Four White Roses

by Judy Ann Davis

  “We can work around his payroll. How about afternoons?”

  “I usually go visit my sister or my family.” Torrie hated to lie, hated not telling him about her daughter. She was a single, unwed mom. Not even a widow. Rumors around town were already unpleasant. A man of his caliber would never entertain the thought of being around someone like her. Especially if he found out what her ex-in-laws thought about her.

  He frowned. “Give me four weeks of Wednesday afternoons and I’ll double the amount Henry pays you an hour to do his payroll. You can do the payroll in the morning, and afterward come over to the house. I’ll have Lulu make us some lunch so we can start working immediately, if you need to leave early.”

  Torrie shook her head. “I’m sorry. It just won’t work.”

  “I’ll triple it.” He threw out the offer with a half-smile this time. “You’re killing me here, Torrine Larson. I need your help with the German.” There was a hopeful glint in his smoky eyes.

  “Triple it? You’re serious?” Torrie stared at him awestruck. Triple her pay for four Wednesday afternoons? Good heavens, that was a lot of money. And my, what it could buy. She could always see Iris later in the evening. The nighttime drive would be taxing after a long day, but it would only be for a month. It was certainly worth the inconvenience and sacrifice. The money would buy her daughter new school clothes. She was about to speak when a figure towered over her.

  “Well, well, well, this is a surprise,” the voice said. “Imagine seeing you here.” The man turned and nodded a greeting at Rich. “I see you’re back in town, Redman.”

  Icy dread ripped through Torrie’s stomach. Ivan Winters. The very last person she hoped to see this far from Hickory Valley. She felt her face grow hot and was angry at herself for being embarrassed. She had as much right to be there as he did. She forced out a tight smile. “Hello, Ivan, how are you?”

  He glared at her, his lips thinned with irritation. “Rather lavish place for eating with just a friend, don’t you think?” His eyes took time to sweep around the room before settling on her again. “But you do look elegant tonight, my dear. Too bad you couldn’t have joined us. If you have a few moments I’d like to introduce you to some of my associates. We have a table in the back of the restaurant.”

  Torrie nervously twisted the ring on her hand. “Maybe some other time, Ivan. We haven’t been served our meal yet.” She adjusted her smile and prayed he would leave them alone. It was well-known around town that Ivan harbored an aggressive demeanor, especially if he was drinking. “Rich and I are trying to get caught up on old times, and I’ve some business to discuss with him.”

  “It will only take a minute.”

  “The lady says no,” Rich spoke up. His earlier warm smoky eyes turned to cold dark marble. “I promised her dinner and an enjoyable night for rescuing me and my daughter when we arrived in Hickory Valley. I am not in the mood to share her at the moment, and especially since we’ve only had a sip of this well-aged German wine.” Like he was dismissing a bothersome gnat, he added, “Have a nice evening, Ivan. Your guests are waiting for you.” He signaled to the waitress who earlier poured their wine.

  Ivan glared at Torrie, then spun on his heel, and disappeared into the crowded restaurant.

  When the waitress arrived, Rich spoke with icy disdain. “Please send a couple bottles of your very best white wine over to the table of bankers in the back of the room. Put it on my tab and make it as dry as they are.”

  The young girl smirked, covering her mouth with her hand to suppress a giggle. “Yes, sir. Will there be anything else?”

  “Yes, we’ll have the house special, if it’s all right with you?” He looked at Torrie, who nodded. Rich stared at the waitress. She had dark brown hair and an easy smile. “Didn’t I just see you at Webster’s Burgers and Fries Restaurant in Hickory Valley?”

  The girl nodded in agreement. “Yes, I work there days, and here a couple nights. I’m Denise.” She waved across the room to another young woman with light brown hair who was filling a tray with water glasses. “You can make better tips here. Danielle, my sister, works here, too. Anything else?”

  “No, not now. Thank you.” When she left, Rich’s lips turned up into a comical smile. “Well, that should keep the good ol’ banking boys off our backs for a little while.”

  “You didn’t have to do that,” Torrie said. She hung her head. How could Ivan Winters do this to her? He acted like he owned her. And he was hardly cordial to Rich. “This night is going to cost a fortune.”

