Time to Love Again (23 page)

Finally, she boarded the plane again for the rest of the flight. Four and a half more hours. She couldn't wait to see Melinda.

Another smooth landing and Rose hurried off the plane with the other passengers. She spotted Melinda almost immediately. Luke and Angie stood next to her. She hurried to them and hugged Melinda and turned her attention to the kids. It had been too long. She hardly recognized them. She hugged thirteen year old Luke next. "My goodness, how you've grown. Let me look at you." She held Luke at arm's length. He looked just like his father.

"Hi, Grandma," Angie said.

Good Lord, she was the spitting image of Melinda at that age. Sweet sixteen. Where had the time gone? Rose held out her arms, and Angie went into them. "I can't believe you two. I'd hardly recognize you. You look just like your mom."

"Let's get your luggage, we're in the way here." Melinda said. "Come on, Harold is driving around waiting for us. Can't park close anymore. You can only stop for a minute to pick up a passenger."

Rose put her arms around her grandchildren and followed Melinda to the van. She couldn't believe she was here after all this time.

Harold pulled up to the curb and got out. Rose hugged her son-in-law and kissed his cheek. "How are you feeling, Harold?"

"I've been better." He smiled.

Rose always liked his smile, something about the way it lit up his face. He didn't just smile with his mouth it reached his eyes, crinkling the corners. Even wrinkled his nose.

They got into the van, and Angie and Luke talked nonstop on the way home. Rose was anxious to see Melinda's house. She'd only seen pictures of it.

"Whose fault is that?" Emma asked. "Shame on you, Rose."

Damn, she thought she was rid of Emma's ghost, hadn't heard it much lately. Too bad it had to intrude now. Well, she'd just ignore it for now. She was here to enjoy her family, and she didn't need Emma's voice reminding her it was her fault that she hadn't been here before. Didn't need it reminding her of anything, actually.

Harold pulled the van into a long curved driveway.

Rose took a breath as the beautiful two story brick home with an arched entry way came into view at the end of the long drive. Even from here, Rose could see a built-in pool in the back yard. "Melinda, it's beautiful." She hardly knew what to say. She knew they both had good jobs. But she had no idea they were that good. "Obviously, you've both been very successful."

"Come on, I'll show you inside." The pride in Melinda's voice was unmistakable.

"Pictures don't do it justice. I can tell you that. I had no idea how big it was." Rose followed Melinda inside the marble-floored foyer. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine her daughter living in something like this. Never had she ever imagined herself in a house like this. This was one of those mansions you saw on television or dreamed about when you were starting out in life.

Not that her house was shabby. Frank had provided well for his family. But it was nothing compared to this. This was the kind of house movie stars lived in.

After a quick tour of the downstairs, Melinda showed her the bedrooms and took Rose to her room. "I know you must be tired, if you want to lie down for a while. The time change has to affect you."

The room was done in lavenders and rich deep purple. Obviously, Melinda liked color too. Rose sat down on the bed. "I am kind of tired, but I really don't want a nap." She looked at her watch– almost five o'clock her time but only two here in
Oregon
.

"You're like me. Napping is a waste of time." Melissa said. "Are you hungry?"

"A snack might be good. If I remember correctly, you don't eat dinner until five or six."

"Okay, come on then, we'll see what we can whip up for you."

Rose followed Melinda to the kitchen. A cook's dream. It had every modern convenience Rose had ever seen and then some. The dishwasher and refrigerator fronts looked just like the cabinets. There was even a wine cooler and warming oven built in. Her daughter had done well. "What time is surgery scheduled for tomorrow?"

Melinda hesitated, looked away. "Um...about that..."

Rose sensed something fishy. Melinda never was a good liar. "Okay, Lin," she reverted to the childhood nickname. "What's going on here? What aren't you telling me?"

The phone rang, and Melinda hurried to answer it, obviously escaping Rose's question. Something was going on, and Rose wasn't sure she liked it.

Melinda came back into the kitchen. "The surgery's been cancelled. They want to wait another week at least, see what happens."

"And you knew this when?" Rose was beside herself. Another week, she couldn't stay that long. Christmas was next week. Call her selfish, but she wanted to spend it with Stephen.

"We only just found out."

"I see. Melinda, you know I can't stay that long. I...Christmas..."

"I know, Mom, it's okay. I know you're planning on leaving Monday. We'll manage."

"Honey, are you sure? I mean I know how difficult it is." Rose felt guilty about not staying with her daughter. But she had her own life now. Damn, she hated making these choices.

"Really, Mom, it's okay." She handed Rose a plate with a sandwich on it. "You don't mind going out to dinner tonight do you? I mean...Harold and I want to treat you. Show you some of
Portland
."

"That's fine, I don't mind." That was one of the things she hated about staying with anyone. Even when Frank was alive, they always stayed in motels when they visited friends out of state. They had their own car and could do what they wanted when they wanted. They weren't locked in to doing things someone else's way. Rose sighed. How would she ever handle it in the summer?

Three months living with her son or daughter. She wasn't sure she'd survive. The thought made her cringe. No way to get out of it. She had made a promise, and she'd stick to it. Maybe she could get away with a month.

