25,500 ~ 27,400

Sam did the quick math in her head. It was just after 2:00 in the afternoon. If the drive went as Mapquest said it would, she’d arrive in Lexington around 4:00. She assumed that all the University offices would close at 5:00. That wasn’t much time for doing research. Sam didn’t know her way around Lexington, much less her way around the University. Finding the Alumni office, parking, and then someone willing to help seemed like a daunting task with only an hour to play with. Holly could help her, but Holly wasn’t going to help her. Sam resolved that Holly would never know she was in Lexington unless one of two things happened, (1) She ran into her or (2) She needed her help to move the search forward.

“Lexington!?! You’re on the way to Lexington? As in Kentucky?”, Malin exclaimed when Sam told her where she was.

“It’s really not that far. Cincinnati is almost in Kentucky anyway.” Sam went on to tell her friend what she had discovered at Evelyn Campbell’s house and what she had learned from Cindy at the school district office.

“Do you really think your mom and this Ruthie were THAT close of friends? Were there even lesbians back in the day?” Malin had put voice to the questions that had been rolling around in Sam’s mind.

“I don’t know. I really don’t. I mean they were best friends, even Mrs. Savage said that they were inseparable. Maybe in those days the heart was like saying ‘BFF’ today. But damn… It’s a hard assumption. It seemed so… Real in a way. Like if Ruthie or my mom had been a boy, it would have been the natural thing to do.”

“Absolutely. I remember doing that kind of thing in grade school with my little boy friends. ‘M.J plus whoever equals true love’. It seems ridiculous now, of course, but back then the love seemed real.”

“That’s exactly what my mind wants to think, but then I know my mom isn’t a lesbian. She never mentioned anything like it. And really don’t you think she might have when I came out?”

“Not necessarily, Sam. Maybe it was a passing thing for her. Maybe she never identified it or even realized that a crush on her best friend was a ‘gay thing’. Look, when I was in ninth grade, I had a crush on this girl on the Varsity soccer team. I thought she was the greatest thing ever. I idolized her. It was only after our weekend…”.

Malin stopped a moment. She didn’t want to admit to Sam, who probably knew anyway, how important those four short days in New York City had been and how her life had changed in the months following. She swallowed and decided to continue, only because it was instrumental to the conversation at hand.

“…that I realized a few things about my life and my past and who I really was. Maybe your mom never had one of those moments. Maybe she never realized what her relationship with Ruth was or could have been. We’re talking about the 60s. It’s not like being gay was a common thing. I’m sure your mom did what she thought she was supposed to do - get married and have kids - without ever giving her friendship with Ruth a second glance”.

“Makes sense,” Sam admitted, somewhat relieved. She knew Malin would be able to help her understand the situation. Malin had always had a calming effect on her.

~


Malin changed the subject. “So, what’s your plan for Lexington?”

Malin got the feeling that Sam rarely planned, rarely knew what was going to happen one moment or one day to the next. She was a classic ‘fly by the seat of the pants’ kind of person. Malin had learned that this could be both infuriating and exhilarating.

“It’s getting late, but I thought if I got there in time I might be able to see if the alumni office would be able to give me any information. I’m skeptical they will. I don’t think they just hand out personal information to strangers, like addresses and phone numbers and such. That’s why I have a Plan B.”

“Plan B? You, the girl who never plans a damn thing, has a Plan B?” Malin asked incredulously.

“Shocking, I know.” Sam laughed. She knew she wasn’t a planner. At one point, she had been then for some reason she stopped. It was aggravating to others; her mother, her agent, and her editors often told her as much. However, Sam preferred it that way. She liked to take to take things as they came rather than planning and planning only to have something fall apart at the last moment. She planned her books to an extent, but that was all.

“Holly lives in Lexington. I can call her if I have to,” Sam continued.

“Holly? Holly Holly? That’s your Plan B? Holly?”

Sam could hear the shock in Malin’s voice. It almost sounded like anger, almost.

“Yes, Ma’am. Holly is my Plan B.”

“How in the Hell does that work, Samantha?

Sam could now hear the anger in Malin’s voice.

“Look, it’s not my choice exactly. I need help and she’s the only person I know… well, sort of… that has anything to do with the University of Kentucky. I suppose I could call Ashley Judd, but I don’t think she’s taking my calls at this point either.”

“Ashley Judd. Very funny. Samantha, you can’t go hopping in and out of people’s lives. You can’t. That poor girl.”

“Poor girl, my ass. I was always clear to her about what I wanted. I can’t help it that she didn’t believe me.”

