Accidental Love (32 page)

Thwap! Thwap!
Over and over the punching bag took the fury and rage of a woman torn between what she needed and wanted and what was expected of her. "Damn it! Why can't they understand?" Ronnie cried out to the empty gym. "I'm not hurting anyone!" Her gloved fists struck the bag over and over.
Thwap, thwap, thwap
. "Why is it so wrong? Why?" Her only answer was the creaking of the punching bag on its hinge as her blows caused it to sway.

On the floor above, Rose lay in the dark, listening to the muffled sounds coming from the basement.
Oh Ronnie, what did he say to hurt you so much?
She hugged the pillow tightly against herself, wishing it were her friend she was holding. Suddenly the sounds from below stopped, followed a few minutes later by the sound of the basement door opening. "Ronnie?" she called out.

"You okay?" The tall figure appeared in the doorway, her silhouette invisible against the darkness of the night.

"I um…I…would you mind spending one more night with me?"

"Is everything all right?" Ronnie crossed the room and put her knee on the edge of the bed.

"I just…I had a bad dream and can't get back to sleep," she fibbed. There was silence for a moment before Rose felt the blanket being pulled back and the soft warmth of Ronnie's body nestling up against hers.

"Better?" the throaty voice asked.

"Mmm," Rose snuggled closer, resting the back of her head against the soft crook of the offered shoulder. "You comfortable?"

"Very," came the sleepy murmur. "Night, Rose."

"Night, Ronnie." She closed her eyes and smiled as the older woman's breathing became deep and even. "Everything will be fine. Rest well," she whispered before allowing sleep to claim her as well.

*****************

"Miss Cartwright, may I speak with you for a minute?" Laura asked, poking her head around the door.

"Sure, come in." Ronnie set her pen down and looked up, noting the smile on the young secretary's face.

"I wanted to tell you the good news myself before everyone in the office hears it."

"You're pregnant," the executive guessed. The young woman nodded happily. "Congratulations. I know you and Mike were trying. How far along?"

"Thanks, I'm three months now. I have a feeling Mike's made himself that quarterback he always wanted. I'm certainly gaining enough weight." She looked at the couch, then at her employer.

"Please, take a seat. So you're going to be going out on maternity leave just in time for summer."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Mike doesn't want me to work once the baby's born. He just got a promotion and he thinks we can make it on one income."

"So you're going to resign when it gets close to the time?"

"Actually…Mike doesn't want me to wait that long. He doesn't want me to have any undue stress." Laura rubbed her belly absently. "I'm going to leave just before my third trimester starts."

Ronnie did the quick math and realized that only gave her three months to find a new secretary. The idea of wading through the endless resumes and interviews threatened to give her a headache. "Well…I appreciate you're staying on for a while. It would be nice to have a smooth transition between you and your replacement."

"I'll put a notice in the paper and notify the employment agencies," Laura offered. "I'll make sure to be clear on your requirements." She stood up. "Well, I'd better get out there. I'll bet the phone is ringing off the hook and besides it's almost two."

"Is it?" Ronnie looked at her watch, startled by the amount of time that had gone by. "Okay, Laura. Have a draft of the ad prepared for me by morning, will you? I'd like to get someone in here and settled before you leave."

Once alone, the executive picked up the phone and dialed the familiar number. Two rings later the sweetest voice she'd ever heard answered. "Cartwright Residence."

"Why do you always answer the phone like that? You know it's me," she teased.

"Just habit, I guess," Rose answered. "How's it going?"

"Actually today is flying. I might come home early. What's for dinner?" She leaned back, kicking her shoes off and sticking her feet up on the edge of her desk.

"I'm not sure. She usually doesn't start dinner until around four or so."

"Why don't you tell her not to bother tonight? I'll pick up some Chinese for us."

"Oh, that sounds nice."

"Is there something good on TV tonight or do you want me to stop and pick up a movie?"

"There's not much on except the news magazines."

"We always watch those. How about a movie tonight?"

"Sure, sounds good. Hey, my speed is up to fifty words a minute now."

