Love Imagines (Sully Point, Book 6) (22 page)

"The movie star! You're okay!" Nicky said,
grinning at Ben.

"Yes, I am. I liked the blue flowers."

"Blue is good. My shirt is blue."

"Yes, it is. Nicky, I want you to meet my sister.
Her name is Charlotte."

"Hi, Nicky. Why don't you call me Char?"

"Char? Okay. You got a funny name, Char."

"Thanks, Nicky. I like to laugh at funny things."

Nicky laughed, and so did Charlotte.

"You having a picnic?" Nicky asked.

"Yes, we are. Are you hungry?" Rose asked.

"Nope. I had my lunch. Don't pick no flowers
today. Nobody's sick."

"Okay, we won't. See you later," Ben said.

"Nice to meet you," Charlotte said.

Nicky waved...and was gone among the trees in
seconds.

"What did he mean, nobody's sick?" Charlotte asked
as she sat down at the picnic table. "Of course, people are sick."

"No one is in the hospital today," Rose said.
"Someone from the hospital always lets Nicky know when they have patients and
he sees that they get a bouquet of wildflowers from this park."

"How absolutely lovely. But how on earth can there
be no patients?"

"Everyone got well," Rose said with a smile. "It's
a very small hospital."

"That's just...incredible."

Ben's phone rang and he glanced at it. "Uh oh,
it's William. I need to take this. Sorry."

He walked off with the phone to his ear. Rose felt
a sense of relief.

"Finally, we've got a minute without him," Rose
said.

"Did we need a minute without him?"

"Yes. He doesn't want me talking to you about my
proposal. But now that I've met you, I'm even more certain it's a great idea.
Charlotte, I'm a doctor."

"You're a doctor? I have to tell you, you don't
look, or act, like one."

"Be that as it may, I am going to be taking a job
as one of two doctors here in Sully Point. The current doctor is getting old
and eventually will retire, leaving it to me. I need a nurse to join me in the
practice. I'd like you to consider moving here and working with me. We'd do a
lot of preventive medicine, along with community education."

Charlotte's mouth was open slightly as she heard
the proposal. Then she closed it firmly. With a suspicious air, she said. "Ben
put you up to this, didn't he?"

"What? No! Ben hasn't wanted me to mention it to
you. He says you love L.A., would never want to live in a small town, and that
you love your work there."

"He said that? Is he nuts?"

"What do you mean?"

"Hasn't he seen how exhausted I am all the time? I
never have a chance to love living in L.A., and frankly I'm terrified of
earthquakes, so I've never actually loved it at all. I love Ben, and I have
loved living there with him. But I'd leave in a heartbeat."

Rose beamed at her. "Don't decide yet. Take your
time to get to know the town a bit. I'll show you the offices and the hospital
sometime in the next few days, and we can talk more. Here he comes. Not a
word, now."

Charlotte grinned at her, dimples in full bloom,
and nodded.

* * * *

Ben knew a conspiracy was in progress. He even
knew who the conspirators were—Charlotte and Rose. They'd taken to each other
like long-lost twins. He knew that they were spending time together during
every rehearsal when he was busy, and since those were long these last few days
before the play went on, he knew they were talking about things he didn't want
them to talk about.

Yet, they never said a word about it to him.
Nothing was mentioned about Charlotte moving to Sully Point, or about Ben
leaving L.A. either. And the longer the silence went on, the more certain he
became that they were making plans to work together.

He'd just finished a run on the beach. Tonight was
dress rehearsal and then the dinner party at Frank's—or no, it was at his
daughter Holly's house. And suddenly, as he walked along the edge of the
foaming water, he knew it was time. He needed to make a decision. It wasn't
fair to Rose, or to him, to leave it all up in the air.

Did he really need to live in L.A.? That was the
question. He had needed to earlier in his career, but now? His agent was
holding two scripts for him to look at as soon as he returned to L.A., for
movies to be done after the one he was committed to in the fall. But what about
Charlotte? Could she really be considering moving to Sully Point? What about
all the connections he had in L.A. that he'd built up over the years?

