Tailspin Page 9

  Seth had the decency to look ashamed. "Anyway, Steve said something about you and Mom having 'better fish to fry'," he said to Cat. "That made absolutely no sense to me."

  Cat sat up straight and looked at Billie. A frown crossed her face. "Better fish to fry? What the hell...I mean, what on earth does she mean by that?"

  "I have no clue," replied Billie. "Did Steve say anything else, Seth?"

  "Only that his Mom wasn't feeling too good today and he had to get back home to help his dad rake the yard," Seth answered. He looked back and forth between his bewildered mothers. "I'm hungry. Is there anything to eat?"

  Cat snapped out of her daze and smiled broadly at her son. "Just like a kid," she joked. "The whole world could be coming to an end, and all they think about is eating. Come on, rugrat. Let's raid the cupboard and see what I can whip up for dinner." She rose to her feet and extended her hand to her son.

  Seth quickly rose to his feet and scooped Cat into his arms. She wiggled, giggled and screeched as he carried her into the kitchen. Billie chuckled and followed in their wake.

  CHAPTER 9

  Julie crossed the yard carrying a bag full of picnic goodies. "Hey, there. Are we too early?"

  Billie looked up from behind the grill where she was squatting to turn the propane gas on. "Hi, Julie. Your timing is perfect." Billie looked toward the driveway where Shannon was opening the trunk of the car.

  Julie held the bag up. "Where would you like this?"

  "You can put it on the picnic table over there," Billie instructed. "Is there anything that needs to be refrigerated?"

  "Not in here. The salads are in the cooler. I think Shan is trying to get it out of the trunk right now."

  Billie noticed that Shannon was indeed struggling to get something out of the trunk, and ran to help her. "Can I give you a hand with that?" she asked.

  Billie watched as the distress which was evident on Shannon's face quickly dissolved into relief. "Phew! You sure can. Julie has a habit of packing the cooler after it's already in the trunk. This thing weighs a ton," Shannon exclaimed.

  Together, they hefted the cooler out of the small trunk and placed it on the ground behind the car.

  "What have you got in this thing?" Billie asked.

  Shannon chuckled and opened the lid. Inside, neatly packed, were several cans of soda, beer, a bottle of wine, macaroni salad, potato salad, fruit salad, and an assortment of condiments...all on ice. "Julie believes in coming prepared."

  "I'll say," Billie replied. "I guess we'll have plenty of food even if I do murder the burgers on the grill!"

  Shannon grinned. "You too, huh? Julie says my cooking is the best remedy for obesity. No one would dare eat it. She won't let me anywhere near the grill."

  "The last time I grilled, Cat called the morgue to take the burgers and dogs away. She and our friend Jen...ah...ah... well, anyway, it was pretty funny," Billie said haltingly. A wave of sadness washed over her at the mention of Jen's name.

  Shannon placed a hand on Billie's arm. "Are you all right?" she asked.

  Billie shrugged it off. "Yeah, I'm fine." Changing the subject abruptly, she shoved her hands into the back pockets of her cut-offs and looked around distractedly. "Maybe I should give Cat a hand. She's in the house making hamburger patties."

  "Thanks for the offer sweetie, but I'm finished," Cat said. She approached the ladies carrying a large plate of jumbo burgers ready for the grill. "Hi, there, Shannon," she quipped before addressing Billie. "Have you started the grill?"

  Billie's hands flew out of her pockets and into the air. "Damn! No, I was sidetracked. I'll do it right now," she said apologetically and headed in the direction of the grill.

  "My fault. She was giving me a hand." Shannon hefted the cooler and walked beside Cat toward the picnic table. "So where are the kids?" she asked Cat.

  "They should be on their way home right now," Cat replied. "At least the girls are. Seth is working. He should be home in a couple of hours. We'll have to save him some of these burgers or we'll never hear the end of it," she chuckled. Cat looked around. "Where's Kaleigh?"

  "Asleep in the back seat of the car. She was so wound up after our day on the boat yesterday it took hours for her to settle down. I don't think she finally crashed until about eleven o'clock last night," Shannon answered.

  Cat and Shannon migrated toward the table where Julie was laying out place settings for eight. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but she's bound to go home again today all wound up," Cat remarked.

