Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

A shley's mouth was warm and so soft, and smiling. A little surprised smile against Penny's mouth that fell away as the sweet kiss lingered. Ashley put her hands on Penny's waist, and Penny had the heady certainty that the tall woman could pick her up easily. The thought made her giggle with anticipation, and Ashley broke away, smiling at her again from up close. "Are you laughing at me?"

"I'm laughing at the idea of having such a nice tall girlfriend," Penny admitted. "I mean, sorry to escalate, but?—"

"I like escalation." Ashley's voice did that thing again where it dipped unexpectedly low, into the 'listen to her read a phone book' range again, and Penny shivered.

"I would escalate you right out of here if we both weren't working."

Ashley blinked, then straightened to stare toward the stage with a sheepish look. "Oh right. I'd almost convinced myself it would be worth my cousins' wrath if I just snuck off with you. I forgot you were playing tonight." She looked back down at Penny, unexpected shyness in her brown eyes. "There's probably some stuff I should tell you before we sneak off, anyway."

Penny waved a hand. "Ill-considered college liaisons with incredibly inappropriate people? We've all been there. A phase where you tried to convince yourself you really were into boys? I?—"

"No," Ashley said firmly. "No, absolutely not. Ew."

Penny laughed. "Oh. Well, I was going to say I'm bi, so I have sympathy for the impulse, but never mind."

"I'm amazed some good-looking rock god hasn't snatched you up, then," Ashley said, sounding like she meant it.

"Eh." Penny glanced around, gestured toward a bench that had just emptied, and pulled Ashley over to curl up against her there. "The last good-looking rock god I dated was more like a rock frog. The truth is the Sixty Pix have been verging on something big for a while and guys could see it and they'd get jealous. They wanted me to be in their band, or to just quit doing music at all and stay home and have kids. I love kids," Penny admitted wistfully. "I'd love to have them. But I'm never gonna be the one who stays at home even if I had them, and a lot of guys still really don't like that. Oooh." She made a face, hearing herself. "Wow, I'm just laying the dealbreaker topics out right from the start, aren't I?"

Ashley said, "There are no dealbreaker topics," with such soft conviction that Penny's heart flipped.

"You can't know that," Penny said weakly. "I might…I don't know. Do something really awful."

"Do you leave the toilet seat up in the middle of the night so I'll fall in?"

"No!!"

"Then we're good," Ashley said with that same determination, although she was smiling now, obviously trying to be more light-hearted. "No, I mean, of course, you're right, you could do something awful?—"

"Oh, so now you think I'm an awful person."

"Hey!" Ashley laughed. "Hey, that's not fair!"

"I know," Penny said cheerfully. "But being a not-fair dork is probably better than throwing dealbreaker topics into second dates. Sorry, I have no idea why I'm getting so intense." She did, of course. Ashley focused, dedicated, intelligent, gorgeous, funny, kind, and didn't brook fools easily, and Penny had been pretending not to nurse a crush on her for two months now. "But I like spending time with you," she added more quietly. "Even if I'm being kind of an idiot about it."

"I'm the one who was so afraid to talk to you I avoided Gwen and Bill for a week," Ashley said.

Penny sat up, jaw falling open. "What? Is that why you didn't hang out with us that first week we were in Renaissance after the gigs?" At Ashley's embarrassed nod, Penny burst into laughter and opened her arms, offering the tall woman a hug. "That's adorable," she said into Ashley's shoulder. "And makes me feel better. I thought it was me, because I knew you'd been hanging out with Gwen before I got there. Okay, subject change: I know it was my idea to sit down, but it turns out if I stop moving I'll freeze to death, so, do you dance?"

Ashley winced like it came from the bottom of her soul. "Badly."

"Excellent. Me too. Let's go join the nine dancing ladies and ten leaping lords." Somehow, the strapping young men in Renaissance-lord sorts of costumes were still managing to leap, even though quite a lot of people had joined the nine dancing ladies on the dance floor. Mostly the young men were leaping up and down, not out or across, which helped, but if Penny had tried that, she would have landed on peoples' feet.

It turned out neither of them were lying: she and Ashley were not good dancers, but Ashley caught Penny's hand and spun her around like a top until they were both giggling again, and then the drummers and pipers played a slower tune that let them snuggle up together and compliment each other on how bad they were at dancing. "I'm going to have to go back in soon," Ashley said reluctantly. "I have to at least go check up on things in the pub."

"I know. No rest for the wicked. Oh no, now what?"

Someone was getting up on stage to make an announcement, and the party quieted down a bit as a cheerfully round man with fluffy white hair said, "In the spirit of the Twelve Days of Christmas theme, we considered releasing a barnyard full of birds and having an old-fashioned greased-pig style contest, but after careful consideration, we decided to accept five golden rings as prizes from various sponsors. The rings have been hidden around the venue. Put five bucks in the donation pot and join the treasure hunt!"

"I can't," Ashley said woefully. "I really have to go in."

"I'll put ten in and look for you," Penny promised. "Think you'll be able to come back out later?"

"Well, I hear the Sixty Pix are playing later tonight, and I think the drummer is hot, so yeah, I guess I'd better." Ashley smiled down at Penny, then with a regretful sigh, hurried out of the event tents and back to the main pub.

"I'll find you that ring!" Penny shouted after her. Ashley waved, and Penny went to put a tenner in the pot and joined Gwen and Bill as they poked around the venue. Somebody shouted in triumph as they found the first ring. Applause and cheers rose, then twice more in the next few minutes as the next two were found, but the last two were apparently better-hidden, and most people lost interest. It was at least half an hour later that somebody else shouted with surprise and another cheer went up, but the last ring still hadn't been found when Maggie Ross got up on stage and made a speech thanking people for turning up to the charity event.

