Bliss (35 page)

Sinclair led her into the living room, holding her hand and
the bottle of wine. Xavier looked up from his toys as the
women walked in.

"Hunter!"

"Hey, big boy. What are you doing?"

"Waiting for dinner. Mama says we can't eat until you
come."

"I'm here." Hunter grinned.

Xavier smiled back and hopped up from his mess of toys
scattered in front of the television. "Food!" He raced into the
kitchen ahead of the women.

"I think somebody is hungry," Hunter said.

Victor walked into the kitchen at the same time that they
did. The already small room suddenly felt very tiny.

"Hunter." He inclined his head toward the dinner guest.
"How are you?"

"Fine, Mr. Daniels. No complaints."

"Good, good." He washed his hands under the kitchen tap
and sat down at the table. "Sit beside me, Xavier."

Everyone sat at the table and said grace over what Sinclair
finally identified as stew peas and rice with sweet corn fritters
and a bit of steamed cabbage on the side for health. Xavier
wasn't the only one pleased at what Nikki turned out. They
attacked their food at once, immediately making low sounds
of appreciation and praises to the cook.

"Fabulous, as usual, Nikki," Sinclair said, lifting a forkful
of stew and rice.

"As usual? I was hoping for out of this world since Hunter
was our guest tonight."

Hunter smiled at the smaller woman. "Trust me when I
say this is a stellar meal, Nikki. I haven't had it this good in a
long, long time."

"Thank you." Nikki swept a pleased glance around the
table, her cheeks blooming with subtle color.

Not to be outdone, Xavier raised his empty fork in the air.
"This is the best stew peas ever."

"Thanks, sweetheart." She lightly touched the back of his
neck.

Victor picked up a corn fritter. "So, Hunter. Nikki tells me
that you and Lydia are no longer ... friends."

Sinclair almost choked on her carrot juice. She turned to
Hunter as her lover slowly put down her fork.

"That's not necessarily true," she said. "Lydia and I are
still friends. Or at least we were until a few days ago. We just
don't have the same relationship that we used to."

"The kind of relationship you used to have with Lydia,
that's what you now have with Sinclair?"

"No. Sinclair and I have something better."

Victor nodded and bit into his fritter. "Is Lydia OK with
that?"

"I don't think so, but she and I ended our involvement before Sinclair and I got together so there shouldn't be any hard
feelings on her part."

Victor glanced at Sinclair then back again at Hunter.
"You're very honest. I like that."

Nikki cleared her throat. "How is Della doing these days,
Hunter? I haven't seen her in forever."

"She's doing all right. Things have been real busy at the
shop ever since you told the Breckenridges about her work.
She can't make those goddess pots fast enough."

"That's good, then. But I still miss her."

"Why don't you run by the shop and see her one of these
days? I'm sure she would be glad to see you."

"I just might do that."

"Good."

Nikki kept sneaking peaks at Hunter as if reevaluating a
former opinion, watching how she ate and responded to the
not-so-subtle inquiries Victor threw her way. Despite the succulent flavor of Nikki's meal, Sinclair was too nervous to eat.
She picked at her plate, tasting the tender bits of pork-infused
red beans and the thick red-tinged sauce that perfectly complemented the white rice. It wasn't like she was going to marry
the woman. Still her appetite remained sparse and her hands
were cold with nerves.

"My dinner not good enough for you, Sinclair?" Nikki
teased. Sinclair glared at her stepmother. Nikki knew damn
well why she couldn't eat.

"Stop teasing, Nikki. You know that the food is good. I'm
just not really hungry right now."

Four pairs of eyes looked at her as if she'd just flown over
the moon in her underwear. Her father patted her hand and
smiled.

