When Love Finds a Home (24 page)

Rona squeezed her arm.
"It's not a dream and we won't ever be back on the streets."

"How can you be so sure?
It happened before. Why couldn't it happen again?"

"It won't happen again
because we're both smarter now than we were. More important, we're not alone
anymore. Even if Anna and her family were to disappear from our lives, we'd
still have each other."

Tammy nodded. "Speaking
of which, you seem to be staying up awfully late," she said as she gave
Rona a knowing smile.

"I didn't realize you'd
been waiting up for me."

"How could anyone sleep
with you bounding around like a colt in springtime?"

"Sorry, I thought I was
being quiet. I'll tiptoe up the stairs."

Tammy laughed. "Oh, you
make it up the stairs just fine," she said. "It's once you get in die
shower that you start singing at the top of your lungs."

Rona felt herself blush.
"I didn't think anyone could hear me over die sound of the running water
and with the bathroom being so far away from you."

"I'm just grateful you
can carry a tune." With her fingertip, Tammy traced the pattern on the
tablecloth. "Things seem to be going well with you."

"You are so nosy,"
Rona said and smiled to take the sting out of the words.

"I'm not nosy. I simply
have an insatiable curiosity." She waited for Rona to respond. When she
didn't, Tammy gave a loud huff. "Well, aren't you going to tell me
anything?"

"Like what?" Rona
asked.

"Like, is this serious?
Since you aren't making it to your room until five or later, I think it's safe
to assume you two aren't sitting around playing dominoes."

"No. We aren't playing
dominoes," Rona said and chuckled. "It's still too early to know how
serious it is, but..." She hesitated. "I think with time it could
be."

Tammy stood and hugged her.
"I'm glad. You deserve to be happy."

The sudden demonstration of
affection embarrassed Rona. She tried to cover it. "Does that mean you're
no longer worried I'm going to rip her off?"

"You're not the type to
hurt someone you care for," Tammy replied. She walked to the kitchen
window and stared out. "Look at those kids. Don't you wish you had that
much energy?"

Rona joined her at the window
to watch a group of kids playing football at the house across the street. The
earlier warmth of the day was slipping away, but they didn't seem to notice.

"I've been sitting so
much these last couple of weeks," Rona began, "that I feel like my
backbone is starting to compress."

Tammy stifled a yawn.
"Being on my feet doesn't bother me so much. It's the constant
hurrying."

"Is the restaurant that
busy?"

"Yes. Today we were so
busy that at one point there was a twenty-five-minute waiting time to be seated
for lunch. I can't imagine how busy they must get for dinner. It's so hectic
we're almost running sometimes." She yawned. "I'm so tired."

"That's why I ordered
pizza for dinner tonight," Anna said as she strode into the kitchen.

Rona and Tammy both jerked in
surprise.

"Anna, I swear I'm going
to put a bell around your neck," Rona replied.

"Why?"

Tammy turned to face her.
"You have a way of sneaking up on people, and you move so fast."

"It's the carpet in the
hallway," Anna said as she raised her hands palms up. "And I can't
help it if I have all this energy."

"Maybe you could find a
more productive way of releasing that energy," Tammy offered as she left
the room. She stopped at the doorway and looked back. "I'm going to get
the girls washed up for dinner. I'll make sure we make plenty of noise before
we walk in. I wouldn't want to surprise you trying to burn off any of that
energy."

Rona laughed at the look of
surprise on Anna's face.

"What are you laughing
at?" Anna asked as Tammy disappeared. "Did you tell her about
us?"

"No. She figured it out
all by herself." She walked over and kissed Anna's cheek. "I told you
half the neighborhood could hear you."

Anna's face turned red.
"She told you she heard us?"

"When is the pizza due to
arrive?" Rona asked, ignoring Anna's question.

"Not for thirty minutes
or so, but if you're hungry I can start a salad."

Rona took her by the hand.

"Where are we
going?" Anna asked.

"You've kept me waiting
all afternoon and I'm suddenly feeling very energetic." She kissed Anna
softly before they left the kitchen.

As they were walking down the
hall, the phone rang.

"No," Rona moaned.

Anna stepped into the den.
"I have to answer," she apologized as she read the caller
identification. "It's Sharon."

Rona walked on to the bedroom,
hoping the call would be short. She sat in the chair at Anna's dresser. As time
slipped by, she began to pick up the various bottles and tubes sitting on the
dresser to read the labels. A few she opened to sniff. When she had gone
through the small inventory of products, she opened the wooden jewelry box.
Inside she found a white jeweler's box containing a string of pearls and matching
earrings. Several rings and gold bracelets were neatly laid out within the
larger container. She was about to close the lid when she noticed a beautiful
gold and enamel pendant watch on a gold chain. As she picked it up, she saw a
business card beneath it. The decorative engraving on the oval case with
scalloped edges was highlighted with black enamel. She turned it over. On the
back was an enamel painting of an angel playing a flute and surrounded by a
garland of flowers.

"Isn't it
beautiful?"

Rona almost dropped the watch.

"I'm sorry," Anna
said quickly before Rona had time to scold her. "I don't do it on
purpose."

"It was my fault this
time," Rona said as she placed the watch back into the box. "I was
snooping and got caught."

Anna reached over and took the
watch out. "You're welcome to look at anything I have," she teased as
she bumped Rona's shoulder with her hip. "This watch belonged to my Yia
Yia. It belonged to her mother."

Rona glanced at her.

