Chapter 4

There wasn’t really any need. Allison’s friend Natalia had assistance covered. I thought I caught sight of the violet dress I knew Tara was wearing on the other side of the curtains. A moment later she backed out of the gap in the curtain so that Natalia could fasten her zip. She was carrying her violet bow, and was about to hand that to Natalia when she caught sight of me and blushed. She really was dangerously cute.

Instead of having Natalia fasten her bow, she brought it to me. Then she took my hand and dragged me into the changing area so I could stay with her while she was working on her makeup.

“I missed you yesterday,” she whispered.

Aww, hell. These were dangerous waters, but I owed her the truth. “I missed you, too,” I whispered in reply.

Tara’s smile was radiant. Her cheeks pinked. She reached out to squeeze my hand before returning to her task.

When she was ready we waited together until it was time for guests to take their places.

Before I left, I impulsively gave her a hug. I’d only intended for it to be quick, but Tara held onto me for several seconds. After she released me, I caught up to Natalia and offered to sit with her, since she wouldn’t know anyone here not in the wedding party.

Tara was the last of the bridesmaids to walk down the aisle, hand in hand with Margot, who wore red. They separated, moving to either side to form the start and end of the rainbow of dress colors. Then Anita walked with Emma, and the wedding was underway.

Maybe I hadn’t been the biggest fan of that group of Gabby’s patrons, but I think the ceremony made my heart grow two sizes. There was so much love within the wedding party; not just the brides, but everyone. I resolved to try to be a little less short with them.

Not with everyone. I still didn’t have any respect for Ann, or Suse, or Val, or any of the others who tried to push me out of my comfort zone, but that didn’t apply to anyone standing around the celebrant. Not even Kayla. Maybe I’d been jealous of her with Kennedy, and felt she’d pushed boundaries with her, but she never did with me, and I could let what resentment remained float away on the good feelings of the ceremony.

But it was Tara I couldn’t stop watching as she stood with her bouquet, the silk of her violet dress subtly revealing the contours of her body.

The ceremony was over. Because the brides had a photo session in the morning, their roles were truncated, but there were still family shots and wedding party shots. By far the largest family group present was Tara’s, since it was also Kayla’s. Tara’s parents and grandparents were present, the grandparents being Kayla’s father’s brother and his wife, Tara’s father being Kayla’s first cousin. So photographs of them, with and without Anita and with and without Tara took time. When she wasn’t required for a shot, Tara stood with me. I held her bouquet for some of the shots.

After the family photos were over, Tara’s parents talked with her for a moment, then headed back to the house with the rest of the family. I stayed with her, standing off to the side while the bridesmaids were lining up for their photos. Tara looked over at me, hiding her face behind her bouquet, and I grinned at her.

We walked back to the cocktail hour, where I left Tara to her family. The bar was indoors, but there were snacks on the tables outside the open French doors. I picked up a sparkling gin cocktail and moved outside. Kennedy stood alone with a drink that looked much like mine. I gave her a polite nod, but didn’t approach.

Natalia was also unaccompanied, so I talked to her until Allison showed up after her MOH duties. I had a second gin cocktail, and in spite of taking some finger food I was feeling a little lightheaded when the party moved to the pavilion for the reception proper.

Seated at one of two tables of Gabby’s patrons I had a merry time at the reception, through the dance, the champagne toasts, and speeches. When the more formal socializing was over, Tara said her family wanted to meet the friend they’d seen her with earlier. They made room for me, and I refilled my champagne before I took a seat.

“Take it you don’t need your parents’ permission for that,” said Tara’s dad, Corey. He was dark-haired, round-faced and upbeat.

“I turned twenty-one in May,” I said, then grinned. “It’s legal.”

“So you’re a senior?” Veronica, Tara’s mother, had a narrow face and mid-blonde hair, a little lighter than Tara’s. Both of her parents were brown eyed.

“I will be in a couple of weeks,” I agreed. “Have you seen where Tara will be studying?”

“Mom has,” said Tara. “She brought me when I visited. Dad hasn’t. Are you offering another tour?”

Both of her parents looked up expectantly. “I could, if it’s not too early,” I said. “I’m sure I’ll need to recover from the show.”