Later, she unpacked and got ready for dinner. Melinda said dress casual so she took a pair of jeans out of the closet and one of her new sweaters. She applied her make-up with more care than usual, not sure why. She put her new dangly earrings in. She usually shied away from the dangly ones, but something about these caught her eye, and she loved them. She stood in front of the mirror, ran the brush through her hair one more time and smoothed her sweater. Not bad for an old lady.

She followed Melinda and Harold into the restaurant. Luke and Angie followed behind her, giggling like the teenagers they were. Something about them aroused a suspicion in Rose. Something was going on here, but she didn't know what.

When they got to their table, Rose noticed it was set for nine. What the heck? Before she could give it another thought, someone put their arms around her from behind.

"Merry Christmas, Mom."

"Francis!" Rose turned around and looked into her son's eyes. "All right what's going on here? I smell something fishy. And it's not the restaurant."

Francis pulled a chair out for her, and Rose fell into it. Jennifer leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Merry Christmas, Mom."

Francis's kids, Tommy and Kathy both hugged her. "Merry Christmas, Grandma."

Rose didn't know what to say. Heck, she couldn't even think. Everyone sat around the table. Angie and Luke grinned from ear to ear.

"I sense a conspiracy." Rose had trouble holding back the tears.

Melinda laughed. "Don't know how I managed to pull this one off. If you hadn't called when you did, Francis, I might have blown it."

"So, there isn't any surgery is there? This was all a ploy to get me here." Suddenly it all clicked. "No wonder you were being so evasive about the surgery this afternoon."

"Sorry, Mom, it was my idea," Francis said. "Hated to use Harold's kidney stones as an excuse, but we knew you wouldn't come otherwise."

"We just wanted to celebrate Christmas with you," Melinda said. "When we found out about you and Stephen, we devised this plan to do it early."

Rose wiped the tears. She couldn't believe her kids. God, she had missed them so much. Why had she ignored them for so long? "Well, I can't say I'm upset. I'm only sorry you had to resort to trickery."

They had an enjoyable dinner, but Rose couldn't wait to get home to call Stephen. He was not going to believe this, unless he knew about it. Probably part of the conspiracy. Right now, she'd believe anything. That Stephen and Francis had kept in touch amazed her. Conniving little sneak. Rose chuckled.

Later, she curled up in the living room and called Stephen. "Did you know about this?"

"Honest, Rose I had no idea. They didn't let me in on this. Probably thought I'd blow it. I'm glad your son-in-law doesn't have to have surgery though."

Rose laughed. "Actually, so am I. I wasn't looking forward to sitting in another hospital waiting room. I've had enough of that to last a lifetime." She liked the sound of his voice. Even through the phone he excited her.

 
She knew she'd enjoy her visit, now that she was here and could relax, but she couldn't wait to get home. She wanted to feel Stephen's arms around her again. She had finally come to terms with the idea– she was in love with him, and nothing she could do would change it. She didn't even want to.

Rose enjoyed the next two days with her family. They took her on a tour of the city and ate out every day except Saturday. That's the day they decided to celebrate Christmas and open all their gifts. Rose was glad she had shopped for her grandkids. Plus, she got to see them open their gifts. Besides the money, she had bought earrings, necklaces and bracelets for her granddaughters and model airplanes for her grandsons. Funny they both loved airplanes.

Francis and Jennifer got Rose a beautiful black sweater with rhinestones around the neckline. Rose held it up. "It's beautiful."

"It fits with your new image." Francis said. "I see you bought some new clothes yourself."

"Yeah, I did. I decided you were right. Those other ones were old lady clothes."

"Well, I must say, it's a much better look. I love your new hairstyle too. You look fantastic, Mom." Francis leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I think Stephen Daniels agrees with you."

Rose blushed. She couldn't help herself. Just the mention of Stephen's name did that to her.

She opened Melinda's gift next. A red blazer. "Oh, Melinda, it's gorgeous."

Melinda smiled. "Francis told me about your new wardrobe so I figured it'd fit in. It's going to look fantastic on you."

"Francis told you. How..." Rose laughed. "You and Stephen have been having some interesting conversations. What else did he tell you?"

"Only that he's crazy about you." Francis had a sneaky grin on his face.

"And..." Rose asked.

"And that he thought you were a little jealous when an old friend stopped by."

Rose laughed. "A little wasn't the word for it. I was green."

"Hmm," Melinda said. "Is something going on here more than we know about?"

Rose sighed. "Well, let's just say Stephen is very special to me, and leave it at that."

She was glad the kids didn't object to her spending time with Stephen. In fact they seemed quite happy about it.

The rest of the visit they spent playing games, laughing and joking like they had before they moved away. Francis left on Sunday.

"Work tomorrow. You know how it is. Back to the old grind."

One more day and she'd be back in Stephen's arms. Funny, never thought she'd look so forward to another man's arms around her. But she could hardly wait.

* * *

Monday morning, Rose got up early and finished packing her bag, trying to find room for the kids' gifts. Somehow, she managed to stuff everything in. All in all, she had enjoyed visiting with her kids, but she was glad to be going home. Not just to Stephen but to her house. Her life.

Melinda and Harold took her to the airport and kissed her goodbye. "Hope you're not upset with us for tricking you that way," Harold said. "I only agreed to the crazy plan because Melinda begged me to."

Rose hugged Harold. "I'm only glad you don't have to have that surgery."