Reclaiming Yancy Read online

  “You look good,” Yancy whispered in Gen’s ear.

  “How are you feeling? No bullshit.”

  “I’m doing pretty well, Doc.” Yancy winked. “I’m a little tired still. A lot’s happened.”

  “Okay, I’ll believe you.” Gen squinted her eyes in her best professional manner. “But stay on this couch until supper is served. We should eat in a few minutes.” She retreated to the kitchen, and returned in a minute to Yancy with a glass of juice.

  “No beer, I guess,” Yancy said matter-of-factly.

  “You have a habit of being refused beer.”

  Later, Kate walked in the patio door with a platter of meat from the grill, followed by Roxie carrying grilled squash. They gathered at the large dining table in the far corner of the great room.

  Yancy looked at Kate. “What’s the score on your arm?”

  Kate flexed her arm, shrugging her shoulders. “Getting checked later this week. Hurts like hell. But seems to be doing all right.”

  They tucked into the food.

  “I’m starving,” Yancy declared as she cut up her steak and took large bites.

  Yancy looked up and found she was being gawked at. “What? Hell, a woman can’t eat her steak?”

  They all chuckled.

  “Geez, it’s the most I’ve seen you eat in months.” Roxie’s eyes were wide.

  “Guess what’s for dessert?” Gen smirked.

  Yancy watched her through squinting eyes for a moment, then smiled widely. “Don’t tell me. Oreos and ice cream?”

  They finished their meal, talking about how well the riding therapy program was progressing, and the kids they had worked with the day before. This led to discussing the barn fire. No horses had been harmed. Kate and her brothers were going to have to see about their insurance and get a contractor out to begin replacing the structure before the end of fall. The next few weeks would keep the Martins harried.

  “I will help out when I can,” Yancy offered. “I will be gone for a weekend in October. Gen and I have the rural health conference in Phoenix.” Yancy felt her cell phone vibrating in her back pocket. She brought it out to check the screen. “It’s Mom. Sorry.” She answered the phone and went to the couch to take the call. “Yes,” Yancy said. “No, Mom. No one was hurt…Kate got a burn on her arm…They looked me over at Babcock General overnight…No. I’m fine now—Mom…” She sighed deeply. “See you then. Bye.”

  Yancy moaned as she returned to the table to finish her Oreo dessert.

  Roxie looked at her expectantly. “Is your mommy coming down to the ranch to take care of you?”

  Yancy jerked her head up. “No.” She spooned more ice cream into her mouth and swallowed. “Hell, I don’t know. She’s coming down tomorrow morning. She heard the rasp in my voice and thought she wanted to see me.”

  Roxie smirked. “Smart lady. Doesn’t trust you either.”

  Yancy shot Roxie a glare and stuck out her tongue.

  Gen laughed. “Oh, boy. That’s so mature. You two are like ten-year-olds!”

  “You don’t know the half of it.” Kate shook her head.

  After the dishes and kitchen were all squared away, Kate and Roxie begged off, with Kate still recovering and needing rest, and Yancy needing sleep as well.

  When the door shut behind them, Gen found Yancy’s hand and squeezed it. As they stood in the great room, she closed in on Yancy. Yancy’s breath caught in her throat. She readied for the kiss, leaning in, took her lips tenderly, then more roughly, with passion. Gen threaded her fingers through Yancy’s hair, stroking her neck. Every time with Gen was becoming more impassioned, more urgent with need, more compelling and physical in a way she didn’t know if she could control any longer. Yancy pulled Gen into her hips as her hands ran over the sides of her breasts, then came to cup them through Gen’s blouse. Heat radiated throughout her body, settling in her lower stomach, causing her to thrum with growing arousal. Her mind and body both gravitated toward Gen as if by magnetic pull. She willed it, and inexplicably, at the same time, could not control the pull.

  Gen breathed heavily, grinding into Yancy’s thigh. Pushing her over to the couch, Yancy lay down on top of her, positioned her thigh between Gen’s legs to meet Gen’s hot center, and thrust with gentle pushes. Gen found Yancy’s shirt and pulled it up, stroking her back.

  For a moment, Yancy knew she could stop. But she also knew her heart had been captured. Her body had succumbed. She whispered in Gen’s ear, “My God, I want you. What do you want, Gen?”