"Yia Yia was my maternal
grandmother. I can't remember ever seeing her without it. When I was small, I
used to love to sit on her lap and play with it." She pushed a small
button on top and the case popped opened. She held it out for Rona to see.
"That's a photo of my great-grandparents."

"It's beautiful."

"It needs to be cleaned
and adjusted," Anna said as she gently closed the case. "A friend
told me about a shop in Balcones Heights that specializes in antique watches
and clocks. I stopped by and talked to the man. He said he could work on it. I
just never seem to get around to taking it over to him."

"Is this the guy?"
Rona picked up the business card from the box.

"Yes. I'll get it over
there someday," Anna replied. As she was putting the watch back into the
jewelry box, the doorbell rang. "That must be the pizza."

"So much for all that
energy I had," Rona said as she followed Anna down the hallway.

Chapter Twenty-six

Rona stepped off the elevator
with the last of the boxes from the archiving project for Matt Devers. The past
few days had flown by and she couldn't believe she would be starting the
full-time position at the music store the following Monday.

Devers' secretary was on the
phone when Rona walked in. Rona nodded to her before going on to the storeroom
where all the other boxes were waiting for pickup. As she set the box down, she
looked around the room and smiled. Two weeks ago, it had been an overflowing
mass of papers. Now, thanks in part to her work, the room was once again neat.

"Looks good, doesn't
it?"

She turned to find Devers
standing in the doorway. She said, "It's a lot better than it was two
weeks ago. As soon as these boxes are picked up for storage you'll have even
more room."

He pulled a check from his
coat pocket and handed it to her.

With a glance, she saw he had
paid her for the full eighty hours. "I finished at two," she told
him.

He waved it off. "Close
enough. You did a good job." He held out his hand to her. "Thanks for
all your help."

Rona thanked him and left. In
the privacy of the elevator, she looked at the check again. After deductions,
she had earned almost six hundred dollars for the past two weeks. With the
money from the piano lessons and the remainder of what Anna had paid her, the
little nest egg was growing rapidly. Another trip to the thrift store for more
clothes had eaten up part of it, but she still had a little over seven hundred
dollars. She folded the check and put it in her pocket. It was time to open a
checking account. She would ask Anna where she did her banking.

When she walked into the outer
office, Anna was standing in front of Sharon's desk, laughing. "It must be
Friday," Rona teased.

"And not a minute too
soon," Sharon said.

"I've finished the
archiving for Devers and e-mailed him the file, so you can return the computer
whenever you want," Rona informed Anna.

"You're finished?"
Anna asked.

"That's right."

"Well, it's one of those
rare Friday afternoons where I have no appointments until Monday morning. I'm
ready to get out of here."

"You're leaving me here
alone?" Sharon asked with a sad face.

"No," Anna called as
she went back for her briefcase and purse. "I'm leaving you with Neal."

Rona rushed to get her jacket.

"We're being abandoned,
Sharon," Neal said as he stepped from his office.

Anna came back down the hall
with him right behind her. "Now you know how I feel on all those lonely
nights when you two leave at five and I'm still here until the wee hours. Have
a nice weekend." She sailed out the door with Rona on her heels.

"Oh, spare us the sad
story," Sharon called out as door closed.

Anna continued to babble
nonstop all the way to the car.

"How much coffee did you
have this afternoon?" Rona asked when Anna finally had to stop to breathe.

"None. Why?"

"You seem a little
hyper."

The afternoon sun was warm
coming through the car windows. "I spoke with my friend Tee this
afternoon. She and her partner, Yolie, have a small cabin on Lake Medina. While
we were talking, I happened to mention that it would be nice to get out of town
this weekend and she offered us the use of the cabin." She looked at Rona
expectantly. "I wasn't sure how you would feel about it."

"Where is it? I mean, how
far away?" Rona didn't really care. She simply wanted time to think.

"It's less than an hour's
drive. Do you want to go?"

Rona considered telling her
the truth, that spending the weekend in a cold drafty cabin wasn't high on her
list of things to do, but the animation in Anna's face stopped her. "I
think I could handle just about anything, if it meant I'd have a weekend alone
with you."

Anna smiled brightly.
"Great, then let's get home and pack. This is too good to be true. I want
to get out of here before someone catches us or I wake up and discover it's all
a dream. I've already called Tammy and told her we'd probably be gone this
weekend."

"You're really excited
about this, aren't you?"

"It's so rare I have an
entire weekend free, and the cabin is like frosting on the cake," Anna
said as she reached over and squeezed Rona's hand.

"If we have time before
we leave, I need to open a checking account," Rona said.

Anna looked at her and smiled.
"For that, we can take time."

Anna pulled the car into the
parking lot of a small general store. "This is the last store before we
reach the cabin. I need to buy milk." She handed Rona the keys. "But
first I have to find a rest-room."

"You go find the restroom
and I'll get the milk," Rona said as she stepped out of the car. The store
was small but looked clean, and the road out front was paved and in good
condition. Maybe the cabin wasn't going to be out in the middle of the boonies
after all. She began to relax as she looked around. There were scattered
patches of woods around, but they didn't look dark or foreboding. This might be
fun, she thought. After all, she loved the water. Feeling better about the
trip, she walked into the store. An elderly man and woman sat behind the
counter. Both spoke to her as she entered. As she browsed the well-stocked
aisles, she tried to remember if there was anything other than milk they might
need. They had packed enough food for a small army. Nothing caught her
attention, so she grabbed the milk and returned to the cash register.

The man came over to ring up
her purchase. "You new around these parts?" he asked.