Accidental Love (35 page)

"Um hmm." Rose swallowed and set the cup down. "It was difficult at first but once I got the hang of it it's really pretty easy." Inside she was excited.
Ronnie is giving me real work to do, not
just examples and tests in the computer programs. Real work that needs to be done and she's
trusting me with it.
"I'll make sure it's done right away and I promise there will be no mistakes."

Behind the paper, the executive smiled at the enthusiastic tone. "I'll email the files to you as soon as I get to work. I'm sure you'll have no problems with it." She set the business section of the paper down and poured herself another cup of coffee. "Well, let's see who the police picked up last night," Ronnie said as she picked up the local section. She flipped through the pages until she found the police blotter report listing all the people who were arrested or appeared in court. She spotted the name of an old high school friend arrested for prostitution. "What?" She pulled the paper closer, knocking her coffee cup over in the process. "Damn." She stood up. The creamy yellow blouse was now covered down the front with the wet beige of coffee. She undid the first few buttons, confirming that it had seeped onto her half slip as well. "Maria!" She turned to see the housekeeper come out of the laundry room. "Coffee."

"On silk," Maria tsked. "Veronica Louise, I go through more Woolite with you." She shook her head, causing Rose to smirk while sopping up the coffee on the table. "Well, get out of those wet things." Ronnie turned to head out of the room. "There is no need to be modest right now. You're not going to run upstairs with coffee dripping off your blouse. There's enough of a mess to clean right here."

"Fine." In one quick move the blouse came off followed by the half slip. "It got the skirt too." A tug of the zipper and the garment followed the other wet clothes into Maria's hands.

With Ronnie's back to her, Rose let her eyes travel up and down the tall body clad in only pantyhose and a lacy creme colored bra. She concentrated but didn't feel the arousal that she had experienced the prior evening. What she did feel was guilty for staring at her friend's body.
This
is silly. It's just Ronnie.
She averted her eyes when the half-clothed body turned around, looking up only when she heard the dark-haired woman address her. "I'm going upstairs to change."

"Oh, you know what would look really nice on you? Those gray wool slacks and that pale blue blouse." Rose thought about the last time she had seen Ronnie wear that outfit and about how it highlighted her eyes. "It looks really nice on you."

"The gray slacks, hmm?" Ronnie remembered how much Rose liked that particular combination. Goosebumps raised on her thighs. "I'd better go get changed before I freeze to death standing here."

She returned a few minutes later, admitting to herself that the wool pants were a much better idea than the skirt on such a cold morning. "Okay, what do you think?" She asked, twirling around with the blazer folded over her arm.

"Looks great," Rose said. The slacks hugged in all the right places and the top outlined her soft curves nicely. "You look…nice."

"Thank you." Ronnie looked down into sparkling green eyes and smiled. "I'll email you those files once I get there." She fought the urge to give the young woman a peck on the cheek and settled instead for a squeeze of the shoulder. "I'd better get going before the traffic gets too bad."

"Oh, okay. I'll make sure to have that program up so I can get started as soon as it arrives."

"You don't have to rush, Rose. Whenever you get to them is fine." Privately it pleased her to no end to hear the eagerness in her friend's voice. Ronnie had no doubts when it came to Rose's work ethic. "I'll try and be home early." At that moment, the housekeeper exited the laundry room with the mop and bucket in hand. "I'd better get going before Maria finds a new use for that mop."

"Sometimes," Maria said as she shook her head.

Ronnie turned her attention to Rose. "I'll call you later."

"Okay."

Rose wheeled herself out of the way as the housekeeper began to clean up the mess. The bright blue Jeep disappeared from the driveway, leaving the two of them alone.
It's time to get some
answers
, Rose thought to herself.

"Maria, was it easy for you to learn to use email?"

"Lords no, child. When Ronnie first gave me that computer I was afraid to turn it on. I didn't know what it would do."

"But now you like it?"

"I talk to my son in Arizona every night." She pushed the dry mop over the last drops of the spill.