  Gen panted and pulled back. “I want you, too. What are we going to do? We’re not moving very slowly are we?” Her eyes were dark with need.

  With a mighty exertion of self-control, Yancy pulled herself from Gen’s entangling legs. Her heart beat painfully, her soul soared. She felt like singing, so high was her spirit. She could announce her love to all the world. Yancy stroked Gen’s cheek. “You are so damn beautiful, I feel I’ve won some sort of prize.”

  Gen chuckled. “Not the Roy Rogers prize, I hope?”

  “No, the Gen Lambert prize,” she said, putting feather kisses all along Gen’s neck. How do I show her I love her? Do I know what to do?

  Gen took Yancy’s face in her hands and kissed her hard, then lightly, then brushed her lips with her tongue. “I have a proposition.”

  “Oh?” Yancy grinned, her eyes glinting with mischief. Her wish may be coming true.

  Gen slapped her butt playfully, her smile gentle. “Not that. No, I want to help us slow down, but still have some idea of where we’re headed.”

  Yancy sat all the way up, pulling Gen beside her.

  “I want us to be together in Phoenix. I want us to wait until then.” Gen stopped. “Can we do that?”

  Yancy yanked at her hair, scrunching up her face. Slowly, she said, “Geez, Gen, that’s a long time.” She kissed Gen hungrily and fully on the lips, lingering to taste her and remember her. “Only if we continue to date, right?” Please, please. I can hardly hold on any longer.

  “Date, yes. But, no hanky-panky.”

  Yancy laughed aloud. “What, are you in the nineteenth century? Hanky-panky?”

  Gen punched her lightly. “You know what I mean, dork.”

  Yancy held her at arms’ length. “Wait a damn minute. Only my closest friends can call me dork!” She kissed Gen, pushing her back onto the couch. “You must be one of them.”

  “Off of me, tiger.” Gen pushed her away gently. “I need to get home. You need to get to bed.”

  Yancy waggled her eyebrows and chuckled. “Oh, Doctor, don’t you want to tuck me in? I may need medical assistance.”

  Gen stood and took Yancy’s hand to pull her off the couch. “You’re on your own.”

  They kissed lingeringly. Gen then dropped her hands, reached for her purse, and walked to the door. Yancy followed her to her car.

  “Call you tomorrow?”

  “I’m at the clinic till six. Talk to you then.” Gen stroked Yancy’s cheek, kissed her lightly, then got into the driver’s seat.

  “Want to come for supper?” Yancy asked, leaning down into the open window.

  Gen giggled. “Oh boy. I wonder who’s going to cook?”

  Yancy smugly smiled. “Connie. See you then.”

  Yancy stood at the front porch steps, watching the red car disappear down the road. She breathed the night air deeply into her hurting lungs, hardly noticing the pain. Her heart felt like skipping. While she was exhausted from the last two days’ craziness, she didn’t know if she could relax, so excited she was.

  aaAA

  As Yancy finished dressing the next morning, her mother called from downstairs, “I’m here, darling!”

  When she made it down the stairs, Nina was sipping coffee with Connie at one end of the old oak table. Nina met Yancy at the kitchen island, grabbed her with her arms wide, and hugged her tightly. She then pulled back to scrutinize her face. “You look rested. Will wonders never
cease?” She laughed lightly.

  Yancy shook her head and quirked a lopsided smile at her mother.

  Nina took her hand to lead her to the table. “Let me get your coffee. I brought some of that wonderful homemade coffee cake that Maria makes. Connie, will you get us some plates and cut pieces for Yancy and me? Please get one for yourself.”

  Yancy and her mother ate coffee cake, not Yancy’s favorite thing, but she finished most of her piece, even as she continued to cough intermittently.

  Nina looked carefully at Yancy. “I don’t like the sound of your lungs. But I believe you have gained some weight and your color seems less pale.” She caressed Yancy’s cheek. “What’s going on?” she asked with a sly grin.

  Yancy clasped Nina’s hand from her cheek, brought it to the table and cupped it in both hands. “Mom, I’m doing really well. I did my physical exam. They found I’m anemic, but I’m being treated for it. The psychiatrist and I have decided that the depression meds have improved my appetite and mood in the last two months.” She took a raspy breath, then released their hands. “I’m a damn poster girl for healthy behavior!”

