She has a great body and a gorgeous smile. And she couldn’t be nicer.”
Steph leaned back and rested her arms on the edge of the hot tub. “You’re right. I can’t see why on earth you’d be attracted to someone like that. Not when you can have pretty women who expect you to drop everything and kowtow to them—like Theresa and Didi.”
Natalie was growing frustrated under the scrutiny, and was tempted to pick up and go back to her room. She was tired of defending herself when it came to her choices.”You know, friends are supposed to be supportive. Back when you and Yvonne almost broke up over buying the house, I stood right there with both of you.”
“I’m sorry, Nat. I don’t mean to sound so snarky, but you’re my best friend and I hate to see you pouring yourself into people who don’t give it back. It isn’t just about Didi, though I told you already I never liked you two together. You always go for women who need to be adored and told how special they are. When are you going to let someone do that for you?”
“Maybe you haven’t noticed, but women aren’t exactly standing in line in front of me to do that.”
“You’re the one who hasn’t noticed. Kelly’s already doing it.” She leaned over and put her hand on Natalie’s shoulder. “Look, I’m not saying you ought to get involved with her. I just want you to be open to it if it happens. Even if it doesn’t work out, at least you’ll know what it’s like to be on the other end of the giving spectrum.”
“I don’t want to be on the end of anything. I want a partnership that feels equal.”
“Did you ever feel equal to Theresa or Didi?”
She had a point.
“Natalie, you know you have it in you to really love someone with all your heart. Just try doing it with someone who can love you like that too.”
Natalie hadn’t planned to turn her whole life upside down in the hot tub. This was one soak that left her anything but relaxed.
Chapter 11
With a mighty thrust, Kelly jammed the umbrella into the soft sand. “Think that’ll stay?”
“How should I know?” Yvonne said. “You’re the construction engineer.”
“Smart-ass.”
Natalie stood off to the side, her arms loaded with towels and a beach bag. Her sunglasses hid the fact that she was watching Kelly closely, studying the contrast between her and Yvonne that Steph had pointed out. Indeed, Kelly was sleek, almost catlike, with sinewy muscles that wrapped around her legs and shoulders.
It was impossible not to notice Didi and Pamela also,who were spreading a rented woven mat in the sun. Pamela in particular looked great in her bikini, better than Didi, who had no business
wearing something that small at forty-two years old.
“Who wants sunscreen?” Kelly asked.
“I wouldn’t mind getting a little sun,” Natalie said. “Not much, just enough for my legs to look nice without nylons.”
Kelly rummaged in her backpack and produced a plastic bottle of oil. “Try some of this. It’s got sun block in it but lets you tan.”
As she smeared the oil on her legs, she noticed that Kelly was slathering herself with thick white lotion. “Don’t you want to get a tan?”
“Nah, I go from white to brick red in about an hour. Then I spend the next two weeks molting.”
“Eww, that’s gross,” Didi said.
Natalie looked at Kelly and rolled her eyes. “This from a woman who told us every detail of her digestive system during dinner.” She stretched to cover her upper back with the oil.
“Let me get that,” Kelly offered.
She smiled to herself, wondering if Didi had caught the hint of familiarity in Kelly’s voice. Kelly had played this beautifully all day, carrying her bags and complimenting her on her outfit. At one point, she was almost certain she had seen Didi scowl.
She turned her back and savored the warm feel of Kelly’s hands. Too bad Didi couldn’t know what she was feeling, the gentle pressure of the fingertips that slipped underneath her straps and the edges of her suit. She wasn’t even aware of her smile until she raised her eyes and met Steph’s, which twinkled with mischief. Natalie responded in her usual way—she stuck out her tongue.
“Anyone else?”
“Sure,” Steph said, turning her back so Kelly could apply the oil.
“Careful where you put those hands,” Yvonne cautioned.
“I was just thinking I’d died and gone to lesbian heaven. Then you had to spoil my fantasy.” Kelly grinned and wiped the excess oil onto her neck. “We can rent some Wave Runners over there. Anyone up for that?”
