The heavy rain that had been falling for the last few hours continued to beat against the large bay window as Olivia Stone sat in the plush recliner, watching the droplets run down the glass. It had been raining on and off all week and while the annoyingly cheerful weather girl on channel 4 had promised clear skies for the weekend, it was already Friday night and it hardly seemed likely that they were in store for anything but more of the same.

Originally, the forty-two-year-old blonde had intended to spend the night in front of the television with a fire going in the hearth and a glass of her favorite wine. TCM was running one of her favorite old movies tonight and with her daughter having left to go back to college early, Olivia had been looking forward to a quiet evening alone. It had been a busy week at the local hospital where she worked as a pediatric nurse and she was looking forward to a quiet night.

However, when she had settled down in front of the television and turned on the remote, all she found was a blank screen. Calling the cable company, she’d gotten a recording that said they were having technical difficulties and service would be restored as soon as possible. Evidently, the storm had knocked out the cable connection somewhere along the line.

She’d read a book for a while but eventually decided she really wasn’t in the mood. Picking up the phone, she started to dial her best friend, Mindy’s number, thinking that if nothing else, they could spend an hour or two trading the latest gossip. Mindy always had the best dirt on who was doing what with whom. Unfortunately, all she got was an answering machine and the recollection that Mindy had mentioned the possibility that she and her husband, Tom, might be going away for the weekend.

The thought of Mindy and Tom frolicking the night away at some bed and breakfast reminded Olivia that intimate companionship was something she greatly missed in the two years since her divorce. Since becoming single again, she’d dated on and off, but in a town the size of Westington, her options had turned out to be quite limited.

Not everyone really knew each other, but it was a good bet that everyone had a friend of a friend who knew someone who knew you. As a result, a fair number of the men she’d met in the last year knew, or knew someone who’d known Carl Stone. And if they did, they certainly knew he’d moved upstate after a really nasty divorce, the central issue of which had been that he’d been screwing his twenty-eight-year-old assistant every chance he could. Half of those who knew looked on her as someone desperate to land a new husband and the others saw her as a lonely divorcee who was an easy lay. As if there was no middle ground.

With Mindy unavailable, Olivia briefly considered trying Sally Parks, another of her friends. Sally was going through a divorce and the two shared common ground. However, at the last moment, the blonde remembered that Sally was on her “men, who needs them” kick again and Olivia really wasn’t in the mood for that tonight either. So it was just a glass of wine and watching the raindrops fall. An early bed seemed her best option, hoping tomorrow really did bring out the sun.

Olivia had just shut down the fireplace when the telephone rang. Putting down her still half-full glass of wine, she picked it up and heard an almost hysterical young woman on the other end. At first, she thought it was her daughter and her heart skipped a beat. Then she realized that the voice wasn’t Carol’s but was nevertheless familiar.

“Mrs. Stone, is Carol home?” the crying girl managed to control herself long enough to ask.

“Kathleen, Kathleen Freeman?” Olivia asked as she finally placed the voice and the girl acknowledged her identity. “Oh Kathleen, I’m sorry but Carol left early this morning to go back to school. She wanted to stop and visit her father on the way.”

Despite the animosity between the two of them, Olivia and Carl had gone out of their way not to let it destroy each other’s relationship with their only child.

“Oh God,” Kathleen said, reverting back to a tearful voice, “I was hoping she was home. I don’t know who else to call.”

“Kathleen, what’s wrong?” Olivia asked, her concern genuine. She had known the twenty-year-old since her daughter had met her back in their first year of high school.

“I’ve had an accident,” the girl managed to say. “I smashed up my car.”

“Are you alright?” Olivia quickly asked. “Is anyone else hurt?”

“I’m just shaken up a little,” Kathleen replied. “There was no one else in the car. I skidded off the road and hit a tree.”

“Thank God,” Olivia said.

“But the police are here and they keep asking me how many drinks I’ve had,” the girl said as she began crying again. “I swear, I only had a few beers, I’m not drunk.”

“Where are you?” Olivia asked.