“You dated her. You based a character in your book on her. She fell in love with you. Then you discarded her. That’s ‘Poor Girl’ status if you ask me.”

“She was a grown up. Things happen. Things change.”

“Jesus Christ. You are unbelievable. And now you’re just going to stroll into town and call her up?”

“Well, I haven’t quite figured out that part of the plan yet, but yes. Probably. If she’ll even pick up the phone.”

“If I was her, I wouldn’t. I’d let that bridge keep burning”. Malin knew that was a bold statement. Sam could be so charming and charismatic; she was difficult to say ‘No’ to, even though she could be profoundly aggravating.

“Well, let’s hope she has more sense than you.”

“What’s Holly’s connection to Kentucky anyway? I thought she played at Texas. Didn’t you meet her in Austin?”

“She did. I did. But Liz went to Kentucky and I’m pretty sure that she’s the head softball coach there now. I’m hoping she’s got the connections to help me out.”

“What the fuck! Liz? Isn't that the girlfriend? You want Liz to help you? You just jumped right out of the frying pan and into the fire.”

Sam knew all this. She knew that Liz would be a tough sell. Hell, Holly would be a tough sell.

Malin continued, “Am I remembering this story right? Isn’t Holly the one you met at a bar”

“Yep, Rainbow Cattle Club,” Sam interjected.

“And you hit on her girlfriend to get HER attention? Which worked almost too perfectly because she dumped her girlfriend to be with you? The girlfriend she got back together with when you dumped her? The same girlfriend you want to help you now? Girl, you’ve got some balls.”

Malin was exasperated. Sam could be so incredibly self-centered.

“I don’t know about the balls, but that’s the story. In my defense, I’ve never pulled that one again,” Sam laughed out loud.

“This is so not funny, Sam. So not funny. You screwed with this girl’s life and now - how many years has it been? - you’re going to walk back in asking for a favor?”

“It’s been about three years ago. She was in the first book. Swore I’d never model a character on a live person ever again after that. So, yeah. Three years is probably about right."

 

Sam was getting angry now. Didn’t Malin realize that this wasn’t her first choice, but that it seemed like stroke of luck that she had a connection to the University of Kentucky, where Ruth Goldman supposedly went to school?

“Fuck, Malin. It’s not like I want to see Holly. I didn’t create this situation to weasel my way back into her world.”

 

Sam and Holly truly hadn’t spoken in years. They’d dated for about a year while Sam worked on her second book and while Holly finished her master’s degree in athletic training at Texas State. Liz had been the softball coach and Holly had been the athletic trainer assigned to the team. They dated until Sam appeared on the scene. Liz got an offer to coach at her alma mater and left town. When Sam broke up with Holly, Holly ran back to Liz. As far as Sam knew, Holly was now an athletic trainer at a high school in Lexington and still with Liz.

“Bullshit. You could find another way. Holly Srebotnik doesn’t have to be the answer.”

“If you can figure out another way, I’d love to hear it. Love to! But right now, this is all I’ve got. I’m not going to let this search go just because I shouldn’t contact an ex-girlfriend.”

“So now you’ll all in? Whatever happened to ‘this is a pain in the ass’ and ‘I wish I didn’t have to spend my vacation doing this crap for my mom’?”

Sam was pissed now. What was Malin’s deal?

Sam’s voice had a definite edge when she spoke again. “Look Malin. I started out hating this damn thing. I did. But now it’s kind of like a puzzle. It’s like when I know how I want a story to go but I have to figure out how I can do it and have it be believable. Crazy, but this shit is right up my alley. I like the research. I like the discovery. And occasionally I have to use a source that is… unsavory. That’s all I’m doing here.”

She heard Malin let out a frustrated sigh on the other end of the line.

“I’m not trying to fuck with Holly’s life…” Sam tried to reassure Malin.

“Again.”

Sam felt her phone vibrate. Saved by the bell. Maybe. Sam pulled the phone back to check the caller id. It was Sheilagh, her agent. Sam tried to do the quick math in her head.

“What day is it?” Sam asked Malin.

“Tuesday, May 2nd.”

“Oh, shit. Hey, Sheilagh’s calling me. I gotta go. I’ll call you from Lexington.”

“Bye.” Sam heard Malin’s still angry voice say right before she punched the button to end the call. Sam set the phone in its usual place in the console and focused on the road. She’d call Sheilagh back later. She wasn’t in the mood for yet another lecture. Sheilagh could be good at those, too.

“Damn women,” she said, even though Kate was the only one who could hear her.