  “Torrie.” She felt his hand cover hers on the table. “Will you please just forget about the cost of everything for the next three hours? Can you try?” His voice had a warm, but authoritative tone. “Just take a deep breath and relax.”

  She forced a tentative smile. “Ivan gets into his banker’s role and seems a bit snobbish at times. He meant well. I never thought I’d run into anyone I know here. I feel like the kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar.”

  Rich looked across the table and his face split into an infectious grin. “Well, if the restaurant is the cookie jar, then I must be the cookie! I haven’t had this much fun for a long time.”

  Suddenly Torrie had the urge to laugh, her mood suddenly turning buoyant. “You know this will be all over town tomorrow.”

  “It’s headed straight for the gossip pipeline, I imagine.”

  She ran her finger down the handle of her silverware, toying with them. “Ivan was the one I was avoiding on the phone the other day when Gus and I had our phones switched. So tell me, how is Estella doing with Lulu?”

  He chuckled. “They’re ganging up on me. Another reason I could use you. There’s security in numbers. Estella has spied the pots on the porch and wants to plant flowers in them, and she’s been eying the flowers in your beds out back. Her mother must be rolling over in her grave. She never would have gotten her hands dirty.”

  “Tell me about her.”

  “Margaretta?” He shrugged. “She was beautiful. Bilingual in Spanish and English. She loved her job, which was jet-setting all over the globe following movie stars and their shoots. She designed costumes and always had to be on the set to be sure everything was perfect. To be honest, we disagreed a lot. I wanted her to stay home and spend more time in Texas once Estella was born.” He looked out the window, his gaze distant and forlorn. “I told her not to hop that small plane to Mexico after I checked the weather forecast. She wouldn’t listen. She said I was an overly cautious worrier. She and the crew flew into a wicked storm and the plane went down.”

  This time Torrie placed a hand on his and studied him. “I’m sorry for bringing up bad memories.”

  “No, it’s all right.” He squeezed her fingers and met her gaze calmly. “She’s been dead for two years, and I’m over the hard parts. I just can’t seem to get back into going out. I’m so glad you agreed to have dinner with me. If I have to talk to crazy Lulu and all the dolls and stuffed animals magically appearing with Estella as dinner companions, I’m going to need a psychoanalyst.”

  In the background, a small Bavarian band had started playing a soft waltz. Rich stood. “Come on, let’s give those bankers an eyeful and some juicy gossip for tomorrow’s pipeline. I want my lady in red to dance with me. We’ve already blown your cover. You look gorgeous tonight, and I say we work up an appetite while waiting for our food.”

  “Oh, no, we shouldn’t.”

  “Oh, yes, we should. Let’s both of us be daring tonight.” He pulled her to her feet and with hands linked, urged her toward the dance floor where he grasped her firmly and pulled her close. Too close. When she tried to resist, he said, “Easy, Torrie, time for you to be the fearless one. Let’s give Ivan Winters a spectacular reason to be ticked off.”

  “This is so wrong and so deceitful!” Her laugh rippled, low and smooth. But she let him pull her so tightly against him she could smell his spectacular spicy cologne. With her cheek resting next to his jaw, she gave in and snuggled close, following
his lead. He was an excellent dancer, just like Elsa said, and Torrie found herself getting swept up in the lyrics and beat and enjoying the warmth and heat of his body. She knew she needed to talk to him about her flowerbeds and renting the land. Maybe if she agreed to help him with his great grandmother’s journals, it would give her time to convince him the plants needed to stay intact. But for this moment, she was going to forget all her troubles and just enjoy the music and the dance. In her life there were few things that felt this good. And she was going to savor it.

  ****

  It was late when Rich and Torrie headed back to Hickory Valley. Both of them were content to just listen to the low, soft music from the radio and enjoy the peaceful feeling of being beside each other. Half-way there, Torrie broke the silence. “When I talked with Henry the other day, he told me Gertie’s husband had a brother named Walter. Henry indicated he was an old bachelor, more like the black sheep of the family.”

  “Interesting.” Rich turned the radio even lower. “My dad never mentioned he had an uncle. Did he say whether this brother of my grandfather was still alive or where he lived?”

