"That"s us." Hayden swung the Civic into the lot. The girls got out and hiked the four hundred yards to the park office building. It sat at the center of the midway over the rock garden, next to the Paratrooper.

A bell jingled as Hayden and Calli opened the door to the tiny air-conditioned building. John Thorpe, the man who had hired the girls through a phone interview, stood behind a white wooden counter. They reintroduced themselves.

"h.e.l.lo, Hayden, Calli. How was the drive up from Youngstown?"

"Not too bad. Although there were a few tense moments trying to find I-90," Hayden said, looking directly at Calli.

Calli seemed oblivious to the comment.

"I have you girls scheduled for food service tomorrow morning. We start bright and early around here, so I expect you to be at your station at eight sharp."

"Eight o"clock?" Calli whined.

Hayden elbowed her. "Eight is fine, Mr. Thorpe. We"ll be there."

"When you get to the park in the morning, an a.s.signment sheet will be posted outside this office. Check the sheet, and you"ll see where you"re supposed to work for the day. It may change from day to day, so I suggest you check it every morning."

Mr. Thorpe handed Hayden and Calli their new uniforms. Gingerbread brown with white lace trim on the smock and down the sides of the polyester slacks. They looked like something out of Hansel and Gretel.

"You"ve got to be kidding," Calli said. "If it wasn"t for this job, I wouldn"t be caught dead in this outfit."

"I know, but it"s what they expect us to wear. If we want to work here, we have to do what they say. Besides, it"s not that bad." Hayden held up her uniform, and a lace c.u.mmerbund fell to the ground. She picked it up and laughed. "Wow."

The girls walked back to the car. "We better find the cabin and unload our stuff before it gets dark," Hayden said.

"I don"t know about you, but I need a drink and to do something fun tonight before we officially become working girls."

"Okay," Hayden said against her better judgment. "So where do you suppose we go? We don"t know anyone here or where anything is."

"So we"ll look in the phone book."

"You"re going to look in the phone book for a bar?"

"Sure, why not?"

"We haven"t even moved into our place yet. Where are you going to find a phone book?"

"Over there." Calli pointed at a gla.s.s phone booth that stood in the corner of the parking lot, about fifty yards from their car.

"Go ahead, knock yourself out."

Calli sprinted toward the phone booth while Hayden sat on the b.u.mper of the Civic and waited. The sun seemed hotter out here on the asphalt parking lot. She wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. Two minutes later, Calli returned with a ripped-out sheet from the Yellow Pages.

"Here. I"ve found a place. It"s a dance bar," Calli said, nearly out of breath.

"And how do you think we"re going to get in? You won"t be eighteen until next month."

Calli reached into her jean jacket purse. "With this."

She handed Hayden the plastic ID card that made Calli a twenty-one-year-old brunette named Sheila c.u.mmings. "Where did you get this?" Hayden handed back the fake ID.

"I can"t reveal my sources. If I did, I"d have to kill you." Calli laughed at her own joke. Hayden just shook her head. Nothing Calli did surprised her.

"So what"s the name of this place?" Hayden asked as she unlocked Calli"s door, then made her way around to the driver"s side.

"The Zone," Calli said. "And tonight is ladies" night."

Chapter Five.

Abbey closed the trunk lid on the Mustang. The heels of her Nine West shoes clicked on the brick sidewalk as she walked over to the landlord"s unit to return the keys to her house. She rented the place since she started teaching at St. Mary"s, starting in September until the end of the school year. By June, she was ready to go back to her life with Ann in Erie.

Even though Abbey tried to relax and get into a better frame of mind on the drive home, she couldn"t shut her brain off, and thoughts of Ann and Jackson together intruded on her every thought. Even turning the radio up and singing out loud to ABBA didn"t help. What Abbey once thought was an unbreakable bond now seemed to be held together with false hope and partial truths.

Abbey"s stomach clenched as she pulled into the driveway of the house she shared with Ann just before five thirty. She and Ann found the house two years earlier on a bike riding trip and fell in love with it on sight. One of their greatest joys was fixing up the place together. Painting, sanding the hardwood floors, and installing a ceiling fan in their bedroom made the house theirs. It was the only place where they felt safe enough to be themselves. Safe from the rest of the world who might not understand their relationship.

It had been two months since she and Ann were together for more than a few hours, and Abbey was looking forward to spending time with Ann and getting things back the way they used to be. Abbey got out of the car and popped the trunk. She unloaded her suitcase, cosmetic bag, and a bottle of champagne she had picked up at their favorite Geneva winery to celebrate their reunion. She slammed the lid shut and carried her belongings up the cobblestone walkway. Abbey slid her key in the doork.n.o.b and unlocked the front door.

"h.e.l.lo? Is anyone home?" she called into the house. No one answered. She set her belongings in the foyer and walked down the hall into the kitchen, then the bedroom and out on the back patio.

