they got closer and closer to her
face. Then the whole room went
black.
Louise put the last of her shorts
and tops in the suitcase and
zipped it up. She certainly
wouldn't need any of her summer
clothes in the next few days.
Petie barked excitedly to announce
the arrival of someone on the
porch. Before the doorbell ever
rang, Louise was on her way.
"Hi, Todd. Can I help you?" Todd
was one of the teenagers who
worked on the grounds crew.
Marty had probably sent him to
the house to fetch something she
needed.
"Miss Stevens, Joe Baxter said I
should come get you. Something's
happened to Marty."
Oh, dear God! Not again! Louise
grabbed her jacket from the hook
by the door and followed him
quickly to his truck. "What's
wrong with her, Todd?" she asked
frantically.
"I don't know, ma'am. But they
called the paramedics. They
should be there by the time we
get back."
The ride was only three or four
minutes to the pro shop, but it
seemed like an eternity to Louise.
Before the truck even came to a
stop, she was out and running
toward the door. Feelings of
terror flooded her senses as she
entered and saw the uniformed
medics crouching around her
beloved Marty.
I can't lose her!
"Marty!"
"Lou," the woman mumbled, a
thermometer protruding from her
mouth.
"Marty, sweetheart, I'm here."
Scooting between the technicians,
she took the clammy hand in hers.
"I love you, Marty. Don't you leave
me."
"She's going to be fine," the
paramedic assured as he clipped
the IV into place. "It's that nasty
flu going around and she got
dehydrated. We're fixing her up."
"She's okay?" Louise tearfully
looked at her wide-eyed lover.
"103.5! No wonder you don't feel
so good, Marty. I'm going to give
you a little something to bring that
down, but you need to get home
and get to bed, okay?"
"You heard him, Lou. I'm okay,"
she said, squeezing the long
fingers tight. "I just got dizzy all
of a sudden and passed out. Lucky
for me Jerry Bainbridge was
standing right there."
Louise turned around and thanked
the man profusely, then turned
back to the paramedics. "Should I
take her to the doctor?"
"No, she's okay, really. It's just
the flu. This is the fifth case this
week like this, and I bet it's not
the last."
Marty rested peacefully in bed for
the next three days. Louise had
bad dreams.
"I should drive," Louise insisted.
"I'm fine! I haven't had a
temperature in three days and
I've eaten enough to choke a
horse!"
Still, Louise was being
overprotective. The scene at the
pro shop had scared the living
daylights out of her. "You can
drive for a while, but we will take
turns. And we will not drive all the
way to Cape Coral in one day," she
said sternly.
"Okay," Marty grinned. Secretly,
she liked having Louise fuss over
her like this, but she hated that
the circumstances had brought
back all those horrid memories of
Rhonda's death. She slid into the
driver's seat of the Mercury
Sable and buckled her seatbelt.
Louise got in with Petie on the
other side.
"It's beautiful here," the tall
woman sighed as they pulled out.
"Thank you for bringing me,
Marty."
"Thank you for coming. It really
meant a lot to me that you were
willing to pick up everything and
move here for the summer just to
be with me."
Louise reached across the console
to lay her hand on the driver's
knee. "I'd go anywhere to be with
you, Marty. Don't you know that?"
"Really?"
"Really. And I wish you'd think
again about moving all of your
things into my place when we get
back to Florida."
Marty turned over the proposition
in her head. It was a big step, but
no bigger than the one Lou had
taken when came up here last May.
"Lou, I just… I don't know. It
makes me nervous to think about
moving into someone else's house
again."
"Marty Beck, in the first place, I
am not just an ordinary 'someone
else'. You may not have noticed,
but I tend to keep my lovers for a
really long time. That's why I was
on my knees in front of everybody
last week daring you to leave me."
Marty grinned at the memory.
She'd enjoyed the public
declaration of love from this
woman, one who seldom gave
herself away.
"In the second place, Marty, I
don't give a damn about whose
house we live in or where. It's my
home that I want to share with
you, just like you've shared yours
with me. It's really very simple.
Why can't you just do that?"
Marty was stunned into silence.
