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Part 6

By LJ Maas

Taylor murmured something unintelligible in her sleep, rolling over to wrap her arm around Torrey's body. The artist's arm fell onto the bed, an empty space where Torrey lay earlier. The loss triggered something in the sleeping woman's unconscious, causing her to pull her mind from the pleasant dream state in which she floated.

A soft, rhythmic clicking noise brought Taylor up to one elbow, her eyes trying to focus in the dim light. In her confusion, she finally made out Torrey's petite frame sitting cross-legged on the end of the King size bed, her fingers flying across the keys of the small computer in her lap. The blonde's tousled hair fell haphazardly, nearly covering the glasses that reflected the computer screen in each lens. She wore Taylor's white shirt and nothing else.

"Tor?"

"It's okay, sweetheart. I just had to get some thoughts down. You don't mind, do you?" Torrey asked, her finger pausing over the keyboard.

Taylor smiled sleepily, glad that the writer's muse had returned. "Nope, do you mind if I go back to sleep?" The artist didn't wait for a response before rolling onto her stomach and stretching her long naked frame under the silk sheets. She threw a couple of pillows against the headboard.

"Come sit up here or you're going to have a back ache in the morning."

Torrey took the spot Taylor indicated and leaned down to kiss the already sleeping woman's cheek. Taylor unconsciously snuggled closer to the writer as the keys resumed their soft clicking. The dark-haired woman smiled in her sleep at the sound that would become a comfort sound to her ears in the years to come.

"Hey." Jessica looked up from the crossword puzzle she sat at the kitchen table with.

"Hey." Taylor mumbled, realizing how much Jess looked like her mother when she wore her new glasses.

"Did you see God last night?" JT asked in a serious tone.

"Huh?" Taylor asked, perplexed.

Jessica could hardly keep a straight face. "I just figured the way you were calling to him last night, you must have got religion or something." The young woman was almost doubled over in laughter now.

Taylor knew her face was turning red, but there wasn't a thing she could do about it. She'd been caught with her hand in the proverbial cookie jar and now she had to own up to it and suffer the barbs that were sure to come her way for a long time to come. Although she and Torrey heard JT come in on time last night, and they closed and locked their bedroom door, there was only so much quiet they could keep.

"Taylor smirked at the young woman. "Laugh it up, squirt. You can harass me all you want, but I don't want you teasing your mother like that."

"Teasing your mother like what?" Torrey asked in a voice still rough from sleep. The small blonde walked in and made her way to the pot that held the coffee pouring a cup, first for herself, then another for the tall artist leaning against the counter.

She handed the steaming mug to Taylor and just as casually reached up to place a gentle kiss on the taller woman's lips. Taylor smiled into the kiss and returned the affection.

"Morning." Torrey grinned.

"Right back at ya." Taylor replied, kissing her forehead.

"Morning to you too." Torrey walked behind her seated daughter and kissed the top of her head. "What?" Torrey said in her daughter's direction. "You thought I'd be walking funny this morning?"

Jessica nearly spit her tea across the table as Taylor broke into an unrestrained, throaty laughter that the young woman never heard her use before.

"I don't think she expected that from me." Torrey said with a wink as she made her way back to the bedroom for a shower.

"Who was that woman?" JT asked the artist.

"That's the Torrey Gray that I know. I think you better get used to seeing her, squirt." Taylor said with a grin, leaving her coffee untouched and walking off in the direction the small blonde had just gone.

The door to the guest room stood open. Torrey was pulling clean clothes from the closet and hanging them on the door. Taylor entered the room and quietly came up behind the woman, slipping her arms around her and kissing her neck lightly.

"I love you," Taylor said.

"Mmmm, I like hearing that." Torrey answered, her hand moving up to entwine in the dark-haired woman's locks. "I love you too."

"Will you move your things into the master bedroom?" Taylor asked, holding her breath for the answer.

"Are you sure you want me to?" Torrey returned, giving the woman one last out.

"Absolutely." Taylor answered, punctuating her answer with a kiss. "I'm going to take a shower, care to join me?"

"With Jess in the other room? Do you think we should?"

Taylor chuckled against the skin of Torrey's neck. "Do you think she might hear something that she didn't last night?"

"You never know..." The blonde replied with a tilt of an eyebrow. "You just never know."

