Love Imagines (Sully Point, Book 6) (15 page)

"That sounds like something that would appeal to
you after what you tried to do with the clinic idea."

"Yes, I do think it would be fun and fulfilling
for me."

"Then...what's the hold-up? Why not tell Doc that
you want the job? You know that the family would love having you live here."

"Mom...what about Ben? He lives in L.A. and I'd be
here. I don't want a long-distance relationship."

"Is it that serious with you two?"

"It could be, I think."

"Well then, you just have to talk to him about it
when the time is right. Maybe there is some sort of compromise. Look at Beth
and William. Their home base is Sully Point, but they do spend time in other
places."

"Yes, but if I'm going to be the town doctor, I
can't just go flitting off wherever at the drop of a hat."

Sophia stared into Rose's big brown eyes and
sighed. "Darling, I think you need more time to figure this out. See where
things go with Ben. Perhaps talk to Doc Watson some more about what is involved
in the job. You don't need to decide this today. Sit with it for a while and
see how you feel. I don't think you should make any choices until after this
Suzanne thing has been cleared up."

Rose's face tightened and anger sparked in her
eyes. She stood up and began pacing.

"That's another thing. I can't even be with Ben
without being afraid she's watching and will attack us. I don't think we should
keep our relationship a secret and I'm going to tell Dad that today. We are
changing our behavior to accommodate her, and that feels wrong."

"Just be careful, Rose. The woman is unstable. I
don't want anything to happen to you."

Rose stopped pacing and smiled. "Don't worry. I
don't want anything to happen to me either. I hope they can find her and arrest
her for her attack on Lucretia. Then this would be over."

Sophia didn't think it was going to be that easy,
but she didn't say anything else. She'd done some reading on the internet about
stalking and came away from it more alarmed than she'd been before. She knew Ed
was much more concerned than he was saying aloud.

"What was your plan for today?"

"I have no plans. Well, I was going to help Maggie with the nursery, since Ben is going to be at the
Playhouse for most of the day."

"Why don't you come with me? I was going to drive
to a fabric outlet a couple of towns over from here. You could choose some
material for a few dresses. I was sketching last night and have some designs
that will look sensational on you. I'll call Maggie and let her know you'll help her out another day. I'm sure she'll understand."

Rose frowned. "Mom, Maggie just bought me a bunch
of new clothes."

Sophia shook her head. "Those are for the summer,
around here. What I have in mind is formal wear, for when you appear on the red
carpet at a movie premiere with Ben."

The smile that lit up Rose's face warmed Sophia's
heart.

* * * *

Frank was on the phone with the butcher shop.
"That's right. Ten more pounds of chicken and ribs each."

He got off the phone as William walked into the
store.

"Frank, I need to tell you that I've invited the
cast of the play to the barbecue tomorrow."

"You have? Damn, and I just got off the phone with
the butcher."

"They've been working really hard, and I thought
it would be a nice way to reward them. But it may have just about doubled the
amount of people who'll be there."

"No worries. Sam and Cody are paying the bills at
the butcher shop and grocery. We have a whole slew of grills lined up. I think
we have enough side dishes, but if any of your people want to bring something,
they are welcome to do so."

"What about entertainment?" asked William.

"We have a badminton set and volleyball net to set
up, and Cody is bringing some jet skis over there. Tell your people to bring
their own towels and blankets for the beach and we'll be all set."

William nodded. "I wonder if anyone will notice
the security guards that will be out on the beach, too."

"I know," Frank said. "Isn't that a hell of a
thing? Poor Lucretia. Is she out of the hospital yet?"

"Oh, yes. She came to rehearsals today.
Fortunately, the part of the play we are rehearsing has her reclining in bed,
so it was fairly easy on her."

A voice from behind William said, "You have to
wonder though, don't you? About what she could have done to bring something
like that upon herself?"

Frank mumbled, "Dammit Maelynne."