"Oh yeah? Great." A tiny thought formed in the back of her mind. "Have you been studying those business letters and forms?"

"Of course. I even retyped some old letters you had lying on the desk just to get the practice."

"Good." Ronnie smiled broadly at the extra effort on Rose's part. "Hey, Laura told me today that she's pregnant."

"Oh yeah? That's great."

"Great for her, lousy for me. Now I have to find another secretary. I hate looking for a secretary. I'm worse than Murphy Brown when it comes to that."

"Oh please," Rose laughed. "I've been watching that in the mornings. She had one that talked to the devil."

"I had two that believed Satan was going to swoop down and take over any minute. Needless to say they didn't last long. I have terrible luck with them. Laura's the best I've had and it took me six months of wading though the flotsam of the secretarial world to get her." A buzz on the phone brought Ronnie's attention to the flashing light of line two. "Hon, I've got to go. Tell Maria not to bother with dinner and I'll be home in a little while."

"Okay, Ronnie, I'll see you soon."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Ronnie gazed at her beloved mechanical pencil for a few seconds before reluctantly pressing the button on the phone. "This is Veronica Cartwright."

**********************

"Prepare to meet the Crusher, arg arg arg," Susan's oldest son Ricky said. "He's gonna pulverize you."

"Worse than the Undertaker?" Rose queried.

"Oh, he's nothing compared to Crusher." He caught his aunt walking past. "Hey, Aunt Ronnie, come see me pulverize Rose."

"Can't you find something nicer to play? Whatever happened to Pac-Man?" she said as she entered the living room.

"Pac-Man?" The twelve year old laughed and pressed several buttons in rapid succession, throwing Rose's man out of the ring and onto the mat. "I've seen that game in the arcades. Boring. You've got to get with the times, Aunt Ronnie. It's Virtual Fighter and Super Wrestlemania now." He lowered his voice so only Rose could hear him. "Next thing you know she'll bring out those old records she has from the eighties."

"Hey, I like the music from the eighties," she protested.

"That's 'cause you're old like Aunt Ronnie and Mom."

"Old? I hate to tell you, Ricky, but twenty-six is not old."

"Twenty-six? Oh man, that's way old. Come on, get your man back into the ring before he gets counted out."

"Why? Every time I get back in you throw him out again."

"That's the point," the boy replied, moving his character into position. Rose looked at Ronnie and rolled her eyes, causing the older woman to laugh before leaving the room.

Ronnie found Susan out on the sun porch, monitoring the steaks and burgers cooking on the grill. The late January thaw had the temperature in the lower fifties, practically balmy for Albany. Susan's other sons, Timmy and John, were enjoying the bright sunshine, riding bikes they had found in the garage. "Ricky sure enjoys those video games, doesn't he?" the oldest Cartwright said as she walked over and sniffed the cooking meat.

"I can't get him away from them," Susan replied. "Do you think we should start frying up the mushrooms yet?"

"No, not for another ten minutes or so." They were interrupted by six year old John riding up on the purple bike, tears streaming out of his eyes.

"What's wrong, Honey? Did you fall?" Susan went into mother mode, lifting her son's arms to look for any scrapes. He shook his head, still blubbering.

"Timmy won't stop teasing me 'cause I'm riding a girl's bike," he wailed, pointing at the flowered basket on the front.

"I'll take care of this," Ronnie said, holding her hand out to take the smaller one in her own.

"Come on, John. There's some tools in the garage. We'll take that basket off. Will that be better?" She received a shaky nod in reply. With her nephew in tow, Ronnie headed for the garage.

Satisfied that the meat would cook without supervision, Susan stepped inside to warm up for a little while and to check on her oldest son. She found him still playing the wrestling game with Rose, who only made token efforts to fight back as her character was beaten time and again.

"Having fun?"

"Oh yeah, Mom. Rose is more of a challenge than Aunt Ronnie," he replied, his eyes never leaving the screen.

"Ricky, why don't you go play pool with your father? I want to talk to Rose for a few minutes."

"But I'm having fun," he whined.