  “No,” Torrie admitted. She leaned her head exhaustedly against the seat. “But it’s a start. Maybe he knows something about the jewels. Maybe Gertie even told him something about your father and his little diversion from his marriage.”

  “Little diversion?” Rich snorted. “Is that what you call cheating in a marriage?”

  Torrie winced. “It’s called adultery. I was trying to be kind.” She sat up straighter in her seat. “Listen, if we’re going to turn over rocks looking for this half-sister, you need to be able to accept there might be other unsavory secrets that come to light.”

  “Then you’ll help me?” His exuberance was visible in his voice. He pulled into a parking space beneath her apartment, slid out, and rounded the car to open her door.

  Torrie stood beside the car. “Let me think on it over the weekend and get back to you?” She patted him gently on the chest. “No need to walk me to the door, Rich. I know the way. It’s been a heavenly evening and fabulous dinner. Thank you for everything.”

  “But I want to walk you,” he said softly and nudged her on her back. They climbed the stairs ending on the landing. He held out his hand and she searched her purse for the key.

  “I’d invite you in for coffee, but it’s late, and I have to work the landscape center early tomorrow morning,” she said. “I promised Finn. We’re moving perennial stock around.”

  “I understand.” His voice was low and husky as he unlocked the door, dropped the key in her hand, and pulled her close, enveloping her in a snug embrace.

  Torrie melted into his arms. It felt so good and so right. Too bad he was only here for a few weeks. Even a summer fling might not be a bad idea, she thought. Then she remembered she was keeping secrets that could surface and hurt everyone if he found out.

  “I had a wonderful time tonight, too, Torrie,” she heard him say into her hair. She looked at him. His gaze traveled over her face and searched her eyes. A second later his lips descended to meet hers. The kiss was slow and gentle. Nothing like she expected. She felt a slow flame begin to burn all the way down to her toes in her strappy heels. When she lightly nudged him away, he pulled back and placed another soft kiss next to her ear, whispering, “Goodnight, Torrie Larson. Sweet dreams.”

  Then, like the gentleman he was, he turned and walked down the stairs without looking back.

  Chapter Eight

  Rich Redman was sure he was going to strangle Lulu if he had enough energy to get out of bed and walk downstairs. It was Saturday morning, and even though the sun wasn’t up, Estella was. She leaned over his bed, giraffe under one arm, shook the bed, and whispered near his ear, “Are you asleep, Daddy?”

  “Yes,” he mumbled, eyes still closed. “If you are a little girl in pink pajamas, you’re supposed to go back to bed.”

  Estella giggled. “No. Get up,” she urged. “We have to go to Larson’s Landscape Center. Lulu said if we bought some flowers, she would help me plant the empty pots on the back porch. I want to do it. I want some of those purple flowers like Lulu bought, but in pink. Can you pleeease get up and take me?”

  Rich opened one eye. “Petunias. They’re called petunias. We have all afternoon to get petunias, Estella.”

  “We do not.” She set the giraffe on his chest and planted her hands on her hips. “We need to get Sheba a flea collar, too, and I need clothes like everyone else wears to work outside.”

  “You have jeans to wear. Why does Sheba need a flea collar?” He yawned.

  “No, you don’t understand. I want the kind with hooks. Not those girly pink ones. I want old ones.”

  With a weary groan, he forced both eyes open and squinted at her. While her voice held a tinge of exasperation, her little face was puckered in a downright serious frown. “And Sheba needs a flea collar…” Rich searched his half-alert brain for a logical reason. “…why? For a necklace?”

  “No! Oh, Daddy, don’t be silly. Lulu said we have to get Sheba a flea collar or else I can’t bring her into the house.”

  Into the house? Rich rolled into a sitting position and scrubbed his hands over his face. “Ah, Estella, please, please, go downstairs and pour yourself some cereal. I’ll be there any minute to pour the milk if you’re having trouble. I promise. And I promise we’ll figure this all out, okay? Daddy needs a minute or two to wake up.”

