Tomahawk'd Part 4

"Oh, um." Jackson put her hand on Erin's shoulder as she started to walk away. "I wanted to tell you something."

Stopping to face her fully, Erin replied, "So tell me."

"There's someone else staying in our house."

Erin's stomach jumped. "Who?"

"My, um...well, I know you probably won't care, but um...well, Jackie is a lesbian and her..."

"She is?" Erinblurted, eyes big at the unveiling of such huge information. "I've never met one before!"

"It's not a big deal, really. You don't even realize she is until someone tells you," she said. "Her girlfriend, Sandra, is staying with us."

"How long is she staying with you?"

Shrugging, Jackson answered, "I'm not sure. I just know that I've never seen Jackie so happy. So, she can stay forever as far as I'm concerned."

Seeing a darkness cloud Erin's eyes, Jackson squeezed her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Erin took a deep breath, feeling the need to make a confession. "Jack, you can't tell my mom about Jackie. She would really flip out." Her blue eyes penetrated Jackson's. "I've heard her talk about gays in a really bad way. I don't want her talking like that about your aunt."

Jackson looked into the concerned eyes of her friend. "Thanks for telling me that, Erin. I appreciate it."

"Erin? Since when do you call me that?" she asked, a red eyebrow shooting up her forehead.

"Well, we were talking about something serious, so I thought I should use your real name."

"Well, don't. You are the only friend I have who doesn't call me that and I really like that fact. So, please, call me Hawk, okay?" she asked with a small smile.

"You got it." She drew Erin in for another hug. "It's so good to see you, Hawk. I really missed you."

Burying her face into the fresh clean smell of her companion, Erin reveled at the incredible feeling of being with Jackson again. "I missed you too, Jack."

Jackson pulled away and made an observation. "Your hair has gotten really dark, Hawk, almost red."

"I know. I used to be a total towhead, but it's changing. I kinda like it, though, so it's cool."

"Let's go say hi to Jackie." She picked up Erin's bags and the two walked over to the main cabin.

Jackson grabbed hold of the screen door and shouted, "You better be decent; we got a VIP guest coming in!"

Hair slightly tousled, Jackie flew from her bedroom and looked at her niece as if she were going to say something nasty. With one look at the guest, her face lit up. "Erin! It's so great to see you!" She rushed to the teenager and threw her arms around her.

"Hi, Jackie. It's great to see you too," Erin said, pulling out of the embrace. "My dad and mom have already gone to settle in. I wanted to say hi before this one takes me all over the place." She smiled warmly at Jackson, who returned one in kind.

From the hallway, an attractive, tall redhead watched the interaction between the girls. She announced herself with a clearing of her throat.

Jackie turned around quickly and let the smile she felt blossom on her lips. "Erin, I want you to meet my um, my fri..."

"It's okay...I told her, Jackie." Jackson and her aunt studied each other for a few seconds.

When Jackie realized that Erin would be okay with her introduction, she continued, "This is my girlfriend, Sandra. Sandra, this is one of my favorites, and definitely Jack's favorite guest."

Erin didn't fail to notice the red that scorched Jackson's face and neck following that admission.

Sandra walked over and offered her hand. "Hi, Erin. It's nice to meet you. I've heard so much about you from this one." She pointed to a still blus.h.i.+ng Jackson. "I feel like I already know you."

"It's really nice to meet you, Sandra. I hope we see more of each other this summer."

Sandra smiled, feeling as if Erin was older than Jackson had let on. "Such a nice, polite girl you are. What are you doing hanging with the likes of her?" She pointed again to a gape-mouthed Jackson.

"Close your mouth, Jack. You look like a wide-mouthed ba.s.s my dad might catch," Erin said, earning a laugh from Jackie and Sandra.

"Oh, I like this one. Let's keep her and toss the other one back." Sandra continued to laugh.

"All right, that's enough! Is it Pick On Jack Day or something?" she said, arms crossed over her black Guns N' Roses s.h.i.+rt.

"No, we all love you, Jack. We can't help it if you're easy to tease." Her aunt tried to placate Jackson while burying her tongue in her cheek.

"That's it. Hawk, we're outta here." Jackson leaned over and kissed her aunt on the cheek. "I might be home later, if anyone cares."

"Hey, before I forget, your friend Molly called while you were out." Sandra handed her the message she'd taken.

A strange look pa.s.sed over Jackson's face. Erin caught it immediately. "Do you want to call her back before we head out?"

