You may not only walk on the grass; you may also feed the bard here! I only know how others feel about my stories from feedback. Let me know what you think about it. Homophobes need not apply, however. I'm at: Devlin@xenafan.com

Part 2

By LJ Maas

Taylor shifted her feet nervously as she stood at the arrival gate at John Wayne Airport. She milled about with a number of people who also appeared to be waiting for incoming flights. Finally, she leaned her tall frame against the back wall. The flight was supposed to be on time. Five more minutes until she made a total ass out of herself in front of a seventeen year old girl.

The dark-haired woman drew a few double takes from passersby, but in Southern California that was to be expected. They probably thought the tall beauty was an actress, knowing they'd seen her face, but not remembering from where. She stood, clothed in her best black leather blazer, white starched shirt, and frayed denim jeans. Her leather boots were worn and comfortable. If one could remember back to last month's issue of Architectural Digest, they would have recognized her from the cover. She wore the same outfit, except the leather blazer was a leather vest, and she stood posed in front of her latest sculptures, inside of her home studio.

Taylor's cellular phone trilled and she reached into her jacket pocket to answer the call.

"Yea," she growled impatiently.

"Geez, you must not have had your coffee yet this morning." The voice said to her.

Taylor's frown turned into a smile and anyone watching would have been amazed at the transformation.

"Honey, her plane hasn't even landed yet." Taylor chuckled. She was still surprised that the old term of endearment rolled off her tongue so easily.

"I guess I'm nervous..." Torrey trailed off.

"You're nervous!" Taylor responded.

"Are you sure about this, Stretch?" Torrey asked.

"I find this an extremely interesting time to ask me that."

The writer laughed and Taylor imagined she was running her fingers through her blonde hair, which in truth, she was.

"Torrey..." The artist slowly drawled.

Torrey felt a distinct shiver run up her spine when Taylor purred her name that way. She swallowed hard, wondering what the woman was up to.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Are you going to call me everyday for the next six months? Not that I'm complaining considering this is the most we've talked in fourteen years, but I just wondered if I should call and up my allotment of minutes on the cell phone or not." Taylor teased.

"Oh, very funny, Stretch," Torrey shot back. She could hear Taylor's lilting laughter and it pulled at her heart.

Taylor knew this would happen. All the years apart melted away into nothing as soon as she'd heard Torrey's voice last week, this was why she distanced the two of them, physically. She teased the younger woman, but they had spoken for at least a few minutes everyday since Torrey's first call. Of course, it was about Jessica and the arrangements to be made, but Taylor craved the sound of her friend's voice. The dark-haired woman understood plenty about addictions and she just fell into the classic trap; once you go back, it's harder to give it up than it was the first time.

"Will I be able to talk to you at all?" Taylor heard Torrey's voice ask.

The artist tried to focus on the reason she and her friend were even talking in the first place. She always tried to be honest with Torrey, about everything, aside from her own heart, and she wasn't going to stop now.

"You know I have to admit, Little Bit, that hearing your voice has got me feeling better than I have in a long time. I enjoy it and I don't think I'm going to like giving it up again, but I want Jess to feel like she can trust me. I don't want her to think I'm reporting back to her mother everyday. This whole thing is going to be rough enough on her without that added pressure. Even if things go great and she gets her act together, she'll have setbacks and bad days. I want her to feel like she's living in the kind of environment where it's okay for that to happen." Taylor finished.

"You're right, I agree. So, six months then." Torrey said softly.

"Six months." Taylor repeated. "I'll still e-mail and let you know how I'm doing, just like before, and you know I'll call right away if anything goes wrong...which it won't," she quickly interjected.

"I know you're right, Stretch. I can do this, can't I?" Torrey asked.

"Yea, honey, I know you can. Hey, plane's in, guess I better go meet the kid."

"Good luck, Stretch," Torrey said not wanting to hang up the phone. "You'll make a great mom." She finished as the line went dead in Taylor's hand.

Taylor pulled back as the passengers streamed through the arrival gate of Flight 119. She wanted to see JT before the young woman saw her. She couldn't explain it, but she wanted the chance to prepare herself, and she wondered if the young girl was as terrified as she was. The dark-haired woman self-consciously wiped her sweaty palms along muscled thighs.

Taylor didn't even have a recent picture to go on. Torrey told her that JT absolutely refused to be photographed the last few years. When the older woman asked how she would recognize her friend's daughter, Torrey laughed.

The young girl walked among a number of other passengers, looking around, trying to catch sight of a familiar face. Taylor smiled. Torrey was right on the money. It was odd how Jess looked so much like the woman standing in the background. Of course, if you knew Torrey's face as well as Taylor did you would say the young girl looked exactly like her mother. Green eyes that sparkled with mischief, nose slightly upturned, and the subtle air that this girl had the potential to be a total wise ass.

JT saw the woman as she pushed herself off the back wall and sliced through the crowd to make her way to where the young girl stopped. She could see why her mother always described Taylor as incredibly beautiful. She was, and then some. JT was caught up in the woman's strength. Up until this moment, if asked, Jessica would have said her mother was the strongest woman she ever knew, but her mom's power was deceptive. She knew her mother could have broken her like a twig if she had wanted, but Torrey's size gave her a subtle advantage; she was able to camouflage her strength. The woman walking toward JT simply exuded power and energy. She not only had a commanding aura about her, but her physical appearance was overwhelming. JT watched the play of corded muscles in the top of the woman's hand as she grabbed one of JT's bags.

JT was nervous about the whole deal and, unfortunately, when she was nervous or scared her best self didn't shine through. When it came right down to it, JT lashed out when she was frightened and became a smart-ass bitch. It was very unfortunate for her that she was about to meet the master of attitude.

