“Uh huh,” Ronnie smirked. “You’re cute when you blush, you know that.”
“You’ve told me that before.”
“It’s still true.” She walked over to the table and knelt down until she was eye level with the young woman. “Actually, the truth is, you’re beautiful anytime. With or without a blush.” She leaned in and gave Rose a peck on the cheek. “Come on, I’m starving.”
“Can I get you ladies something to drink to start off?” the waitress asked. The three women were sitting in a booth, Susan sat alone on one side. Rose opened her mouth but before she could utter a sound, Ronnie spoke. “Coffees on this side and she’ll have tea…lemon, no cream. We’ll be ready to order when you return.”
“I’ll be right back with your drinks.”
“Do you know what you want?” the executive asked without looking up from her menu. It took a gentle nudge under the table for Rose to figure out the question was directed at her.
“Um…” She scanned the menu, noting with great alarm the prices that ran down the right hand side.Her appetite shrank in direct proportion to the prices. “I don’t think I’m really all that hungry. Maybe just a muffin and coffee.”
“Oh no, Rose,” Susan said. “You haveto try their eggs benedict. It’s the best in Albany, I swear.”
“No, I’ll be fine with the muffin, I’m sure.” She knew without looking that she was the recipient of a questioning gaze from Ronnie.The waitress returned with their drinks and when they had been served she looked expectantly at Ronnie.
With a nod of her head, the dark-haired woman indicated Rose. “She’ll have two eggs, over medium with toast, corned beef hash and home fries. I’ll have the same except I want bacon instead of the hash and my eggs should be over hard. Susan?”
“I’ll have a Belgian waffle with strawberries and cream.”
“All right, I’ll have your food brought out to you shortly.”
Rose looked at Ronnie dumbfounded. “I said I was fine with a muffin.”
“Susan, would you excuse us for a moment please?”
“Sure, Ronnie. Actually I think I need to make a trip to the ladies room.” She picked up her purse and left the table.
“Why did you do that?” There was no accusation in the young woman’s tone, just curiosity.
“Why did you lie about not being hungry?” Ronnie countered. “Look at me. Tell me you only wanted a muffin and that the cost had nothing to do with it.” Her right hand slipped under the table and began stroking Rose’s left thigh. “I understand that you think about how much everything costs. I wish you didn’t, but I know you do. I also know that I wasn’t going to sit here and let you eat just a muffin for breakfast.” A smaller hand gripped hers under the table and squeezed.
“Okay, thank you.” Rose leaned closer. “Actually, the hash and eggs sounds wonderful.”
“You’ll love them, trust me.”
A short time later Rose was wiping up her plate with the last bit of toast while the two sisters talked. The current topic was taxes, and for someone that always used the easy form, it was a subject she felt sorely out of place with. The Cartwright women, on the other hand, had jabbered on for the entire meal about exemptions and loopholes. Rose smiled and ate quietly, listening to the rich tones but not the words of her tall companion. She tuned Susan out completely and thus, missed her name the first time it was mentioned. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I think we’re boring her, Susan.” Ronnie laughed when she saw the guilty blush cover the fair skin.
“I said Wendy needs whatever receipts you have for your taxes.” Seeing Rose’s confused look, Susan explained. “Wendy is our accountant. She’ll do your taxes for you but I think she’s missing some paperwork. She only has your W-2 from Cartwright.”
“Well, I have the one from Money Slasher. It doesn’t take me long to fill out the form so I hadn’t gotten around to it yet. Why would I have an income statement from Cartwright? Ronnie didn’t decide to give me the job as her secretary until last week.”
“Whoops,” Ronnie said. “I can explain.” She twisted in her seat so she could face Rose. The short bench and her long legs meant that her knee ended up resting atop the khaki covered thigh.
“You remember when I had you sign all those forms so we could get you on the insurance? You went on the payroll then.”
“You mean you didn’t know you were getting paid each week?” Susan asked. The still-shocked Rose shook her head. “You signed a direct deposit authorization for the credit union. You filled out a W-4 for your exemptions.”
“I don’t remember what I signed. I was still in the hospital and with all the pain killers….”
“Ronnie, didn’t you tell her what she was signing?”
Now it was the executive’s turn to blush. “Well…” She looked at Rose. “When you were in the hospital, all I could think about was making sure you got the best care possible. “I know I told you that you were now an employee of Cartwright Corp.”
“I didn’t think you meant that I was actually getting paid.” She discreetly laid her hand on Ronnie’s knee. “There must be hundreds of dollars in there.”
“More like thousands,” the executive corrected. “I don’t pay my workers chump change like Money Slasher. I pay a living wage. That’s why people with skill and talent don’t leave us after a few years and join some other firm.”
“Ronnie, I can’t keep that money. I didn’t earn it. Can’t you just take it back or something?” That earned laughter from both Cartwrights. “What?”
“Rose dear, do you have any idea how much paperwork would be involved in doing something like that?” Susan chuckled again. “It’s impossible.”
“The money’s yours, Rose,” Ronnie added. “I’m sorry I didn’t mention it before. I honestly don’t think about things like paychecks and you certainly haven’t needed any money.”
“It’s okay. We can talk about it some other time.” Rose put her coffee cup to her lips, mentally deciding which charities would get the money if she could not convince Ronnie to take it back.
“Speaking of later,” the executive looked at her watch. “We’d better get going here.”
“Wait.” Susan laid her hand across the table, urging her sister to remain where she was. The redhead looked at Rose with such seriousness it made the young woman’s pulse quicken with nervousness. “I just wanted to say something to you before we leave.” She licked her lips and cast a quick glance at her older sister before continuing. “Rose, I love my sister very much. With Tommy gone, well…it just helped make me realize that I was being unfair to her. I’ve never seen her happier than when she’s with you.”
“Susan, don’t embarrass me,” Ronnie warned playfully although the heat was rising to her ears.