entered the small study and
booted up her desktop computer.
She had only one message today,
this one from Spartan01. Louise
smiled as she recognized the
moniker for her former student,
Michelle Sanders.
Michelle was in Louise's
homeroom for all four years of
high school, and in her math class
for three. It was clear as early as
her sophomore year that the girl
had a fierce crush on her math
teacher, but Louise was careful to
neither encourage it, nor to push
the impressionable student away.
By her senior year, the crush had
run its course, but as the teacher
made plans to retire and move to
Florida, Michelle asked if it would
be okay to correspond by email.
The two traded friendly notes
about once a month. At first, they
chatted about Michelle's
experiences as a freshman at
Slippery Rock State University,
where to her former teacher's
delight, she'd decided to pursue a
teaching degree in mathematics.
Over time, Michelle began to
share things of a more personal
nature, and it was clear to Louise
that the girl was probing for
permission to be candid. When the
teacher responded with genuine
warmth and openness, Michelle
told her that she was beginning to
come to terms with her own sexual
identity. She'd been pretty sure in
high school that she was gay, but
wasn't ready to follow that path.
But having the chance to meet
other lesbians at college had given
her the courage to come out to
herself, to her close friends, and
to her favorite teacher.
Today's note was a nice surprise!
Hi Miss Stevens,
Our semester is almost over! I'm
already cramming for finals, but I
think I'll make the dean's list
again. I wanted to let you know
that I'll be visiting my
grandmother in Sarasota with my
family over Thanksgiving. We fly
in on Wednesday night and stay
until Sunday morning. I see on the
map that Sarasota is pretty close
to Cape Coral, so I was wondering
if there was any chance we could
get together for lunch or
something. It would be really nice
to see you again, and I'd love to
get some career advice. Let me
know if you think it would work
out, but if not, that's okay and I
hope you have a very nice
Thanksgiving
Love, Michelle
It would be fun to see Michelle
again, Louise thought as she hit
the reply key. She really enjoyed
staying connected to the likable
young lady, and wished in a way
that Marty could meet her so she
could get just a little idea of what
life had been like for her at the
front of the classroom. But an
invitation like that was sort of
risky, she thought. Michelle
certainly wasn't stupid, and it
wouldn't take her long to figure
out who exactly Marty was. That
part of her life was private, not at
all something Louise wanted to
share with people from her
school.
Dear Michelle,
That's wonderful news about the
dean's list, though I'm not the
least bit surprised. And it's great
news too that you're coming down
with your family for Thanksgiving.
Of course I'd love to see you
again. Friday or Saturday would
work for me, so if you'll set one
of those days aside, I'll plan
something. You want career
advice? Retire! <g> Have a safe
trip down. I'm really looking
forward to seeing you again.
Love, Louise Stevens
The teacher had never made any
bones at all about the fact that
she loved each and every one of
her students. To herself, she
acknowledged that she loved some
more than others, and Michelle
was definitely one of those. It had
touched Louise's heart to watch
the young woman struggle so
awkwardly with the teenage social
scene. Truth be told, it had
reminded her of her own
uncomfortable adolescence.
"I wish you could meet her, Marty.
She's such a sweet girl." Louise
deposited her partner's dinner
tray on the coffee table and
returned to the kitchen to
retrieve her own. The hockey
wars were on tap tonight, with
Louise's Pittsburgh Penguins
taking on Marty's Tampa Bay
Lightning on TV.
"Why don't you invite her over for
dinner?"
Louise shook her head. "I don't
know, sweetheart. I just…” she
trailed off.
"Are you ashamed of me, Lou?"
Marty asked, mostly joking.
"No, of course not! But Rhonda
and I always kept our relationship
quiet at school. I mean a lot of
people might have thought they
knew something, but no one really
knew for sure because we never
told a soul."
"Didn't people ever come to your
house?"
"Yeah, but we had separate
bedrooms."
Marty looked at her in amazement.
"Not separate like that, I mean
separate just for appearance
sake," Louise clarified. "I think some people just thought we were
old maids. Every now and then, I'd
hear something whispered by the
kids, but it just wasn't talked
about out loud, you know?"