“I’m out on Route 6, just past Miller’s Crossing.”

Olivia quickly did the math and figured she could be there in just over ten minutes, even in the rain. She told Kathleen not to worry and that she’d be right there.

Grabbing her raincoat and the car keys, Olivia started up her old Escort and heading down to the interchange that would put her on Route 6. She was glad she had only the half glass of wine because with the roads this wet, and visibility limited, it definitely wasn’t a night to be driving impaired.

It would’ve been hard to miss the accident site, even on a night like this. The flashing lights of the police cruiser and a tow truck were visible far down the road. Covering herself with an umbrella, Olivia got out and quickly found Kathleen.

“Kathleen, are you okay?” she asked again, looking over the girl for any sign of injury.

“I’m fine,” Kathleen answered, her voice shaky and unconvincing.

“What happened?”

“I thought I saw someone or something in the road and tried to slow down,” she explained. “Then I started skidding and couldn’t stop.”

“Then it wasn’t your fault,” Olivia said.

“I don’t think the police believe me,” Kathleen said. “Once they found out I was coming back from Gilhooley’s, all they kept asking was how much I’d had to drink and when I told them they acted like they didn’t believe me.”

Gilhooley’s was a rather secluded bar and grill just outside of town. It was the sort of place people went to either drink in private or not be seen for other reasons. Carl, Olivia had later learned, was a frequent patron.

“Kathleen, how many drinks did you have?” Olivia asked, “And I need you to tell me the truth, I can’t help you otherwise.”

“Only two, I swear,” Kathleen answered. “I went there to meet someone and it didn’t really go well. That’s why I left after only two drinks.”

Olivia’s gut reaction was that Kathleen was telling the truth. Whether she could convince the on site officers of that was another thing. Working at the hospital, she had met just about every one wearing a badge in the county at one time or another. Hopefully the two that belonged to the cruiser over there were some of the more reasonable ones.

Leaving Kathleen sitting inside the small kiosk that served as a waiting station for the county bus line, Olivia headed over to the closest figure in blue. The young man, who she guessed couldn’t be much older than Kathleen, told her that she would have to talk to his partner, who at the moment was engaged in conversation with the tow truck driver. She had to wait a few minutes until he was finished.

“Oh shit!” Olivia said under her breath when the senior officer turned around and headed back toward her. “Over fifty cops in this town and it would have to be him.”

The officer’s face filled with a smile as he approached and she became more recognizable. It was a face Olivia knew well.

“Well, well, well,” the officer whose name tag read Hickman said as he stopped only a few feet in front of her, “I knew that one of these days you’d come to your senses and call me back, but this is a little extreme, don’t you think?”

“Don’t let that inflated ego of yours run away with itself, Ray,” Olivia said. “The girl whose car is up on the hook is a friend of my daughter’s. I just came out here to help her.”

“I think she might need a lawyer more than a nurse,” Ray said as he looked at her with an approving eye. “We’re about to take her in on suspicion of DWI.”

“Suspicion?” Olivia repeated, “Then you haven’t taken a breathalyzer test yet.”

“Turns out the one we have with us is damaged,” he explained, “that’s why we’re taking her back to the station. Trust me, I’ve stopped enough of these kids to know she’s going to come in over the limit.”

“Come on Ray, give the girl a break,” Olivia said as she saw her opening. “All she hit was a tree and for all you know, there was something out there in the road. God knows I’ve hit the brakes enough times out here when some animal jumped out in front of me.”

“You’re asking me to disregard my duty,” Ray said, trying to sound conscientious.

“Like that’s never happened before,” Olivia countered, knowing full well how many times he’d let some big boobed bimbo off because she’d flashed some cleavage at him. “If nothing else, do it as a favor for me.”

“Well you know, I’m not the only one here,” Ray pointed out. “My partner...”

“That kid will do whatever you tell him and you know that,” Olivia cut him off.

“Okay, I’ll give the kid a break,” the officer say in a tone that implied he was relenting reluctantly, “but you have to do something for me in return.”