  "Who's that?" Julie asked.

  Shannon dropped the cooler heavily on the bench and embraced her wife. "Our daughter, dear heart. Cat was just remarking that yesterday's frenzy will probably be worse tonight," She placed a kiss on Julie's nose.

  "Heaven help us!" Julie exclaimed.

  "If it's any consolation, we'll have a wound up rugrat on our hands as well. Speaking of which, I believe they're home," Cat observed as sounds of children's voices came from the driveway.

  "Mama!" shrieked a high-pitched voice. Skylar ran across the yard and into Cat's arms, nearly knocking her to the ground.

  "Goodness, Sky Baby! One of these times you're going to find us both in a heap when you do that," Cat exclaimed.

  "Sky Bird!" Billie shouted from the grill area. "How's my girl?"

  "Mommy!" Skylar threw herself into Billie's arms, only to be hoisted up and swung around in a circle.

  "Did you have a good time with Grandma and Grandpa?" Billie asked the child

  Skylar nodded vigorously.

  "Where's your sister?" Billie added.

  "She went to the house. She said she hates being cursed, whatever that means," Skylar complained.

  Billie grinned at Shannon and Julie. A knowing looked passed between them, indicating they knew exactly what that meant.

  "I gotta pee," Skylar whispered loud enough for the neighbors to hear. She wiggled out of Billie's arms and scurried into the house.

  A scuttle from across the yard drew their attention back to the driveway once more.

  "Mom! What happened?" Cat asked worriedly. She saw her mother hobbling toward her on a pair of crutches. Her father followed close behind, hovering like a mother hen.

  "Kitten, maybe she'll listen to you. She wouldn't let me bring a wheelchair home from the hospital," Doc said.

  "For Heaven's sake, Doc. I'm not an invalid, you know," Ida complained.

  "Mom, what happened?" Cat asked again.

  "She twisted her ankle stepping off the porch last night," Doc explained.

  Billie took charge of the situation and led Ida to the closest lawn chair. "You know, Mom, you didn't have to keep the girls last night. Had we known about this, we would have come after them," Billie said.

  "Nonsense," Ida replied. "It's just a sprain. I'll be fine. I'll not let something so trivial get in the way of spending time with my grandchildren," she said stubbornly while Cat examined her ankle.

  Doc looked at Billie. "Now you know where Cat gets it."

  "What is that supposed to mean?" Cat asked Doc pointedly.

  "You know what it means. Your stubbornness, that's what," he said sternly.

  "Well, now that you're here, you're staying for the cookout, and I won't take no for an answer," Cat said.

  "See what I mean?" Doc said to Billie.

  Billie grinned.

  "No dear, you have company. We wouldn't dream of intruding," Ida said coyly.

  A look of sheer enjoyment passed between Shannon and Julie as they watched the interaction between Cat and Ida.

  Ida's remark reminded Cat that they did indeed have guests. Bolting upright, she exclaimed, "Where are my manners? Shannon, Julie, these are my parents, Ida and Doc O'Grady. Mom and Dad, this is Shannon and Julie Nash."

  After introductions were over, Ida looked around the yard. "Where are Jen and Fred, dear?"

  Billie and Cat exchanged a nervous look. "They won't be joining us today, Mom. I'm afraid Jen isn't feeling well. She has some sort of sto
mach bug," Cat explained.

  A voice came from behind the group of people. "So, what's for eats?"

  All eyes turned to see a spike-haired Tara standing there with hands on her hips, baggy jeans spilling down over her shoes and an oversized T-shirt hanging loosely on her shoulders.

  Shannon looked at Tara then back to Julie. Billie swore she saw an expression cross Shannon's features that covertly hid a knowing thought. She also noticed the same expression cross Julie's face in response.

  Cat held her hand out to her daughter. "Tara, come over here and meet our guests."

  Tara sauntered over to stand next to Cat and waited to be introduced.

  "Ladies, our daughter, Tara. Tara, this is Shannon and Julie Nash," Cat said.

  Tara reached her hand toward their guests and greeted them one at a time. "Nice to meet you," she said politely, then, impatiently, she turned to her mother. "When do we eat? I'm starved."

  "The grill is heating now. We'll throw the burgers on in a few minutes," Cat answered.

