Free Ember Flowers by April Worth Page A

Not fully clothed, and wondering what the hell was going
on.
    She was
attracted to Jean, her dreams were certainly telling her so. They
would start with some slide of skin on skin, and would always end
the same way. A nightmare as everyone looked at her with judgement
and disgust.
    Home again,
she’d tidied up from what she came home to the other day. Jo felt a
bit like she was standing at a cross road, not sure which direction
would bring the crash. A chirpy little voice beside her brought her
back to the present. Annabelle was running her toy matchbox truck
over the lip of their outdoor table. A hand ruffled her daughter’s
hair, blue eyes looked over at her indignantly. She smiled at the
cute pout. She had her today, at least her daughter’s needs were
simple, she enjoyed being her mother.
    “Joanne? Are
you home hon?”
    A high feminine
voice and a knock on wood floated through the house. Her daughter
smiled. Their neighbour Kerry, to her toddler, ‘the one with the
puppy’ was at the door. A short round woman always full of
laughter.
    Jo got up, her
daughter was already barrelling ahead of her, a little patter of
feet over the tiled floor. Slow strides as she got up to
answer.
    “Just a minute
Kerry.”
    The tall blonde
stood at the door, sure enough, her neighbour, their puppy and
Kerry’s three year old son were on the other side.
    “Taking Ben to
the park Jo, would you and cutie like to come along?”
    A smile from
the Officer, her daughter was already looking up at her with a
nodding grin.
    “Sure, let me
get my stuff.” She needed some fresh air.
     
    ***
     
    Lots of green
grass for the kids to roll around on, tall trees with thickly
weaving boughs, a play gym nearby. They sat on their usual wooden
bench. The scrawled graffiti always annoyed her. Minor crime.
Juveniles who got away with a slap on the wrist.
    Jo threw the
squeaky toy to the dog as the kids vied for its attention. Kerry
smiled at her. They’d been neighbours for almost three years. Her
neighbour knew about her stressful job, knew pieces about her
difficult home life. At least - what Jo would allow to be known. No
doubt her friend could hear the shouting though.
    Kerry had
become somewhat of a confidante. Her jolly disposition and youthful
cheekiness had made her guard drop before she knew it. Dinner at
Jo’s. Their children played together, the Sergeant liked Kerry’s
husband too. He was often away working the mines, home on and off.
She and Kerry kept each other company, even if it was a hello or a
quick chat at the fence.
    “You seem far
away Jo, something on your mind?” A question from the long haired
brunette, her dimples showing below her kettle nose.
    “Oh? No, not
far away.” She frowned, throwing the chew toy out onto the grass,
it was pounced on by two pounds of energised puppy.
    “Well something
has you thinking? I can see the cogs whirring away in there.”
    Jo sighed,
looking at her. “The usual, Owen, the divorce, work.”
    A frown from
the cheerful woman. “It’s always Owen, isn’t it? Man gives you no
end of trouble.”
    Jo studied her
hands. She didn’t like to talk about it. Kerry could see it as she
looked away. Her neighbour changed the subject.
    “So still
thinking of selling Jo?”
    “Yes. Waiting
for the agent to get back to me. Slack.”
    “I know what
you mean, Kevin and I jumped through all kinds of hoops. Is that
why that landscaper’s ute was here before? Getting the yard
redone?”
    She felt her
chest tighten. “Ah. Yes, she was just giving me a quote.”
    “You should
give me her card?, I’d love to get my yard spruced up too.” They
watched the kids get progressively covered in grass, giggling
away.
    Jo reached for
her purse, a short rummage. She gave the card to Kerry, passing it
off as nothing at all.
    The card was
pocketed, she’d send Jean a text to let her know. “So anything else
new Jo? I haven’t seen you much lately?”
    A shy smile
crept onto her face. “I went camping on