Chapter 28

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Rose

AFTER THE WARM WELCOME I received from Alex’s parents and the delicious dinner that was probably my caloric intake for the entire week, I was happy I had agreed to come along. His mother was the epitome of Southern belle, her hair and makeup done up to perfection, topped off with a sweet Southern accent. His father was exactly how I pictured him: tall and thin like Alex. His salt-and-pepper hair accentuated his baby-blue eyes. Their house was absolutely breathtaking. It was a stately Victorian nestled along a river, which his father later informed me was known as the Vernon River. His mother gave me the grand tour, each room more beautiful than the last. The elaborate interior design was done completely by his mother. Some rooms were a little too extravagant even for my taste, but there was no doubt she had put a lot of work into getting each room just so. His mother talked nonstop about Alex during dinner. I knew everything there was to know about him from the time he was born until he graduated from high school. I sensed he was tiring of the endless conversation of which he was the topic, but oddly enough, I wasn’t.

His father was an attorney, a family occupation for generations until Alex broke that tradition. I noticed they didn’t talk about the time Alex spent in the Marine Corp, and I wondered if Alex had warned them to steer clear of that topic.

“Oh, Rose, I hope you saved some room for my strawberry shortcake,” Alex’s mother said as she began to clear the dishes. I got up to help and she motioned for me to sick back down.

“Don’t you dare try and help me clean up. You’re a guest, and guests don’t help out, they just sit and enjoy themselves.”

“Oh, am I a guest too then?” Alex teased.

“Well, seeing how you haven’t been to visit in ages, I’m starting to think you are.” She raised an eyebrow at him and turned her attention to her husband. “Tom, give me a hand clearing these dishes so I can bring the cake out.”

“Mrs. Andrews, please let me help.” I was feeling useless as I sat around the table, watching her and her husband clear the table.

“Hush and relax…and please call me Charlotte. Alex, why don’t you take Rose to the sunporch and we’ll have dessert out there.”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” Alex teased.

His mother raised her eyebrow. “Don’t be getting fresh with me. I don’t care how old you are, I’ll still tan your hide, and I wouldn’t want to have to do it in front of Rose.”

“Oh, I’d have no problem with it.” I gazed at Alex and grinned.

“I’m sure you wouldn’t,” he agreed.

I followed him into the sunporch and stared out into the darkness. “What’s that?” I asked when I saw the lights in the distance.

“The gazebo,” he replied.

“Oh, can I see it?”

He shrugged. “If you want.”

I followed him outside and through the backyard, lifting my head to the sky as thunder rumbled in the distance.

“There’s a storm coming,” he remarked.

The wind kicked up, still not offering much relief from the thick, soupy mass of suffocating air. He opened the screen door to the gazebo and I took a step inside, taking in the unspoiled view of the river that was right in front of us.

“Wow, this is a million-dollar view. Have you lived here your entire life?” I turned around, focusing my attention back to him.

He nodded, never taking his eyes from the water.

“This whole place is…magical.”

He smirked and rolled his eyes.

“Okay, maybe it sounds corny, but it really is. It’s like it’s in its own little world.” My phone pinged with a message, thrusting me back to reality. When I looked down at it, I wished I hadn’t.

Brock: I know I’m the last person you probably want to hear from, but I’ve been feeling pretty shitty about what went down last week. You’re a really nice girl, and I’m so sorry. Give me a call so I can explain everything to you. If I don’t hear from you, I completely understand. Again, I’m truly sorry.

“Wow!” I stared at my phone in disbelief.

“What?” Alex broke his attention from the river he’d been staring at so intently.

I handed him my phone so he could see for himself. “The nerve of him after humiliating me the way he did. Now, he actually thinks I’d be open to talk to him so he can explain himself. Sorry, there’s no explaining cheating, lying, and just being downright cruel.”

Alex lifted his head after reading the text, his eyes full of emotion when they locked with mine.

“Maybe I should call him back just to give him a piece of my mind.” I continued with my rant.

“Rose…I—”

“You know what? Screw him!” I interrupted, still seething with anger. I grabbed the phone from his hand and his eyes widened. “He’s not even worthy of my rage!” I said as I overzealously swiped block. “He’s been blocked…he no longer exists! You know what gets me, is he went out of his way to lie. Writing into an advice column with this whole fabricated story…who the hell does that? It’s like he just went out of his way to cheat and lie. That’s just mean.” I realized that maybe I had said too much. I never told Alex exactly how I’d met Brock. Now I looked like an even bigger fool for dating someone who had written in to me for advice. I searched for some type of reaction from him after that admission, but he seemed unfazed, still off in his own little world. I hated Brock for what he did and I hated him even more at that moment for sending me this text and ruining such a great night.

“Rose, I need—”

“There you are. Your mother and I thought y’all ran off,” Alex’s father interrupted.

Alex let out a defeated sigh and looked away. He had been so laid-back all night. In fact, he’d been pretty cool ever since he walked into the bar earlier in the day. So different than his usual arrogant, stiff self. But now it seemed as if he was quickly morphing back into the guy I knew but certainly didn’t love.

“Come on back to the house, Rose, and have the best strawberry shortcake you’ve ever tasted.” Alex’s father opened the door for me and allowed me to walk out in front of them. We walked through the backyard and the first drops of rain fell from the sky. The thunder boomed a little louder and the sky flashed in the distance. “We’re in for a good one,” Alex’s father remarked as we reached the back deck area.

“Alex, what were you thinking, taking Rose out to the gazebo with this storm rolling in?” his mother grumbled as we walked onto the sunporch.

“Oh, it was my fault. I was the one who wanted to see it. It’s beautiful.” I rushed to his defense.