"You sleeping?" Jess whispered.

"Uh Unh," Torrey shook her head, opening her eyes. The older woman sat curled in the oversized chair of the family room, falling asleep to the sounds at the other end of the house, mainly Taylor's sander.

"Can we talk for a little bit?"

"Sure, hon, what's up?"

"I, uhm...I've kind of been thinking..." Jess paused and looked into her mother's eyes. She and Taylor were supposedly together now, but what if they went back to Chicago to live?

"You want to stay here in California." Her mother answered matter of factly.

"Do you know how much I hate that you can do that?" Her daughter smiled.

"The minute you give birth, you'll get the power, too." Torrey chuckled.

"I don't think I'm quite prepared to go there." Jessica replied with a dour look.

"Well, it works out nice now. I mean, you and Taylor are together, we could all live here, right?"

"Only one problem as I can see, honey, and that is that Taylor hasn't asked me to live here."

"Well, yea, but she probably just thinks that it's a given, right?"

"Still and all, Jess, a girl likes to be asked." Torrey responded.

Jessica thought that the two older women were finally going to live out that happily ever after part, but damn if these two don't make it harder than it has to be, she said to herself.

"So, what did you want to do out here that you can't do in Chicago, Jess?"

"University of California, the one here at Irvine. I want to go to school to study art. I know being good is something new for me, but I'd be willing to work hard, mom, even get a job to help pay."

"You know money isn't a consideration, Jess. I'd send you to the moon if that's what you needed to do, but you're still so new in the program and I worry about what will happen when Taylor or I aren't around and you're faced with your first temptation."

"I know. It scares me to think about too, but I can't stay locked in a cocoon until there isn't any alcohol or drugs floating around."

Torrey already knew her answer would be yes. She was simply thrilled that her daughter had turned a love of art into a hope for her future. "If I agree, I think I would want you living here for your first year, not on campus, and certainly not in a Sorority house." She said with a wry smile.

"Jess, would it bother you if I worked at the University? I mean, I wouldn't be there to keep tabs on you, but...I've been offered a position in the English Department." Torrey told her daughter.

"Mom, that's so cool. No, it wouldn't bother me at all. I'd love it." JT returned with enthusiasm. She suddenly looked serious, her brows furrowing together. "You're not going to stop writing, are you?"

"I've been having a little trouble with my writing, Jess. It just hasn't been there for me lately. Strange as it may seem, though, I feel like its back."

"Maybe because you and Taylor..."

"Could be." Torrey answered her daughter's unasked question.

"I hope you don't have to give it up, mom. You're such a good writer, the things you can put down on paper." Jess trailed off, then looked up into her mother's eyes. "I read your books while I was here." She added sheepishly. "I guess I'm just sorry I didn't read them sooner."

"Thank you, Jess. Besides, just because I start teaching again, doesn't mean I can't write too. The position will only be part time, anyway, and even if I don't take it and stay in California, I know Taylor would welcome you here."

Even though Jess didn't want to think about that last statement, she reached over and gave a huge bear hug to the smaller woman. "I love you mom. I'll make you and Taylor proud of me someday."

Torrey gently brushed a hand across her daughter's cheek. "Oh honey, you've already done that."

Torrey leaned against the wooden railing that looked over the patio, onto the cliffs below. She heard the patio doors glide open and within seconds felt strong arms wrap around her upper body.

"Mmmm, I love the way your arms feel around me." She murmured to the dark-haired woman behind her.

"Good, because I could get used to this myself." Taylor sighed, standing straighter and feeling Torrey's body lean back against her chest.

"I love being able to see the stars like this. In Chicago you have to compete with the buildings and the lights for a view."

"Well, we aim to please out here on the West Coast." Taylor whispered, pulling Torrey's body closer to her, resting her chin on the smaller woman's shoulder.

"I talked to mom today. I hope you don't mind, but I told her about us." Taylor asked.

"What did she say?"

Taylor let out an amused laugh. "You know her. She acted like she knew it would happen all along. I bet she started screaming like a banshee the moment I hung up. She did say something that got me thinking, though. I told her it seems so clear now, our love for each other. I wonder why we couldn't see it all along. She said that it wasn't that we couldn't see it, it was that we wouldn't see it. You're the philosopher. What do you think she meant?"

