"You don't mean that literally, do you?" Ryan gulped.
"No," he laughed, clapping her on the shoulder. "I don't think they'll resort to violence. But I want Jamie to be well prepared for this. I have seen this issue come up time and again for parents, so I assume it might happen here."
"What do you suggest, Poppa? Should I tell them that I am a lesbian even if I don't feel comfortable with that label yet?"
"I'm not urging you to lie, Jamie. I just want you to be prepared for the types of things that can come up. You should think about your answer and feel comfortable with whatever it is. Until you feel right about it, I would urge you to wait to tell them."
"But what if I never have a term I’m comfortable with?" Her eyes were round with surprise and he hastened to reassure her.
"I don’t mean to say you have to have a term, Honey. I’m just warning you that your parents will want you to have one. It’s perfectly acceptable to tell them that how you refer to yourself is none of their business. All I’m trying to do is alert you that they will probably ask."
"Okay, that's good advice. What else should I expect?"
"I assume they'll be disappointed. Maybe not with you, but with the loss of some of their expectations for you. I know they expected your life to mirror theirs. That's hard for many parents to deal with."
"Yeah," she sighed. "I know it will be hard for Mother to have me doing something that is socially undesirable."
"Don’t assume that it won't bother your father too, Jamie. He definitely got a lot of pleasure out of having you and Jack together."
"You’re right," she agreed, remembering how proud her father was to take the two of them to social functions at the firm. "Okay, what else?"
"I think the odds are good that they'll believe Ryan coerced you into this," he said softly, true regret coloring his words.
The color rose on her cheeks as she said, "That couldn't be further from the truth!"
"I know that, Honey. And when they get to know Ryan, they'll know that too. But that will probably be their initial reaction."
"How do I make them see that's not true?" she asked. "Do I have to spell out how I pursued her?"
"No, I don't think you have to and I don't think you should. This is one area that you should maintain your privacy. It's no one else's business how you came to be lovers, and if you don't want to reveal that, you shouldn't. I think you should tell them that there was no coercion involved and leave it at that."
"What else?" she asked glumly, now regretting her inclination to tell them at all.
"I think they might assume that Ryan is after your money," he said softly.
"Oh please!" she said, her voice rising. "I have to beg her to let me buy her a pair of shorts! The only fights we’ve had have been because she can’t stand to have me spend money on her!"
He laughed at this detail and Ryan blushed a bit. "I know it’s not true, Honey. But I am certain the thought will cross their minds. I suggest you remind your father that the Smith thought the same thing about him when Catherine brought him home."
"I didn't know that," she said with a small laugh.
"It's a very common reaction from people who have great wealth. They assume that everyone wants a piece of it."
"Okay, other than seducing me for my money, what else will they think of Ryan?"
"They won't like that she's older than you are, or that she’s been with other women before you. That will just reinforce their thoughts of her coercing you. But I think the biggest problem will be their difficulty in dealing with the loss of their dreams for you, Jamie. That's usually the biggest problem for secular, liberal parents."
"Yeah, I guess they can hardly throw the Bible at me," she agreed with a laugh.
"That would be a stretch," he said, sharing her smile.
"So, do you think I should tell them at all?"
He took a sip of his wine and gazed into space for a moment, carefully considering his reply. "I think you need to feel comfortable with why you want to tell them. Are you trying to come out at them or to them?"
"What do you mean?" She had never heard the issue framed that way, and it gave her pause.
"Some people tell their parents because they know it will drive them crazy. They want to create some drama and hurt their parents with the news."
She shook her head violently. "I want to tell them because Ryan is such an important part of my life," she said sincerely. "This isn't a passing fling. I'm not just trying out lesbian sex because everyone else is doing it. Ryan means everything to me, Poppa," she said as she squeezed her hand tightly. "If I don't tell them about her, they can't really know me. She's a part of me now," she said simply.
He smiled at her and patted her cheek with his hand. "That’s a wonderful reason, Jamie, and if they have any sense at all, they’ll thank God that you care for them enough to share your life with them."
She smiled up at her grandfather as she said, "It's nice to know that no matter what happens, you'll always be supportive of me."