  Tara gave Cat a knowing look. "You aren't gonna let Mom cook, are you?" Her comment sent Shannon and Julie into fits of laughter.

  "I heard that," Billie called from across the yard where she was busily scraping the grill.

  Doc strolled toward Billie. "Don't worry, daughter, I'll give you a hand."

  A look of relief crossed Tara's face. "Thank you Grandpa," she whispered under her breath.

  "Why don't you run into the house and get the chips and deviled eggs for me, love?" Cat suggested to her daughter.

  Shannon and Julie watched Tara walk toward the house. "She's a lovely girl," Julie commented.

  "I like her look," Shannon added. "She looks like she's very confident in herself."

  "At that age, they all think they're invincible," Cat replied. "She used to have beautiful, long golden blond hair until a couple of weeks ago when she came home from a month with our grandmothers in South Carolina. Thanks to Grandma Jo, her hair is now classified as a dangerous weapon."

  "Your daughters look a lot like you, Cat," Julie observed. "I can imagine you looked exactly like your little one when you were that age."

  "I suppose Seth looks just like Billie?" Shannon asked.

  "In a way. He's tall like his mom, and he has finely chiseled good looks...kind of how you'd think Billie would look if she were a man, but that's where the resemblance ends. He's quite blonde, and his personality is more like mine than Billie's," Cat explained. "On the other hand, even though Tara looks like me, she is all fire and brimstone like Billie. Sky is pretty much a mixture of us both," she added.

  Julie laughed. "Sky sounds a lot like Kaleigh. As you saw yesterday, when she first meets you, she's calm, shy and reserved...a lot like myself, but when she's wound up, she's all Shannon."

  "Hey, I resemble that remark," Shannon joked. "You know, I should go check on her. She'll be pretty upset if she sleeps through the cookout." On that note, Shannon headed across the yard toward the driveway to collect her daughter.

  Cat looked over to the array of lawn chairs where her mother was fanning herself with her hat. "Hey, Mom, how about a glass of lemonade?" Cat suggested. She watched as Ida enthusiastically nodded her approval. She turned back to Julie. "How about you?"

  "Sounds wonderful," Julie replied.

  "Okay. If you don't mind giving me a hand, we'll go fetch enough for everyone," Cat said.

  "I'm at your service. Lead the way," Julie followed Cat to the house, passing Shannon along the way. Shannon was carrying a still sleepy Kaleigh. "Lemonade?" she asked her wife as they passed.

  "Sounds great," Shannon shot back as she made her way toward the lawn chairs to introduce Kaleigh to Ida.

  On their way up the porch steps, Cat and Julie were nearly bowled over by Tara, whose arms were laden with bags of chips, and by Skylar, who was in a hurry to see who the little girl was she saw Shannon carry across the yard.

  Julie grinned at Cat. "I'm not used to such traffic!"

  ***

  The cookout was a wonderful success. The afternoon was spent visiting, playing lawn games and enjoying good food. Even the burgers were good, thanks to Doc's careful monitoring of Billie's cooking. Skylar and Kaleigh spent nearly the entire day playing with Skylar's dolls in the tree house. When Seth arrived home two hours into the festivities, Shannon and Julie fawned over his tall good looks. Not one to shirk off compliments, he hung around and made himself as charming as possible, even going so far as to play catch with his sister... something he normally had no time for. Little did he know, Shannon and Julie were more interested in Tara's athletic abilities as she smoothly fielded Seth's throws than they were in his.

  By late afternoon, it was obvious that Ida's foot was swelling and quite uncomfortable. Finally, after much scolding, Ida listened to her husband and daughter and allowed herself to be taken home. By early evening, the ladies cleared away the dishes, put away the leftover food and retired to the lawn chairs in front of a blazing campfire Billie had started in the cinder block fireplace. The kids all went their separate ways...Tara to the office to e-mail school friends, Seth to the family room to play video games, and Skylar and Kaleigh to Skylar's room to play paper dolls, leaving the four adults to a peaceful evening in front of the fire.

  As dusk settled in around them, Shannon opened the bottle of wine they had brought and poured drinks for everyone. An easy camaraderie fell over the ladies as though they had known each other for years. It was this easiness that prompted Shannon to ask her question.

