A Meadow With Flowers

Trigger warning--mention of violence and crime

They had just left the Kuwohi parking area when the phone vibrated in her pocket.

Iris Stayer groaned as Kendra Cottongain turned to her. Kendra raised her eyebrows and Iris nodded. "It's my ex-boyfriend."

Iris stared at the screen, debating if she should let the call go to voicemail or just block him. She decided to be polite and answer, but be brief. "Hello, Vince, what's going on? I'm at the Great Smoky Mountain National Park with my girlfriend."

"It hurts me to know you're someplace so lovely, but not with me. When are you going to get over this girl on girl stuff? You're my soulmate. We should get married. Marriage is God's design for one man and one woman."

"Oh, so that's why Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines." Iris sighed in exasperation. "I wish you well with Felicity. I don't mean happiness. I mean Felicity as in your girlfriend you left me for. You know, your new soulmate."

"To be honest, that's all over. She dumped me by text. I've come to realize how sweet and understanding you are. You mean a lot to me. I hate it because we're missing out on time we could be spending together. You're just having a fling with this girl. A lesbian relationship isn't real. It's like a meadow without flowers."

"Kendra and I love each other. I'm not going back to you. Why don't you try being single for a while?" Iris ended the call.

"I'm glad they renamed this from Clingman's Dome," Kendra said after a moment.

Iris nodded. She was thirty-six, ten years older than Kendra. Iris tanned easily, had a round face and button nose, with short dark brown curly hair and glasses; Kendra's features were sharper, her skin lighter, with wide blue eyes and straight dark brown hair parted in the middle, going halfway down her back. They'd met in a Presbyterian church in Greensboro, North Carolina, and been introduced by mutual friends.

The women walked in silence along the path to the observation tower, studying the natural world around them, holding hands. Kendra shivered in the mist, having only a white sleeveless shirt, shorts, and sandals on. Iris was dressed more warmly in a long-sleeved gray hoodie, dark jeans, and black sneakers.

"I'm glad we've done so much traveling since we got together," Iris said. As she was a freelance photographer and Kendra was a travel blogger, they were able to mix business with pleasure.

"You needed the space away from Vince," Kendra remarked. "I hope he gets the point and quits bothering you. But I wonder if he will. I'm not sure you're out of the woods yet with him."

In June, they'd taken a seventeen hour plane ride to the southern part of Africa to stay at a wildlife reserve. Gasping with awe as they stood on the balcony of their room with their arms around each other, watching elephants and zebras in the park.

In July, they'd visited Wisconsin's House on the Rock, where both were spellbound by the Streets of Yesterday exhibit recreating a 19th century street, the display with a sea creature as long as the Statue of Liberty is tall, and the Infinity Room jutting out two hundred and eighteen feet over the valley. They'd stared at the huge carousel and strolled in the Japanese gardens.

In South Dakota, along with seeing the beautiful Black Hills, they stopped at the Corn Palace and Wall Drug for their August trip. They went further to Wyoming, where Iris and Kendra took turns driving for miles without seeing anything but land.

"The hell with Vince," Iris said later that evening after they'd returned from their day at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Kendra kissed the back of her neck, slipping Iris's quilted mauve robe down from her shoulders. Iris stated firmly, "Our love is meant to be. We fit perfectly into each other's lives."

Kendra massaged Iris's upper back as she pointed out, "You need me here to wake you up from bad dreams, like the one you had where you were naked in a haunted house."

"That's better than the one I had about you flying a plane when you'd never flown before."

Kendra pressed her lips against Iris's curls, still damp from the shower they'd taken together. "Iris, I remember you woke up mad because I didn't file a flight plan or get advice from the control tower."

Iris smiled. "It's nice to have someone to make me mashed potatoes when I have a hundred and three fever."

"And can't get anything else down."

Iris pulled away from Kendra when her phone rang. She grimaced as she saw the caller was Vince, but answered anyway.

He boomed into her ear, "I just thought of something! Thirty-six is not too old to have children. If we get back together, I won't hold this affair with Kendra against you. We can start having a family."

"Kendra and I can have a family if we ever choose to."

"You two are just playing house. You and your woke content creator. Those posts you have about gay friendly places to stay. It's embarrassing for me to read that and know that you're helping with that blog."

"Vince, the blog is a success. Thanks more to Kendra's efforts than mine. She's very intelligent, with a degree in English literature. Yes, I know she has family members who help sponsor her blog, but they've got the money. Why not use their money to help her? They offered, she didn't ask."

"You can take photos for a while, she can write her blog for a while. Then when it all ends, you'll both end up in minimum wage jobs," Vince insisted.

"I don't think it will end anytime soon. What we do matters to people, and they express their appreciation every day. Even if the blog doesn't last, so what? We'll still have each other."

Kendra grabbed the phone out of Iris's hand. "Listen, Vince, don't judge us. Get out of our lives!"

"At least I can take care of Iris!" Vince shouted, then hung up.

Iris glared at Kendra. "Don't take my phone away from me!"

"I'm starting to think you want him back!" Kendra exploded. "Why don't you just block him?"

Iris paused and controlled herself with an effort, then said quietly, "He's not as bad as some of the other men I've been involved with. I thought maybe I could stay friends with him. But I'll block him. You're right."

"We've got a four hour drive home tomorrow," Kendra said just as quietly. "I'm going to try to get some sleep."

Kendra went into the little bedroom of the cabin they'd rented and shut the door. Iris sat down at the breakfast nook and blocked Vince from every online platform she could think of. She opened the bedroom door just slightly and heard Kendra's even breathing, indicating she was asleep already.

Vince had snored loudly enough that they'd had separate bedrooms. Iris didn't miss that at all. It was so sweet to wake up and see Kendra sleeping next to her, her hair spread on the pillow.

Iris gently touched Kendra's hand without waking her and went back to the kitchen. She rolled up the sleeves of her robe and made herself a cup of instant black tea. The hot liquid was soothing in the chill of the September evening. She went out on the tiny porch with her tea, gazing up at the sky.

Her thoughts suddenly had the same bright clarity as the stars.

I don't know if we're going to make it. There's so much stress in life anymore.

You'd think I'd know better.

I saw my father get robbed at gunpoint when I was five years old. I still remember the robber had on a billed cap and a bandanna over the lower part of his face. I've been burglarized twice, and accused of doing it myself the second time. I've come close to being raped more than once. I've been touched inappropriately by more than one man, without my consent. I've been threatened by a boyfriend (not Vince, though) that I would be hit. I had a husband I had to divorce ten years ago, because he publicly posted a death threat against me.

I should know by now that you can't count on life going your way.

That anything can happen, and all you can do is to be as careful as you can. Be as brave and kind as you can. Do your best and know that your best can vary. Pray for strength and wisdom.

All I can do, Iris told herself, is to love Kendra and do the best I can for her. For us.