Page 10 of September (New Orleans #9)

G wen pulled out her phone, expecting it to be a client but finding Elisa’s name on the readout instead.

Elisa Benedetti : Thank you. Whatever you said worked. Adele is on the phone with Wendy now and is going back to campus tomorrow.

Gwen smiled and messaged her back.

“Sorry about that. That’s my sister-in-law.

Well, ex, technically, since she and my brother are divorced.

My niece just went to college and came home unexpectedly with some relationship problems, though, so I was over there earlier talking to her.

Elisa, that’s my sister-in-law, was just telling me that Adele is good now. ”

“So, you have the magic touch with both dogs and college students?” Juliet asked.

Gwen laughed and said, “Dogs are easier.” She looked down at the tiny and very well-behaved Carly, who was walking properly on the leash and seemed to be enjoying their walk. “Elisa has a terrier, too. Pretty sure he’s a mutt, though. His name is Buster. She just got him. He’s pretty entertaining.”

“Yeah? So, how many do you have?”

“Dogs?”

“Yeah,” Juliet said.

“Oh, none.”

“You have no dogs?” Juliet asked, clearly surprised.

“No,” she replied. “I have a gecko named Larry.”

“You have a gecko?” Juliet asked with a laugh.

Gwen nodded.

“Why Larry?”

“Why Carly?”

“Carly was a rescue. She had the name already. I don’t know where it came from. Did you rescue Larry?”

“From Tampa Bay, technically,” she said.

“I was there on vacation, and I found the little guy in my shoe when I got home. He had somehow gotten inside the hotel room and inside my shoe, which was already packed. I didn’t notice until I got back and pulled the shoes out of my suitcase.

He crawled out, too, and looked up at me with this super cute face.

I named him Larry. No idea why. It just came to me.

I took him to a vet, who suggested I keep him since he was far from home, so I did.

He’s a reef gecko, I discovered. He can live, like, ten to twenty years in captivity. They told me he was about a year old.”

“So, no dogs, but a gecko named Larry?” Juliet laughed.

“No dogs for now, but I want one in the future. In the meantime, I like taking care of other people’s dogs.

It’s fun, and I don’t have the responsibility when I get home.

I’m kind of like a grandma who gets to give the kids back at the end of the night.

I’m also in an apartment, and I’d like to get a big dog one day. I’d rather they have a yard.”

“Makes sense,” Juliet replied. “So, Carly seems to really like you.”

“She’s easy to please, and there was bacon.”

Juliet laughed again, and Gwen looked over at her.

Juliet Francis was beautiful. She had this long blonde hair and green eyes that popped with the green hoodie she had thrown on over those nipples she had shown Gwen accidentally earlier.

Gwen hadn’t planned on looking down, but the full breasts with hard nipples hadn’t been easy to ignore through that thin fabric.

It had taken her a few minutes to remember, but once she had connected to those eyes, she knew for sure that Juliet was the woman she had seen at the bar with that green beer bottle and an open expression on her face as she talked to the other woman.

“You can really take care of her for me while I’m away?

” Juliet asked. “I hate that I have to leave her for a few days so regularly, and I don’t know the rest of my schedule beyond September.

I would prefer not to have to find someone else.

How does it work if you’re sick or have to go out of town or something? How–”

Gwen stopped walking. Carly turned to look at her and then sniffed the grass in the little patch to the left of the sidewalk. Juliet stopped, too, and turned to Gwen.

“If, for any reason, I can’t get to her, I have back-ups. They’re all on the app, so you can check them out. I’ll send you their profiles. I have two people I cover for myself regularly, and they cover for me. I would trust them with my own dog.”

“That you don’t have?” Juliet teased.

“Fine.” Gwen chuckled. “I would trust them with Elisa’s dog, whom I love like my own.

Once you know your schedule, though, we’ll see what I can do.

I’ll walk other dogs during the day, and you can decide if you want Carly walked solo or with a group.

We’ll figure it out, okay? You don’t have to worry. ”

Juliet nodded and said, “I know. I just always will. This job came out of nowhere.”

“But it’s a good thing, right? A promotion?”

“Yes, but my old boss got fired, so she’s not there for me to talk to and get my questions answered. It was totally unexpected, which is making me more stressed out than I think I’d be otherwise.”

“I’m sure you’ll kill it,” Gwen replied.

Her phone buzzed again, and she pulled it out.

