“That’s bleak.”
Beth shrugged. She took a seat on the bench a few steps away, Sarah sitting beside her as they waited for Lily.
“So we think Lily and Wren are definitely having sex, right?” Beth blurted out.
Sarah laughed, looking at her with an absurd expression. “You know, I never thought you were going to be this weird about her being a young adult with a healthy sex life.”
“I’m not,” Beth objected. “I want to make sure we, you know, prepared her for everything. There were so many things about queer sex no one talked about when we were navigating it at their age, and I just want to make sure she has what she needs from us.”
“If anything, I think we may have over-prepared her,” Sarah pointed out, and this time, Beth laughed with her.
“She asked me a few weeks ago what my first time was like,” Beth admitted, catching Sarah’s eye in the glow of the streetlight, the golden tint warming her features, and she knew Sarah was remembering it too because Sarah had been her first everything.
“Please tell me you didn’t tell our daughter that I took your virginity in the back of a yellow Volkswagen Jetta.” Sarah cringed.
“No, I left out that detail.” Beth laughed. “Didn’t really feel relevant.”
“So what did you tell her?” Sarah asked, turning her body slightly towards Beth’s, their knees touching as she tilted her head in curiosity.
“I told her that having your first time be with someone who loves and respects you is truly the most magical thing in the world.” Beth’s grip on the edge of the bench tightened before relaxing, and for a moment, she thought she caught Sarah’s hand inching closer towards hers, but she decided her tipsy state of mind was making her see things that weren’t really there.
A pair of headlights flashed as the familiar Subaru Outback pulled up at the curb, Lily rolling down the window. Beth took the front seat while Sarah slipped into the back, and as Lily pulled away, she began her teasing.
“You know, I’m proud of you two for making smart drinking choices tonight. You called me when you had too much, and there’s no shame in that. You followed the buddy system and stayed together, and no one is sick or crying. Glad you take your own advice, Moms.”
“Lily, sweetie, I say this with all the love in my heart, but please shut up and drive,” Sarah mumbled from the back seat.
Beth turned to look at Sarah, and that’s when she caught it, that slight playful wink from Sarah that made her heart jump.
NINE
SARAH
OCTOBER
Sarah and Nell took on the rain-slicked stairs leading down to the Seattle ferry terminal side by side. Nell had flown in the week before for an annual leadership summit, which had eaten up most of her free time, but, like always, she made a point of prioritizing one-on-one time with Sarah in the form of a private dining experience and a weekend together.
“Calling this ‘a few stairs’ is a bold interpretation of what, in reality, is actually a mountain,” Nell grumbled under her breath, the pointed heels of her Saint Laurent knee-high leather boots clicking against the damp pavement as they reached street-level. “Five whole flights to ground level, Sarah. Really?”
“Be glad we’re going down, not up.” Sarah chuckled, wrapping an arm around Nell’s shoulders as they walked down the street. “To be fair, I did tell you to wear Seattle-appropriate footwear.”
“I thought you meant for the rain. I didn’t anticipate we’d be partaking in a stairmaster challenge.”
“What happened to that rule you had? What was it… Anticipate everything, react to nothing? This feels an awful lot like a reaction.” She squeezed Nell’s shoulders as Nell playfully batted her away with her free hand.
“I regret sharing those with you,” Nell said, not looking at her, that smirk on her dark lips giving her away.
“Liar.” Sarah smiled, bumping her hip into Nell’s.
They continued down the street toward the pier where the ferry was docked.
“What did you think of Renee Fairchild’s talk at the symposium yesterday?” Nell asked. “I thought she made some decent points about women taking ownership of male-dominated spaces.”
Sarah hummed her approval. Renee’s talk had been good, possibly a bit too elevated for the conference audience, but still thought-provoking to those of the right caliber. Nell had introduced her to Renee for the first time at a party in Las Vegas when Sarah had accompanied Nell as her plus one. Since that first introduction, Sarah had always gotten the sense that Renee wasn’t her biggest fan.
“I thought her talk was good, if a little idealistic given the current geopolitical climate, but it still had sustenance,” Sarah said, keeping her eyes on the sidewalk ahead of them.
“And,” Nell pressed her for more.
