“I told him you were still out and brought him back to bed. Not even one story and he was back asleep.” She clicked her tongue. “Now, this morning was an entirely different affair.”

Sherry covered her face with both hands. She was a terrible mother.

“Because your side of the bed was empty and your pillow gone, I figured out you’d slept in Madison’s room, but…why?”

Her suspicious tone made Sherry look up. “You don’t think I—”

“Oh, no.” Rita Mae took a rag to clean an invisible spot from the counter. “I’m just sorry you had to escape to her.” She hesitated. “It has to be weird to share the bed with a lesbian.”

Not weird, but Madison’s sexual orientation certainly had made her hesitate to accept her offer. She didn’t know what to make of Madison’s, or even her own, behavior. Not just about their sleeping arrangements, but about yesterday in general. How had she been able to kiss Madison like that, and why didn’t she care more that she was pretending to be a lesbian?

When Rita Mae kept watching her, Sherry forced herself to stop pondering the questions. “It was okay. Really.”

“What happened last night?”

“Happen? Nothing.” Her heart thumped faster. “We had to, um, kiss in front of her grandmother’s house.” And what a kiss it had been. Heat surged through her body just thinking about it.

Rita Mae furrowed her brow. “Had to?”

“Yeah. Oh, and then there was another kiss, but—”

“Wait a minute. You had to kiss her? Twice?” She shoved a bowl with fruit to the side to be able to lean closer. “Do tell.”

Sherry rubbed her burning cheeks. “Not much to tell.”

“Liar. You’re red like a tomato.” Rita Mae chuckled. “I want the dirty details. How did it feel to kiss her?”

“No dirty details there. It was just a kiss. Well, two kisses.”

“Aha.”

“Jesus, Rita Mae, it’s not as if you’ve never kissed. You know how it is.”

“I never kissed a woman. You, on the other hand…” When Sherry kept silent, she asked, “So, what’s it like? Is it very different from kissing a man?”

Oh yeah! Madison’s lips had been incredibly soft and tender. So different to anything she’d ever known. “It was certainly nicer than Andy’s slobbering.”

Rita Mae laughed. “Even a bulldog kissing you wouldn’t be that bad, I guess.” Sobering, she added, “Madison is attractive enough, but it still had to be weird. I mean, she’s still a—”