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“I’m sorry, son, but the home health care aides had to move your appointment time. They’re coming to your house in a half hour.”
With a sigh, he nodded. “All right. Well, can you at least turn around? I want to give Rose a proper goodbye.”
Max rolled his eyes but did as Steven asked. Rose moved beside Steven and bent down to give him a quick kiss, but that was clearly not what he meant by a “proper goodbye.” Instead, he pulled her into his lap and tangled his hands in her hair.
“Have I told you how much I love you lately?” he murmured between kisses.
“No,” she whispered. “But now hardly seems the time.”
“Then we’ll just have to find another time.” His final kiss was deep and passionate, almost like a promise.
“You can turn around now,” he called to his dad.
Max came over and grasped the wheelchair handles. “You have a good evening, Rose.”
“You, too, Max.”
She followed them outside and waved as they headed down the sidewalk to the van. Once Steven was secure, Max drove away.
Rose went inside and leaned against the door. Her lips still burned from Steven’s fervent kisses, but the fluttering in her stomach wasn’t from butterflies. It was guilt. She couldn’t keep up the charade of pretending everything was fine between them. Eventually, she and Steven needed to have a frank discussion about their present and their future.
Chapter Eleven
“Here’s your computer, as promised,” Lanie said the next day as she blew into Steven’s house, loaded down with bags of groceries and his laptop.
“Thanks!” He grabbed the computer and eagerly opened it before he caught himself. Not yet. He needed to wait until he was alone. Then he could delve into his workload and make a dent. If he tried to do that right then, Lanie would likely rat him out to Rose, or worse, she might return the computer to his office.
With a resigned sigh, he set it on the kitchen table and lifted a few items from the grocery bag. He moved to the pantry and put them on the lower shelves. Although he hated being cooped up and treated like an invalid, he didn’t miss grocery shopping. He could get used to having groceries delivered, especially when it didn’t cost him any extra in fees.
“I bought stuff to make chicken piccata for dinner tonight.” Lanie grabbed the package of chicken and stuck it in the fridge.
“You don’t have to do that,” he responded quickly. If she stayed for dinner, he wouldn’t be able to get to work until late in the evening.
“I know, but I want to.” She shot him a smile. “I suspect you miss red meat, but I think you’ll love this anyway.” Her smile turned wistful. “It tastes just like Mom’s.”
How can I turn that down? “That sounds great. I appreciate all you’re doing for me.”
“Rose may be joining us as well,” she continued as she filled his pantry with different canned goods. “She wasn’t sure whether she’d have to work a double tonight.”
Ducking his head into his fridge, he put away some produce, glad for a moment to fix his expression. If Rose came over, he would never get a chance to work. She’d probably stay until the aides came to transfer him to his bed for the night, and then he’d have no way of accessing his computer. For a moment, he hoped she wouldn’t be able to get off in time, then he chastised himself. He wasn’t being fair.
“That’s great,” he finally said, hoping he’d added enough enthusiasm to his tone.
“Dad may stop by, although there’s a game on tonight.”
Sometimes Steven envied his father. Nobody forced him to do anything, mainly because he was stubborn enough to do the exact opposite of whatever anyone wanted him to do. But that might be part of the reason things hadn’t worked out between Steven’s parents. His father wouldn’t bend or compromise, which had led his mother to a breaking point.
That thought sobered Steven up. He refused to fall into the same habits as his father. If Rose stopped by, he would deal with it as best he could. Perhaps he could use the excuse that he needed to compile the ad for the law clerk.
“It’s not like Dad can’t watch it here,” Steven said, coming back to the present.
“Yeah, but you know how he is.”
After the groceries were put away, Lanie moved over to where she’d laid his laptop on the counter and pushed it toward him. “So why don’t we work on the law clerk ad? We’ve got some time before I need to start dinner.”
He tried to hide his relief as he moved over to her and signed in to his computer. The machine booted up quickly, and he opened his email, skimming through the growing number of unread messages staring back at him. He itched to start reading them in greater detail, but he didn’t want to test his sister’s patience. The fact that she’d brought him his laptop and was willing to allow him to do some work was more than he could have hoped for.
Instead, he clicked into his files and opened his special calendar, noting with growing alarm that some of the deadlines he’d set were fast approaching. As he surveyed the dates, he debated what cases he would feel comfortable passing on to a law student.
