Tamsin stared out of the window. Diane had only been gone for an hour and she missed her already. How was that even possible? They’d only been dating for ten days. A tiny blip in her lifetime. She had never thought Diane would put other people’s opinions over her feelings for Tamsin, but that was exactly what was happening. Tamsin snorted softly. She should be relieved Diane had left, instead of feeling like this. Or so she’d like to make herself believe.

She did the only thing she could do when she felt like this. Call Eve.

“Please tell me you’re calling to say you’re joining me at dad’s,” Eve said as soon as she picked up. “Do you have any idea what that man likes to do of an evening for sheer excitement?” A loud sigh came through the receiver. “Sit in his favourite chair and stare out of the window. We’re talking stationary birdwatching here, Taz. He’s driving me mad.”

The thought of running away to Derbyshire was very appealing, but Tamsin had clients to consider. The reason why she wasn’t able to join her sister in the first place hadn’t changed. “Sorry, sis,” she said.

“Oh.” Eve went silent. “What’s going on? You sound a bit dour.”

That was the magic of talking to her sister. Tamsin didn’t even have to say anything. Even over the phone, with only a tinny audio connection between them, Eve could tell something was wrong. “Diane,” was all Tamsin managed to say.

“What about Diane?”

“I think she left me.” A pang of sorrow shot through her chest.

“What happened?” Eve asked. “Hold on, Tazzie. I’m just going to take this outside.”

Tamsin pictured their father’s house, the messy chaos in which he always claimed to find exactly what he was looking for. The small windows he loved peering out of.

“She overheard someone talking about us. Apparently someone saw me leaving her house early in the morning and the village tongues have started wagging.”

“To be expected,” Eve said matter-of-factly.

“It made her fall apart right in front of me,” Tamsin said.

“She’s probably scared,” Eve said.

“I’m sure she is, but is that really a good enough reason to walk out on me? To tell me she can’t be with me?”

“I’m sure for her it is.” Eve paused. “Her entire identity has been turned upside down. She was probably working hard to come to terms with it and then she had to deal with this gossip about her… She’s not a flexible young thing like us anymore.”

“I can understand that, which I told her. But she just left.” And that hurt, Tamsin added in her head.

“Maybe she just needs some time.”

“Maybe, but what am I meant to do with myself in the meanwhile?”

“The only thing you can do: be patient and give it to her.”

“From what she said, I don’t think it’s just time she needs. The words she spoke sounded pretty definitive.”

“They’re just words, though. Spoken in the heat of a very difficult moment.” A short silence fell. “Don’t forget, it might be 2018, but this is still a very heteronormative world we live in.”

Tamsin scoffed. “And it always will be.”

“I don’t believe that, but let’s not have that discussion right now,” Eve said. “What I’m trying to say is that Diane’s adjusting. She’s figuring out who she is in this world that’s still the same, but in which she has so abruptly changed. We might not realise this on a conscious level, but conforming to society is a big thing in most people’s lives. Especially if you’ve done so all your life and if you’ve lived in a small village like Tynebury to boot.”

“What do you think I should do?” Tamsin stared out of the window. The rain kept on falling and it was the prefect embodiment of how she was feeling inside.

“First of all, you should sleep on it. Give her a little time to digest what has happened and let everything cool off. But don’t leave it too long to talk to her.” Eve paused again. “It might not be over, Tazzie. She’d be a fool to leave you.”

“So you’re saying I should be the bigger person?”

“Of course,” Eve said without hesitation. “What she said might have hurt you. I’m sure it did because you’re crazy about her and it’s not what you wanted to hear, but you’re the strong one at this point in your relationship. You know who you are. It’s up to you to show her that, to say it whimsically, it’s okay to be gay.” Eve ended with a chuckle.

Tamsin rolled her eyes. At least her sister always managed to make her laugh, even when she was feeling dreadful.

A noise outside drew Tamsin’s attention. A car was pulling into the driveway. Diane’s car. Her heart started pounding in her chest. “I think she just pulled into my driveway.”

“There you go,” Eve said. “Us Foxleys are very hard to stay away from.”

Tamsin glared at the car. The engine shut off and the lights were dimmed, but no one got out.

“What if she’s only here because she forgot something,” Tamsin said.

“Don’t be silly. She could have picked up her forgotten knickers next week,” Eve said. “And what are you still doing on the phone with me? Open the door!”

“Okay.” Tamsin’s pulse had picked up speed.

“And call me later. Or at the very least tomorrow,” Eve said. “Good luck.”

Tamsin hung up and gave it a few more seconds, but Diane still wasn’t getting out of her car. She inhaled a lungful of air and walked into the hallway to open the door.

The windscreen of Diane’s car was covered in raindrops so Tamsin couldn’t quite make out her face, but just seeing her silhouette was enough for her heart to leap into her throat. She’d come back. Whatever that might mean.

