Heart of Grace Read online

  “These bad boys are gonna be the best cupcakes those girls have ever tasted in their entire life,” Dianne says observing her hard work once all two dozen cupcakes have been iced.

  “Well, I can at least say I helped fill the icing bag and I watched the timer go off.” She bumps hips with her friend and Dianne places an arm around her shoulder.

  “That’s the spirit. Hey, thanks for letting me hang out with you. I know you’ve been busy with the girls and with ‘The Girl’ that I practically haven’t seen you in weeks.”

  “Well, we can always do this again,” Heather comments as they start the dishes.

  “That soccer team might not be able to run around if you keep feeding them cupcakes.”

  Heather shakes her head with a laugh. “No, no. It’s not for them.”

  Dianne quirks a brow. “Oh?”

  “Yeah. I’d like some help on making banana bread.”

  The confusion etched on Dianne’s face slowly turns into realization and Heather has half a mind to exit the kitchen before her friend starts teasing her about wanting to bake for Amber.

  ***

  Amber is surprised to check her e-mail on her phone just before the lunchtime rush to find a short message from Heather telling Amber to meet her at the park at noon tomorrow on her day off.

  “Maybe she’s gonna ask you to move in,” Charlene remarks after leaning sitting back in her chair. “Lesbians do that a lot. It’s what they’re known for. Hell, Lisa and I did that.”

  “What? Move in together after a month of dating?” she asks giving the message one last glance before putting her phone away.

  Charlene shrugs. “It was three months. But look how good it worked out.”

  Janine, who’d been busy eating her lunch beside them finally pipes up. “It’s a real thing. It’s happened to me. I knew this person for three weeks and he got on one knee and asked me to move in.”

  “Did you say yes?”

  “Heck no. He only did it because he was getting evicted.” Amber just looks at her friend and shakes her head.

  “She’s not gonna ask to move in. We’ve just been dating a month. I don’t even know if she wants to make it exclusive or whatever.”

  “Well do you want to be ‘exclusive or whatever’?” Charlene asks, mimicking her. She opens her mouth but stops when she realizes she doesn’t have an answer. They’ve been fairly casual the last month. They see each other just about every day of this past month, gone on dinner and lunch dates often, and she’s gotten a stream of emails containing random jokes. She certainly has no plans trying to see other people and would rather spend her time with Heather.

  “Maybe,” she answers finally, letting the answer settle in her mind.

  “Well, you can certainly ask her tomorrow when she asks you to move in,” Janine jokes before high-fiving Charlene.

  The trio turn to the direction of the creaking office door.

  “I don’t pay you two to sit pretty around here,” Una announces, her hands on her hips as she looks at her employees.

  “You’re right, I do it for free!” Charlene cackles, earning her a glare.

  Janine eventually leaves to go back to work across the street but not after trying and failing on flirting with Una (“You look great today, Una.” “Do I look bad every other day?”) that left Amber and Charlene in a fit of giggles behind the counter.

  As she works through the remaining hours of her shift, she thinks about their previous conversation. She wouldn’t mind taking her relationship with Heather more seriously. But Amber is no fool, she knows that Heather has a thirst for adventure. She just wonders if this thing they have with each other is enough of an adventure worth pursuing.

  ***

  Amber shrugs on a sweater and gets into her Jeep by the time 11:30 AM rolls around to head to Tarren Park. It’s no more than a ten minute drive from her apartment but she doesn’t think she can stick around her own apartment just waiting for time to pass by. She’s been awake since 8 AM and time has crawled since then.

  She lets the rest of the time pass by watching other people around the park. Joggers, dog walkers, kids out with their parents; just about everyone seems to be out that Sunday morning. It’s like a scene from a movie, the perfection of it all.

  “Shoulda bet ten bucks you were gonna be here early,” Heather says by way of greeting before kissing her on the cheek that Amber relishes in. “Woulda been ten bucks richer.”

  “Says the woman who is two whole minutes late. Like clockwork, you are always late.”