Abbey"s heart sank. She had at least hoped Ann would have been home when she arrived. Sullenly, Abbey dragged her suitcase down the carpeted hall to the bedroom. She hoisted it up onto the queen-sized bed and began to unpack.

"Why should this go to waste?" Abbey unwrapped the foil covering on the champagne and popped the cork. "Welcome home," Abbey whispered and took a sip directly from the bottle. Ann would be perturbed by her doing such a thing. It was uncivilized, and Ann was civilized. Knowing this, Abbey took another swig. And another. The champagne was going down pretty smooth, but it didn"t do much to make her feel better. Fear and disappointment bubbled up inside her as she opened the dresser drawer and put her things away.

Over and over in her head, Abbey rehea.r.s.ed the conversation that would probably escalate into an argument once Ann did come home. Abbey needed Ann to be here. She needed some sign from her that Abbey was still important in her life. Since Ann"s affair with Jackson the previous winter, Abbey felt like a bystander. She felt a pang of loneliness in her heart. She took another swig of champagne.

Abbey only needed to unpack a few things because she and Ann would be heading out to the beach house in a few days for two weeks. It was one of the mini vacations they enjoyed at the beginning of the summer before the tourists took over. She opened the closet to hang up some things and found comfort in seeing Ann"s suits hanging neatly on expensive wooden hangers by shade from gray to navy to black. Her shirts were impeccably pressed and hanging on wooden hangers also.

Abbey pushed her nose against the sleeve of one of Ann"s suits and inhaled deeply. She loved the smell of Ann"s Obsession perfume, which still lingered on the suit. Just a hint of the stuff stirred desire deep inside her. If Ann saw Abbey do this, she would think she was silly. Ann thought a lot of the things Abbey did were silly and did not hesitate to tell her so.

Ann was a very organized person. Abbey was not. Abbey knew this drove Ann crazy. Abbey did things at the last minute. Ann would pack for weekend trips on Wednesday, but this time, something was different. There wasn"t the usual stack of suitcases and travel bags in the corner all packed and ready to go. Ann must be swamped with this tenure stuff to keep her off her schedule, Abbey thought.

On the top shelf of the closet were their photo alb.u.ms. Here was a record of Abbey and Ann"s life together. Abbey pulled down the red and green leather-covered volumes and flipped open the first one. There was a picture of her and Ann standing in a vineyard in Tuscany. Ann stood behind Abbey with her arms around her waist. They looked so happy in that photo, Abbey thought as she turned the page. The next page was full of pictures at the Fountain of Trevi in Rome and in Venice, where Abbey ate gelato on the steps of St. Mark"s Cathedral, and another picture of them on riding on a gondola. Abbey sighed. Tears p.r.i.c.ked at her eyes. These were such wonderful times, what had happened to their lives? She sighed and tried to concentrate on a more pleasant time, a time when she was sure of herself and of what she and Ann had together. She knew the living arrangements put a strain on their relationship, but they truly loved each other. And love could get you through anything. Right?

But all she could think about was that night in December when she left school early to surprise Ann at work with a dinner date at her favorite restaurant, just the two of them.

When she got to Ann"s office, all the secretaries had gone home. Ann"s office was dark, but Abbey knew she must still be there because her car was in the parking lot. Abbey made her way down the deserted hallway and peered into each empty office. At the end of the hall was the only office with a light on. On the door was a gold plate inscribed Dean Jackson Price. When Abbey thought about this, she remembered something in her gut telling her not to go in. Maybe if she had listened to her gut then, things would be different now.

The champagne and the emotions were beginning to take their toll on Abbey.

She had a headache from the champagne, so she headed into the bathroom to wash her face and get some Tylenol for her head. She opened the medicine cabinet to get the pills when she saw it-a bottle of Polo cologne. Abbey reached into the cabinet and picked up the green gla.s.s bottle. Her insides shook as she walked back into the bedroom and sat on the bed still holding the cologne. She looked around the room to see if anything else had changed while she was gone.

As she lay back on the bed and watched the ceiling fan that she and Ann installed together, her heart still refused to believe what her mind insisted on telling her.

Abbey abruptly sat up. She had had enough of this self-pity c.r.a.p. She would just go find Ann and whatever happened, happened. You can"t go on living with your head in the sand forever, she thought as she grabbed her purse and keys and headed to Ann"s office.

Chapter Six.

Abbey pulled the Mustang into the faculty lot in front of Ann"s office. Her mind was a crazy mixture of anxiety, anger, and fear with a faint undercurrent of hope trying to raise its head beneath troubled waters. She stood in the lobby and repeatedly stabbed at the b.u.t.ton for the elevator as her mind raced. What if she found them together again? Then what? That would mean she would have to leave Ann, right? What if nothing was going on? That all this panic and worry was for nothing? She would feel like an idiot then. And what would that say about her ability to trust Ann again?

