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Summer Rain And Roses |
Chapter 10 |
Autumn came and went, and October blended into November. Rose didn't even want to start thinking about Christmas but it seemed impossible to avoid. Stores had their lights and decorations displayed, and cheerful carols were being piped through the speakers. Although a few flakes of snow had fallen, they had not been graced with any significant snowfall yet. But it was only a matter of time.
This quiet Sunday afternoon, Rose was in John's kitchen making a pot of beef and vegetable soup. They had initially been planning to go out to dinner but as the day wore on, they had decided to stay in. Soup was simple to make and something she enjoyed preparing. It was also a good way to use up the leftover vegetables that were rattling around in the drawers of the refrigerator.
John sat at the kitchen table with a stack of medical journals in front of him. Every so often, he paused in his reading to jot down some notes, his brow mildly furrowed in concentration.
"John?"
"Hmmm?" he murmured.
"Can we go out now?"
He finally tore his eyes away from the article to glance down at Joshua's hopeful face. "I'm almost finished. Just give me ten more minutes."
"But you said that last time!" the boy complained with indignation. "Please?"
"It's going to start getting dark soon," Rose advised, stirring the contents of the pot. After dipping the spoon in and lightly blowing on the fragrant liquid, she tasted it. Perhaps a pinch more salt.
Placing his pad of paper on the open page, John closed the cover. "All right, go get your coat."
"Yes!"
Once outside, they began walking with no particular destination in mind. Joshua loved to roam the grounds but he understood the rule that he was not to wander around by himself. It was usually John that accompanied him on these walks, showing him various parts of the estate. His favourite thing to do by far was to visit the horses, and so they spent some time in the stable. Joshua wanted to run back to the house to get a carrot as a treat, but John told him all the carrots had gone into the soup.
The air was growing noticeably colder and John could hear the boy starting to sniffle. It took some cajoling, but they finally started back towards the guesthouse.
"Look! A dog!" Joshua cried with delight, pointing towards an animal that was sniffing something amongst the brown grass.
"That's not a dog, Josh. It's a fox."
As if aware of the attention it was drawing, the sleek animal raised its head to regard them with keen, brown eyes. It stood stock still for a moment and then took off like a shot. Joshua raced after it, as John reluctantly followed him. He was becoming chilled himself, and wished he'd remembered his gloves. "Hey, come on, kiddo! It's getting cold out here," he called out.
Too intent on catching the fox, Joshua ignored him and rounded the bend that led towards the main house. Picking up speed, John jogged after him. Coming up the path, he didn't immediately see the boy, but his eye caught a flash of movement up ahead. A small form bundled in a blue jacket could be seen behind the bare branches of bushes lining the pathway.
While they had been in the stable, a light snowfall had started. It was beginning to accumulate now and John glanced to the left to regard his parked Jeep. If the snow continued to fall overnight, he would have to get up a little bit earlier than usual to clear off his car. Ahhh, the joys of winter.
"Jesus, watch where you're going!" exclaimed an angry male voice, the sound booming through the stillness of the air.
Slightly alarmed, John squinted towards the sound and started running at the same time. The light of day was starting to dim, but he could make out the figure of a tall man in a dark coat. He must have just come out of the main house.
As John approached him, Joshua darted out from hiding and proceeded to hide again; this time behind his legs. John could feel the warmth of the small body pressed against him, one hand clutching at the fabric of his jeans. Reaching behind him, he awkwardly patted the child's back. "Hey, you okay?"
"Well, John, it's been a while."
Turning his attention back to the man, it took all of his willpower not to reveal his shock, as he stared into the eyes of Adam Harris. "Yes it has," he said slowly. "How are you?"
"Fine. That is, I was fine until this kid almost came barrelling into me. He's not yours, is he?"
"No, I'm just, uh, babysitting for a colleague of mine."
Adam made a noise that sounded like a cross between a snort of disgust and a hoot of laughter. "You couldn't pay me to do something like that, but I guess you doctors are the noble type. Anyway, I was just here to see your grandfather. Helluva man. We go way back."
John wasn't sure how to respond to that so he remained silent, continuing to rub Joshua's back in a reassuring way. Rose was going to have a fit when she found out about this.
Before the silence could stretch out much longer, Adam excused himself with his usual abrupt manner, leaving John feeling summarily dismissed. He watched the man climb into his car, the engine soon roaring to life. The windshield wipers swept away the light, white coating and the car sped away, a little too fast for the slippery conditions.
He crouched down to speak with Joshua, who hadn't said a word. "Are you all right?" he asked.
The boy nodded and then mumbled, "I just wanted to see the fox. Is he mad?"
"No, he's not mad."
Joshua didn't seem to believe him. "He looked mad. He gets mad a lot."