Taylor knew the first few minutes, or even hours, had to be played carefully; or else she would lose control as Torrey had done. The delicate chess game was about to begin. Taylor moved her white pawn first.

"Hello, Jess," Taylor said. "Welcome to California." Taylor said with a slightly reserved smile.

"From the famous author." JT said as she moved past the taller woman, thrusting an envelope at her as she passed.

The envelope had been torn open. That's when JT made the mistake of smirking up at the older woman. Black pawn moves forward.

Taylor's eyes didn't even reflect half of the anger she felt at this moment, and she cursed herself for letting the girl push her buttons this fast. Black takes white pawn.

"I see your mother's having that old trouble of not being able to seal her packages properly," Taylor returned dryly.

The envelope held a letter from Torrey that Taylor quickly scanned. It didn't say much, Torrey must have realized that her daughter would open the small package. Inside the letter was a ten thousand-dollar check. "For JT's expenses," the letter stated. Taylor shook her head. She would put the money in the same place she put all the checks Torrey sent her over the years.

When Torrey moved up into the ranks of successful authors she started sending Taylor checks as repayment for the time they lived together, raising Jessica. Taylor was never offended, she knew that's the way Torrey was, proud, never wanting to owe anyone a thing. At first the artist refused to cash the checks, then she came up with a solution that made her happy and caused Torrey to think her friend had accepted the money. Taylor opened a trust account for Jessica with Torrey as executrix, should anything ever happen to the dark-haired woman. By now the account held enough to pay for JT's college education twice over, if the girl could get her act together long enough to go.

"One thing you have to say about mom. She's not cheap." JT said flippantly.

Taylor felt a response rise to her lips and made a conscious decision to go ahead with it. Torrey may have decided to be long suffering with her daughter's attitude, but Taylor was going to make it clear that she wasn't about to put up with it.

"You ought to be surprised she thought you were worth that much!" Taylor sneered as she walked past the girl toward the luggage carousel.

JT stopped short at the taller woman's response. She hadn't expected that. White knight takes black bishop...queen's in trouble. Check.

Silence reigned as Taylor led their way to the black Ford Explorer. She thought earlier about impressing the girl with the red Mercedes, but knew the luggage would be a problem. Since the young girl was being a total pain in the ass, she was glad she hadn't bothered.

Unlocking the back hatch, she lifted the lid and quickly stowed the young girl's luggage. Jesus, she's got more shit than her mother did when we went to school for four years!

Taylor pulled out into the fast moving traffic smoothly, years of driving California's highways under her belt. It's funny how silence can unnerve some people more than anything can. Taylor was used to the quiet. It drove JT nuts. The young girl was accustomed to her mother's endless chatter and never realized before what a comfort sound her mother's voice had become. She watched the artist out of the corner of her eye. Taylor seemed lost in her own thoughts, listening to her favorite Gene Pitney CD on the car stereo, her blue eyes unseen behind dark Ray Bans.

JT was going out of her mind. She was getting desperate for a little conversation.

"Is it always this warm in the winter?" she asked, hoping to get the ball rolling. At home, all she had to do was ask one question to get her mom going.

"Pretty much." Taylor answered.

Taylor watched as the young girl fidgeted and began tapping her fingers on her legs. The tall woman never let on that she knew, but she had a feeling any daughter of Torrey's would be used to a lot more verbal stimulation than would be forthcoming from Taylor.

JT couldn't stand it any longer. She reached her hand out to adjust the controls of the stereo and listen to some music she liked.

It was so fast that JT didn't see it coming until the hand was around her wrist. Instinctively she tried to pull back, but the older woman held her wrist in an iron grip, never turning toward the girl, her eyes fastened on the traffic ahead of them.

"Do not touch things that don't belong to you without permission." Taylor hissed.

Once released, JT rubbed her wrist and stared over at Taylor like the older woman was some kind of psychopath.

"I only wanted to see what was on the radio." JT whined.

"But, it's my radio." Taylor shot back.

Five more minutes of silence went by and Taylor could see the war the young girl was waging on the inside by the expressions on her face.

"May I please change the radio station?" JT asked, hating herself for giving in.

Taylor didn't grin or laugh, even though she wanted to do both.

"Yes, you may," she said, hitting a button to stop the CD and switching it over to the radio.

They drove for about an hour; Taylor only answering questions when JT asked. There would be plenty of time for talk in the next six months, but right now the dark-haired artist was trying to establish a sort of pack dominance. She wanted the young girl to be clear on the fact that Taylor was the alpha female in this house.

JT would have had an even better time had she not been sulking so much. Being a big city girl, she never knew this part of the country could be so beautiful. Taylor knew the drive down to Dana Point on the Pacific Coast Highway would impress the young girl.

"Are those really seals down there?" JT asked in amazement, peering down at the rocks in the water.

"Yep. Bet you don't have those in Chicago, huh?" Taylor responded.

"That's for sure!" JT grinned and for a moment forgot to be angry with the tall stranger.

They pulled off the highway and went by the harbor, headed up toward the cliffs. They stopped at a locked gate and Taylor punched in a series of numbers on a keypad inside the car.

"Looks like the outside of a prison." JT referred to the gate.

"I'll give you the codes. It's not like you're a prisoner here, Jess." Taylor explained as the black gate swung opened and automatically closed behind them. "I have a lot of expensive work up there and it has to be protected."

"Whoa," JT exclaimed as they pulled into the garage. The young girl was quick to get out and examine the red convertible Mercedes.

"Nice ride." JT remarked.

"Thanks," Taylor replied proudly.

