Allie raised an eyebrow. “This is unexpected. I’ll need to give it some thought. Can you send through the full details when you send my written reference? That will allow me to fully consider the position.”
“I can do that. And I hope to have your favourable response to our offer.”
Allie rose. “If all is as you say, I will seriously consider it. Thank you, Ramona. I’ll look forward to receiving the written reference and the job offer.” She stood back and waited for Ramona to lead the way back to reception.
Once outside and around the corner, she flung her head back, and as the tension left her body, she laughed out loud. It felt good. It felt better than great. Her newfound confidence in her ability to remain cool and bluff her way through tricky situations had done her well. It had been surprisingly easy.
And she would take great pleasure in declining Kirkland’s offer when it came.
Chapter 27
“I need you to doone last thing for the wedding festival.” Phyll’s voice boomed down the phone line.
“Get fake divorced?” Tarryn asked. “Are we having a gay divorce festival next?”
“Don’t be such a cynic, dear. It doesn’t suit you. No, I need you to call Allie. She left in such a hurry, I think she took some of our banners. The big ones we’ll need for next year. Can you ask her to send them back to us?”
“Really, Aunt Phyll, I don’t think I need to do that. Can’t you call her?”
“You were Allie’s assistant. It’s your job. Just let me know when we can expect them.”
“Surely a volunteer could do it,” Tarryn said. Thoughts of what she’d said to Allie the last time they’d talked left a bitter taste in her mouth, a curdling mix of hurt and anger.
“They could,” Phyll agreed. “But I don’t want to burn out our volunteers. They all worked so hard.”
“And I didn’t?”
“You were fantastic, and you know it. We’ll pay you for this. I’m not asking you to slave for nothing.”
“Okay, I’ll do it,” she said with a sigh.
“Great. Let me know when we can expect the banners. Oops, another call coming in. Bye.” Phyll ended the call.
Tarryn pocketed her phone and went out to feed the alpacas. It seemed she was now a permanent part of the wedding festival, whether she liked it or not. She cut the string on a new bale of hay and tossed a couple of sections to Ally and Elly.
Elly came up to her and blew sweet breath in her face.
Tarryn rubbed her neck, the wool soft under her hand. “I’ll take you girls out later. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
Elly blinked, her ridiculously long eyelashes looking so cute that Tarryn pressed a kiss to her nose.
Elly snorted, and Tarryn stepped back with a laugh. “Maybe next year, you two can be in the parade. If we can persuade Ally to be a little more social.” The grumpy alpaca was snatching mouthfuls of hay and ignoring the conversation.
Maybe Ally had the right idea: ignore everything she didn’t want to deal with.
Tarryn leaned on the gate and watched the alpacas eat. Somewhere along the way, while working on the festival, she’d come to understand it more. Understand why people willingly tied themselves into marriage. It was creeping up all around her. Will and Garrett and their enduring love, even Phyll and her chicken farmer. The many people she’d seen at the festival, hand in hand: queer couples, the occasional triad, a big melting pot of different identities and sexualities, all there to find out how a queer wedding could be. Maybe it was idle curiosity, maybe they had a date set, maybe they wanted a commitment ceremony or simply a big gay day out with a dance party at the end of it. But whatever it was, the warmth and love during the two days had been palpable.
People it seemed, wanted love in their lives. And sometimes, some people wanted marriage. It didn’t have to be a copy of heterosexual marriage. It could be whatever and with whomever you wanted.
Tears pricked behind Tarryn’s eyes. She been an idiot. A pompous fool, sounding off against marriage. Same-sex marriage was whatever the people marrying wanted it to be. Almost of their own accord, her hands formed the heart symbol.Love is love.And, it seemed, she wasn’t above that. She wasn’t the person outside looking in after all.
And falling for Allie had done that. Getting married to Allie had loosened something in her—even though it had taken Allie to help her through the fake ceremony. But they’d done it. Together.
She dropped her head to her hands where they rested on the gate. Elly came up and nuzzled her hair and puffed breath over her neck. Tarryn raised her head to stare into the alpaca’s gentle eyes.
She’d let Allie walk out her life. Worse, she’d been judgemental as fuck, defining Allie’s sexuality for her. Allie had said she wasn’t straight. Why was it so hard for Tarryn to accept that, especially when she had all the evidence? Anyone who kissed a woman as divinely as Allie did, who made love so fully and completely, was certainly not a zero on the Kinsey scale. Maybe Allie had put a label on her sexuality; maybe she hadn’t. It was irrelevant.
The important thing was Allie had been a great part of Tarryn’s life, and now she was gone.