Their conversation went on for a few more minutes, with a look of first anger, then simple annoyance filling Olivia’s face. Finally, she nodded her head in agreement and turned to walk back toward where she’d left Kathleen.

“Okay, we’re out of here,” she told Kathleen as she stepped up to her.

“But the police, my car?” a confused Kathleen asked.

“You can check on your car over at Peterson’s Garage tomorrow,” Olivia said as she led the girl back to her own car. “The damage doesn’t look as bad as you might think. Just the passenger side fender and one of the headlights.”

“But the police,” the brunette repeated. “They said they were going to charge me with...”

“Officer Hickman and I came to an understanding,” Olivia said as she started the engine and pulled back onto the road. “All the official report is going to say is that you swerved to avoid an animal in the road and then lost traction in the rain. Since it wasn’t your fault, there shouldn’t be any problem with your insurance company paying for the repairs.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Kathleen said in a relief-filled voice.

“Let’s just forget it, okay,” Olivia said. “I want to stop over at the hospital before we head home so that one of the doctors can check you out. Just to be sure.”

Grateful as she was, Kathleen gave no objection and given Olivia’s connections, they only had a short wait before she was examined. Only three hours after Kathleen had first called, Olivia was pulling back into her driveway.

“You can spend the night in Carol’s room,” Olivia said as she led Kathleen into the house. “I don’t want to go further than we have to in this rain.”

Kathleen agreed with a smile, and thanked Olivia for the further offer of something hot to drink before she turned in.

“Why don’t you change into something dry while the tea kettle boils,” Olivia also suggested. “There are some pajamas on Carol’s bed and the two of you are about the same size.”

It only took about ten minutes for Kathleen to reappear back in the kitchen, now wearing a pair of cotton, unisex pajamas. She had also unpinned her dark hair so that it now hung down to just past her shoulders. Olivia estimation of her guest’s size had failed to take into consideration a larger bust than her daughter. The buttons of her top seemed strained to contain their fullness and the outlines of her nipples were plain to see.

“Oh well, it’s only for the night,” Olivia thought as she handed Kathleen one of the two cups of tea she’d prepared and motioned for the girl to join her at the kitchen table.

“Mrs. Stone, I don’t want to appear ungrateful but...” she started to say but was interrupted.

“Olivia, please,” the older woman said, “I think we passed the Mrs. Stone stage when you graduated from high school.”

“Okay, Olivia then,” Kathleen started over. “I don’t want to appear ungrateful, but I can’t help but worry what you might have done to change that police officer’s mind. He seemed pretty determined.”

“Pig headed is more like it,” Olivia laughed as she sipped her tea.

She paused a moment then gave Kathleen her answer.

“Let’s just say Ray Hickman and I have a history, one that he’d like to see continue,” she said. “So in exchange for his agreeing to see things my way, I agreed to go out with him for dinner next weekend.”

“Just dinner?”

“Well, there might be some other activities involved,” Olivia admitted, with an expression that left little doubt as to what those might be, “but that’s my concern, not yours.”

“But...”

“That’s the end of the discussion,” Olivia said in the tone she usually reserved when she was putting her foot down with her own daughter. “Now it’s been a long night so why don’t we both turn in and get some sleep.”

Not wanting to argue with her benefactor, Kathleen took her advice and said her goodnights.

As Olivia rinsed out the two tea mugs before heading up to her own bedroom, she thought again of the bargain she’d made with Ray. Of course the forty-six-year-old police officer expected more than just dinner. It was only the prospect of a very special dessert that finally changed his mind. What Kathleen had no way of knowing was that it would hardly have been the first time that the two of them made the beast with two backs.

Ray Hickman had fallen into the second category of men she’d dated since the divorce. If she was honest with herself, there were times that assessment of her was right on target. She was hardly living a life of denial these last months and after all, a woman had needs as much as a man. And continuing in her honesty, she had to admit that putting aside whatever other character flaws Ray might have, he was definitely something else in bed. So maybe it hadn’t been such a bad bargain after all.

