True to My Heart

  “True to My Heart”

  A Lesbian Romance

  Christine L’Amour

  © 2019

  Christine L’Amour

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This book is intended for Adults (ages 18+) only. The contents may be offensive to some readers. It may contain graphic language, explicit sexual content, and adult situations. May contain scenes of unprotected sex. Please do not read this book if you are offended by content as mentioned above or if you are under the age of 18. Please educate yourself on safe sex practices before making potentially life-changing decisions about sex in real life.

  This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner & are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Products or brand names mentioned are trademarks of their respective holders or companies. The cover uses licensed images & are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any person(s) that may be depicted on the cover are simply models.

  Edition v1.00 (2020.01.01)

  www.christinelamourauthor.com

  Special thanks to the following volunteer readers who helped with proofreading: RB, Jenny, Naomi W., and those who assisted but wished to be anonymous. Thank you so much for your support.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

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  Chapter One

  I watch Eliza as she cries over a man. I roll my eyes. I've always told her that Kevin wasn't the one for her. I’ve tried telling her that for years. I don't know why she didn't listen to me back then. I want to hug her. Comfort her. But she knew this was coming just as I did.

  "How long did you expect this to continue?" I ask her.

  Eliza shrugs her shoulders, running her hands through her streaked blonde-black hair. Her dark blue eyes are staring at the wall.

  Eliza called me over here only when Adam packed all his things and left.

  "It’s good that he won't be around. That trucking job might have been a blessing in disguise," I point out to her.

  “I think we just drifted apart. I don’t know how I’m going to pay rent now,” Eliza tells me.

  I don't know what to say about that either. Other than to get a job.

  Eliza has always depended on a man. Now she has to rely on herself.

  “I don’t even have a backup,” Eliza says, laughing at me.

  I can’t help but laugh with her. As long as I’ve known Eliza, she’s always had a backup. Usually when one man leaves, another man is in the wings ready to take his place.

  “Things change when you grow up.” I put a hand on Eliza’s shoulder.

  “Stephanie, you always find a way to see the positive.” Eliza wipes her tears.

  Not always. Eliza doesn't know that sometimes I cry myself to sleep. Many times, I have stayed up all night long because I was worried about the next day.

  “Not always. I’ve always been the outsider looking in. Trying to help you. You just never wanted to listen.” I smirk at her.

  "Not that I didn't want to. I was in love and he wasn't. That's obvious. There has to be someone else. He hasn't said it, but there just has to be," Eliza grumbles.

  She’s a beautiful woman. I don’t know why she cries over men who only want one thing. These men don't want companion. They aren’t the types to someone to spend their lives with. What they want is someone to have sex with. And, Eliza is an easy target because she's always looking for love. Eliza is looking for love in all the wrong places. That's how it's been, and I'm sure that's how it will stay.

  "Look, I can have my mother give me some money. I’ll help you for six months with this place while you look for a place." I came up with an excellent idea.

  “I don’t even know if I want to stay here,” Eliza says, looking around the apartment.

  I know she's going to cry herself to sleep with all the good memories that she has of Kevin. There's no way that I can stop that from happening. If I could, I would.

  “How do you do it?” Eliza looks at me.

  “Do what?” I give her a look of confusion. My brown eyes have confusion in them.

  "You know, all the women that you've been with…" She lets her voice trail off, and I see that her face is slowly turning red.

  I have never been into men. Nor do I want to be. The only thing that can please me is the touch of a woman. It's just something that I've always enjoyed. There's nothing wrong with that. I have more in common with women than I do men. There's less drama for me because I don't surround myself with drama if I can help it.

  “One day at a time.” I sigh.

  I’m not with anyone right now. Courtney and I had split up a few months ago, and I'm just not ready to go looking. We didn't have any ties. We haven't heard from each other since we broke up and I like to keep it that way.

  “I don’t know how to do one day at a time.” Eliza laughs.

  As long as I’ve known her, Eliza has always lived for tomorrow instead of today. She always asks what she’s going to do tomorrow instead of what’s going on here and now.

  There’s no way to break that, even if she wanted to. She can’t reprogram herself. She’s full of a lot of laughter, love and friendliness. Sometimes a little too much.

  "I'm not living in my house. I've rented that out to an old couple. They seem to enjoy it." I blurt out to her.

  "How long have you been doing that? Where are you staying?" Eliza is shocked to hear this. I hardly tell her any of my problems.

