WindSwept Narrows: #15 Rose Maddock

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  “Thanks, Matt…” Rose dropped to her heels, pulling the soft leather shoes free and aiming for the closet.

  “I won’t let you leave me, Rose…I can’t…” Ryan shoved his arms behind him, thick, dark lashes shrouded blue eyes as she helped him out of his suit jacket and vest. “But I can’t keep you a prisoner…I only want you to be happy.”

  “You lost the thing that keeps your hair back,” she said softly, brushing over the bruise on the side of his face. “What happened, Ryan?”

  “Fool in the bar…” he murmured darkly. He watched her small hands take both of his and pull until he was sitting on the edge of the bed. “I love it when you undress me…I love hearing you whisper to me sexy little things that make me so hard I can’t think straight.”

  Rose smiled as she opened the rest of the buttons, reached for his wrist and opened the cuffs. She shoved the shirt over his shoulders and tossed it toward the laundry bin.

  “I bought something for you…” He said when she didn’t speak. His body reacted to the small hands opening his slacks. He stopped her, shoving a hand in each pocket until he came out with a small velvet box.

  “Not now, Ryan,” Rose took the little box and set it on the bureau. But she couldn’t stop herself from opening it to peek. “Oh my…”

  “It’s a yellow diamond…pear shaped…and as rare as you are, my sweet Rose,” he told her, the Irish in his voice thickening.

  “Let’s go to bed, Ryan…it’s after two…” She gently pushed him back, tugging on the cuffs of his slacks until they lay on the floor. The bathroom, she thought fleetingly, helping him stand when he gestured. “Let me help, Ryan…” But his foot caught in the hem of her night shirt, ripping off most of the buttons and part of the fabric.

  She left him leaning on the counter, and discretely closed the door behind her, quickly stripping the nightshirt and pulling one of the new tank tops and pants into place when the door opened again. She dropped the ripped shirt on the floor and wrapped her arm around him.

  “Come on…under the blankets…”

  “You’ll stay with me…”

  “I’m not going anywhere, Ryan…I promise,” She tucked him down, brushing his forehead with her lips. “Ryan…why do you think I’m leaving you?”

  “Heard you…” Came the very drowsy, probably too much alcohol answer. “Heard you tell someone your plan…” He breathed sadly.

  “You crazy Irishman…” She curled next to him, her hands curled around his at his waist. She listened to his breathing, waiting until she was sure he was asleep before closing her eyes.

  Rose glanced over her shoulder, her head shaking as she went into the lower level. She wasn’t exactly sure what to do to him or for him. She wasn’t hungry so pulled her keys free, grabbed a large, glossy apple and headed for the door. She met Susan and Matt coming in and offered a wan smile.

  “I left him asleep,” she said quietly, her lips pursed. “I’m not sure what to do…should I wake him?”

  “I’ll check his schedule,” Matt said with a shake of his head. “I’ve never seen him like that in the six plus years we’ve known each other.”

  “I…am not taking the blame for his stupidity,” Rose declared with a frown, slamming the door behind her and going to her car. Since when couldn’t he fight with her about something he heard? It isn’t that they were particularly good at fighting, but they had become good at talking things through. Idiot.

  Matt sat at the breakfast bar with the lap top open. He knew what to juggle, what to shift and what was impossible. He was half way through his second cup of coffee when he heard the groan on the stairs. He glanced over at Susan and took a deep breath.

  Ryan Flannary might have considered himself a drinker when he was twenty.

  You practice a lot more then, he thought dismally. Now he had the occasional social drink. And it was reminding him of that inside his head and stomach at the moment. The only redeeming factor was he hadn’t been sick. That he knew of. He wasn’t sure where the bruise at the side of his jaw came from, so it’s possible there were other things that weren’t in the memory as well.

  “I’d say good morning, but I’m not sure it’s appropriate,” Matt said, one brow arched at the simple slacks and open shirt. He’d tied his hair back and managed to shave and shower. “Coffee?”