Louise said 'damn'! She must be
really serious here. "Okay."
"Okay? That's it? Okay?"
"Okay, I'll move my things into
your house and it will be our home.
Okay, I'll change my permanent
address. Okay, I'll spend the next
30 years with you. Anything else?"
"No, that should cover it."
Marty flipped on her signal and
pulled off onto a scenic overlook.
Both women released their
seatbelts and came together in a
kiss to seal that promise. Thirty
years might not be enough.
Teacher’s Pet
JANUARY 1996
" YOU WANT CHIPS or peanuts,
sweetie?" Rhonda folded the
plastic wrap tightly over the
sandwich halves and dropped them
into two separate brown paper
bags.
"What kind of sandwiches did you
make?"
"Pastrami and Swiss with that deli
mustard you like."
"Is there soup?"
"Yeah, I fixed cream of
mushroom."
"That's enough for me, I think."
Louise tied her coat around her
waist and grabbed the keys from
the hook next to the back door.
"I'm going to warm up the car. Be
right back."
Both women absently fell into
their morning routine, eager to
get to work to see what the school
day would
bring. Tonight, their
Westfield High School basketball
teams - boys and girls - played at
home against archrival
Greensburg. That meant a quick
supper and a return to the
gymnasium, where both would lend
a hand checking purses and
backpacks as the excited crowd
streamed in.
"There must be an inch of frost on
the windows," Louise lamented as
she hurried back in through the
back door.
"Did you turn on the defroster?"
"Don't I always turn on the
defroster?"
Rhonda chuckled. They had this
conversation nearly every winter
morning. That was her cue for the
next line. "What if we just sat in
the car and made out? That would
warm it up."
On that note, Louise strode across
the kitchen and folded her
partner into her arms. "What if we
just warmed ourselves up before
we went out there?" Lowering her
head, she found Rhonda's lips and
covered them with her own. For
almost a full minute, they shared
their love and passion in a deep,
soulful kiss.
"Gosh, Lou, I never get tired of
that."
"Me neither." After 29 years
together, their love for one
another was strong and still
growing. In five more years when
Rhonda turned 65, they'd both
retire and move to South Florida,
where they could indulge freely in
their two favorite pastimes: golf
and each other.
"Okay, let's go get this day over
with so we can come back home
and do that some more."
Louise helped the heavier woman
into her coat and grabbed their
two lunches, holding the screen
open while Rhonda locked the back
door. Their life as lovers was
suspended each day on this
concrete porch; to those who
knew them only outside of their
home, these two were the
quintessential old maid
schoolteachers.
DECEMBER 2002
Looking out from the kitchen
window in their Florida home,
Louise Stevens laughed aloud at
her lover's backyard antics with
the stubborn Boston terrier. Petie
wanted badly to go to his favorite
spot near the seawall, but a story
in the paper last week warned pet
owners of the dangers of
alligators in the neighborhood
canals. One particularly aggressive
creature nearly made a meal of a
pooping Pekingese, and that was
enough for Louise to restrict
Petie's range in the backyard. But
for her amusement, Marty was
dramatically tugging on the leash,
pretending that the tiny pooch was
dragging her across the grass.
Louise was thrilled at the way her
canine companion and new lover
had accepted each other, falling
easily into a playful camaraderie
that might have left someone else
feeling a little jealous. But the way
she connected with Marty made
her want to share everything in
her life, including that little black
and white mama's boy who was
valiantly trying to get to his
preferred spot in the yard.
Watching the two go back and
forth in the backyard, Louise's
heart swelled with love for the
blonde golf pro. After less than a
year, Marty Beck was firmly
entrenched in her life, and she
was already richer for it. She
marveled at how seamlessly they
had meshed their lives, and how
happy she was every day to have
someone so wonderful to care
about.
Marty was a jewel, albeit a
diamond in the rough. Most people
only knew her as the gregarious
golf pro, the jokester who had a
quip for nearly every occasion. But
those people had no idea of
Marty's sweet side, the one who
played make-believe with her five-
year-old grandson; the one who
brought flowers to her on the
14th of every month to
commemorate the first night they
kissed; or the one who went all
shy each time they lay together as
lovers.
