Accidental Love (56 page)

"Sure Hon, but only in the shallow end."

"Okay." His little face beamed. "Can Tabitha go swimming with us too?"

Rose laughed at the thought. "No John. Tabitha is a cat. Cats don't like water."

"Speak of the devil," Ronnie said, nodding her head in the direction of the house. The sliding glass door had been left open and the curious feline wandered out in search of new worlds to conquer. She looked at the boys. "Why don't you two go get changed. There are towels in the pool house." She turned to Rose. "You think you can handle things out here?"

"Sure." She scooted the boy off her lap. "John, I think there's a ball in the pool house that we can play with. See if you can find it, okay?"

"Okay, Aunt Rose." He followed his brother away from the pool. Ronnie watched them leave.

"Looks like we're going to have company for a while."

"Seems that way," the young woman agreed as she stood up. "Why aren't they using their own pool?"

"Susan said something about her pump breaking. Sorry Hon, " she said apologetically. "I know it's your birthday and all, but…"

"No, it's fine that they're here," Rose said. "I just wish I was wearing something else. I feel really naked in this." She tugged at the thin strap of her bikini top.

"I'll get you a tee shirt."

"Make it one of yours or else bring a pair of shorts with you too." Covering herself with the towel, Rose greeted Susan and Jack as they approached.

Ronnie returned a few minutes later carrying one of her tee shirts. She had changed from her two piece bikini to a more appropriate black one piece that covered most of her rear and provided very little cleavage.

"Is that your family get-together suit?" Rose asked when her lover reached her side.

"You think I want to be the subject of my nephew's fantasies?" she asked while handing over the tee shirt. "Hi Susan." She turned and nodded at her brother-in-law. "How are you, Jack?"

"Fine, Ronnie, and yourself?"

"Perfect," she said, flashing a smile at Rose. "Well, since you're here, why don't we have a barbecue? It won't take long to heat up the grill and I'm sure we have something that isn't frozen."

"Sounds good," Susan said, sharing a wink with her sister when Rose was not looking. "It's just a lazy day and you two weren't planning on doing anything, were you?"

"No," Ronnie replied. "I'll go look and see what we have that we can grill up."

An hour later Jack was busy tending the grill while the women and boys played around in the water. Timmy and Ronnie raced each other across the length of the pool while Rose and John splashed around in the shallow end, occasionally playing with the brightly colored beach ball. When the young woman asked Ronnie where Susan was, she received a vague answer about the redhead not being a swimmer. John's fair skin showed signs quickly of turning pink and when Rose offered to take him inside, Ronnie stepped up and said she had to go get something anyway. A few minutes later Jack came over to the pool and whispered something in Timmy's ear, causing the boy to exit and head inside, leaving Rose as the only person in the water.

Feeling awkward, she climbed out of the water and wrapped herself in a towel, thinking to herself that Ronnie had been gone too long. She was headed for the house when Jack stopped her. "Rose, come take a look at these steaks and tell me what you think."

"Sure." She moved over to the grill and looked at the various pieces of meat sizzling over the gas fire. "I hope everyone's hungry. You made quite a bunch here. They look fine, though. Maybe a few more minutes."

"Could you keep an eye on them for me? I have to visit the little men's room." He handed her the turning fork and walked away.

Ten minutes later the steaks were done and there was no sign of Ronnie or anyone else. Rose carefully piled the food on a plate and shut the grill off. "Where is everybody? I thought we were having a cookout," she said to the empty air.

Inside the living room, Susan was supervising the hanging of the final decorations.

"Up a little," the redhead said. "No, that's too high. Bring it down a bit." Ronnie stood on one of the upper rungs of the ladder, thinking that her sister was a pain in the ass when it came to decorating. The banner was perfect where it was before but Susan insisted it would better if it were up just a foot. John, Ricky, and Timmy were busy running multi-colored rolls of streamers around the living room.

"We have to hurry up or she'll see it," the executive grumped. She spared a glance at her watch.

"Where's Maria, anyway? She was supposed to be here with the cake a half-hour ago."

