Limelight by M Jet Page A

note, and she no longer owned a guitar.
    There had been several stressful heartbeats where someone in a gas station or grocery store would glance at her and that look of not knowing why exactly they recognized her would momentarily pass over a stranger's face.  But then it would pass, and Grace's heart would resume beating.  But she knew she could never play music again.  Placing herself on any stage anywhere would certainly make the puzzle pieces fall in place for some onlooker. 
    Maybe Elsa anticipated that life would have changed dramatically for Grace.  Maybe Elsa wasn't interested in that quiet, secretive life.  She could understand that.  What she'd asked of Elsa was almost insurmountable.  She had to face it.
    The great love of her life had changed her mind.  Grace would remain alone forever.
    Those were the thoughts playing on her mind when she heard her doorbell rang.
    She glanced at her watch and wondered at the early hour.  Who could it be?  Her heart accelerated dramatically, but she refused to let herself hope it would be Elsa at the door.
    Yet when Grace threw open her door, there she stood.  A raven haired, thinner, peaked looking version of the lover she recalled with every second she existed.
    "Layla," whispered the woman at the door.
    "Tara," she whispered, reaching out to pull the woman into her embrace.  Weeping, the two women stumbled inside wrapped in each other's arms and kissing like tomorrow would never come.
    ***
    It was late in the afternoon before the women spoke a single word other than exclamations of passion.  They made love passionately, vigorously, as though not a day had passed for hours leading up to that time.  When finally they lay spent and exhausted in Grace's bed, they found words to communicate.
    "I thought you weren't coming," Grace said with a hint of heartbreak.
    Elsa smiled and caressed Grace's cheek.  "I thought it would be best, after as careful as we've been, and as well as this all has gone…  If I gave two weeks' notice at my job and told everyone I was moving back east with my family.  That way no one would look for me when I left."
    Grace nodded.  "That was great thinking.  Very smart.  I was just so terrified you'd changed your mind."
    Elsa gave Grace's flaming locks a little tug.  "Not a chance.  I thought you'd changed your mind!  But, we both just needed time.  To lay Tara and Layla to rest and begin again."
    "I hope you're happy with the life I've started for us here.  And if you're not, we'll go someplace else, OK?"
    Elsa placed a gentle flutter of kisses on Grace's eyelids.  "I'll be happy in any life with you, my love."
    ***
    Elsa soon found employment in a nearby doctor's office and the women settled into a blissful routine.  Within months, they legally married in a small ceremony along a lake they often liked to walk around in a local park.  After a year of applications and nerve wracking investigations into their backgrounds, the couple adopted a baby girl who they named Delia Webster.  Their life and family was complete and their sordid secret seemed far behind them.  It was as though they'd always been together and they could almost forget about it completely…
    … As long as neither of them ever sang a song.

Four Years Later
    E lsa had the day off so Grace ran home on her lunch break to visit for a few private minutes while Delia was in school.  As a wild, free spirited ball of energy, Delia demanded constant attention from her mothers, so they rarely found times for stolen moments anymore.  Which was just the way they enjoyed it, but still, it was nice to once in a while be free of the busy life of the kindergartener.
    Grace was preparing salads at the kitchen counter when Elsa sidled up behind her.  She wrapped her arms around Grace and nuzzled her.  Grace sighed as Elsa began kissing her neck and roaming hands slipped inside her blouse to find her breasts.  With a groan, Grace spun to face her wife. 
    Elsa devoured her