Sinclair kept quiet. After the main meal they moved to the
living room for dessert. Xavier quickly went through half the
bag of cookies that Hunter brought him. It wasn't long before Nikki put him to bed, tucking him into her and Victor's
bedroom until later on when she could move him. Victor
brought out the cards and they sat down around the coffee
table to play gin. Hunter was an aggressive player, unforgiving of Sinclair's inexperience and Nikki's niceness. She and
Victor played in deadly earnest until, unexpectedly, Sinclair's
father stood up to get drinks for the women-bottles of
Guinness for himself, Sinclair, and Hunter, and carrot juice
for Nikki. He and Hunter boasted loudly about who was the
better player, slapping down cards amid laughter and chortles of amusement from the other women. They didn't talk
again of serious matters, of Lydia or the relationship, or the
fact that Sinclair was leaving in less than three weeks.

Later in the night, Hunter and Nikki teamed up against the other two in bid whist, becoming a true team of trash
talkers while Victor and Sinclair beat them soundly at every
game, laughing quietly to themselves even as their lovers
grew louder in their defeat.

At three in the morning, they reluctantly packed up the
cards and Hunter gathered her things to go. Sinclair walked
her out to the night-blanketed verandah and, away from the
curious eyes of her parents, gently kissed her. "Thank you."

"You're making me work hard for this, aren't you?"
Hunter growled into Sinclair's throat.

"You didn't have to come tonight."

"Like hell I didn't."

Sinclair laughed. "Will I see you tomorrow?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

"Smart-ass."

"Better that than a dumb-ass." Hunter nuzzled her throat
again. "Come to the house after dinner. Spend the night with
me."

"Maybe."

Hunter laughed and pulled away. "Tomorrow." She
walked backward down the short steps leading from the verandah to the gravel footpath.

Sinclair blew her a kiss and watched her walk out to her
Jeep. She didn't go back inside until long after Hunter had
driven away.

want to go horseback riding."
"Then go." Nikki turned to look at Sinclair. "There
should be a few places on the beach that have horse tours."

The two women lay stretched out under an oversized
beach umbrella while Xavier sat on the beach, building a
fortress out of sand for his toy soldiers. It was the weekend
again, and Sinclair was finally able to lure Nikki away from
Victor to go to the beach with her. This time, they took a taxi
at Sinclair's expense so they wouldn't have to wrestle with
the umbrella on the motorcycle.

"I don't want to do the tourist thing, though," Sinclair
said.

"Maybe Hunter can help you out. She knows a lot of rich
people on the island. She might be able to find you a private
tour or something."

"Hunter!" They looked up at Xavier's shout. The boy
abandoned his fort to greet the woman and pull her over to
see the results of his labor. She took something out of her
backpack and gave it to him. Xavier looked puzzled, then
after a few words with him, he nodded and put his gift, another toy soldier, with the others who were lined up to go
into the fort.

"You know I think the reason he likes her so much is because she always brings him gifts."

Nikki smiled. "There's nothing wrong with that."

Sinclair rolled her eyes.

"Hey, ladies." Hunter left the fort to join them.

"Speak of the devil and she shall appear."

"Should I take offense?" Hunter sat in the sand beside
them and gave Sinclair's butt a playful pat.

"It's not like we're telling you something you don't already
know," Sinclair grinned. "Nikki was just saying you might know
about a private horseback riding tour. I haven't been on a horse
since my grandma took me to Montana when I was eighteen."

"I can't guarantee you any experience you have here is
going to be like Montana when you were a teenager."

"Hmm, I could think of at least one." She exchanged a
heavy lidded gaze with Hunter, swept her eyes over the other
woman's taut body in its cutoff shorts and thin T-shirt. The
exhilaration of her first ride had been coupled with a healthy
dose of fear and breathlessness. Not unlike the time Hunter
had taken her at the castle, her body hard and sweaty as it
pounded against Sinclair's from behind.

Hunter coughed. "My apologies, you would certainly
know better than I."

"So what about the horseback riding?"

"I have some friends who own horses." She lay back in the
sand and watched Xavier chase little seabirds away from his
fort. "I'll call them this evening."