“You’re going to need to come back during the day, so you can really see it and enjoy it.” She smiled and glanced at Alex for his reaction. “Have a seat and tell me what you think.” She placed a piece of the most delicious-looking cake in front of me.

I took a bite and was pretty sure I’d died and gone to heaven. “Oh my God, this is delicious.”

“Thank you,” she replied proudly. “I’ve won many awards in our annual bakeoffs with that recipe.”

After quite a few laughs and the entire piece of cake, I was coming down from my sugar high, hoping my sleepiness wasn’t evident to everyone else.

“Are you ready for me to take you back to your hotel?” Alex asked.

As much as I didn’t want the night to end, I was beat, and the thought of my head hitting the pillow was a welcoming one.

“Now hold up there, Alex. I got these good Cuban cigars. You need to have one with me.”

“Dad, I’m staying here tonight. We can have one when I get back.”

“I’m an old man, remember? I’ll be sleeping by the time you get back.”

Alex looked my way.

“It’s fine,” I said. Sleep would have to wait a little while longer.

“You take those cigars outside!” his mother shouted as they exited the room.

“We’ll be on the front porch,” his father yelled back.

“Ya’ll are fixin’ to get struck by lightning!” His mother shook her head and turned her attention back to me. “So, Rose, how do you like working for my brother-in-law?”

“Oh, he’s really great. It was a little tough at first. A lot of my coworkers didn’t exactly like me because they thought the only reason I got the job was because my father and Mr. Andrews were old friends. Actually, that is probably the only reason I got hired.” I laughed. “But all is good now…with most of them.”

“Now who in their right mind wouldn’t like you? That’s just crazy.”

“Actually, Alex wasn’t a fan of mine…I think he still tolerates me at most.” I grinned.

Her eyes widened in disbelief. “Now I find that very hard to believe. I know my son better than anyone and, trust me, you would not have been asked over here this evening if he wasn’t feeling some kind of way for you.”

My face heated and suddenly things were becoming very awkward. She may have known Alex in every other aspect of his life, but she was dead wrong when it came to his feelings toward me. He told me flat out the only reason he had invited me here was to try and take some of the pressure off him.

“I think he was just being nice because he knew I was here alone and didn’t know anyone.” I tried to soften the blow that her son was not in love with me—far from it.

“No, that’s not it. He may tell you that’s why or want to make you think that’s why, but trust me, it’s not. Alex has always been stubborn, ever since he was a little boy. He’d cut his nose off just to spite his face or if he knew it’d make his daddy angry. It’s always been hard for him to express his feelings for people and even more so since his injury.” She covered her mouth to stop herself from talking, obviously sensing the confusion on my face.

“What injury?” I asked, hoping she’d continue spilling her guts.

She looked over her shoulder and into the other room before leaning closer and whispering, “He doesn’t like to talk about it, but did he tell you he was a Marine?”

“He didn’t exactly tell me, but one of my coworkers did.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “It was one of the darkest periods of my life. My son was told he’d never walk again on the same day I found out my husband was having an affair, and I was diagnosed with breast cancer. If there really is a hell, then I served my time.”

“Oh my God. That’s awful.”

“Sure was, but I’m cancer-free for two years now, my marriage is stronger than ever, and my son is alive and well and walking again. I think Alex’s strong resolve to get better is what helped me through everything. It was like we were fighting a battle together.”

I suddenly remembered that day when I mentioned about him being in the military and how he’d jumped down my throat. Now I knew why. He was obviously injured in the line of duty. “What happened to Alex?” I swallowed the lump in my throat and continued, “How did he get hurt?”

“There was a roadside bomb. He and all the guys he was with were supposed to be coming home in less than twenty-four hours.” She choked back a sob and continued, “He almost died. He had to have several surgeries. His face was barely recognizable and he was paralyzed from the waist down.” She grabbed a napkin from the table and dabbed her eyes. I was getting emotional just listening to it. “It truly was a miracle he came out of it not only alive, but able to walk again and with just a little scarring on his face.”

“The one under his left eye,” I whispered. I had seen the crescent-shaped indentation many times when I’d sneak a peek at his chameleon eyes to see what color they were displaying each day. It wasn’t huge, but I did often wonder what had happened to cause it. Now hearing a little about his past, I kind of understood why he was so bitter.

“So please don’t take offense if it takes him a while to warm up to you, just know once he does, he’s the most loyal person you’ll ever have in your corner.” She reached over the table and took my hand. “Now I know he says there’s nothing going on between you two, but my mother’s intuition tells me there should be.”

“Oh, well…” I didn’t know how to respond. She had just poured her heart and soul out to me, but I didn’t want to give her false hopes of there ever being anything other than a civil working relationship at most between Alex and me. Although after today, I was thinking maybe we were shifting closer to somewhat of a friendship, something I’d love to have with him if he’d allow it.

“Now don’t you be going and getting all embarrassed. I’m just telling you how I see it. I like you a lot, Rose. I knew it from the moment you stepped foot in this house. You’re a good person…maybe sometimes just a little misunderstood, but your intentions are good.”

“Thanks for that. Sometimes people can’t see past the fact I was basically handed everything in life. But I am trying to break free from that stigma and become more independent…and I’d like to say that maybe in a weird way, Alex has a lot to do with my transformation as well.”

She smiled and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. “Please let’s keep this conversation between us. Alex doesn’t know about anything that happened between his father and me, and I know he wouldn’t be happy if he knew I told you about his accident. He doesn’t want pity from anyone.”

“I promise I won’t mention it.” It was odd for me to think I could connect with someone in just a short time of meeting them, but as the rain pelted against the glass windows and the lightning lit up the night sky, I had made a pact with a woman I felt like I had known my entire life.