Elisa Benedetti : Want to grab a drink with us at Candace’s?

Gwen Benedetti : When?

“Sorry. Sister-in-law again,” she said to Juliet.

“Everything okay with your niece?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Adele is eighteen and is totally in love for the first time. It’s sweet, and she’s scared.”

“Weren’t we all?” Juliet asked and motioned for them to keep walking.

“Oh, definitely. My first girlfriend and I fumbled through our first time, and I blurted out that I loved her loudly as she was walking to class, when I had meant to say it a whole lot softer. People were looking at us, and she walked away, probably more embarrassed than I was. Adele somehow managed to have a successful first time with her girlfriend, and it was so successful that Adele doubted that it had been successful. Her girlfriend also told her that she loved her, and it was all perfect and sappy, and I’m happy for her and jealous at the same time.

Is it normal to be jealous of your niece like that? ”

She looked over at Juliet to see if she had caught that Gwen had mentioned a girlfriend. Since Juliet had been in a gay bar, she suspected that it wouldn’t be a problem but that Juliet also might know exactly what Gwen was talking about. She hoped for that anyway.

“I think it’s probably okay as long as you’re not trying to live vicariously through her,” Juliet suggested. “My first girlfriend and I were anything but successful , and when I said I loved her, she replied with a thank-you and ended our relationship about two days later.”

“Shit. Really?” Gwen asked.

“Yes. I was nineteen, and we’d been together for two months. I thought we’d spend our whole lives together, but we were waiting until we were both ready. I guess she hated it and thought I had no hope at getting better at it.” Juliet chuckled. “She was with someone else a few days later.”

“Oh, she’s a bitch,” Gwen replied. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine now. I mean, I did cry into my pillow nightly for a week, and my roommate had suggested I go to student health to talk to someone, but I got over her.”

“How long ago was that?” Gwen asked.

“Well, I’m twenty-seven, so eight years. What about you? That first girlfriend you mentioned?”

“I’m thirty-two,” she said without answering the question Juliet had just asked.

“Oh, okay,” Juliet replied.

Carly stopped walking and turned around to face them.

“This is usually when we head back.”

“She’s a smart dog. Aren’t you?” Gwen said to Carly and looked back at Juliet. “I have to get going anyway, but you can just let me know if you want me to–”

“Yes,” Juliet interrupted. “Please. Can you start Monday?”

◆◆◆

“Hi. And also, I met a pretty girl today,” Gwen said the moment she sat down across from Elisa and Myra.

“You did?” Elisa asked. “Where?”

“She’s a new client,” she replied. “And I saw her at the bar before. She’s into women in some capacity, at least.”

“Because you saw her at the gay bar?” Myra asked.

“She confirmed it for me. We talked a little while I got to know her dog, Carly.”

“You’re going out with a client? Is that allowed?” Elisa asked.

“It’s not like I’m a psychiatrist or something. But also, no; I never said that we were going out. I just said that I met a pretty girl. Blonde. Beautiful green eyes. Sexy in a hoodie. My kind of woman.”

“And you’re going to walk her dog?” Elisa asked.

“Yes. And pet sit. She got a new job that requires travel, so I’ll be hanging out with Carly a bunch.”

“And you’re hoping for something more with Carly’s mom?” Elisa asked.

“Juliet,” Gwen elaborated. “Pretty name, huh?”

“What’s a pretty name?” Candace asked when she approached the booth.

“Juliet.”

“As in Romeo? Yeah, pretty. Classic. What can I get for you?”

“Just a beer. Abita.”

“Sure,” Candace replied and walked off.

“So, you think she’s pretty, but are you going to ask her out?” Myra asked.

“I don’t know yet. Maybe. She’s going to be gone a lot, it seems, so not sure there’s much of a point, but we’ll see. So, how’s Adele?”

“In love,” Elisa replied. “And she filled me in. Well, she gave me some of what was going on, at least. She said you helped her.”

“Not really. I think she just needed a non-mom to talk to, and I was there.”

“It was more than that. And thank you. I’m buying your drinks tonight,” Elisa said.

“Just one drink. I’m not staying long. I mainly wanted to make sure that Adele was okay.”

“She’s probably still on the phone with Wendy. I overheard a little of the conversation.”

“You were eavesdropping?” she teased.

“No, the walls are thin, and I overheard while I was in the bedroom. They’re in love. It’s adorable.”