"Yeah, I was more discreet when
Katie was growing up because I
didn't want her friends to give
her a hard time. But she's the one
who told me to be myself, that
she'd handle it."
"That's because you and your
daughter had a good relationship."
"That's true," Marty agreed. She
and Katie had always been close.
"And because there were times
that she was more mature than
her mother."
"Well that's still true, isn't it?"
she teased. "You know, I bet more
people know about you and me than
knew about Rhonda and me, and we
were together 31 years. Of
course, I helped that along by that
little scene in the pro shop at Elk
Ridge," the proud woman muttered
sheepishly.
Marty chuckled at the memory,
but it certainly hadn't been funny
at the time. Louise had been so
worried that she'd declared her
love in front of all the people who
had gathered around to watch the
paramedics deal with her bout of
the flu. "You know, honey, it meant
a lot to me that you s
aid those
things in front of everybody."
Without warning, tears sprang to
Louise's crystal blue eyes as she
relived that moment and the one
that changed her life forever.
Marty immediately pushed her
dinner tray away and scooted
closer to her lover, wrapping her
in a comforting hug.
"I didn't say those things to
Rhonda when she died, Marty. Not
because they weren't true, but
because other people were
listening," she said as she began
to sob. To this day, she was
ashamed that she'd chosen
propriety over telling Rhonda one
last time that she loved her.
"It's okay, Lou. Rhonda knew how
you felt about her." Marty rocked
her partner slightly as she
stroked the gray hair. It was hard
sometimes not to feel a little
jealous when Lou talked with such
emotion of her former lover, but
those feelings always prompted
pangs of guilt that Rhonda was
gone and Marty was here reaping
the benefits.
Louise wasn't about to let herself
off the hook that easily. Of
course Rhonda had known, but the
lack of candor had left her with
things she had wanted to say one
more time. She vowed never to
miss an opportunity to remind
Marty that she was loved.
"Do you know how I feel about
you, little one?"
"Little one? Hello! Have you seen
get my pants zipped! And every
time I turn around, you're filling
my plate, and can I just say 'No
thank you'? No! I have to eat
every bite because it's all
delicious and decadent and you
fixed it with your loving hands.
You better hope I outlive you,
sweetheart, because if I don't,
you're going to have to bury me in
a piano case!"
Louise burst out laughing at
Marty's self-deprecating diatribe,
not missing the chance to reach
around and squeeze the derriere
in question. She loved how easily
her lover moved her from sadness
to joy.
"Now don't go rubbing it like that!
You're going to stimulate it and
make it grow even bigger!"
Louise quickly brought her hands
back in front and cupped the
blonde woman's already large
breasts.
"And if those get any bigger, I
won't be able to see to putt," she
laughed, enjoying her partner's
sudden playfulness, especially in
the wake of such a sad moment.
"Marty Beck, you are so good for
me!"
The green eyes sparkled with
happiness. "You're good for me,
too, Lou… even if you are making
me fat! But if you keep this up,
we're going to have to sleep on
the floor."
"Okay by me." Louise didn't mind
one bit that her already stocky
lover had put on about 10 pounds
during their first year together,
though both of them needed to
watch that as they got older. They
were getting lots of exercise, and
both got regular checkups.
"Hey, I have an idea!" Marty's
attention went back to what had
started the conversation. "Does
Michelle play golf?"
"As a matter of fact, she does. Or
at least she took it as her physical
education elective last year.
That's a good idea! I could bring
her out for a round and introduce
the two of you."
"Okay, but if I see her flirting
with you, I'm going to take her
out."
"She isn't going to flirt with me! I
told you, she got over all that."
"I find it pretty hard to believe
somebody could get over you, Lou."
Marty said the sweetest things.
"Do I look okay?" Michelle
Sanders had fretted for a week
about what to wear, finally talking
her mom into buying her some
brand new shorts and a golf shirt.
Both of her parents were pleased
at the chance to see their
daughter's former favorite
teacher again.