JT was desperately trying not to walk around the place with her mouth open. All she kept thinking was that her mom would love this place. Skylights and stained glass were in practically every room. It was obvious an artist lived there. The rooms were decorated with a practiced eye and impeccable taste.

They walked around a huge kitchen that looked like it was rarely used.

"We can go grocery shopping tomorrow. I've got the bare necessities, but my hours and my eating habits aren't too regular. I promised your mom I would feed you right, so I'll try to limit our trips to the Pizza Outlet to twice a week. Oh, wait a minute, can you cook?" Taylor hurriedly added.

"You're kidding, right?" JT looked at the woman in surprise.

"Well, who cooks for you back home?" Taylor asked.

"Mom. Who cooked when you two lived together?" JT returned.

"Your mom." Taylor looked a little sheepish. "Okay, tomorrow we go shopping for groceries and a cookbook."

"This is your room," Taylor said opening the door to a large room with its own balcony and a bath. "You can change anything you want, I wasn't too sure about your tastes. If you're anything like your mom, you'll love going shopping to fix it up." She smirked.

"I take it shopping isn't your favorite thing?" JT asked.

"Not in a million years will I understand the concept of a bargain. If I need it, I buy it. If I don't, then I leave it be." Taylor replied.

"Well, you must have been loads of fun to live with." JT said dryly.

"You're about to find out, darlin'" Taylor chuckled. "Do you want the rest of the tour?"

"Sure, just let me get some bread crumbs so I can find my way back again." JT said.

"Oh," Taylor said bringing her brows together and pursing her lips, "that's very funny."

Taylor's home was larger than the woman would ever need, but she was proud of what she'd put into it. She led Jessica through the small gymnasium and spa on the floor beneath the young girl's bedroom, then led her through a series of rooms designed as game and entertainment rooms before heading back up the stairs. On the other end of the house were the library, and Taylor' private office, which was connected to her bedroom.

When JT tried unsuccessfully to turn the knob she realized the door was locked. She turned a questioning head in the tall woman's direction.

"Those are my private rooms, my bedroom and office. I would appreciate if you didn't go in there." Taylor replied to the unasked question. "I like to have someplace to myself." She added.

JT shrugged and turned the corner toward the very back of the house.

"Wow, that's incredible," the young girl said of the stained glass set in the double doors. "My mom has a necklace just like that."

Taylor smiled at the mention of the familiar object that Torrey always wore around her neck. Her brother gave it to her before he died. The small blonde confided that it was her brother who first introduced her to the Tai Chi and it's philosophies. The symbol had come to mean a great deal to the dark-haired artist since her friend acquainted her with its meaning. So much so, that she commissioned a glass artist to create the symbol in stained glass for the entrance to her studio.

JT ran her fingers along the glass, the yin/yang symbol was split in two halves at the top of the door, but the bottom portion of the doors displayed the halves set into a whole, one complete symbol on each door. The round circles within the black and white halves were made of molded glass, one black and one white sun and moon face.

Taylor pushed open the doors. There was more of a mess than usual, and more completed pieces sat around the perimeter of the studio than was customary, due to the upcoming show. A feeling of trepidation passed through the artist at the young girl's reaction to her work. Taylor had molded herself into a hard woman on the outside, but she was far from being secure on the inside. She stood there waiting for the girl's first biting comment.

"This is so very cool! You get to work here all day?" Before waiting for an answer JT was inspecting some large sculptures that were well over seven feet tall.

"Excellent!" The young girl said as her hands ran across the smooth lines of the wood, investigating the highly erotic piece of female imagery.

All of Taylor's work symbolized the female form. She was able to cut from wood or stone, slices of life that symbolized the strength of women. Not just in character, but the strength of a mother lifting her child high over her head, or of two women making love. The sculpture that JT was viewing was such a work. A little more risqué than most of Taylor's pieces, but Samantha had insisted it go into the show.

The sculpture was carved from Mahogany and pictured two women in the act of making love. The manifestation of a woman's strength had never come through more strongly than this. Both women displayed arms and back muscles bunched, necks straining in their passion, thigh muscles flexed taut. The part that Taylor wasn't sure people could handle was displayed when you walked around the sculpture and viewed it from the opposite side. One of the women had entered the other with her fingers, and the look of rapture on the other woman's face was apparent, but the shoulders and back of the woman on top was a lesson in anatomy as striated muscles disclosed an inordinate amount of power and passion. The viewer was automatically drawn to that woman's arm, not so much for where her hand ended up, but from the power and energy exhibited in the tightly corded tendons that wrapped around the arm, as the woman thrust her hand into her lover.

JT was caught up in the whole studio and she stopped at nearly every piece to examine it.

"This is an incredible place to work." JT said with enthusiasm, looking out the glass windows that ran the length of one wall. The ocean and the harbor displayed below were breathtaking.

"Your mom tells me you draw." Taylor said trying to shift the focus off her a little.

"Yea, well, I do, but nothing like this," she indicated everything around her.

"Well, if you like we can get some stuff and set you up over there, I don't use that end much. You know, table and such. Who knows, you might find the view more inspirational than Lake Michigan."

Suddenly JT felt herself smiling and that made her bad temper flare. She didn't like the fact that she was letting this woman's talent and easy manner seduce her into being the perfect little girl. Doesn't she know I'll just blow it? Doesn't she get it? Well, she'll find out soon enough.

"Whatever." The girl said, walking from the studio, leaving Taylor to wonder at the young woman's rapid change in behavior.

The two spent the rest of the day getting used to having a stranger by their side for the next six months. Jessica roamed outside and considered that it would be nice to be somewhere for the winter that didn't get down to forty below zero in January.

