Free Autumn Leaves by Barbara Winkes Page B

the night.
    After the visit to her friend, Dina was in a better mood than she had been in forever, so on the way back, Rebecca suggested they eat at the diner to save time. Once home, Rebecca would tackle laundry and Dina could go right back on the phone with Anna. Dina was pleased with the prospect.
    “That means the ban on fast food is over?”
    “In your dreams.”
    “Too bad. Oh. Look who’s here,” she said, turning into the direction of the corner table.
    As their eyes met, it was too late to flee once more like she had in church. In the back of the room, there was Callie sitting with a woman. Rebecca could only see her back, but she knew it was Asha. They were holding hands.
    She just couldn’t do this. Granted, Callie could be friends with whoever she pleased, do with her spare time what she wanted to. She just couldn’t be sitting in a diner in Autumn Leaves in the middle of the day holding another woman’s hand, if only because Rebecca was upset about it. Dina hadn’t even noticed as she slipped into the booth, studying the menu already. Asha turned around and waved. Rebecca forced a smile mostly for Callie’s sake, because she remembered in time that she had intended to apologize earlier.
    What the hell is wrong with me?
    “Is that her girlfriend?” Dina asked with mild interest.
    “What?”
    “Mom.” Dina’s tone was patient, like talking to a little child. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know.”
    “I...Sure. I don’t know if they’re together. She’s the editor.”
    “They’re holding hands,” Dina pointed out, a lot less upset about that fact than Rebecca was.
    “How did you...” She didn’t know how to say this.
    Dina shrugged. “Talk? Callie’s pretty easy to find. Even people in Autumn Leaves know how to use the internet. It’s somewhat of a surprise.”
    Rebecca pressed the palm of her hand against her forehead, thinking that she might have a low fever. How foolish had she been anyway, trying to contain any hint of a rumor about Callie? Not like the woman in question was helping. Rebecca was still haunted by the feeling that something terrible was about to happen. Once you went too far, exposed too much of yourself, there was no going back. Maybe it wasn’t just Callie she was so worried about.
    The meal seemed to last for an eternity.
    When they came back to the house, there was a package on the porch left by the mailman. Asha Malik stayed another night. Rebecca had a bottle of wine and box of books to pass the time.
    * * * *
    She wasn’t very efficient tonight. Rebecca realized she was staring at the bra in her hand for at least a couple of minutes, and she hadn’t even started with the ironing yet. Did women actually do that, wear sexy lingerie for each other? There were ways to contain her curiosity. She could just ask, get it out of her system. Rebecca shook her head. Callie possibly wouldn’t mind educating her, but even the thought made her blush.
    Callie was so different from what she imagined. Not that Rebecca imagined a lot about what lesbians were like. It wasn’t so much her lack of knowledge that bothered her, but the way she let her horizons not broaden, just the opposite in fact.
    As a graduate student, she wasn’t into politics much. Rebecca had, however, come up with expectations of what she wanted to do with her life. She’d wanted a family in the first place, a connection that was more than just a roof over the head and all bills paid.
    She wanted a man who was a partner in all things, and the opportunity to make a little money in the profession she was trained for. Mostly, it worked out, but somehow, Rebecca thought, she had lost sight of people who didn’t share that same design of life. She kept in touch with a handful of friends after she and David had moved to Autumn Leaves, but the times she saw them were few and far between. More and more, she surrounded herself with people who were just like her, their problems just the same. It didn’t seem