"You can count on that, Jamie," he said with a broad smile.
As they raced up the hill, Ryan yelled ahead to Duffy, "Hey, no fair, you've got four legs. I should get a head start." As though he understood her entreaty, he crested the hill and waited patiently until his mistress caught up. "Thanks, pal," she said fondly as she bent over to ruffle his fur.
They had been trudging up and down the hills for nearly an hour. It was just past six now, and Ryan's stomach was growling fiercely. "We'd better head home, boy. With any luck, Conor's started breakfast."
To her severe disappointment, not only had Conor not started breakfast, he was nowhere to be found.
He'd better show up on time. I need to warm up a little bit before we play,
she groused. Her sour mood lightened appreciably when Jamie's sleepy head poked up from the lower stairwell.
"Hi, Honey," she mumbled, scratching her head absently. "Did you have a good run?"
Ryan walked over by the stairs and greeted her lover with her second kiss of the day, this time to a sentient being. "Yeah, we did. My legs were really dead by the last few miles, though." She looked down at her uncooperative legs as if they would provide the reason for their reluctance to attack the hills with their normal gusto.
"I think it might be your workouts, Honey," she opined, laughing to herself at Ryan’s inability to acknowledge that she'd had a killer of a week.
Ryan gave her a little smirk, acknowledging that she had been putting a different kind of stress on her body. "Maybe I'm too old to do this."
"Yeah, right. You did three major workouts this week, Baby, and two of them were on the same morning! That would knock most people out. I think you should be pleased that you’re just a little slow today."
"I didn’t say I was slow." Ryan shot her a nearly petulant look, a bit offended by the mere suggestion. "I said my legs felt dead. Just because they didn’t feel right doesn’t mean I demanded any less from them."
Jamie took her hand and tugged her into the kitchen, smiling to herself at her partner's stoic nature. She urged Ryan to sit at the counter while she poured her a large glass of juice. As she handed it to her, Jamie leaned over and kissed each of the cool, damp thighs. "I’m sorry she’s so rough on you, guys. I’ll try to make it up to you later with a nice massage."
"Don’t spoil ‘em," Ryan laughed, slapping at each muscled leg. "They’ll start expecting it." She laughed at her own inability to go easy on herself, but she had a genuine worry that she might not be able to perform as well as she used to, and she felt like she needed to give voice to that fear. "I know you’re teasing, but I have to be realistic, Jamie. I don't have the same body that I had in high school, and I think I'm going to have to learn to demand a little less from myself."
Once again wishing that she had known her partner years earlier, Jamie said, "That works for me." She walked over to Ryan and slid her arms around her wet body. "I have a lot of demands to make on this gorgeous body, and I'm not willing to accept a poor performance. I need you to get as much rest as possible to meet my high standards."
"You have really turned into a stern taskmistress, haven't you?" Ryan smiled up at her grinning face as she returned the hug.
"You have a coach to keep you motivated in your other sports. I'm just taking over in the bedroom."
"Now those are the outfits that
I
really like," Ryan said with a big smile.
Conor came barreling into the kitchen, stopping short when he saw the embrace they were locked in. "Jeez, do you two ever give it a rest?"
"And you were out doing
what
all night?" Ryan asked innocently.
"Aahh, good point," he admitted. "Who's making breakfast? I'm starved."
"Let's get ready and have breakfast at the club," Jamie suggested. "They have a really good buffet."
The siblings exchanged quick glances as they each took off for their respective showers, leaving Jamie standing in the middle of the living room. "I guess that was a yes?" she called out to the empty room.
At 7:50 Jamie tried to drag the siblings away from the breakfast buffet. "All you can eat isn't necessarily a challenge," she finally said in exasperation.
"Almost done." Ryan grinned up at her, cheeks still as full as a chipmunk’s.
"Maybe we could just skip golf and stay here and eat," Conor suggested hopefully.
"Do they have doggie bags?" Brendan’s eyes wandered up and down the lavish buffet, truly upset that he did not have the opportunity to sample each dish.
