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  Joan was very uncomfortable. Grace was looking on in surprise. She and Jack had never had but one kiss. It had been pretty bad for her although he seemed to enjoy it. Anger replaced the uncomfortable feeling. Jack could very well jeopardize the relationship she had just started again with Grace, she wouldn’t let that happen. “Jack, you know very well nothing has ever been between us!”

  “Yes, well I did try!” Smiling cockily at her with a wink.

  “Knock it off Jack. I don’t find this funny at all.” She was angry clear through.

  Surprised at her anger he calmed down immediately. He had been only teasing. He was a little hurt to find that she hadn’t denied that this woman was her lover. Glancing at Grace he was sure she wasn’t too thrilled at the teasing either. “So, you come here to make my restaurant beautiful eh? When will I see the sketches?”

  Deciding to ignore what just happened Joan explained her plan for the works he had commissioned. She told him she needed his signature on a contract and a check for half of each of the 7 pieces she had agreed to.

  He told her they’d be by on Monday. He left them smiling as he went, happy without a care in the world.

  “He’s a bit much isn’t he?” Grace said dryly.

  Joan looked at Grace guiltily. She wasn’t sure what to say but was pleased when she saw on Grace’s face that she was laughing.

  Grace had had slight concern hearing about Jack. Meeting him though she knew he wasn’t Joan’s type even if he’d been charming. Instead she felt he’d been kind of rude.

  “Do you get that often?” she asked.

  “Get what often?” Joan was a bit confused.

  “That kind of person who expects something personal as well as your art?” Concern flitted in her eyes.

  Smiling in resignation “Well it takes all kinds. I didn’t get it much before I did my make over. Yes, I guess I get it more now. My work has improved and we are getting more diverse buyers.”

  Grace could see why Joan would make a different impression now. She was leaner, sexier, and her hair made her distinctive. She had been artsy before, now she WAS artsy. A lot of people, usually with money to spare, would flock to her and court her. Her work spoke volumes before now it would speak libraries. These people would assume they owned part of HER for the work they purchased. She hoped that Joan would remain the sweet individual she knew and loved, that part hadn’t changed yet.

  They ordered salads and Joan even consented to having a burger. Mineral water only though. The burger filled her and made her slightly nauseous. The grease would do that to anybody she thought. Paying the check Joan suggested they return to the apartment. Grace happily went along, she was just so thrilled to be with Joan again and it showed in her demeanor. She had gotten Joan to agree to even go with her to the party .

  When they got back Joan changed into jeans and a flowing blouse. It wasn’t as artsy as what she would have worn a year ago. It showed a sophistication that had been lacking. No more would she be the mousy little artist. She stood out in a crowd. Funny, it had taken until she was 40 to actually begin to blossom. Grace watched her get ready. She saw her lightly freshen the makeup that she hadn’t even noticed that morning. She lightly spritzed some perfume on. Grace had scented the same on her the previous evening, it was intoxicating and she lifted the atomizer to try and read the brand. “You won’t be able to find that on a store shelf” Joan remarked.

  “Why not?” Smelling it’s musky but heady scent Grace felt aroused by it much to her surprise.

  “It’s a special blend. Made just for me by some perfumers that I met through the spa.”

  “That must be some spa!” Grace felt a little envious. She’d worked hard for a lot of years to pay off her student loans. She felt that just in the last few years could she afford to indulge herself as a doctor, the jaguar was just the first indulgence. Money for things like this had never been indulged.

  “Yes, I thought so too, I bought it.” Joan stated calmly.

  Staring at Joan, Grace was dumbfounded. “You bought it? You bought the spa?”

  “Yes, I thought it an excellent investment but undercapitalized. Craig is making sure they receive the marketing that they needed. There is talk now about expanding it eventually.” The way she spoke Grace could tell Craig wasn’t the only one with a head for business in that family.

  Grace sat on the bench and asked Joan what she thought was a stupid question but had been bothering her, “Are you rich?”

