Chapter Three

They sat quietly as they ate.  Bette beating herself up for putting them in this situation and Tina wondering how she was going to remain calm through all of this.  Maybe she was being too optimistic to think they could step out of themselves and play the roles of friends.  How was she going to help Bette deal with her guilt, determine what prompted her to cheat, Bette had always hated cheaters.  How was she possibly going to help Bette bring her demons to light and stare them down when all she wanted to do was curl up somewhere and wish it all away.  But, Bette cheating was the end of a long road and she had to know what brought them here.  She could do this, for herself and for Bette.

Tina looked across the table at Bette’s blank stare.  She reached for her hand and gently rubbed her thumb across the back of Bette’s hand.

‘Where did you go just now?’

‘Tina I  I’

‘It’s all right Bette.  Just take your time.’

‘I’m just so afraid.  Things can change so fast.  Everything can slip away so quickly.’

‘It took us a long time to get here Bette; it didn’t start with Candace, that’s where it ended.’

‘This is the end?’

‘No!  I meant this is where our problems brought us, not where they started but where we ended up, for now.  The road back may be very hard for both of us.  We may have to face things about each other, our relationship and ourselves that are difficult.’

‘How do we start?’

Tina reached and touched Bette’s lapel, smiled and said, ‘first you change into something other than that power suit of yours, gardening can be a dirty business.’

Bette wondered how Tina could be so calm and even a bit playful.  She wanted desperately to take Tina’s hand and thank her for for being Tina.  Afraid to push she just smiled, nodded and headed for the bedroom to change.

* * * * *

Tina watched Bette walk down the hall and wanted to scream.  Why did you do this to us?  How could you risk everything for *****?  Again she had to wonder was it just ***** or did Bette have feelings for Candace.  She couldn’t go there again.  It just made her wonder if Bette felt obligated to try to make it work.  She didn’t want this all to be just a reaction to their last night together.  She shook her head, took a deep breath and walked out back.  If Bette really wanted to be with Candace that would surface as they tried to work through everything else.  She wasn’t going to second-guess her own feelings and certainly wasn’t going to try to second-guess Bette.