“Right, the band,” said Corey. “I’m tempted to stay, but if I do Veronica would think it’s because I want to ogle the singer.”

“And I’d be right,” said his wife.

He grinned. “Probably so. How did Kayla manage to book them for a wedding?”

“The singer you want to ogle,” I said. Corey and Veronica both looked amused. “Michelle. Kayla and Anita are friends of hers. She used to be a bartender at a club we all visit. I know her too.”

Veronica was looking at me speculatively. I needed to change the topic.

“So maybe I could pick you up at your hotel? My car will seat four, though it will be cramped.”

“We have a car,” said Veronica. “If you want to come to the hotel at nine we’ll buy your breakfast first.”

“I’ll try,” I said. Then I excused myself. “I should visit the brides. I’m glad I met you both.”

Tara caught up with me after I’d wished Kayla and Anita a long and happy marriage and traded hugs with them.

“Did I miss something back there?” Tara asked, catching my arm.

“With the brides?” I didn’t know what she was asking.

“No, with my parents. They’re giving me strange looks.”

“Oh,” I said. “I might have outed myself to them. I said Kayla and Anita and I are all in the same club. They might even know about Michelle, since the band’s getting coverage. Even if not, if I’m in the same club as their lesbian cousin and her lesbian wife it isn’t a stretch to make an assumption about me.”

“And if you’re gay and I’m your friend…” she said.

“Exactly,” I said. “They didn’t say anything?”

“No, and I won’t,” Tara replied. “I’ll tell them when I go home.”

She went back to her parents, and I didn’t see her again until they left, just before the show. She was still in her violet dress. Most of the bridesmaids had changed out of theirs, other than Allison, in yellow. Her arm around Natalia looked far beyond straight-girl friendly. As did Natalia’s hand on Allison’s yellow silk-clad butt.

The silk was so temptingly filmy that I wanted to know how Tara felt beneath it. I slipped my arm around her, my hand finding her waist smooth and taut with muscle. She made no comment, but leaned back into my arm. God, I so didn’t want her to become a typical Gabby’s girl. Which I knew was hypocritical since I technically had been one both before I started dating Kennedy and after we broke up. I hadn’t had many encounters, but it was more than zero. I just couldn’t do a one night stand with Tara. The feelings that the rules were supposed to protect us from were already there.

For most of the time that the band was playing we were dancing and jumping with the crowd. When they played a ballad, Tara would lean back against me. I’d wrap my arms around her from behind, caressing her belly through the silk. Eventually she covered my hands with hers and remained in place even for the high energy songs. Until the encore, which had us both dancing and cheering.

The band left the stage for the last time and the crowd started to disperse. Tara was leaning against me again, and I wasn’t in a hurry to move away. Also, she’d be travelling in the bridesmaids’ limo, and Allison wouldn’t leave until she was sure the guests had left and final band cleanup was in hand. So I was still around to see Kennedy leaving with the singer, Michelle, and a golden-haired woman whom I didn’t recognize. It seemed Kennedy would have an interesting evening.

I would have tried to spend more time with Tara, but her family was all at the hotel and would be waiting for her. Instead, I said goodnight to her at the limo and booked a ride to my apartment.

I made it to the hotel before nine in the morning. When I saw Tara, I grinned. She’d colored the ends of her hair violet, enhancing the tips with some of the spray green dye she’d been wearing when I first met her. Now that wedding photos were over, she could express herself again.

“That hair would look good with your bridesmaid dress,” I said.

“Yeah, I wondered about it, but wearing the dress would be weird now,” she replied. “Maybe one day. This color doesn’t wash out like the green.”

Corey drove us to a nearby breakfast restaurant. Tara’s grandparents and uncle and aunt – Kayla’s parents – met us there.

My eggs benedict was far better than the cereal I usually ate for breakfast. I said that, then thanked Tara’s parents for their generosity.

“It will be cereal and ramen for you for the next four years,” Veronica said to her daughter.

“I knoooow,” Tara whined. “You’ll have to visit often to take me to breakfast,” she added.

