Free Laughter in the Wind by SL Harris Page B

bases. She also explained more about her family in St. Louis.
    “My great-grandma was Jane Smith. We always called her Gran. She was the oldest child from a large family, they’re all dead now. She died several years ago, at the age of ninety-nine. Smith was her maiden name, I guess she must have changed it back to Smith when my great-grandfather died. No one would ever talk about him, so I don’t even know what his name was. The Smiths were an influential family in the city at that time. One of Gran’s brothers was a banker, one was a doctor, her father was a judge. Gran lived with her parents while she raised my grandmother. Grandmama was her only child.”
    “Did you ever live with your Gran or Grandmama?” Beth asked.
    “When we were little and my dad would deploy, Mom would move us, my two older brothers and me, to stay with one of Gran’s younger brothers or sisters. They were all pretty old then, so we would have to play quietly and be on our best behavior. We were always glad when he was stationed stateside. Gran lived with Grandmama then. I don’t know why but we never stayed with them.”
    “Sounds like you had to grow up pretty quick,” Beth observed.
    “I guess,” Olivia said. “But it was okay. I mean, Mom and Dad had to sacrifice too, when he went away. It was kind of like that was our part. We were a team.”
    Rebecca and Olivia offered to clean up the kitchen after the meal, allowing Rebecca’s parents to shower and change clothes to attend the visitation in Rockford.
    “Girls, have a good evening,” Rebecca’s mother said as they left. “Olivia, make yourself at home. We should be back around nine or so.”
    “Bye,” they said in unison as they put the last of the dishes back into the cabinets.
    Rebecca suddenly realized she was alone with Olivia and the nervousness she had been fighting all day returned in a flash. “So, would you like to watch some TV or a movie?” she offered in a somewhat croaky voice.
    Olivia shot her a strange look but followed her silently to the living room where Rebecca indicated the stacks of movies under the TV. Olivia knelt on the floor and flipped through the DVDs quickly. “Do you have any favorites?” she asked.
    “I like some of the older ones, like Beaches , Sleepless in Seattle or Fried Green Tomatoes ,” Rebecca said. “But really, I’m not too picky.”
    “Let’s watch Fried Green Tomatoes ,” Olivia said, picking out the DVD from the stack. “Do you have popcorn?”
    “I can do better than that. I have popcorn and cherry Coke,” Rebecca offered.
    She hurried to the kitchen to put the popcorn in the microwave and returned with two tall glasses of cherry Coke, setting them on the coffee table. She showed Olivia how to get the movie started then returned to the kitchen for the popcorn. Just as the opening credits were rolling, she brought in a large bowl of popcorn and sat down next to Olivia on the sofa.
    Rebecca was aware of her bad habit of stuffing herself with popcorn. She would catch herself shoving handful after handful into her mouth as if she were starving to death. Tonight, she was determined to control herself. After all, it was impolite and unattractive. Uh-oh! There went Rebecca’s thoughts, out of control again. So, now you’re worried about whether you are attractive or not. What is that supposed to mean?
    Stop! She told herself, allowing a muffled sound to escape from the force of the command.
    “Did you say something?” Olivia asked.
    “Uh, no. I just belched. Must be the Coke. Excuse me.” Rebecca was getting more flustered.
    Olivia must have noticed her unease because she focused her attention on the movie, giving Rebecca time to collect herself. Finally, she relaxed and began to enjoy the movie, so much so that she barely noticed when Olivia moved the empty popcorn bowl from where it sat between them on the sofa and put it on the coffee table. Olivia shifted closer to her so their thighs touched lightly. Rebecca was