"There are none so blind as those who would not see..." Torrey trailed off. "I don't even remember if it's a quote or an adage, Some English professor I am. I think I agree with your mom, though."

Torrey turned in Taylor's arms and rested her cheek against the artist's chest, listening to the strong, rhythmic heartbeat.

"I think even if it would have been laid out for me all those years ago, Even if you would have professed your undying love for me...I would have run, simply bolted. I never thought you could love me. You know what Evelyn did to me. Hell, I never thought anyone could love me. It was probably right in front of me, Stretch and I refused to see it."

Taylor once again wondered at the one thing she ever did right in her life to deserve the woman in her arms.

"You're right." Taylor agreed sadly. "You could have thrown yourself across my bed, Tor and I would have refused you. I never thought I was good enough for you. I always thought that someday, someone worthy of your love would come along to make you happy. I wouldn't even allow myself to see that it might have been me."

"Love isn't blind," Torrey said, shaking her head in bewilderment. "She's just plain stupid."

"Are you just going to watch me get ready?" Torrey asked, stepping into the black, off the shoulder dress she'd chosen for the artist's showing at the L.A. gallery.

Uh huh," the artist nodded from her position on the bed. She lay in a blue silk robe, her hands clasped behind her head, watching the sexy blonde dress. "I always wanted to know what took you so long to get ready. But," she added, jumping up behind the writer who indicated the zipper that needed adjustment, "if it makes you feel any better, I always thought it was well worth the wait."

"Always, huh?" Torrey asked, tilting her head slightly to allow the taller woman to place gentle kisses on the skin there.

"Absolutely. Mmmm, I love this dress." Taylor responded, pulling the garment further off the shoulder, as her kisses became more passionate. "Take it off." The artist commanded.

"Jess and Val are meeting us at the gallery. We'll be late." Torrey warned.

"Now, ask me if I care."

Torrey's eyes closed and her lips parted in a sensuous sigh as Taylor's lips found the very sensitive spot just below her ear. "Oh, yes...unzip me." The writer ordered impatiently.

"I'm definitely in the wrong business." Torrey whispered to her daughter's friend as she and Valerie walked through the large gallery, moving in and out of the mingling patrons.

This was the first opportunity Torrey had to actually see prices on her lover's works, and her mouth went dry at the rates. "I think this one costs as much as the royalties from my last three books," the writer chuckled. "Now we know how she affords the Mercedes."

Valerie laughed at the woman's remarks. She thought back to the beginning of the evening when the artist and the woman that was now at her side came roaring up in the red sports car. Jess teased Taylor regarding the reason for their lateness, but Val didn't get the joke until Jess explained the whole situation in private. Val thought she would never again hear anything quite as romantic as that tale.

Torrey looked up as Taylor introduced Jessica to yet another person that might someday do her career good. It seemed as if Taylor knew everyone in the art world, and tonight everyone wanted to talk with her. The artist shrugged her shoulders apologetically when she caught sight of Torrey from across one room of the gallery. The writer winked and gave one of her it can't be helped smiles. Besides Jessica was in seventh heaven, and Torrey really did enjoy Valerie's company. The young woman wasn't the least bit caught up in the hype regarding Torrey Gray, the author, and the writer appreciated that more than words could say.

Finally Jessica found the two women outside catching some fresh air.

"Taylor's looking for you, mom."

"Well, far be it from me to keep the artist of the decade waiting." Torrey replied and returned to the gallery

Torrey suffered the looks as she walked through the rooms of the gallery in search of the artist. Some of the stares were the ones she always dealt with as people wondered if she was really the woman she looked like she was. Tonight many of the stares came from the fact that nearly everyone at the opening saw her and Taylor arrive together and the way the artist held her hand as they walked through the crowds. The final reason was one the writer could live with. She looked good. She may be petite and pushing forty, but she had an air of confidence when it came to her own body.

"Torrey Gray." A female voice said from behind the writer.

Torrey stopped, frozen in her steps. She recognized the voice immediately, but never expected to hear it here in California, and certainly not at Taylor's show. She turned to face the music, a thousand different scenarios rushing through her brain.

"Hello, Kat," Torrey said turning to face the woman.