"A lot of you probably know something about the history of conservation for swans, since you're here supporting this event, but did you know that in the 1930s, there were fewer than a hundred known specimens of trumpeter swans left in the United States? The species was saved when they found a huge native population in Alaska and reintroduced them across the rest of the nation. We can't rely on luck like that for our conservation efforts." She went on for a few minutes, speaking passionately, then ended with a smiling, "I know we're not specifically here to raise funds for trumpeters, but they're the heaviest bird native to North America, and we do have one to introduce to you this evening. Conri and I are going to go get her, and while she is fairly tame and patient, please remember that she's also a wild animal and you probably shouldn't behave like idiots around her."

Laughter and promises rose with the applause, and Ashley snuck back into the charity event a few minutes before Conri Lyell walked in with what had to be the world's largest swan on a very fancy leash.

A genuine gasp ran around the gathering, and people actually stepped back, clearing a path for the huge bird. Penny, looking between her own heeled shoes and the top of the swan's head, whispered, "That thing is literally bigger than I am, holy shit! Like she's got to be at least two inches taller than me!"

"Only if you count the neck," Ashley said in a high thin voice that sounded like she was trying to fight off laughter.

"Obviously I count the neck! Its eyes are higher than mine! I didn't know swans got that big!"

A lot of people were whispering similar things, and as Conri led the swan up onto the stage where she could be admired, he said, "They generally don't," in a wry tone. "Even the largest swans are usually only about four feet high at the top of their heads. This one is a showoff."

The swan turned her head to, by all appearances, give Conri a dirty look. Laughter splashed across the venue again and people took pictures, expressing their awe and, when Conri led the swan down again, approaching nervously to see if they could stroke her soft feathers. Penny whispered, "She's very patient," and Ashley said, "Oh you have no idea," in that same voice that struggled against laughter. "I'd bite somebody if they tried doing that to me."

"Good thing you're not a giant swan, then," Penny said ruefully, and for some reason Ashley dissolved into laughter, to the point of actually having to sit and put her face in her hands while she giggled.

"I'll explain later," she promised. "I will, but right now, just trust me, that's funny."

Penny eyed her. "If you say so. I'm going to go pet the swan." She all but tip-toed up to the bird, who turned its elegant head toward her and tilted it as if studying Penny carefully. Then she looked at Penny from the other eye, as if really trying to get her measure, and finally extended her beak to press it against Penny's chest.

Actually, to poke her. With enough force that Penny lurched a step back, regained her feet, and glared at the huge bird. "Hey! Be polite! I was being nice!"

The swan fluffed its feathers, which made everyone except Penny take several judicious steps backward. She had the absolutely irrational confidence she could take this beast, or at least, that she shouldn't take it being rude to her, and stuck her fists on her hips defiantly.

She swore to god the swan actually laughed at her. It opened its mouth and made a deep aah-oh! sound right at her chest, then shook its feathers and did it again, more quietly and with what Penny honestly felt was amusement. She was still glaring at the big bird in confused irritation when it brushed past her, heading back out to whatever carrier it had been brought in. Conri Lyell widened his eyes at Penny as he went by. "I guess she liked you!"

"That's a weird way to show it!" Penny scurried back to Ashley, who had stood up and was leaning, almost scowling, after the swan, as if she'd been afraid she would have to teach the huge bird a lesson. "I'm fine," Penny promised in a mutter. "That was just weird."

"I've never seen anything like it." Ashley put her hands on Penny's shoulders, looking her over like the swan had actually assaulted her. "You're okay?"

"I'm sort of rattled, but yeah, otherwise fine. It's okay. I'll take it out on the drums." Penny arched her eyebrows toward the stage. " After everybody is done throwing money at the charity because they got to see a humongous swan up close."

"You've got to give them credit for the fundraiser," Ashley agreed, still in a somewhat strained voice. "I think I really need to talk to you, Penny, although not until after work tonight."

Penny made a face. "Second date and we're already into the 'we have to talk' stuff, huh? Okay, well, assuming you haven't decided this is all a terrible idea?—"

"I haven't."

"—then I'll just go up there and get all hot and sweaty and remind you why you like drummer girls. You do like drummer girls, right?"

Ashley smiled. "I never knew how much."

"Great. And then we can talk when you get off work." Penny made her way up to the stage, meeting Gwen at the edge and saying hi to Ripley, a local guitarist who had worked with Gwen before. Ripley had to be at least twenty-one, because otherwise they wouldn't be allowed into the pub to play. Penny thought they looked about seventeen and adorable, all shaggy hair and shapeless clothing and huge, awe-stricken eyes because the Sixty Pix were their favorite band. Getting up on stage with Gwen and the band was bucket list stuff for Ripley, and this wasn't even the first time Ripley had had the opportunity. Penny half expected they would eventually join the band, although somebody might have to retire for that to happen, and it certainly wasn't going to be her.

There was a gratifying shout of enthusiastic greeting as the three of them went up on stage. Gwen—who, despite her reluctance to step into the limelight, was great at it—shouted the band's hellos back at the crowd, laughing as Penny provided a drum sting to back it up. Something flew off the cymbal and Penny caught it without even seeing what it was, shoved it into her pocket for later as she fixed the screw on the cymbal, and lost herself in the beat for the next forty minutes or so.

It was a shock to come out of it. The end of a gig always felt so abrupt, even if they hung on for the encores and the cheering and everything else that might happen. Penny never wanted to leave the stage, and that larger-than-life feeling of exuberance and connection that the music, the drumming, carried with it.

Tonight, though, for the first time in ages, she had somebody waiting offstage for her. That feeling was something special, too. Penny took her bows, applauded both Gwen and Ripley, and went back down into the dispersing crowd to find the woman she hoped to call 'girlfriend' pretty soon.