"So what brings you out of your dungeon on such a gorgeous day," Sinclair asked. Over the past few days, Hunter
had been working feverishly on a project that left her little
daylight time to spend with her lover.

"You, of course." Hunter flashed her a smile. "I brought
you something."

Beside them, Nikki suddenly stood up and went to join her
son in the sand.

"Really?" Sinclair sat up. "What is it?"

Hunter opened her backpack and pulled out something
heavy wrapped in cheesecloth. "Here."

It was a camera. One very much like the one that Sinclair
had broken in the mountains, only it was older, an antique
where hers had merely been old.

"Oh my God!" Sinclair took the camera, marveling at its
metal and leather housing that gleamed in the sun.

"This one is metal, so in case you decide to beat someone's
face in with it, it'll survive the attack, and the guy at the shop
said that it works just fine with the 35 millimeter film you
were using before. It's from 1972 or something. All I knew
was that yours was old so I looked online then ran down a
guy in Kingston that happened to have this." Hunter took a
quick breath as if to stop herself from talking. "Is this close
enough to what you had?"

"Are you kidding?" Sinclair let out a squeak and grabbed
Hunter in a fierce hug. "This is wonderful. Thank you. I can't
believe you did this for me."

"Why wouldn't l?" Hunter's palms were hot against
Sinclair's back and neck. "You mean a lot to me. This is
nothing."

"It's hardly nothing, you crazy woman." Sinclair kissed
her mouth. "This is very unexpected. Thank you."

"Good. I'm glad you like it. The film from the broken
camera is in the plastic bag too. I think you can save some of
the photos." Hunter reluctantly pulled back from their hug.
"I have to go. Work."

Sinclair groaned in disappointment. "Really?"

"Yes. But I'll be done with this project by Tuesday." She
brushed her fingers over Sinclair's cheek. "Come to my house
on Wednesday morning by seven. I can arrange for us to go
riding then. OK?"

"OK." Sinclair grinned, clutching her new old camera as
she watched Hunter wave at Nikki and Xavier then walk
away toward her jeep. After she drove away, Nikki came
back to sit next to her stepdaughter.

"Nice," she said, pointing at the camera.

"Yes, it is. So is Hunter."

"She gave Xavie a new toy." Nikki dimpled. "A girl soldier. "

They both laughed.

"At first, he didn't even know what to do with her. He had
no idea they made girl soldiers."

"But I'm sure Hunter set him straight." Sinclair looked
down at the camera. "God, it's going to be so hard to leave."

"That's two weeks away. Don't think about it now, just
enjoy the time you do have."

A bittersweet smile tugged at Sinclair's mouth. "You're
right." She touched the younger woman's arm. Nikki made a
low noise and hugged her tight.

It just happened that Hunter did know some rich people
with horses, friends she'd known in England years ago. The
Rai-Spencers were an attractive, charming couple. Madeline
was an English barrister who had enough of London's rain
and noise and decided to move back to the country where her
parents were born. Her wife, Radha, was a dancer who had
been forced into early retirement by a knee injury and who
now wrote bestselling novels for British lesbians. The women
looked vaguely familiar to Sinclair, but she couldn't quite
place where she'd seen them before.

"Good to see you again, Hunter." Madeline hugged her
friend. "Twice in one week. Rare but most welcome."

Radha took her turn in Hunter's arms. "Yes, we know it's
not quite a social call, but we love seeing you anyway." She
turned to Sinclair. "And this is the woman you told us
about?"

"Yes. This is Bliss Sinclair. Sinclair, these are my very good
friends."

When Madeline turned to Sinclair, she remembered where
she'd seen them before. At the party three weeks ago. They
were the same beautiful couple she hadn't been able to take
her eyes off of.

"It's good to finally meet someone who she's dating." Madeline pulled Sinclair into a tight embrace. Her skin held
the tang of indoors, air conditioner, and expensive soap.
"You have no idea the pains she goes through to keep her
love life secret from us."