  Joan had been going through her jewelry cabinet when she heard that. It had been asked before. Smiling she answered “Yes and No. No, I’m not Bill Gates rich. Not even close” she laughed. “ Yes, I’m comfortable and don’t have to work. But that’s the thing about money. When you don’t have it you think all your problems would be solved if you did. When you have some or enough you think about making it work for you. My money makes more money for me to make more money. Does that make sense?” She chose some sea shells for earrings and put on another pendant, this one of a crab. “I don’t have so much that I could lose it and NOT miss it but I worked a lot of years to get where I am now.” She pulled a toe ring from her drawer and closed the entire cabinet. Going to sit next to Grace on the bench she leaned down to put the toe ring on. Sitting back up she said “I don’t flaunt it, I don’t think about the total figure. I do things I enjoy with it. That’s why we started the foundation a couple of years ago. The money works for me and I can indulge my passion for whatever I want. If I see or hear of a cause that I want to donate to I can without all the fanfare. People believe the foundation is run by the Wood’s family, which is partially true but it isn’t the Wood’s families money that is given away. It’s mine.”

  “So starving artist is NOT what you are eh?”

  “No, but I am an artist with a passion for her work. I’d say the best work I’ve done has come about in the last 14 months. This is what I enjoy. The rest” she waved her hand around “is just THERE. A product of the last 20 some years of hard work.” Something occurred to her then, “are you bothered by it?”

  “No, I was just curious. It’s not everyday you see an artist living in Malibu in a nice place like this. Mostly people have the belief that an artist is starving.”

  “What do you think the hospital paid me for that work I did for them?” Joan asked.

  “I really don’t have a clue, it was beautiful, huge, but beautiful.” She smiled.

  “They believed they talked me down in price and maybe they did in a way but they handed over a $50,000 check as though it wasn’t a problem. I found that to be a problem for me. I thought with that amount of money instead of a bigger entrance to hold a work of art they should be buying another machine to save a kid’s life. How distorted of them to throw that gala which cost who knows what when they could have donated the money to the cause it was for? Donating the money really didn’t cost me anything. I’ll make it back on my copyright of the prints. I’d be surprised if after all the coverage with the papers and other media that I don’t recoup the money in weeks. Money like that requires responsibility. I’ll put it in the foundation for a better cause.”

  Grace was overwhelmed by Joan’s generosity. She truly was that giving. Grace loved her for it. Most people would have taken every penny they could, bought big houses and expensive cars. Joan had reached a level where she didn’t need to do that. It was very humbling. A bit overwhelming too. Grace watched her money carefully and couldn’t compare to some of what Joan was saying. Joan was right, when you didn’t have a lot of money you thought it would solve all your problems, hadn’t she seen that a lot in her practice? Most people didn’t realize that psychiatrists had personal lives too. Insecurities were part of being human, she knew she was very human.

  ~ CHAPTER 11 ~

  They drove down to Buena Park in Graces coupe. Grace had been surprised to find that Joan didn’t own a car. She’d explained how she sold her Mercedes before her move to California. Grace felt a bit guilty about that knowing that J
oan had purchased the vehicle because she’d always wanted one. Joan was quick to reassure her that she’d find another one someday, perhaps they could do it together. This made Grace feel good as they were making future plans.

  The party was in full swing when they got there. They’d stopped in at Grace’s apartment in Venice Beach so she could change into her own clothes. The place was remarkably similar to the one she had on Balboa. Joan didn’t like it as much though. It felt very dark and dreary after her sunlit place at the beach. She didn’t nose around and waited in the living room looking down at the dock until Grace was ready. The party was set up like a luau at the beach. Considering the beach was at least 15 miles away this was a pretty good feat.

