Accidental Love (21 page)

"Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter. Maria can get the rings out later." Susan crossed in front of the wheelchair-bound woman and sat demurely on the coffee table, a much more comfortable position from which to interrogate her unknowing victim. "So tell me, Rose, how do you know Ronnie?"

"I um…" Green eyes looked up to blue, pleading for help.

"She was a sorority sister at Pi Epsilon Gamma," Ronnie blurted.

"Really?" Susan looked from Rose to her sister and back again. "But you look so much younger than Ronnie."

"Um…I skipped a couple of grades in school," the young woman said.

"Oh, that's nice. Still, you must have been a freshman when Ronnie was in her senior year."

"I was," Rose replied, still exchanging looks of desperation with her friend. She was not sure the exact reason for the lie but understood that there was no way to go back now.

"So where are you from?"

"Oh, well…I grew up in and around Albany." She was afraid of lying and mentioning a city that the worldly redhead would be familiar with.

"Really? Well, Ronnie and I went to Saint Sebastian's Academy."

"Home of the Tigers," Rose offered, drawing a smile from Susan. She was now grateful for the hours spent at the library reading the local newspaper.

"Yes. I was the head cheerleader the year we went to the state championships."

"Which sport?"

"Well, basketball of course," the redhead said, her eyebrows rising slightly. "I'm surprised you didn't know that. Ronnie played…" She looked at her sister quizzically.

"I played guard," Ronnie said, silently wishing someone, anyone would come by to distract Susan.

"Yeah, that's right. You were all-conference that year, weren't you?"

"All-State."

"All-State," the redhead repeated, not particularly worried about the details. "Anyway, enough about Ronnie. So what happened to you? I heard you were in a car accident."

"Actually I was hit by a car."

"You mean you were walking and got hit?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, that's terrible. So are you paralyzed or something?"

"Susan," Ronnie admonished. "Her left ankle and both her legs are broken."

"Oh, that must hurt quite a bit, huh?"

"Well…yeah." Rose could not figure out why anyone would ask such a silly question. "My legs were broken very badly."

"That's a real shame. Well, at least you're lucky enough to have Ronnie taking care of you."

"Very lucky," Rose agreed. "I don't know what I would have done without her." She gave a smile to her friend, an action not unnoticed by Susan. The redhead stood up and smoothed her skirt.

"Well, if you two would excuse me, I have to mingle. It was nice meeting you, Rose. I'm sure we'll see each other again soon."

"Nice to meet you too."

"Ronnie, can you help me in the kitchen for a moment?" Susan asked in a sing-song voice, the kind that always grated on her older sister's nerves.

"Actually…"

"It'll only take a minute." She grabbed the velvet-covered elbow and tugged Ronnie away from Rose and into the kitchen, leaving the younger woman alone to her thoughts.

The caterers and Maria were occupying the kitchen, affording them no privacy. Susan spotted the laundry room door. "In here."

"You don't want to go in there," Ronnie warned, but it was too late. Her younger sister opened the door to reveal an annoyed pile of orange and white fluff.

"Mrrow!"

"You have a cat?"

"Well don't just stand there. She'll get out." She gave her younger sister a shove and shut the door behind them.

"Does Mother know you have a cat?" Susan asked.

"She will about twenty seconds after you leave this room," Ronnie said knowingly. "So what did you want to talk about, as if I didn't already know?"

"She wasn't a sorority sister. I'd bet my Bentley she never even went to Dartmouth." Susan leaned against the closed door, a Cheshire-cat smile crossing her lips. "You know what I think, Ronnie?" She continued without waiting for an answer. "I think this is a repeat of what happened at Stanford."

"You don't know what you're talking about. Rose is just a friend that I'm helping out. That's all."

"Is it? You give her a job, insurance…is she living with you?"

"She's
staying
with me while she heals."

"Oh, so this is a temporary arrangement?" Susan looked down at the cat desperately trying to get Ronnie's attention. "So is it hers or yours? Or does it belong to both of you?"

"Stop it, Susan. Tabitha is Rose's cat, there is nothing going on between us, and this discussion is over." She reached past her sister and grabbed the door handle.