Tamsin waited, grabbing Bramble by the collar so she wouldn’t bound out into the drenched road. Finally, after another minute of tense waiting and the dull thud of raindrops on the driveway, the car door slowly opened. Diane got out and looked Tamsin in the eyes. In a matter of seconds, she was soaked through and Tamsin motioned for her to come inside.

“You’ll catch your death standing there like that,” Tamsin said as she opened the door wide for Diane. “Let me get you a towel.”

She turned to leave, but Diane grabbed her hand. “I’ll take a hug instead, if such a privilege is still available to me.” She tugged Tamsin toward her.

Tamsin’s resolve broke and the last sliver of anger she might still have felt fled her at the touch of Diane’s hand against hers. She threw her arms around Diane and held her tightly.

“I’m sorry,” Diane said, repeating the fateful words she’d spoken earlier. “I think I had a temporary lapse into insanity, or an acute panic attack. In any case, I was a fool.”

“No you weren’t,” Tamsin whispered in her ear. “You were just being a latebian.” Diane chuckled in her embrace.

“Your latebian,” Diane said.

“I’m so glad you came back.” They broke from their hug and Tamsin took in the soaked sight of Diane. “Now let me draw you a very hot bath. You don’t want to catch a cold during the tail end of tax season.”

“You’re such a romantic,” Diane said.

“Isn’t that why you came back?” Tamsin asked as she dragged Diane up the stairs.

Once Diane had slipped into the warm, foamy bath tub, Tamsin hadn’t been able to resist joining her. They sat with their legs entwined in the soothing water. The white, bubbly foam rose all the way up to their chins.

“Nothing like a hot bath after you’ve been caught in the rain,” Diane said.

“Caught?” Tamsin raised her eyebrows. “Stood around in it rather foolishly, I would say.”

Diane locked her gaze on Tamsin’s. “I went to see Lawrence. I’m still not quite sure what pushed me to go to him. Can you believe that he’s the one who talked sense into me?”

Tamsin shrugged. “You were once married to him. The man must possess some wisdom.”

This elicited a throaty chuckle from Diane. “I was glad to find out that at least a little bit of his brain has remained inside his skull after his mid-life crisis.”

“How did he react?”

“He was surprisingly calm, actually.” Diane pursed her lips. “Perhaps even weirdly calm and supportive. Not at all how I would react if he told me he was leaving Debbie for a man.” She broke out into a right old giggle.

“How would you react to that?” Tamsin asked, as a joke.

“Impossible to say, but thanks for putting that image in my head.”

“You brought it up. Anyway, what’s wrong with that? You expect the village to accept you, yet you’re put off by the image of your ex-husband with another man? That’s just plain hypocrisy.”

“Stop it, please.” Diane wiggled her toe against Tamsin’s calf in the water. “Have mercy.”

“I’m sure Lawrence has no problems picturing the two of us together.” Tamsin wasn’t ready to surrender just yet.

“If this is your way of making me pay for walking out on you, it’s working.” Diane covered Tamsin’s knees with her hands. “I’m sorry for my reaction. You were right, I was spinning out of control. Now that I’ve had some time to consider things, I couldn’t care less about what Debbie—or the rest of the world for that matter—thinks of me.”

“You’re going through all the stages at lightning speed, like a true lesbian. When are you moving in?” Tamsin laughed at her own joke. When she looked at Diane, she found her staring back with a blank expression on her face.

“I know you’re a catch, Tamsin Foxley.” Despite the relaxed atmosphere, Diane sounded serious. “I can’t promise to always react in the right way and there will be some difficult moments ahead, but I want to be with you. More than anything.”

“Good, because I have plans for you.” Tamsin ran a finger over Diane’s shin.

“Seriously, Tamsin.” Diane sat up, the water cascading off her shoulders. “All joking aside, I need you to know how truly sorry I am for my irrational outburst.”

“I do know. This is all new to you. I don’t expect you to not have a wobble from time to time. It’s perfectly normal.” She cocked her head. “For a woman your age.”

“You’ll regret saying that.” Diane scooted closer and hooked her legs around Tamsin’s. Water sloshed over the side of the tub but neither of them cared. Diane found Tamsin’s lips and they lost themselves in a kiss. When they broke apart, Diane looked at her with a much more solemn expression than Tamsin had expected after a kiss like that.

“I’m going to have to tell Timothy next,” she said.

“You don’t have to come out to everyone at once,” Tamsin said. “You can do it on your own terms and in your own time.”

“I feel like I’d be lying to him if I kept something this important from him.”

“Only you can decide when to tell the people you love,” Tamsin said.

Diane nodded, then leaned in again. Before she pressed her lips to Tamsin’s again, she said, “I know exactly what will help me with the decision-making process.”