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April 1990
Putting the casserole dish back in the oven to keep it warm, Andrea McKenna glanced at the clock on the top of the stove. Her niece Mary, was already twenty minutes late for dinner, but that, the thirty-eight year old veterinarian knew, was par for the course. She had long ago accepted her goddaughter's lifelong inability to arrive anywhere on time, a practice that had begun the day she was born -- two weeks past her due date.
Even if she were mad at the twenty-one year old, Andrea knew she wouldn't stay that way for long. She loved Mary more like a daughter than a niece, and would do nearly anything for her. The same held true for the younger woman, as evidenced by the way she had stepped up to help Andrea hold it together after her aunt's breakup with her longtime girlfriend, Jenny Esposito. In the six months since the eight year relationship had ended, Mary had come to dinner twice a week.
Jenny had been Andrea's first and only girlfriend, the two having met in a cooking class that the former had been giving at the local high school as part of their Continuing Adult Education Program. Prior to that, Andrea had never even given a thought to the idea of dating another woman. She'd married her college sweetheart, only to wind up divorced six years later. In the years between, she'd dated sparingly, usually going out with most guys only a few times.
The two women had started out as just friends, but soon became close enough for Jenny to share that, not only did she prefer women over men, but, in a very short time, she'd developed strong feelings for Andrea that went beyond friendship. As stunned as she was to be told that, Andrea was even more surprised to discover that, when she really thought about it, she felt the same way.
The years they'd shared now seemed such a short time, but during them Andrea had felt that she'd truly found happiness. That was why Jenny's abrupt decision to accept a job offer downstate at a prestigious New York City restaurant had come with such devastating impact. Jenny had of course asked Andrea to come with her, but even as the forty-two year old voiced the question, she knew what the answer would be.
Unlike Jenny, who was from Buffalo and had lived in a half dozen other places before settling in McKinley, Andrea had been born in the town of fifteen thousand and, aside from college, had never lived anywhere else. Oh, she was happy to indulge Jenny with frequent excursions down to Manhattan to take in a show and such, but the sprawling metropolis was not for her. So there would be no following Jenny there, even if that meant being alone.
Of course, being willing to accept that didn't mean that was the reality Andrea wanted. After Jenny had been gone long enough for her to accept that she wasn't coming back, Andrea, at Mary's urging, took her first tentative steps back into the dating pool. It didn't take long, however, to discover how limited her options in that regard were.
McKinley wasn't Manhattan, or even Albany, and the number of available gay or bisexual women in the area was quite limited. And that was with the area being defined as any town within an hour's drive. She had a few like-minded female friends from her and Jenny's time together, but none were single. Still, they offered what advice they could, including the fact that there was a sort of 'ladies' bar' just south of Union Junction called Eve's.
Curiosity had compelled Andrea to take a look at it two months ago and she found its clientele to be an eclectic mix, which was to be expected given that it was the only establishment of its kind in a hundred miles. To her disappointment, however, she found the majority of customers younger than herself, which made her feel unaccustomedly old.
The few women near her age who had approached her at the bar expressed more a desire to engage in a quickie at a nearby motel than anything long term. An offer that Andrea admittedly found tempting, given how long it had been since she'd had anything other than solitary sex, but also one that terrified her. In the end, she had gone home alone and unsatisfied.
"Maybe I am meant to be alone," Andrea mused aloud as she adjusted the stove to the warming setting before heading back into the living room to wait for Mary.
As she passed the mirror in the small arch that separated the kitchen from the dining room, Andrea stopped to check her appearance. The reflection showed a woman who, at five seven, was above average height and weighed a hundred and thirty pounds. The sleeveless pale blue button-down blouse and black skirt she wore complemented her blonde hair, the tresses of which hung loosely across her shoulders. The V-neck of her top was just low enough to highlight a rich bust beneath it, one, if measured, would be found to be a 34B. Even if she had no one to show off to, it made her feel better to dress nicely.
-=-=-=-
Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang and Andrea rose from the comfortable chair by the fireplace, wondering as she did if Mary had lost her keys again. As she opened the front door, the reason her niece hadn't let herself in became apparent -- she wasn't alone.
For a moment, Andrea feared that the figure behind Mary might be Danny Riley, her niece's current boyfriend. She didn't dislike the twenty-five-year-old auto mechanic per se, but she didn't especially like him either. She'd never been able to give a reason for it, except of course for the fact that he was screwing her goddaughter. But, as the figure moved under the porchlight, Andrea saw that it was not Danny but a young woman. Unlike Mary, who was dressed in jeans and a concert t-shirt under her jacket, her unexpected companion was wearing a simple but decorative green dress with white trim under her open coat. Standing about an inch taller than Mary's five four, she had straight black hair cut just above her neck, a slimmer figure and smaller breasts. Andrea thought her face was familiar, but couldn't recall a name or the circumstances under which she might have known her.
"Sorry I'm late," Mary said as she crossed the threshold, the apology having become so routine as to almost go unheard, "but I have a good reason this time."
"Don't you always," Andrea smiled, happy to see her even if she was again late.
"You remember Claudia Tate, don't you?" Mary said, acknowledging her companion. "We went to McKinley High together."
"Of course," Andrea replied as the identification allowed her to place the young woman as the friend who had tutored Mary during her junior and senior years, helping her to maintain the minimum grades she needed to graduate. "Hello Claudia, it's so nice to see you again."
"And you too, Miss McKenna," Claudia responded with a warm smile.
"Oh, call me Andrea, please," the blonde insisted.
That seemed to make Claudia's smile beam even brighter.
"I ran into Claudia at Morgan's Department Store and we wound up spending the afternoon shopping," Mary said as the two young women stepped inside and Andrea closed the door behind them. "I invited her to have dinner with us -- that's okay, right?"
"I told Mary she should call first, but she said there was no need to," Claudia said. "Still, I insisted that we at least stop off and get something to bring."
Now noticing the small cloth bag with a bottle of wine sticking out of the top, Andrea said they hadn't needed to go to all that trouble, but that it was appreciated nevertheless.
"Claudia is home for Spring Break, but her family won't be back from a trip until tomorrow," Mary said as if to explain why she'd made the invitation.
"Well, she's more than welcome," Andrea again smiled as she led the two young women into the dining room.
-=-=-=-
Once they sat down at the large rectangular table, it didn't take long for them to empty half the casserole dish and most of the bottle of wine. As they ate and drank, Andrea apologized for the simpleness of the meal, stating that if she'd known that Mary was bringing a guest, she'd have made something less ordinary.
"This is more than fine," Claudia replied cheerfully. "I've been pretty much living on whatever they serve in the college mess or out of the dorm's vending machines the last few months. Any real meal is a welcome change."
Her appreciation brought a smile to Andrea's face.
"You're not at Willoughby?" Andrea asked, knowing that the nearby college didn't have dormitories.
"No, I'm at Northern State," Claudia replied between bites.
That surprised Andrea, as most McKinley High graduates who elected to continue their education chose the local school, if only for the fact that it was less than an hour's drive away. Then, remembering why she hadn't gone there herself, she asked if Northern State had a course of study that wasn't given at Willoughby.
