Love Imagines (Sully Point, Book 6) (5 page)

"Park at the near end here, we only need a few
shops to get you decked out."

"Decked out...cute, Maggie," Rose said, laughing.

"One more thing. Today's shopping is my treat.
You're my sister, so let me buy you some clothes, okay?"

"Mags..."

"Please, please, please?"

"Don't whine. Okay, okay, you can stop with the
wide violet eyes thing. I agree. And thank you."

Maggie hugged her sister, and thought the shopping
trip was going well.

* * * *

Ben sat with Mr. Christopher, William, at the
auditions. He'd been told to call him William, but it was hard since Ben knew
that everyone in the business called him Mr. Christopher.

It had been a surprise to see the talent in the
auditions of the townspeople. William had him go up on stage with some of the actors
to read lines and judge how the chemistry worked. He was stunned to be reading
opposite Lucretia, the jewelry designer. It turned out she was a very talented actress.

"I thought I might be seeing you again," she said.

"Tell me something. What would it take for you to
set aside that gold bracelet Rose liked this morning?"

"I didn't realize that you two were serious,"
Lucretia said.

"We aren't." Ben looked down at his feet, feeling
foolish.

"But you want me to save it...just in case?"

He nodded. "I know it's a lot to ask. But I just
have this feeling..."

She smiled at him and gave him a knowing look.
"I'll put it in the back for now. Just in case."

"Thanks, Lucretia."

After the auditions, Ben went back to his cabin
and changed to shorts to go for a run on the beach. His job required that he
keep in top physical shape, but he'd be doing the exercise anyway because he
liked the feeling of being healthy. Running was a favorite method, because it
gave him time to think. If something was bothering him, he always found he
could sort it out when he was running. Maybe that was because he was focused on
only one thing.

This day, he thought about Rose. She was a bit of
an enigma. He'd never met a model like her. She had such depth in her
personality, in her character. Not that a model couldn't have that...but, in
his experience, he'd found most were focused on themselves. Rose didn't seem to
think about herself at all. She'd never looked at her reflection in the glass
windows of the shops they'd passed by. She didn't hesitate to eat pastry, or
biscuits, at breakfast. One treat, sure, he could see it. But in her line of
work, every bite she ate would be scrutinized and weighed and counted for
calories and carbs. Yet she dove into the cannoli like she hadn't a thought in
her head about her weight.

Then there was her description of what she wanted
in a man. Not money, not fame, none of the things some of the starlets he'd
dated were interested in. She talked like...an old-fashioned girl.

But what he kept coming back to was that haunted
look that showed up in her big brown eyes. What had put that look there? He
knew there were things of importance that she wasn't telling him. However, he
was in no rush. He could wait to discover more about Rose. They had time.

With that settled in his mind, he headed back for
the cabin. He'd showered and dressed again, when his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Ben, it's Rose."

"Hi, how are you?"

"I'm fine. I was wondering how you'd feel about
going to dinner with me at my brother's house. Tonight. I know it's late
notice, but they just called me and invited us."

"Us? I get it. They want to meet this stranger who
entered your life."

"Exactly. Please don't feel like you have to go.
You'll probably get a ton of questions."

"That's okay. I'd like to meet the man who wrote
the psychic detective series. And his wife. What time? I can come by and pick
you up."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Pick me up at six-thirty."

"Great, I'll see you then, Rose."

"Thanks, Ben. Really."

He put his phone down and sat in the rocking chair
by the window, staring out at the view. It would be interesting to see Rose in
the setting of family.

* * * *

Rose dithered, waiting for Ben to arrive. She'd
taken extra care when dressing, putting on her make-up with some flair, curling
her hair, and picking out jewelry to go with her outfit.

Maggie had been true to her word and bought a ton
of clothes. Rose had decided to wear a sleeveless maxi dress of periwinkle with
diagonal stripes of deep purple and mossy green on the bodice. She like how it flowed
so freely around her ankles.

