Chapter Nineteen

 

Rose made it into the house a few minutes after four.

“You left him swearing at himself,” Susan commented with a smile.

“I’m not going to be put into a cage. Yes, Tony did a stupid thing…yes, it scared me. Yes, it hurt…but I don’t think he’s dangerous that way. Not now. He’s made a lot of changes,” Rose met the genuine disbelief on her friend’s face. “I’m not nuts…honest.” She’d spent a lot of time talking to people, finding out what the year had been like since he had attacked her.

“Rose…there is no way on this planet you’re going to convince Ryan that he’s harmless,” Susan assured her firmly.

“That’s why I’m going to deal with him on my own,” Rose said with a nod, helping carrying the dinner ware to the large dining table. “The flowers are beautiful,” she looked around the spacious room. “You’ve done this a lot, haven’t you? I’m not good at it…”

“I’ve done it a lot,” Susan agreed. “I enjoy it. You manage the table part, I’ll manage the preparations and managing.” She paused. “Are you going to change?”

“Why?” Rose suddenly looked panicked. “I should change? It’s just my father…I suppose…” She pulled her lower lip between her teeth with a little whimper. “Ryan will look…immaculate…like always…” She sighed and headed for the stairs. “And my father and Cecily always look like they’re ready to greet the queen…I’ll be upstairs glaring at my closet.”

 

Ryan and Matt entered the house at four-thirty, his briefcase on the table outside the living area. He glanced around and went into the dining area, meeting up with Susan arranging things on the table.

“Rose?”

“Upstairs glaring at her closet,” Susan confided with a chuckle.

“Oh, I bet that brought some curses down upon my head,” Ryan mentioned with a chuckle. “I’d better make sure she’s alright.”

He saw a small pair of black heels resting outside the closet, his gaze going from the floor over the long expanse of leg as a sheath of deep lavender dropped over her head and fell to just past her knees. Darkly smudged eyes met his when she surfaced, her hair shining with a trace of damp still clinging to it as it seemed to halo around her face.

“Perfect choice,” he commented, stepping forward and raising the zipper she was reaching for.

“I’m sure you’re very familiar with all the new dinner things lining this side of the closet,” Rose met the non-repentant shrug with a sigh.

“Ms. Alister was only too happy to help me outfit you. She thinks you’re the perfect wife…with the exception of your clothing. She has a large boutique in downtown Seattle,” Ryan leaned against the archway, his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching for her and alternately shaking and kissing her. “She had all your sizes and coloring matches in her files and what she didn’t have there, she knew exactly where to get for you.”

“I don’t like clothes shopping,” Rose accepted the hand he held out to her when she righted her shoes and stepped into them. It amazed her how very comfortable they were. “Grannie used to do the shopping because I gave her a migraine when she’d make me go.”

“You’re not against shopping, Rose. I’ve seen your workout clothes. And your racquets,” Ryan walked with her down the stairs. “You’re merely selective about what type of shopping you enjoy.”

“And you aren’t?”

“I know what I’d like to see you in…and out of,” he teased softly, finally kissing her at the same time the intercom sounded, announcing their guests.

“You are slick,” Rose murmured, ignoring his laughter behind her when she went to greet them.

 

Ryan leaned against the mountain of pillows Rose liked sleeping buried in the center of on the over-sized bed. She was undressing, carefully, almost reverently hanging up the dress she’d been wearing. He had to admit, the satin sleep sets he bought her were an exceptional purchase. She wore the red one tonight, sliding over the bed and tumbling against him to look up and smile.

“You didn’t have to promise a trip in the fall…”

“I did if we ever wanted the evening to end,” Ryan said ruefully, drawing his finger over the bare expanse of her shoulder. “You were teary…your father and Cecily were trying to visualize their schedules to make another trip west. I’ve things I can do in Boston, so it’s not an inconvenience. And I bet you have tons of vacation time by then.”

“So it was basic self preservation on your part,” she teased, her arm dangled over his shoulder and toying with the silky midnight strands. “What city don’t you have interests in, Ryan?”

“Hmm…I think Topeka is safe from my clutches,” he returned, taking her hands in his and pulling her against him. “I’ll have to work on that…but first…”

 

****

 

Ryan had turned around the next morning to retrieve his watch, arriving at the side of the house in time to see Rose wrestling with a large suitcase. She pushed and shoved until it was inside her trunk, the lid slammed down before she slid behind the wheel and drove off. Somehow the desire for a long run vanished.

He believed they were settled. He believed they were more than a couple.

He never asked and Rose didn’t think to mention it. Every time his phone sounded, he wanted to see something from Rose.

She had to bow out of their game in the afternoon because of an errand. An errand that she promised would have her home no later than six. Ryan arrived home after six, determined to find out about the case she had loaded into her car when her voice reached him in the quiet hall outside the pool room.

A one sided conversation that ripped through him.

“I know…I know…” Rose listened patiently.

“He always acts like he owns me, Rose…”

“It’s no fun in a cage…”

“What would you do?” Came the soft, quiet plea for help.

“Pack. Everything I can stuff into my little car and disappear.”

“You could do that…I’m not strong like you…”

“You don’t believe that. They always make you believe you’re weak, but you aren’t. Not inside. And yes, it’ll hurt…”

“It hurts just thinking about it.”

“It goes away in time,” Rose said softly. “I don’t want to be treated like a child. Do you? I am not a victim.”

“Of course not.”

“It’ll be okay…” Rose promised, not noticing the man turn and leave the house without looking back. “I’ll help you, Tess…I will…you can’t let him hit you and stay. One time, he won’t stop…and I’m worried about you. I brought you the suitcase, just pack your things and put it in your car. When you go to work in the morning, we’ll find another place for you to go after.”

It was another ten minutes before Rose closed her phone and blew a long puff of air between her lips. She frowned as she wandered back into the main house, searching rooms and finding silence.

Soup was simmering on the stove and Susan had gone home at five. She checked messages and then checked her phone. Not a word from Ryan so she served up a small bowl of the yummy smelling soup and ate at her computer, playing a game and half listening to music.