Didi rolled onto her stomach and grinned. “Natalie said she was ready for adventure.”
“Not on one of those,” she said emphatically. “I was thinking more along the lines of putting my face in the water under extremely controlled circumstances. I didn’t say I was giving up living.”
“If you’d like to come, you can ride with me and we’ll take everything nice and easy,” Kelly offered.
“Aw, isn’t that sweet?” Didi said sarcastically, prompting a glare from both Natalie and Steph.
Yvonne took some bills out of her wallet. “I’m in, but I’m not taking anything nice and easy. In fact”—she pointed to a buoy well offshore—”I think we should start way down on that end and race to that buoy. You up for that, Grandma?”
Kelly grinned. “Did you just call me Grandma?”
“I do believe I did.”
“Let’s go. I’m going to smoke your ass.”
“In your dreams.” They hurried off to the vendor stand and moments later took to the water aboard two of the Wave Runners.
Natalie settled in a lounge chair alongside Steph to watch. “My money’s on Kelly.”
“She’s toast. Yvonne cheats.”
Even Didi and Pamela sat up on their blanket to see the race.
Natalie grew concerned as the jet skis scooted farther and farther offshore. “Why do they have to go so far out?”
“They have to get past the swimmers,” Steph explained. “Don’t worry. They have on ski vests.”
Finally they came to rest side by side in the ready position. The course was set to run parallel to shore about two hundred yards out in what looked like choppy water. “There they go!”
Kelly got a slow start, but her water exhaust—the rooster tail, as Steph called it—grew as she caught Yvonne at the halfway point. She then surged ahead before sinking into a trough, which Yvonne jumped cleanly. But once again, Kelly overtook her and pulled slightly ahead.
Natalie jumped to her feet and cheered, and Steph joined her. Didi yelled for Yvonne, Pamela for Kelly.
In a mad dash for the finish line, Yvonne swerved into Kelly’s path, causing her to lurch sideways to avoid a collision. Kelly toppled over a wave and her Wave Runner came to a standstill. She was nowhere in sight.
“Oh, my goodness,” Natalie said, running toward the shore.
“It’s okay,” Steph said.
Yvonne circled the buoy with her fist in the air and doubled back to taunt Kelly just as she surfaced over the chop. Kelly climbed back aboard her jet ski and fell into line behind Yvonne as they snaked a course of jumps, donuts and spins through the waves.
“Everybody’s okay, right?” Didi asked nonchalantly.
“They’re fine. They’re like a couple of children,” Steph said.
“Who won?”
Natalie sneered. “The cheater.” She settled back in her chair to watch the antics of the two women in the water, laughing when Kelly exacted her revenge on Yvonne by aiming her rooster tail in her face.
Kelly shook her head in disbelief as Didi and Pamela returned to their mat after lunch. She could already see red lines at the edges of their bikini bottoms, but they stubbornly resisted putting on sunblock or moving into the shade.
“I think I’m ready for something a little stronger,” Natalie said, interrupting her thoughts. She was holding the tube of sun block Didi had declined to use.
“Good idea.” Kelly was more than ready to help Natalie with her lotion again, though the episode with the oil had nearly done her in. Even standing behind her, she had gotten a jolt of desire from lowering the straps of her bathing suit to run her fingers over her naked skin. It might have killed her had Natalie asked her to do the backs of her thighs. “Anyone interested in a walk on the beach?”
“That could be fun,” Steph said.
Yvonne gave Steph a poke. “I’m ready for a nap after all that food.”
“That sounds even better. Never mind.”
“I’ll go,” Natalie said.
“I want to come too,” Didi said, jumping up abruptly.
“Wait, I need you here,” Pamela said. “I think I need some of that sunblock on my back. It’s starting to burn.”
