Teddi let go of Kelly’s hand and turned to Leah. “I hope to see you again soon.” Teddi was a couple inches taller than her, and those dark eyes captured hers, held them, as Leah put her hand in Teddi’s and didn’t want to let go.
“Same,” was the only word Leah could manage to push out.
Kelly held herself in check until they were out of the shop, across the street, and standing next to her car. Once there, she squealed in delighted excitement, hands fisted as she bounced on the balls of her feet.
“Well, you managed to last seventeen seconds out the door,” Leah teased.
“Oh my God, I love her so much.”
“Not news,” Leah said with a grin.
“I want to hire her.” This time, Kelly was tentative and uncertain. “I know she’s more than the others…”
Leah swore she could see dollar signs floating above Kelly’s head. Yeah, this was going to cost her. But she didn’t care. Kelly deserved it. “Doesn’t matter. You’re worth it.”
Another squeal of delight and Kelly was in Leah’s arms, hugging her like she used to when they were kids. It didn’t happen often now. After all, Kelly was a grown woman of thirty-one and Leah was disturbingly close to forty. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t remember being eleven and carrying three-year-old Kelly around, teaching her, protecting her. She was tiny then and she was tiny now—only five one. Granted, Leah was not tall by any means, but at five three and a half, she was still the Big Sister in every way. She closed her eyes and held tightly, waiting until Kelly let go first.
“Thank you so much. I’m going to go through this and do some more online searching. I’ve already been through their whole gallery, but I didn’t want to say so and look like a crazy stalker of some kind.”
“You let me know when you’ve set up the next appointment, and I’ll be here.”
“I bet you will,” Kelly said, her voice laced with a teasing tone.
Leah raised her eyebrows in question.
“Mm-hmm. Don’t play dumb with me. I saw the way you were looking at her.”
Leah clenched her teeth and made a face. “Not so subtle after all, huh?”
“Please. I know you better than anybody.”
“True.” Leah opened the car door for Kelly to slide into the driver’s seat.
“Not that I can blame you. That woman is hot.”
Leah felt her eyes go wide. “Oh my God, right?”
“Maybe she plays on your team.”
“Her? A woman who plans weddings for straight girls? I don’t think so.” But she’d certainly felt something from Teddi. Some kind of signal? Pheromones? Leah was by no means an expert in the ways of women dating women, but she knew when a woman might be into her. And Teddi Baker had sure given off that vibe.
Kelly hit her hip with a playful smack. “She does gay weddings, too, pessimist.”
“Yeah?” That was new information. Leah let it roll around in her head and find a comfy spot.
“Yes.” Kelly buckled her seat belt. “Go, before you get run over standing there with my door open.” She made a shooing motion. “I’ll text you later.”
Leah shut the car door, and moved around the car up onto the sidewalk, watched Kelly pull into traffic and drive away. Hands shoved into the pockets of her black wool coat, she stood there for a moment, her head a jumble of emotions. Love and happiness for her sister. Financial logic regarding the expenses to come. Arousal around Ms. Teddi Baker…Yeah, that was the biggest one.
She cast a glance across the street toward Hopeless Romantic, and her breath hitched as she saw Teddi standing in the window. The second their eyes met, Teddi looked down at the table in the window display and fixed one of the place settings, adjusted a few things, then hurried out of sight.
Leah grinned, then lowered her head against the chilly breeze that had picked up, and headed up the street to her car.
* * *
“Teddi Baker? Hmm.” Tilly Scarsdale scrunched up her nose and furrowed her brow as she looked into her phone and at Leah. Her thinking face. “It sounds vaguely familiar, but I can’t place her.”
It was late. Not late late, but after midnight and later than Leah should be up. She made it a rule to try to get at least six hours of sleep each night if she could, but tonight? Wired. Utterly, completely wide awake. Like she’d had an espresso or five before giving up on the rom-com she was watching and heading to her bedroom.
“Yeah, she didn’t ring a bell for me either. I mean, it’s not like I know every lesbian in the city, and I don’t even know if she’s gay. But she was definitely feeling it, so I thought maybe she plays on your team.” Leah lifted the glass of Cabernet she’d carried down the hall to the bedroom with her, and took a sip, felt the wine’s warmth as it hit her system.
“I don’t know all the bi or genderfluid women in the city either. Sadly.”
“Yeah.”
“But I can ask around. Who knows? Maybe I’ll meet that certain someone.” Tilly said the last two words in a dreamy, breathy voice.
Leah squinted at the screen of her phone and feigned suspicion. “Are you trying to get out of our pact, missy?”
Tilly let out an exaggerated gasp of horror. “How dare you?”
“I’m just saying, I’m going to be forty not long after Kelly’s wedding. Almost a year from now. And then we’ll both be forty, and you promised that if we were both unpartnered by the time we hit forty, we’d get married. Don’t you dare back out now.”
“I would never.” Tilly went off screen but kept talking, and Leah could picture her very tall, very androgynous form changing into her pajamas. “We still have a whole year to find our persons, right?”
“Right.”
“Don’t give up, babe. She’s out there.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Leah sipped again, reached out to pet Lizzie, who was rolled into a feline ball next to her, purring as loud as Leah’s vibrator. She stroked the soft tiger-striped gray fur once, went a little too close to the off-limits underbelly area, and got a claw swipe for her trouble. “Ow, Lizzie, be nice to your mommy.”
“That cat is evil,” Tilly said, returning to the screen in a blue-and-white-striped pajama top that buttoned down the front. “Only too happy to bite the hand that feeds her.”
“She is not evil. She’s just particular and is in charge of her own life. Huh, honey?” She made kissy sounds toward her cat, who paid her zero attention. “That’s why I named her Elizabeth Bennet.”
“She’s the devil. And that’s why I renamed her Lizzie Borden. She’s gonna kill you in your sleep one of these nights.”
“Pssh.” Leah waved her off, turned her focus back to the FaceTime call. “I love your Mike Brady pj’s, by the way. Are there matching pants?”
“Is that a real question? Of course there are.” Tilly moved her phone so Leah could see the striped bottoms. “You’re just jealous.”
“I totally am.” Which was a lie because Leah couldn’t imagine sleeping in so many clothes. An old Coca-Cola T-shirt and bikinis made up her sleeping attire, and only because it was chilly in the house tonight. Chances were, they’d end up on the floor before morning. She’d get annoyed and feel tangled and trapped and strip them off in the wee hours. It happened more often than not.