Ali Vali - Love Match

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Parker read all of the verses of the Robert Frost poem she had quoted at dinner. When she was finished, Parker looked up to see Emily relaxed back into the chair with her eyes closed.

"Thank you for today. It was the most fun I've had in forever, and I'm just sorry that it has to end so soon." Emily said her peace without opening her eyes just enjoying the space Barnaby had talked so fondly of. When she opened them Emily accepted both Parker's hand to help her up and her invitation to walk her to the door of the room she was staying in.

Parker handed Emily her sandals and smiled, "Good night, Emily, I hope you have good dreams." Parker kissed her softly on the lips then turned and headed toward the master suite. Emily closed her door and leaned against it bringing her fingertips up to her lips. It wasn't the type of kiss you get from your lover or even a date, but it had left her tingling just the same.

"Good night, Parker, and I think that's going to be impossible now."

Chapter 4

Emily wandered around the house with Abby looking for Parker the next morning, hoping to have breakfast with her before they had to head out to the airport. Her plane wasn't scheduled to leave for another three hours so they had plenty of time to eat and talk. The music coming from room beyond the kitchen led her to Parker. The dog stood in the doorway and waved a paw at her to get Emily moving.

Lying on a padded bench, the tennis player was doing bench presses. Emily admired the practiced fluidity of her movements, surprised that it took so much to play the game well. Parker was dedicated to keeping as fit as she could to prevent injuries.

"Good morning." Emily waited until the weight had put back before she spoke. It wasn't even seven in the morning and Parker was already sweating.

Parker looked up from the towel she had her face pressed into to see Emily standing in the gym in her pajamas. "Hey, did you have a good sleep?"

"Yes I did, thanks. You have a great house here, Parker, very conducive to peaceful sleeping. Are you almost done?"

"That was the last reps I'm doing today. Let me take a shower and I'll take you out for breakfast." Parker threw the towel in the hamper sitting in the corner before downing the rest of the juice she had been drinking throughout her workout.

"I want to cook for you if you don't mind me using your kitchen. Think of it as my thank you for all that you've done for me in the past couple of days. It's not much, but I would enjoy doing it for you."

"You don't mind?"

"I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want to. Go take that shower and meet me in the kitchen." Emily smiled and had a desire to hug Parker good morning, but her tall hostess hadn't made a move toward her as she headed out the door. Her thoughts stopped cold when she heard the banging on the back door. Parker stopped at the door and smiled in an effort to relax Emily. It surprised Parker that the idiot staying next door had taken this long to come over and bitch about what had happened.

"Why don't you sit and enjoy the view for a minute and let me take care of this." The wall of windows only went along the back of the gym and it faced the beach. Whoever was on the deck couldn't see in.

"You don't mind." The lost look on Emily's face was so far removed from the confident woman that had stood up to her on the plane that Parker was having time making the comparison.

"I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want to." Emily laughed at having her own words tossed back at her. "You forget I'm an expert when it comes to volley. Seriously though, I'm used to dealing with difficult women, Emily, trust me on that one. Gail is just a sore loser that needs time to cool down." Parker was trying to make Emily laugh but the opposite happened and tears sprung to the green eyes.

"I'm sorry, it's just that the last time we spoke it wasn't pretty, and I'm not ready to see Gail again so soon." Emily brought her arms up in an effort to comfort herself making the short sleeve of her top ride up enough for Parker to see her bicep.

"What happened?"

"She didn't like the answer I gave to a question she asked," was all Emily could think to say. More tears fell down her face as she wondered how she had ended up in this situation.

"She won't hurt you, I promise." Parker moved closer and gathered the scared woman into a hug and tried her best to comfort her and make her feel better about the persistent knocker. When Emily relaxed against her, Parker whispered, "I'll be right back."

Parker could see Gail through the glass in the door. The broker looked like she had slept in the clothes she had on and there was sweat running down her face. She fell forward when Parker yanked the door open. Parker looked down on her when Gail used her taller body to steady herself. "Yes, can I help you?"

"Where's Emily?" Without the car Gail knew Emily couldn't have gone far without the help of her new friend. The tennis player just crossed her arms and stood just inside the door looking at her. "Look I just want to talk to her. We had a little falling out and I just want the chance to set it right."

"The next time I see her I'll let her know that you want to talk with her. It's her decision to make if she wants to do that so why don't you give her some space to think things out. Or at least for the bruise on her arm to fade." Parker waited to see if Gail was going to say anything else or if she was going to leave quietly. Parker wasn't worried about Emily's safety, only how she was taking this unexpected visit, it was the reason she had left Abby in the gym with her to keep her company.

"I'm not going away without a fight, Parker, just remember that. Emily's mine, and what happens between us is none of your business." Parker just slammed the door in the woman's face. Anyone that felt that way about women didn't deserve to be with one as special as Emily.

"Butt head," Parker muttered to herself. She stood in the kitchen looking out the window to make sure Gail was on her way back to the house next door. Parker had wanted more time with the pilot before she left, but having the girlfriend she had just left right next door didn't make for the best of situations. She walked back into the gym to find Emily on the floor with Abby.

"Gail wants to talk to you." Emily had such a sad look on her face that Parker stopped any other teasing comment she thought of making. "She's gone so don't worry about it, Emily. We'll put Abby out for awhile just in case so smile for me."

"I should have put a stop to this relationship a long time ago. It's my fault really, I didn't love Gail the way she was expecting me to but it just got to be something comfortable. That wasn't fair to her for me to have stayed this long, but I'm just tired of the arguing we're constantly doing." Abby rolled to his other side so Emily could rub him some more. The small blonde found him waiting for her outside her bedroom that morning, and she was coming to like him as much as his owner.

"You don't owe me any explanations. The most important thing for you is to do what's right for you. Do you have a place to stay once you get back into the city?" If Gail was capable of violence, Parker didn't want Emily anywhere near her.

"Yeah I'm staying with a friend until I find a place. Let me go and get breakfast started and you go take that shower. No, Parker, it will help me take my mind off all this stuff." Emily spoke over the objection Parker was about to make. "I don't get many vacations so I think I should get to do what I think is fun, and for me that's cooking."