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CHAPTERFOUR
Rosalie worked very hard not to roll her eyes as Nat continued to talk about the colorguard competition she’d watched last week. “Nat,” she said. She’d been sitting in her driveway for ten minutes already. “Nat?”
“…it’s just so hard to watch, you know?”
“Yes,” Rosalie said automatically. “Honey, I’m sorry, but I’m home now, and I have to go inside and talk to Autumn.”
“Okay,” Nat said cheerfully, and Rosalie wished she was like her autistic sister sometimes. “Mom said I could text you when we left tomorrow.”
“It’s on Saturday,” Rosalie corrected gently. “You’re driving here on Saturday.”
“In the morning,” Nat said
“Yes.” Rosalie gathered her purse and reached out to touch the button that would turn off her car.
“Love you, Rose,” Nat said, and those words filled the world with love.
“I love you too, Nat.” Rosalie ended the call and got out, the Texas evening heat assaulting her as she quickly went toward the house. She opened the door with a “Hey, everyone,” and stepped over the gate keeping Thumper from escaping.
Right now, she didn’t see the white rabbit, and she didn’t have time for him anyway. Charity poked her head up from behind the small island in the kitchen. “Hey, Mrs. Reynolds.”
Rosalie didn’t correct her on the Mrs. part. She hadn’t gone back to her maiden name after the divorce, because she wanted to have the same last name as her daughter. She wanted them to be a family, and for a while there, she could admit she’d hoped James would come around and come back to the two of them.
“Autumn’s in the back yard.” Charity stood with the broken pieces of a glass in her hand. “I just dropped this glass, so be careful.”
Rosalie stopped where she was, taking in the shards of glass. “I can help,” she said.
“Don’t worry about it.” Charity gave her a smile and tucked her stick-straight blonde hair behind her ear. Hers actually stayed, and Rosalie envied her that. “I’ll get it cleaned up, and then I have to head out.” She wore a sympathetic smile now. “I’m sorry I can’t stay tonight. Is it something really important?”
Rosalie wanted to gush her guts to the college student who had a steady engineering-major boyfriend. She held back, telling herself she was this woman’s boss and she didn’t want too many lines blurred.
“It’s fine,” she said. “I asked Tess if Autumn could come over there.”
“Oh, good,” Charity said with a smile. “I have this huge study group for our finals next week.” She ripped off a couple of paper towels and got them wet.
“Of course,” Rosalie said, glancing down the hall toward where her bedroom sat. She wanted to change out of her pencil skirt and blouse, but she couldn’t decide if she should go with another dress or choose slacks instead. Lee had been wearing jeans and a bright peachy-orange shirt, and he’d said he didn’t have time to go home.
Maybe she should go with jeans too. She could pair them with that bone-colored wrap-around she’d ordered online last week…
“…Mom.” Autumn touched her arm, and Rosalie blinked her way out of her wardrobe. Her beautiful daughter stood in front of her, her dark eyes alight with something.
“What, baby?” She bent to pick up the girl, her feet protesting the extra weight in her heels. “Did you have a good day today? Did you show Charity your pet rock?” She’d painted them at preschool earlier this week, and her teacher had let Autumn bring the pet home today.
“Yep,” Autumn said, putting her arms around Rosalie’s neck. She hugged her, and Rosalie embraced her back. She loved her daughter with everything she had, and she could not imagine moving to California the way James had. Didn’t he miss Autumn? How could he stand to not see her as often as he once had?
“Come see the house I built for him and Thumper,” Autumn said, pulling back and wiggling to get down.
“All right,” Rosalie said, shooting a glance toward Charity. The college student smiled and waved to her, because she knew that once Rosalie stepped foot in the back yard, she’d be there for a while.
Rosalie knew it too, and her eyes next landed on the microwave, which showed her the clock. It was just after five. She had time. Her nerves still bounced through her veins, because she wanted to look perfect for Lee tonight. Absolutely perfect. Presentation perfect.
She wanted to be princess-beautiful for him, and she thought of herself in a yellow gown like what the princess wore in the movies, and she pictured herself dancing with the beastly Lee Cooper as the moon rose higher and higher in the sky.
It was a nice picture, but the heat outside ruined it. A gown like that would only make her sweat, and Rosalie didn’t have anything princess-like about her.
“Look,” Autumn said, crouching down in front of a semblance of a structure made of twigs and grass. “Thumper likes it.”
Thumper was eating his house, but Rosalie didn’t say so. “It’s great,” she said. “What did you name your rock again?”
