Mainely Lesbians

Connie and Jamie weren’t in any hurry to leave. Connie had nothing to go home to and Jamie wanted more time to think, she was still confused about whether to pursue a relationship with Susan. While they remained behind after the others left, they wanted to help out by doing some more repairs around the house. Remembering Carol’s interest in the camera, Jamie struck up a conversation with her. Jamie loved her camera but she handed it over to Carol with complete trust that she would not misuse it. She said “Carol, take a walk around the grounds and shoot whatever catches your eye.” She wanted Carol to go off by herself so she wouldn’t be distracted or inhibited by her.  After Carol went on her way, Jamie went over to the old barn where Connie and Anna were. Walking in, she heard Anna saying “Oh dear, Connie that’s awfully heavy!  I don’t want you to hurt yourself.” “Hey,” said Jamie, “I’m here to help. Let me give you a hand with that.”  “Jamie,” Anna said, “that old trunk is heavy! Be careful both of you that you don’t get hurt! I would never forgive myself!”  Jamie waved her aside and grabbed the leather strap on the side of the trunk and pulled it out of the way. “Great!” Connie said, “I needed that out of there so I can fix these shelves for Anna.” Anna replied, “That will be a big help. Neither Lil nor I are very good with tools but I suppose we’ll have to learn.”  “Well,” said Jamie, “I’m pretty handy. Is there anything else you need fixing?” Before Jamie knew it, she had a screwdriver in hand and was replacing the hinges on the smaller barn door. From then on, Anna kept them busy with what seemed like an endless list of repairs. They were more than willing to do all they could to help out and as the day wore on, they were beginning to feel that this was their home too.

Walking back from the cottage, Lillian, Carolyn, and Julie ran into Carol. It was encouraging to see the smile on her face and the light in her eyes.  Carol clicked off the last picture in the camera, catching the three as they walked towards her laughing at the antics of a couple of chipmunks running to get out of their way. She told them about her interest in photography and how sweet Jamie was to let her use the camera. They thought it was a wonderful, knowing it was good for her to focus on something other than her troubles with Liz. It was coming on lunchtime so they headed back to the farm for some   of those delicious turkey sandwiches that Anna had promised. “God,” Carolyn said, “it seems all we do when we’re up here is eat. I’m going to be huge if this keeps up!” With a chuckle, Julie grabbed her in her arms and said,  “That gives me a whole lot more of you to love!” To which Carolyn responded by giving her a menacing look.

Jamie, Connie, and Anna were busy in the kitchen preparing lunch and already had the turkey out, slicing it up for the sandwiches. Carolyn and Julie sat down at the table and began talking about their plans to buy the cottage. They were pretty excited about it and planned to come up to Maine whenever they could and work on fixing it up.  As they finished their lunch, bellows of dark heavy rain clouds started rolling in. Carolyn and Julie thought they’d better pack it up and head on back to Boston before the storm hit. They knew the traffic would still be bad at this time of day, but they wouldn’t mind, they had a lot to discuss about the cottage. Saying their goodbyes to everyone, they piled their overnight bags and souvenirs in the back seat of their car and headed down the road just as the rain began.

After a beautiful and productive day, it was almost seven o’clock before Connie and Jamie reluctantly decided to head for home. It was hard for them to leave the warmth of the farmhouse for their empty apartments, but all the excuses ‘not to go’ were used up and besides, the traffic should have thinned out by now. Giving Lillian and Anna big hugs and kisses goodbye, Jamie turned and gave Carol a hug and promised as soon as she got her pictures developed, she would mail them up to her. They waved goodbye to the three women standing on the porch and drove down the lane out of sight.

On the way home, both Jamie and Connie were quite. The rhythm of the windshield wipers lulled them into their own deep thoughts. Jamie’s thoughts went immediately to Susan and the night they spent together. Connie was thinking about the bench she repaired and had set down beside the Oak tree on the knoll. As she set it down, she had a strong feeling that one day Jean would be sitting there beside her. At this time though, it seemed impossible; she hadn’t seen Jean in eight months.

It was dark and dreary when Connie dropped Jamie off and in the few minutes it took her to reach her own place, the rain had turned into a cold drizzle with the fog rolling in. She pulled into the parking lot behind her apartment building and parked the car. Instead of getting out, she sat for a moment allowing Jean’s face to appear in her mind. A sad longing came over her that turned her inside out. She got out of her car abruptly, trying to shake it off.  Head down against the wind swept drizzle; Connie made it around to the front of the building. She was startled to see a small dark figure sitting on the steps. Connie took a step backwards then stopped... her breath caught in her throat and Jean’s name came out as a whisper. Connie’s big smile melted right through the fog into Jean’s heart and she knew everything was going to be all right. There’s a rhythm that connects two people in love. Connie and Jean experienced that as they ran to each other. Ever so gently, with Jean’s face cupped in her hands, they kissed, their tears mixing with the rain.