Chapter 10
Waverly was tearing apart her closet, unsure what to wear. Nicole had mentioned a nice dinner, but how nice? She found a little black cocktail dress.
She slipped down the stairs, hoping to go unnoticed by Wynonna.
“Hey, baby girl, where are you going all dressed up like that?”
“Nicole and I are going to dinner at Manicotti's in town,” Waverly said as she slipped on her heels.
“Girls night out on the town!” Wynonna smiled, “Have fun,”
Waverly rolled her eyes and hurried out the door when she saw the headlights through the window.
She rubbed her palms against the fabric of her dress to dry them; her heart beating a thousand beats per second.
Nicole stepped out of the truck a vision. Her hair was down, hanging in loose curls. A flowing black dress framed her figure well and heels accentuated her height.
They hugged briefly, Waverly taking in the soft scent of an expensive perfume on Nicole’s skin.
“Are you ready?” Nicole asked.
“Yes,” Waverly smiled as Nicole opened the door for her.
Waverly felt like butterflies were trying to migrate through her stomach. She stole another glance at Nicole.
“You look beautiful,” Waverly said softly.
Nicole felt the heat flash up her chest and neck, “Thank you. I ah, you look stunning,”
“We clean up pretty well, don’t we?”
“We do,” Nicole nodded, “But I changed the oil the truck today and couldn’t get my hands completely clean,” She held up her hand.
Waverly took the hand in hers, hoping it didn’t feel too clammy.
When they finally pulled up to the restaurant Waverly chuckled.
“We are probably a sight to be seen,”
“How so?”
“Two drop dead gorgeous women in dresses and heels getting out a dirty old Chevy and going on a date,” Waverly bumped shoulders with Nicole.
They walked in and Nicole gave the name for the reservation as Waverly took in their surroundings. Everything felt soft and expensive. Lush carpeting under their feet and classic red tones decorating the walls.
They were seated and each ordered a glass of wine.
“This place is really nice,” Waverly raised an eyebrow.
“I just really wanted to take you out and show you off,” Nicole reached across the table and squeezed Waverly’s hand.
After perusing the menu they placed their orders and sipped their wine.
“You really do look stunning,” Waverly said, “We need to dress up more often. Not that you don’t always look great; its just I really like this side of you too,” Waverly paused, “I’m rambling now,”
Nicole set down her wine glass, “I think I like when you ramble,”
Waverly looked into Nicole’s eyes, and seeing the glint there made her smile.
One of the waiters approached their table. Waverly looked around the dining room and saw multiple waiters converging on the dining room.
“Ladies, I’m so sorry to tell you, but unfortunately there has been a gas line accident down the road from us and as a result, we cannot continue with dinner service tonight. We are very sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. Don’t worry about your check, it’s on us,”
Nicole looked at Waverly her face a touch crestfallen.
“It’s alright,” Waverly drained her glass, “Let's head out,”
She took Nicole’s hand and lead them back to the truck, “I know a place,”
Nicole drove, following Waverly’s instructions.
They ended up on a diner just outside of Purgatory.
“Mary Ann’s Diner?” Nicole asked as she put the truck in park.
“Best food in town, and its open past 8 pm which makes it the only option in Purgatory.
They hopped out of the truck and walked hand in hand up to the dinner.
The older waitress gave them a double take as they walked in, “Have a seat where ever you like,”
The two sat down. Nicole looked around; the only other occupants of the diner were older, gruff looking men. Most were in Carhartt jackets and caps, most likely truckers stopping for a bite to eat.
“Well, we are a bit overdressed,” Waverly followed Nicole’s eyes.
“Only a touch,” Nicole chuckled.
The waitress came over, wordlessly pouring them glasses of water, “What can I get you two started with?”
“I’ll have the bacon cheeseburger, medium rare,” Waverly said.
“Soup or salad?”
“Salad please,” Waverly smiled.
“And how about you,” The waitress turned to Nicole.
“Can I have the club wrap?”
The waitress gave them one last look before walking back to the kitchen to submit their order.
“So not exactly Manicotti's, but still good food and good company,” Waverly touched the back of Nicole’s hand.
Nicole smiled softly, the feeling of Waverly’s touch anchoring her.
“Great company,” Nicole winked.
Nicole took another look at the other patrons. Her jaw clenched when she noticed the familiar gaze coming from a lot of the other diner goers. It was the same look she had been greeted with when she first held a girls hand in public or the first time she took her first girlfriend on a date.
There was judgment, disapproval, in the eyes of the people around them. She was sure that Waverly hadn’t noticed. It wasn’t something she had ever experienced before; she had no reason to have.
It was things like this that made Nicole hate small towns. She chastised herself for thinking that a different small town would be any different than the one she ran from.
A scowl had crept over Nicole’s face despite her best effort.
“What are you thinking about so hard there, cowgirl?” Waverly reached out and touched her had.
Nicole softened at the touch and the nickname. She didn’t want to spoil the night with her own demons.
Nicole glued her eyes to the gorgeous women before her.
“Sorry, sometimes I suck at living in the present,”
“I know how that feels,” Waverly smiled softly.
The waitress brought out their food and they dug in; both starving due to the delay in having dinner.
After a sideways glance as they walked out of the diner hand-in-hand Nicole helped Waverly into her truck. She hesitated before starting the truck, not exactly wanting to let the night end.
“I’ve had a good time tonight, despite the hick up at the restaurant,” Nicole said.
Waverly reached over and squeezed her hand, “Me too,” Waverly leaned over and kissed her sweetly on the lips, “I don’t want the night to end,”
“What do you have in mind?” Nicole gave her a grin.
