Chapter Twenty Six

W hat woke Lydia up was the sun streaming in through the thin curtains. She groaned and turned over. “You really should get thicker blinds,” she mumbled before actually realizing where she was and blinking her eyes open properly.

“Good morning,” Cordelia said, her blonde hair spread out over the pillows.

“Good morning,” said Lydia.

“Right, with the politeness out of the way, would you like to go back to telling me what I should be doing?”

Lydia reached up to itch her nose. “No?” she tried.

“Good girl,” said Cordelia.

Lydia felt a growing wet warmth between her legs. Good girl indeed. She reached out for the curve of Cordelia’s waist, pulling her closer.

“I suppose that answers my first question,” said Cordelia softly, brushing her lips against Lydia’s forehead.

“And what would that have been?”

Cordelia pulled back, looking down at her earnestly. “Whether or not this was a one night stand.”

“Do I look like the kind of person that does one night stands?” Lydia asked, somewhat stung .

“What does the kind of person who does one night stands look like?”

Lydia sighed. “Fair point, I suppose. But no, I wasn’t planning on this being a one time thing.” She cleared her throat. “Um, you?”

Cordelia narrowed her eyes as though thinking, then shrugged. “I suppose not.”

Lydia knew she was kidding and laughed. “Good. Glad to hear it.”

“I do think that there need to be some kind of ground rules though.”

“Ground rules?” asked Lydia. She considered the idea, then nodded. “Fair enough. I think ground rule number one needs to be me moving out, but since that was going to happen sooner rather than later anyway, that shouldn’t be an issue.”

Cordelia’s hand snuck around to the small of her back pulling her a tad closer. “You do need to move out then?”

Lydia pushed her leg between Cordelia’s thighs so they could get even closer. “I should,” she began, then realized what she was saying. “I ought to.”

“We’ve talked about this, ought is no better than should.” Cordelia was pressing against her leg, breath coming slightly hoarser.

“It’s no way to start a relationship, already living together,” Lydia said, lips close to Cordelia’s skin. “Too much pressure. I need to move out and we need to date and then, maybe, one day, we’ll want to live together again.”

“Castor is only a twenty minute commute from here,” Cordelia pointed out as she pulled Lydia even closer so that her own thigh was also pushed up against Lydia’s center.

“Not the point,” Lydia said, finally starting to have a little trouble concentrating.

“Fine, I concede your point,” said Cordelia, starting to rock back and forth. “As long as a) you don’t move too far, and b) the subject of living together in the future remains open.”

“Excellent, then that’s our first ground rule agreed upon,” Lydia said, breath starting to come in short, sharp hitches. “Resolved. I, uh, I submit that we…” She groaned as Cordelia pressed harder against her. “That we table the rest of the motions until we take a short break.”

“Short?” Cordelia asked, bending her head so that she could nip at the sensitive skin between Lydia’s neck and shoulder. “A significant break might be in order.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Lydia managed to say as Cordelia nuzzled into her neck and began rocking harder.

“I’M NOT SAYING I get a say in the decision, I’m saying that we need to be open about things,” Cordelia said as they strolled along the high street.

“That’s… fair, I suppose,” said Lydia.

“You have a plan for your life and I don’t want to interfere with that. That wouldn’t be fair. I don’t want to stop you becoming what you’ve always dreamed of becoming. I would never do that. So you need to be upfront about what it is you want and I’ll support you in it.”

“Alright, alright,” Lydia said as they came to the cafe. “But equally, you’re going to have to communicate about what you want in the relationship too. And not by just yelling at me every time the word should comes out of my mouth.”

“Fair.” Cordelia paused. “I, um, have problems with criticism. My ex was overly critical and it’s something I’m sensitive to.”

“Understood, so it’s something I should be wary of and careful about.”

“See?” Cordelia said. “This ground rules thing is going well. Can we actually have some breakfast now?”

“I can’t believe they’re open after yesterday,” said Lydia, pushing open the door to the cafe.

“Well we are open,” Amelia said, bustling around the front of the counter and coming to hug Lydia. “Cass says she’s fine and she’s all bandaged up. I’ve moved the Madeleine out of her reach. ”

“Madeleine?” Cordelia asked.

“Mandoline,” said Cass coming out of the kitchen. “Morning, doc. Breakfast’s on the house. What can I get you?”

“A full English, but it’s definitely not on the house. I can’t accept favors.”