The call girl looked magnificent as always. She held the writer's hand for a second or two and then released it as good taste dictated. She stood a little closer to the writer than she probably should have, but they had a history and that allowed for certain liberties.

"I'm here with a client, she's a fanatic for works by a certain California artist and when I heard the name, I have to admit, my curiosity got the better of me. I had to find out if this Taylor was your Taylor."

"Well, the truth of the matter is--"

"Honey, I thought you could use this." Taylor held out a fluted glass of champagne for the author in one hand, slipping her arm around Torrey's waist in an unmistakable act of possessiveness, with her other.

"Uhm...thanks." Torrey answered nervously. The writer looked up at the artist, a charming smile situated on the dark-haired woman's face. That's when Torrey saw it, the blue of Taylor's irises was actually a steel gray. There was a gleam that Torrey hadn't seen before. It was the unequivocal glint of jealousy.

Oh, nuts...why me? Torrey asked herself.

"Who is your friend?" Taylor asked, still the charming smile in place, but Torrey could feel the strain in the taller woman's voice and she would have laughed out loud at the irony of the whole situation, had it not been so damn serious.

"Oh, this is--" Torrey knew her eyes must have been the size of saucers because Kat now had an amused grin on her face. The writer realized she had no idea what Kat's full name was.

"Katherine Berring," Kat said with a smile, offering her hand to the artist. "So, you're Taylor Kent. I feel as if I already know you. From the Architectural Digest magazines," she quickly added with a smirk. "Your work is truly amazing."

"Thank you," Taylor replied.

Torrey watched; as the two women sized each other up, the small blonde caught uncomfortably in the middle of their imaginary joust.

"So, where do you know Torrey from?" Taylor inquired.

"Well, actually--" Kat began.

"New York." Torrey quickly finished. Please...please, Kat you've been a treasure, but could you please just leave! Torrey took the moment's silence to down the glass of champagne in her hand in one long gulp.

"Thirsty?" Taylor asked. Nodding to the empty glass.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Would you mind getting me another? Please?"

Taylor gave a lopsided grin to the small blonde, then gave a look to the brunette that stared at her with something like amusement. "Sure, I'll be right back." She said, kissing Torrey's forehead before turning.

"You're right, she's something." Kat grinned once Taylor was out of sight.

"Look, Kat--"

"Torrey, I didn't come here to mess things up for you. It looks like you finally got your artist, huh?"

Torrey smiled in return and nodded.

"Good." Kat leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on Torrey's cheek. "You deserve every bit of happiness this world has to offer, my small friend. I have to admit, I will regret never seeing you again."

"Never say never," Torrey mused.

"Oh, I saw the look in that one's eye. Your number is definitely unlisted from here on in. You take care, Torrey." Kat said, chuckling as she turned to find her client amidst the throng of people.

"Is it okay for me to come back now? You're not going to chug another glass of champagne just to get rid of me, are you?" Taylor asked in amusement.

"Very funny." Torrey said, accepting the glass the artist returned with in her grasp.

"Okay, who is she really?" Taylor asked.

"A...friend." Torrey answered as honestly as she could.

"Mmm Hmmm," Taylor said taking a sip from her own glass. "Was your friend upset that you won't be sleeping with her anymore?"

Torrey smiled and shook her head. "You knew all along, didn't you?"

"Honey," the taller woman smiled back, "we've lived separate lives for fifteen years. We're bound to run into old lovers occasionally...yours and mine." She added.

Torrey lifted an eyebrow as she canvassed the room.

"Don't worry," Taylor said with a wink. "None of mine are here tonight. I don't think any of them liked me well enough. Where do you know her from, though?" Taylor asked as an after thought.

Torrey slipped an arm around her lover's waist and gave a gentle squeeze. "I'll tell you the whole story when we get home."

"Fair enough," Taylor said with quickly kissing the top of the smaller woman's head. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"I have people I want to show you off to." Taylor grinned as they moved toward Samantha and her networking friends.

"So, what do ya think?" Taylor asked Jessica, as they stood quietly outside, taking a break from the noise of the party atmosphere inside.

"I think I can't wait to charge half a million bucks for doing something I love to do." She answered with a grin.

Taylor chuckled at the girl. "Well, the price tag just lets me keep doing what I love to do."