Taylor left the girl to her own devices, not wanting to hover over her, and also encouraging JT to become familiar with her new home.

"Hey, what do you say to pizza, you hungry?" Taylor found JT outside with her Walkman headphones on and a sketchbook in her lap.

"I could eat. Wait a minute. You're not one of those California people that put stuff like pineapple and artichokes on their pizza, are you?" JT asked.

"I've always found pepperoni and mushrooms to be enough for me." The dark-haired woman replied.

"Sounds good to me." JT responded.

By the time the Pizza Outlet delivered their dinner, Taylor had given the young woman the tour of the kitchen.

"Can I ask you a question?" The young girl asked.

"Shoot."

"Do you ever use anything in here? I mean, everything looks brand new." JT said.

Taylor's eyes swept across the large kitchen. How could she tell the young girl that she didn't have the house built for her alone? How do I tell her that everything here, the kitchen, the stained glass, the Japanese garden; were all built with Torrey in mind?

"Well, like I said I don't really keep many regular hours, and my eating habits are none too standard. I guess I always figured that someday I'd get around to learning how to cook." Taylor finished as she pulled a wineglass from the cabinet. Weighing the glass in her hand momentarily, she seemed lost in thought.

"My mom does that when I'm around too." JT said noticing Taylor's actions.

"What?" The older woman asked.

"She doesn't drink in front of me."

"Drink?" Taylor appeared confused.

"Actually, it bugs me more to know people are giving up something because of me. Look, if you want to have a drink, just go ahead, I'm not gonna freak out or anything."

Taylor looked at the glass in her hand, realization setting in. "Oh," the artist chuckled, and then she filled the glass with ice cubes and grabbed a can of Pepsi One from the refrigerator.

JT was a little surprised and her face showed it. She wasn't used to someone listening to her like that. She never expected the dark-haired woman to forgo a glass of wine simply out of courtesy. That didn't seem her style.

Taylor saw the play of emotions on the girl's face. She thought that the sooner JT recognized the fact that a woman of integrity lives by her word, the better off the young woman would be.

"This is the strongest stuff I drink nowadays." Taylor finished, sitting down at the table.

"You don't drink alcohol at all...you mean that?"

"I don't say things unless I really mean them." Taylor said to the girl's slightly shocked demeanor, as she took a sip of the soda.

By the time dinner was over, Taylor was mildly amused by the fact that JT was able to bring the artist out of her shell and actually volunteer information instead of playing twenty questions. Jessica began to tell Taylor about the last school she went to before being thrown out. The one saving grace of the institution, in Jessica's mind, was their art department. She told the older woman seated across from her of the young teacher who did everything in her power to keep Jess out of trouble and in school, but when it came right down to it, JT was on an unstoppable path of destruction.

Taylor smiled inwardly at the young girl across the table from her. The dark-haired woman leaned her elbow on the table and held her head in the palm of her hand. She listened intently to JT as she rambled on about the beautiful teacher who tried to make a difference in the young girl's life, and how JT felt she was just another in a long line of people she had disappointed. Two things caused Taylor's mirth. First was the incessant chatter the young girl let loose with. As Taylor listened she could picture so much of Torrey in the girl before her.

Second was the way JT described her teacher. The adoration was easily evident in the girl's voice and Taylor wondered if it was the usual schoolgirl crush at that age or if JT's feelings ran deeper. She remembered how taken Jess had been with the artist's work, how she was mesmerized by the wooden sculpture of two women together. Oh, God...we could be in trouble here. Please, don't let me be the one who has to handle that 'mom, I'm a lesbian' chat.

Finally JT confided that she'd gotten into a fight and destroyed half a classroom before being summarily expelled.

"How did your mom react to that?" Taylor asked curiously as she stood to rinse out her wineglass. She knew how violence affected her old friend.

JT stuffed the pizza container into the garbage. "She paid the bill and gave me that tight ass look she has."

Taylor smiled, her back facing the young girl. "Somehow I don't remember your mother having a look like that in her repertoire."

"You haven't seen her lately. In my opinion she'd be a lot better if she'd just loosen up and get laid or something." Jess responded.

Taylor's motion at the sink stopped and her voice dropped an octave.

"Don't talk about your mother like that." She said slowly.

"Well, it's true," JT replied, sulkily walking past Taylor. "Maybe she'd be easier to deal with if she just paid somebody to give her a good fuck--"

Taylor turned and grabbed the young woman by her shirt collar, slamming her up against the nearest wall. JT scarcely recognized the eyes that burned into her own. The young woman's feet barely touched the ground as Taylor showed the physical strength she was capable of.

"You will learn what the first rule of this house is, Jessica Taylor Gray!" Taylor hissed, her arms shaking in anger. "When you speak of your mother you will do so with respect. Do you understand me?"

JT gave a slight nod of her head. She had never been as afraid of anyone as she was this moment, Taylor's face appearing to turn into another creature completely.

"Then, tell me you understand." Taylor demanded.

"I understand." JT replied weakly.

Taylor released the young woman, pressing her into the wall again as she did. The dark-haired artist turned her back and stood at the sink, waiting for her rage to dissipate. She listened to the sound of JT moving out of the kitchen, hearing a door slam down the hall. Shit! Well, Taylor, 1 day down, 179 to go. This is gonna be fun.

Taylor slipped between the silk sheets of her bed, raising her eyes to the wall across from the bed. Oh, Tor, I have no idea what I'm doing here. One day and I already fucked it up royal.

Taylor thought about what the petite blonde would say to her. Yes, she admitted now that she lost her temper big time. It was so sudden; it even shocked Taylor with its voracity. Just when she felt she and Jessica were forming some type of alliance. Now, she could only wonder what the young girl would be thinking about her and the coming months. What would Torrey's advice be?