Cass rolled her eyes, but nodded and Lydia and Cordelia sat down at a table. Amelia started asking Cordelia about making an appointment at the surgery and Lydia tuned out.

Life really could be like this.

The sun was shining through the windows, the town was pretty in the summer light. She was sitting opposite someone she truly had feelings for. A growing warmth inside her told her that this was what she’d been missing, this perfection, this happiness.

Why had she been such an idiot in denying herself this?

She had been scared, she realized now. Afraid of opening herself up. Afraid of doing something that she couldn’t learn from books or exams or interviews. But this, this was so easy. Okay, maybe it wasn’t totally ideal. Yet her new job was only twenty minutes away. This was definitely doable. She would make time for Cordelia, for this growing… whatever it was going to be.

The sun caught Cordelia’s hair and Lydia watched her smile and her heart grew three sizes in her chest. This could be her life.

“WE’RE JUST GOING to the playground,” said Toby’s grandmother.

“Boo dog,” Toby said to Cordelia quite seriously. He raised his arms, wanting her to pick him up.

“I’m sick to death of that blue dog,” confided his grandmother to Lydia. “It’s all he wants to watch.”

“Children thrive on sameness,” Lydia said automatically, watching Cordelia hug Toby close. This too could be her life one day. She hadn’t thought that far ahead. But Cordelia was good with children, she would want them .

Lydia straightened up a little. Actually, she wanted them too, she realized. They just hadn’t factored into her plan until right now.

“I could do with a little less sameness,” grumbled Toby’s grandmother.

“No sign of Nat then?” asked Lydia. She’d been wrong on that one, she had to admit. She’d been so sure that Nat was a doting mother, that she wouldn’t leave her son. But she barely knew the woman. She’d obviously been wrong.

“Still chasing that wreck of a boyfriend of hers,” sniffed the grandmother. “Never liked him much.” She turned to her grandson. “Come on, kiddo. Let’s go to the park.”

Toby reluctantly left Cordelia’s arms, but grinned when he saw the swings not far off. “Swing?”

“Absolutely,” his grandmother said, and the two of them left.

“I can’t believe I was that wrong about Nat,” Lydia said.

Cordelia shrugged. “People leave, it’s what they do.”

“No,” said Lydia. “They really don’t. People stay. People stick around even though it might be hard, even though there might be other options out there. People stay because they’ve made promises and because, well, because it’s the right thing to do.”

“Don’t,” said Cordelia, turning around.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t ever stay just because it’s the right thing to do, just because you’ve promised something. That’s… It’s not right. You should be able to make yourself as happy as you make someone else.”

“But if you commit to something,” Lydia began.

“No. It’s another ground rule.”

Lydia sighed. Not that this was likely to become an issue. “Fine.”

They continued their walk toward the shop, needing to pick up some milk, and ran straight into Max and Mila, a tow-haired little boy swinging between them.

“Morning,” Max said cheerfully.

“Off to the park?” Lydia guessed .

“Ag has a piano lesson, so Dash here gets mum and dad,” grinned Mila.

“Any news about Nat Greene?” Lydia asked.

“I’m still working on it,” said Max. He winked at Lydia. “Not ready to give up on her quite yet.”

“Mmm,” said Lydia, who was more than willing to give up on her given that she’d now left Toby for more than two weeks. “At least Toby seemed happy enough.”

“Not sure how long his grandmother’s going to want to stick around though,” Max said.

“Dad? Dad? Look how fast I can run.” Dash… dashed.

“Crap,” said Mila. “We’d better go, he’s full of beans today. I’ll drop by the surgery next week for his check up, if that’s alright with you?”

“I’ll pencil you in,” Cordelia said.

What a town, thought Lydia. You didn’t even have to phone to schedule a doctor’s appointment. You just ran into the doctor and her receptionist on the street and got the job done that way. It was kind of sweet actually.

As Max, Mila, and Dash went off to the park, Lydia slipped her hand into Cordelia’s.

“So we’re going public, are we?” Cordelia asked.

“Public?”

“Darling, this is a small town, this news will be buzzing through the streets before we’ve even got home.”

Lydia removed her hand. “Is that a problem for you?” she asked.

Cordelia stopped, looked down at her, and finally smiled. “A problem that I’m actually… happy?”

“You’re happy.”

Cordelia nodded. “I am.”

“Well then,” Lydia said, putting her hand right back into Cordelia’s. “I’m guessing it’s not a problem. Since we’re both… happy.”

She couldn’t stop the smile spreading across her face as she led Cordelia by the hand into the shop.