"Richard…" she said in that age old 'mother' tone. The game controller landed on the floor and a pouting boy headed for the game room. Rose set her controller on the couch next to her, nervousness setting in as it had when Susan ran into her at the Christmas party.

"Where's Ronnie?" she asked.

"Out helping John with the bicycle," the redhead said as she sat down on the cushion previously occupied by her son. "So your legs are getting better?"

"Doctor Barnes says my right leg is healing beautifully." She looked down at the bright white of her new casts, the left leg still encased up to the hip but the other one stopping just below the knee.

"What about the left one?"

Rose sighed, remembering the X-ray of her ankle that resembled a road map. "That one will take longer. I broke it pretty good."

"Oh, that's too bad." There was an awkward silence before Susan spoke again. "That pen and pencil set you gave Ronnie is very nice."

"Thank you," the blonde replied. "She was complaining she could never find a pen when she needed one and I thought she'd like it."

"She loves it. I never see her use anything else now, and I never thought I'd see her stop biting her pencils." Susan looked at the graphics flashing on the television, begging them to press the start button and enter another round of video wrestling. "You know I love my sister very much. I don't like to see her hurt."

"She's a very special person," Rose agreed, uncertain where the conversation was going.

"I hope you understand just how much she's putting on the line having you here." Susan's voice held no reproach, just concern for her sister. She turned sideways on the couch, looking carefully at the young woman across from her. "She was hurt very badly by Chris. I just hope that doesn't happen again."

"What did he do?" Rose asked. Susan's eyebrow raised. Remembering her sister's repeated denials of a relationship, she now questioned her previous assumptions.

"Um…oh…well, I think maybe you should ask Ronnie about that. I need to check on the steaks. Excuse me." She stood up quickly and left, leaving a confused Rose to watch her retreating form.

With no boy to keep occupied with video games, the young woman decided to venture out and look for Ronnie. With one leg in a short cast, it was much easier for her to maneuver herself in and out of the wheelchair. The temporary ramp made of plywood allowed her to get in and out of the sunken part of the living room on her own. She found the dark-haired beauty on the sun porch, talking to her sister.

"Hi there," Ronnie said with a smile when she saw Rose wheel her way onto the porch. "You want a jacket? It's warm but not that warm."

"No, this sweater is plenty warm," she assured. "Ricky is playing pool with his father so I thought I'd come out and see how everything was going." She sniffed the air appreciatively.

"Smells great."

"Mmm, yes it does." Ronnie lifted the cover and gazed hungrily at the steaks.

"Don't even think about it," Susan admonished. "I thought you were going to do the mushrooms and peppers?"

The executive laughed and nodded. "All right. Come on, Rose. You can help me cut up the peppers." She opened the sliding glass door and motioned for her companion to go first. "Susan, remember we want ours done medium well, not burnt."

"Keep it up and you'll get hockey pucks," Susan said, reaching for the flame control in a mock threat.

"Well then, I’d know you were the one that cooked it, for sure," Ronnie replied with a teasing grin, feeling far more relaxed around her sister than she had in weeks. There was a familiarity about having her family around that was nice but it was Rose's presence that truly made her enjoy the day.

********************

After dinner the two older boys joined Ronnie and Jack in the game room for pool while Rose volunteered to play a video game with John. To her surprise, he had no interest in the wrestling game, instead putting in a race car game where they competed against each other. Unlike his aggressive oldest brother, John was content to stay in his own lane and not try to run Rose off the road, despite the bonus points allowed for doing so. Of course the she let him win, letting up on the speed button at the last minute to allow him to take the lead.

As Susan puttered about, she glanced in at them from time to time, surprised when she saw John sitting on Rose's lap as they engaged in another race. She watched for several minutes unobserved, noting how gentle the young woman was with her son, showing him how to make his car go faster and not crash while moving around the corners. She never heard her older sister come up from behind. "Is there anything else that has to go in the dishwasher?"

Susan jumped. "Oh God, Ronnie, I didn't know you were there," she said. "I was just checking to see what John was doing," Together they watched the pair for a few minutes. "She seems like a nice person."

"She is a nice person," Ronnie corrected. "I don't think Rose has a mean bone in her body."