Parker liked to cook, read and take walks on the beach with her. If she were any more perfect, Emily would swear Parker was like a living personal ad. She watched from the kitchen window as Gary and Natasha put her lover through her workout in preparation for Wimbledon.



Emily turned the oven off and took out the roast she'd been basting before heading out the door. "If you go back in there and go anywhere near that pan, I'll drive you to the pound myself, mister, and come back with a cat," she threatened Abby.



The dog put his paw over his eyes and whined giving her his best innocent routine. "Don't give me that 'who me' act, Abby King. You're just like your mom in that respect so I'm not buying it."



He followed Emily out to the court; tail wagging at the prospect of chasing tennis balls. Parker shot one over the fence in their direction sending Abby into doggie heaven.



"Go home, people, the boss has arrived for a tennis lesson," said Parker to Gary and Natasha.



"Can we tell her good bye first?" asked Gary.



"Make it quick. She's cuter than you and I missed her being out here all day with the two of you."



Emily laughed and waved to their two departing friends. Knowing they would be there to take care of Parker until she could get to England was a comfort. The discomfort was thinking about the nights she would have to sleep alone when Parker left.



"You aren't' too tired?"



"Nah, I'm never too tired for you, Em. How about an incentive game as our lesson for today?"



"An incentive game of tennis?"



"Yeah, you lose a piece of clothing for every point you lose." Parker wiggled her eyebrows along with her suggestion.


"You want me to play strip tennis with the number one player in the world?"


"Um, yeah. Come on it'll be fun and I'll give you first serve."


"Oh, I'm sure that'll do it for me." Emily took the racket Parker was holding out and walked to the baseline. When Parker was ready Emily tried to remember everything she'd learned about serving. Abby barked from behind Emily making the ball fly off at an odd angle when she did try to hit it. "Enough from the peanut gallery. It's not like I'm holding any cards here."


Emily tried again and Parker, true to her word, slowed her game down a lot. Even with that Parker won the first point. With exaggerated slowness Emily stripped her shirt off and threw it behind her. It barely had hit the ground when Abby took off with it. The pilot bounced the next ball longer than normal when Parker's eyes stayed glued to the dark green silk bra she was wearing.


On the next shot Parker forgot herself and hit the ball back so hard Emily didn't even try to hit it and just took off her shorts. "Could you come over here please?" asked Parker standing at the net. The matching panties had proved to be too much for her to even think about concentrating on the game.


"Do you give up?"


"I surrender, baby." Parker lifted Emily over the net and kissed her. Emily wrapped her legs around the slim waist as Parker walked them off he court and to the water's edge. She put Emily down long enough to get all their clothes off before heading out into the surf. The water was still on the cold side but being pressed together made Emily feel just fine.


"I love you," said Emily. The words were so easy to say to Parker.


"I love you too. You like it here?"


"I love it here. I get to be with you, and I get my clothes buried on a regular basis by our dog. What's not to love?"


"He buries your stuff to keep it safe, it means he likes you," said Parker before kissing Emily's neck.


"How about you, do you like me?"


"I more than like you, baby. How about I take you inside and show you just how much?"


Emily's feet never touched the sand as Parker walked to the backdoor. Parker had checked the closest house to make sure it was still tenant free that morning not wanting Emily upset by peeping neighbors.


The house décor had changed a little over the months Emily spent making it a home for both of them. Mixed in with the tournament pictures were shots of Emily's family her mother had given them on one of her numerous visits. Lucia Parish and Parker shared a great relationship much to Emily's relief. Her mom had confessed the night she met Parker, she'd never cared for the way Emily and Gail had acted around each other. With Parker, the world could see how she felt about Emily.


It was the look Emily was getting now as she was set on the bed by the gentle soul that had carried her inside. Parker touched her with such want that Emily never felt it was done out of obligation, only love, and the more Parker touched the more she wanted.


"You're so beautiful," said Parker. She lay next to Emily and ran her hand from Emily's hip to cup a breast. The nipple instantly puckered under her palm and Parker loved the moan that accompanied the motion. Parker replaced her hand with her lips and sucked on the light pink bud.


"I love when you do that." Emily's hands kept Parker's head in place in case she didn't know what she was talking about. The suction increased as Parker's hands went back down her body. "Let me feel you, baby," requested Emily.


Parker moved so she was covering Emily holding most of her weight up by leaning on her elbows. She loved this position since it allowed every inch of skin to touch. Emily just lay still for a moment and enjoyed the same thing before moving her hands to Parker's hair to drag her down for a kiss.


"Make love to me," said Emily as she moved her legs further apart to mold the larger body more closely to her. Parker could feel Emily's hands along her back as her own hand made its way to Emily's center. She had to lift her hips up a little to reach the spot Emily wanted her, and by doing so, opened enough space for Emily to touch her in return.