"Uh, no. That's okay. I'll call her back later. Thanks." She crumpled the note and put it in her jean shorts pocket. "Come on, Hawk. Let's go say h.e.l.lo to the lake. It missed you." Jackson put her arm around Erin's shoulder and the girl responded with an arm around the slim waist. With a slight pull, they separated and headed out the door.

Sandra and Jackie shared a knowing glance at their retreating figures. "Oh, boy. Do you think they have any idea?" Sandra asked her partner.

"I think so. Jack came out to me right before her sixteenth birthday, but I'm not supposed to tell you that. I don't know about Erin, but I do know about Molly and Jackson. I'm not supposed to tell you that, either."

"Yeah, I was gonna ask you about them next."

"Ooo boy, I have a feeling this summer is not gonna be pretty. I think my little Jackson has bitten off much more than even she can chew." Jackie laced her fingers with Sandra's.

"She does have a big appet.i.te, though."

"Mmmm, must run in the family," Jackie said saucily, arms wrapping around the tall redhead's neck.

Leaning in for a small kiss, Sandra whispered, "Lucky me." She ran her fingers up and down the slightly smaller woman's back.

"Lucky us," the dark-haired woman said, correcting her partner. They leaned in once more and shared a much deeper kiss, filled with every ounce of love they felt for each other.

Pulling apart, Sandra rested her forehead against Jackie's shoulder. "I wish I could take you to bed." She kissed the side of Jackie's head.

Heart beating wildly with arousal, Jackie managed to say, "G.o.d, I want you, too. I'll show you how much later."

"Uggh." Sandra buried her face in Jackie's sweet smelling hair. They swayed in each other's arms for a long while, each relis.h.i.+ng the feel of the other. "Come on, let's find something nons.e.xual to do around here. I need to breathe some fresh air."

"Let's go play shuffleboard. That's the least s.e.xual thing we can do without actually working."

Sandra giggled at her partner. "You're on. I get to be black this time, though."

Releasing her grasp on Sandra's hand, Jackie opened the door. "You can have black if you can beat me to the court."

"Okay, you're on. On the count of three."

Together they started to count, "One, two, th..."

Jackie dashed out of the house before three was counted. Sandra chased after her cheating girlfriend and easily beat her to the board, much to Jackie's surprise and dismay.

Grabbing the black slide, Sandra smiled in triumph. She handed the red slide to a grumbling Jackie then walked to her side of the court. "Shuffleboard, anyone?"

Putting on her compet.i.tive hat, Jackie sneered and growled, "Puck you."

"Oh, that was bad, even for you." Jackie grinned then watched as Sandra's black disc slid effortlessly into the tip of the scoring triangle. Grin fading, she mumbled, "I should've gone down to the lake with the girls."

Erin kept her eyes closed as she breathed in the fresh air coming off the lake. The girls had stopped at the cottage to drop off Erin's bags then went down to the waterfront. Jackson had kept a hand on her shoulder as they walked down the pier. Erin thought it felt like the most natural thing in the world. Reaching for Jackson's hand, she gave it a squeeze before releasing it.

"It's so good to be back here." The smile never left her face. "I feel so different when I'm here. It's like this place calls to me." She blushed. "I guess that sounds pretty dumb, huh?"

Eyes twinkling under her sungla.s.ses, Jackson shook her head. "No, it's not dumb at all. Some people don't understand the beauty of this place. But for some, you know-people like us, the love and respect for the nature around here is a gift. Whether you accept that gift is another thing. The fact that you have, says a lot about you, Hawk."

"My gosh, Jack, you speak so worldly now."

Laughing softly, she replied, "No, I'm just so happy you feel that way about this place. I don't have many friends who love it like you do," she explained. "Oh, sure, they love coming down here to water ski and that sort of thing, but the rest of it is so foreign to them."

"Well, I'm not just any friend, you know." Erin grabbed Jackson's hand to give it a light squeeze.

Don't I know it. Jackson looked into the warm eyes that reflected the sky and wished she could open her heart fully to Erin. "No, you're my best friend." She looked out over the water, keeping Erin's hand in hers, idly caressing it with her thumb. "I could live here, err, I hope to live here, the rest of my life. I want to find someone to run the resort with me when my aunt can't any longer. I don't think it'll be as easy as it sounds."