Maggie had insisted she have several pairs of
sandals, so she was wearing some with wedge heels and green leather that
matched the dress. Her jewelry was a chunky bracelet she fallen in love with in
the department store, in colors of green and dusty purple, along with green
ceramic earrings. The bodice had a V-neck that showed just a bit of cleavage.
She felt like she really was a tourist on vacation in the dress.

She decided to go downstairs to wait in the
parking lot for Ben. Grabbing her new green leather purse, she went down the
stairs carefully so that she didn't trip with the long dress. Right as she
stepped off the final stair, Ben drove up. He got out of the car, and after
standing still for a minute to stare at her, hurried around the car to open her
door.

As she got in the car he leaned in and said, "You
look amazing."

She felt warm all over at hearing those words. It
was funny how she cared what she looked like now, as opposed to when she was at
work in the hospital. She smiled at the girly feeling she had, like when she
was a kid playing dress-up with some of her mother's things.

"What's the smile about?" Ben asked, turning the
car around to leave.

"I'm...happy," she said, with some surprise. "I
feel...content."

"That sounds like a nice way to start off the
evening. Are you all set for going out on the boat tomorrow?"

"Yes. I went on a shopping trip with my sister,
Maggie. That woman can shop!"

"I haven't met her yet, right? She's the pregnant
one?"

"Yes, the tiny thing is very obviously pregnant
now. She'll be a terrific mom. Today she mentioned she wants to have the two of us
over for a meal soon."

"Aside from play rehearsals, I'm available.
Schedule it whenever," Ben said. "I just stay on this beach road? That's what
I was told."

"Yes, their house is just about a mile further."

They went around one final curve, and then Ben saw
the beach house.

"That is an astonishing place, even from the
outside. When you said beach house, I expected something simple, but that house...it's extraordinary."

Rose laughed. "I know. The first time I was here,
I wandered around amazed at what they'd built. It fits the environment, and
sprawls out on one level very comfortably."

They parked in the drive and the front door opened
before they got to it.

"Rose!"

It was Anna coming out with her son Joshua behind
her. He immediately ran past his mother and grabbed Rose's hand.

"Come on, Aunt Rosie. Gotta show you. I built it!"

She was laughing and let herself be pulled into
the house by the little boy. He led her to his room where she found an
elaborate Lego block construction.

"What is it?"

He looked at her like she should know. Then he
shrugged and said, "A space ship."

After that he spent a few minutes showing her crew
quarters, fuel storage, and more. She'd heard that Joshua was gifted, but
nothing could have made it as clear to her as those few minutes with him.

Sam popped his head into the room. "Hey, you two.
Come join the party. Wow, Rose, you look terrific."

Joshua ran down the hall calling out, "Party!
Party!"

"Thanks, Sam. He's really something," she said,
pointing ahead to Joshua.

"He keeps us hopping, that's for sure. Eric helps
a lot, spending time with Joshua working on computers. He knows what it's like
to be gifted. His knowledge and experience have benefitted us a lot."

They entered the living room with its sliding
glass door out onto the deck, and the beach beyond. Anna was talking to Ben
about the painting on the main wall, a night-time view of the ocean, waves
shimmering under three moons.

Ben turned to smile at Rose, and she found herself
smiling back, a shared look that made her feel a bit quivery in her stomach.

Joshua was looking at Anna, with his hand hovering
over a tray of hors d'oeuvres. "Mom?"

"Yes, go ahead. Have one before dinner. And
everyone, please, help yourselves."

Sam soon had them settled with wine, and Rose took
a bite of what turned out to be a roasted veggie and cream cheese spread on
delicate crackers.

"Fantastic view you have here," Ben said.

"Yes, we love it," Sam replied. "How long will you
be in Sully Point, Ben?"

"I have to be on location in New Zealand in
mid-September, so I expect to be here until the first of September."

"What's your next project?" Anna asked. "If you
can tell us, that is."

Ben nodded. "It is a bit like being a secret agent
sometimes, working on these movies. We sign confidentiality contracts. All I
can say is that it will be an epic fantasy."

