“I don’t know B, but I do know that when you two were good, you were really good. I mean, not as good as I’ve ever seen you…” Alice knew she needed to watch her step in this department. She, Shane, and Kit had had many conversations about which one was better for Bette, Tina or Jodie. Alice was on Tina’s team, Kit always went to bat for Jodie, and Shane stayed as neutral as she could. But sometimes Shane would go over to Tina’s side with Alice when Jodie and Bette were on the rocks. “… but I think you need to figure out if all of this is worth her companionship, if you see or saw a future with her, and if that future is what you wanted. Did you guys ever talk about the future?”

Bette stopped pacing for a minute as she digested what Alice had said. “No, we never talked about a future beyond dreams. Nothing of any substance.” Why was that? Why didn’t Jodie and I ever try to make plans? We didn’t even have a planned vacation up the coast or to another location on the horizon. “I guess we were trying to take things one step at a time. First, there was this intense attraction. Next, we got over her negative attitude toward children. Once she met Angie, they both became attached. After a few other hurdles, it was time to introduce her to everyone. I mean, Tina had already met her. Everyone had met her in their own way, but I wanted her to know that she was now a part of the family. And Jesus, that was only a week ago!” Frustrated, Bette fell back onto the bed with her pants and shirt unbuttoned, running her hand through her hair.

“Well, I don’t have much advice for you, friend.” Alice was now trying to navigate the roads and knew that if she wanted to stay on Bette’s good side, she needed to keep her mouth shut about her true feelings. Alice knew that if she was going to have a heart to heart with Bette, that was best done with scotch. She would be honest with her, but now she was just trying to be the best friend she could be, as difficult as that was for her.