Under Construction Read Online Free Page A

something?” Jameson teased. “You haven’t even
had coffee yet.” Candace laughed and finished the task before her with
Jameson’s arms still holding her. “What are your plans today?” Jameson asked.
    Candace
turned in Jameson’s embrace. “That depends .”
    “On
what?”
    “On
what your plans are,” Candace said.
    Jameson
smiled and kissed Candace gently. “I thought maybe…antiquing?”
    Candace
pursed her lips and squinted at Jameson curiously. “Antiquing?”
    Jameson
knew that Candace loved to wander in and out of eclectic shops. Although, she was loathed to admit it, she enjoyed it too.
Every item had a story and Jameson enjoyed imagining what those stories might
have been. Who had owned that lamp or that ring? How did it come to be where it
was now? And, she loved spending time with Candace. She felt a sense of pride
watching how people responded to her lover, and how Candace engaged people so
effortlessly.
    “Don’t
you have to work?” Candace pointed to the plans still spread across the kitchen
table.
    Jameson
shrugged. “I have more important things to attend to,” she winked. “So? What do
you say? Antiquing? Lunch? You and me?”
    Candace
kissed Jameson’s cheek. “It’s a date.”
    “A
date? Oh my God! I have a date with
Senator Fletcher!” Jameson exclaimed playfully.
    Candace
smacked Jameson and rolled her eyes. “Lunatic.”
    ***
    Jameson and Candace walked
through the front door laughing. It had been a perfect day for them both. They
had wandered through small shops, purchased a few items for the house, stopped
for lunch at a small, hole in the wall café. They spent time talking about the
renovation and even about their future. They traded playful banter on and off and sat on a bench under a large tree,
eating ice cream cones and talking about their families. Candace had decided in
May that they should start a new annual tradition and had been planning a large
Fourth of July picnic. She had even convinced Marianne to come for a long
weekend with Rick and Spencer.
    Jameson
was a tad nervous. It was the first time their families would be together.
Candace seemed completely unfazed by the impending event. Jameson was
continually impressed by Candace’s ability to take a great many things in
stride. She asked Candace when they began planning the barbecue how she managed not to worry about what people said and
thought about her. Was it from spending so
many years in political life, Jameson wondered? Candace laughed.
    “No. Well, I guess that is part of it,” Candace said. “You
have to have a thick skin in my job, Jameson. It’s true.”
    “I don’t know how you do it.”
    Candace laughed. “Mostly, it’s just a product of living,”
Candace told her. Jameson looked bewildered. “You grow up, you get married, you
work, you give birth to your children and you mourn your parents ….I don’t know, you just learn along the
way that you have to be true to yourself. I’ve lived long enough to know that
some people will love me and some will loathe me. That’s life. I try to
concentrate on the ones in my life and not worry so much about the rest.”
    “Yeah, but what about when they don’t approve?” Jameson asked
nervously.
    Candace nodded. She knew that Jameson’s greatest anxieties
surrounded Candace’s children’s acceptance of her, and Jameson’s siblings’
acceptance of Candace. “In my experience, if they love you, they’ll find their
way to where you are. It just takes some people a little more time than others.
If they don’t? Well, sometimes you just have to accept that and move on.”
Candace watched tension etch Jameson’s features. “Relax,” she said. “You worry
too much about things you can’t control, sweetheart.”
    They
had been discussing the impending arrival of their families on the way home.
That led to Jameson playfully calling Candace, Nana as they entered the
house.   “One title I will never earn!”
Jameson stuck out her tongue