Gerri Hill - The Rainbow Cedar

"Who is she? Maybe I know her."

"Oh, I don't even know her name. We're meeting for steaks at The Pinnacle."

"And a romantic sunset over the lake?"

"Well, it'll be a sunset. I don't know how romantic it'll be." Drew paused. "What about you? Any plans for the weekend?"

Jay gave a bright smile but Drew suspected it was forced.

"Katherine plans to take it easy this weekend. Only work until noon on Saturday, then work from home on Sunday. I don't suppose I'll know what to do if I actually get to see her."

After spending a miserable Friday trying to paint in a house whose air conditioning was not working, and where there was no sign of Drew or any of her crews, Jay gave up at two o'clock.

"Let's call it a day. I'm sweltering."

"We've been sweltering since nine this morning."

"Mr. Kline promised the AC would be working by Monday. Let's pick it up then."

"Great. I'm going home, slipping into my bikini, and hitting the pool."

Bikini. Oh, to be twenty-two again. The only time Jay braved a bikini was in her own backyard. "I'll clean up, Connie. Go jump in your pool. Have a good weekend."

"Fabulous. You do the same."

She was gone without another word, and Jay moved silently around the room, closing up paint and gathering their drop cloth. She picked up the bucket where they'd tossed the used brushes. She would clean them later with mineral spirits. Now, she just wanted to get out of the heat.

After one last check through the house, she locked up. She stood on the driveway, looking at the dirt surrounding the house, wondering why Drew hadn't shown up today.

Of course, they were probably finishing up at the other house. And then, well, Drew had a date this evening. She would probably make it an early day.

Jay sighed, hating the way she was feeling. She suspected Drew had stayed away intentionally, trying to let Jay know that she was no threat.

But she could have at least called.

Jay looked at her watch. It wouldn't hurt for her to call, she supposed. Just to tell her to have a good time tonight. So, after stowing all her gear and supplies in the van, she did what she abhorred in other people. She sat in the van with the motor running, AC on high, and pulled out her cell.

And after four rings, when she suspected voice mail, Drew's out-of-breath voice was heard.

"Where'd I run you from?"

"The pool."

"Again?"

"Mine this time."

Jay heard water splash. "And you're back in it?"

"It's hot as Hades today."

"Tell me. We were at the new house. No AC."

"Oh, you're kidding. I'm thankful I didn't come around then."

Jay paused. "And why was that?"

"Well, we finished up the other house this morning. And it was so hot—and a Friday—I told the guys to take off."

"Aren't you the good boss."

"What about you? Closing down early?"

"Yes. I sent Connie home. It's just too hot to work." There was a silence on the phone, something they'd never had before. Jay leaned her head back, wondering what to say.

"Jay?"

"Hmm?"

"I stayed away on purpose, you know."

Jay nodded. "Yes, I know."

"And I really hope you guys have a good weekend. I mean that."

Jay bit her lip. "And I hope you have a great blind date tonight."

"We'll catch up next week, okay?"

"Right."

Jay tossed her phone on the seat like she always did, leaning her head back, staring at nothing. They were both lying. And they both knew it.

/ hope she has a horrible time tonight.

Drew placed her phone on the flat surface of the limestone rock, then ducked back under the water. It was hot as Hades, but that wasn't why she was whiling away the afternoon in her pool. Truth was, she was working herself into exhaustion, trying to get Jay Burns out of her mind. She'd said all the right things last night at dinner. And at the time, she'd meant them.

But when she got home and walked into her empty house, she realized she'd been lying. Finally, after all these years, she'd met the one woman who captivated her, who held her attention, who made her laugh, who was bright and intelligent... and who was honest and loyal. But loyal to someone else. And honest enough to admit her feelings.

But at least they'd talked about it. At least they admitted that there was something between them. At least it was out in the open now.

Not that anything would come of it. Because they were going to befriends.

And so she had stayed away. They could have started on the new house, should have started. They'd be busting their asses next week to get it finished. But she just couldn't bring herself to see Jay, to look at her, knowing she'd lied last night. Yes, she undressed Jay with her eyes. Yes, she longed for Jay to be single and available, and no, she wasn't perfectly content being only friends with her.

So that's why, with luck, her blind date would turn out to be fantastic. Maybe so fantastic that it turned into a second date. And a second date might involve sex. And maybe, just maybe, she could get Jay out of her mind.

It wasn't that she was really counting on Katherine keeping her word, but just in case, it'd be nice to spend the afternoon by the pool, being lazy. Then later, she'd grill them each a steak, perhaps have an early dinner.

Is that what she wanted? Early dinner. Early to bed. Time to be together, perhaps even make love like they used to. Is that what she wanted?

It's what she should want, she realized. In reality, she knew she was simply going through the motions. She doubted she and Katherine could actually spend two days together. She wasn't sure they still knew how to talk to one another. And what in the world would they talk about? Katherine could care less about Jay's business, seemingly on the verge of flourishing finally. She'd gotten a call from another builder yesterday evening, a builder that Randy Kline had recommended her to. But Katherine wouldn't care about that. Jay's business was nothing more than a hobby, something to keep her busy while Katherine brought home the real money.

So, they would end up talking about Katherine's busy schedule, her clients, her potential, and her future. All of which was so much more important than Jay's.