  "My mother's. She's hardly home herself, and the place is so big." I roll my eyes.

  “You never told me.” Eliza gives me an accusing look.

  “You’re always busy with your own life. I’m not going to tell you when you’re
going through shit. I mean, it’s not a big deal. I just had to get it out there because I was thinking.” I smile at her.

  “Stephanie!” Eliza cries out to me, almost making me jump in my seat on the sofa.

  “What? I’m not going to bombard you with my problems. It looks like you have enough going on now.” I raise my hands a little.

  “You always let me cry on your shoulder.” Eliza gets up and starts pacing the floor.

  There are pictures of her and Kevin on the walls.

  Kevin is tall with black hair and a little chubby. I don't like the scruff that he has. However, Eliza looks like a supermodel compared to him.

  "He says that we've just drifted apart. That there's not another woman." Eliza rolls her eyes as she turns her back to the photos.

  "You can stay with me and my mother." That’s the answer I come up with.

  Chapter Two

  “I don’t know if your mother would like something like that.” Eliza puts her hands in the back pockets of her jeans.

  “I don’t care what she likes. My father left the mansion to my mother and me in the divorce. There’s nothing that she can do about it. I saw the paperwork with my own eyes.” I lean back on the sofa.

  Another thing I didn’t tell you. My family has a lot of money, but I don’t like to flaunt it. Not unless I have to.

  "I'll call Betty. She’ll make up the room across the hall from mine." I take out my cell phone and see a scared look on Eliza’s face.

  I hate asking for help, but I’m not going to let her worry about a place to stay. I’m not going to let her worry about being alone.

  The being alone part I know Eliza can handle. Kevin has been a trucker for over a year, and she has maintained everything in the apartment.

  “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea,” she whispers to me.

  “Betty, can you please make up the room across the hall from me. Eliza is going to stay with us for a while.” I speak into the phone while Eliza whispers to me.

  I look at her and widen my eyes, letting her know to stop.

  There's nothing to worry about now. And, my mother knows Eliza. She knows that Eliza is a good person.

  "Thank you. We’ll be on our way with her things shortly." I tell her, hanging up and heading up the stairs.

  “Where are you going?” Eliza follows me quickly.

  "The only thing that you're going to need is clothes. You don't want all this." I look at the walls and the furnished apartment.

  Eliza knows that I’m right. That’s the reason she doesn’t say anything.

  Once upstairs, I rush through the dressers, putting her clothes in suitcases. Eliza gathers from the bathroom, throwing them in a box.

  I'm ready in a half hour while Eliza's still going through things. She is sifting through what she wants to take and what can stay.

  "Don't worry about the rest. Kevin didn't care. All he did was take his things. Kevin is done," I whisper to her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

  Eliza lets another tear slip out, and I wipe it away for her. We are just inches apart, and I feel my heart racing. I've always thought that Eliza was cute. The way she dresses, the way she throws her head back and laughs. Her blue eyes bounce with happiness when she's happy.

  "Come on. We're going to get through this," I assure Eliza, wanting to make sure that she understands we are leaving for good.

  I carry her suitcases to my car and try to fit it all in. It’s a shining black vehicle that I’ve always had my eyes on since I could remember. Not too expensive. I think that’s why my mother was so shocked when she told me that I could have any car that I wanted off any lot and this is the one I chose. There’s not much trunk space, but enough to fit what Eliza needs.

  I watch as she slips the apartment key into the mailbox and heads for the passenger side door of the car.

  "You'll see. Things are going to get better. Soon you will forget about Kevin and move on to another man." I grin at her, backing out of the driveway and heading out onto the street.

  Eliza doesn’t say anything to me. She sits in the passenger’s seat, leaning her head against the window and staring down at the road.

  I know that’s what she’s doing. When I was little and riding in the car with my parents, that's what I did when they would argue over stupid, little things.

  “The only one who can make this better is you. You know that, right?” I point out to Eliza as we wait on a red light to turn green.

  “I know. That’s what I keep telling myself, believe it or not." She moves her head from the window.

  I can see the spark of one of her old smiles. One that she had before Kevin even entered her life. However, I know that she's going to be okay. It's just going to take a little bit of time.

  I drive up the long, winding driveway. Eliza’s eyes grow big. She doesn't come to my house often. I find it amazing to see the faces of visitors when they arrive at the mansion. Their expressions make a bigger deal of the house that what it is.

