The dash clock said it was close to three a.m. She knew Red put in long hours, but even the hard-working mechanic wouldn’t be here this late.
“Hey, would you mind if we stopped for a second? I'm probably imagining things, but I thought I saw a light in there. I need to make sure no one has broken into the shop.”
“It's alright with me. It'll be fun. We'll be just like Cagney and Lacey. If Irwin was here we could be Charley's Angels.” Her deep laugh echoed through the car.
Rose couldn't help but smile.
Whipping the car into the first wide spot in the road, she dimmed the lights and drove to the back of the garage. Pasting herself against the cinder block wall, Rose crept through the weeds to the front of the building, Lola on her heels.
The key turned noiselessly in the lock, and she edged the door open far enough to squeeze through. Just enough moonlight filtered through the large, front windows to enable them to see their way to the mechanic’s bay. Moving in lock step, they crept across the office, watching for movement in the other room.
They’d made it across the office without alerting the possible thieves, and Rose held her breath as they tiptoed into the darkness. She turned the knob carefully and stuck her head through the doorway leading into the bay, listening for any sound. With her foot raised to take the first step into the black hole that was the garage, Rose felt Lola behind her.
So far, so good.
“YooHoo, is anybody in here?” Lola’s voice shrieked into the room loud as any freight train whistle.
Rose’s heart fluttered at the speed of hummingbird wings then stopped beating altogether. The scream had the desired effect, cursing and then scrambling, accompanied by a loud thump. A big, smelly body shoved Rose to the side. She tripped over the bench, and slammed to the floor.
Stunned, her first thought was to call nine-one-one. Pawing through her purse, frantically trying to find the phone, she pulled out her brush, a package of Kleenex and a stale piece of gum. She upended the bag onto the floor then brushed the excess away until she found her cell. As she ended the call with the sheriff’s dispatch, she realized the garage was eerily silent.
“Lola? Lola, are you all right?”
A chuckle echoed through the dark building. “Just call me Cagney. Was she the blonde? I can't remember now. You okay, Lacey?”
Rose stood on shaky legs, her right hand pressing against her speeding heart. She felt her way through the darkness to the door. In the distance she could hear the sirens, and as she entered the office, she saw Lola bending over something on the floor.
The smile on Lola's face shone in the moonlight.
Rose flipped on the light switch.
In the center of the office, Lola had a man face down on the floor.
His hands were on the back of his neck, and she had a fist full of his hair, pulling his head back. Her knee was planted in the small of his back with her black skirt hiked up around her thighs.
From the gurgling noises he was making, he might have been having difficulty breathing.
“He's not going anywhere until the police get here. I used to be a cop, you know, but it wasn’t this much fun. I always had to worry about stuff like Miranda rights.”
This was not Rose’s idea of fun. The man had blood running from his nose, and when she looked closely, she recognized the face. It was Shorty, one of the men Adam had fired the first day they’d visited the garage.
He'd taken his time about getting his revenge. He probably thought they’d given up watching for him, and he was right. It was pure luck she'd been driving Lola home tonight. A shudder ran through her body, as she collapsed onto the bench, stars flashing along the edges of her vision. If she'd been by herself, the intruder would have overpowered her easily. Lola had saved their bacon.
The police soon finished a thorough search of the building. They discovered three of the vehicles had been damaged, with wires pulled loose and the age-old trick of sugar in the gas tank. Shorty also broke into the cash register, not that there was much kept in there overnight, and poured oil all over the top of the desk.
By the time Adam arrived, the sheriff had everything but Rose’s shaking under control.
He rushed up to Rose and pulled her into his arms, only to push her back to arms’ length. “Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”
“No,” she said then couldn’t stop the hysterical giggle that bubbled up from her chest. “Cagney here took care of me. Oh Adam, you haven't met my hero. Lola, this is Adam. He owns the garage and the radio station. Adam, this is Lola, a friend of Irwin's and now mine.”
Adam turned and seemed to notice Lola for the first time as he looked into her face. To give him credit, he only missed a beat before he took her hand and told her how much he appreciated her help.
“I owe you for saving Rose and the garage.”
“It was nothing, but if you really feel a need to assuage your guilt, you can buy me a new set of nails. That bastard broke one of mine.” She held out her hand for them to see and sure enough one of the long fire engine red fingernails was short and ragged.
-#-
Time flew by with the speed of a Concorde jet. July fifteenth was going to arrive way too soon.
The break in at the garage had Adam spooked.
The garage was going to be fine but what if something had happened to Rose? Insurance covered the customer's cars. Things could be replaced, but Rose was unique.
His first inclination was to spirit her away to someplace safe, but too much was riding on the outcome for him to leave now. When this was over he was going to tell Rose how he felt about her.