  “Wow, I’m super insecure about that and here you are just punching my wounds. So inconsiderate.” Heather scrunches her face and sticks her tongue out and Amber mirrors her expression. “I’ll have you know that there was a family of geese crossing the road and because I care about Mother Nature, I braked for them.”

  “Wow, you’re so kind. Mother Teresa award.”

  “You’re going to regret being so mean when I show you what we’re doing today.”

  Heather sets for the trail without looking back. It takes her a couple of seconds to notice the basket in Heather’s hand and a few more seconds to catch up until they’re walking side to side. She reaches her hand across the space between them and grabs hold of Heather’s free hand. She grins when Heather’s fingers close in on hers.

  ***

  Amber stands with her hands folded behind her back and patiently waits until Heather’s laid out the blanket (“No, stop. Stay there. Don’t move. Just stand there and be cute. I’m doing this.”) by one of the main clearings off of the trail. While waiting, her sights wander around to other park goers around them.

  Once the blanket’s been completely laid out, Heather holds a hand out to help Amber onto the blanket. They settle in front of one another, their legs crossed with their knees touching each other, with the basket off to one side.

  “Ok, here’s when you take back your cruel words,” Heather says when she opens the basket and pulls out a rectangle Sunnyside Bakery box. “Don’t get distracted by the box. Dianne insisted. I was just gonna wrap it in plastic but she was insulted.”

  Amber accepts the box from Heather before staring at it. “What is it?”

  Heather rolls her eyes. “Just open it.”

  She obliges and pulls the ribbon before pulling the flaps of the box open. She smells it before she sees it, complete surprise and astonishment coloring her face. Heather baked her banana bread.

  The smell of her childhood. The smell of living with her parents before they divorced when she was just nine and her dad moved an hour away (which was an hour too far) from her.

  “Did you-did you make this yourself?”

  Heather shrugs, playing it off. “I buttered the pan and whisked the ingredients together, but it was all Dianne. I’m not the safest in the kitchen so I had to be chaperoned.”

  Amber, overwhelmed with the sincerity of Heather’s actions, places the box down on her side before lunging forward and pulling Heather in an embrace. Their awkward poses for this hug doesn’t last long when they fall back, getting off balance. Still, Amber doesn’t let go, just hugs tighter. She pushes herself up onto her elbows above Heather who has a twitch of a smile on her face.

  “Thank you,” she says softly before closing the distance between them, kissing Heather with reverence and gratitude.

  After a while Heather pulls away with a dazed expression on her face. “I am digging all of this, trust me-this is all so great. But there are children around and there’s still more food in that basket.”

  Reminded of their surroundings, Amber extricates herself from the embrace and goes back to a sitting position, a tint of embarrassment shading her cheeks pink.

  Heather pulls out the rest of the food from the basket and they spend the next half hour eating their meal together: two turkey and cheese sandwiches, fresh fruit salad, two bags of barbecue chips, one loaf of banana bread, and half a gallon of fresh-squeezed lemonade.

  “This is the best meal I’
ve ever had. It reminds me of 8th grade when I packed my lunch.”

  “Wow, you’re so ungrateful. It’s not my fault that stoves and I just don’t get along.”

  Once they finish their lunches, they soak up the sun (even if there’s still a chill in the air), and lie down on the blanket facing each other as they raise their head on their hands.

  “Thanks for today. This was a great surprise. I take back the Mother Teresa award.”

  “Nah, don’t. I like that award. I’m gonna get a plaque and put it on my wall.”

  “But really. This was a nice surprise. Was there a reason you did it?”

  “It was your day off.” Amber watches as Heather keeps her eyes wandering around, squinting through the sunlight. “Plus, you know, you’ve made my stay here fun or whatever.”

  Amber’s heart swells with joy. “Tell me a joke.”

  Heather turns to her. “You mean outside of my cooking abilities?”