"You look great!" Louise enthused.
Her own outfit was one that Marty
had given her for her birthday
back in September, long black
pants and a colorful shirt with a
blue vest. "And your mom and dad
are so proud of you!"
"Yeah, but unlike you, I think
they're surprised about how well
I've done in school," the
sophomore joked.
"I don't really think so," the
former teacher said seriously as
they got into the car. "They know
how smart you are."
"Well you're about to find out
what a terrible golfer I am."
"It's just for fun, you know. I was
just kidding with your dad about
that dollar-a-hole thing."
"Oh, sure you were. But I brought
cash just in case."
"No, you're my guest today,
Michelle. So tell me some more
about your friends. Who all do you
keep up with from Westfield?"
On the hour-long drive back to the
Cape, Michelle filled her teacher
in on all the gossip about her
classmates. For Louise, it was
almost as good as being there. She
really missed her teaching days,
and still intended to volunteer at
the high school one of these days.
Meeting Marty Beck had put those
plans on hold.
"Here we are. Welcome to Pine
"Wow! This is nice. Are you sure I
look alright?"
"You look fine. Stop worrying.
Besides, we're probably going to
play in the water, in the sand, and
in the woods today, so you
wouldn't want to be wearing your
Sunday best."
The pair got out and opened the
trunk. Inside were two sets of
clubs, one belonging to Louise, the
other to Rhonda. Michelle realized
it right away when she spotted the
monogrammed bag.
"These were Miss Markosky's
clubs!"
"That's right. And you have the
honor of being the first person to
use them in over four years." It
was a very sentimental moment
when she'd taken her former
lover's clubs from the closet, but
Louise had no misgivings at all
about letting Michelle use them.
Rhonda wouldn't have minded one
bit.
"Boy, that really is an honor."
Together, they entered the
clubhouse, where Louise
immediately went to browse the
racks when she saw that Marty
was busy behind the counter. If
she killed a little time, she could
make the introduction right here
as they were signing in.
"Can I help you ladies with
something?" The blonde golf pro
finally sauntered over to where
they were looking at jackets,
eyeing the lanky youth with her
partner.
"I don't need anything, but I think
my friend here could use a visor."
"I think we can fix her right up."
"That's a good idea," Michelle
agreed readily, reaching into her
back pocket for her wallet. It
would be kind of nice to have
something with the club name on
it, since it would always be a
reminder of her favorite teacher.
"Michelle, this is my very dear
friend, Marty Beck. She's one of
the first people I met when I
moved down here. Marty, I'd like
you to meet one of my favorite
students from 39 years at
Westfield High School, Michelle
Sanders."
Marty smiled. "Hi Michelle, and
welcome to Pine Island. Any friend
of Lou Stevens is a friend of
mine."
"Pleased to meet you, Miss Beck."
"Miss Beck!" Marty wailed. "Here, you can have this visor with my
compliments if you promise never
to call me that again!"
All three women laughed.
"The greens were cut this
morning, so they're pretty quick.
The pin placement is Number 3."
"Back center?"
"That's right. Have fun, and stop
by later and let me know how you
did." Marty looked up to catch her
lover's wink and smiled broadly.
"She's really nice," Michelle
remarked as they walked out to
the cart.
"She sure is, but we didn't really
hit it off the first couple of times
I met her."
"Really? I can't imagine you not
hitting it off with anybody."
"Well, she's… a kidder. I guess it
took me a while to get used to it."
"Yeah, I worry sometimes that no
one gets my weird sense of humor
and they just think I'm a dork."
"You're not a dork. And you look
fine," she repeated, tugging on the
bill of the brand new visor. "Let's
play some golf!"
As expected, the novice golfer
was all over the course, in the
water, in the woods, and in the
sand. By mutual agreement, they
stopped counting strokes after
eight, and Michelle beat that only
three times on the front nine.
"So what's this about career
advice?" Louise asked as they
stopped to clean their balls on
Number 10.
Michelle drew a deep breath, not
quite knowing how to broach the
topic, but really needing some
guidance. She had imagined this