"Sure it will, Jack. Who wouldn't want to spend their life here with you?" If it wouldn't make my mom go into a tizzy fit, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

"You never know, Hawk. You never know." They shared a warm smile then Jackson offered a suggestion, "You wanna go down to the boathouse? You can grab some of your art supplies and I can play you a soothing tune on my recorder while you draw. Actually, I'm playing the oboe now, too, so I could let you hear that. It has a totally different sound. Whaddya say?" Jackson was so hopeful about spending more time alone with Erin she could hardly deal with the emotions coursing through her.

Erin was so filled by Jackson that any time spent away from her felt like a lifetime. Excited by Jackson's new talent, she agreed enthusiastically. "Let me go get my supplies and I'll meet you up there." Erin knew her mother was going to be annoyed and didn't want Jackson to have to deal with that.

Not really understanding why she shouldn't go with Erin, she just nodded. "All right, I'll see you in a little while." She felt the wad of paper in her pocket and knew she had to call Molly soon anyway. "I'll give my friend a call back and meet you up there. Cool?"

Grateful for not having to explain her solo route, Erin gave Jackson her most winning smile. "Cool. Let's say fifteen minutes?"

"Done."

The girls parted ways. Jackson pa.s.sed Jackie and Sandra on the shuffleboard court. They were yelling fake obscenities at each other and drawing quite a crowd of onlookers with their comedic banter. She loved the way they played and egged each other on. The love she felt coming from them was palpable and for that she was grateful. Jackie had been alone for a while before Sandra, and now her aunt seemed very happy. Jackson wished she had that to look forward to in her own future.

Inside the main cabin, Jackson picked up the phone and dialed Molly's number.

"Hey, you," Jackson said when Molly answered.

"Hey, I thought you forgot about me," Molly said with theatric sadness.

"Never. My best friend from Chicago is here." Not hearing a response, she continued, "You know...Erin? I know I told you about her. We've been best friends since we were kids."

Blowing out a breath, Molly said, "Yeah. I just forgot she was coming today. I thought we could spend some time together. Maybe go swimming or um," her voice dropped lower, "go up to the boathouse loft?"

The insinuation went right to the southern regions of Jackson's body. Her face sporting a rosy tinge, she said, "Uh, no, I don't think that would be a good idea. Erin doesn't know about me and I really don't want to tell her yet, okay?"

Feigning hurt, Molly said, "What kind of best friend is that? If she is your best friend, she'd accept you any way you are. So am I not supposed to see you for the next month? Is that it?" Her voice was starting to rise.

"No!" Her voice matched Molly's then softened, "No, it's not that. Just don't expect me to, you know, do stuff while she's here. I wouldn't feel right."

"You'll just have to come over to my house, then. I know I won't be able to not touch you for an entire month."

"That's fine. I'm sure Jackie will let me take my car when I have to go to your house."

"Have to?" she questioned.

"Need to," Jackson amended, dropping her voice to soothe any possible waves Molly might want to make.

"Mmm, that's better. I need you now."

"Sorry, I can't right now. I promised Erin that we'd sit on the roof so she could do some drawing. You should see her art, Mol, she's so talented."

"Really?" Molly's voice dripped with sarcasm.

Not taking the bait, Jackson continued, "Yeah, she is, and I promised, so we'll get together another day, okay? How's tomorrow? I'd like you two to meet."

Oh, goody. "Sure Jack, I'll come by in the afternoon."

Jackson's face lit up. "Great! We'll have a lot of fun, I swear."

Erin's decision to go alone had been a good one. When her mother saw her leaving with her backpack, she immediately questioned her.

"Are you going to that filthy boathouse again?"

Rolling her eyes, Erin answered, "Yes, Mother, I'm going to do some drawing. That's the best place to draw here." She tried to keep the daggers from her eyes. In the months leading up to their vacation, her relations.h.i.+p with her mother had become strained. "You said you wanted me to draw, so I'm drawing. But I get to draw on my own terms or it won't come out right."

"Fine, just don't get yourself dirty. I think your father wants to take us out to Bosaki's for dinner tonight."

"Cool, can Jack come, too?" Erin asked, hopeful despite knowing what the answer would be.

"Can't you be away from her for two seconds and just be with us for one night?" her mother asked incredulously.

"I spend eleven months a year with you, Mother. I haven't seen Jack in a year. Can't I be happy to spend time with my best friend?"

"You know, I was never that happy to see my best friends. I just don't understand it."

"Well, Mother, then maybe you never had a friend as good as Jack because I miss her all the time when we're apart."