Both centers were wet and both women were ready so it didn't take much. Emily felt the crescendo coming fueled by the grunting Parker was doing in her ear. It never failed to amaze Emily that with Parker, making love was as exciting for her as the first time. Even on days like this when the end snuck up on them sooner than they'd like, Emily felt cherished as Parker went rigid over her before turning into a giant marshmallow.


"If this is how you learned to play tennis, don't tell me ok?"


"You don't care for my teaching techniques?"


"I didn't say that, honey, I just don't want to know where you learned your technique, Romeo. Especially from whom you learned them, got me?"


"Gotcha."


"Are you hungry?"


"You cooked so I'll get it and bring it back here, how's that sound?" asked Parker.


"Like you'll be in there eating roast directly from the pan while I'm back here starving."


Emily kissed Parker's forehead before rolling out of bed and holding a hand out to help the lump up.


Emily was still laughing at Parker's antics when they walked into the kitchen to eat when she noticed two things. Abby sitting there looking like if he could whistle he'd be doing it, and half the roast was gone. He opened his eyes wider and shook his head when Emily shot a glare his way.


"What happened to my dinner?" demanded Emily. It was hard to keep a straight face when Abby lifted a paw and pointed at Parker.


"No way, buddy, she's done a detailed search of my mouth." Having learned from his master's mistakes when it came to upsetting Emily, Abby put his paw down and backed toward the door slowly. He made a break for it when was sure she couldn't catch him before he cleared the doggie door.


"I swear you two were separated at birth. What am I going to do with you?" Emily turned around and put her arms around Parker's waist. She'd let Abby know later their dinner was still in the oven. The extra roast on the stove was for him all along.


"You could keep us."


"Oh, I'm keeping you and Abby all right, don't worry about that. I want to sit by a fire, eat roast and listen to you read me a poem."


The smile was hard to tame as Parker pulled Emily closer. "You sure are easy to please." Parker carried Emily into the library and sat her on one of the comfortable couches while she prepared a tray to take in.


The fire was burning nicely by the time Parker made it back and found Emily staring into it so profoundly that she hated to disturb her. "We have fire, wine and a nice spread," said Parker.


"All I need is you."


"That you have, sweetheart."


"Read me something." Emily watched Parker roll the ladder to a section at the end and climb so she could reach the top shelf. Parker pulled down an old leather bound edition with faded gold lettering on the cover and when she opened it, the pages looked almost translucent.


"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?


Thou art more lovely and more temperate:


Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,


And summer's lease hath all too short a date:


Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines,


And often is his gold complexion dimmed;


And every fair from fair sometime declines,


By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed;


Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest,


Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,


When in eternal lines to time thou growest;


So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,


So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."


Parker's voice faded away to nothing on the word thee, and Emily sat with food forgotten listening to what she had selected. For some reason the sonnet brought tears to her eyes and Parker wiped them away.


"If it's going to make you cry, I won't read you any other love sonnets."


"I'm crying because you love me enough to kneel here and do it for me." Emily wiped away the tears that had escaped from her eyes.


"Actually I'm kneeling for another reason," said Parker.


"Why's that?"


"Abby wanted to come and apologize about the roast, and I thought I'd butter you up for him."


Emily leaned forward and ran her finger along Parker's top lip. "It'll take a lot more reading out of this book to accomplish that, Shakespeare."


With a snap of Parker's fingers Abby came running through the door coming to a stop next to his master. He had a basket in his mouth and he put a paw up for Emily to shake.


"Emily, Abby and I love you, and we wanted to give you something that'd show you how much you mean to us. If I were a poet this would be much more eloquent, but I'll try my best. Will you give me the chance to make you happy for the rest of your life? I promise that if you say yes there'll never be another moment in your life that'll pass where you don't feel like the center of my universe. I love you and I will do so until there's no breath left in my body." The dog put his basket down on Emily's lap, put his paw next to it so she would look inside and let out a soft woof for his part of the proposal.


Emily cried again when she saw the ring box lying on the straw inside. "Yes."


"Is that yes to me, or the dog?"


"To both of you, goofy, I happen to know you come as a pair." Emily leaned forward for a kiss to seal the deal before Parker thought of changing her mind. She felt like she was home for the first time since being out on her own and Parker gave her the freedom to hope for the future.


"Shall we have a toast?" offered Parker. Emily laughed when Parker picked up two mugs from the tray she'd brought in. Hot chocolate was the one memory Parker had chosen to keep of her father.


They didn't need any other words as they tipped the mugs against each other and took sips of the hot, almost velvety, drink. Emily leaned on a strong shoulder and gave thanks that Parker lived her life by choosing the road less travel by. In the end it had led the tennis player to her doorstep, and there, Parker would always find the love she deserved Emily vowed. This was only their beginning.