Love Imagines (Sully Point, Book 6) (14 page)

"Wait till you see that bowl Beth is bringing to
you to use. Lots and lots of lettuce in your future."

Rose laughed. This was much better than talking
about Suzanne.

A knock on the door announced the arrival of
William and Beth.

"Finally!" Maggie said as she opened the door.

"Sorry, time got away from us," Beth said, when
they walked into the kitchen.

"I'm starving," William said. "And hello Rose and
Ben."

"Let's all move to the table," Eric said, carrying
a large casserole dish of lasagna out of the kitchen to the dining room table.

Rose saw that there was bread on the table
already, with a big bowl of Waldorf salad. Maggie brought a dish of steaming hot broccoli. They all
sat down and Ben took a sip of his drink.

"What is this?" he asked, holding the glass up to
the light. "It's lighter than tea, refreshing...do I taste lemonade?"

"Yes, it's Frank's lemonade tea," Maggie replied.
"You put a small can of frozen lemonade concentrate in with a gallon of tea."

They ate lasagna and praised Eric's cooking
ability.

"I only know how to make four things. But those I
can make really well," he said, his face somewhat red.

"You should see, on my laptop," Maggie said, "he
put all my recipes into this database. We have a smart refrigerator that
records when anything is used, and the same with the pantry. You just swipe the
scanner code on this gizmo before using anything. Then when I don't know what
to make for dinner, I ask the computer to suggest something based on what food
ingredients we have in the house. It's awesome!"

"Wait—you're saying that your computer knows what
food you have? Like it could generate a shopping list for you?" Ben asked.

"Oh, yes. It does that every week. We have a
system worked out with the local grocery store where the computer sends the
order to them and they deliver it to us. Although, sometimes I just take the
list with me and go to the store because I like getting out and seeing people."

"Is it true that you're developing an artificial
intelligence, Eric?" Rose asked.

He nodded. "I'm working on the idea."

"But your house is...smart?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean the house can think. Not
yet, anyway," Eric said.

"Each room responds to voice commands. You know,
like lights on or lights off," Maggie said and the lights in the room went out.

They all laughed as she sheepishly said, "Lights
on!"

"We did forget something, though," Eric said.
"Background music, slow jazz, on."

Rose liked the soft tones coming from hidden
speakers. As she listened to Eric and Maggie listing more things the house
could do, she realized they'd left that Victorian exterior on purpose, almost
as a joke.

William and Beth discussed the L.A. housing market
with Ben, since it looked like they might be spending time out there on a
movie. Ben promised to give them a list of the best realtors, along with the
best restaurants.

The topics the group talked about ranged all over.
At one point, they had a discussion about the use of human chips. Rose was in
favor of them because each person's chip could contain all their medical
records, but Ben was wary of the idea that something would be implanted into
his body. Eric was for it, but Maggie wasn't sure. William thought it sounded
efficient, but Beth sided with Ben on it being creepy.

Rose almost blurted out something about medical
records that would have clearly shown she was a doctor, but she held back at
the last second. She realized that pretending to be a model was a silly thing
to have done. Now, though, she wasn't quite sure how to tell Ben the truth.

"Let's wait to have dessert until we've walked
around some, and shown you all the rest of the house," Maggie said.

They went upstairs and saw the bedrooms, a sitting
room, and the nursery. The nursery was filled with boxes of furniture and other
baby items.

"Maggie, I'll come help you sort all this out. I
don't want you to overdo," Rose said. "How about tomorrow?"

"Okay, cool."

Eric showed them how the voice command system
worked in the bedrooms, controlling lights, heating and cooling, music, and
even whether or not the curtains were drawn or open.

Downstairs they headed out to the back of the
house which opened into an addition onto the house that was Eric's lab. Rose
and Ben entered and then just stood staring. William and Beth chuckled
knowingly.

It was like an electronic funhouse. There were
computers everywhere, of various sizes and shapes, many with covers off. Rose
noticed immediately that there was an air filtration system in place, gently
blowing, that was keeping dust out of the room.