It was late but Taylor pulled her body from the bed and wrapped a blue silk robe around her naked form. When she reached JT's bedroom door, she listened for a moment and then lightly rapped on the heavy wood. Receiving no response she knocked louder and called out Jessica's name. Slowly turning the knob and peering inside, Taylor saw the young girl's bed hadn't yet been slept in.

Taylor walked through the house calling JT's name. The artist even walked outside, but couldn't find a sign of the young girl. Getting a little panicky by this time, Taylor came back into the house and headed for the girl's bedroom again. Looking into the closet and drawers she saw that all JT's belongings remained. Suddenly, the dark-haired woman got a feeling of dread, deep in her gut. Oh, no, was all she could think as she rushed to the garage and flung open the side door. She was met with the site of a large empty space where her Mercedes had been.

"Eat me!" She cursed vehemently and moved quickly toward her bedroom.

Grabbing a fresh shirt and pulling on her worn denim jeans, Taylor dialed a familiar number as she dressed.

"Detective Hobarth, Vice," the voice said on the other end.

"Billy, Taylor Kent...I need your help like yesterday!"

"So you mean to tell me you gave some girl you're shackin' up with all your security codes and the keys to your Mercedes?" Billy asked his old friend.

He and Taylor had come a long way from their days at the biker bar in Maine, but the man that sat behind the unmarked squad car's steering wheel looked with disbelief at his friend.

"She's not a stranger...and she's not sleeping with me, for Christ's sake, she's Torrey's girl, she's practically my daughter too!" Taylor replied. The artist was seething and barely able to carry on a civil conversation with her friend.

"Are you kidding? This girl that stole your car is Torrey's kid?" Billy was stunned. He remembered the cute blonde every time he was in a bookstore and saw her green eyes smiling out from her picture on the book jacket. The memory of losing a hundred bucks to her would always make him smile.

"Dana Point's pretty quiet, but if you want something bad enough you'll find it." The detective explained. "We'll start there. You know that if she heads for L.A. it could be a situation. A cocky seventeen year old alone and driving a Mercedes is gonna be an easy mark."

"Thanks for cheering me up. She may be cocky, but she's insecure as hell. I don't think she'll try driving to the city, maybe Laguna, but I can't picture her having the jewels for anyplace else. "Geez, Billy, we've got to find her. What the hell will I tell Torrey?"

The police detective looked over at his friend's tired face. Her hair was a little rumpled and she didn't have any makeup on, but she was still one of the most beautiful women he'd ever laid eyes on. Her blue eyes narrowed in concern and he could see through her like glass. She tried to hide it for years, but her heart was and always would be, completely owned by a petite blonde, two thousand miles away.

"I really do appreciate what you're doing, Bill. Thanks. I didn't want to come down here in the Explorer. I figured if she recognized the car that she might do something stupid like try to run. Plus, it's been so long that I wouldn't know where to go to buy any grass nowadays anyway."

"Well, we can breeze by a couple of spots. Mostly young kids, mostly pot. Let's hope she's there."

She was.

At the first place they looked, at the corner of an EZ Mart, a group of teenagers milled about. A couple of them rode on bicycles, while some bounced around on skateboards. They didn't even hide what they were doing, and there was JT, lighting up a joint inside of cupped hands. She wore her black leather jacket, worn jeans and combat boots, and when she shook her hair from her face, Taylor thought it was like looking into a mirror. And, poor Torrey must have been forced to relive it all again. All those bad times with Taylor, reflected in her own daughter's behavior. Taylor made a mental note to send her small friend two dozen roses first thing in the morning.

The unmarked car's windows were tinted almost completely black. Even if JT had turned in their direction, she wouldn't have been able to see inside the vehicle to recognize Taylor. Billy parked the car like a store customer and went in and bought a pack of gum. By the time he got back out Taylor had eased the door open and began walking silently up behind JT. Billy decided to hang back and leaned against the car, watching his old friend at work.

JT took another hit from the joint and finally felt that subtle click in her head that told her everything would be cool. She saw a dark shadow come up behind her, a very tall shadow. Like her mother before her, JT recognized the growl without looking.

"Oh, fuck," she turned around, the joint dangling from her lips.

Taylor thought she'd lost it in the house, but that was nothing compared to the anger that was filling her now. She ripped the smoke from the girl's mouth and crushed it in her hand. With the same move she used earlier, Taylor pinned the girl against the wall of the building.

"Hey, dyke," one of the boys on a skateboard said, moving toward the two.

Billy decided to join in the fun. He pulled his badge and put on his serious voice.

"LAPD, don't you kiddies have curfews?" He asked slowly.

They all scattered at that, leaving their new friend to her own fate.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Don't you realize what could have happened to you?" Taylor hissed.

"What the hell do you care? My mom doesn't give a damn about me, why should you?" JT spat back at the older woman.

Taylor kept hold of the neck of the girl's shirt in one hand, drawing back her free hand to slap her across the mouth.

JT tried not to look hurt, but the truth was her skin stung painfully where the woman's hand had hit her.

"First my mom, now you. Anyone else want a shot at me?" The drugged girl shouted.

"I heard you gave as good as you got back home!" Taylor returned hotly.

JT's pupils bounced nervously back and forth, her bloodshot eyes filling with tears at the memory of her mother's face and the bruise she'd put there. She had no idea her mother told Taylor about that.

"You bitch." JT answered feebly, lowering her head.

"Okay, Taylor take it easy," Billy placed a calming hand on his friend's shoulder. "Why don't you take the Mercedes and I'll bring the kid back up with me, okay?"