"She'll be here, and if you'd just make it level, we'll be done," Susan said. They turned at the sound of the door sliding open. Ronnie shoved the thumbtack through the banner and stuck it to the wall, hopping off the ladder just as Rose stepped through the archway.

"Happy Birthday Rose!" They shouted, echoing the words printed on the banner. The young woman stood there speechless, her eyes wide with surprise. While she had thought it odd no one except Ronnie had wished her a happy birthday, she chalked it up to them not knowing. She had never guessed Ronnie would give her a party. John tugged on her wet shirt. "Aunt Rose, does this mean I can give you your present now?"

"In a little while, John," Susan said, shooing her son away. "We have to eat first."

"Um…uh…oh my." Rose turned her shocked expression to her lover. "You planned this?"

"Maria's on her way with your cake and I think Frank and Agnes are stopping by later," Ronnie replied, crossing the room to stand in front of the overwhelmed woman. "Happy birthday, Honey."

"It's been so long since anyone gave me a party for my birthday," Rose whispered. "I can't believe this."

"Believe it. You can count on this being an annual occurrence from now on." She looked at the boys. "You guys go help your father make up the plates." Once they left the room, she turned her attention back to Rose. "I love you. You didn't think I'd let your birthday go by without throwing you a party, did you?"

"You didn't say anything except about the bikini so I thought…" She shook her head and smiled.

"I should have known. Cartwrights love parties."

"Well, that may be true, but this particular Cartwright had more of a reason to throw you a party than just your birthday." At the quizzical look, Ronnie merely gave a sly smile. "You'll see later. Come on, go get changed into something dry so we can dig into dinner before it gets cold."

Maria arrived a short time later, the back seat of her car taken up with a large sheet cake. Ricky and Timmy got their fingers full of frosting before Ronnie could get it placed up out of reach. John insisted on sitting on Rose's lap during dinner and the sight made Ronnie smile. The people who meant a great deal to her were there to help celebrate the birthday of the person who meant the most to her. Not a word was said when Maria joined them for dinner and the atmosphere was relaxed and comfortable. Little side conversations took place all around her but the executive paid them no attention. Her focus was on the green-eyed beauty and the thought of the present hidden in the office.

Frank and Agnes arrived just as dinner was ending. Rose had to laugh at the sight of the big burly man carrying a fishing pole wrapped in dainty tissue paper.

"Gee Frank, I have no idea what you got her," Ronnie said with a smirk.

"You know fishing poles aren't the easiest things in the world to wrap," he replied. "Took Agnes forever to get it done." He walked over to Rose and gave her a kiss on the cheek while handing her the present. "Happy birthday, Blondie."

"I guess it is time to open presents," Ronnie announced.

"Well here, open mine first," Frank said.

"It's beautiful," Rose said as the final wrapping was removed.

"That's not just some run of the mill fishing pole you've got there, Blondie," he said. "That's a top of the line Power Pole with ultra sensitive tip and left handed reel. Maybe next time you go fishing you won't toss the lunkers back in."

"Oh, I probably will," she admitted. "But it sure is fun to catch them."

"I wouldn't know. I've caught more sunfish than bass this season," he grumbled good-naturedly.

"Aunt Rose, will you open my present now?" John asked, holding the gift in his hands.

"Of course I will, Sweetie," she said, taking the present from him. The wrapping was torn away to reveal a bottle of her favorite perfume. "Thank you, John. It's very nice." She gave the young boy a kiss on the cheek. Looking up at Susan, she indicated her silent thanks with her eyes. Timmy and Ricky gave her presents as well, followed by a joint present from Susan and Jack while Maria gave her a brooch that was simply breathtaking.

After seeing the presents the other Cartwrights had given her, Rose knew the bikini was not the only present her lover had in store for her. Her suspicions were confirmed a minute later when Ronnie and Frank disappeared into the office.

Together they carried out a big, bulky looking box covered in green wrapping paper. Jack and Ricky moved everything off the coffee table to make room. Rose stood up and smiled. "Thank you," she said. "I wonder what on earth it could possibly be? Looks kinda big." The box was easily as long as her outstretched arms and half as high.