None of this mattered, he realized, and stopped to
stand and stare at the crashing waves. The most important fact was that he
loved Rose. He wanted to be near her as much as possible. And he wanted her to
be happy in her work. When he looked at it like that, the answer was simple.

* * * *

Frank and Holly had decided to put on a
Thanksgiving dinner of turkey with gravy and dressing, sweet potatoes, roasted
green beans, rolls from the Bakery, and a kale salad. As Frank put it, they
were giving thanks that Ben had recovered.

He looked up from stirring the big pot of gravy on
the stove to see Rose standing next to him.

"Hi, Frank."

"Hi. Whatcha need?"

"I wondered if I could make a toast at some point,
maybe before dessert. I have an announcement to make."

"Well, sure. No problem. We're having dessert wine
so you'll have something special to toast with."

"Good, that's good. Thanks, Frank."

He nodded and watched her walk away, wondering if
he'd figured it out correctly.

About a minute later, Ben walked up to the stove.

"Listen, Frank, and by the way, this party is
just what I needed. Thanks for doing it. But I need to ask a favor."

"Sure. Whatcha need?"

"I want to make a toast at the beginning of the
meal, when everyone sits down. I thought I should tell you. Is that okay?"

"Not a problem. Before the meal, you say?"

"Yes, sir. I have an announcement of sorts that I
need to make."

"That's fine then, just fine. I'll have the wine
poured when everyone sits down so we'll be all set."

"Perfect! Thanks, Frank."

Frank nodded and watched Ben leave, chuckling
softly. Oh yes, he thought. This was going to be a fun dinner.

* * * *

The house was big enough that it didn't seem
crowded with over twenty people scattered around. Rose made sure that Charlotte
was introduced to everyone she hadn't already met, although between herself and
Maggie, they'd pretty much covered that during the week.

Rose was thrilled that Charlotte had decided to
move to Sully Point. She planned to announce it at dessert, and then they'd see
what Ben had to say. She kept hoping that he would come to her to profess his
undying love and his desire to leave L.A., but that hadn't happened. And one
small part of her was disappointed, she couldn't deny that. But she loved him,
and so could forgive and move on.

Charlotte, it turned out, had been taking classes
to become a nurse practitioner. Rose thought continuing with that plan would give the clinic what it needed, and the two had been investigating courses of study in the Boston
area that could be finished in a minimum of time.

Doc was excited and relieved that he'd be getting
not just a doctor but a nurse practitioner for the practice. He and Charlotte
had hit it off immediately, and were well on their way to a close friendship.

Holly began moving people toward the dining room,
gently exhorting them to move along. Then Frank showed up and shouted, "Move
it, people!" and suddenly the crowd was heading in the right direction.

They moved through a buffet line and finally
everyone had a filled plate and was seated at the long table. A moment of
silence was observed, and then Frank clinked a spoon against his glass. He
waved a hand to Ben who was seated mid-table. Ben stood, and Rose's heart began
to beat faster.

"Everyone, I have an announcement to make, which
may surprise some people, including my sister. I've decided to move to Sully
Point as soon as possible."

Congratulations and some applause ran through the
group but every eye went to Rose. She had tears in her eyes and she nodded to
Ben. He smiled at her.

"I'd also like to announce that Rose and I will be
getting married, just as soon as I can make it happen."

A cheer went up from Rose's parents and everyone
laughed and gathered around to hug the happy couple. Frank told everyone to sit
back down because their food was getting cold, and at last they did.

Discussion during the meal ranged from the
upcoming play, Ben's move, and Sophia's plans for Rose's wedding. Rose kept
stopping herself from laughing at Charlotte who was bursting to let her brother
know her plans.

At last it was time for dessert. Pecan and pumpkin
pies were brought out, along with the dessert wine. Frank tapped his glass
again, and this time everyone looked surprised but excited.

Rose stood up, and raised her glass. "I'd like to
announce that I'll be joining Doc Watson's practice and staying in Sully
Point."