  Nina smiled warmly at her daughter. “What do you think has caused this change?”

  She let go of Nina’s hand and scrunched a napkin in a ball. She looked intently at her mother, and breathed deeply. “I’m in love, Mom.”

  Nina raised her eyebrows slightly. Not missing a beat, she intoned, “Dr. Lambert, I presume?”

  Yancy jerked back a bit, then laughed. “Wow, geez, Mom.”

  Nina gave Yancy a cheeky grin, with a tilt of her head, “Mothers have their methods of intelligence gathering.”

  “Connie.” Yancy slapped the table.

  Connie turned to them from her dusting in the great room. Yancy gave her a frown.

  Nina and Connie both smiled enigmatically.

  aaAA

  After her mother left, Yancy walked out to the barn to clean tack and rearrange the tack room. She spent the rest of the morning sweating in the heat of the barn, but came back into the kitchen feeling accomplished and pleasantly tired, her lungs still hurting a little. Connie had made a cold lunch, including some vegetables fresh from a farm a few miles away. Yancy ate hungrily, finishing a full plate.

  In the heat of the afternoon, Yancy first did some financial work on the computer. She next saddled Marquette for a short ride to see how the Martin ranch was faring. Kate met her in the yard, and took her on a tour of the damage. The insurance claim was substantial. Kate felt that, because lightning was an act of God, it should be covered fully. But, the insurance adjustor had just left some minutes before, and the Martins wouldn’t hear until later in the week about the insurance claim.

  When Yancy returned to the Triple D, she cooled Marquette down, gave him a small portion of oats, and let him into the corral for the night.

  She came inside, seeing Connie finish up the preparations for supper.

  “I’m writing the instructions down.” Connie told Yancy how long to bake the ham. She also showed her the potato salad and coleslaw that cooled in the fridge.

  Yancy nodded, but didn’t pay much attention. How much could it require?

  Connie left at 4:15, so Yancy went up to shower and change out of the sweat-stained, dusty work clothes she had ridden in.

  As she came downstairs, she couldn’t smell ham cooking. She checked the stove and found that the oven had not been turned on, then remembered to read Connie’s note. She was to have turned the oven temperature to 300 degrees as soon as Connie left. Yancy berated herself, and quickly turned the oven to 450 degrees, thinking this should speed up the process.

  Drinking iced tea and relaxing with the Denver Post on the back patio for the past ninety minutes, Yancy heard a car pull in. She ran around the house to meet Gen at the driver’s side, right as Gen was getting out. They kissed lightly. Yancy hugged Gen. “How was your day, Doctor?”

  Gen pulled out of the hug, kissing Yancy again. “Except for some kids’ beginning-of-school-year colds this afternoon, things went pretty smoothly. How about you? How’s your cough?” She looked closely at Yancy.

  Yancy shrugged.

  “I’m starving. I hope we’re having something good for supper,” Gen said as they walked with arms around each other’s waists into the house.

  They entered the great room, where a burned odor emanated from the kitchen. Yancy raced to the oven, opened it, and found the ham covered with a black crust and smoke flowing off it.

  “Damn.” Yancy pulled it out of the oven, immediately setting off the loud claxon of smoke alarms.

  Gen ran in to see the commotion. She noted the burned ham, and covered her smile with her hands. “Oh, dear.” She burst into laughter.

  Yancy looked at her sheepishly, then joined her as they laughed heartily.

  “I thought Connie was cooking?” Gen managed to get out in between chuckles.

  “Damn. All I had to do was turn on the oven. Oh, hell. How about we have peanut butter?”

  Gen grabbed Yancy by the shoulder. “You are so adorkable!” She kissed her soundly on the lips.

  Yancy, a little taken aback, took a moment to register that she was being kissed, then leaned in to return it.

  Gen turned Yancy’s shoulders toward the great room. “Please, get out of the kitchen. Let me salvage what I can. We will definitely not be having peanut butter!”

  “But—”

  Gen shoved her butt away from her. “Go. Watch Monday Night Football or something. I’ll be a few minutes.”

