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She had followed the woman for days and at last her patience was paying off. She had to make sure she got all the details right. According to the photo, the woman she was after was a redhead, hair wavy in texture, covered with freckles and possessing a pair of jade green eyes. Her most striking feature was a lopsided, toothy grin, somewhere between a full smile and a smirk.
She took a couple more glances at the photo and then stared ahead of the woman talking to a man. It was almost an exact match, same freckles, same red hair, same green eyes. The woman was even wearing a birthday suit, just like in the picture; a given considering the resort they were at. There were some key differences, given the amount of time that passed between now and when the picture was taken; the woman now sported few wrinkles on her body, her breasts now sagging a bit. Her hair, a bright, natural scarlet in the picture, had now faded a bit, preparing for incoming grey hairs (she briefly wondered if her own strawberry blonde would go a similar route when she was older).
But, while not young looking, the woman’s face managed to project a youthful aura all around her. Indeed, despite the crow’s feet surrounding them, her green eyes still shone brightly and were as lively as the picture. And that smile, that lopsided grin…no doubt this was the one.
Once the man the redhead was speaking to walked away, she gathered her nerves and pushing aside every instinct telling her to run away again. In a bolt of courage, she began strolling towards the older woman, her movements a bit stiff and awkward. The redhead caught her in line of sight and said, “Oh hey there, I take it this is your first time here? As you can see we’re sort of casual around this place, something that makes a lot of first-timers nervous so you’re not the first to come fully dressed. Baby steps and all.”
She stopped in her tracks when the woman spoke to her. This was it; there was no turning back from this point. She slowly started replying to the older woman, “Is your name…Raindance…DeHart?”
“Well, it’s actually Raindance Maggie DeHart. It’s like Mary Jane; you don’t leave it at Mary,” corrected the older woman. “Who’s asking?”
“Well, you see…my name is Dani Weber,” she replied, still trying to find her voice. “My middle name is…California.”
“California? That’s your middle name?” Raindance Maggie asked, flabbergasted. “W…that’s so unique. The only person I know…with that for a middle name…”
Dani offered a soft smile as she spoke confidently, “Hi mom.”
The older woman was stunned, for once out of words. She stood still for a moment, then bolted towards Dani, wrapping her in a warm embrace, slowly breaking into sobs. The younger woman hugged Raindance Maggie back, a tear streaming down her face; she had finally found who she was looking for.