"Ronnie," She placed her hand on the taller woman's shoulder. "Say what you want but there is more to this than just helping a out a
friend
." She stressed the last word, making it clear that she did not believe that was the appropriate title for the blonde woman.

"Think what you want, Sis, but right now there is a room full of people that I need to attend to. And Susan?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't think Jack would be too happy to hear about André, do you?" Ronnie said, playing the only trump card she had on her sister. There was silence in the laundry room for a moment before Susan nodded, accepting the unspoken threat.

"This better not blow up in your face, Ronnie. You can not afford another incident like Christine."

"I know," the black-haired woman said solemnly.

Ronnie spent the rest of the evening keeping her distance from wherever her brother happened to be. Fortunately it appeared the vain young man had no interest in meeting the woman in the wheelchair. It allowed her to spend most of her time hovering around her guest. The time wore on and the liquor ran low. Ronnie had underestimated her family's ability to consume alcohol. Tommy seemed to be staying away from the booze, his smile and friendly manner remaining constant throughout the festivities. But every time he looked at her, the smile turned to a smug grin which she answered with a menacing glare. One such exchange of looks had her on the verge of exploding when she heard Rose quietly joining in with the rest of the carolers.

"…fa la la la la, la la la la. Tis the sea-son to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la."

"Don we now our gay apparel," Ronnie joined in, lending her rich contralto to Rose's alto

"Fa la la, la la la, la la la," they sang together. "Troll the ancient Yuletide carol, fa la la la la, la la la la." The song ended far too soon for the black-haired woman as the grandfather clock chimed to announce the late hour. As expected, the music stopped and several guests began to say their goodnights.

"I guess the party is winding down. I'd better go play hostess," Ronnie said, her feelings mixed about the evening. It was nice to see everyone so happy and to be reminded of the holidays past. Tommy's presence and her mother's comments however made her wish that she had insisted on them holding it somewhere else.
Still…it would have been nice to share another song with Rose
, she lamented as she took her place near the door, pasting a smile on her face and wishing everyone a safe ride home.

It took every ounce of concentration to keep her smile when Tommy appeared in front of her.

"Nice party, Sis."

"Sorry you can't stay longer," she said without a hint of sincerity. "I suppose I'll see you in the office tomorrow?"

"No can do, Ronnie. I'll be in the field all day, but hey, if I get a minute I'll swing by and say hello. Hi, Mother." Beatrice and Elaine appeared forcing Ronnie to swallow the comment she wanted to say.

"Mother, leaving so soon?"

"It's almost eleven, Veronica. We still have to drop Elaine off at the Hilton."

"I could take Aunt Elaine there," Tommy offered pleasantly.

"Oh, that is so nice of you, dear, but the driver can take her. I wouldn't want to burden you." She kissed her son on the cheek. "He is so much like his father, isn't he, Elaine?"

"Very much," the matriarch's sister agreed, much to Ronnie's annoyance.

"Well, at least let me escort you two lovely ladies to your car." He hooked his arm through his mother's. "Night Ronnie. I had a good time. We should do this again."

"Good night, Mother," she said, ignoring her brother's comment. She kissed the proffered cheek and stepped back. "Aunt Elaine, it was nice seeing you."

"You too, dear." Tommy and the two women stepped out into the cold air of the night. Ronnie took a deep breath and released it, feeling the heavy blanket of stress that had covered her all evening slip away.

Ronnie checked all the doors and set the alarm system once everyone was gone. "I'm glad that's over." She shut the Christmas tree lights off and turned to face Rose. "So. That's my family. What do you think?"

"There sure are a lot of them," Rose replied. "Tyler's nice."

"He's too young to be a snob." Ronnie looked at her carpet. "Look at that. I knew someone would burn it." She scanned the rest of the room looking for damage, then realized that it was far too quiet. "Rose?" She didn't expect to see the sad face looking back at her. "Hey," Long legs crossed the room quickly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I guess I'm just tired, that's all," came the soft reply, although the young woman refused to look at her.

"No, there's more to it than that." Ronnie sat down on the coffee table, her knee touching the right wheel of the chair. "What's going on, Rose? Did someone say or do anything to upset you?"