Much to Olivia’s surprise, the morning did indeed bring the sun and clear skies. She let Kathleen sleep in, figuring that sleep was probably what she needed more than anything else. It was almost noon by the time she heard her stirring. When the shower shut off a few minutes later, she’d already put on a late breakfast.

“I borrowed a blouse and skirt from Carol’s dresser,” Kathleen said as she walked into the kitchen. “My clothes weren’t where I left them last night. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” Olivia smiled as she laid a plate of bacon, eggs and hash browns on the table. “I tossed them in the washer while you were sleeping. They should be out of the dryer by the time you finish eating.”

“Oh you’ve done too much already,” Kathleen insisted.

“Nonsense,” Olivia replied. “Besides, it’s already made and it would be a shame to just toss it out.”

Kathleen gave in and despite her protest, quickly wolfed down everything on the plate. It had been a while since she had anything for breakfast other than just cereal and coffee.

“So what have you been doing with yourself since the last time I saw you?” Olivia asked as she sat across from the young woman. “I didn’t know that Carol and you still kept in touch after she went upstate to college.”

“Carol was one of the few people that still wanted to be my friend after high school,” Kathleen said as she finished the last of her breakfast. “That’s why I called her last night, I didn’t know who else I could turn to. You know my parents won’t even take my calls.”

That was something that Olivia would never be able to understand. No matter what Kathleen had done, and in her mind it wasn’t very terrible, it was incomprehensible that her mother and father had totally disowned her.

Kathleen’s mother, June, had actually grown up in the same neighborhood as Olivia. They were never close friends, especially after June met Collin Brookes in her junior year of high school and through him found religion. Olivia had nothing against people who were serious about their faith, but she did have a problem with those who followed it fanatically and condemned anyone who didn’t. She also thought June somewhat hypocritical in condemning her own daughter for her sexuality when it was pretty much common knowledge among the girls in their circle as to know many of the boys had found their way under June’s blouse, at least in the pre-Collin days.

From the story that Carol had shared with her mother, Kathleen hadn’t just come out of the closet in the summer following graduation. It was more a case of the closet door being blown off.

Collin and June Freeman had come home unexpectedly from a weekend retreat and found their only daughter naked in the living room in the arms of an equally nude older woman. That the woman turned out to be her former high school music teacher, Carrie Reynolds, only made matters worse. The fact that both were of legal age didn’t prevent the Freemans from having the woman fired from her position.

“Carol told me the story,” Olivia said, letting Kathleen known that she didn’t have to explain further.

The girl seemed relieved that Kathleen already knew her secret and more importantly, it didn’t seem to matter to her. Moving on, she concentrated on relating what she’d been doing since then.

“With my parents taking away my college fund, I’ve been working at Parsons Bakery and going to classes at the community college,” Kathleen explained. “My advisor says that if I keep my grades up the way I’ve been doing, I should be able to get a scholarship when I make the jump to a senior college.”

“That’s wonderful,” Olivia said with sincere admiration. She remembered how hard it was going back to school to get her nursing degree once her marriage began to crumble.

They talked a while longer, mostly about school and Kathleen’s plans for the future. Then the subject turned back to the events of last night. Olivia had to admit, her curiosity had gotten the better of her.

“How did you wind up at Gilhooley’s?” she asked.

“I was meeting someone there,” Kathleen said, repeating the answer she had given last night.

“Oh yes, that’s right,” Olivia reflected, “and if I remember correctly, you’d said it hadn’t gone well.”

“No, we had an argument right off the bat,” Kathleen confirmed, “and it went downhill from there.”

“Could I ask what the argument was about?”

“I found out that she was still seeing her husband,” Kathleen said.

“She was married?”

“Separated and getting a divorce,” the younger woman explained, “or at least that was what she told me.”

“And what did she say when you confronted her?”

“She said that as much as she loved being with me, she couldn’t give up a man totally,” Kathleen went on. “The thing was, I could’ve dealt with that. I wasn’t looking for a permanent relationship. What I couldn’t deal with was the fact that she’d been lying to me almost from the beginning.”

“I can relate to that,” Olivia said, remembering how long Carl’s affair with his assistant had gone on before she found out about it.