Caught off guard by that remark, it took John a moment to realize Josh must recognize Adam from his visits to Rose in the office. "Does he ever get mad at you?"
Considering the question carefully, Joshua rolled his eyes upwards. "Sometimes. Like one time I was running and I smacked into him and I made him cough."
John blinked. "Cough?"
"Yeah. He coughed in the coffee and it went down his shirt and it got all brown."
Pressing his lips together, he managed to contain his laugh. "What happened then?"
"He yelled at me. I think he called me a bad name 'cause Mommy yelled at him too."
John couldn't quite conceal his smile, but he soon grew serious again. "If he's ever mean to you, I want you to tell me, okay?"
"'Kay."
With Joshua's mittened hand safely tucked in John's grasp, they started heading back to the guesthouse. They were quiet for a little while until Joshua piped up, "He's mean to Mommy a lot. He yells at her."
"I know."
"Are you gonna yell at him now?"
"No. Your mom can take care of herself." After listening to many tales of Rose's woes at work, there were times when he'd have liked nothing better than to throttle Adam Harris. The man was an arrogant son of a bitch. But of course, he said none of this out loud.
"He's not a nice man," Joshua stated decisively.
"No, he's not," John agreed.
**************
The slamming of the front door announced that her two men had come home. Rose placed the tossed salad on the table and came to greet them. Before she could even say hello, Joshua was practically jumping up and down, a bundle of energized excitement. As she helped him take his coat off, he told her about the horses and the missed carrot opportunity, the fox, and the snow. He saved the best for last.
"Guess who we saw, Mommy?"
"Who?"
"The mean man at work. If he's mean to me, I can tell John. But you can take care of yourself."
Hanging the damp coat over a chair to dry, she tried to decipher this interesting bit of information. Mean man at work. He couldn't possibly be referring to.... With a questioning lift of one eyebrow, she caught John's gaze. "Is he talking about who I think he's talking about?"
"Afraid so."
"How could this happen again?" she exclaimed with disbelief. Was this some sort of sign? A warning? Or was it merely another strange coincidence?
Though he looked perturbed, John merely shrugged, apparently having no answer to her spoken and unspoken questions.
Joshua bounded over to the kitchen. "I'm hungry," he announced. "Can we eat, Mommy?"
She couldn't think about this now. "Sure, sweetie. Let's eat."
After dinner, Joshua went into the spare bedroom to play with his toys. Because they often spent time at the guesthouse, he kept some of his favourite books and playthings here.
John helped Rose with the dishes and they worked side by side in relative silence. He was waiting for her to broach the subject first. When the last bowl had been put away in the cupboard and she still hadn't made the first move, he couldn't stand it any longer. "Well?" he asked, resisting the urge to drum his fingers on the countertop.
"Well," she repeated thoughtfully. "I'm thinking."
"You've been thinking for quite a while."
"I know."
Obviously, she wasn't going to be rushed into anything. He stepped over to the kettle. "Want a cup of tea?"
"You read my mind."
Several minutes later, they brought their teas to the living room and settled onto the comfortable couch. After a couple of sips, she finally began the discussion. "So, what was he doing here?"
"He came to see Grandfather. Something about business, I guess."
"Hmmm. Do you think he recognized Josh?"
"No. I think it all happened so fast and Josh had his hood on. Then he was basically hiding behind me, so I'm pretty sure Adam didn't get a good look at him. Besides, if he had recognized Josh as your son, he would have said something, right?"
"I suppose so, yes." Reaching down, she placed her mug on the coffee table and leaned back again into the cushion. "Unless," she continued slowly. "he's up to something."
This line of thought took him by surprise. "Like what?" he asked.
"I don't know. I just wouldn't put anything past him. Maybe he'll mention it to me at work tomorrow, just to see my reaction. Or maybe he'll go straight to Robert and casually ask why you would be out on a Sunday afternoon with my son."
"And what would that accomplish?" he wondered, genuinely puzzled.
"Who knows? I'm just talking off the top of my head. I don't pretend to understand anything that man does. But I know I don't trust him." She paused briefly and then went on. "John, I think we have to tell Robert. About us."
"Okay."
"I...well, I mean, I shouldn't be speaking for both of us, but we agreed to keep this a secret from him because we weren't sure how serious things would get between us. And I think we're...I'm at the point where I can say, it's getting serious." As she fumbled over her words, her cheeks took on a red glow. "Feel free to jump in any time, here," she murmured.
He chuckled softly, amused by her discomfiture. She usually projected such an image of confidence, he enjoyed these rare glimpses into her vulnerability. He found it entirely endearing. "You're so cute when you blush," he teased.
The glow in her face seemed to brighten by several watts. "Well?" she demanded. "Are you going to make me ask?"