  It’s a white building with cameras all the way around it. We have a black iron gate that I have to punch in a code. The long building has four floors. All the windows are long or wide with black trim around the outside. I think that the windows need thicker curtains though. There’s too much sunlight that comes in.

  “I still can’t believe that you’re rich,” she laughs at me, stepping out of the car.

  I can, and I don't like it.

  I pop the trunk. As I get out of the car, our butler James comes out to help us.

  “There’s no need to help. I can get this,” I tell him.

  "I know. I saw you guys. Betty told me to come out." He has gray, thinning hair and taller than anyone I know.

  I have to tilt my head to look all the way up at him.

  Betty has thought of everything.

  "I bet that she has the chef's making something for dinner too. Even though it's just going to be us." I roll my eyes at him, and he laughs.

  "Actually, your mother is having a party. The caterers are here, and there's going to be some delicious food," James reminds me.

  “Damn,” I groan.

  My mother is an actress. Tonight is the party for her new film..

  Chapter Three

  "You did get the memo?" James asks me, seeing that there's an irritable look on my face.

  “I did, but it slipped my mind. Do I really have to be there?” I want him to tell me that I don’t have to be.

  "You know that you do. The daughter of the famous Miz Keller?" he asks me that twinkle in his eye is of amusement. Something that I've always seen growing up.

  "I'm so glad that they didn't get rid of you, James," I giggle at him and head for the stairs.

  "They wouldn't be able to find someone like me. You know that," he chuckles.

  Betty is at the door opening it for us with a small smile of her own. She has her black and gray hair up in a round bun. I'm taller than she is by far, but her green eyes tell me that she's seen more than I ever will in a lifetime.

  "She will be here in less than an hour," Betty warns me.

  “Thank you.” I grin at her and head upstairs with Eliza’s things.

  “You have a party going on tonight? Maybe we should wait until tomorrow to do this.” Eliza bites down on her lip as we walk into the bedroom.

  There's a bed up against the wall, golden frames for the bedposts and the headboard. There are down-feather pillows on the bed and a nice comforter in case she gets cold.

  "No, we’re are already here. If I have to attend this thing, so do you." I raise my eyebrow sat her.

  “I don’t know the first thing about going to these kinds of parties.” Eliza’s eyes are big and round now.

  "It doesn't matter. All you do is wear a sexy dress and smile when someone shoves a camera in your face. If they ask you anything, just turn away. That's what I do. I don't know what my mother does. We are hardly around each other." I laugh at Eliza.

  "I don't have fancy things like you guys
do." Eliza's face grows hot. I can see that she's uncomfortable. A little embarrassed, maybe?

  "That's not why we're friends. I didn't choose you because you have things. You didn't choose me because I had things. I remember there was a time you didn't even know that I had this place. Or even that I had money. It's not everything." I shake my head at her, bringing a hand to her chin and lifting her head slightly.

  "I'll help you find something to wear. I have a ton of outfits that will fit you." I want her to look at the bright side of things.

  We leave her things on the bedroom floor and walk out.

  Going into my room, it's dark. I flip on the light. The only reason it's dark is that I've put up my own curtains. Mother doesn't have to look at it. I don't have any complaints around here unless she says something.

  “Are you sure that I’m not intruding?” Eliza asks as she shuts the door behind her.

  "You're not. If you are then I am. I don't like being here as it is. I don't want to deal with the outside world and continue to live on my own." I shrug it off.

  Going to my closet and looking at Eliza's complexion, she doesn't have much of a tan. Black would look good on her.

  I grab my favorite black dress and already see that her hair would look good curled. Maybe a little makeup, and she'll be good to go.

  "Flats or heels?" I ask her, looking at the floor of my closet where they are all nicely in a row—heels on one side and flats on the other.

  “Flats. I don’t even know the first thing about walking in heels.” She giggles at me.

  I laugh and shake my head.

  Neither do I. I would never wear heels even if someone paid me to do it. I want Eliza as comfortable as possible.

  “Try these on and come back out to show me.” I hand her the dress and the flats.

  “I don’t know if that’s going to fit.” She bites down on her lip.

  “It will. The kind of parties that I’m used to is the ones that show the most skin. Wait until you see all these women that are coming. You would die laughing at what they’re going to be wearing,” I assure her.