“Olivia, as long as we are talking about last night again, I have to say something,” Kathleen said.

“Okay.”

“I’m really not comfortable with the idea that you agreed to sleep with that cop in order to get me out of trouble,” she stated.

“Well like I said last night, that’s my concern and nothing for you to worry about,” Olivia assured her, “and to be honest, it won’t be the first time we’ve done it.”

“But you wouldn’t be doing it now if not for me,” Kathleen insisted. “If anyone should be sleeping with him, it should be me.”

“I thought you didn’t like men,” Olivia said in surprise, “at least sexually.”

“I don’t,” Kathleen replied, “I mean I did once but not anymore. I just thought that if anyone was going to have to pay to get me out of trouble it should be me.”

“Maybe you should be sleeping with me then,” Olivia said, wondering as soon as the words came out of her mouth where they could’ve come from.

Kathleen looked as surprised at hearing what she said as Olivia was in saying it. The older woman tried to quickly recover by saying she was only joking of course.

The expression on Kathleen’s face said she hadn’t taken it as such.

“Oh my God,” Olivia thought, “she thought I was serious.”

There was a long moment of awkward silence that followed, until Olivia tried to defuse what she’d said.

“Kathleen, I’m sorry, that was a poor joke on my part,” she said, “How anyone could imagine that a beautiful young woman like you would have any interest in an old lady like me?”

“You’re hardly old,” Kathleen said, her eyes lighting up as she spoke, “and I think you’re the one who’s beautiful.”

“I really don’t know what to say,” Olivia said after another long pause.

At that moment, the loud buzzer from the dryer in the basement went off, giving Kathleen the chance to excuse herself to go and get her clothing. She reappeared a short while later, changed into her now clean outfit from last night.

“I’d better be going,” Kathleen said as she gathered up her bag and a few other things she had with her. “I really want to thank you again for everything you did for me. If there is anyway I can ever make it up to you, please just ask.”

With that, before Olivia could again say it had been nothing that Kathleen should be concerned about, the younger woman was out the door. Olivia watched from the window as she crossed the street and after a few minutes wait, caught the bus on the corner.

All the rest of the day, regardless of how she tried to occupy herself, Olivia couldn’t get Kathleen and what had happened out of her mind. Where in the world did that line about sleeping with her come from?

Kathleen was hardly the first lesbian she’d ever met. There had been Norma Curtis back in high school. Of course no one knew she was gay until almost ten years after graduation so that probably didn’t count. Then there was Mandy Norris, one of the EMT’s at the hospital who was quite open about her sexuality. Yet despite an open invitation to take on all comers, Olivia had never had the slightest thought of taking her up on it. Of course the fact that Mandy was more masculine than most men she knew, Ray included, could’ve been a factor there.

Olivia was barely familiar with the terms butch and fem, but knew enough to say that Kathleen definitely belonged in the latter category. The girl was beautiful, and when she thought about it, greatly resembled her mother back in their high school days. A girl like that could get any man, or woman in her case, which she wanted. And while, if Olivia let her fantasies run amuck for a moment and admit that if she were interested in a lesbian fling, a girl like Kathleen would be a heavenly partner, the big question would be, why would a girl like her want anyone like Olivia?

It was true, she thought, that despite almost twenty years of marriage and a hard pregnancy, she still had a decent body and a pretty, if ordinary face. Okay, she was a little chunkier than the girl of eighteen that had married Carl Stone, but overall, she considered herself in better shape than many of her peers. Even the generous bust that had been the object of attention of many of her classmates back in their teens had held up rather well. It still caught men’s attention and other women’s envy.

Then it hit her like a thunderclap, the answer was right in her face and she hadn’t seen it. The teacher Kathleen had first been caught with, according to Carol, had to be at least ten to fifteen years older than her former student, and while Olivia had no idea who it was that she had met last night, the woman had been married and had to have been so a while if she had been separated, contemplating divorce. That wasn’t something that usually happened if you’ve only been together a short time. If some women were attracted to older men, and vice versa, then why couldn’t Kathleen be attracted to older women as well.