"Let's go, you gluttons." Jamie’s chiding tone did not match the fond grin that covered her face, and the O’Flaherty siblings knew that she was merely teasing them. "I thought you wanted to warm up this time, Ryan."
"I'm plenty warm from jumping up every two minutes to get more of these little muffins," she admitted with a grin.
Conor was finally allowed his long-held wish to witness Jamie's swing. But after the match, he admitted he should have been happy to merely hear about it. "If we'd been playing for money, you would have cleaned me out!" he moaned as they sat in the Grill waiting for their lunch to be delivered.
Jamie just smiled and soaked up the praise. She was extremely pleased with the way she had played, and she felt confident about her plans to try out for the team. She reached over and patted his hand as she said, "I just had a good day, Conor. I'm sure you'll take me next time."
"I don't think so, Jamie. I'm going to have to get used to my sister beating me in almost every sport and my sister-in-law beating me in golf. It's a darn good thing I'm secure in my masculinity."
Brendan chuckled at that. "Does my kicking your butt threaten your masculinity?" His bright blue eyes were filled with mirth, and it made Jamie smile to see how the gentle teasing never seemed to bother any of the O’Flaherty children.
"Not a bit," Conor insisted. "You’re my older brother—you should have some of the privileges of seniority."
As Jamie got up to go wash her hands, she leaned over and wrapped her arms around Conor from behind. She gave him a playful hug, rubbing her cheek against his 12 o’clock shadow. "You just ooze masculinity, Conor," she teased. Her hug had mussed his hair a bit, and she neatened it up, placing another kiss atop his head when she was satisfied. As she turned to walk away, she felt a hand upon her back. Spinning around, she stood face to face with her father. "Daddy!" she cried as she threw her arms around him.
"I had no idea you were playing today, Honey," he said as he squeezed her back. "We've missed you, Jamie," he added softly.
"I've missed you too, Daddy," she said sincerely. "Can you sit with us?"
"I have a few minutes," he said as he moved around to meet the boys. "I'm Jim Evans," he said, shaking Conor's hand. All three of the O'Flahertys had risen when Jim appeared, and Ryan extended her hand also.
"These are my brothers, Conor and Brendan," she indicated as he shook each man’s hand in turn.
"I think I would have guessed that if I’d had a moment, Ryan," he said with a grin. Looking between Ryan and Conor he asked the inevitable. "Are you twins?"
"No, sir. Conor is significantly older than I am." She gave her brother a playful pat on the back as he rolled his eyes dramatically.
"Ryan insults me, and Jamie humiliates me on the course. I'm beginning to get a complex."
Sitting down, Jim smiled at his daughter and asked, "I take it your game is doing well?"
"Yeah, it's coming along pretty well," she said modestly.
"Don't let her get away with being modest, Mr. Evans," Ryan began, but was quickly interrupted.
"You agreed to call me Jim, Ryan, remember?"
"Right. I’ll do that, Jim." She returned his friendly smile and relaxed a bit, the tension starting to fade from her body.
Conor joined in, "I play pretty well, Jim, and Jamie thrashed me today. We played from the white tees and she out-drove me on every hole. I've never played with a woman who can hit it like she did today."
Jamie blushed furiously under the weight of this praise. "Since I've gotten stronger, I have a lot more power," she said frankly, but humbly.
"Well, I can't wait to play tomorrow," Jim said. "Nothing would make me happier than to have my little girl beat me at my own game."
"Unless you're ready for the Tour, you should be downright giddy by tomorrow afternoon," Conor warned.
Jim got up to leave when he saw his playing partners enter the room. He gave them a wave and held up a finger, indicating that he would be right with them. "Did everything go well down at the beach, girls?"
Both women nodded enthusiastically. "I had a marvelous time, Jim. I can't thank you enough for your hospitality."
"Did you give my cars a little workout?" he asked with a smile.
"I sure did. I spaced them out over two days to prolong the pleasure," she admitted. "Conor came down to give me a ride home on Saturday, and he got to share a little of the enjoyment."
"Excellent! I love being able to share them with people who appreciate them."
"I've never met anyone who appreciates cars more than Ryan," Jamie said.
