Calumet, page 11
here since I sweated enough to gross you out.”
“I doubt that,” Margot said, slapping her butt. “I love you
however I can get you.”
“How about a walk along the beach before it gets
crowded?” She lathered up her hair and smiled when Margot
ran soapy hands along her chest.
“Are you okay?” Margot asked as she rinsed off. “Is
something wrong? Did Daddy do something?”
The questions were rushed, so she put a finger to
Margot’s lips after she’d rinsed her hair. “Everything’s fine, I
promise. Your dad will never stop being your dad. Do you
know what I mean? He’s always got something on his mind
and finds unique ways to express his thoughts, but he does
it in a sort of sweet way. Up to now I’m glad to report he’s
done that without poking any new holes in me.”
“Are you sure Daddy didn’t threaten you?” Margot put
her hands on Jax’s shoulders and gazed at her like she was
studying her expression for any hint of what was going on.
“Is it so hard to believe I just wanted to take a walk with
my favorite girl? I give your dad a hard time, but I put up
with his interesting little pep talks because I know he loves
you. Though, I hope you know I love you as well.”
Margot wrapped her hand around Jax’s bicep and smiled
up at her as they stood under the water. “You know, all
these romantic declarations are why I love you. That you
deliver them in that slight sexy Southern drawl of yours
make them even better.”
“Wow, say that five times fast,” she said as she started
washing Margot’s hair.
“I do love you, and I appreciate you humoring him,
honey. There’s part of his brain that’ll always think I’m five
and in need of a champion. Daddy’s having a hard time with
the fact you’ve stepped into that role. I think he’s feeling
obsolete.”
Jax laughed at the possibility that twenty years down the
road she’d be the nut with some sort of weapon warning off
some would-be suitor from one of their kids. With any luck
Wilber would leave her the automatic weapon he was so
fond of. “I don’t blame him, baby. You’re no wilting flower,
but I love that you trust me to take care of you.” Jax led
them out of the shower and handed Margot a towel. “It’s
still cool outside, so put on a sweatshirt to go with the big
sunglasses and ball cap.”
They held hands as they took the path that would lead
them to the beach. It was nice that they were alone for the
moment, so she put Margot’s glasses in the pocket of her
hoodie. It wasn’t often they were able to go out and not
have someone point in Margot’s direction. Those fans didn’t
bother her as much as the ones who thought nothing of
walking up and starting a conversation only they were
interested in having.
“What did you want to talk about?” Margot said as they
stopped to listen to the surf. She pulled on Jax’s fingers and
led her to some rocks they could sit on.
“The passage of time.” She sat with her back against a
rock and stretched her legs out, so Margot could sit on her.
“What? Honey, just tell me already. You’ve been walking
around with a worry line in the middle of your forehead, and
it’s only getting deeper.” Margot moved some damp hair off
her brow and smiled at her. “Whatever it is, I promise we’ll
be all right.”
“I’m talking about time. You know, like Geoffrey Chaucer
said, it’s the one thing that waits for no man or woman.”
Margot groaned. “I know you have more quotes in your
head than there are grains of sand on this beach, Professor,
but focus.” Margot put her hands on her cheeks and gazed
at her. “What the hell are you talking about?”
She sighed and tried not to think of the disaster this was
going to turn into. “My high school class reunion’s coming
up, and I’m thinking about going. Wanna come with me?”
“This must be throwing you off balance if you’re using
words like wanna. What aren’t you telling me?” Margot’s
eyes narrowed a tad, but she didn’t seem mad yet.
“I didn’t think I wanted to attend, but Bert’s been
dogging me for a week.”
Margot closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Now she
appeared a little peeved. “I’m going to do my best to try not
to read anything into the fact that Bert has known for that
long, and I’m just now hearing about it.”
“That’s what I want to talk to you about.” She shut up
again when Margot took another deep breath.
“I mean, I can see if you were someone who had nothing
to show for the life you’ve made. People who are losers are
the ones who usually don’t want to reflect on what people
are going to say. But for you?” Margot poked her in the
chest. “You’re going to show up and make anyone who
passed on the chance to share in the experience that’s been
your journey sorry they missed out.”
“I love you, but you’re way prejudiced on the subject.”
Jax wasn’t sure if she was glad for the reprieve provided by
the tangent, or if she just wanted to get it done with. She let
Margot talk.
“For someone I think is brilliant, you can be a brick at
times.” Margot threw her hands up and shook her head.