William whirled around. "Listen up, Maelynne.
Don't you go spreading rumors about what happened to Lucretia. She was
attacked. She didn't do anything wrong. It's just like you to try and find
something bad about the victim to blame them."

Maelynne's eyes glittered, but Frank noticed that
her voice maintained its virtuous tone. "My, my, Mr. Christopher. Aren't you
the quick defender there. But maybe that's because she's one of your actresses.
I've heard things about some of your cast. One in particular. A slightly famous
young man who was hiding the fact that his fiancée had arrived here in town. I
bet you didn't even know that he's just out-and-out dumped the poor girl. Ruined
her and set her aside like trash."

Frank saw William's body stiffen and he wanted to
say something but wasn't sure what. Clearly, Maelynne had talked to that
stalker woman.

William gave a chuckle after a minute, surprising
Frank. "Maelynne, when are you going to learn not to listen to gossip? That
particular young man has no fiancée. He never did. Whoever told you that lied
to you."

"But she said—"

"Like I just said, you were lied to. Someone is
using you to spread an untrue rumor. I wonder why she's doing that Maelynne.
You might want to give that some thought before you spread this rumor around
town."

With that, William turned back to Frank, his face
changing as he turned from Maelynne to look very serious.

"So we're all set, Frank? And I'll just pass the
word on to double up on things?"

"That's right, William. I'll see you Saturday,"
Frank said and watched the director pass by Maelynne with a smile on his face
again. It seemed like William wasn't a half-bad actor himself.

"Hmph," Maelynne uttered, and quickly left the
store.

Frank gave a sigh of relief at seeing her leave
and then picked up the phone to double his meat order with the butcher.

* * * *

"She said what?" Ben almost shouted.

William just looked at him and nodded his head.

"Fiancée? Is she nuts?"

"Well, I think that is what we are assuming, yes."

"This is beyond anything. I'm going to see Rose. I
don't want her hearing this from anyone."

"What about you two staying away from each other?"

"I think that's been a mistake. Suzanne has to
face reality, and Rose and I are very much a reality."

Ben walked quickly out the doors of the Playhouse.
He'd been talking to the costume designer when William had returned with the
latest news. As he exited, Leo and Kevin came up to him.

"What's up?" asked Leo.

"I'm going to see Rose. I have to speak to her
right away."

"Might want to just call her."

"No, I'm going to see her. Although, I suppose I
should check and make sure she's home."

He pulled out his cell phone and called her
number.

"Rose?"

"Yes, Ben. I'm here."

"We need to talk about something. Are you home?"

"No, I'm at a fabric store with my mother. I'll be
home in about an hour. Are you coming over?"

"Yes, and don't try and talk me out of it."

"No, I'm not going to. I decided this morning that
we need to live our lives and not let her control what we do."

"That's exactly what I think, too. I'll come over
in an hour or so."

"I'll see you then."

Ben put away his phone. "Okay, guys. We've got an
hour to kill. Let's go find Ed and tell him the latest."

"You haven't told us the latest yet, either,"
Kevin pointed out.

"Right. You'll hear it then, too, so I don't have
to repeat myself."

They met up with Ed Carter at his house. At
first, Ed was outraged.

"Absolutely not! Do you realize the chances you'd
be taking with my daughter's life?"

"She agrees with me, Ed. We are letting Suzanne
control our behavior. That can't be right. We have the security guards. We'll
be careful."

"Why does she think she was your fiancée? Were you
two ever engaged?"

"Engaged? We hardly even dated. Seriously, a few
dates and she thinks we were going to get married? Believe me, there was
nothing even remotely like that. This is part of her fantasy world."

Ed sighed. "Damn. Well, all right. You were both
going to be at the barbecue, and anyone who's around you can see that you have
feelings for each other. We'll try it your way."

He stood up and motioned to the security guards.
"You guys need to keep an eagle eye out at the barbecue. There will be a bunch of people
there. And seeing as how you're all here now...you three come out to the garage
and help me put these two grills into the SUV."

