"All these people think love's for show
but I would die for you in secret..."
———
"My mom is insisting that you come over. I'm assuming meeting her was probably not in your plans, but for the sake of Heather and her default mode of over-bearing Southern Hospitality—"
Taylor's soft laughter came somewhat roughly and computerized through the Bluetooth connection in Dorothea's mom's SUV. "It's fine, as long as it's fine with you?" She said, "I sort of just showed up out of nowhere, which in hindsight was really selfish of me."
"No, it wasn't!" Dorothea argued, instantly realizing how defensive that sounded. For some reason, her tone was the opposite of the feeling that overcame her when she read the singer's message. "Sorry—I didn't mean it like that. It's just that my mom can be a lot sometimes and I wasn't really sure where we..." She trailed off.
"Same," Taylor inserted.
Dorothea sank against the driver's seat and looked at the metal exterior of the diner gleaming in the sunlight. She could see her mother through the window in the booth, chatting with another local couple from the neighborhood or church or book club or any of the dozens of things she was involved in. Her mom's roots were woven deeply in that town. Meanwhile, now that she was talking to Taylor, it dawned on Dorothea how...detached she herself had become.
"Thea, it's okay," Taylor assured, "I don't want you to feel like you have to see me. You have so much going on and so many complicated decisions to make. This was mostly just me acting on impulse, but if I'm being honest..." She hesitated, then added quietly, "I miss you."
Dorothea felt the words float around her, then slip through the cracked-open windows and evaporate into the Texas heat. She'd only ever seen Taylor in the winter gloom of Manhattan, but she could imagine her skin shimmering in the southern sun; her blonde hair glowing in stark contrast against the teal blue sky and the rich emerald grass beneath her peach-polished toenails. The idea of it—but more likely the fact that she most definitely missed her more—was overwhelming and sent tears pricking behind her eyelids.
"You weren't the only one acting on impulse," Dorothea noted.
"You need your family," Taylor reasoned, "and you had to do what was best for you."
Dorothea shook her head to herself, letting out a small laugh. "True, but it doesn't change anything. I'm still pregnant."
There was a beat of silence, though she had intended the remark as a joke. "True," Taylor said carefully, then added, "If you don't mind me asking, are you considering any other options?"
"I'm keeping her—" Dorothea stopped, fumbling over the words, "or him. I don't know don't know why I said that. I have no idea what I'm having."
"You think it's a girl?" The singer's voice brightened.
"I don't know, I had this dream a couple of weeks ago—" The night we had sex and I slept at your apartment, where you were holding a child who doesn't exist and she was calling you 'Mommy!' "—Anyway, it was just a dream," Dorothea sighed.
"I'll bet a thousand dollars that you're right."
"What?"
"Though I lack any personal experience, I've heard there's pretty magical powers in a mother's intuition," Taylor explained.
"And you'd bet a thousand dollars on that?"
"I'd pay you ten thousand just to be able to see your face in the gorgeous Texas sun, Dorothea Madison."
Dorothea's entire body suddenly flashed hot. For a moment she was stunned into silence as a new set of tears sprung beneath her eyelids. "I don't understand. Why aren't you mad at me?" She asked.
"Because I'm worried," Taylor admitted. "From the moment you left, all I could think about was what I should have said. Or done. I'm worried because while I don't know how it feels to be pregnant, I do know what it's like to feel alone. When you left, I had no idea where your mind was at, because I've also been there, too. I was scared."
Dorothea swallowed, feeling a sudden pang of anxiety. "I was scared of what you would think of me. I mean—everything between us had been so unbelievably perfect, but from the very start I had this...secret. And then when I finally told you I got so overwhelmed, I was terrified, which was why I—" She blinked, causing two beads of tears to slide down her cheeks.
"Thea, it's okay. It's perfectly okay that you need your mom and your family right now. I would have done the same thing—"
"But the only thing these past three weeks have told me is that I have no desire to move back here and all I want is to be with you!"
Dorothea's heart raced as the words dissolved between them. What was only seconds felt like minutes before she heard the singer's smooth voice emerge from the car's speakers.
"Does this mean I get to meet Heather?"
She could almost see the ridiculous smile on the singer's lips. "Yes," she sighed, "I hope you like sweet tea with way too much lemon."
"Is that even possible?" Taylor laughed.
Dorothea wiped at the corners of her eyes, letting out a small laugh. "Well, sounds like Heather might have a new friend. Hope you're prepared to hear about all of the local gossip and be offered some sort of baked treat every fifteen minutes."
"Great, I'm starving."
———
"Thea! The throw blankets!"
