Page 4 of September
“Yes, we came home. Well,here,” Myra said as she tucked her phone into the pocket of her jeans.
“Leave her alone, Gwen,” Elisa told her as she walked down the stairs. “Are we ready?”
“It’s because he can see through the front window.”
“What is?” Elisa asked her.
“Why he sits on the table when you’re gone. It’s closer to the window than the couch. The table kind of blocks him, and he’s probably waiting for you to get home, so it’s a better view.”
“Oh,” Elisa replied, looking down at Buster, who was now lying in his bed, chewing on the bone Gwen had given him when she had gotten here. “Should I buy something that he can use to get closer to the window? He’s not a cat, so he won’t fit in one of those tower things.”
“Just let him be on the table for a while. He’s still adjusting. Eventually, he’ll be good on the couch,” Gwen said and stood. “So, we’re going out?”
“Yes. Both kids are officially at school, and not just for their orientations, which they can leave.”
Myra laughed and said, “Yeah,thatwas fun.”
AJ had already caught the two of them having sex once after showing up at home unexpectedly, but with both AJ and Adele at their freshmen orientations, Myra and Elisa hadn’t been worried about either of them walking in when they were about to have sex again. Little did they know that AJ had decided to drive home one day when the orientation stuff was too boring for him and he wanted to spend some time with his mom. He had been homesick and still adjusting to being in a dorm room with a roommate whom he didn’t know well yet. According to Elisa, Myra had been on her knees, pulling Elisa’s underwear down in the kitchen, when the front door had opened and AJ had yelled for his mother. Elisa had then hidden in the pantry to pull on her panties and sweats while Myra had distracted him and encouraged him to run upstairs to drop off his stuff.
AJ had stayed the night and driven back to school the following morning. He’d been able to get his car on campus because he was an athlete, and they had changed the policy about freshmen having cars for athletes. Gwen had been present when Adele had found that out and said it was unfair, so she had called up her own school and asked for a parking spot on campus for her car, citing the unfair policies for athletes that she had found out existed there as well. She’d gotten the parking permit and now had her car there, too, which was good for her because she had a new girlfriend, whom she’d raved about to Gwen just the other night. Gwen adored her niece and nephew and found that she kind of missed them being around New Orleans, but all kids grew up, and they were doing just that.
“They’re now in classes and activities and will have to be on campus all the time, which means Myra and I no longer have to worry about either of them stopping by.”
“What activities is Adele in?” Gwen asked.
“None yet, but she will be soon,” Elisa replied. “You know my daughter… She’s already led the parking for non-athletes protest.” Elisa laughed. “Besides, I suspect her weekends will be spent with Wendy until fall break. Then, Adele is coming here, and Wendy is staying with her family, so they’ll be apart for five whole days.”
“God, I remember whatthatwas like, not wanting to be away from someone at all. I couldn’t imagine a night without them, and five days would’ve nearly killed me.”
“Yeah, I get it now,” Elisa said, looking at Myra.
Myra smiled back, and Gwen cleared her throat.
“I get it; you like each other. Let’s go drink now.”
“I’ll drive,” Myra offered. “I’m not drinking.”
“Are you pregnant already, Myra?” she teased.
Myra laughed and said, “No, I have to be at a site tomorrow morning, and I don’t want to be hungover around power tools.”
“Wise decision,” Gwen said.
As an adult, she always felt awkward in the back seat of a car. As a kid, she had gotten used to it because she was the third of four children, and Archie and Annabelle, the twins, were six years older, so with that kind of age difference, she had always been treated like the baby. That, unfortunately, hadn’t changed when Grant had been born four years after her. They’dbothbeen treated like babies then. Gwen couldn’t stand her older siblings. She loved them because they were blood, but she didn’t like them all that much as people. Grant was fine, but they weren’t close. Gwen was the black sheep of the family, and not just because she was gay. Archie and Annabelle, even though they still had money from their parents, were both rich andsuccessful all on their own, doing their part to represent the good Benedetti name, and Grant was also on his way to being rich and successful. Then, there was Gwen. She was a thirty-two-year-old dog walker and pet sitter, and not rich at all.
She had an inheritance coming her way when her parents died, and they had given her a small trust fund when she turned twenty-five. She’d get even more of it if she got married, as long as it was by the time she turned thirty-five. It was all ridiculous old-money bullshit and had even more rules attached, and she hated it, so she hadn’t touched the money she already had yet. It was there if she ever needed it, but so far, she made her rent, paid her bills, and had a little money left over at the end of each month to be able to eat take-out and have drinks with her ex-sister-in-law and Elisa’s new girlfriend.
Myra driving Elisa’s car was also an adjustment. Since Myra had a pickup truck, they had taken Elisa’s car instead, and Myra had just grabbed the keys off the table by the door and gotten in the driver’s seat like she had done it a million times before, even though they had only just gotten together officially. She had also placed her hand on Elisa’s thigh, and Elisa had taken it without reservation, like that was the most normal thing in the world to her, when she had been married to Gwen’s brother for almost twenty years and Myra was her first-ever girlfriend.
Somehow, it seemed like Elisa had managed to find the love of her life on her first try. How had she done that? Gwen could use some lessons because she’d been out and proud for over a decade now. She’d been in relationships, but she had never found the one, and she had been looking, too. Elisa had just moved next to Myra and called Myra’s contracting company asking for an estimate, and that had been it. They were in love.
‘Lucky bitch,’Gwen thought to herself when Myra pulled into a parking lot and took a ticket.
“So, we’re celebrating an empty house?” she asked as they walked down the street.
“Yes, and the fact that the work on the house is done, thanks to Myra. Plus, AJ has his first soccer match in a couple of weeks, and he said that his coach told him he’s a starter if he keeps up the good work. That’s a big deal for a freshman,” Elisa said.
“He texted me the news,” she shared as she caught up to Elisa, who was walking ahead of her, holding hands with Myra. “That’s great. He wants to go pro.”