“I think that’s smart,” Kelly said. “You don’t want to be hurting later.” She put her hand on Natalie’s back and quickened their pace to put distance between them and Didi. “Was that too obvious?”
Natalie snickered and looked over her shoulder. “I don’t think so. I think she’s catching on, though. She’s been watching us all day.”
“I hadn’t even noticed.” Kelly’s attention had been riveted all morning to finding opportunities to be close to Natalie. She wasn’t going to waste permission, and she couldn’t have cared less if Didi was watching them or not. “I’m glad we all came out here. It’s turned into a nice day.”
“It’s fun for all of us to be together. It’s almost like being back in Rochester, except without the snow.”
“And having to get up for work in the morning.”
“And since you mention it, having someone bring me coffee in bed.”
“Yeah, I have to admit, it’s a little different sharing space with someone,” Kelly said.
“I hope I haven’t been a bad roommate.”
“Not at all. I’ve enjoyed it.” She almost laughed at her lame conversation, like that of a teenager on a first date, shy and vapid.
“I was talking with Steph last night out in the hot tub, and we both said we hoped you’d join our group when we got home. We get together for dinner a couple of times a month or we go to movies, things like that.”
They reached the water and waded up to their knees.
“You’re going to see a lot of me at your house if you’re serious about those renovations.” They strolled casually and talked of remodeling until Kelly turned them around and headed back. When they reached the Wave Runners, she stopped. “How about coming for a ride?”
Natalie shook her head adamantly. “I’ve seen you in action. Lord only knows where the nearest chiropractor is.”
“I won’t go that fast with you. I promise. You told Didi you were going to do something adventurous.”
“You can’t let me fall off. I’d panic and drown both of us.”
“Not a chance.” She returned to the rental hut and collected another key and two ski vests. “What’s your favorite color?”
“Green.”
“The color of your eyes.” Kelly grinned, recognizing that she was still in full-flirt mode even though Didi was nowhere to be seen.
“Or we could take the blue one that matches yours.”
“Nope. We’re taking green.” Kelly pushed the small craft into waist-deep water and climbed aboard. “You always get on one of these from the back. Just grab my shoulders—” Her words trailed off as she felt Natalie’s arms encircle her waist and her body press against her back. “You catch on fast.”
“Not really. I started thinking about whether or not there were any sharks swimming around my legs, and I had an overpowering urge to get out of the water.”
“There weren’t.” She pulled gently on the throttle and started forward. “The guy in the vendor hut told me about a sandbar. It’s about half a mile down the beach, but not too far out. I’m not going to go very fast, but we’ll still have some bumps. Just hold on and you’ll be fine.”
Telling Natalie to hold on was unnecessary, since her hands were clasped tightly in Kelly’s lap.As their Wave Runner rounded a bend, they lost sight of the beach where their friends were, and bounced along in the steady chop for ten minutes before running aground on a high shelf of sand.
“How did you know it was right here?”
“The guy said to go out about three hundred yards parallel to the coast until we passed the blue house with the widow’s walk.” Kelly pointed to the shore.
“Look at these. They’re beautiful,” Natalie said excitedly as she sloshed through the ankle-deep water and picked up a colorful conch shell.
“Not only that, they’re alive.”
“Shells?”
“Turn it over and look inside.” She smiled at the look of wonder on Natalie’s face. “We used to pick these up off Key West all the time. In fact, they call Key West the Conch Republic.”
“I’d love to have one of these to take home, minus the critter, of course.”
“You definitely don’t want the critter. They don’t smell so good when they die in there.” Kelly climbed back onto the Wave Runner and scooted forward. “I bet you can find a shell like that in Nassau.”
Natalie poked her in the ribs as she settled in. “What do you know about shopping?”
“I saw it once in the movies.” When she felt Natalie’s arms go around her waist again, she realized that two things had her giddy—the fact that she and Natalie were off on their own, and that Natalie finally trusted her. She wanted to make the feeling last as long as she could. “We’ll take it nice and easy on the way back.”