"You should have seen my phone bills before that."

"I bet when Ronnie was away at college the phone bills were something."
Great segue, Einstein.
Why not just come right out and say let's talk about Stanford,
she mentally berated herself. "I mean, she's just so close to her family and all."

"When the children were in college it certainly was a trying time around here." Maria picked up the breakfast dishes and headed for the dishwasher. "One of them was always calling for something or another." She picked up the carafe and poured some of the steaming liquid into a cup for herself. "I swear I was down at the post office almost every day mailing something to one of them."

"Let's sit and talk for a while," Rose said, pointing at the empty seat. "There's not much that has to be done today and I have to wait for her to send me those files."

"Just for a little while. I do have vacuuming to do. Tabitha sheds more hair than any cat I've ever seen," She refilled the young woman's cup. She sat down in the offered chair and took a sip of her own coffee. "They certainly were quite a handful then."

"I guess the independence that comes with being away from home must have been too much, huh?" She tucked a stray lock of blonde hair behind her ear. "Ronnie sure had a rough time of it." She saw the flicker in the older woman's eyes and knew she had to tread carefully. "She told me about Chris."

"That was a very sad thing and not something I care to talk about." Maria said, looking down at the table. She drank several swallows of coffee. "Some people are just trash, Rose. Plain and simple."

"Maria, may I ask you a question?" At the reluctant nod, she took a deep breath and continued.

"Do you think I'm using Ronnie?"

"It doesn't matter what I think. What matters is what
she
thinks." She drained her mug and gave Rose a serious look. "I would hate to see her get hurt like that again."

"I don't know how anyone can know Ronnie for any length of time and want to use her," Rose said softly, her gaze flickering from Maria to the table and back again. "She has the kindest heart of anyone I know and I don't mean just being generous. It must have been devastating for her to trust someone and have that trust shattered." She had no idea that the housekeeper's thoughts immediately went to the fully repaired Porsche tucked away in the garage. "To be at that age, to have something so private exposed to her parents…" Rose shook her head. "I just can't imagine why anyone would be so cruel to her. Did you ever meet Chris?"

"No, the gold digger never showed up here," Maria said. "I only spoke with her on the phone."

Bingo.
The big question was answered.

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

Delores Bickering drove her rusted out station wagon into the public parking garage and pulled into the first empty spot, not caring that it was reserved for the handicapped. If she received a ticket, it would end up in the glove box with the rest of the ones she had received. Tickets and insurance were not things she chose to spend on her money on. The empty cigarette pack hit the ground as she lit the last one and walked away from her car. If things went the way she planned, she would have plenty of money for cigarettes before the day was over.

The Cartwrights had always liked things big. When the Wellington Hotel was erected in the late 1920's, it towered over the smaller Cartwright building next door. Ronnie's great grandfather took it as a challenge and the result was the construction of one of Albany's largest buildings, more than thirty stories high. Delores stood in front of it and sneered at the large logo carved into the reddish-brown granite above the doors. She pushed her way through the revolving door and into the spacious lobby. On the wall was a brass plaque welcoming her to the Cartwright Corporate Offices. Below it was a directory of departments along with the floors on which they were located.

Ronnie was just finishing off a fruit cup when the buzzer sounded. "Yes, Laura?"

"Um…there's someone here to see you," the hesitant voice said.

"Who?" A quick glance at her calendar showed no appointments scheduled for that afternoon. She heard her secretary ask the visitor's name and clenched her jaw as soon as she recognized the voice. "Keep her out there for a minute." She hung up the phone and tapped the mechanical pencil against the desk.
Damn, what's that bitch doing here?

The answer came to her instantly. Her first instinct was to throw Delores out but as she opened her mouth to speak, Ronnie noticed something that changed her mind. Swiveling around in her seat, she reached for the mouse and clicked on the security icon. Her password and a few clicks later, a small red light lit up on the security camera tucked discreetly in the upper corner of her office. It was time to expose Delores Bickering for what she really was. "Send her in."

