Page 5 of Leather and Lace
“We need a new home and this place is as good as any,” she finished when Alex continued to look at her with brown eyes she knew saw far too much.
Alex hummed. “Fair point. The town is quite hospitable to all people, no matter their lifestyle.”
Lifestyle. Now that piqued her interest. “What do you mean by that?” Mary asked.
“I mean to say people are free to live as they choose here. Free toloveand live as they choose. Free to be the person they wanted but were never allowed to be where they came from.”
“Oh.” Mary swallowed hard and looked up at her. “And what truth were you allowed to live in Gold Sky that the world denied you before?”
“My right to love who I choose,” Alex replied. Mary blinked and looked towards the other woman. They were still standing beside the stage, but now Alex moved away from the structure, away from the other workers and Mary was powerless to stay where she was. Wordlessly she followed behind Alex, straining to hear the other woman when she began speaking again.
“Do you really want to know?” Alex asked, her voice was gentle and soft. Words measured.
“Yes, of course,” Mary breathed as they came to a stop a fair distance away from the hustle and bustle of the town square. They were alone now, at the far end beside the church where it was quieter. It was a pretty little church, painted white with windows framing the double doors, a steepled tower held a bell that Mary knew rang sweet and true. Alex ambled towards the steps and dusted off the bottom with a sweep of her work gloves.
“Would you care to sit?” she asked, gesturing towards the step.
Mary smiled at her. “Thank you,” she murmured, taking her seat. She had not been treated so kindly since society had estimated her in possession of a large fortune. It did more than its fair share to kindle a warmth in her, one that was entirely aimed at Alex, and Alex alone. When she sat, the other woman came forward and sat beside her on the step. They were still far enough apart that they were respectable to any that looked upon them, though Mary had found women often were able to skirt the lines of respectability because theirs was a love not many recognized. An attraction such as that was allowed to exist under the guise of friendship and a closeness particular to women. But any who knew where to look knew different.
Mary was one such person. She prayed Alex was as well.
When they were settled and quiet for a moment, Alex began speaking. “I came to Gold Sky out of necessity,” she said. ‘I was not born to a family as accepting as I would have hoped. Though by the same measure I expect I am not the daughter my family hoped for.”
Mary frowned and turned to look at Alex. The blonde was staring straight ahead, her eyes on the workers still setting up in the town square. There was no image finer than the sight of Alexandria Pierce’s profile warmed by the glow of the early afternoon sunlight, even with her beautiful features as somber as they were.
“I am interested only in the fairer sex, and that is a wrong my family could not forgive.”
Mary’s back straightened with a snap. “A wrong? What do you mean to say? It is not something you can control or choose, it just is.”
A smile spread over Alex’s face and she turned her head to look at Mary. “Oh, I know that. Glad to know you think so too. It is not us that are ignorant, but our families.”
Mary crossed her arms with a shake of her head. “It isn’t fair. None of it is fair, and they expect us to simply pretend that nothing is--” her words stopped and she blinked, realizing what she had been saying, what secret she had just exposed to a near stranger. “I mean to say that in theory,” she said weakly.
Alex hummed. “In theory, yes, but something tells me it isn’t all theory for you. Is that why you’ve come to Gold Sky?” Warm brown eyes met Mary’s green at the question, and she twisted her hands in her skirts.
“No, not, I mean not…” her voice trailed off and she winced, sucking in a deep breath at her jumbled explanation. “I mean that it isn’tjust that,” she finally finished.
Alex leaned back elbows braced on the step behind her. “So it is that, at least partly then?”
“Well, ah, yes. It is, but Mama isn’t so concerned about that. She was convinced I would marry well in spite of my desires. She’s far more concerned about another matter altogether.”
Alex pursed her full lips. “And what might that be?”
Mary shook her head and twisted her hands together. “I can’t say.”
“Whatever it is, I assure you it is not as shameful as you think. You are not a bad person, no matter what people have led you to believe.”
Mary laughed bitterly and looked away. “You scarcely know me, and I, you. Just because I am taken with you does not--”
“You’re taken with me?” Alex abandoned her relaxed pose and sat up to face Mary. “I suspected as much.”
“Yes, if you must know, and I am not ashamed of it.”
“That’s right fortunate as I find myself equally taken with you, Minnie.”
Her heart squeezed at the casual drop of her name.Minnie.She found she loved the sound of the name on Alex’s lips.
“I like the way my name sounds coming from your mouth,” she confessed. The admission made Alex’s cheeks flush and the woman chuckled, the low and slow sound of it making Mary’s toes curl in her boots.
