Page 21 of Always There For You

“Hey.” Amelia shifted until she could look at Hadley straight on. “Feeling better? I think the storm’s moved on.”

“Yeah. It’s nice now. The rain and the fire.” Amelia tracked the hard movement of Hadley’s throat. She wanted to put her lips there, then open them so her tongue might discover if Hadley’s skin tasted the way it did in her dreams. “You.”

Without needing to ask for permission, Hadley’s feet, then her legs, became tangled with Amelia’s. The physical closeness was nice; more than, actually, because everything felt charged between them now. Their skin electrified, the air between them tense and ready. Waiting.

“This the talk then?”

Amelia yanked her head up and gave Hadley a feeble grin. “We’re going against the norms, since we just confessed to each other in bed. Before uh…” Her words fumbled on a tongue that suddenly felt like a lead weight in her mouth. “Anything else.”

That got Hadley to smile, to shift closer. If Amelia leaned back, she could take Hadley with her. The two of them cradled together in a sweet, aching sort of way that would make her very core clench in anticipation. It was a scary thing to offer, with open arms and expectation on her face, but she did it anyway. And her sweetest, dearest, oldest friend immediately snuggled close, resting her forehead against Amelia’s cheek while Hadley’s body became a gentle curve in her arms.

“I love you,” Amelia said with barely any tremble in her voice. “I love you so much and I don’t know when it started -“

“We were eight. And your hair was in pigtails and we were out on the sidewalk between our houses. I saw your hair and your bright blue shirt and all your freckles and I fell in love.”

“Oh.”

It was Hadley’s turn to laugh. “Yeah.” She touched Amelia’s cheek, fingertips feather-light on her skin. “What about you?”

“I can’t compete with that.”

“It’s not a competition.”

“No. But I don’t remember the exact moment. Just…a moment. Maybe they’re the same thing.”

“Maybe.” Hadley was even closer now, a soft weight in her arms and Amelia wanted to never let go. “But tell me anyway.”

Amelia told her. About how they came out of class and headed to their lockers and someone bumped into Hadley, spilling the books from her arms. The heavy crowd around them became a swarm as she and Hadley scrambled to pick everything up. When Amelia handed Hadley the last book, something came over her. Some deep-seated desire, woven through with hormones and familiarity, that made her want to pull a move from a teenage rom-com and press her best friend into the lockers and kiss her.

“I couldn’t shake that feeling. Something in me had known for a while but for whatever reason…” Amelia trailed off, watching Hadley’s smile grow brighter and brighter. “What?”

“You.”

She tried not to wrinkle her nose, focusing instead on the feel of Hadley’s hand in hers. “Besides,” she said, her tone playfully miffed. “You’re the only one who can put up with me.”

“I’ll take it. All of it. Anything.” Hadley tipped her chin up. Offering. So perfectly present and silently asking.

Amelia could never tell her no.

They kissed and kissed and with every little touch and quiet sigh, Amelia could feel something peaceful - something right - settle deep in her bones.

Chapter eight

One week to opening

At some point, time became a barrier, a wall, meant to be the ultimate obstacle to their goal. The staff was trained, the wine stocked, their marketing was spreading word of the opening weekend far and wide. But it felt so much like trying to scale a height with no ropes.

The anticipatory energy for the opening had gone from a slight buzz to a full, busy drone. Eager wine lovers and looky-loos stopped by, peeking in the windows. Sometimes yanking on the door as if determination alone would open the chardonnay and cab sav floodgates for them.

Admittedly, Amelia was a genius at catering to the right crowds, using the right words and images. The store’s social media climbed the ranks quickly and Hadley took over monitoring comments while Amelia fussed with stock lists and the cash points. Her best friend was good at enticement but never realized how integral her own role was in such theater. How could anyone not flock to Amelia’s friendly consignment? Her knowledge, her particular brand of charm? It’s not as though Hadley could stay away.

Given the number of times over the last week Hadley had put her hands on Amelia’s hips or her arm, brushed a kiss over that soft cheek when no one was looking? No, Hadley could never stay away. Especially not since they now spent every night in one bed or the other, curled together under the weight of quilts and content to listen to night settle around them as she and Amelia and the cottage breathed in sync. They never did more than kiss with the occasional gentle touch to an arm or leg. Amelia liked cradling Hadley’s face between her hands and drawing their lips together in a slow, even glide that made Hadley’s head spin pleasantly.

But she ached, and from the way Amelia moved into her touches of late…well. Anticipation was nice but Hadley wanted more. First up, an actual discussion, the one that they’d been avoiding while they raced against time to get Classy Corks ready. It was like being pulled in several directions, strung tight like taffy but ready to snap at any moment. The days blurred by, and at night they fell into bed, body and soul weary.

“We need to talk.”

Hadley whipped her head up so fast it made spots dance before her eyes. The tarot reading table jostled. “What?”

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