Eric took them over to one corner where a robotic
arm was resting in a metal holder. Eric flicked on a computer nearby and pushed
some keys and suddenly the fingers of the robotic hand moved.

Rose jumped and Ben gasped. There was something
about seeing those metal fingers moving, mimicking human fingers...mimicking
life...that shook Rose to her core. It was...eerie.

Eric was smiling as he looked at them. Maggie
looked a bit bored by the display. Rose was not surprised by that. Maggie had
been into science fiction since she was a kid, and it must seem commonplace to
her. But she was surprised at her own reactions. She gave a quick smile to
Eric, but was still feeling a bit disturbed inside by seeing the hand, which
was strange. She was all for the new bionic hands that were helping amputees. But
she wondered how she'd react to a full-bodied robot that could walk and talk.
Maybe she wasn't quite as ready for the future as she thought.

They ended up back inside at the rustic kitchen
table. Maggie brought out her chocolate cake.

"Does anyone want ice cream with it?" she asked.

"Are you kidding me? This is so rich I'll be
working for the rest of the week to get rid of these calories," Rose said, and
then laughed. "But hey, it's my vacation so I guess that doesn't really matter.
Please, though, no ice cream."

Beth said, "Ice cream for me please."

"You always did eat everything," Maggie said.

The men took a bite of the cake and agreed with
Rose.

While having the dessert and coffee,
decaffeinated, they discovered that all three couples liked playing board
games. Maggie was excited.

"Mostly everyone in the family plays cards, but
nobody wants to play with Eric because of his photographic memory and him being
a genius and all."

There was a pause as they absorbed that statement.

"There's lots of sitting around on movie sets, and
I've played everything," Ben said.

"I haven't played anything in ages, but it sounds
like fun," Rose said.

"How about playing a game now?" Maggie said. "It's
not too late. Although, you know, we have all those extra bedrooms upstairs.
You guys could just spend the night if we really get into playing."

Rose looked at Maggie with widened eyes, but
Maggie gave her a completely innocent look back. "Thanks, dear sister, but I
think we should all plan to sleep in our respective homes."

Maggie shrugged and Eric got out a large drawing
tablet and set it on an easel.

"Pictionary!" Beth said, delighted.

The six of them had a blast playing women
against men. The women won, just barely. Then William reminded Beth and Ben
they had to be up for rehearsals in the morning, and they decided to call it a
night.

"Thanks, Maggie, for everything. The shopping trip
today and dinner tonight really kept my mind off things," Rose said. She hugged
Maggie, and then turned to Beth and hugged her too.

Ben shook Eric's hand, but Maggie wouldn't let him
get away without a hug.

"It was a wonderful evening, both of you. Thanks,"
Ben said.

Rose looked at him and realized they'd have to
separate to go home. She suddenly threw herself into his arms and squeezed
tight. She felt his arms encircling her.

Beth said, "We'll just leave you two..."

Maggie said, "You can let yourselves out."

Once she heard their footsteps walk away, Rose
whispered, "Kiss me."

They kissed passionately, a kiss that felt like it
would last forever, a kiss beyond imagination.

Finally, Rose pulled away from him. "We can't
stand here all night. Either we take up Maggie on her offer of a bedroom or we
leave separately."

Ben sighed and pulled her to him again, rubbing
her back lightly. "I don't want to leave you, but I think it would be best. At
least until they find her, we have to be ultra-careful."

He kissed her gently one more time and then opened
the door to their security guards.

* * * *

Sophia knocked briskly on Rose's door the next
morning. When it opened, she was confronted with her eldest daughter looking
bleary-eyed and out of sorts.

"Oh, it's you, Mom. Come on in."

"And good morning to you, too, darling. Heavens, you look awful."

Rose turned and glared at her, then continued on
walking into the kitchen.

"I brought you a cup of coffee from the Bakery,"
Sophia said and set down a bag on the table. She opened it up and handed over a
large coffee to Rose, who gave her a grateful smile. Pastries were next out of
the bag, cinnamon rolls scattered with pecans and drizzled with icing, and
still warm.

