Save the date, p.17
Save the Date, page 17
“You’re crazy. You’re really smart,” Bernice said.
Casey took a few deep breaths to steady herself. She couldn’t make sense of her emotions. She’d never been the jealous type, but with each passing day her feelings for Elise grew more intense. Every time she caught a glimpse of the woman, her heart rattled the chains she’d bound it with. Get a fucking grip, Casey. After her one and only serious relationship had crashed and burned in spectacular fashion, she’d put her heart in solitary confinement and thrown away the key. She stood tall and hurried across the lobby’s blue tile floor, trying desperately to remember where she’d been headed.
Later that afternoon, Casey whistled, “You Are My Sunshine” as she stacked chaise lounges alongside the inn’s pool. When Elise emerged from a nearby shed wheeling a bike, Casey stumbled backward and fell into the flower bed.
Elise propped her bike up against the wall and ran to help Casey. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Casey cleared her throat. “No worries. I was in my own little world.”
Elise pointed to the spot where Casey had fallen. “Well done. You crushed the yellow flowers.”
Casey was confused. “I thought yellow was your favorite color.”
“What gave you that idea?”
“Your rehearsal dinner, the centerpieces, they were all yellow.”
“I detest the color yellow. If it had been up to me, the centerpieces would have been blue. That’s my favorite color.”
“Sorry I brought it up.”
Elise shrugged. “It’s okay.” She nodded toward the bike against the wall. “I was going to take a ride along the beach. Want to join me?”
Casey’s first instinct was to say no. She had so much to do around the inn, and she was still unsettled by the reaction she’d had that morning when she’d seen Elise laughing with Bernice. “Oh, gosh, I haven’t ridden a bike in years. I’m not sure I remember how.”
“Come on. It’ll be fun, and everyone knows, you never forget how to ride a bike.” Elise snatched a frisbee from a bin near the shed. “And maybe we can stop along the way and toss this.”
Casey caved. She pulled a bike from the shed and followed Elise to the path along the beach. They pedaled side by side, occasionally exchanging a glance but saying very little. The tension in Casey’s neck and shoulders gradually eased. It was late fall and a cool breeze came off the ocean. The sun hung low on the horizon and the beach was vacant except for a lone jogger. Elise slowed, propped her bike up against a streetlamp and twirled the frisbee on her finger.
Their feet sunk into the sand as they made their way toward the water. Elise sent the purple disk flying in Casey’s direction. She jumped up, caught it expertly with one hand, and in one fluid movement, flung it back to Elise.
“Let me guess,” Elise said. “You used to play Ultimate?”
Casey laughed. “Yeah. For many years. It’s sort of a prerequisite for lesbians in Vermont.”
As the sun inched lower and lower in the sky, it became difficult to see the frisbee. “Want to sit and watch the sunset?” Elise asked. She didn’t wait for Casey to answer and plunked herself down on the sand.
Casey sat beside her and stared at the ocean. The last rays of orange and yellow streaked across the water. “This is nice. I can’t remember the last time I stopped to watch the sunset.”
“That’s a crime.” Elise nudged Casey with her shoulder. “You mean to tell me you don’t woo all the ladies with romantic sunset walks?”
“Oh, there’s no wooing going on. I keep to myself. It’s better that way.”
“Uh-oh. Sounds like there’s a story there.”
“It’s not something I like to talk about.”
“Suit yourself,” Elise said, “but I’m a good listener.”
Seemingly without her consent, the words began to spill from Casey’s mouth. “Many years ago, I was deeply in love with a woman named Sophia. I decided to ask her to marry me and I spent weeks orchestrating the perfect proposal.” Casey bit her lip but the tears came anyway. Elise reached over for her hand and gave Casey the courage to go on. “Right before I got down on one knee, Sophia came out with a bombshell of her own. She announced she’d joined the Peace Corps to ‘find herself.’ She’d just signed on for a two-year stint in Rwanda.”
Elise squeezed her hand. “Oh, wow. And you had no idea?”
“Not a clue. I thought we’d spend our lives together, when in reality, she’d been planning to leave me for months. I was totally devastated.”