“Have I ever told you about the first time I saw you?”
“In my class, you mean?” She loved Margot, but
conversations with her were like wandering around a maze,
and the answers you wanted were hidden—not in the
middle, but along every turn. If you missed one clue, there
was no way of following along.
“Wrong. I saw you in that coffee shop close to campus,
and you were writing like a demon on your laptop. I didn’t
think anyone could type that fast.” Margot lifted one of Jax’s
hands and bit her finger. “I thought to myself how good-
looking you were. You’re that classic butch who’s
comfortable in her own skin, and it shows. When I stepped
into class a few hours later”—Margot fanned herself now—“I
thanked all the deities I could think of because there you
were.”
“Ah…thank you, but I’m not sure why we’re talking about
this, and you’re not lecturing me about keeping my class
reunion from you.”
“I’m not finished talking about that first day.” Margot bit
her finger again only this time with a bit more pressure. “I
was sure of two things after that hour of listening to your
lecture.”
“What’s that?” She held Margot, and the conversation
made her relax. All that pent-up anxiety about going home
disappeared under Margot’s talent at telling a story.
“One, Poe was a brilliant writer I’d underestimated for
thinking the only thing he had written was the raven thing,
and two, that I’d spend the rest of my life happy if I spent it
with you.” Margot’s voice got softer, and she closed her
eyes again when she kissed her. “You’re brilliant, you’re
successful, and you’re the best partner I could have ever
asked for. Why don’t you sound excited about going home
and showing up the people you graduated with?”
“It’s a long story that’s way overdue.”
“Nothing you say is ever going to change what I feel for
you, honey.” Margot sighed as she put her hand over Jaxon’s
heart. “Let’s start with an easier question. What changed
your mind? About going, I mean.”
“Your father and milk.” She made Margot laugh and lean
in closer as if to get warm.
“Is this one of those conversations where you have to kill
me if you have to explain?” Margot’s breath was against her
neck, and she put her arms tighter around her, finding it
easier to stare out at the water.
“It’s not that I’ve tried to keep it from you because I
didn’t trust you, but because I didn’t want to face the truth
of my past.” Jax rubbed Margot’s back and kissed her
temple. “I know how important communication is to you,
and on that I agree.”
“Tell me then, honey.”
Jax took a deep breath. Now or never. “High school had
its moments, but the day they handed me that diploma, I
packed my bags and left for LSU with no intention of going
back. I was so ready to get out of that small town and the
people who’d given me shit from the time I could remember
what shit was.” All the taunts and vitriol played in a loop in
her head at times, and it was hard to break the pattern.
“But why?” Margot asked, sitting up and facing her.
“Small towns in the Deep South aren’t as evolved as
California, and being the gay kid wasn’t fun. I didn’t
advertise it, but I was a baby butch who wasn’t at all
comfortable in my skin back then.”
Margot ran her fingers through her hair and kissed her
cheek. “It’s all right, sweetie. Take your time.”
“I drove to Baton Rouge, buried myself in my books and
in softball, and tried my best to come to the realization that
I was alone.” Jax stopped and took another deep breath,
trying to keep her voice from cracking.
“What are you talking about? You had your brother and
your parents.” Margot’s voice faded away as if realizing
what she’d been trying to say.
“I came out to my parents right before graduation. My
mother flat-out asked, and I told the truth. She couldn’t
accept who I was and still can’t. Her reaction was to throw
me out and say I didn’t have a family anymore. My father
went along with what she wanted because it was either that
or buck my mother. That he wasn’t about to do and hasn’t
ever done. Considering all that, I haven’t taken you home
because I didn’t want to subject you to that. The only way
she’d accept me was if I changed. And obviously that wasn’t
going to happen.”
“And you haven’t been back in all these years?” Margot
wiped her face, and it made her realize she was crying.
“Once. College revolved around hard work, so there
wasn’t a lot of partying for me. It was the only way to keep
my scholarships—with the help of a few professors and my
old high school English teacher, I was able to come here.”
She looked out at the water so she wouldn’t see pity in
Margot’s eyes. “The last time was a family reunion, but
nothing had changed, and my parents still weren’t speaking
to me, so there was never a need to go back again. I still
don’t know why they invited me in the first place. The only
people I hear from are my grandmother Birdie, Eugenia my
old English teacher, and my brother, Roy, who is a perfectly
happy single lawyer one town over from where we grew up.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that, love, but I’m proud
that you made it on your own, and you should be too. Your
mother sounds like someone should explain a few things to
her, but maybe she’s seen reason now that you’ve given her
what she thought she wanted.”