Rose picked one up and took a bite. She closed her
eyes. "This should be illegal it's so sweet and rich."

Sophia laughed and sat down opposite her daughter.
"I still don't know what possessed Maggie to paint this kitchen yellow and
orange. It is too much of a good thing, if you ask me."

"As opposed to your favorite backdrop of white or
cream, so that your designs show up in startling and vivid color."

"Speaking of designs, I thought Maggie took you
shopping for clothes. What on earth are you wearing?"

"My nightshirt and some sweatpants. Why?"

"Didn't Maggie buy you any nice lingerie or
loungewear?"

"Yes." Rose took another bite of the cinnamon
roll.

"Then why aren't you wearing it?"

"Mom...those nice things are for when Ben is
around. When it's just me, I figure wearing the old stuff is okay."

"Rose Amelia Carter. Have I taught you nothing?
You dress for yourself, not just for some man. If you wear nice things you feel
better. I bet you'd have been in a better mood this morning if you'd been
wearing silk or something beautiful."

Rose began to laugh. A little chuckle at first,
and then great big laughs that doubled her over.

Sophia stared at her.

"Mother...clothes...are not going to help the
situation," Rose finally said. "There's a disturbed woman out there who has
already injured someone. She wants Ben. Maybe to hurt him. Or she wants to hurt
me. Either way, some silk and pretty colors aren't going to improve my mood."

Sophia shook her head and crossed her arms. "It
couldn't hurt."

This set Rose off again laughing, although this
time, the laughs turned into sobs. Soon Sophia was up and standing by her daughter's
chair, as Rose hugged her around the waist and cried.

"What am I going to do, Mom? I think I'm in love
with him."

"Do? Do you have to do anything, darling? Just
love him. Everything will work out." She ran her hand gently down the
strawberry blonde hair that was still mussed from sleep. "Come now, let's get
you cleaned up. I'll comb your hair out for you. You used to love that when you
were little."

"Okay. Can I bring my coffee while you do that?"
Rose asked in a small voice.

"Absolutely."

Then Sophia hugged Rose tightly for a moment. "I
love you."

"I love you, too, Mom."

Rose went into the bedroom and got her
large-toothed comb and Sophia began combing out her hair.

"This does remind me of when I was little."

"You cut your hair, I noticed."

"Not all that much, but waist-length was just too
much. The hospital left me no time to take care of it."

"What happened, Rose? Really. I know you wanted to
get that clinic established. Did you step on somebody's toes?"

Sophia waited in silence for almost a full minute,
and then Rose sighed.

"I think I was a burn-out case for a while before
it all went down. So when the clinic thing came up, I just obsessed about it.
All I ever saw was traumatic injuries, and too many times, death. The clinic
would have been about prevention, about keeping people healthy, not about
treating gunshot and stabbing wounds every single day. But the funding just
wasn't there, and yes, I did step on toes trying to get it off the ground."

"So what happens now?" Sophia asked, pulling the
comb carefully through the long hair.

"They don't want me back at the hospital."

"What?"

"Yes, it's true. However, an offer has been made
to me."

Rose turned to face Sophia, her face very serious.

"What is it?"

"Doc Watson, here in town, has asked me to join
him, to eventually take over the practice here in Sully Point."

It took all of Sophia's self-control not to jump
up and down at this news. But she remained calm, and nodded slowly.

"How do you feel about that?"

Rose's lips quirked into a bit of a smile. "Well,
it is nice to know there is a job out there. On the other hand, I wonder about
such a drastic change of pace. I like this town, but to stay here
permanently...I'd never envisioned that."

"But wasn't the pace at the hospital part of the
problem, part of what caused you to burn out?"

"Yes, it was part of it. I also know that I
thrived on that adrenalin rush you get working in the Emergency Room. Could I
really adjust to not having that?"

"How has it been for you since you've been here?
Have you missed the action?"

Rose gave a little laugh. "Yesterday I was bored
out of my mind at one point, but that may have been because I was sitting
around here doing nothing. If I took the job, I'd do a lot with education and
prevention and not just seeing people in the office."