Milaine finished rowing them to shore, while Bette stayed in the water, swimming along behind them. She had to admit that the water felt refreshing…but, she was dreading the moment when she had to put her foot down, afraid she would be standing in the same muck she had to grab a few moments before with her hand. Finally, she tentatively poked a toe down…just one, curling the rest up, so only her big toe had to be subjected. She subconsciously closed her eyes and clenched her teeth…then let out a big breath…aahh…sand.

Tina and Milaine had been silently watching this slow process, both covering their mouths with their hands, so as not to laugh out loud. But, when Tina heard Bette’s loud sigh, she couldn’t hold it in any longer. Her laughter came bubbling out. “God Bette, quit being such a baby! It’s just dirt!”

Bette looked at her in disbelief. “Just dirt!! I don’t think so…there’s dirt, mixed in with decomposed leaves from all these trees hanging over the water, decomposed fish and any other creature that has died in that water…not to mention the vast amounts of…” She stopped and grimaced, shaking her head,”fish…*****! YUCK!” Her whole body involuntarily shuttered. “Baby, I’m going to go take a shower and wash my hair.”

Tina reluctantly composed herself, but Milaine on the other hand, had stepped back into the rowboat, just so she could sit down, she was laughing so hard. As Bette walked by, Tina reached out and took her hand. “Hey…I thought you wanted to see what is in the locket.”

Bette stopped and looked at Tina, all thoughts of her shower instantly gone. She just stood there, staring into her lover’s eyes, smiling…totally dripping wet and looking ***** as *****, as the sun reflected off all the water droplets rolling down her beautifully toned body. “Oh yea…the locket.” Still smiling, and without her eyes leaving Tina’s, Bette softly said, “Milaine sweetheart, would you mind giving Tina and I a couple of minutes alone?”

Still giggling, Milaine pulled herself out of the boat and headed towards the house. “Sure MaBe.”

“Thanks Honey.”

Bette took hold of Tina’s hand and walked her out to the end of the dock. They sat down, with their legs dangling off the side, Bette’s anticipation apparent…she just kept looking from the locket to Tina, and back down to the locket. “Ok T…”

Tina looked at Bette, loving the fact that she was so curious about the locket, feeling a bit of excitement run through her. “Baby, I want you to know that when you and I committed ourselves to each other, I had never been more sure of anything in my life. I knew that you were the one…” Tina stopped for a moment, looking out at the lake, the water a beautiful blue from this perspective. “I told you that the reason I left was because I didn’t want us to destroy the love that we had. I needed to know that it would still be there with me…somewhere.” She looked down at the locket, slowly opening it, and as she did, Bette leaned in closer to see. Her eyes fell on the object and immediately filled with tears. “Oh Tina…Baby…” She reached out and ran her finger over the beautiful gold wedding band that she had given to Tina the day of their ceremony…her tears falling freely down her cheeks.

“I needed to have this ring…this symbol of your love…of our love, close to me. At first, I wore it around my neck, but then I felt that was too confusing to everyone. Alice and Shane both noticed I was still wearing it, while telling them over and over again that I didn’t want to be with you any more. So, I took it off, not wanting to have to explain…but I still wanted it close by. I know this sounds silly since I was the one to leave, but this ring had been on my finger for six years. Every emotion I felt during that time was captured in the materials of this ring…all that energy just circling and circling around…never ending…just like my love for you. I would keep it in my pants pocket, or stick it in my purse, like I said, just wanting it to be close. Well, one day right before Shane and Janey’s wedding, Shane and I were getting some coffee. I pulled out my wallet, and the ring, which had been in my purse got caught on it, and went flying. I freaked a little bit…and then felt embarrassed when I saw the look on Shane’s face.” Tina laughed. “At that moment, I think Shane wanted to tell me to quit messing around with the ring, and get my ***** back to the one who gave it to me!” She didn’t though…she knew it wouldn’t have done any good at that time. What she did though, was to give me this beautiful locket on her wedding day, and told me to put the ring in it. She said that way I could have it close to me, feel all the loving energy that it still held, and no one would know but me…well, besides her of course.” Tina shook her head. “What an incredibly wise and loving heart that woman has.” Tina reached out and took hold of Bette’s hand. “I put the ring in the locket that night when I got home, and it has been in there ever since. This is the first time in over 14 years that I have opened it. I use to wear it around my neck all the time, but after Dan asked me to marry him, I didn’t think it was fair to him, even if he didn’t know about it. I still wanted it close though, so it has been in my jewelry box all this time.”

Tina looked over at her partner, who was sitting silently, just listening…tears still flowing down her face. “Bette, I can’t tell you why I brought this locket with me to New York. I honestly don’t know. I guess that it has just been automatic for me to take it with me whenever I travel, even though I don’t ever wear it. I put it on though, that night…the night of our wonderful dinner in New York…and I haven’t taken it off since….Baby, I don’t want to take it off.”

No words came out of Bette’s mouth. She just looked at her love…her partner. After a quiet moment had passed, Bette reached out and gently took the locket out of Tina’s hands. She allowed her fingers one last pass around the circle, and then slowly snapped the locket closed. She then reached up and, without breaking eye contact, clasped the necklace back around Tina’s neck…then leaned in kissing her, hoping that even an ounce of the love that she was feeling towards Tina at that moment would be radiated into her lips…into her body. “Tina, if that’s what you want, you don’t ever have to take this off…ever. Besides, I think that around your neck, is exactly where that ring is supposed to be.”

The two women held each other, still sitting on the dock, their feet still dangling, Bette’s just long enough to skim across the top of the water. Tina finally let go and looked at Bette. “Baby, may I ask you something?”

“Sure T, anything.”

“What did you do with your ring?”

tbc