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If they were married, and they didn’t have to part at the strike of midnight, how different would her life be? How different would Autumn’s life be?
Rosalie climbed between the sheets of her bed, which had always been a luxury to her. Now, it felt cold and somber as she reached to switch off the lamp and then closed her eyes. A fantasy played behind her eyelids, and it wasn’t of Lee coming inside this house with her. It was of her and Autumn following him inside that pretty log cabin out on the edge of the woods. Her final thought before she drifted away was of how Thumper could possibly survive out there with the threat of coyotes and dogs.
* * *
“Say thank you,”Rosalie prompted as Tess handed the flowered dish of butter to Autumn.
“Thank you, Tess,” Autumn said dutifully, and Rosalie went back to spreading the raspberry jam on her scone.
“You’re welcome, sweetie,” Tess said, smiling at the little girl. Her attention switched to Rosalie, who quickly took a bite of her pastry. “How was the wedding?”
Rosalie nodded in an over-emphasized way, glancing at Tess’s husband, Frank. He didn’t seem to care about the conversation, and he helped their son with his quiche and looked back at his phone.
She lifted one hand to hide the food in her mouth. “Good,” she said, hoping that would be the end of it.
“The Coopers know how to throw a party,” Tess said. “Or so I’ve heard.” She seemed to be fishing for something, but Rosalie didn’t know what.
“How was the movie?” she asked, trying to get the conversation onto something else. Yes, the wedding had been wonderful. The kiss with the cowboy phenomenal. The dreams vivid. He’d called her that morning too, not one minute past nine o’clock, and Rosalie could still feel the vibrations of his laughter over the phone.
He’d wanted to see her that day, but Rosalie didn’t want to try to find someone to babysit Autumn. Running her business and being a single mother had been hard enough for Rosalie from Day One, and adding a boyfriend to the mix sure hadn’t made anything easier.
Lee hadn’t suggested that he could meet Autumn, but Rosalie knew he wouldn’t mind if the girl tagged along while they strolled around his ranch, hand-in-hand, talking the afternoon hours away. Instead, Rosalie had gotten a text from Tess about this brunch, and she’d opted for that.
Now, she was second-guessing everything in her life. Autumn was young; she wouldn’t even know what a boyfriend was. Rosalie was allowed to date. For some reason, Rosalie didn’t feel ready to take Lee to that level yet.
“It was great,” Tess said, her voice doing that high-pitched raising thing it did when she was trying to be cool and casual. Really, she had something to say—something that Rosalie wouldn’t like. “We missed you and Autumn, but it was okay.”
Rosalie understood this code, but she wasn’t going to let Tess guilt her into going to the movies with her instead of out with Handsome on a Friday night. “We’ll have to go see it again,” she said, reaching over to tap Baylor, Tess’s boy, on the head. “Right, Bay? You’ll come with us to seeLeft Rightagain, won’t you?”
“Can I, Dad?” Baylor asked, and Rosalie grinned at him. When she looked back at Tess, she didn’t miss the knowing glint in her eyes.
Rosalie calmly took a bite of her quiche and said, “Tess, this issogood. You have to give me the recipe.”
“Good luck,” Frank said, finally looking up from his phone. “She doesn’t give it to anyone.”
“I would,” Tess said slowly. She locked eyes with Rosalie again. “For the right payment.” Her eyebrows went up, but Rosalie shook her head. “Fine,” Tess said into her next bite of brunch.
Rosalie was finally left alone to enjoy her perfectly baked broccoli cheese quiche, but her insecurities about why she needed more time before she introduced Autumn to Lee wouldn’t stop needling her.