"They're already folded!" Dorothea called back, "It's not like she'd notice, anyway!"
"You gave her the address?"
Dorothea sucked in a breath. "Yes, she should be here any minute!"
Before her mother could insert any other frantic thoughts, she stepped out of the kitchen and into the hallway that led to the foyer. From the moment they left the 824 Diner, her mom hadn't shut-up. Of course she loved her, but Heather in Hospitality Mode was a completely different woman. The house was already tidier than most—they honestly could eat off of the floor, if they so desired—and yet her mom was finding all sorts of things to clean. In a matter of an hour, she'd vacuumed the first floor, cleaned the kitchen counters, replaced all of the towels in the bathrooms and put some muffins she made the previous day in the oven to heat up.
Heather Madison could be...a lot.
Right as Oliver came scurrying into the foyer with her mother's little white, fluffy dog, Pippa, Dorothea's phone chime echoed throughout the double-height space. For a second time that day, her heart kickstarted as she went to peer out the glass entry door. Sure enough, next to the rose bushes that lined the driveway was a black SUV with tinted windows.
Dorothea hopped out onto the stone steps and down the path towards the car. Only now did she truly understand how desperate she was to see the blonde. When the driver's side door opened and one of the singer's long legs met the pavement, it took everything in her not to launch across the remaining gap and wrap her entire body around her.
But she did anyway.
"Hi there!" Taylor laughed, still leaning awkwardly against the open driver's seat. But when Dorothea moved to step away, the singer immediately pulled her back into her embrace. "I missed you," she murmured.
Dorothea, flooded with warmth and relief, smiled against her neck. "I'll bet you a thousand dollars that I missed you more," she said.
"You sure about that?" The blonde mused.
"No, I'm broke."
Taylor chuckled, glancing over Dorothea's shoulder. "Well, it doesn't look like your mom is doing too badly. Is this the house you grew up in? It's beautiful!"
"It is. And while I'm honored to receive such a compliment from Taylor Swift, it's probably my mom's dying wish, so I hope you're prepared to say that again," Dorothea noted.
"Way ahead of you. I started my list of compliments on the drive from the airport,"
"Well, in that case, you're miles ahead of every other person I've dated."
Taylor's sapphire gaze suddenly locked with her's. Then, a slow, rueful smile twisted across her lips. "We're dating?" She asked.
"Uh—" Dorothea's face flushed bright pink. She darted her eyes to the house, the ground, then back up to the singer's. "Yep!" She chirped, placing a hand on the other woman's chest, "and my mom alsodoesn'tknowI'mBi—You know! It's really nice standing here together and boiling in the sun, but what do you say we go inside?"
"I'm sorry, what did you just say before that?"
"Come on, Heather's waiting!" Dorothea sang, spinning around and starting towards the house.
Taylor followed her up the stone-paved walkway and into the foyer. Immediately, the pair were greeted by the two barking dogs charging into the room, which in turn signaled her mom to appear seconds later from the hallway.
"Oh! Hi Taylor, welcome! Welcome! I'm Thea's mom, Heather," her mother greeted brightly, crossing the hallway.
"Hi, it's so nice to meet you. Sorry for dropping by on such short notice," Taylor apologized.
"No, please! It's my pleasure after everything you've done for my daughter," the older woman assured. "Hopefully traffic wasn't too bad? Are you hungry? Can I get you a glass of water or iced tea? You're from Tennessee, right? I know you must be familiar with sweet tea—"
"Mom—"
"Tea sounds amazing, thank you." Taylor smiled, flitting her eyes from Dorothea to the brunette's mother.
"Of course, of course! Why don't you both follow me into the kitchen—or wait! Let's do the living room! It'll be much more comfortable, yes..." In nearly the same manner as Dorothea had used minutes before, her mother spun around and hurried to the room across the hall.
"Sorry, she's a little excited," Dorothea muttered.
Taylor nudged the other girl's arm. "Stop it. She's lovely."
Dorothea shook her head, but she was smiling as they sat down on one of the white sofas in the two-story space while her mother disappeared into the kitchen. Along with a fireplace opposite the furniture, there was a chandelier hanging from the center of the vaulted ceiling. Mixed among the various shelves and surfaces were photos over the years of Dorothea and her family, and she noticed the singer already scanning them with intrigue.
"Is that you?" Taylor asked, pointing to one of the frames on the coffee table.
"Ahh, no. That's my sister. Maeve. I think she was still in college when that was taken," Dorothea said, glancing at the photo.