Taylor felt the strong hand on her shoulder and pushed the girl away from her roughly.

"Keys," was the only word she allowed herself to say.

The dark-haired woman turned and got into the convertible, kicking up dirt and gravel as she sped the Mercedes toward the cliff road.

"Well, that could have gone better," Billy said to no one in particular. "Get in." He motioned toward the car.

"So, you're Torrey's daughter?" Billy said, thinking the girl looked like an uncanny combination Of Torrey and Taylor.

"Oh, let me guess...you went to college with her too?" JT asked sarcastically.

"Hell, no. You couldn't have paid me enough to go to that snobby school those gals went to. Nope, you're mom used to hang out with Taylor down at the biker bar I did business at. It was kind of like my office, if you get my meaning." Billy answered.

The detective thought it felt like a lifetime ago when his livelihood existed on the other side of this badge.

"My mom, in a biker bar? You must have the wrong woman." JT answered in amazement.

"Don't believe everything you read on the cover of a book, kid. Sounds to me like you don't know anything about your mother."

"She never tells me anything about stuff from those days." JT replied honestly.

"Maybe you're just asking the wrong questions...or maybe the wrong people."

"What's that supposed to mean?" JT questioned.

"You are thick, aren't you? You're living with the one person in the world who knows more about your mom than her own mother." Billy finished his statement as he pulled up to the open security gate. Driving up to the front door, he motioned for the girl to get out.

"Guess, it's time to face the music, kid."

JT sat there for a few moments longer, suddenly afraid to get out of the car. The woman that threw her against the wall tonight scared the hell out of her.

"You want a word of advice, kid?" Billy asked.

"If I listen to it, will you stop calling me kid?" JT quipped. Her nervousness was beginning to show through.

"Touché. Taylor may scare the snot out of you, but she's a fair woman. Okay, so she's got a sore spot where your mother's honor is concerned, but you'll never find a woman with more integrity than Taylor. Just be honest with her. No wise ass attitude. You play it straight and she'll be there for you." The detective finished.

JT nodded silently at the detective before she left the car and entered the house.

"What are you doing?" JT asked in a weak tone.

Taylor was throwing Jessica's clothes and personal items into pieces of luggage that had just been emptied this afternoon.

"What does it look like? You're going back, tonight! I'll let you tell your mother what you did." Taylor said in a low even tone.

At the mention of her mother's name, JT's eyes filled with tears. "Please, Taylor."

"Don't even try that shit now because it's way past the time for tears." Taylor responded.

JT backed herself against the wall and sobbed, watching Taylor jam her clothes unceremoniously into her bags.

""Please, Taylor, I can't go back...I promised. Please," the young girl began to sob hysterically.

Taylor never stopped, even as the sound of Jessica crying ripped at her heart. I'm sorry, Tor, but this girl is just too far gone to help!

"She believes in me!" JT finally cried out.

That was the one comment that was able to bring the dark-haired artist up short. She remembered the words like they were yesterday.

The tall woman stood there for a few minutes, unable to look at the young girl. JT sat down on the floor and wrapped her own arms around herself and continued to cry, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. Taylor sunk heavily to the floor beside her and opened her arms for the young girl. JT fell into the older woman's embrace and it felt vaguely familiar.

"Jess, you've got a drug problem, you know that don't you?" Taylor asked.

"It's just that I can't...I can't feel good without it. Some days, I can't feel anything." JT answered. "I don't know how to stop."

Taylor stroked the girl's hair and kissed the top of her head.

"I know a way to help, Jess, but you have to work with me here. You've got to help yourself a little too, okay? It's not just going to get better and go away without a little work."

JT nodded and wiped her eyes.

"Okay, get a good night's sleep, what's left of it anyway, and we'll talk in the morning, allright? You like omelets? Those I can make." Taylor asked.

JT nodded again and the two women rose to their feet.

"One other thing, Jess" Taylor said as she began to leave. "Clean up all this crap will ya, it's a mess." Taylor finished with a wink.

JT smiled and sniffed, wiping more tears from her eyes. Taylor reached over and with a tenderness in complete contrast to her earlier actions, she lightly kissed Jessica's forehead.

"Go to bed." The woman said as she closed the door behind her.

Again Taylor stared at the wall in front of her once she was comfortably settled in her bed. With just a few spoken words, Taylor now understood how Torrey felt those years with her, how helpless and powerless the young woman must have felt watching the artist party her life away. It was so hard to watch someone you love screw up her whole life. Taylor was thankful Torrey never gave up on her.

"Wake up sleepyhead." Taylor called as she opened the door to JT's room.

"Oh, it can't be morning yet. I think I just went to bed." The young girl moaned from under the covers.

"Come on...I'm getting ready to make cheese omelets." Taylor said enticingly.

More groans from under the covers.

Exactly like her mother, Taylor smiled to herself.

She was in a surprisingly good mood this morning and she wasn't really sure why. The artist was pretty sure it had something to do with the revisited memory. She rarely allowed herself the luxury of daydreaming about those days, but remembering the way her friend had helped her turn her life around that day had her feeling better than she had in a long time. Torrey was the sole reason that Taylor was where she was today. Taylor reached into the front pocket of her jeans and pulled out a small, flat object the size of a poker chip. She looked intently at the number fifteen stamped onto one side. If it hadn't been for her young friend's belief in the dark-haired artist, Taylor would never have been able to stay clean all these years. Now it was time to pay up on that debt. She would do everything in her power to instill that same feeling of unconditional love and support in Torrey's daughter.

"Come on, Jess." Taylor pulled back the covers. "After breakfast we're going shopping." Taylor said, as if she were dangling a carrot for enticement.