  Minutes later, when he walked into the kitchen, he could smell the coffee brewing. Lulu was scrubbing potatoes and peeling carrots at the sink. She had placed a clean cup and a quart of milk beside the coffee machine for him. “Good morning, Sunshine,” she said cheerfully. She looked at him clad only in jeans and shook her braided head. “I did laundry, you know.”

  He groaned. “Lulu, don’t you start, too. You lost two points for getting Estella worked up about the flea collar and planting flowers in the blasted pots on the back porch, but you won them back with the fresh coffee. You don’t want to lose more points for wisecracks, do you? Did you know, Redman points work similar to frequent flyer miles but with a twist. You can turn them in for cash.” He squinted at her. “I thought you wanted weekends off.”

  “I did, but then I remembered I needed Monday morning off for a doctor’s appointment. I figured if I started early this morning, I could whip up an all-in-one-pan dinner for tonight and another one for Sunday. You would only have to pop them in the oven and have a hot meal.” She turned back to the sink. “Now tell me about these Redman points. How do they work and how much are they worth, Sunshine?”

  “Lulu, you don’t have enough willpower to keep your thoughts to yourself and earn them.” He expelled an exhausted sigh, took a sip of coffee, and looked over at Estella, who was already dressed in a blue sundress and sneakers. Her chin was propped on her hand as she looked at a gardening magazine, obviously belonging to Lulu.

  “Look, look,” she squealed, pausing with a spoon in the air and holding up a picture for him to see. “I want these! Like this girl is wearing in this picture. Only I need ones for little kids, and I want old-looking ones. I don’t want to look like a novice gardener.”

  Novice? Who taught her that word? “Bib overalls. They’re bib overalls.” He peered at Lulu’s back. She was wearing a green and white polka dot blouse with a red skirt and an orange flowered apron. She was probably not the best person to ask about fashion, but he decided to give it a shot anyhow. “Lulu, where do I find bib overalls for little girls in this town?”

  Lulu turned from the sink, holding a carrot in her hand. She shrugged. “It’s been a long time since I’ve shopped for kids’ clothes. Why don’t you ask Torrie?”

  “Ask Torrie? Why Torrie?” He looked at her with knitted brows. Elsa had two sons, Finn’s kids were older than Elsa’s, Gus was still single, and Lars, Elsa’s twin, had just gotten engaged. “Why would Torrie know where to buy little girl’s clothes?”

  Frowning, Lulu started to speak, then t
hought better of it and turned back to her work at the sink. “Right,” she said, “maybe not the best idea, come to think of it. Why don’t you get Marlene on it?”

  “But they have to be used and old-looking,” Estella reminded him. “I don’t want to look like I’m a gentleman farmer either. I want to dig in the dirt and get my hands muddy when we plant the flowers. Maybe I need a pair of work gloves, too? I can wear them when I go with Lulu to her farm. You can help, Daddy. It’ll be fun.”

  “I’m sure it will be,” Rich agreed, thinking he’d rather have a root canal than go hoeing in someone’s farm lot. He didn’t want to tell her he wasn’t exactly a dirt, manure, and trowel man. “But you have to run upstairs and put jeans on to go to the landscape center, Estella.”

  Gentleman farmer? Now where did she learn such a rarely used description? He threw a sideways glance at Lulu, who had moved to the refrigerator and poked her head inside as if she were searching for lost gold.

  ****

  Torrie Larson stood at the cash register of the Landscape Center and started to count the opening till for the second time. Her mind was not on her work, especially at six in the morning. She had gotten little sleep the night before and had lain awake trying to decipher what really happened between Rich and her. The gentle kiss they had shared last night was no friendship kiss.

  Joe came up to the counter and leaned against it, jingling two screws in his hand. “So how’s my favorite girl and how did dinner go last night?”

  Torrie looked up. “Good morning, Joe. I’m fine, but tired. The evening was nice and the dinner was excellent. Have you ever had German rumkugeln?”

  “No, but it sounds like one mean rash if you get it.” He winked at her.

  “Rum balls, Joe, not a rash.” Torrie laughed. “And they were delicious.”

  “So I gather you and Rich hit it off?”

  Torrie shrugged. “We had a good time, except for the sneak appearance by Ivan Winters. Of all the restaurants in the area, Ivan picked the same one Rich chose.”