"Looks can be deceiving," Ronnie replied, sharing a knowing grin with her sister as Rose began to unwrap the large box. While the box itself proclaimed that a twenty-seven inch color television was waiting inside but the young woman knew from the weight it was not the case. Besides, there were already a half dozen televisions floating around the house as it was. Surely Ronnie would not have bothered to buy another one. Her curiosity was piqued when she opened the box to reveal another box inside, this one wrapped in red holiday paper. "I ran out of birthday wrap so I used Christmas paper. I hope you don't mind."

"Ronnie, you could have wrapped it in newspaper and I wouldn't have minded," Rose assured, pulling the smaller box out. Ricky moved the first box out of the way. The red box was unwrapped and opened only to discover another box inside. "Oh, blue paper this time."

"Wouldn't want you to be bored with the same old paper," Ronnie joked. Two more boxes with different colored papers had the boys in fits of laughter and the adults chuckling. "I can't watch this," Frank said with a huge grin on his face. Tabitha was having a grand time playing with the paper as it fell to the floor. "How many boxes did you wrap?" Rose asked after the sixth box opened only to find another one waiting inside.

"Oh, a few more." The devilish grin and wiggling eyebrows sent Susan's sons into renewed giggles. Finally a coat box wrapped in silver paper with gold ribbons was revealed. "That's got to be it," Frank said. Jack and Susan nodded in agreement. With all the excitement of a child, Rose opened the box to reveal a bright green and black ski jacket. "Oh, it beautiful," she said, pulling it out of the box and holding it up for all to see.

"That is nice, even if it is a bit early for snow," Susan said. Rose was already standing up to try it on. It fit perfectly. "Sharp," Ricky said. John added a request for one in the same colors. Ronnie merely stood back and smiled at the image before her. "It may be early for snow here but not everywhere." The corner of her lip curled up with a smile. "Rose, what's in the inside pocket?"

"The inside…" She unzipped the jacket and pulled out a stack of papers. The bright stripes on the outer paper left no doubt as to its contents.

"I hear the Alps are just lovely this time of year," Ronnie drawled. "I do believe we both have some vacation time stored up."

"Oh my, tickets to Switzerland?" Rose's fingers trembled as she pulled not two but ten tickets out of the sleeve. "Ronnie…" Her voice stilled as the names of several far away countries appeared before her eyes.

"I believe Germany, Austria, and France are in there too, aren't they?" the executive teased just before an overjoyed Rose flew into her arms.

"Ronnie, you are something else," her sister said.

"I can't believe you," Rose whispered into the warm skin of her lover's neck. "This is too much."

"Nothing is too much for you, Honey," she whispered back. "We'll bring the laptop and write it off as a business expense." That made the woman in her arms chuckle. "Seriously, I would love to take you on a tour of Europe and this is the perfect time of year to go."

"I love you."

"Love you too. You're not crying on me again are you?" Ronnie stepped back to see that indeed her lover was weeping with joy. Susan came up alongside them and silently held out a handkerchief.

"Thank you." Rose took a few seconds to compose herself before turning to face the rest of the guests. Maria came up to give the young woman a hug. "What a beautiful gift," the housekeeper said.

"It is very nice," Agnes said, shooting her husband a look. "It seems some people would rather spend time with the ones they love instead of running off to some lake in the middle of nowhere for two weeks."

"Umm…" Frank looked at his cousin for support and found none as she was too busy beaming at the happiness on Rose's face. "Oh hell, Agnes. I guess two weeks in Hawaii won't be so bad."

"I knew you were a big softy," Ronnie teased.

"Yeah, just like you, Cuz," he countered good-naturedly. Looking down at her lover, the executive could only nod in agreement.

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

After the last of their guests left, the happy couple retired to the living room.

"I can't believe you did this," Rose said softly, looking at the tickets sitting on the coffee table.

"Why not?" Ronnie shrugged. "Now that you don't need a cane and physical therapy is over, it's a perfect time for us to take a nice long vacation." Although she had been to many of the countries already, she knew the memory would pale to the new ones that would be created with Rose by her side. Looking at the jacket, Ronnie smirked to herself. Not every present had been opened yet.

Rose kicked her shoes off and tucked her feet up under her legs. "How did you manage to plan a vacation without me knowing?"