  "So how long has Tara known she's gay?"

  Wine spewed from Cat's mouth straight into the fireplace, sending the red-haired woman into a coughing fit. Billie patted her back repeatedly while her airway recovered

  "What did you say?" Cat demanded.

  Shannon looked back and forth between Cat and Billie, and then at Julie, an ashen hue covering her features. "Ah, I'm sorry. I thought you knew."

  Cat was speechless. She looked at Billie, searching for any evidence that she agreed with Shannon. "Billie?" she asked.

  Billie looked at Cat, thoroughly confused. She had no idea how to answer Cat's questions. She turned to Shannon. "What makes you think Tara is gay?" she asked.

  "I'm surprised you don't know. Julie and I saw it almost immediately," Shannon said. "Her boyish look, the spiked hair, baggy clothes, athletic ability. Even her handshake was firm," she explained. "Cat, does she have a special girlfriend? Does she have a boyfriend?" Shannon asked.

  "Yes on both counts," Billie replied in Tara's defense. "Karissa is her best friend, and I would assume Kevin is a boyfriend, considering the position I caught them in two nights ago," she added.

  "What is Karissa like?" Julie asked.

  "Karissa? Well, I guess she's a normal fourteen-year-old. She's a pretty girl. She looks like her Mom. Curly blond hair and blue eyes. I wouldn't say she's overly feminine, but she's certainly not butch either," Cat answered.

  "Does she seem to compliment Tara?" Shannon questioned.

  Billie didn't like where the questions were going. "Wait just a minute. Are you suggesting that Tara and Karissa are a 'couple'?"

  Shannon did her best to diffuse the situation. "No, not at all. It's just been my experience that even as teenagers, butch girls tend to hang out with feminine girls. That is, unless they're really hard-core butch, then they usually form gangs...not a group of kids you want your daughter associating with, by the way," she explained. "Look, I'm not saying that Karissa is gay. Hell, I'm not even sure Tara is gay, especially after your comment about this boy...Kevin, was it?" she said to Billie. "It's just that my gaydar is pretty accurate, and I felt it around Tara."

  Cat remained silent throughout this exchange, but shook her head back and forth.

  Julie touched Cat's hand. "Cat, why does the possibility of Tara being gay upset you so?" she asked sincerely.

  Cat looked at Julie. "Julie, when did you realize you were gay?" she answered with a question of her own.

  "In
hindsight, I guess I always knew. In reality, not until after Kaleigh was born and Shannon came back into my life."

  "Shannon?" Cat asked, leaving the implied question unasked.

  "I knew pretty early on...probably around Tara's age," she answered.

  "And did you act on it?" Cat continued to question.

  "No. It wasn't until I was in college that I had my first same sex experience," Shannon supplied.

  "Billie didn't act on it either until after her divorce," Cat volunteered. "I myself, on the other hand, came out pretty young. I was raised in a house under a blanket of unconditional love. My parents made it clear from my earliest memories that there was nothing we could ever do to jeopardize their love. Coming out to my family was very easy for me. Coming out to the world was not."

  Cat took a deep breath to control her shaky voice before she continued. "I was about Tara's age when I realized my orientation, and I came out immediately. Life was wonderful at home, but an absolute nightmare at school. I worry that the same situation might happen today. I don't want my daughter to feel the pain and humiliation I did. I don't want my daughter to become another Matthew Shepard." Cat finished the last sentence through a broken, tear-filled voice.

  Billie immediately rose from her chair and knelt in front of Cat. She gathered Cat into her arms. "Shh, it's okay Cat. We don't know what the truth is at this point. Tara will decide that for herself. All we can do is be supportive. Tara won't become another Matthew Shepard. We won't let that happen."

  Julie reached for Shannon's hand and squeezed it tightly, indicating with a nod that it was probably time to leave. As they rose to their feet, Cat sat back in her chair, once again composed.

  "I'm sorry," she apologized. "Please don't feel that you have to leave."

  Billie led Shannon into the house to retrieve her daughter as Julie walked over to Cat and hugged her. "It's getting late, Cat. We've got to get Kaleigh home to bed. Look, don't fret over what we said about Tara. For all we know, she's a straight girl who is just trying to act tough. Believe me, we're no experts. Okay?"