"Shopping?" JT opened her eyes.

Yep, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree Taylor chuckled to herself.

Showered and clean, but still a little sleepy after only a few hours of sleep, both women sat down to toast, juice, and omelets.

"So, what are we going shopping for, besides food?" JT asked.

"Anything you need, want, or desire." Taylor said, popping the last bite of toast into her mouth.

"Oh, well, I don't really need anything..." JT responded letting her voice trail off.

"Well, then you're the first seventeen year old girl in the world that can say that!" Taylor said with a grin. "There's got to be something?" Taylor phrased the question, looking expectantly at Jessica.

"Well, yea, but I figured after last night, I mean...well, I guess I figured I'd be grounded till I was about twenty or so." JT said uncertainly.

"Trust me, I thought about it." Taylor said pouring herself another cup of coffee. "But, I also have to admit that I was just as much to blame over what happened yesterday as you were. Coming to a strange place with a woman you don't even remember. I didn't make your first day very easy, did I?"

"Hey, do you drink coffee?" The artist indicated the glass carafe in her hand. "Oh, shit. I bet you drink tea don't you?" she asked without waiting for an answer to the previous question.

"Yea, how'd you know that?" JT asked.

"Your mom. She always tried to tell me I'd live longer on green tea, but I could never seem to give up my one hundred percent Colombian. The whole time we lived together we always had two automatic coffeepots, one for coffee, one for tea. Here," Taylor said throwing JT a notepad and pen. "Start a list of stuff we'll need to pick up."

"So, what did I do right to deserve all this?" JT suddenly asked, a little mistrustful.

"Oh, there's a price to pay allright." Taylor answered. "You've got to do two things for me."

"Here it comes," JT replied.

"Oh, don't get panicky on me, it's not that bad. First, I have somewhere I have to be tonight; kind of a meeting, and I want you to come with me. Second, I want to take a look at those drawings in all those sketchbooks you packed."

Jessica swallowed and lowered her eyes at the last request.

"They're not much. I mean, I'm nowhere as good as you." JT said nervously.

"I should hope not. I've been doing it a lot longer and I get paid a hell of a lot more." Taylor responded with a wink. Looking into Jessica's green eyes, Taylor softened her voice.

"Jess, I won't laugh at anything you show me. I won't even say whether I think they're good or bad if you don't want to hear my opinion. I just want to know how much of my studio to give up to you." Taylor said with a smile. "I mean, you seemed serious about wanting to work on your art while you were here. I think I can tell how serious you take your work by looking at your drawings, okay?"

Jessica nodded her assent. "And, what kind of meeting are we going to?" JT asked.

"Alcoholics Anonymous, or rather Narcotics Anonymous." Taylor answered without hesitation.

"Am I that hopeless?"

"It has nothing to do with you or being hopeless. I've gone to a meeting every Tuesday for the last fifteen years. Jess, has your mom ever talked about any of this with you? Told you anything about me?" Like I'm gay, I'm a drug addict, you know, little things like that.

"Mom, doesn't talk about anything much that happened while she was in college. Sometimes I ask, but her answer is always that it's complicated."

"Jess, does it bother you when I bring up your mom?" Taylor asked. She was noticing that an expression something like pain crossed the young girl's face whenever Taylor mentioned Torrey's name.

"No, of course not. I just don't think I'll ever be in my mom's league. I manage to screw up everything I lay my hands on and mom...well, she's perfect."

Taylor chuckled slightly. "I can think of a lot of things to say about your mom and most of them are complimentary, but I think even she'd be the first one to tell you she's far from perfect."

"Well, yea she says that, but the way everyone talks about her. I mean, it's like she gave up the world just so I could be brought into the cradle of humanity." JT replied with exasperation.

"Yea, your mom has sacrificed a lot for you, Jess, and she'd do anything for you, but that's called loving your child, nothing more. Your mom is just a little better at the self sacrifice thing than most." Taylor explained.

"She believes in me and all I ever do is let her down. I keep on screwing up and she keeps on forgiving me. How many times can she keep on doing that?" Tears started to form in the corners of the young girl's eyes.

"I'm living proof that she'll do it a long time." Taylor said quietly and related the story of how Torrey's actions finally prompted the artist to admit she had a problem and get some help.

Taylor pulled the ever-present marker from the pocket of her denim jeans and placed it number side up on the table between them.

"This shows that I've been clean for fifteen years. You think you've got a past, that you've done some pretty rotten things? Your stories can't hold a candle to mine, kid, and your mom knows all of my past. Even though she knows, she still cares about me...she never gave up on me." Taylor said, tears beginning to form in her own eyes. "And, I owe this to your mom. I would never have had the strength to try if she hadn't told me those very words, that she believed in me. I want you to know, Jess, I believe in you too and I'll do everything I can to help you get a handle on this problem."

"I'm just not good like mom. I'll never be as good as her." JT admitted dejectedly.

"Jess, the last place your mom would want you to live, is in her shadow." Taylor responded, wondering where in the world the teenager received these impressions of her mother. It didn't seem like Torrey, not to be honest.

"Talk to me, Jess. What is it that's really bothering you about opening up?" Taylor asked finally.

"I'm a little...I don't know I guess I'm a little nervous about telling you stuff. Are you gonna turn around and tell mom everything I say?" JT asked.

"I wouldn't do that to you, JT. I'll tell you what, let's make a little pact. Everything we say within these walls has to be the truth and goes no further than between us. That way we've got a safe place where it's okay to talk and be ourselves. What do you say?"

"That means you too, right? If I ask you a question, you promise to tell the truth?" JT asked.