When we win . . . When we win, I’m telling Rose I love her.
He shook off the queasy feeling he got at the thought of putting his heart on the line. Time enough for confessions of love later. He needed to get his head back in the game. Having taken the risky step of canceling the prerecorded programming at the radio station, he needed to line up readers to fill the time slots. Advertisers would abandon the station at the first minute of dead air time.
Stevie and Mickie had given him as much of their time as they could, but the motel business was booming. With bookings filled over a month in advance, they were breaking even with a little to spare.
No one was worrying about Sonja anymore. She was going gangbusters between her store and personal appearances. She’d had enough profit at the end of the month to hire Jonas away from the Steakhouse, and the two of them were having the time of their lives.
The garage chugged along with a tidy profit at the end of each of the last two months. Red’s customer base was growing. Excellent work and reasonable prices drew people from as far as sixty miles away.
That left the radio station and the Steakhouse. As long as they could keep the programming steady, the KTLY would take care of itself. Local advertisers liked the local programming, and were lining up for spots.
The Steakhouse was another matter. They were still not making enough money. In time, Gramma’s would be the place to go in Tullyville and Trinidad for a nice dinner, but with two weeks left, they were running out of time.
To add to the pressure, he hadn't seen much of Rose the last few weeks. She’d kept him grounded through the worst of the problems, but when he needed her most, they ran in different directions.
Rose worked all night and slept during the day. He worked all day, and when he got home he was usually so exhausted, he skipped dinner and fell into bed. When they did see each other, it was for a few minutes at a time, and they usually ended up discussing how things were going and what they needed to do next.
Tonight would be different. The yearning to be close to Rose overwhelmed him. Tonight he’d stay awake, whatever it took. With a pot of black coffee, he parked himself in front of the TV to wait.
“What are you doing out here?”
The sound of Rose’s voice woke Adam. The last thing he remembered was watching the late show and downing cup after cup of coffee. It hadn’t worked.
He rubbed his eyes and tried to form a coherent answer, but nothing came to mind. So he opted for his second choice.
Standing, he pulled Rose into his arms. He’d missed this. As he held her soft body, the kiss built from slow to steamy. He wound his fingers into her silky hair and tipped her head. Her soft lips answered his every move, and he fell into heaven.
-#-
Rose leaned back and put her palms on his cheeks. “Great homecoming reception. I’d have to rate that as tops in the best kiss category.”
“I’ve missed you,” Adam said. How inadequate the words sounded. Missed, wanted, needed—none of them were enough, so he slipped his arm beneath Rose’s knees, lifted then started down the hall, his heart pounding out a drumbeat in his chest.
As he laid her on the blue and yellow quilt and stared down at the woman who held his heart, everything became clear. If they succeeded in winning his grandfather’s money, he would spend the rest of his life with Rose. If they lost, this could be the last time he held her close.
“I love you.” Rose’s quiet, whispered words slammed through his heart and gripped his lungs, making any kind of response impossible. Not that he had an answer to give her.
He poured his feelings into the kiss, hoping she’d understand what he couldn’t put into words. With his hands and his body and his heart, he gave to Rose all the feeling he’d kept inside.
Then he held her while she slept.
The fleeting yellow-gold light of dawn illuminated a lock of hair that had fallen across Rose’s face. With one finger, Adam moved it off her cheek then stroked the shell pink edge of her ear. He could spend eternity in bed with this woman.
She rubbed her nose before rolling onto her side, facing him. Her even breathing and relaxed expression told him she still slept.
He knew she was working as hard—or harder than he was to make a success of this inheritance. Only, she wasn't doing it for herself, she was doing it for the Rainbow girls and Sonja, Red and Mara and Gramma, and for him. She was special, and she was his.
His only hope was for success, so he had something to offer her when they were done. He sure couldn't offer her his sorry-self if he lost. If he didn’t win, they would have no future. He'd be back to being a broke rodeo cowboy and she deserved more than that.
Everything was resting on his shoulders. Every nerve jangled beneath his skin, and his lungs squeezed shut. He was going to let Rose and the whole town of Tullyville down if he didn't succeed.
Chapter Nineteen
July fourteenth arrived way too soon. Adam’s time had run out.
He called a meeting for four o’clock at the Steakhouse. As each business owner spread their own set of books across the big oak desk, they went over the figures one more time.
It was a futile effort. Four of the five businesses were doing great and getting better with each month, but one was not. He'd gone over every expenditure and sale a dozen times and looked at the numbers a dozen different ways, but nothing could change the fact that the Tullyville Steakhouse hadn’t shown a profit this month.