"But I taught her everything she knows about them," Conor said as he patted his sister's hand.
"You'll have to come down and hang out in my garage someday, Conor. I'm always looking for another aficionado."
"That would be a thrill," he said sincerely, his eyes dancing at the thought of being able to hang out with someone who could afford the toys he had always dreamed of.
"Well, I’ve got to get moving, but it was a pleasure to meet you both and to see you again, Ryan." He shook each sibling’s hand, and gave Jamie a kiss on the cheek. "I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Cupcake. Is 11 o’clock okay?"
"Sure. I’ll see you then, Daddy."
As he walked away in search of his playing partners, Conor stared after him with the lovesick look of an adolescent girl. "Gosh, he’s dreamy," he said wistfully, just managing to duck the quick backhand his older brother sent his way.
"I hate to disappoint you, Conor," Jamie teased, "but if he was going to be a sugar daddy I think he’d choose a woman."
Keep you face neutral, Ryan. Don’t you dare let on how much truth there is in that statement!
By three o'clock they had showered and were resting in their room. Ryan had on her board shorts and one of her undershirts, this one in white. Jamie was wearing a tiny little cotton batik dress in shades of tangerine and white that showed off her tanned, toned legs. They had taken a power nap as soon as they got home, so they were rested as well as clean. "What do you want to do for the rest of the day?" Jamie asked over the whine of the blow dryer as she finished her hair.
Ryan was lounging on the small chintz love seat that sat opposite her bed. She had both feet up on the cushion, with her arms wrapped around her shins, the pose vaguely reminiscent of Caitlin. "I don't know. I guess we should get to work on our graduate school applications. I have all the stuff here." Her tone conveyed her lack of excitement at the prospect, but Jamie knew that Ryan rarely let her feelings about a task be a factor in whether she tackled it or not.
"That doesn’t sound like much fun. Is that really the best that you can come up with for a Saturday afternoon?" She went over to sit next to Ryan on the love seat and rested her hand on Ryan’s knee.
"No, I can think of lots more. We could go get the baby and take her for a long walk--I’m sure she misses both of us. We could take Duffy to the park and throw his tennis ball for a while--he’s got to have a lot of excess energy stored up. We could wash Da’s truck—I usually do that if I’m free on a Saturday. We could take our bikes out of the shipping cartons. We co…" but she was cut off by a pair of lips plastered against hers.
"Can't you think of anything we could do inside?" The invitation was plain in Jamie’s voice, as well as in the way that her hands began to slide slowly up and down Ryan’s bare arms.
"We could start dinner," she said, being intentionally obtuse, just because she felt like playing.
"Think harder," Jamie purred as she pulled her head over for another deep kiss.
Ryan blinked as she sat up, and smacked her lips together to get her mouth working again. "We could do some laundry."
"Uh-uh," Jamie purred in her deepest voice. "Let's do something down here."
"I haven't dusted down here in weeks." Ryan’s innocent look encouraged Jamie to continue the game—now determined to wipe that look off her partner’s face.
"Nope. Doesn't appeal to me," she whispered, her breath tickling Ryan’s neck as she leaned over and sucked on a tender little earlobe.
Ryan drew in a sharp breath, and she felt her nipples tighten, but she kept her focus. "I have the fall schedule on my desk. We could make sure our course work fits together well."
"Not even warm," Jamie breathed as she started at her exposed collarbones and licked a wet path up to her chin.
The trail beneath Jamie’s foraging tongue not being the only place that was getting wet, Ryan gulped audibly, but she managed to squeak out, "Clean the bathroom?"
Jamie pushed Ryan’s feet to the ground as she slid onto her lap, straddling her. She was not wearing a stitch under her dress, and Ryan gasped as she felt silky, damp curls slide over her thigh. Jamie grasped her head with both hands and held it steady as she devoured her mouth with deep, probing kisses, not lightening the intensity until Ryan began to whimper under the assault. Jamie pulled away with an audible "smack" as she broke the suction between their mouths. "I want to do something where we get hot, and wet and messy," she whispered seductively, her warm tones causing chills to run up and down Ryan’s spine.