“Here, I’ll take those.”

“Is there anything I can help you with,” Kerry asked following Kim into the kitchen.

“No, dinner is almost ready.”

“Okay.”

And then there was a silence that hung over both of them. They had talked so much over the past few months, reacquainting each other with everything that had happened in the past few years. They weren’t strangers on a first date, but former lovers ready to head down that path again. Why the hell couldn’t they come up with something to talk about tonight?

Kim decided that her best course of action might be the direct approach. She finished filling the vase with water and arranged the flowers, placing them on the dinner table. Then she walked over to Kerry and stood in front of her.

Kerry stared back at her, the emotions of the evening almost overwhelming her. Then Kim took her girlfriends face in her hands and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. She pulled back briefly to look at Kerry and then dove back in to connect their lips again. This time the kiss was more intense as Kerry put her arms around Kim and pulled her closer.

Kim was ready to lead Kerry to the bedroom when the oven timer went off indicating that her game hen was done.

“That would be my bird,” Kim said, smiling down at Kerry.

“You better get that then.”

But they continued to stare at each other. Then Kim brushed Kerry’s hair back off of her face and kissed the tip of her nose.

“Don’t go anywhere.”

Kerry just watched her take the hen and potatoes out of the oven. How did she get so lucky as to have this woman return to her life? What had she done to deserve this incredibly beautiful woman forgiving her for her past sins and willing to take her back into her life, let alone her bed?

“Kerry, there’s a bottle of wine in the fridge. Could you open it?”

“What?”

“Wine. In the fridge.”

“Oh, sorry. Right. I’ll get that,” Kerry replied, pulling out the wine and taking the cork-pull from a shelf. She filled two glasses and offered one to Kim.

“To fresh starts,” Kim said raising her glass to make gentle contact with Kerry’s.