Elise wrapped an arm over Casey’s broad shoulder. “Geez. Understandably so. Talk about a serious kick in the stomach.”
“So now you know. There hasn’t been anyone since. Like I said, I’m better off alone.”
“Sophia was an idiot. To give up an amazing woman like you.”
Casey sucked in a breath of sea air to calm the flutter in her heart.
* * *
“Where are you running off too?” Elise asked when she spotted Casey hurrying across the lobby of the inn with a duffel bag slung over her shoulders.
“Just an overnight trip to Lake Okeechobee. My friend Jam lives there. They’re a sculptor and I commissioned a piece for the Swizzle. I’m going to pick it up.”
“Wow, really.” Elise glanced at the floor and then back up at Casey. “I’ve always wanted to see Lake Okeechobee. Mind if I, um, tag along?”
Casey hooked her thumbs in the belt loops of her faded jeans. “No, not at all. That’d be great.”
Elise bounced on her toes. “Super, give me a sec to toss some stuff in a bag.”
The drive to the lake took them back up through the Keys, the way they’d come when they’d driven down from Vermont. “Can you believe it’s only been a month since we got here?” Casey asked.
“No. It seems like a lifetime ago.”
“I feel the same way.”
“When will you go back there? To the inn in Vermont?”
“Not until after Easter,” Casey said. “I’ll make the drive north right before the spring wedding season shifts into high gear. Beginning in May, I’m booked solid through the summer.”
“You’re lucky to split your time between two beautiful places. Vermont and Key West, the best of both worlds.”
“I am lucky. Sometimes I forget that. Every year, I say I’m going to carve out time to go hiking or get out on my boat, but I never do it.”
“You have a boat? Here in Florida?”
“Sure do. I’ll take you out on it sometime.”
“Sweet, I’d like that.”
It was nearly dark by the time they got to Jam’s bungalow. Before dinner, they loaded the sculpture into the back of Casey’s truck and parked it in the garage.
“Hadn’t counted on you coming with a companion,” Jam said when it came time to go to bed. “Don’t recall you ever bringing a lady friend with you before.”
Casey cracked her knuckles. “Elise isn’t, um, a lady…”
Elise put her hands on her hips and gave Casey a look of mock disbelief.
“I didn’t mean—”
“I know what you meant.” Elise laughed and slung an arm over Casey’s shoulders. “You’re adorable when you get flustered.”
Jam’s studio consumed most of the house, and they hastily set up an air mattress next to the bed in the guestroom. Casey insisted Elise take the bed.
After the lights were out, Elise stared at the ceiling and listened to Casey’s slow and steady breathing. “You still awake?”
“Yeah,” Casey said. “I can’t seem to fall asleep.”
“Me either.” Elise faced Casey and propped her head on her elbow. “Do you want to come up here? There’s plenty of room for both of us and I hate the thought of you sleeping on the floor.”
The air mattress creaked as Casey rolled to its edge. She stood, pulled back the covers and slipped beneath them. Without saying a word, she wound a strong arm around Elise and spooned against her.
“I feel safe when I’m with you,” Elise whispered.
Casey pulled them tighter. “I feel happy when I’m with you.”
A warmth swelled in Elise’s chest and flowed toward her belly. Every muscle in her body relaxed when Casey slipped a hand into her hair and gently stroked her head until she fell asleep.
When they got back to the Swizzle, Elise helped Casey find the perfect spot for the small sculpture Jam had made. Once it was in place in front of the inn, they stood back to admire it. Elise took Casey’s hand and squeezed it. “It’s perfect.”
“It is, isn’t it? I may have Jam make another one just like it. I could put it back by the pool.”
“What a great idea.” Elise nudged Casey with her hip. “I’d happily take another road trip with you to Lake Okeechobee.”
“It’s settled then. Remind me to call Jam tomorrow.”
That evening, Elise cut a handful of delicate purple and white flowers from the garden behind the inn, bound them together with a piece of string and carried them next door to the small cottage where Casey lived. The scent of crab meat—a smell Elise had discovered was quite common in Key West—floated from Casey’s screen door.