  Grace was recognized as they walked in hand in hand, Grace leading the way. Joan didn’t recognize anyone at this party. It seemed that Grace knew half of southern California to her. Being a hermit herself it made her a bit uncomfortable. She could hear whispers spring up behind her some not so quiet either “Who’s that?, who’s that with Grace?” They walked through the house to a patio out back. There Joan saw for the first time people she did know from the previous party and years ago. As a beaming Grace led her towards them Joan noted that they all looked curiously towards who she had brought with her. She spotted Joanne among them with her arm around a shorter woman with dishwater blonde hair. No one recognized her immediately. Joanne suddenly stiffened and said “Joan.” Several pairs of hostile looks were exchanged instantly changed from the curious ones. Joanne got up and said hello to Grace. Tina, Addie, and Tracey followed suit. A couple of other’s that Joan didn’t remember the names to as well. All this and Grace refused to let Joan’s hand go, a bit awkward. Joan looked calmly back at what she was thinking was the gruesome foursome. Finally even Grace couldn’t ignore the silence.

  “What” she said looking around at everyone.

  Tina asked for all of them “What’s SHE doing here?”

  So much for a welcome Joan thought.

  “We’re together. Is that a problem Tina?” Graces tone drew some surprise from the assembled jury.

  “No it’s not a problem” Tracey reassured her giving Tina a quelling look.

  “Yes it is.” Tina said belligerently. “She isn’t welcome here.”

  “Tina” Joanne said drawing out the name “knock it off, you don’t know what’s going on here.”

  Joan looked with interest to Joanne. She remembered her coming to the gallery in defense of Grace. How could she know? Perhaps she was the only one going to give her the benefit of the doubt? Her hopes were dashed by the look Joanne pierced her with. Just what she needed, a confrontation. She tried to disentangle her hand from Graces but Grace, who had been silent, held tighter.

  “Look we all know what she did to Grace, why should we just forgive and forget it.” Tina was the type to actually start a brawl. She was very butch and the steriotypical lesbian with the sides of her head shaved and a mullot hair cut. Her behaviour was crass and she wouldn’t even care if she was in her forties.

  “Perhaps because you don’t know the whole story?” Graces tone was quiet but firm. Tina stopped her belligerence at this.

  “Well then what is it?” Joanne asked. Her tone could have cut ice it was so hard.

  Joan felt like a complete jerk standing there saying nothing. “It was a misunderstanding is all.” That didn’t sound good even to her ears.

  Grace gave her a sideways grin, cheering her on. It sounded pathetic to her too. This couldn’t be easy for Joan. It didn’t feel very comfortable to her either. Maybe this was too much too soon?

  “You call it a misunderstanding? God that’s real sad, boo hoo.” Tina’s voice was belligerent and condescending.

  “Let’s just hear what they have to say okay, calm down.” Tracey sat where Tina had been.

  Everyone sat there expectantly as Joan and Grace stood there exchanging a look. Grace started to speak when Joan interrupted her, she was angry too “Look, we don’t owe any of you an explanation for anything we do. If you don’t like it you can lump it. We’re together, we’re happy about it, if you don’t like that go screw yourselves.” With that she turned and broke the hand hold Grace had on her, her braids flying about behind her as she tossed her head she walked through the house grabbing a beer and opening it angrily. She sat on the front stoop, several people stared at her. She just didn’t care.

  Grace went to go after her but Tina leapt forward and stopped her by grabbing her arm. Grace looked at her in astonishment, looked down at the hand on her arm and back into Tina’s face. “What the hell?”

  “Look Grace, I don’t know what’s going on. She’s right it isn’t my business but I care about you, we all do” several nods from around the people sitting there “we don’t want to see you hurt. She’s not like you, hell she’s really not like any of us. She’ll hurt you again.”

  Grace turned back to her assembled friends. They all looked to be in agreement. Annoyed she just hoped that Joan hadn’t left. They had all seen how devastated she was last year. They had tried, repeatedly, to fix her up but she just wasn’t interested. She moped for months. It wasn’t until she had moved and started at LA Medical that she began to come out of that protective shell, becoming the person she had been. They’d all been there for her in their various ways.

  Joanne came up to her “Grace, how can you be with her again after what she put you through?”

  “I love her” she said it simply without embellishment. Then she smiled and said louder with emphasis “I LOVE her.”

