Beautiful Little Fools(30)

“We should play night golf,” she whispered, her breath hitting my lips as she spoke. But neither one of us moved.

“I… I’ve never done this before,” I said.

Her thumb moved from my cheek down slowly, until she touched my top lip softly. And I knew she understood I wasn’t really talking about the night golf. Her touch made it feel like she was giving me permission.

A few inches more. One more tiny step.

I couldn’t stop myself. I didn’t want to stop myself.

I took that step. And I touched my lips to her lips, slowly, softly.





Daisy August 1919

SANTA BARBARA




“DAISE!” JORDAN PRACTICALLY SCREAMED MY name and grabbed me in a big fat hug when she saw me standing out in front of the restaurant.

It was the end of August, and Tom and I had extended our honeymoon by stopping in Santa Barbara for a stay at the Santa Barbara Hotel on our way back east from Hawaii. Jordan had written me a few weeks ago, said she’d be out here for a practice tournament. And Tom said he knew of a good polo game he could join. After two months away, he was aching to go back to his ponies. I was aching for Jordan.

I clung to Jordan now, breathing in the warm familiar lilac scent of her. They were apparently under very strict rules in the golf tournament, practice, practice, practice hitting balls, or whatever it was they did all day. But Jordan had managed to sneak away to meet me this afternoon for lunch.

“Where’s Tom?” Jordan asked, pulling back a little, looking around.

Tom was supposed to come along for lunch, too, but then he’d gotten them to make him a mint julep at the hotel and had just settled into a chair with his drink and the papers as I was ready to leave. He claimed he was too comfortable to get up. You girls should catch up without me anyway, he’d said, and I’d laughed at the careless way he referred to me and Jordan as girls. But the truth was, Santa Barbara wasn’t the South Seas, and Tom and I had begun to spend time apart here. He’d already been off with his ponies all morning, and I was a little disappointed that he’d chosen to stay behind for lunch, too.

“Oh, I thought it was better if it was just us,” I lied to Jordan now. I wasn’t sure why I lied, even as the words came out of my mouth. But I couldn’t stop them.

“Oh, Daise.” She enveloped me in another hug. “I’ve missed you so.”

Jordan looked and felt and smelled as she always had—small and trim with her short fashionable hair. But when I took a step back and examined her face, she had new lines around her eyes. Worry? Sadness? Maybe Tom was right. It would be better for us to be alone so we could really catch up.

“I’m so sorry about your daddy,” I said, taking her hand as we walked inside and were led by the ma?tre d’ to our lunch table. It was up a flight of stairs, and outside on the rooftop, overlooking the ocean. He pulled out our chairs and handed us menus—Tom had told me to order a feast and put it on his tab—but I wasn’t even hungry for food, and I put my menu down on the table without looking as soon as the ma?tre d’ walked away. I was hungry for my Jordie, for her stories, and her laughter and companionship.

“Daddy hadn’t been well for so long,” Jordan was saying now, fiddling with her linen napkin in her lap. Then she turned, stared off at the ocean for a moment, and sighed. The wind blew, and I shivered. In front of me the water was bright blue but, I’d learned when I’d dipped my toes in yesterday, shockingly cold. It felt impossible it was the very same Pacific we’d waded through in Tahiti. “Of course that doesn’t make things any easier, does it?” Jordan was saying now. “He’s gone now forever. And it’s really hard, Daise.”

I reached across the table and patted her hand. “I’m sorry, Jordie. It is hard. I know.”

“I know you do.” She offered me a half smile, squeezed my hand. She cleared her throat. “Let’s talk about happier things, all right? Tell me, Daise. How’s married life? Divine? Your cheeks are so pink you’re positively glowing.”

I reached my hand up to touch my face and wondered if my cheeks really were glowing or still had residual sunburn from Hawaii. “It’s so blissful, Jordie. I wake up in the morning and wonder if I’m in a dream. I’m not in a dream, am I?” I held out my arm. “Pinch me.” Jordan obliged and reached across the table and pinched the flesh on my forearm. “Ow!” I exclaimed.

“Nope, not dreaming,” she clucked, amused.

I rubbed my arm a little and reached across the table to swat her hand lightly, but I was happy to see her smiling again. Everything was different now than it once was when we were girls in Louisville, but no matter, she was still the same old Jordie and I was still the same old Daisy. And when we were together, all felt right with the world again. I let out a happy sigh. “And what about you?” I asked her. “How’s the golf tour?” She smiled, and her own cheeks brightened up.

“Well, I’ve been winning this week,” she said. “If that’s what you’re asking. And only four of us girls were chosen to come out and compete in this practice tournament and I was one of them.”

“That’s marvelous,” I said, having no idea what went into being chosen, and not really interested in those details either. All that really mattered was that she was here, sitting across from me. I didn’t care about how she’d gotten here. How many balls she’d gotten in the holes or whatever it was she did exactly playing golf. “So then you’re happy on the tour?” I asked.