With the bundle of flowers hidden behind her back, Elise knocked softly.
Casey greeted her with a broad grin. “Hey, hi. It’s good to see you. Come on in.”
Elise stepped over the threshold and presented the flowers. “For you.”
“How sweet of you.”
Elise smirked. “Well, they’re technically from your garden, so…”
“It’s the gesture that counts.” Casey waved toward her small kitchen. “Can I get you something to drink? Wine, beer, a margarita?”
“Um, I don’t want to interrupt. It smells like you’re cooking dinner.”
“I just steamed some stone crabs.” Casey fiddled with the button on her shirt. “Why don’t you stay? I’ve got plenty and I’d love your company.”
“Okay, twist my arm.”
Casey poured them each a glass of sauvignon blanc and reached for the bowl of freshly cooked crab claws. Elise smiled as she watched Casey’s able hands snap the claws and arrange them on a platter with big rainbow-colored crabs etched into it. In the month she’d been in Key West, she’d only seen Casey whip up meals in the inn’s industrial kitchen. Here in her cottage, Casey’s movements were more deliberate. She drifted between the fridge, sink, and stove and whistled as she divided a bowl of dark yellow sauce into two ramekins. It was a simple task, but here, away from the hustle and bustle of the inn, it felt intimate.
“Did your mom make it to New Jersey safe and sound?” Casey asked when they sat to eat. Elise’s mother and her friend Dora from Key West had gone up north to help their friend Julia, who’d broken both her arms in a car accident and needed help caring for her three preschool-age granddaughters.
“Yep. She called about an hour ago. She and Dora had commandeered the kitchen and were already busy cooking.”
“It was really nice of them to drive all the way up there.”
“Friends and family are paramount to my mother, and as much as she loves it here in Florida, I know she misses her friends in New Jersey.”
“Me too,” Casey said, “although I’m pretty sure your mom already knows half of Key West. You better watch out. They might make her honorary mayor.”
After they finished eating, Elise helped with the dishes and gathered her purse and jacket. “Thank you for dinner.”
Elise shuffled her feet as they stood awkwardly by the door. She closed the distance between them and brushed her lips over Casey’s. They were soft and warm. Casey jumped back, her eyes wide with surprise.
Elise’s stomach sunk. Maybe she’d crossed a line. She pushed open the screen door and said, “See you tomorrow,” hurrying out into the night.
“Any idea when you and Dora will head back to Key West?” Elise asked her mother. She pinned the phone to her ear with her shoulder while she dug around the shed for a bike pump.
“I’m not sure. The casts won’t come off Julia’s arms for at least another two weeks, and she still needs a lot of help with the little ones.”
“Okay. Be careful up there. Talk to you tomorrow.”
After she ended the call, Elise wheeled two bikes out of the shed and pumped their tires full of air.
Casey strode up beside her. “I’ll have to add bike mechanic to your long list of skills.”
A few strands of hair had come loose from Elise’s ponytail and she swept them from her face. “Bike mechanic might be a bit of a stretch.” She stood and gave Casey a big grin. “Although I do know how to change a flat tire.”
Casey laughed and rubbed her thumb over Elise’s cheek. “You’ve got bike grease on your face.”
Elise shrugged and set the bike pump aside. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” Casey reached for one of the bikes, swiped the kickstand with her foot and slid onto the seat.
Elise followed her out of the inn’s parking lot and zoomed ahead when they reached the wide bike path along Smathers Beach. She raised her hands in the air. “Look, no hands.”
A woman on roller blades careened toward Elise. “Watch out!” she yelled. “I don’t know how to stoooop!”
Elise grasped for her handlebars and jerked them to the right. Her front tire sunk into the sand alongside the path and her bike came to an abrupt halt, sending her sailing over the handlebars. Her helmet ricocheted off a lamp post and she went facefirst into a bright red fire hydrant. She landed on the ground in a heap and a metallic taste accompanied the stabbing pain in her mouth.
Casey was at her side in an instant, her eyes wild with concern. She brushed Elise’s hair from her face. “I’m calling an ambulance, baby.”