  “Have mercy…please…Rose?”

  “Took off to work. Sent me a text a minute back, she’s arrived and it being Friday, will be off at noon. However, she says she has an appointment with a someone at the Emporium and won’t be home until after two,” Matt relayed the message, watching the words find a place in his friend. He watched Ryan flex his jaw and rub over the right side heavily. “Recall much of last night?”

  “You’re not old enough to be my father,” Ryan tossed back, reaching for more coffee. “Ignore me, okay? For at least the next hour. What’s on the schedule?” His voice was gravely Irish this morning, his throat and head kicking him repeatedly. He looked at the pills Susan slid over the counter. A couple the vitamins Rose had insisted he take, the others, hopefully, pain relief. He downed them all with the tall frosted glass of juice she set before him. “Thank you.”

  “Only the meeting with Hector can’t be pushed until next week. The clean up crew is working but…”

  “Time?”

  “Eleven. Did you get a chance to talk to Rose?” He shot a look at his wife, she only closed her eyes and continued working on the dinner that she’d fix for them and leave simmering.

  “No…hell…I don’t know,” he thought about the tattered pieces of her nightshirt and hoped to god he wasn’t responsible for that. “She’s meeting a friend at the Emporium?” He repeated words he’d heard.

  Matt puffed out his cheeks. “Not a friend. She said just said someone,” he met the suddenly sharp eyes. “You don’t think…”

  “I don’t need to think, I know,” he growled, left the half empty cup and went upstairs to finish dressing for his eleven o’clock.

  “What did I just miss?” Susan whispered, looking intently at her husband.

  “He believes she’s going to meet Martin.”

  Susan sat on one of the stools, her hands spread on the counter. “She doesn’t believe he’s the problem you two seem to think.”

  “She’s too bloody trusting.”

  “She’s also an adult and trusts her instincts. She doesn’t use it as a means to excuse his behavior a year ago, but she knows his alcohol addiction played a big part of it. That it changed his personality,” Susan sighed at the scowl on Matt’s face. She looked at Ryan knotting his tie. He’d heard what she said. “And that…is why she gets angry. We aren’t children, gentlemen,” she informed them flatly, turning a shoulder to them as she prepared the vegetables.

  “You saw the photos,” Ryan said softly.

  “I saw the photos. I also talked to Rose…a great deal. She doesn’t blame herself and she knows it’s by no means even a tiny bit her fault,” she turned from the sink and looked at them both. “But she does have her own…gut instincts…” she sighed. “And a very kind heart. I offered to go with her today. She told me it was something she had to handle on her own. She has shadows she has to deal with, Ryan…so she can look at herself and know she’s not…not weak. You two…you think girls aren’t allowed those needs, those feelings.”

  Ryan just closed his eyes, willing the headache away even as he acknowledged he’d earned it.

  “Thank you.” Ryan drained the juice and met her eyes. “Have a nice weekend.”

  Rose spent fifteen minutes helping Tess haul the giant suitcase into the elevator and then to her new apartment on resort grounds. The Resort kept a block of emergency efficiency apartments and Tess now had one on the top floor. There was a sense of peace and safety that made them both cry as they looked around the furnished unit. Rose tipped her wrist up, hugged her friend and took off at a run to her car.

  It was impossible to ignore the thumping in her chest or the nausea in her
middle. It began after she parked the car and headed down the sand. There was tons of light reflecting off the deep blue gray waters but not an ounce of sunshine and the cold went straight to the bone. White caps swirled and erupted as the winds whipped up the ocean, her feet picking their way carefully over the kelp and rocks. Rose chewed on the corner of her lip, watching him stride toward her.

  He was still handsome. He was a year older but you couldn’t really tell. The pale shank of hair somehow made him look younger along with the slight cast of a shadow over his face. She stopped several feet back, her eyes going deliberately to his, her feet planted firmly and hands deep in the pockets of her jacket. He seemed to respect the space she needed and stopped with five feet between them.