"That will be different for you, won't it?" Anna
said. "I think I've seen all your movies and they are usually action and crime
drama."

"Yes, usually. This will be action in a different
kind of environment."

"New Zealand," Sam said thoughtfully. "We've never
gone there, Anna. You'll have to tell us what you think of it, Ben."

Rose sat back and watched how comfortable Sam and
Anna seemed to be with Ben. It was like he could fit in anywhere. She was
noticing how expressive his hands were when he talked, when she realized
everyone was looking at her.

"What?" she asked.

Anna smiled. "I was asking when you all were going
to have a photo session. I was offering our deck and the beach here as a site
for you."

Rose blushed. "Oh, uh, I don't know. We're going
deep sea fishing tomorrow with Cody."

Sam grinned at her. "Yeah, Sis, Ben was just
telling us that. You must have been preoccupied thinking of something."

She hurried to say, "Anytime is fine with me."

Ben turned to look at her and smile. "Then we'll
be out here by the end of the week, Anna. Thanks for the scenic location."

Anna stood up. "I'm just going to finish the
sauces in the kitchen and then we'll be ready for dinner. And no, Rose, I don't
need any help."

Rose had started to get up, but then sat back down
at Anna's words. "Just as well. I'm not awesome in the kitchen. How about you,
Ben? Do you cook?"

"I am a pro with a grill. Steak, chicken,
hamburgers, even some vegetables. But don't ask me to bake anything. If it
requires following a recipe and measuring out ingredients, I'm not your man."

They continued chatting about cooking until Anna
called them to the table. She had created a Chinese meal of spring rolls with
shrimp, turkey sausage dumplings, sesame noodles, and pork with veggie stir fry.
There were little bowls of two sauces at each place setting.

"Don't worry. This whole meal is healthier than
you think. Lately, I've been working over my recipes to make them healthy,
baking instead of frying the spring rolls, using multigrain noodles, that sort
of thing."

"It looks divine, Anna," Rose said as she sat
down.

"Better than take-out, any day," Ben said.

"Noodles!" Joshua said happily, and they all
laughed. 

Later, on the drive home, Rose leaned her head
back against the headrest, feeling pleasantly full. They had all turned down
Anna's offer of dessert after the delicious meal.

"What did you think of them?" she asked Ben,
turning her head to watch him.

"Your brother is interesting. He seems so down to
earth and well, real, if you know what I mean. I expected a writer who was
locked up in his office all the time writing, not interacting much. But he's
clearly doing more than writing in his life. He's out there experiencing it.
And Anna is lovely. Her paintings are so intense, and yet she seems so gentle.
I like them both, very much."

"I could tell they liked you, too," Rose said.

"Sam and I talked about the barbecue there in a
week or so. He said he had invited the whole family."

"Yes, it should be fun. Will you be helping out on
the grill?"

"Yep," Ben said with satisfaction in his voice.

Rose laughed quietly. Men and their grills!

Chapter 3

When Rose got up the next morning, she was feeling
grumpy and confused. She'd tossed and turned during the night after Ben had
left her at her door. It wasn't that she'd expected him to come in, or to kiss
her good night...or maybe that was it exactly. They'd had such a fantastic time and
he seemed to like her and yet, he was a perfect gentleman, giving her hand a
squeeze at the door and that was it. Maybe she was reading every signal wrong,
and he really just wanted to be friends.

And maybe, she thought, you've been without a man
long enough that you are glomming onto the first one who happened by! She shook
her head at herself. At least she had remembered to set the alarm so that she
was up early. She wanted to be fully awake by the time Ben came to pick her up
for their adventure on the boat. A quick shower and a first cup of coffee,
along with yogurt and granola, made her feel more ready to face the day.

On the way to her bedroom to get dressed, her
phone rang. She didn't recognize the number.

"Hello?"

"Rose Carter? Dr. Carter? This is Doc Watson. I'm
the local doctor here in Sully Point."

"Hello, Doctor. What can I do for you today?"

"I'd like to see you in the next day or so, if
possible. I have something I'd like to discuss with you."