  She nods, a giant smile on her face. Heather tells her one, then two, and then flubs up the fifth one and they eventually find themselves in peels of laughter, drunk on euphoria, drunk on each other.

  It’s the best Sunday she’s ever spent in years. And it’s all because of Heather.

  Chapter Three

  The Hammerheads are more than halfway through their season and they’ve yet to win a game. But they’ve tied twice and scored a total of three goals from their fourth and fifth games, so they’ve already bested their previous record. But Heather knows that these girls are hungry for a win. They got so close in the last two games and it’s the best they’ve done. There’re still more kinks to iron out, but they’re showing improvements. They can only get better.

  Some of the staff and some of the members of the community (Dianne, Winston, Sarah, and Amber included) are up in the bleachers with the parents. Before the game starts, Heather excuses herself from the huddle to greet her friends. After chatting with them and advising Amber to disregard anything Dianne might say about her, she heads back to the huddle where the girls are prepping up.

  “Hey Coach Heather, is that your sister?” Cassidy, the most loquacious but also the bubbliest 7th grader on the team, asks pointing at the bleachers. “The one with the long hair?”

  She laughs but shakes her head. “No, we’re not related.”

  “Is she your girlfriend?” Heather freezes in her spot. “It’s cool if she is. My older sister, Jeanine, has a girlfriend, well fiancee now, and they’re getting married in July.”

  Heather opens her mouth but no sound comes out. Instead, Lara comes to the rescue and redirect the conversation. “Cass, get the rest of the team to warm up. Go.”

  Cassidy does as she’s told and Heather only breathes a sigh of relief with the 7th grade midfielder abandons her question.

  “We forget how nosy they get, don’t we?” Lara comments with a pat on her shoulder before walking away.

  Heather stays in her spot, instead just stares out into space, Cassidy’s words ringing in her ears.

  Girlfriend.

  She glances back to the bleachers and finds Winston pantomiming something the three other women with him laugh. Amber turns her head and she smiles when their eyes meet, putting her hand up for a small wave. She brings up a hand to wave back.

  ***

  All thoughts about Amber are put aside when the game begins. With ten minutes left in the second half, the Hammerheads are held scoreless on their home turf. Heather can see that the Hammerheads are pushing forward wanting nothing more than to win their first game. They’re still giving turnovers where they shouldn’t be, but the girls have stepped up their game to push for a goal.

  She takes a quick scan around and finds that half of the people in attendance are up on their feet, getting into the game.

  "Keep pushing!" Lara yells, motioning forward with her palms out. Heather clenches her fist when Shiloh from left back passes the ball to Izzy who gets past one of the Canden Middle School defenders and keeps running toward goal. Izzy stops just inside of the box and is blocked by two other defenders when she passes to her right where Cassidy is standing unmarked. Everyone is now yelling for her to take the shot.

  The ball goes past the two posts and hits the back of the net, a whistle blown signaling a goal.

  Heather pumps her fist in the air and hugs Lara as the girls on the field celebrate by crushing Cassidy in a hug.

  The game resets and Lara sidles up to her.

  “That was incredible.”

  “Did you see them act like a team? It was like Sharknado. Just on a warpath.”

  “Sharknado? Like the movie?”

  “No, like the cultural phenomenon,” Lara laughs before going up to the line and yelling for the team to push back.

  The team on and off the field rush towards her and Lara after they hear the whistle blows marking them as this game’s victor, a 1-0 win. She looks up amidst the gaggle of girls that surround her and her eyes land back on the bleachers where Amber is clapping for her, for them for their sweet, sweet victory.

  ***

  She doesn’t get back home until 11, her skin buzzing from how proud and excited she is for her team’s first win. A win that she hopes isn’t the last.

  She fires up her laptop and opens her email so she can message her parents back home about the girls’ win when an unread message stops her in her tracks.

  Aloha, my friend!

  Long time, no talk. Why do you still not have a phone? Anyway, where are you stationed nowadays? Last I heard from you was in Seattle. You still there?