  “Hi, Rose…” he nodded slowly. “You’re looking good.”

  “Thanks…you, too, Tony,” she realized he looked a little different, too.

  “I appreciate you meeting with me,” he said after an uncomfortable pause. “And for warning me about the resort. I know people won’t believe it, but I don’t mean to cause you trouble.”

  “I figured out it’s a part of yesterday I need to finish,” Rose said with a weak smile. “You look healthy,” she said softly.

  “It’s a process…so they tell me,” he ignored the hair blowing around his face. “Some days are better than others,” he admitted honestly.

  “You’re working through the process?”

  “You’re the last on my list…I owe you one of the biggest apologies,” his mouth curled down, his head shaking. “It’s funny….on the flight out here I was thinking of when we were in college. I was an ass, but not quite as bad as I was a year ago.”

  “You were fun then…full of yourself…egotistical…a normal guy, I guess,” Rose commented with a little smile. “You had a lot of girls falling all over themselves and you knew it.”

  “But not you…I had to work at that…and even then…you were more like a little sister. Maybe that’s why we…”

  “I figured I wasn’t pretty enough for you.”

  “You’re blind as a bat if you think that,” he started walking, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. She found a large stone and sunk down, letting him speak. “I want to apologize for last year. I know nothing I say will take away the fear or the pain I caused you…I’m sorry for that, too. I think losing your friendship as well as everything else was the bottom I needed to see for my brain to kick in…”

  “Do you get to see your little boy?”

  “Yeah…yeah, Helene was one of the first people I apologized to. We’re actually friends now…but I know I need to be alone for awhile and get my head straight before I think of inviting anyone else into my life.”

  “I’m glad you can see him,” Rose toyed with the business card in her pocket. “I spoke to my father about you,” she watched the stark surprise, a wide sweep of disbelief in his eyes. “He’s opening a northwest distributing center, kind of help defray the cost of transportation,” she held the business card out to him. “I talked him into giving you a second chance. You were always good at your job, Tony.”

  “I…Rose…” he wasn’t surprised his hand shook when he reached for the card, staring at the hand written personal number on the front. “You don’t owe me…”

  “I don’t tend to do things because I owe them…I hope I do them because they’re right,” she said simply, shrugging. “It’s up to you. You’ll start back in Boston with the planning and all that. So you’ll be plenty busy. I don’t know what…what made you take the path you were one, Tony. This will be hard work and stressful.”

  “I sincerely…don’t know what to say,” his voice rasped with emotion and he swallowed hard. “Thank you.”

  “I don’t know if I knew you well…but I trusted myself enough to know the person…last year…it wasn’t the Tony I met in college,” she said honestly. “But no one would listen to me. They saw me as a victim and I started to believe them for a little while and I discovered I really hated that feeling…” She stood up and smiled until a dark shadow crossed his features. “What’s wrong?”

  “I think you have company,” he said softly, his gaze on the dark figure approaching over the packed low tide sand. “And he does not look pleased, Rose.”

  She turned, kept her back to him. Coming toward her was Ryan, the heavy overcoat he wore open and the ends flapping with the winds, his hands in black gloves and clenched at his sides. She felt her eyes widen, forced her throat to clear and took a cautious step forward.

  “Oh, Lord, he’s pissed. Maybe you should go, Tony,” she suggested after swallowing hard and fighting with her voice a little more. She pulled the envelope from her pocket and handed it back to him. “Your return ticket…a gift from me.”

  “I’m not leaving you to explain…”

  “I do not need you to…”

  “Going to introduce us, Rose?” Ryan asked darkly from several feet away when he guessed what she was trying to do.

  “Not particularly,” she answered testily, throwing both hands in the air. “I swear…”

  “I’ve discovered myself doing that same thing a great deal since we’ve met, darling,” Ryan drawled lazily. “Ryan Flannary.” But his palm was not extended, Rose noticed with a wince.

  “Tony Martin.”

  “Ryan…I can explain this…but at home, not here,” she said very cautiously. “Tony was just leaving. He’s returning to Boston.”

