Just Rose

Chapter 24

Back at the cottage they were greeted by Abby on her morning visit and Rose felt relieved.

‘Hey, you two; well this looks domestic. What are you doing here?’ Abby grinned at her brother, who then ruffled her hair as he passed, carrying the bag of supplies. The girls followed him in.

‘Slave for a day.’ Rose answered as casually as she could, trying not to fixate on that pert ass walking in front of her; he reached around for her key as he got to the door and without thinking she handed it to him, their hands brushing lightly and sending another wave of fluttering tingles through her.

Jerk!

‘Penny needs a man about the place to get all the hard stuff done.’ Rob grinned back, Abby smiled, and Rose just lowered her chin and pretended to look in her bag for something, rather than respond to him.

‘I’m sure there are far better prospects than the likes of you to do that in this village.’ Abby stuck her tongue out at her brother who just hauled her forward in a head lock and pulled her into the cottage with him.

‘Shut up brat or I’ll glue that trap shut for your cheek.’ Abby was wriggling and trying to break free, squirming and cursing at his hold and even despite her low mood, Rose couldn’t help the small smile that erupted over her face. She just loved the way Abby and Rob interacted, it reminded her of her own brothers and how they used to be in their teens.

Rose took Abby into the lounge as Rob moved to the garden to resume his work, away from him deliberately, so she didn’t need to suffer the torture of his company anymore.

‘What’s up?’ Abby hit her with questioning eyes the second Rob had meandered out back and out of ear shot.

‘Nothing, what makes you think somethings wrong?’ Rose laughed defensively and tried to make herself busy with cushion plumping and tidying the already tidy room.

‘Hmmm, maybe the fact your face is tripping you, and you are being unusually quiet.’ Abby raised an eyebrow her way and Rose just batted it away with a coy shrug and smile.

‘Must be tired or something.’ She went back to cushion plumping.

‘Or Rob has done another sterling job of pissing you off... What did he do this time?’ Abby wasn’t slow on the uptake, but Rose was not about to go down the route of telling Rob’s baby sister all the sordid details of him snogging her behind his girlfriend’s back.

‘Seriously Abby. I’m fine, just tired from a crappy night’s sleep. Was so muggy last that I just couldn’t get a proper sound sleep.’ She wasn’t exactly lying; she was tired from lack of shut eye.

‘Okay, if you say so... But if I find out he’s upset you and you haven’t told me, I’ll kick his arse.’ Abby grinned and clicked her fingers together to beckon Muffin to come to her, smiling and gushing with baby talk as the little fur ball ran to her with his tongue wagging around excitedly.

‘We should walk him, he probably needs out.’ Rose watched her snuggling up and figured more space between her and Mr Munro was probably a good idea, until she could reel back this funky mood and act a little more normally around him again.

* * *

The girls took Muffin on a wander out of the cottage grounds, along the edge of the main road and towards the manor. The hedgerows had been trimmed enough that walking on the grass verge was easy and Rose noted for the first time, the huge bushy trees at the manor entrance had been cut right back; the ones that had concealed Rob’s car from view. You could now see the turn out clearly from the road and whoever was driving out no longer needed to edge out dangerously far. She noted it but never mentioned the change, knowing only too well that Rob must have had it cleaned up.

The sun was shining and beating down on the girls; warm air and the sounds of the countryside around them helped lift Rose’s mood a little. The warmth defrosting some of the icicles stabbing at her heart.

‘How’s your newest commission coming along?’ Abby wandered casually by the roadside, using a long piece of wild grass to hit at the bushes on the side. Muffin trotting between them happily and sniffing leaves every three steps.

‘Good, I have eleven illustrations for this book and as it’s a second book to one I did last year, I already have my characters sketched out and planned. It’s an easy job when writers come back with sequels.’ Rose beamed, talking about her work was something that always made her smile. It had taken a few years to become recognised in the children’s book industry as an illustrator and she was fast becoming a known name. Her agent had lined up three more books after this and things were looking promising.

‘I guess it’s great having a job you can do anywhere and just mail off your art. I would love a job like that.’ Abby sighed, eyes lifting at the sound of an engine coming up fast from the oncoming road.

A bright red car came hurtling along the road towards them from town, neck breaking speed and turned dramatically into the manor opening ahead of the girls. Tyres screeching on the tarmac as it rallied into the long smooth drive. Rose only caught a glimpse of the driver, but it was enough to send that sinking lurch to her feet. Wild red curls and manicured eyebrows, flawless eyeliner signaling that it was Morag.

Abby muttered under her breath something illegible and picked Muffin up, hugging him close and burying her face in his soft white fur. Rose felt slightly smug at the fact Rob was safely tucked in her garden for the next few hours and not seductively wrapped in white bony arms with claw-like nails. Surely, she must know her boyfriend was not home.