Elise wanted to smile but her mouth wouldn’t cooperate. Casey called me baby. The thought did wonders to ease her pain. She wiggled her arms and legs. “Not nethessawy. I fink I’m owkay.” After Casey helped her sit up, Elise roamed her mouth with her tongue. She whimpered. Her two front teeth were razor sharp and one wiggled when she touched it. She didn’t need a doctor; she needed a dentist.
Casey called the inn. Moments later, Ricky arrived in the Swizzle’s maintenance truck and whisked them off to the offices of Dr. Roberta France, the best dentist in all the Keys, according to Casey.
Aside from her damaged teeth, Elise had a few nasty cuts and bruises. When they got back to the inn that evening, Casey helped Elise into her cottage and drew a bath. With great care she pulled Elise’s bloodstained T-shirt over her head and unlatched her jog bra. When Elise’s breasts spilled out, Casey blinked a few times and cast her gaze toward the tub. “Um, maybe I should add a little more bubble bath.”
Elise eased out of her gym shorts.
Casey put the cap back on the bubble bath and stood to face her. Her cheeks flushed as her eyes roamed Elise’s body. “Just checking your injuries.”
“Uh-huh. Whatever you say.” It was the first time Casey had seen her naked, but Elise wasn’t shy standing bare in front of her. With a hand around Elise’s waist, Casey helped her into the tub. Her gentle touch made Elise’s skin tingle and if she hadn’t been in so much pain, she would have kissed her then.
The warm water stung at first, but gradually eased Elise’s aching muscles. She closed her eyes as Casey dabbed her skinned elbows and knees with a soft, soapy sponge. She opened one eye and smiled up at Casey. “You’re an excellent nurse. I’ve never felt so cared for in my life.”
Casey’s laugh echoed off the tiled bathroom walls. “Shhh, don’t tell anyone. It’ll ruin my image as a big, tough butch.” She pulled a towel off a nearby rack and wrapped it around Elise when she emerged from the bath. “Hungry?”
“Starving.”
“How about some soup?” Casey brushed Elise’s cheek with her finger. “Don’t imagine you’ll be able to eat anything solid for a while.”
After Elise ate, Casey tucked her into bed and crawled in next to her. It was ironic, Elise’s whole body throbbed, yet she was happier than she had been in her whole life. She drifted off to sleep in Casey’s arms with a smile on her face.
The next morning, Elise was stiff but the pain was a lot better. Thankfully, it was Saturday and she didn’t have to work. Casey made her a cup of strong, black coffee and scrambled eggs and when Elise finished her breakfast, she said, “Well, I should probably get back to my room.”
Casey looked down at her plate before peering up at Elise with her bright blue eyes. “Please, stay. It’s nice having you here.” She gestured toward the windows. “It’s supposed to rain all day. I’ve got to check on a few things at the inn, but when I get back, maybe we could watch a movie or something.”
Elise couldn’t think of a better way to spend the afternoon. “Okay, I’d like that.”
Casey returned to the cottage with a bag full of bandages, pain reliever, more soup and bubble bath. She and Elise snuggled under a blanket on the couch and listened to the rain batter the windows. They’d known each other for two short months and had only shared one chaste kiss, but without a shadow of a doubt, Elise was falling in love with the strong, confident innkeeper.
* * *
It took multiple visits, but Dr. Roberta France worked her magic and got Elise patched up.
“I told you she was amazing,” Casey said when Elise got home from her final visit to the dentist. Aside from a tiny scar on her knee, Elise had made a full recovery and she’d been a trooper through the whole ordeal. “You’re as good as new.”
“Actually,” Elise said, “I’m better than new.” She ran a finger over her newly-fortified front teeth. “As you probably noticed, before the crash my front teeth were crooked. Now, they’re perfectly straight.”
“You had a beautiful smile before and you have a beautiful smile now.”
Elise beamed. “You always make me feel special.”
“You are special.” Casey trailed a finger over Elise’s cheek. “Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.”
“It’s ironic,” Elise said. “Charles hated my crooked teeth, always said they were the only blemish on my otherwise beautiful face. He begged me to get them fixed but I refused.”