  I have some news you might like. Advocate for Youth Camp needs people with previous experience to work and train for starting at the end of May. They’re understaffed and could really use your help. Bruno and Jackie still remember you and would love to have you back there.

  They want to know as soon as possible. So try not to be late. I know how you can get with time.

  Don’t even worry about a place to live, you know you have a place on my couch. So just get your butt over here!

  Look forward to Maui in the summer, livin’ the good life!

  -Rhonda

  Heather sighs, the excitement and energy from tonight’s win suddenly zapped from her system.

  ***

  Amber and Ana have been watching Janine spend the better part of her hour lunch break gazing at Una mill about in the Bean. Every now and again, they’ll glance at their boss who will go about her work as if Janine just hasn’t missed her mouth trying to eat that chocolate chip muffin from her plate.

  “Gotta admit, girl’s got determination,” Ana comments when Una sidles next to them to clean the back counter.

  “I can’t blame her. I’d stare all day at me too if I didn’t have to run a business. Anyway, can you handle this? Gotta make some phone calls in my office.”

  “Yeah, we’re good.”

  Una doesn’t go head directly to her office. Instead, she walks around the counter towards Janine’s table where Janine has straightened up, her eyes watching Una like a hawk.

  “Are you done with this?” Una asks in a low voice as she eyes Janine. Janine’s jaw drops but no sound comes out. Una picks up the saucer and makes her way to the bussing counter but not before throwing a playful wink at Ana and Amber. The two of them barely stifle their laughter.

  Janine falls back onto her elbows as she rests her chin on her hands and stares longingly well after Una’s gone into her office and shut her door. “She’s warming up to me,” Janine says smugly, rocking on her chair as it balances on its two hind legs. “I can feel it.”

  Just then Sarah walks in through the door and heads for the front counter with a bright smile on her face. “Hey, Sarah!”

  “Amber, hi. Is Una around?”

  “Yeah she’s-” A small thud interrupts them and they, along with the other patrons in the shop, watch as Janine picks the chair from the ground. When she turns her attention back to Sarah, the deliverer is still staring at Janine. “Sarah.”


  “What? Huh?”

  “I said Una’s in the back. Do you want me to go get her?”

  “No! No. I mean, I-I forgot something in the van. I gotta, I’ll be back-um, I’ll be back later.” Without another word, Sarah backs out of the shop almost toppling over a table. She catches herself just in time before pawing at the door and rushing back out.

  “What the hell was that?” Janine asks when she approaches the counter where Ana and Amber exchange confused looks.

  “No clue. Looked like she saw a ghost or something.”

  “Whatever it was, I’m glad to know I’m not the clumsiest around here.”

  “She at least didn’t break our plates,” Ana muses.

  Janine groans and heads out of the Bean muttering. “Jeeze, it happens six times and you’re branded for life.”

  A couple of hours later, Amber clocks out and is getting ready to head home for a quick nap when Ana stops her.

  “Hey, Ambs. Is this yours?” She pulls out the course catalog she’d been carrying around in her purse for a while now.

  “Um, yeah. Must’ve forgotten to put it back in my bag.”

  “Are you thinking about taking classes?” Just as she’s about to answer, Barnie walks in.

  “Yeah, I guess so. I just haven’t found one I’m interested in yet,” she answers, turning back to Ana.

  “Oh, are you taking classes?” Barnie asks.

  She shrugs. “No. No real plans to do it yet, though. Just ideas.”

  “You should do it. They have good classes,” Barnie comments. “I’ve taken some and they’ve been pretty great.” Ana nods in agreement.

  “Yeah. Take a class this summer and see how you like it.

  “You guys think I should?” Her co-workers offer their verbal assent in unison. “Well, I’ll give it some thought. Thanks, guys.”

  She doesn’t drive away at first, just sits in her car and opens the catalog, the summer classes flyer still wedged between the Business course pages. After a few minutes, she makes a right turn out of her spot instead of the normal left she takes to go home.