Did she never phone ahead?

A few minutes later the car screeched back out of the manor entrance as the girls were still milling around the grass and headed away again at death-defying speed. A loud rumbling engine, breaking the calm silence of the summer air, the aggressive sound assaulting the peaceful atmosphere. Much like Morag’s presence did whenever Rose was with Rob.

Abby grumbled and glared back along the road before putting Muffin down onto the soft grass.

‘b***h!’ Abby spat at the retreating car; both girls laughed spontaneously as they caught sight of the mirrored grumpy frowns and snarling glares aimed at the red car. Almost identical faces and carried on kicking at the grass beneath their sandaled feet.

‘I can’t say I like her much either.’ Rose sighed and then went back to following Abby.

They walked as far as the sign for town then turned and walked back. The calm time spent with her favourite girl had given her enough head space to re-evaluate things a little. Give her head some space to put things in perspective and really, Rose wasn’t one to harbour moods or grudges for very long and being mad at Rob was already tiring her. Why was she punishing him?

Yes, she was maybe smitten with him and he had kissed her, but he had not exactly avoided her afterwards. She had kissed him back, but still agreed to forget it. Hadn’t she?

He hadn’t led her on or been dishonest. He had come face to face, told her he didn’t want it and wanted to move on and forget it. He hadn’t come slinking by for a bit on the side, some secret nookie behind his crazy girlfriends back, like most men would. It had been a mistake on his part and he had admitted it. As much as it hurt, and Oh boy it hurt, she just needed to make the best of the worst and stop being pissed because he didn’t feel the same way as she did. For Abby’s sake and for her own sanity. She needed to stop being so over emotional and erratic with her moods when he was around, stop acting juvenile and just get over it.

* * *

He was still wiping down doors when they got back to the cottage, Abby had to get going, her visit was only a brief stop by as she passed and only popped in to tell him her plans before she left, stealing Muffin for a while so she could go walk by her new beau’s farm; leaving Rose once more, alone with Rob, and suddenly feeling really stupid and foolish for this morning.

She took him out a tall cool iced drink and food in the garden as soon as she waved Abby out the door, her mood brighter and determined to be nicer; she even managed a genuine smile at him when he looked up and accepted the plate of sandwiches. He sensed the change in her and smiled back, that usual jaw-dropping smile that made her feel like melting at his feet. She moved away quickly and tried to avoid too much eye to eye contact.

‘Thanks.’ He smiled her way, but Rose had already decided she was going to put distance between them and keep out of his way.

‘You’re welcome, have to thank you for all this manual labour.’ She tried a soft smile to match her soft tone before going to sit down on the patio chair, pulling out her pile of magazines she had carried out and spread them on the table. Most were art supply brochures and the odd fashion mag, but she intended to act normal and not sit staring and fantasising over the hunk rubbing her doors in a very sensual way today. Seeing her settle down to read, he left her alone to do so and went back to the doors.

She was not going to mope and bring her mood down on him either. Light and carefree. That was how she planned to spend her last hours with him and forget yesterday and this morning had ever happened.

Life was too short for this kind of drama and she wasn’t exactly a child.

She felt his gaze on her a couple of times but refused to look up. Steeling herself to stay strong and not fold; the radio was on in the garden, playing summer tunes on a low level so there was no need to talk at all and it made the whole atmosphere seem peaceful. She had nothing to say to him; not right now, not when her emotions were still unstable and raw, and he seemed focused on what he was doing anyway.

She was sitting cross-legged in another of her endless collection of feminine summer dresses, her tanned legs on show from the knee down, unaware of how many times he glanced up to look. Assuming her lost in some article she was reading, poised and lost in thought. Unaware of how alert and tense she actually was. She had no idea how many times his eyes were drawn to just look her up and down before forcing himself to focus on the task at hand. She would have been slightly proud the effect her dress was having on him if she had.

His phone began ringing, breaking the calmness of the garden. The birds singing and the insects making all manner of subtle noises silenced by the shrill tone. He scooped it out of his pocket, pressed the screen and walked off into the house saying Morag’s name in a neutral tone.

Rose’s mood was instantly ruined again, so effortlessly, and jealousy peaked out harshly.

For god’s sake. That woman! Like an eternal bad penny.

Rose wanted to throw her glass at him through the open door. It was not his fault she made her feel this way, but who else could she take it out on? Just when she thought she was getting a handle on herself, that stupid woman just had a way of making her presence known. Of course, he would have a leech of a girlfriend, he was obviously not the most faithful of guys, judging by last night and the woman probably knew it.