* * * *

The forest green jersey material sparkled as
if the stars were spread upon it. Rose held it up in front of her body and
looked in the mirror. The strapless tight-fitted bodice was going to look sophisticated, yet sexy, made up in this material. The skirt would be in the same color but the sparkles
would gradually change in size and turn into sequins in a swirl at the bottom
part of the dress. Sophia had told her to take the material into her apartment
and look through her jewelry to see if anything would go with it. Rose already
knew that nothing she had was sparkly enough.

She realized she was looking forward to working
with her mother on the dress. Rose would mostly be standing around as a
mannequin to be fitted for the dress, but Sophia in full design mode was fun to
watch. Like her sisters, she'd spent time at Sophia's studio as a child,
playing with dolls, dressing them up, and watching the brilliant designer who
was also 'Mom' bossing people around as she created gorgeous wearable art. Now
Rose would have one of her mother's elegant designs for her very own.

She and Sophia had discussed what a small town
doctor should look like. Rose voted for comfort, while Sophia had explained
that it was possible to have style with comfort. She'd also told Rose that her
white lab coats were all going to be tailored to fit her body, rather than
looking shapeless.

Rose was smiling as she remembered that, thinking
how all that tailoring wouldn't matter a bit when some kid threw up on her.

She put away the material and glanced into the
mirror again. She had her hair in its long braid, and she was barefoot showing
off coral-colored toenails from the pedicure Sophia had insisted they stop and
do earlier in the day. Rose had chosen that color to match a coral maxi dress
that was gathered under the bust line and then fell full to the floor. The
dress had spaghetti straps, and Rose thought it was sinfully comfortable. The
bodice had an eyelet lace covering over the solid material. She found the dangling coral
earrings Maggie had insisted she buy to go with the dress and put them on.

The knock on the front door had her running to
answer it. She peeked responsibly through the peep hole in the door, then
opened it to see Ben standing there looking scrumptious as usual. He had a bag
in one hand that he set down just inside the door and then took her in his
arms. As he swirled her into the room, she used a foot to shut the door, just
barely hearing Mel's chuckle outside.

"I missed you," he murmured into her ear.

"The last hour took forever to go by," she said.

He kissed along her jawline until he got to her
mouth. The kiss was like jumping into a warm pool of water, soothing,
comforting, and felt like it could go on forever.

Finally, he said, "I want you."

"I want you, too," she said, a bit breathlessly.
"What's in the bag?"

"Huh?"

"By the door?"

"Oh, yeah, that's food. We need to put it in the
fridge."

She kissed him again, and then said, "Okay. Let's
do that first."

Holding hands they took the bag into the kitchen,
and put the containers into the fridge, along with a bottle of wine.

Then they stood staring at each other, brown eyes
to blue, smiles on their faces. All of a sudden he reached for her and grabbed
her close to him as she let out a squeal of surprise.

He laughed, and then said in a deeper voice than
usual, "Much as I love the dress, let's get naked."

She laughed then, and they managed somehow to walk
to the bedroom while arm in arm and stopping to kiss every few feet.

The setting sun put a golden glow over everything
in the bedroom as it spilled through the curtains.

As he wrapped her in his arms, she asked, "What
did you want to talk to me about?"

"Later. All I want us to focus on is you and me,
together, in this bed."

"That, I can definitely do," she said, as he
pulled her against his bare chest.

* * * *

 Much later, after getting dressed again, they
spread the food they'd heated up on the coffee table in the living room. Rose
had found big square floor pillows in a closet and they sat on those. Ben had
brought Chinese food from the town next door, and they had boxes opened and
were piling food on plates.

"I do love Kung Pao chicken, so that was an excellent choice," Rose said.

"Where's the—ah, there it is, Cashew Chicken,"
Ben said, a smile lighting up his face.

She thought he looked a bit like a kid in that moment and she loved him even more.

Love. She loved him. It hit her then, what she'd
been thinking. She really did love him! Impossible as that seemed, so soon
after first meeting, she loved him. Her chopsticks clattered to the table's
surface.