“Very well. Maria said you wanted me to call.”
“Yeah…um…I guess I just wanted you to know that if you needed anything, let Maria know. She’s going to stay there until I get home. She’ll make you anything you want for breakfast, just ask her. Oh, and if there’s anything you want her to pick up at the supermarket, just let her know that too.”
“I’m fine, but thanks. How’s work going?”
“Oh, just a typical day,” Ronnie replied sarcastically. “It’s a wonder I don’t have an ulcer sometimes.”
“I wish there was something I could do to make it better for you,” Rose said sincerely.
, the dark-haired woman thought to herself. “I’m fine. Tell you what. You up for seafood tonight?”
“Sounds great.”
“Good. I’ll have Maria whip us up something nice.” The light on line two began flashing. “I think I’d better get back to work, I just wanted to check up on you.”
“Okay, I’m glad you did.”
“Um…you know if you want to you can call later.”
“Oh. Okay, well maybe after lunch? I don’t want to bother you.”
“Sure. After lunch would be fine. I don’t think I’m going to stay all day anyway.”
“All right…well…I guess I’ll talk to you later then?”
“Okay Rose. You relax and do what the nurse tells you.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.” Ronnie listened to the click and then the dial tone for a few seconds before pressing line two. “This is Veronica Cartwright.” Her voice, once again, pure business.
Ronnie was surprised to see the kitchen light on when she returned home, until she remembered she had asked Maria to stay until she got there. She and Rose had spoken briefly in the early afternoon but a meeting had cut that call short. Now, finally home, she was looking forward to spending the rest of the evening with the blonde woman. She hung her coat up in the closet and kicked her shoes off before walking into the office.
“Hi!” Rose greeted enthusiastically, a huge smile coming over her face.
“Hi yourself.” She turned her attention to Maria, who was picking up the cards that she and the young woman had been playing. “Thanks for staying so late.”
“I didn’t mind a bit. She’s better at rummy than you are,” the housekeeper remarked, drawing a smile from Rose. “I can stay late tomorrow too if you need me to.”
Ronnie’s first response was to say it would not be necessary but upon reflection of what had transpired today at the office and what was going to happen once Tommy found out about the audit, she reconsidered her answer. “Actually, I think I may have to take you up on that. Perhaps you could come in later so you don’t have to work so long. I can make my own breakfast.”
“Make your own breakfast and dirty every piece of cookware in my kitchen,” Maria snorted. “I’ll be here at seven like I always am. The only night I can’t stay late is Thursday. Carrie and Monica will worry if they don’t see me there by six thirty.”
“Bingo night,” Ronnie explained to her houseguest. “Well, since you’re here now anyway, why don’t you stay and join us for dinner? I’m sure you made more than enough.”
The older woman chuckled. “You know your mother would have a fit if she found out.”
“Why? Doesn’t her mother like you?” Rose asked, her curious expression turning to a selfconscious frown when Maria gave a short laugh and shook her head.
“Mrs. Cartwright likes me just fine, child. But it is considered bad form to share a meal with the hired help.”
“Oh,” the young woman murmured, embarrassment tinting her face. She wondered if her friend’s mother would disapprove of her as well.
“But my mother doesn’t decide who I dine with,” Ronnie said firmly. “Now do you think you’d like to eat in the dining room or in here?”
“Um…wherever you want is fine.”
“I’ll set some places at the table. It will take only a few minutes to heat everything up,” Maria said, excusing herself from the room.
“Thanks,” Ronnie said as the older woman brushed past her. Now alone with Rose, the persona she had kept in place all day long faded. Her shoulders slumped, her stockinged feet protested being stood on, and the headache she had been fighting made its presence known with full force. She crossed the room and all but flopped into her leather chair. “What a day.” She lifted her left leg up, bracing it over her right knee, and began rubbing her aching foot.
“Did you confront Tommy?”
“No. He never showed up,” Ronnie sighed. “I ordered an audit.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. It’s not going to be a pretty sight when he finds out.” She began rubbing her foot with more force, using both hands to knead the sore muscles. “On top of that, I had a mountain of paperwork to get through. Laura took off halfway through the day.”
“Laura?”
“My secretary,” she clarified.
“Oh, she must have been the one that answered the phone when I called.”
“Yeah, that’s her.” Ronnie reversed the position of her legs and began massaging her right foot.
“Oh great,” she scowled, looking at the rapidly growing run moving up her leg. “You know, someone should be able to figure out a way to make pantyhose so they don’t run the instant you put them on.” She stood up, smoothing the dark gray skirt. “I’m going to run up and change. By then I’m sure dinner will be ready.” Her eyes fell on the stringy strands of hair surrounding Rose’s face. “After dinner I think we’ll wash your hair.”
“How are we going to do that? I can’t take a shower.”
“I’ve got an idea.”
After changing into her sweats and sneakers, Ronnie grabbed a set of keys and headed across the snow-covered driveway to the garage. The original building had been torn down three years ago to make room for her idea of what a true garage should be. Capable of holding four cars comfortably, the garage sported multiple rows of fluorescent lights and a separate alarm system. The back half of the garage served as a storage place. Entering through the door on the side, Ronnie quickly walked over to the control panel and deactivated the alarm.
A quick flip of the switch and the four bays were bathed in a sea of white light. The first bay housed a car hidden by a canvas cover. Distracted for a moment, Ronnie walked to the back of the car and pulled back the cover. The white vanity plate sported the Statue of Liberty on the left side and blue letters announcing the car as “Rons Toy”. She pulled the cover back more to reveal the gas cap with the familiar mustang logo. “Soon,” she promised herself. Her prized muscle car had been painstakingly restored and the harsh salt of Albany winters meant that it had to stay in hibernation until the flowers started to bloom again. Her fingers trailed over the deep blue metallic paint and her mind drifted back to when she had first bought the car.
It was her senior year at Dartmouth. While she liked the Audi that her father had given her for her twenty-first birthday, she found herself always looking at the weathered Mustang that one of her sorority sisters’ boyfriend owned. The paint had been chipped away, surface rust was the dominant color, but when the pedal was put to the floor, the car could blow the doors off anything put up against it. When Ronnie had asked her father for permission to withdraw enough money to buy one for herself, Richard Cartwright adamantly refused, citing that she had a perfectly good car and that the Ford was far too dangerous a vehicle. Ronnie was undaunted, however, and saved her allowance for the entire semester until she could afford to buy it on her own. She drove it home on spring break, much to the dismay of her parents. Her father called it a pile of junk and her mother insisted that she would only get herself killed in that ‘death trap’. They tried offers of a new Mustang, threats of financial cut-off, even the old ‘ladies of proper upbringing don’t drive muscle cars’, but none of it worked. By the end of the week all they had accomplished was to make Ronnie even more determined to keep and restore her blue speed demon. Although it was no longer her primary car, she still took it out for a spin occasionally and, the metallic blue beauty was still her favorite.