  Defeated Joanne backed off shaking her head. She of them all was closest to Grace and she saw only that one of her best friends was going to get hurt again by the same bitch who had hurt her so much in the past.

  Tina felt they should scare off Joan at least. She wasn’t worth it. She could change her look all she wanted to. A cat doesn’t change it’s stripes. She wouldn’t allow Grace to be hurt again. She was a staunch supporter of her friends.

  Addie hadn’t said anything in all this exchange. She looked over at Tracey and they shared a look. Nodding slightly Addie got up under the premise of getting something. A few seconds later Tracey followed her.

  Grace gave up and walked away, looking for Joan. She found her on the front step nursing a beer. “You okay?”

  Smothering a snort of laughter “Just peachy” she said dryly, sarcasm laced it heavily.

  “I’m sorry about that, I should have thought what it would be like.”

  Joan looked up at her “then why didn’t you. Your the Psychiatrist, should you have foreseen their reactions?”

  “Well we aren’t telepathic you know” she waited a count of five before adding “do you want to go?”

  Joan surprised herself by saying “no.” She realized Grace wanted to talk to her friends. If the friends didn’t want Joan around, so what. She had broad shoulders, she could take the hit. “I’m fine” at Grace’s look she added “really, I’m fine right here okay? Go ahead and socialize.”

  Grace knew Joan was letting her off the hook. This was awkward. She wanted her friends to get along. Gawd, this felt so high school and at her age too! Here she was at 46 years of age placating a bunch of immature people. Joan was acting cool though, just sitting there looking out into the evening. “You don’t mind...”

  “Hey they are your friends, no one is going to force them to like me. I’m okay right here, just don’t keep me here for hours please. Meanwhile, I’m enjoying this beer and the evening.”

  It was lame but Grace decided to accept it anyway. Maybe Joan needed time alone anyway and she hadn’t seen some of these people in awhile. She was really looking to see if Terry was there because she wanted to talk to him and have him meet Joan. Giving Joan a weak smile she grabbed her shoulder for a quick squeeze on her way back into the house. Inside the door stood Joanne, obviously listening from her frown.

  Grabbing Joanne’s arm Grace pulled her farther into the house so Joan couldn’t hear what they sai
d. “What is going on Grace? What are you doing with HER? You didn’t say anything last week when we had lunch?”

  Stopping in the hallway Grace answered “I think I said it all when I told you I love her. Shouldn’t that be enough?”

  Shaking her head Joanne answered “No, I don’t think so after the way she treated you last year. What’s going on? WHEN did you two get back together?” She knew they hadn’t been together last week when she and Grace had had lunch.

  “I ran into her last night at that gala for the medical center. You’ll never guess who the artist was they honored.” She looked hard at Joanne as comprehension dawned. “She gave a pretty quick speech, you can imagine my surprise.”

  “Yeah, I suppose, what’s it been a year or what?” Joanne was listening intently.

  “Just over actually. Doesn’t she look incredible though?” she enthused.

  Giving Grace a distinctly annoyed look Joanne nodded and said “Yes, she does look a lot different. What happened, did she tell you?”

  So Grace told Joanne everything from the kiss to the spa to the gala last evening. Joanne couldn’t believe how dumb the whole thing was. She still wasn’t sure Joan was good enough for Grace. Grace had to be one of the kindest people she knew. She was funny, intelligent, just so much fun. When they had all seen how hurt she had been by Joan’s silence it had them closing ranks to help. Grace hadn’t wanted their help, she wanted to be left alone. It took awhile before they’d been allowed back into her life. They resented Joan and felt it was all her fault. Now to hear the story it wasn’t quite.

  Out of the corner of her eye Grace saw Addie and Tracey listening avidly. Turning she was angered by their eavesdropping. Both looked guilty. Instead of going away though Tracey came right up to her and gave her a hug. “Gawd, I’m sorry about all this. Terry is out back by the barbecue, want me to go kick his ass?”