"There you go, Petie." Marty
unclipped his leash as they
entered the lanai. "Go see if your
mom has breakfast ready."
The terrier bolted for the
kitchen, where breakfast was the
second thing on his mind.
"Were you a good boy, Petie?"
Louise smiled down as the excited
pooch turned in circles with glee.
Setting his bowl on the floor, she
stooped low to scratch behind his
flattened ears. "You're the best
little dog in the world. Such a
handsome boy! Look at you dance!"
This was his favorite moment of
the whole day.
"Mmmm, somebody made
pancakes." Marty eyed the syrup
bottle and covered plates. "Let me
wash my hands."
Louise carried their plates to the
table on the lanai and sat down. In
the days after Rhonda died, she'd
read the paper during breakfast
to pass the time, but now she
saved that task for when Marty
left for work. It was fun to start
the day with the bubbly golf pro;
Marty's companionship had
changed her whole outlook on life.
"You're teeing off at noon?"
plate cover aside.
"I think it's 12:30. I'll have to call Linda and double-check."
"I'll look in the book when I get
there and call you if you want."
"Okay." Louise had a standing
foursome on Tuesdays with her
friends Shirley and Linda, and
their new friend, Pauline Rourke.
"Did Pauline like her new driver?"
Now that the novice golfer was
swinging better, Marty had
recommended the largest club
head available to get more
distance down the middle of the
fairway.
"Are you kidding? We all liked it! I
bet I got another 20 yards with it
last week."
"If you want one, just say the
word and I'll order it."
"Believe me, I'm considering it."
Louise finished her breakfast and
pushed her plate aside, pouring
more coffee for both of them.
"Are you going to tell me what
you'd like for Christmas, or is it
okay for me to pick out a plaid
sweater on my own?"
Marty made a face at the vision of
opening such a gift and trying to
smile in appreciation. "I'll think of
something and let you know, I
promise. Are you going to come to
the Chri
stmas party at the club
with me?" It was only the week
before Thanksgiving, but Marty
had a lot to do to get ready for
the club's member gala.
Louise hesitated out of habit. For
31 years, she and Rhonda had kept
their private life private. Only
their closest friends knew of
their intimate relationship, and
they had told no one at school,
even though most of their
coworkers probably surmised as
much. But Marty was nothing like
that. All of the staff at Pine Island
Country Club knew they were
lovers, and seemed to accept
them. The assertive golf pro gave
them no room for anything else;
she was what she was, and she'd
never really seen fit to pretend
otherwise.
"If you want me to be there, then
I shall be. But if you don't tell me
what you want, you're going to be
wearing a plaid sweater." In truth,
she'd already purchased Marty's
gift, airline tickets and their
share of a condo rental in Palm
Springs for March, the week of
the LPGA Championship. They
would go with their friends from
North Carolina, Carol and Joyce,
who made the trip every year, and
with Florida friends Linda and
Shirley.
"Okay, I'll look in the catalog at
the pro shop."
"You know, honey, not every gift
has to be something to do with
golf."
"It doesn't?" Marty feigned
surprise as she pushed her empty
plate aside.
"No, believe it or not, some people
give other things."
"Really? I think I'm having a
crisis!"
"Well, calm yourself. If you find
something in that catalog, you
bring it on home. But you better
hurry, or you won't have anything
in your stocking but a lump of
coal."
Marty grinned at Louise's teasing.
She'd already gotten her sweetie
a present, and it had nothing to do
with golf. No sir, it was a ring, a
pretty gold band with small
diamonds that she hoped Louise
Stevens would never take off.
"I better go. I'll see you about
noon, okay?"
As she did every morning, Louise
followed the shorter woman to the
garage door and hugged her close.
"I can't wait. I love you."
"I love you too."
The long kiss that followed sealed
their declarations, and Marty left
as usual wearing a broad smile.
Louise laid out her golf clothes,
dark blue shorts and a white shirt
with a tan vest. Before her
shower, though, she'd check her
email. With Petie on her heels, she