  “Oh, I believe I’d much rather hear from Mr. Martin why he’s chosen to seek you out,” Ryan kept his gaze on the man a few years younger than him.

  Rose saw the dark blue eyes narrow dangerously. If Ireland had wolves, she knew he’d resemble one right now.

  “Now listen to me, the pair of you…” Rose held a palm up in both directions, her head swiveling and eyes wide above her scowl. A scowl that was totally ignored.

  “I tracked Rose down to apologize,” Tony answered the question with an equal lack of emotion. “She was the last one on my list and the hardest to locate. Part of the sobriety deal. Make amends for all the people whose lives you screwed up on your spiral down.”

  “And now you’re finished.” Ryan stated coolly.

  “We were saying good bye when you appeared.”

  “Consider it said and don’t contact her again. Are we clear?”

  “Perfectly. Good bye, Rose. Thank you,” Tony Martin turned and went back along the beach without looking back.

  Rose felt her body relax for the first time in several minutes. She sunk onto the large concrete cluster she’d been sitting on. Less embarrassing than passing out, she thought, parting her knees and hanging her head down, taking in several long breaths. She’d had uneasy visions of a male melee on the sands that left nothing but blood and guts behind. And seagulls. Lots of scavenging seagulls.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Are you alright, Rose?” Ryan dropped to his heels, his palm pulled from one glove and moving to the back of her neck, massaging gently. “I don’t have any water with me this time…” he felt the huge wave of relief flood through him with she lifted her head and smiled at him.

  So much was packed in that sweet, mischievous pixie of a smile.

  “Why are you here?” She felt her stomach return slowly and straightened to peer at eye level at him.

  “I’d say something sexist like protecting my woman, but you’re looking a little on the violent side,” Ryan answered honestly, standing up and offering her his palm.

  “Yeah, well…when the queasy thing passes, I’m hitting you…so be prepared,” she warned him, sliding her hand into his and discovering it very warm. “Ohh…you’re toasty…”

  “You’ve been in the winds too long,” he tucked her close and turned to head them to where he knew she left her car.

  “How did you get here?” She pulled her collar higher.

  “Matt dropped me off where you left your car. Why are you queasy? Skip lunch again?”

  “Maybe…” She responded a lit
tle sullenly. “Mostly I really wasn’t up to watching a fight…or trying to break one up…or both…”

  “You believe I’d get in a fight?”

  “If you thought you were protecting me, yes,” she answered with a soft laugh. “Without a doubt in my mind.”

  “Smart woman,” he kept his gaze on her upturned face, stopping at the side of the car and putting both hands on her shoulders and raising her to her toes. “Do I have your attention, Rose?”

  “My…umm…toes aren’t on the ground…much…”

  “Are you leaving me?”

  “I…am I…Ryan, I love you…why in the world would I leave you?” Rose guessed it was the right answer. She watched relief send his brilliant blue eyes a couple shades brighter and concrete was once more beneath her feet before she was enveloped in his arms, his face buried in her throat. She wrapped her arms around him, mostly for warmth but at the moment, she thought it smarter to keep that to herself.

  God, she loved snuggling against him, smelling him and just laying in his arms and being.

  “I saw you taking the suitcase, Rose,” he tipped her face up, realizing in the middle of the long kiss that he didn’t give her a chance to answer. “Let’s go home, Rose.”

  “I’d like that,” she brought the keys out once she was positive she could breathe and opened his door, running to the drivers side and starting the car, turning the heat to full. “Idiot weather…geeze…how can you be so warm and toasty…”

  “I believe I was running a little hot back there, Rose,” he said quietly.

  “The suitcase,” she began with a little swallow. “I loaned to a friend leaving a guy who thinks hitting her is okay. She packed her stuff and moved them this morning. I told her there was no hurry in returning the case since I wasn’t going anywhere.” She glanced over at him, his head back and eyes closed. “Ryan…are you okay? You’ve got a headache, don’t you?”