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“Quinn, hold on.” Abby took her phone back from her and, ignoring Samantha’s message, she created a new one to send Quinn her number. “There. Now, you have mine, too. And what you should know is that when I first left LA, I broke up with someone. It was going to end anyway, but I used my move here as a way to make it happen sooner. I also stupidly told her that I wasn’t sure if it would work out, me moving home, so there was a chance I’d move back. I thought I might if I could get over my anxiety issues.”

“So, she wants you back?”

“She’s texted me a few times since I moved here, yes. I’ve told her that I don’t want to get back together, but she’s persistent.”

“I get it. You’reyou, after all.”

Abby smiled at the compliment and said, “The women you and I have been before might have only been with each other or their husbands, because they had to be, but, really, their hearts probably only belonged to each other.”

“And you and I live today, where it’s not quite like that anymore. I get it. I’ve had girlfriends, too, Abby. I’m no virgin, either.”

“I’ve never been in love, Quinn. I’m close to thirty years old, and I’ve had long-term relationships – not many and not many short ones, either – but I’ve never actually loved anyone. I know that because I know how Deb loved Harriet. I can feel how Cheryl is falling for Diana already. I’ve never had that with anyone before.”

“Me neither,” Quinn shared.

“So, now that that’s taken care of, and you know that I don’t want to get back together with my ex, can we talk about tomorrow again?”

“You were going to call me about that.”

Abby took a deep breath then, pushing her worry andconcern out of her mind, which, surprisingly, wasn’t as hard as she’d expected it to be. She wanted this. She knew it was a risk, and it was overwhelming, but it was something that she knew she had to go for. So, she swallowed and decided to go for it. It was one night, one date, and if it didn’t work out or go well, they could talk about it.

“What if you come to my place for dinner tomorrow night? After the shop is closed, just come over. I’ll cook. You bring dessert.”

“Should I bring the wine, too?”

“Red? The dryer, the better?”

Quinn nodded with a smile and said, “I’ll close the shop and go to the store. Meet you at your place around seven?”

“Sounds good,” she replied and stood up.

“Abby?”

Abby was walking toward the door but stopped and turned back to her.

“Yeah?”

“Is this a first date?”

“Can it be, when we’ve already been on so many before we were even born?”

“Yes,” Quinn stated confidently. “Because it’sourfirst.”

CHAPTER 28

December 31st, 1958

It was the annual New Year’s Eve party hosted by the local Moose Lodge, a lodge built by and for men. Women weren’t allowed there unless invited for a party like this. Cheryl and her family went every year since her father was a member, and this year, they’d told her that she could bring someone with her. Expecting her to invite a boy she liked, Cheryl’s mother was clearly confused when Diana had shown up at their front door, dressed for the party.

They’d been together for three months now, exchanging glances when they thought no one was looking and finding time to sneak away into the sunflower field that no longer had sunflowers in it. At night, most of the time, they could go out there, lie on a blanket, and stare up at the stars while they held on to one another. They could kiss and cuddle and talk of the future they wanted to have together. Soon, they would be high school graduates. In two months, Diana would be eighteen, and one month after that, Cheryl would be, too, which meant that if they needed to run away for any reason, like her father finding out about them and kicking Diana out of the house, they could. It wasn’t the smartest decision, and she was determined not to test her only remaining parent’s love for her by telling him that she was in love with another girl, so she hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

In the back seat of Cheryl’s father’s car, Diana wanted to reach for and hold Cheryl’s hand. She couldn’t because Cheryl’s mother kept turning around to talk to her and ask Diana questions that she hadn’t had the chance to ask yet. Diana didn’t have a ton of free time, so what time she did have, they usually spent out in the field or somewhere else where they could be alone. A few times, after school, Cheryl had also brought Diana home, and they’d spent time on the bed,sharing long kisses and deep thoughts about not only their future but their apparent shared pasts as well. When Cheryl’s mother would arrive home, though, they’d stop and go downstairs so that Diana could head home or to the shop. Cheryl’s mother would usually try to ask her a few questions about her then. She’d answer them but try to get out of some that she just didn’t know the answer to before she’d leave.

Tonight, they had a plan. They’d go to the party, dance like two girls who were just friends, and when the adults weren’t paying any attention to them, they would leave the lodge, cut through the back parking lot, and hurry to the field, where, earlier in the day, Cheryl had placed a picnic basket and a few blankets. They’d wanted to ring in the new year alone together, not in a room full of strangers who would have someone to kiss at midnight, where the two of them couldn’t kiss each other.

“I think we can go,” Cheryl whispered. “My parents are talking to the Sullivans. They usually talk to them for about an hour. Then, it’s the midnight festivities. We can be back by twelve-thirty, and they won’t even know we’ve gone.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to your house? I know it’s not a cold night, but we could have the whole house to ourselves for a few hours,” Diana replied.