“Well, that explains why she might be interested,” Olivia said to herself, “but not what, if anything, I should do about it.”

Part of her mind, the logical part, gave her the easy answer. That she should do absolutely nothing. That she should leave things well enough alone and just go on. But the other part of her, the one that tended to act more in impulse, urged her to take a good long look at the situation. At an opportunity, that perhaps, she didn’t want to let go by.

What if the situation were a little different, she asked herself. What if that had been Martin Reid, the boy Carol had dated back in high school that had called last night. If he were the one who showed a sexual interest in her, how would she have handled it. Again the rational part of her tried to say she’d have acted no differently. But that was counterbalanced by the emotional side that, remembering what a hunk Martin had been, was sure she’d have been down on her knees with his cock in her mouth long before he had a chance to walk out that door. And it was an impressive cock, she remembered, having once almost walked in on Carol and him when she was doing that very thing.

“Come on be sensible, Olivia,” she said to herself as she tried to put the matter to rest. “Even if you wanted to do something about it, you don’t even know where she lives now. You can’t exactly call up Carol and ask for her phone number without having to explain why you wanted it. And any excuse you came up with would undoubtedly blow away the privacy you’d want to keep about it.”

However, her more precipitate side already had the answer to that small obstacle, reminding her that since Kathleen had called the house phone from her cell last night; the number would still be in the caller ID.

“I should at least let her know that I’m not upset about anything we said to each other,” Olivia justified. “She did seem a little troubled when she left.”

Dialing the number, Olivia was actually disappointed when it rang a few times and then dropped into voice mail. Not having any idea what kind of message to leave, she simple hung up. Circumstances had decided the issue. Or so she thought.

Not two minutes later, the phone rang and when Olivia looked at the caller ID, she saw Kathleen’s number. In her haste, she’d forgotten that it would work both ways.

Trying to think of a believable, innocuous reason as to why she called, Olivia came up empty other than saying she simply wanted to make sure the girl was alright. Kathleen assured her that she was and thanked her for being so concerned. About to hang up, she asked Olivia if there was anything else and was told, no, she just wanted to check on her.

“No, wait a second,” Olivia said before Kathleen could hang up, “there is one more thing. I was wondering if you don’t have any plans for the evening if you’d like to come over and have dinner. Nothing special, just the two of us. I’d love to hear more about school and how you’re making out.”

There was quiet on the other end as Kathleen thought about it for a few seconds. Then, much to Olivia’s delight, she said she’d love to come over. They spent another minute or so discussing what she might like, then the older blonde hung up the phone.

“It’s only dinner,” Olivia reassured herself, not wanting to let her flights of fancy run away with themselves. “Dinner and nice company for what otherwise would’ve been a lonely evening.”

The doorbell rang at half past six and Olivia opened the front door to find an apologetic Kathleen standing on the steps. It had been a while since she’d rode the bus, she explained, and it had taken longer to get to Olivia’s from her apartment on the other side of town.

“I should’ve told you to call for a cab,” Olivia said, “I’d have been happy to pay for it.” she added, thinking that perhaps the cost was the reason she hadn’t.

“I thought it might be better if I just took the bus,” Kathleen said as she stepped inside, handing Olivia a paper bag with a bottle inside. “I brought this for you.”

“Oh you shouldn’t have,” Olivia said as she lifted the bottle out of the bag and was surprised to see that it was a rather expensive vintage.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t have to pay for that,” Kathleen said when she saw the look for surprise on her hostess’s face. “It was a gift from my boss last Christmas that I never had the occasion to open. I figured it was the least I could do to thank you for last night.”

“Well we’ll drink it together then,” Olivia promised.

She led the younger woman into the living room, telling her to make herself comfortable as she went to put the wine on ice. Dinner would be ready in just a minute Olivia said and if she wanted to take a minute to freshen up, she knew where the bathroom was.

Kathleen took her up on the suggestion and as she walked out of the room, Olivia was slightly embarrassed to find herself staring at the young woman’s ass.