There was silence for a moment before she received an answer. "Are you embarrassed by me?"

"Why would you say that?"

Rose shrugged. "I don't know, never mind."

"No." She reached out and placed her hand on the smaller one. "Is this because I lied to Susan?" The quick look away gave her the answer. "Rose, I'm not embarrassed or ashamed of you."

"Then why did you make up that story about me being a sorority sister?" Green eyes looked at her, revealing the confusion and hurt.

"I don't know," Ronnie sighed. "I am not ashamed or embarrassed by you. If anything I'm embarrassed by my family." She pulled her hand back and ran her long fingers through her dark hair. "Susan didn't believe me anyway." Realizing she still owed Rose an explanation, she continued. "I guess I just figured it was easier."

"Then telling them the truth? That I'm just a poor bum with nowhere else to stay?" Rose turned her head away, blinking rapidly to keep the tears in check.

"No. That's not it at all." She reached out and captured the young woman's chin with her fingers.

"You are here because I want you to be here, not because there was nowhere else for you to stay," she said emphatically. "My family wouldn't understand that. I'm sorry if my attempt to protect you made you feel that I was embarrassed by you." She released Rose's chin and looked down.
Fucked up again,
she thought to herself. "You know how everyone acted toward you because you were in a wheelchair?"

"Yeah?"

"If they knew that you didn't come from money, it would have been much worse. You would have been the topic of conversation instead of the hors d'oeuvres."

"So instead of being the cripple, I would have been the poor cripple living off you," the young woman clarified.

Ronnie chewed her lower lip, trying to think of a way to deny the truth in Rose's words. Finally she gave a defeated nod. "That is how they would have seen it, yes, but that's not how I see it and that's all that matters." She patted Rose's hand and stood up. "Right now, I think we'd better let Tabitha out before she decides to claw her way through the door."

The clock on the stand next to the bed read 12:15 by the time Rose was changed out of the blue dress and back into the Dartmouth nightshirt. Pacing back and forth across the bed was Tabitha, still loudly protesting her time in confinement and demanding extra attention. Ronnie helped the young woman into bed and adjusted the pillows. "All set?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Rose looked around. "Do you know where my Percocet is? I thought it was on the stand but I don't see it."

"Sure do." Ronnie headed into the bathroom. "I put it here so Tyler wouldn't find it," she called out. Rose heard the medicine cabinet open and poured herself a cup of water in preparation. The sound of items being shoved back and forth on the shelves caused her to turn her head in the direction of the bathroom.

"Is something wrong?" She was answered with the continued moving about of items followed by the slamming of the medicine cabinet. "Ronnie?"

The black-haired woman exited the bathroom, her face an unreadable mask. "Someone took it."

"The Percocet is gone?" The throbbing in Rose's legs that had begun earlier seemed to intensify at the news. Ronnie began pacing back and forth between the bed and the desk, her anger rising with each step.

"Tommy. I'll bet you anything it was him. I can't fucking believe he did that." Her hands balled up into fists and her jaw was visibly clenched. "Bastard comes into my home and does this to you. He had to know those were for you, your name was on the bottle. What kind of asshole takes medicine away from someone who so obviously needs it?"

"You don't know for sure that it was him."

"Oh yes I do. I can feel it." Her leather chair got in the way of her pacing and she gave it a hard shove. "Unbefuckinglievable."

"Hey…" Rose said softly, reaching out and putting her hand on Ronnie's forearm, feeling the muscles bunched up beneath the skin. She let her thumb slip to the soft underside of the angry woman's arm and began gently rubbing. "There's nothing you can do about it now."

Ronnie's fury was close to the breaking point when she felt the soft touch. For reasons she could not explain, the anger seemed to dissolve, the tensed muscles relaxing under the soothing motion of Rose's thumb. She nodded in agreement and tried to think of a solution to their immediate problem. "I'll call the doctor. Maybe she can give you a new prescription." She headed to her desk and grabbed the thick phone book. "I'm sure there's a twenty-four hour pharmacy somewhere." Ronnie flipped through the yellow pages, tearing several of them in the process with her desperation. "Doctors, see Physicians. Damn it, why can't they make it easy to find?"