Did he dare play dumb? No, he couldn't do it. "Yes, Rose, I feel the same way as you. I want to tell the whole world that we're together and the consequences be damned. I think Uncle Robert will understand." But there was another person involved in this dilemma that probably wouldn't be as understanding.
She was apparently on the same wavelength. "What about Laird?"
He sighed. "I don't know which part of this he'd hate more. The fact that we're seeing each other, or the fact that you're working in his company."
"Maybe we should just speak with Robert and let him decide what to tell your grandfather," she suggested. "This affects him too, after all, since he hired me. Maybe he won't want to tell Laird anything."
"But what if you're right about Adam and he is suspicious that something is going on between us. He might mention it to Grandfather."
Rose brought one hand to her temple, as if she had a nagging headache. "I don't know," she groaned. "I'm so confused."
John took hold of her other hand, squeezing it gently. "Look, we'll just go and talk to Uncle Robert. At least get things in the open with him. And we should probably bring Kevin into this too. Then we can all decide what's best."
She nodded. "All right. That's what we'll do."
The patter of footsteps preceded Joshua's entrance into the room. He appeared before them, his eyes shining with excitement. "Look outside, Mommy! It's snowing lots. Can we stay here?" He ran to the front window, pulling back the curtain to peer through the glass. John and Rose followed behind him and took in the view. The snow was indeed falling in thicker clumps than before, swirling and dancing in the wind. "Can we?" he asked again, craning his neck to look up at both adults.
"It's all right with me," John stated. "Maybe you should stay off the roads tonight."
Rose considered the matter. She and Josh had stayed overnight at the guesthouse several times now, but she had always been prepared. She was wearing jeans and an old sweater today, and that just wouldn't do for work tomorrow. Maybe if they left early enough in the morning, they could stop at home to at least change clothes. It wasn't that much out of the way. And she really hated to drive in this kind of weather in the dark, if she didn't have to. "Okay, Josh, we'll stay," she told her son.
"Yea!"
"It's very kind of John to let us stay here. What should we say?" she gently prodded.
"Thank you," Joshua said emphatically. "Will you read me a story, John?"
"Sure, kiddo."
They remained by the window, as Joshua retreated to the other room to pick out a book. A slight draft could be felt, seeping in through hidden crevices, and she shivered slightly. She soon was surrounded by warmth, as John wrapped his arms around her. "Are you worried?" he asked softly.
"I'm trying not to think about it."
"Whatever happens, you'll have my support. I hope you know that."
"I know." She tilted her head back to glance up at him. "But it's still nice to hear. Thanks for letting us stay."
"Anytime." He smiled down at her, dropping a light kiss on her forehead.
***************
Tapping one end of the pen against the pad of paper, he was so engrossed in his reading that he didn't immediately notice her standing there. He looked up, startled. "Hi. Going to bed?"
"Yeah. I just came to say goodnight."
"How about the little one?"
"Fast asleep." She smiled. "He loves it when you read to him."
He returned her smile, his thoughts straying to his own childhood. Neither of his parents had ever read to him, but Bobby often had. Comic books had been a favourite; the continuing sagas of Superman or Spiderman. Not really comforting bedtime reading but entertaining, nonetheless, and a shared pleasure they alone had enjoyed.
Dragging his mind back to the present, he finally noted her attire. His eyes seemed to travel of their own will, from her bare toes, up the line of her slim and shapely legs, to her upper torso clad in a buttoned shirt. His shirt. Swallowing hard, his gaze continued their upward climb to meet her eyes.
"I hope you don't mind. I didn't feel like sleeping in my jeans."
"It's, uh...it's fine," he stammered, trying not to think about the nakedness beneath the innocent, white fabric.
"You're going to keep reading?" she asked.
"For a little while longer."
Placing her arms around his shoulders, she kissed him once on the lips and then on the cheek. After a slight pause, her mouth returned to his, lingering a little longer this time. He closed his eyes, savouring the minty taste of toothpaste and the underlying, intriguing taste of Rose. His eyes opened reluctantly when the contact was broken. "Goodnight," she whispered.
"'Night."
The sound of the bedroom door being closed reached his ears and outside, the forceful wind continued to whistle and moan. Finding the section where he'd left off, he read the passage again. And again. This was hopeless. The alluring image of Rose in his shirt was all he could think about. With a shake of his head, he tossed the pen on the table. *Get a grip, Carter!*
Deciding to call it a night, he got ready for bed and finally slipped under the covers. Rolling onto his side, he let his mind drift aimlessly. He found it somehow comforting to know that Rose and Josh were nearby, warm and safe. They were an important part of his life now and no one - not Grandfather and certainly not Adam Harris - was going to take them away.
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