"Can I change the subject, Tay?"

"Sure. What's on your mind?"

"Are you going to ask mom to move out here?" Jessica asked as bluntly as possible.

Taylor looked like she'd been knocked in the head from her blind side. "Well, I...uhm, I guess I just assumed she might...I mean, she might not want to and--"

"Oh, I don't even believe you two. I am not doing this again." Jessica began to pace in front of the artist and Taylor's eyes widened slightly at the young woman's reaction. "Fifteen years...you guys are the record holders! I can't believe you didn't learn anything from that. You're both gonna clam up and think you know what the other one is thinking, well you don't. Frankly, I think your track record at thinking you know what each other is thinking sucks!"

Taylor was honestly too stunned to say anything in response to the young girl's outburst.

"Well, this time I'm not gonna stand by and do nothing. Forget this loyalty and keeping your mouth shut thing. You want to know what mom wants? Don't guess 'cause like I said you suck at it. I'll tell you what she told me. She wants to be asked, quote unquote, that's it...she just needs you to care enough to ask her. And, if you don't...well, then I don't know what I'll do, but it'll be something drastic. I'll call your mom!" Jessica finally threatened.

By this time, Taylor was very near to bursting into laughter at the young woman's zeal. She held up both hands in a gesture of defeat. "Go find her and I'll ask her." Taylor couldn't contain her laughter any longer.

"Oh." JT said quietly then grinned up sheepishly at the artist. "Okay!" She said with enthusiasm, once she realized the artist meant this very minute.

"Our daughter thinks we should talk...about our future together." Taylor began.

"Oh?" Torrey drawled in question.

"She seems to think that when it comes to us reading each other's minds, well, I'm paraphrasing, but basically she thinks we suck at it. She told me so in no uncertain terms."

"I can't say as I disagree with her much." Torrey wrapped her arms a little tighter around her lover's waist. "We have to admit our track record may speak highly for perseverance and longevity, but we do lack a little something when it comes to revealing our feelings." Torrey finished.

"Taylor?"

"Hhmmm?"

"What do you want to happen with us? And, I don't want to hear what you think I want, or what's best for Jess, or even what you think I want to hear. I want to know, honestly, what do you want?"

Taylor's brow pinched into a frown as she stared at the toes of her boots for a few moments. When she looked up into the sea-green eyes of the woman she loved, she felt that familiar tightening in her belly. It was as if she fell in love with the woman all over again, whenever Torrey looked at her that way. She held the small blonde's face in both her hands and lightly brushed her own lips against the softness of Torrey's.

"I want to buy three round trip tickets to Chicago. I want for all three of us to go back there. I want to pack up your old life and everything you want to bring and have movers carry it all here. Then I want us to come back here and be together as a family for the rest of our lives."

Taylor kissed Torrey again, with a firmer touch this time. She brushed Torrey's tears away with her thumbs and smiled down nervously at the smaller woman.

"That's what I want. What do you want, Tor?"

"I want you to kiss me," Torrey said, her hands pressed against the dark-haired woman's chest to stop her momentarily. "Kiss me like you want me." Torrey added.

Taylor captured the woman's lips in a kiss that left little to the imagination as to what her intent was toward the small blonde in her arms.

"And?" Taylor asked.

"I want you to put your arms around me." Torrey requested, as the taller woman wrapped her arms around the smaller body, pulling Torrey closer against her.

"And?" Taylor continued.

"I want you to never, ever let go." Torrey finally said as her voice broke.

"I love you, Little Bit"

"I love you, Stretch."

"I'll never let go...I promise." Taylor said, bending her head for the kiss the two women had waited nearly eighteen years to share, their kiss of commitment.

Jessica and Val held hands as they watched the scene from the balcony above. Unbeknownst to the two lovers on the sidewalk below, the second floor of the gallery's balcony opened up above where they stood. Their whispered words of love couldn't be heard by anyone else, but the smoldering kiss they shared as a climax to their promise of forever, was viewed by more than a few.

"Why that's Torrey Gray, the author, with her." A husband nudged his wife. "I saw her on Oprah."

"Well," the woman standing next to him sniffed, "What kind of example is that?"

"The best!" Jessica and Valerie said in unison.

Narcotics Anonymous

International Child Abuse Network

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