“I don’t see that happening,” her father said. “It’s a long drive or an ugly flight.”

“Are you saying I’m not worth it?” Tara continued.

Corey frowned. “Let me think about that,” he said. “Hmm. Yes. Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“See, my parents are assholes,” Tara said, turning to me.

“They’re parents,” I said.

Corey asked me about my parents, which was definitely a topic I didn’t want to get into. There were reasons taking a local internship had been attractive. But I think I deflected politely enough.

“This club you mentioned,” Veronica said. Uh-oh. “The one you and our Kayla and her wife are members of. Will you be recruiting Tara?”

“It’s not a membership club,” I said. “It’s a night club, with dancing, but it’s a safe space. No alcohol, so eighteen-plus are allowed. Mostly college kids. She’d be welcome, of course.”

“I met Grace there,” Tara said. I wasn’t going to mention that. “Kayla took me.”

“It was a good night,” I said. “A rave without drugs and booze. Very safe. They have different music each week, though. During the semester they have live bands.”

Conversation moved on, and I thought we’d avoided awkward questions.

After we’d finished breakfast, Tara’s other relatives left for the hotel. Corey and Veronica stayed, because we were going on my college sightseeing tour together.

Veronica gave me an unreadable look, then pointed between Tara and me, looking at her daughter. “So, are the two of you…?”

Her question trailed off, but I knew what she was asking. Tara’s red face made it clear she did too.

My heart sank when she shook her head. “Grace isn’t my girlfriend, mom,” she said. Then a moment later, she added, “But I want to ask her to be.”

The feeling of elation that flooded into me at those words was hard to keep off my face, but I tried.

Veronica’s look was neutral. “I see. Why have you never told us?”

“That I like girls?” Tara asked. “I just… I knew you’d be okay with it. I mean, I was sure. But I didn’t want you to think the wedding was any kind of influence, or that I’d cause any drama over it. So I was going to talk to you when I get back home.”

“Is dating a senior really a good idea?” Veronica asked.

“I like her, Mom,” Tara said, defensively.

“It’s a valid concern,” I said, to both of them. “I don’t know what I’ll be doing in a year, and that could be a problem. But I guess I’m enough of a realist to know that most college relationships don’t survive that long. If it does… I guess if it does it would be worth making sacrifices for. I like Tara too, Mrs. Piers, and I would like to be her girlfriend. Even if she hasn’t asked yet.” I gave Tara a mock glare.

“Call me Veronica, please, Grace.” She gave me a quick smile. “I think I like you, too, Grace. And we’ve known Tara likes girls for a long time. We were wondering if she’d ever tell us.”

“You did?” Tara asked, shocked.

“We guessed, at first,” said Veronica. “But did you think we didn’t know about Olivia?”

“Mom!” Tara yelped. “I was sure you didn’t!”

“I didn’t know about Olivia,” I said. “I’ve only heard about Carlie.”

“Carlie?” Veronica’s eyes were wide. “Carlie has a boyfriend!”

“Uh, oops. Yeah, Tara said that. I guess Carlie was supposed to stay secret.”

“It was only one evening!” Tara protested. “And I haven’t told you about Olivia because we haven’t talked about anything like that, have we?” She directed that at me. “Except for your ex, since everyone seems to know her.”

“True,” I said, then turned back to Veronica. “So, yes, your daughter likes girls, I like her, and I’d like to date her and see where a relationship could go.”

Both parents nodded at that. They were smiling. I wouldn’t say their concerns were resolved, but they seemed to think we knew what we were doing. I reached out to take Tara’s hand. She turned red, but threaded her fingers into mine.

Tara’s grandparents had their car loaded up with everyone’s bags, since they’d all checked out, including Tara, who’d be moving her belongings into Kayla’s place. They redistributed Tara’s parents’ cases to their rental and Tara’s cases to my car. Then they each gave Tara a long hug. They’d see her soon enough, but this was a stage in her leaving home, and that meant it was a significant parting. More than that, they were leaving her with an unanticipated girlfriend. Potentially new family. Even if we were years from that, even if our relationship was only one of many that Tara might have, it was still part of letting her move on. Veronica showed she understood that by giving me a hug, too.