“Can we maybe do drinks at your place?” Waverly asked.
“I would love nothing more,” Nicole smiled.
On the drive back to Nicole’s there was a palpable energy in the cab of the pickup truck. Waverly kept one hand on Nicole’s knee as they drove, unbuckling her seatbelt and scooting closer to Nicole on the bench seat. She caught herself placing a kiss on the exposed skin of Nicole’s shoulder once or twice.
Once Nicole parked the truck Waverly took the opportunity to kiss Nicole, “Did I mention how amazing you look tonight?” Waverly asked as she pushed her hair to one side.
Nicole answered by kissing her. Things quickly heated up in the cab of the old truck. Nicole broke away, “Let's take this inside,”
She helped Waverly down and led her up the steps of her porch, fumbling with the key to unlock the front door.
Once past the threshold the two women hastily removed their shoes. Nicole gently grabbed Waverly by the hips, backing her up against the wall of the hallway. She teasingly nipped at Waverly’s lip.
Waverly wrapped her arms around Nicole’s neck and brought her lips down to hers, kissing her hard.
Nicole was mindful of where her hands went; she didn’t want to push Waverly too far too soon. But Waverly didn’t have the same self-control; this was too new and exciting. It was like the first time she ever made out with someone again, except much, much better. As far as she was concerned, all the others in her past didn’t count.
Waverly pushed off the wall leading Nicole over to the couch, Nicole followed her lead, and without breaking the kiss lifted her, setting her down gently on the couch. She slid on top of her.
They got to pick up where they had been interrupted the day before. Exploring hands and heavy breaths. Soon Nicole found her lips on Waverly’s throat, and she swore that the way Waverly moaned softly at the contact was going to be the death of her.
When Nicole felt Waverly’s hands start to push up the bottom of her dress she propped herself up and looked down into Waverly’s deep brown eyes, only inches away.
“Hey,” Nicole kissed her lips.
Nicole saw fear flash across the brunettes face, “Is something wrong? Did I do something wrong?”
Nicole shook her head, “No, trust me you are doing everything right,” She leaned down and kissed her nose, “Perfect actually. I just don’t want to rush you into doing something you aren’t ready for,”
Waverly took a deep breath.
“If you want to keep going, I'm happy too. But if not, I'm also perfectly happy to stop for tonight and maybe watch a movie and have a couple drinks?”
Waverly was suddenly aware of how far up Nicole’s dress her hands were and the direction they were headed.
“I think I’m down for a movie,” Waverly said sheepishly.
Nicole kissed Waverly one last time, “There is plenty of time for us to do things going forward,” Nicole stood up, helping Waverly up.
They headed upstairs and Nicole lent Waverly some comfy clothes.
“Could you give me a hand?” Nicole asked turning around and moving her hair to the side exposing the zipper of her dress. Waverly reached out and unzipped the dress, pushing the shoulders down the sides of her arms. She lightly traced the scars from the barn attack on Nicole’s back, healed now but the skin was still pink and angry.
“I’m still so sorry,” She said placing a light kiss on Nicole’s shoulder.
“And you still have nothing to be sorry for,” Nicole said softly.
She stepped just out of Waverly’s touch and walked around the shorter women, slowly unzipping the dress. She let her finger lightly drag on Waverly’s skin, knowing exactly the response it would elicit.
They changed their clothes, both trying to sneak a glimpse of the other.
Nicole had resisted the urge to kiss Waverly for so long that now that she had the opportunity she couldn’t help herself. She gave waver a quick kiss before heading downstairs.
They settled in, Nicole sitting long ways on the couch, Waverly nestled in, her back pressed against the taller woman's chest. Nicole wrapped her arms around Waverly’s waist.
Nicole couldn’t pinpoint when, but at some point, Waverly had taken her hands into her own. She studied them closely.
“What’s this scar from?” She asks pointing to a horseshoe-shaped scar on the side of Nicole’s left hand.
“When I was a kid I was playing hide and seek with my brother in the barn, I didn’t see a nail sticking out of the wall in the old hay loft. I caught my hand as I rounded the corner and it just sliced me. The rotation of my body gave me the lovely shape,” Nicole traced the old scar with her free hand, “Took a number of stitches to get it to stop bleeding,”
Waverly raised the hand to her lips and pressed a kiss to the scar, “What about this one?” She pointed to a long thin scar down Nicole’s right arm, “I rode my first horse through the trees on our land when I lost control of her and she decided we were going to go her way, I got all scrapped up by some brush and tree branches, this one was deep enough to scar,”
Waverly was satisfied with this, “Do you have a lot of scars?”
“When you work hard for a living, scars are part of the game, but every scar has a story and every scar has a memory,” Nicole propped up her leg, pulling up her sweatpant leg, “See this scar here?”
Waverly took in the thick, gnarly scar on her ankle, “Yeah, looks like it hurt like hell,”
“Oh it did,” Nicole smiled, “But it reminds me of a happy time. I got that the night my friends and I broke into a music festival. There was a fairly large group of acts in town, including Garth Brooks. But none of us could afford the tickets so we hopped the fence. I got caught in the barbed wire at the top; I lost one of my favorite shirts trying to get it to stop bleeding. But it was all worth it to get to hear The Thunder Rolls live. I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” Nicole said.
“Wow, that’s kind of bad ass,”
“Ive been known to be cool every once in awhile,” Nicole conceded.
Later that night Nicole drove Waverly home, giving her a quick kiss before watching her disappear into the old farmhouse.
Nicole shook her head, “Waverly Earp, you are one amazing woman,” She said before pulling away from the homestead.