“Yes, it is,” Gwen said with a smile. “And she’s going back tomorrow?”

“She has class on Monday, so she has no choice, but I think she would’ve driven through the night to get to Wendy had I let her.

I convinced her to leave first thing in the morning instead and stop by Wendy’s for a while before heading back to campus.

They’re about an hour apart, so it’s not a huge distance.

I have no idea what she would’ve done had Wendy been hours away. ”

“Pine,” Myra added, wrapping an arm around Elisa’s shoulders.

“Probably,” Elisa said. “Oh, and we decided that Myra is going to add a bay window to my bedroom.”

“You are?” Gwen asked.

“Yeah, it’s easy enough. It’ll be an open wall, though, so Elisa will stay at my place while the work is going on, but I think it’ll really add to the house when it’s done. It’ll give a bay window in the kitchen, too, for a nice little nook.”

“That’s cool,” she replied, thinking that it sounded like her friend, who was really more a sister to her than a friend, was happy, and it made Gwen happy as well to know that. “And now, you won’t have to worry about the kids coming home and walking in on you two getting it on,” she teased.

Elisa laughed and said, “We were just kissing this time. We weren’t getting it on. And the kids could at least text me to let me know that they’re on the road. For safety.”

“For safety? Yeah, right.” Gwen laughed.

“Beer,” Logan said, placing the bottle on the table in front of her.

“Hey,” Gwen said as she looked up at her. “Thanks.”

“No problem. You’re my last delivery. I’m off now.”

“Going to see Rory?” Gwen asked.

“Yeah. But I’m not really going anywhere because I just moved into her place this week,” Logan replied.

“Officially official?” Myra asked.

“I’ve been slowly taking my stuff over there, but I don’t have much, so it didn’t take all that long. It’s been a few days now, but I’ve basically been living there for months, and she hasn’t kicked me out yet.”

“She loves you. I think you’re okay,” Myra offered.

“It’s crazy, though, isn’t it? One day, I’m pretty miserable and thinking I’ll never be in another relationship or find a decent job, and I find Rory and this place at the same time.”

“Aren’t you a plumber, too?” Gwen asked.

“Yes, but I’m doing that part-time for now while I work here.

Candace knows I’ll quit someday and do that full-time, but I’ll make sure she has a replacement first. I also like it here and don’t really want to give it up, so I might see if she lets me stay on and work a shift or two each week or something.

It’s good to have the extra money, too. I want to propose to Rory one day, and I’ll need a ring. ”

“Propose? You just met,” Myra said.

Gwen laughed at the fearful expression on Myra’s face, and Elisa just shook her head at her girlfriend.

“I know it’s only been four months, but I’m not asking her tomorrow or anything.

I just want to start saving. Saving money hasn’t always been something that I could do.

” Logan looked down at her shoes, and Gwen wondered why, but she didn’t want to ask.

“She just makes me want that future, you know? That future that doesn’t seem possible until you meet the love of your life, and then it’s like exactly what you’ve wanted the whole time but never thought it was possible. ”

“That’s great, Logan,” Gwen replied, a little jealous because she wanted a woman to talk about her like that.

“Do you have time to hang out with us for a few before you go?” Myra asked.

“Sure. Rory won’t be done babysitting for another hour, at least,” Logan said. “Can I sit?” she asked Gwen.

“Go for it,” she replied. “So, ring-shopping?”

“Not shopping just yet; saving the money first. I think in around a year, I should have enough to get her something really nice. I know she’d be fine with anything, but I want her to have something special, something that shows her how much I love her.”

“I think you can just do that every day,” Gwen noted. “Right? I mean, that’s love. A ring is great. A wedding is fine. But loving someone is an everyday thing. I don’t know Rory all that well, but she doesn’t strike me as someone who needs a big diamond to know that you love her.”

“She’s not.” Logan chuckled. “I fix something around the apartment, and she’s eternally grateful because she’s not at all handy. It’s adorable.”

“There you go, then,” Elisa said. “You don’t need a big ring. Get her what you think she’d like.”

When Logan nodded, Gwen took a drink of her beer and turned her head toward the front door for no reason in particular. There, she saw someone she hadn’t expected to see, which caused her to choke on her beer.

“You okay?” Logan asked.

“Uh… Pretty girl,” Gwen replied before her eyes met Juliet’s, who tilted her head, laughed a little, and nodded.