"Wow. You look just like her,"
"What? No way!" Dorothea furrowed her eyebrows, scrutinizing the photo more closely. Her sister was wearing a floral dress and smiling with their Nana in some sort of flower garden.
"Agree to disagree." Taylor smiled. She reached and turned another frame to examine it. "Your brother doesn't look as much like you two, though. He has freckles and lighter hair."
"He takes after my dad," Dorothea mentioned, "and it's kind of funny, now that he's a bit older people around town mistake him for our dad, even though it's been almost two years since he passed away—" She stopped, then added quickly, "He was sick."
Taylor, somewhat startled at the information, looked at the girl with softened eyes. "Oh, Thea, I'm so sorry."
"It's okay. The cancer he had put him in quite a lot of pain, so he's not suffering anymore," she explained. A small smile crept across her lips as she looked at a photo of her parents. "His zodiac sign was also a Cancer, so you can only imagine the Dad jokes that came out of that..."
Taylor smiled, but Dorothea sensed it was a sensitive subject—as it was with just about everyone. She didn't want to make the singer feel uncomfortable, though, so she slid across the gap between them and laughed faintly. "What are you thinking about?" She asked.
"Nothing, really," Taylor hummed, "it just feels like I'm really getting to know you and where you're from. Even if it did take me flying halfway across the country."
"Yeah..." Dorothea grimaced, then looked up at the blonde. She immediately blushed as she caught sight of the other woman's dazzling blue eyes. Then, in a leading tone, she said, "Hopefully it was worth it...?"
Taylor laughed. "Oh, it was worth it just to see these photos...So, just curious, did you always like matching your outfits with the color of your braces?"
Right as Dorothea lifted her forearm to hit the singer, her mother appeared with an ornate silver tray, balancing a couple of glasses of tea and a plate of muffins. Dorothea suddenly realized she was sitting a little too closely to her boss, and so she instantly slid to the other end of the couch.
Thankfully, Heather had a tendency to be completely oblivious to things happening right in front of her.
"Here we are..." the older woman said, handing a glass to Taylor. "I have extra lemon and sugar here if you need. Blueberry muffins, too—Oh, wait, are gluten-free? Or avoiding eggs or sugar, or something? Of course, you probably are. You're so fit! Goodness, my peak fitness was back when I was on the LSU cheer team, but I still could barely finish a two-mile run—"
"Mom—"
Taylor laughed. "I wouldn't say I'm on a diet. I just try to keep things balanced."
"Oh, that's wonderful to hear!" Heather sighed, "I get so worried when these girls share their diets in magazines and they're so hard on themselves! In fact, I actually read Anna Kendrick's interview in Cosmo the other day and the poor thing said she won't even dress a salad! Just lemon juice! I felt like sending her a message on Tweeter just to tell her she's beautiful and doesn't need to torture herself—"
"Mom," Dorothea repeated. Though she sensed Taylor was enjoying every second of this, she, on the other hand, was mortified. "Would you, um—mind getting us some napkins?"
"Right there, Darling," her mom pointed to the neatly stacked white squares next to the bowl of sugar. She then crossed one of her legs over the other and took a sip of iced tea, turning her attention back to the singer. "So, Taylor, I'd love to hear all about how you found out about Thea's photography and decided to hire her! I'd ask her myself, but my daughter never likes to tell me anything."
Taylor proceeded to explain how they met at The Pearl, then how she found the girl's work on social media. She said it was a coincidence—really!—that she needed a photographer for her tour merchandise, and left out all of the much more interesting details.
"Wow, that is just...amazing!" Heather marveled, "Taylor, Honey, you have no idea what timing this opportunity had for Thea. Seriously. It was a gift from God, because with her job at The Pearl alone, it wouldn't have been enough to support this baby—Oh!" Her mother suddenly froze mid-tangent, glancing between the women, "Oh, dear. Did you—"
"Yes! Don't worry," Taylor interjected, smiling. "Dorothea told me about the baby a few weeks ago. I'm so glad I've been able to help."
"Oh, good," Heather breathed, "like I said, my daughter likes to keep things from people, so I wasn't sure—"
"Mom!"
"So, Taylor, I meant to ask before," her mother continued, "what brings you to Texas?"
"I'm actually on my way to LA—" and also chasing after your daughter "and my flight stopped here. Dorothea mentioned she was taking some time off to be with you and the rest of your family. And actually, there was something I wanted to discuss when Thea came back to work, but I might as well just ask now."
Dorothea's eyes widened as the singer turned to her. There were a million thoughts flying through her mind, but she couldn't read what was behind the blonde's glittering hues and irresistible smile.
"How would you feel about joining me as a full-time photographer on tour?"