It sounded so reasonable, but her mother was anything
but reasonable. “I doubt that, honey. She stripped me of my
family, at least some of them. And other than that weird
reunion, neither she nor my father has ever tried to reach
out.”
“You have a family in me, and I happen to think you’re
perfect. So do my parents.”
“I doubt your father would totally agree with that, but I
love you for saying so.” She stopped and kissed Margot,
needing the connection they shared. “Don’t think I didn’t tell
you because I’m missing something. I love my life with you.”
“Why go back, then? You don’t sound like it’s something
you really want to do.”
“It’s not to prove anything to anyone I grew up with. I
don’t really want to, so I ignored the invitation. The truth is,
I didn’t like most of the people I went to high school with,
and sixteen years ain’t going to make them more
enlightened. To them I’m not someone you invite over for
dinner.” She tried to ignore the twinge of irritation the
thought brought with it.
Margot pressed her lips to the side of Jax’s neck before
kissing her with every bit of passion she possessed. “Why,
because you’re kissing a girl on the beach?” she finally
asked when she leaned back.
Jax smiled at how easily Margot made the residual bad
feelings go away. “Correction, because I’m kissing a
beautiful girl on the beach.” The compliment got her
another kiss.
“How did drinking milk with Daddy convince you to go to
your reunion?”
“It made me think of how I handled bad situations
involving mixed vegetable medley.” She winced when
Margot pinched the top of her hand. “Okay, forget the mixed
vegetables. What really made up my mind was waiting for
the general to come in, so we could have our talk.”
Margot’s brows came together. “Explain, please?”
“All that stuff in his study made me think that Wilber may
not have always wanted to be in every dangerous situation
the army put him in, but I don’t think it’s in his makeup to
ever think of running away. He may have been ridiculed for
thinking like that, but I admire and respect that about him. I
figure I want him to think about me like that, even though
it’s something as trivial as a fifteen-year reunion and the
possibility of running into my family.”
“Fifteen years?” Margot had to laugh. “Who the hell has a
fifteen-year reunion?”
“My class. They made a pact to meet every five years,
since they’d never be able to live without the friends they
made in high school. I begged to differ, but I was outvoted.
The strangest thing of the whole scenario is that I actually
graduated sixteen years ago, but the people in my class
organizing this can’t count, apparently.”
“This sounds fascinating already.” Margot smiled and
threaded their fingers together. “How about this—you put on
your best suit, Dr. Jaxon, polish the boots, and take your girl
to a party. We’ll drink, jitterbug, and give them something to
talk about at their crawfish boils for years to come.”
“Baby, I’m older than you, it’s true, but the jitterbug was
a little before my time.”
“Do you know how to jitterbug?” Margot leaned in and bit
her earlobe, laughing at the shiver it caused.
“Yes.”
“Then me and you have a date, Professor.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Nancy stood outside the high school office and waved Iris
outside. The way she was moving her hands made Iris think
she was trying to swat away an invasion of pissed-off
bumblebees. She nodded and pointed in the direction of the
teachers’ lounge. At this time of morning there’d be no one
in there.
“Are you okay?” She moved to the chairs in the corner,
thinking Nancy would want the privacy. “Is it one of the
kids?”
“No, those little bastards will kill me from stress and
exhaustion before anything happens to them. I picked up
the mail today, and I thought you’d want to open this one.”
Nancy held up an envelope.
She felt the breath leave her lungs in one quick whoosh.
The handwriting had gotten messier through the years, but
she recognized it as Jaxon’s. “What do you think it says?”
“There’s only one way to find out.” Nancy placed her
hand on Iris’s forearm and shook it gently. “It’s been a long
time, so maybe it’s time for her to come home. Don’t get
your hopes up, but I doubt she’d have sent anything if she
was giving this thing a pass.”
“She waited until the last minute if that’s what she had in
mind.” She stared at the letters, scrawled as if Jax was in a
hurry to get somewhere and didn’t have time to be neat.
The paper sounded loud as she tore it. She ripped the card
out and closed her eyes at the check mark next to yes. Also
enclosed was a check for the registration fee, and it was
weird to see Margot Drake’s name after Jaxon’s on the
check. “The gossip columns got it right for once.”
Nancy plucked the check out of her hands when she said
that, and her eyes widened. “Damn, she paid for three
