“Good morning,” Lizanne said.
“You’re unbearable,” Rose said.
“You’ve mentioned that.”
“It keeps being true.”
Lizanne smiled against her jaw and Rose turned into her and they lay in the sheets while the morning light moved across the ceiling and neither of them felt any urgency about what came next.
Then the noise started.
Rose heard it first — voices, the clatter of someone handling garden furniture with more confidence than coordination, and underneath it all Quinn attempting to explain something.
She sat up.
“Did you know about this?” she said.
Lizanne had an expression that was not quite innocence. “Your mother has a key.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It’s the only one available.”
Rose crossed to the window. Below, the garden had been comprehensively taken over by their family and friends. Quinn stood at the grill. Kayla sat on the wall beside him close enough to intervene if required. Rose’s mother had taken the good chair in the gazebo. Craig and Peter unfolded garden chairs. Daisy — who was apparently not at her grandmother’s as they had been told— was carrying a large glass bowl containing something creamy and white.
Lizanne appeared at her shoulder, wrapped in the sheet Rose had vacated, and looked down at the garden.
“When did Quinn get a grill?” Rose said.
“He wrapped his first film three weeks ago. He bought a grill, a stand mixer, and according to Kayla, a very expensive bicycle he has not yet used.”
Even though Quinn was becoming a celebrity in his own right, and Kayla was making enough money working for Rose as well as starring on the show, they still lived in the pool house.
And Rose had to admit, she loved having them so close. However, surprise BBQs were still….well. A surprise.
Below, Quinn looked up, found them in the window, and pointed with the tongs.
Quinn cupped his hand around his mouth. “THE COALS ARE READY,” he called.
Beside him, Kayla took charge of the grill the way she took charge of many things, including Rose Delaney Events, which ran at a pace that made Rose’s booking sheet look like a logistical emergency.
Summer season was their busiest. Currently, the show sat on hiatus, which meant she had more time to devote to the business with Kayla.
However John, Loraine and the others would be back soon to continue filming. They were still pushing for a second season, but Rose and Lizanne had already decided that was a definitive no.
For a while, it hadn’t looked like anyone would want a second season. In fact, they’d been sure they’d get canceled. The ratings had dipped after the interview, but then Marcus Lance had given a statement confirming that Trina had tried the same approach with him, and the numbers climbed back past where they started.
Trina’s own show had been announced the previous week.Reclaiming My Truth. Rose had learned this from Quinn. Neither of them intended to watch it.
Lizanne wrapped her arms around Rose from behind, her chin at her shoulder, both of them looking down at the garden.
“I have an idea for something that would make for good content and still give us thrills. The South of France in August.”
“Daisy would completely lose her mind.”
“That’s what I’m counting on.”
“We’d need to be back by the third week of September.” Rose paused. “Jeremy and Melissa are coming.”