Abbey poked at the elevator b.u.t.ton again and again. What is taking so long? Finally, the elevator arrived. Raucous laughter came from the other side of the doors. The doors slid open, and all of the sudden, the laughter stopped.

Abbey felt the heat of anger rise up her neck and color her face. Standing before her in the elevator were Ann and Jackson. Abbey looked into Ann"s eyes in hopes of seeing an explanation there. All she saw was shame.

Without a word, Abbey turned and rushed out of the building into the parking lot. Tears blurred her vision as she tried to slide her key into the door lock. Before she could get the door open, she felt a hand on her arm.

"Abbey, please wait," Ann said. Abbey felt her hand tremble.

Abbey turned to face Ann. "What for? You"ve obviously decided where you wanted to be today."

Abbey turned away and jabbed the key at the chrome lock, trying to get the car door open.

"It"s not what you think. I"ve been in meetings all afternoon. I can"t help it that Jackson is here, he works here. I have no control over that."

"I understand that. And by the look of the two of you in the elevator, it must have been one h.e.l.l of a meeting."

"You"re not being realistic."

"Oh, you want me to be realistic. Okay then, how"s this for reality? Don"t wait up for me tonight because I won"t be coming home."

"Abbey, don"t."

"I can"t be in a relationship with someone I can"t trust."

"We weren"t doing anything! I was thanking Jackson for his part in helping me win my bid for tenure."

Abbey opened the car door. "Well, congratulations. Looks like you have everything you want now." Abbey got in the car and slammed the door. She barely waited for Ann to step back before she peeled out of the parking lot.

Jackson, who had been watching the scene unfold, finally got up the courage to walk up to Ann. "Was that the same woman who walked in on us in my office last Christmas?"

Ann nodded as she watched the Mustang disappear down the road. She looked down and wished she could be anywhere but here. Jackson stepped closer to Ann and put his arm around her shoulder. Her shoulders slumped forward.

"You okay?" Jackson asked.

Ann cleared her throat. "Yes, I"m fine."

Ann needed to be alone, to think things through. But she could feel Jackson"s stare on her and knew he had questions about what had taken place. Questions she should have answered months before but didn"t. She didn"t have anything left in her to deal with that. She just wanted to be alone, to roll up in a ball, and shut the rest of the world out.

She turned to Jack. "I forgot my briefcase in my office," Ann said. "So I guess I"ll talk to you next week?"

"Oh, okay. Sure," Jack said. "But if you don"t mind, I"d like to go in with you. I think we need to talk."

Ann"s head pounded with a harrowing headache as she and Jackson walked back inside. When they reached the lobby, Jack touched Ann"s arm and turned her around. "So do you want to tell me what that was back there?"

Ann took in a deep breath. She looked in Jackson"s eyes and wondered how much damage this information would do to their relationship, personal, as well as professional, and wondered if she could trust him with her secret.

She decided to tentatively test the waters. "Abbey and I have been friends for a long time."

"I realize that, but why does she react so intensely regarding your personal life?"

"We"re very close."

"I have a few close friends, and they don"t act the way she does to personal events in my life. It"s almost like..."

By the look on Jack"s face, Ann knew he figured out the truth. "Oh, my G.o.d...are you and Abbey lovers?"

Ann couldn"t meet his gaze. She cringed at the sound of the word "lover." She turned toward him. "Jack, please. It"s complicated."

"You"re telling me it"s complicated. Actually, it clears up quite a few things. "

The elevator doors opened, and Ann and Jackson stepped on. "I"ll be d.a.m.ned," Jackson said, obviously stunned by his revelation.

The elevator stopped and Ann hurried down the hall to her office. Jackson followed her, stopping at Ann"s closed office door. "Ann?" Jackson tried the door, but it was locked. He tapped the gla.s.s inlay. "Open the door, please."

Silence.

Jack knocked harder. "Ann, c"mon. Don"t you think we need to talk about this?"

"There"s nothing to talk about" came from the other side.

Jackson jiggled the k.n.o.b. "Please open the door. I don"t care about your past or what might or might not be true. Just please open the door so we can have an adult conversation about this."

The doork.n.o.b turned, and Ann stepped back to let Jack in. His warm smile caught her off-guard, and slowly, her defenses melted away.

Before she knew it, Jackson had taken her into his arms and kissed the top of her head and looked her in the eyes. "What happened in the past doesn"t matter. Someone once told me it doesn"t matter so much where you"ve been as it does about where you"re going. We both have pasts. But isn"t that what has brought us here today?"

"But, Jack, this is different." She twisted in his arms, trying to break free, but before she could say another word, Jackson began kissing her neck. Ann"s insides shuddered, and her knees felt weak. It was like this new knowledge about her was fueling his pa.s.sion. Her heart pounded and everything felt chaotic. All she wanted to do was run away, but her feet felt like lead, and the more Jackson kissed her, the more her resolve softened and softened and softened until it was completely gone and she was kissing him back.

Chapter Seven.