  Later, along with the side dishes, they ate pieces of ham that Gen had cut away from burnt crust. They laughed again at Yancy’s lack of skills in the kitchen. Then they talked about Kate’s barn, the clinic’s day, Yancy’s ride that afternoon, and of course, her mother’s visit. Yancy did not include her mother’s confrontation about the cause of her healthy behavior. They had an enjoyable evening that ended by watching the last quarter of the football game on TV, cuddled together on the couch.

  After they turned off the TV and rose from the couch, Gen stretched and yawned. Yancy drew Gen in for a deep kiss, and her hands wandered to Gen’s ass.

  “Hey.” Gen swatted Yancy’s hand. “Remember our agreement.”

  Yancy smirked. “No hanky-panky. Ooh.” She cowered in mock fear. “Are you off this Wednesday?”

  “Yes, and you’re coming to my place for supper that night.”

  “Oh, I guess I am.” Yancy nuzzled Gen’s neck and jaw.

  “Now, let me get home. Long day tomorrow. I’ll be on call tomorrow night.”

  They kissed all the way to Gen’s car. Yancy smiled and sighed as Gen drove away into the night. When she got to her room, she pulled her phone out of her back pocket and texted Gen. “Miss you. Have a good sleep. YD” and a heart emoji.

  After a few minutes, Yancy’s phone beeped with a text: “Sleep tight. GL” and a heart emoji.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The last couple of weeks of September were spent alternating between Yancy’s and Gen’s, three nights of the week, for supper. They read, or watched a movie or football on TV. On the weekends, Yancy had the riding therapy kids on Saturday, and she rode with Gen on Sunday. One Saturday evening, they drove to Denver to hear The California Guitar Trio. As hard as it was, Yancy did her best to not approach Gen with too much sexual heat. But as the date of their trip to Phoenix loomed, she had more and more difficulty keeping her hands to herself. At night, she was consumed with pleasant thoughts of making love to Gen, which offered a backdrop for pleasuring herself occasionally.

  Even so, Yancy felt the stress of sexual tension when around Gen. She felt her heat rise every time Gen spoke lovingly, caressed her neck, or stroked her hair. She loved to laugh with her, to tell her stories of the ranch, and to joke about her own bad culinary skills, or Gen’s excellent ones.

  It wasn’t just sexual, but a sense that she could not get enough of Gen, her laugh, her intelligence,
her sweetness, her tenderness, even her smirks and teasing. Yancy had never felt what she was feeling, could not remember being so stricken with constant thoughts of another person. Her wanting consumed much of her waking time, and even populated her dreams.

  On a Wednesday night at Gen’s, after supper, they lay together on the couch snuggling under a light cover in the chill of the early autumn air. Gen was running her hands through Yancy’s dark locks dreamily, when she spoke up. “I’ve been wanting to do something with you.”

  Yancy sat up. She put on her sexiest grin. “We’ve only got one week to go, we could start a little early.” She grasped Gen’s hand and placed it in the V between her legs.

  Gen laughed and tugged her hand away. She lightly spanked Yancy once on her butt. “Stop it!” She sat farther away from Yancy on the couch. “Now keep away. I have something I want to ask you.”

  Yancy sat erect and frowned slightly. “Is this serious enough, Doc?”

  “Dork.” Gen shook her head, then she turned to face Yancy, and said, “I want to go to Spanky’s this Friday.”

  Shock and dismay raced through Yancy’s heart. She quickly schooled her expression. “Why? What’s so...?” Yancy scrutinized Gen closely. “How the hell do you know about Spanky’s?”

  “You had mentioned that I wasn’t a Spanky’s gal, so I looked up on the internet ‘Lesbian Bars in Denver.’” Gen smiled seductively. “I love to dance. You’ve never taken me dancing.” Gen raised her eyebrows in excitement. “They do country dancing on Friday nights, according to their website.”

  “Yeah, they do. I’m not sure about…Do you like line dancing and two-stepping?” Yancy tried to smile but found it hard.

  “Well, I haven’t done much country, but I love to dance, so I thought we could try it. Please, will you take me?” Gen punctuated the question with a nuzzle of Yancy’s neck.

  Not able to withstand the hotness in Gen’s kisses, Yancy mumbled, “Sure, Spanky’s on Friday.” Her chest pounded, but she steeled herself. She could do this.