Taylor took quick seconds to think about what she was doing. She hadn't opened up to anyone in a long time, especially about certain things. God, what if she asks me about how I feel about Torrey? The artist decided it would be a risk she would have to take, to make the young girl feel comfortable with the situation.

"Absolutely, I promise to tell the truth." Taylor said.

Can I start and ask you stuff now?" JT asked hopefully.

Taylor nodded with a wry smile.

"Why do you think my mom won't tell me anything about when you guys were in college?"

Taylor was sure she didn't know how to answer this one.

"JT, all I can give you is my opinion there. I never realized Torrey hadn't told you anything." Taylor ran long fingers through her hair and pushed her cold coffee aside.

"Your mom was determined to be a much better mom than hers ever was. She was always so afraid that she wouldn't do right by you. I can only guess, when I say that she wasn't proud of some of the things that happened in her younger life. She ran with me and I tended to get her in more trouble than was good for either of us. I think, maybe she was just afraid you wouldn't love or respect her if you knew. You know she loves you more than her own life, Jess, but I know she always felt guilty that she only knew your father casually before she slept with him. Man, we did some wild things back then."

"Like what kind of wild things?" JT asked.

Taylor smiled. "Oh, like the time I let her get drunk and we got tattooed when we were here in California, or all the stunts we pulled in the Sorority House and ended up pulling kitchen detail...which was about every night." Taylor added quickly.

"My mom has a tattoo?" JT asked in disbelief. "Of what?"

Taylor unbuttoned the top two buttons of her cotton shirt. Pulling open the shirt to expose her left shoulder, she pushed aside her bra strap. There on the uppermost swell of her breast was a tiny cartoon image of the Tazmanian Devil. JT laughed at the sight of the Looney Toon character.

"Hey, we were young and we were Sorority sisters. Tau Alpha Zeta...we were Taz's, so that's what we got. It helped that Torrey was heavily inebriated at the time," Taylor added.

Suddenly JT frowned and looked lost in thought.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Taylor asked, afraid she'd gone too far.

"That detective friend of yours, he was right," the young girl leaned back and sighed. "I don't know my mom at all."

Taylor watched the young girl she thought of as her own daughter. Jessica was staring down at the table, concentrating on some thought so hard, Taylor thought she might burn a hole in the table.

"My mom thinks she's part of my problem, doesn't she Taylor?" The girl asked.

"Yea, she does." The older woman answered honestly.

"She's not, ya know. I think it's me, what I'm doing."

"What are you doing?" Taylor asked.

"I think...I kind of put my mom on a pedestal, ya know? It's like I'm the one who made her perfect. I was setting myself up with a built in excuse to be a shit. Like, if I set my mom up as perfect, then I can screw up all I want, because no matter how hard I try, I can never be as good as her, so after a while you just don't bother trying anymore. You know what I mean?"

"Yea. I know exactly what you mean, Jess. Your mother was and always will be an incredible woman in my eyes, but she's far from perfect. She's got her fault and buttons that can be pushed just like the rest of us mere mortals." Taylor stood and rinsed her coffee mug out in the sink, turning to the picture window in front of the kitchen table. She continued to speak with her back to JT.

"You've made a good start Jess. Hell, you're a lot more mature than I was at your age. You need to work at getting your mom off that pedestal and a little bit closer to the ground, though. You see the trouble with putting people we love way up on those pedestals is that sooner or later they fall off. The truly unfortunate part is that it's a given...they will fall, and we're usually standing under them when they do."

"Hey, at this rate we're never going to get out of here." Taylor said turning toward Jessica. "You ready to hit the road?"

"Sure. Hey Taylor?"

"Hhmm?" The artist responded.

"Does my mom really have a tattoo?" JT laughed.

"Oh, man!" Taylor groaned aloud. "Torrey is gonna kill me." She finished, placing her arm over the younger woman's shoulder and pulling her toward the door.

The two women finally compromised on a radio station they could both live with, which made driving into Laguna Beach considerably easier. Grocery shopping went smoothly, Taylor and Jessica both finding out that cooking was going to be a little bit more challenging than they'd previously thought. They stopped for lunch at Simon's Deli. Taylor was less than enthused when JT bought fresh lox, cream cheese, and bagels for breakfast the next day.

"You get that from your mother, that's for sure," she said to JT's grin. "I'll just have the bagels."

Taylor got even by ordering a Simon Special for lunch. JT just watched as the older woman devoured a huge sandwich comprised of rye bread, chopped liver, and egg salad.

"I can't imagine even mom liking a concoction like that." JT said.

"Don't be so sure. The first time Torrey came here she ate two of them." Taylor responded between bites.

Driving to the Art Supply store, Taylor became caught up in her own thoughts as she listened to the radio and Jessica did a little sightseeing. All this talking about Torrey caused the artist to reach back into her memory, reliving the time they spent her in California together. It was the one and only true vacation they went on together and it was nothing short of magical. If the dark-haired woman had any thoughts before about the level of her commitment to Torrey and her child, they were dispelled after their two weeks together. Torrey loved everything about San Diego; she especially loved Taylor's mom. The two hit it off instantly and Jean Kent knew she had found a daughter of the heart in the petite, caring young woman.

A song came on the radio and Jessica brought Taylor from her dreaming.

"Do you mind if I turn it up?" The girl asked.

Taylor shook her head. "Who is it?" She asked. She loved music, but could rarely remember who sang what.

"Savage Garden. It's their new one...very cool." JT answered.

Taylor winced at the group's name, but found herself caught up in the lyrics and lilting tune.

Taylor couldn't be sure she even heard anymore of the song. After hearing the words of the chorus she became lost in the memory of a smiling face and sea-green eyes.