Applause greeted her news, and then Charlotte
stood up, practically bouncing in her excitement. "And I'll be her nurse! Rather,
nurse practitioner once I finish school. I'm moving here as soon as I can give
notice and get packed up."

Ben grinned at her. "I knew you were up to
something, but nurse practitioner? That's fantastic."

"I'm so happy, Ben. I've been so ready to leave L.A.,
you have no idea."

"Seriously? I really did have no idea."

"Mom's going to be happy. She never has liked me
living in the big, bad city."

They all sat back down again and ate pie and drank
wine and laughed and planned for the future.

Chapter 12

Rose sat on the verandah of her new house, a
breeze from the ocean blowing her hair around. She was drinking tea and
thinking about the past two months.

The play had been a resounding success. William was
very pleased with Ben's performance and the critics seemed shocked at the
action star's ability to stretch his talent. In the month that followed the end
of the play, Ben received scripts for two serious dramatic roles, with not a
single explosion to be found, which pleased him immensely.

His move from L.A. took weeks to accomplish.
Charlotte actually got moved to Boston faster than Ben did to Sully Point. She
only had one semester to go, and then she'd be in town as a nurse practitioner.
They'd decided that she would live in the loft apartment that Anna used to use
as a studio. She hadn't thought the apartment over the Bakery was such a wonderful idea with all that temptation so close by.

Unbeknownst to Charlotte, Sophia had taken one
look at her and decided to make over her wardrobe. When she returned from
Boston, she would be arriving to a closet full of new clothing.

Rose smiled thinking of it. Sophia loved nothing
more than taking a woman from frumpy to stylish. When Ben learned of his future
mother-in-law's plans, he'd offered to pay for everything, something which took
him up a notch in Sophia's eyes.

Ben had suggested they buy one of the Jason
Earlington-designed homes on the cliffs, in the new section of the Sully Point
project. Rose loved the idea and they were soon ensconced into a good-sized
place. The house was two stories, with a widow's walk on the top of the house.
A wide verandah ran from the sides of the house to the back, offering a
beautiful ocean view. Rose loved it when Ben was home and they would sit out
there, sipping wine, watching the sunset, as they held hands.

She had put her foot down at the idea of a big
Hollywood wedding when Ben's agent and manager both begged for one. She'd
gotten to experience the paparazzi firsthand when she attended the red carpet
opening of Ben's summer movie. She knew she'd looked fantastic in a one-shoulder Grecian-style dress of rose-colored chiffon that her mother had designed for
her. Her hair had been done at a salon in L.A. in an elaborate coiffure that
put part of it up and part down her back. Ben had taken her shopping for
jewelry, under orders from Sophia on what to get.

The best jewelry, though, was the ring he had
Lucretia design. It was made of pink diamonds with a few regular white diamonds
in the corners. She'd nearly fainted when she found out it had cost almost two
hundred thousand dollars. After telling him she wouldn't dare wear it, he made
her promise to wear it as much as possible, then said her wedding band, made of
alternating pink and white diamonds, was suitable for everyday wear in her office or the
hospital.

When she was at home, she always wore the big
ring, and liked to see Ben's eyes light up when he saw it. He planned to wear a
platinum wedding band after they were married.

Tomorrow was the big day. They'd made a deal with
a magazine for photos, and the security guards were back helping keep the
paparazzi off their backs for the wedding. The wedding was going to be held
right in the middle of Sully Point, in the park.

They'd discussed it with Nicky, who was very
excited his park was going to be where the movie star and the new doc got
married. He'd helped the florists and wedding planner decorate without damaging
his trees.

Only the families would be in attendance. She'd
met Ben's father and mother that morning. She already loved his mother who was
clearly a woman with a heart of gold. She figured it would take a while to warm
up to the father, a very taciturn man. But after they'd met for lunch earlier
in the day, Ben's father seemed to relax and actually smiled at her.

She heard the door open.

"Honey, I'm home," Ben called out.

She laughed. "I'm out here."

"I got Mom and Dad settled at Holly's house. My
Aunt Jean is at Maggie's. I think everyone is here for the wedding. Charlotte
got in this morning."