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The phone rang before she could gather the courage to tap the green phone icon and make the call. James’s name sat on the screen, and all she had to do is pull down the bar that had appeared at the top to connect the call.
She hadn’t spoken to him since last week, when he’d called on the same day Rosalie and Lee had been slated to have their romantic four-month anniversary. She didn’t want to talk to him today either, and she simply looked at the phone while it rang and rang and finally went to voicemail.
The house sat in silence, save for the very quiet munching of veggies that came from Thumper. He hippity-hopped toward her, appearing at the end of the couch, his pink nose twitching. “Did you get enough to eat?” she asked him, sure he’d scarfed it all and had come to tell her to chop up some more carrots. Nopleasein sight from the long-eared mammal.
He stared into her soul, his way of wearing her down until she gave in to his silent demand for more foliage. She stared right on back, determined to win this time. Her heart simply couldn’t take it when someone wasn’t happy, and she’d always given in to him.
To Nat, to Autumn, to her neighbor down the street who’d insisted she’d needed help with a bake-off.
She hadn’t given in to James recently, and she’d stood up for herself when it came to Lee dictating when he’d show up and how long Rosalie had to wait for him. A flash of strength and pride worked its way through her, giving her a boost of energy and a moment of clarity.
Inside that moment, she realized that she’d always worked hard to make everyone around her happy. She’d usually succeeded, and now,shewas the unhappy one.
She needed to make sure she took care of herself and did what she needed to do to be happy. She got to her feet, a question forming and coming out of her mouth. “So what’s it going to be, Rosalie? What do you need to be happy?”
The answer floated through her mind, clear as a summer sky without a cloud.
Lee Cooper.
She turned back to pick up her phone, but the doorbell rang, distracting her. Thumper hopped around the couch and headed for the gate, as if it would somehow disappear when she opened the door this time.
Rosalie pushed her curls back out of her face, wishing she’d cared enough to put on makeup that morning. She hadn’t, and she’d spent the day outside getting sweaty anyway.
She didn’t care, because whoever stood on the other side of the door didn’t matter.
She glanced outside to make sure Autumn was still okay, and she found the girl swinging in the hammock in the shade between two trees. So Rosalie faced the door and walked the length of the couch to open it.
Just as the doorbell rang again, she twisted the knob, her irritation at the other person’s impatience firing inside her.
“Just a second,” she said, the door already swinging inward. “I was coming.” Her voice muted after that. Her irritation turned to adrenaline and spiked through her whole body simultaneously.
Lee Cooper stood there, no smile in sight, and strangling the neck of his guitar tightly in one hand.