"Nice office," the large woman nodded approvingly as she looked around. "You hiring?"

"No." Ronnie could not believe she had the nerve to even ask such a question. "You're not here to ask me about a job."

"I came to talk to you about Rose." She unzipped her dirty yellow jacket and pulled her knit cap off, sending flakes of wet snow onto the thick burgundy rug. "You know I'm the closest thing to a mother she's ever had."

"So you say."
Oops, wouldn't want Rose to see me being hostile to the bitch.
Forcing a polite smile to her face, she said in her most solicitous voice, "So what is it you wished to see me about? Please, have a seat."

Delores flopped down on the couch and tossed her coat on the far cushion. "I would have thought someone like you would have coffee for your visitors." She looked pointedly at the empty coffeepot on the side table. "Especially those who are relatives to your friends."

Ronnie's eyes narrowed but she kept her tongue. "You said you wanted to talk to me about Rose?"

"I've found a way to help her out."

"Help her out?"

"Yeah." The large woman sat up. "I've found her a job in Cobleskill. She can start on Monday. It pays six dollars an hour."

"Why would she want to work in Cobleskill? That's an hour away. Besides, didn't you notice that she has two broken legs? She's in no condition to work."

"It's in a telemarketing office. She won't have to stand up, just talk on the phone. Of course that means she'll have to move back with me."

"She already told you she wants to live with me. Why would she change her mind now?"
What
stunt are you trying to pull? Make Rose choose between us? I'll be damned if I'll let you take her
away from me.

Delores shook her head. "You don't understand. Rose and I have a deal. She owes me for taking care of her and promised to help out in any way she could."

"Let me get this straight. You want her to move back with you and work at this telemarketing job so she can give you money?"

"I think that's only fair. She lived under my roof and ate my food for years without paying anything and now it's time for her to pay me back." Delores crossed her arms and leaned back.

"So she owes you for everything you did for her when she lived with you?" It sounded ridiculous but no one was laughing.
I can't believe you. Rose deserves so much better in her life than a
piece of trash like you.

"You could look at it that way. I look at it this way. I could have rented her room to someone who would have paid me. She owes me the money I lost by not being able to rent it. When she left I had to start paying for a babysitter on bingo and bowling nights. My generosity can only go so far. I'm not rich, you know. I can't afford to be as charitable as you."

As…
Ronnie gripped the edge of her desk.
You bitch.
She now had no doubt about Delores'

reason for coming to her office.

"You decided that Rose owes you money because she lived with you when she was a teenager, is that right?"

"Exactly."

"And since she owes you all this money you feel she should move in with you and work at this job so she can pay off what she owes you, right?"

"Right."

Ronnie's lips pulled back into a smile much like a cobra just before it strikes.

"But since I'm her friend you thought you'd come and see if there was something I could do, right?"

"Well, we're not talking about much to someone like you. If you're really her friend I'd think you'd want to help her out." Delores said indignantly.

"And I could help Rose out by paying off her debt to you, is that the idea?" Ronnie was tired of the game and the dirty looking woman who was trying to use Rose.
Time to get to the point.

"How much?"

"Well, you have to take into account how long she lived with me and then…"

"I said how much?" Ronnie did her best to keep the hostility out of her tone. "Come on, I'm sure you had a figure in mind when you walked in here. How much do you think Rose owes you for taking care of her?" She pulled the checkbook out of the drawer and opened it up.

"Five…no, ten thousand."

"Ten thousand dollars and you'll walk away and leave Rose alone?"

Dollar signs danced in front of Delores' eyes and greed sang in her heart. She almost agreed, then she realized that the rich woman was giving in much too easily. "Wait." She stood up and walked over to the desk, leaning her chubby hands on the polished wood. "What if I said I wanted fifteen thousand or even twenty?"

"Is that what it would take?"

"You're really willing to give me twenty thousand dollars?" Suspicion set in. "Why?"