Page 31 of Lakeside Longing

“She knows,” Quinn said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Rebecca’s stomach dropped. “What?” she asked, though she already knew the answer.

Quinn’s eyes, wide with panic, met Rebecca’s. “She was here. Just now. She showed up and the shower was on and your car’s in the driveway.”

Rebecca’s mind raced, trying to process the implications. Sarah had been here. She’d seen Rebecca’s car. The pieces fell into place, and a wave of dread washed over her. Their secret was out, and in the worst possible way.

She reached for Quinn, pulling her close. Quinn’s body trembled against hers, and Rebecca fought to keep her own composure. This was exactly what she’d feared – the reasonshe’d been so hesitant to pursue this relationship in the first place.

“What happened?” Rebecca asked softly, her hand moving in soothing circles on Quinn’s back.

Quinn pulled away slightly, wrapping her arms around herself. “Before I could even try to explain she was backing out of the house like she’d just seen a ghost.” Quinn exhaled, her breath coming out in a puff of smoke. “Fuck, you were right. She took it so badly, Rebecca. Her face…” She ran a hand through her hair. “I’ve never seen her that upset.”

Rebecca didn’t know what to say. This was not how this was supposed to go. Just yesterday, she’d been wondering if it was time to think about saying something to Sarah. The last five weeks had been amazing, and Rebecca wanted to tell her best friend about it. She wanted Quinn to be able to be honest with her family and tell them that she’d met someone.

“I’ll go talk to her,” Rebecca said.

“You’ll have to let her cool off a bit.”

“This evening then.”

“What are you going to say?” Quinn asked.

Rebecca couldn’t miss the fear in her voice. She imagined that Quinn was worried that Rebecca would tell Sarah that it was a mistake, a lapse in judgement. She swallowed. “I don’t know. What should I say? She’s going to ask me if it’s serious, assuming that she’ll even talk to me.”

“It is for me,” Quinn said without hesitation.

“For me too.” Rebecca pulled Quinn into a hug, running her hand up and down Quinn’s back, hoping that she could convince Sarah that this was a good thing, no matter how shocking it might be. They were good together. They made each other happy.

She just had to hope that Sarah would come around.

23

Quinn sat on the hood of her mother’s car, her heart racing as she waited. The crisp autumn air nipped at her cheeks, but she barely noticed, her mind consumed with the impending confrontation. For a week, she’d tried to reach out, to explain, to make things right, but her mother’s silence had been deafening.

Quinn had come to the farmer’s market like she did most weekends, but this morning, she spotted her mother’s car, and instead of going shopping, she perched herself on the hood of her car, patiently waiting for her to return.

And almost an hour later, there she was, carrying two brown bags, one in each arm. But the moment their eyes met, her mother froze.

“Quinn,” Sarah said, her voice tight when she finally reached the car. “What are you doing here?”

Quinn slid off the hood, her legs shaky beneath her. “Mom, please. We need to talk.”

Sarah’s jaw clenched. She moved to the trunk, fumbling with her keys. “I don’t think there’s anything to say.”

“There’s everything to say,” Quinn insisted, following her mother. “You won’t answer my calls. You won’t see me. How are we supposed to work through this if you won’t even talk to me?”

Sarah shoved her bags into the trunk, her movements jerky and agitated. “Work through what, Quinn? The fact that you’re sleeping with my best friend? That you’ve both been lying to me?”

Quinn flinched at her mother’s harsh tone. “It’s not like that. We didn’t plan this. It just... happened.”

Her mother slammed the trunk shut, finally turning to face Quinn. “Do you have any idea how this feels?” Sarah asked, her voice breaking. “To find out my daughter and my best friend have been sneaking around behind my back?”

Quinn closed her eyes. Rebecca had warned her about this very moment. “Would you have had a better reaction if I’d told you the second I started feeling something for her? It was always going to be like this.”

“And shouldn’t that tell you something,” her mother countered, brushing by her to open the driver’s side door.

“I love her,” Quinn said as her mother got in. The admission shocked both of them.

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