She stood on the patio watching the water shimmer, the ceiling fan blowing cool air on her. She hadn't realized how bitter she'd become in the last year. Hardened and bitter. She felt her shoulders sag, felt that unnamed weight settle again.

She wanted to be happy, she wanted to enjoy her life again. She wanted to be that carefree, easygoing girl she used to be. The one who'd left Lubbock on a Greyhound bus bound for Austin, not full of regret, but full of optimism. She'd hated her life in Lubbock, hated hiding from her family, hated being the outcast. In Austin, she'd be free, she could do want she wanted, be who she wanted to be.

And in the beginning, she was. She had enough money saved that she wasn't arriving destitute. And she wasn't afraid to work. She had enough design classes and enough natural talent that Wilkes and Bonner hired her full-time after only six months. She was happy. She had income. She had an apartment. And she'd met Audrey, whom she'd become fast friends with. How she and Katherine ended up dating was still a mystery. It wasn't like they had mutual friends. They met by chance at Zilker Park one day, literally running into each other on the hike and bike trail. A coffee date turned into lunch, which led to a dinner date. Jay remembered being fascinated by Katherine, loving her aspirations, her passion for her chosen profession. She'd fallen in love with her so quickly, she didn't have a chance to see beyond the hero worship she'd developed. She moved out of her apartment and into Katherine's house, an old but spacious home in Hyde Park. They'd lived there three years before Katherine built the mansion, as Audrey called it. Now, five years of living among the rich in Austin, Jay was no closer to accepting her life here than she was when they'd moved. She hated the house. Oh, of course she enjoyed the amenities, like the pool, like the cleaning service that came twice a week, the yard men, the lady who picked up their laundry three times a week. All of those things were nice. Not normal, certainly, but nice. Because every once in a while, she enjoyed running the vacuum, she enjoyed washing and folding her own clothes, and she enjoyed keeping up the house. Because no matter how hard Katherine tried to change her, Jay was still the middle child from a hard-working middle-class family living on the outskirts of Lubbock. She would never be the socialite that Katherine was. She didn't come from money and didn't know how to spend it freely. She still saved every penny she could—for a rainy day, as her grandmother used to say—and still frowned upon extravagant purchases.

And now here she was, staring out at the crystal clear pool, a pool that was tended to twice a week by three bronzed gym rats who enjoyed parading around in nothing but their Speedos as they cleaned pool after pool here in the hills of northwest Austin.

In a fit of defiance, Jay ripped her T-shirt over her head and dropped her shorts where she stood, diving naked into the pool. She didn't care that their neighbors, with their three-story home, could see into the backyard. She didn't care that it was nearly noon, a time when Katherine said she'd be home. And she didn't care, period. She swam the length of the pool, her arms moving powerfully through the water, then kicked the wall and swam back. It felt good, the cool water, the activity. She felt the blood flowing, felt some of her earlier bitterness fade. This was her life now, the life she'd chosen, a life with Katherine. And another of her grandmother's sayings came to mind ... you made your bed, now lie in it.

She stood in the shallow end, a smile turning into a laugh. She slicked her hair back and looked around. No, this certainly wasn't the life she'd chosen, not this huge house and this gorgeous pool. She sighed, her smile fading. They'd both changed, no doubt, but the woman Katherine had evolved into was nowhere near the woman she'd fallen in love with all those years ago.

But she'd made her bed... and this was her life now.

"For better or worse," she murmured, finally getting out of the pool and picking up her discarded clothes.

Despite the heat, Jay couldn't stand being cooped up inside her tiny office. So she hauled her laptop, her design book, and her pile of swatches out to the covered patio, turned the ceiling fans on high, and sipped on a tall glass of iced tea as she worked.

And as the clock ticked nearer to two, she'd given up on Katherine. Noon had come and gone with no sign of her, and no phone call. She wasn't surprised. Katherine had no doubt forgotten all about their plans for the weekend.

That was why, a few minutes later, her head jerked up when she heard the garage door open.

My God, she's actually home.

But the backyard door to the garage didn't open, so Jay looked for her inside, watching her walk to the double doors, standing there gazing out. She was still striking, despite being only months away from forty. Her long blond hair was thick and shiny, her features as flawless as the day they'd met. It still surprised her that some thought of them as sisters, both being blond and blue-eyed. But Katherine was always much more attractive, carrying herself with a confidence born of money and prestige, something Jay knew nothing about.

Katherine paused at the door, looking at Jay through the clear panes. She finally pushed them open and Jay noticed the smile Katherine forced to her face. She realized she was doing the same.

"What in the world are you doing outside? You must be miserable."

Jay lifted up her shirt, revealing her swimsuit. "I take a dip to cool off, then sit under the fan. It's not bad. But you must be miserable. A suit? On a Saturday?"

Katherine shrugged. "Habit. Let me go change. Actually, a dip in the pool sounds pretty good. I think I'll join you."

Jay watched her go, her smile turning into a frown. It was the first time she'd seen Katherine outside in the daylight in weeks. She looked tired. Her eyes were nearly lifeless. Jay shook her head. No one could exist on four hours sleep a day indefinitely. Apparently, it had caught up with Katherine.