No one had seen Lillian since the incident with the inspector. Adam suspected she knew she’d accomplished what she'd set out to do. Now she could sit back and wait. Tomorrow he would meet with Mr. Bailey. The pressure of the last six months would be over, but the sadness would begin.
The one bright spot was that Lillian hadn’t been able to destroy everyone. Sonja was doing great. Her personal appearances were the talk of the town. Even if Lillian took the shop, the tiny Norwegian could keep meeting individually with people in their homes. Adam suspected the town would rally around her. She would be all right no matter what happened.
Red's Garage had a steady clientele and a steady cash flow. His mechanical skills were in demand. If he had to, he could get a job at another garage or open his own. When he moved his customers would follow him, and Tyler would most likely tag along.
Red had become a mentor to the kid. Tyler was taking classes at the local community college to become an auto mechanic just like his friend.
KTLY had become one of the most popular radio stations in the area. A local favorite, people for miles around listened and sent in special requests. It was the station that catered to the population’s wishes and most likely, would be bought out by another company.
Adam knew Irwin had several offers from far larger stations, and Rose—well, just the thought of Rose leaving made his stomach feel as if he were on a sailboat in rough seas.
The turn-around for the five businesses was nothing short of amazing. These people had taken failing shops and turned them into thriving businesses. The town had also changed. With the downtown spruced up, people spent more time there. It was no longer a ghost town. It was an elegant little village, and no matter what she did, Lillian couldn’t change that.
The only people who would lose everything were the Rainbow girls. It broke his heart to know Lillian would take the motel away from Stevie and Mickie. It was their home, and he’d failed them.
Hell, he’d failed them all one way or another. He was a loser, just like his grandfather had drilled into him month after month, year after year.
Adam tried to smile but couldn't pull it off. “We almost did it. I'm sorry I let you all down.” As he looked from face to face, he couldn’t bear to see their defeated expressions. Abruptly, he turned, hurrying toward the door and bursting into the warm afternoon.
Footsteps rang out behind him, as he strode down the walkway, almost escaping before Rose reached him. Her hand clutched at his shirtsleeve, but he jerked away.
Her fingers found purchase in his belt loop, and she forced him to face her. “This isn't your fault. You gave it your best shot, we all did. Without you, none of this would have happened.”
“Leave me alone.” He straightened her fingers and moved away.
“You have to understand. I owe you so much.” Rose stepped in front of him. She looked into his eyes then let her gaze drop to his mouth just before she kissed him. When he tried to back away, she lifted her arms to his neck and held him a heartbeat longer. “Without you, I wouldn’t have met all these people,” she whispered, her lips still a hairs breadth from his. “I wouldn’t have friends. I wouldn’t have fallen in love with a terrific man.”
The last sentence put him over the edge. His biggest failure was with Rose. “I can’t talk about this right now.” Adam turned and walked away without so much as a glance in her direction.
-#-
Sonja looked from one person to another and saw a similar stunned expression on each face. The dim interior of the dining room matched their dreary mood. She stood and cleared her throat, catching everyone’s attention. “I will not give up hope.”
“But Adam said it was over. All this time and effort down the drain.” Eddie sat slumping in his chair, staring at his boots. “And now I have to find a new job. It’ll probably be worse than KTLY.”
Sonja had been around Eddie long enough to know he always looked at the dark side of things. “You can think that way, but for me, I will wish for success.”
“Do you think we should see if they’re okay?” Stevie stood but didn’t move toward the door.
“I’ll go,” Sonja said. “Mara, why don’t you get more coffee for everyone? And maybe something good to eat.”
As she moved toward the door, worried chattering broke out behind her. Today the worst-case scenario had become reality after six months of hard work. She stepped into the sunshine, the warmth and light belying their troubles.
Sonja didn’t have to look far to find her friend. Rose was about half way down the block, leaning against a tree with Adam nowhere in sight.
As Sonja approached, Rose glanced at her then resumed watching the road. “What do I do now? He’s gone.”
“Min venn, you cannot change another person. They have to decide for themselves what is important.” Sonja took Rose’s hand and led her back to the restaurant.
-#-
Rose fixed her patente
d gourmet dinner, bottled spaghetti sauce and garlic bread from the grocery then sat alone in the kitchen, waiting. When Adam hadn’t shown up by the time she had to leave for work, she feared the worst. She packed the food into plastic containers and put it in the refrigerator for when he came home, but in her heart, she knew he wouldn’t show. Her dream had ended.
She’d been so caught up in all the drama of the day she hadn’t prepared a subject for tonight’s show. As the time came for her program to start, she opened the mike.
“This is Radio Rose,” she said, her voice cracking, emotion overpowering her self-control. “How is everyone tonight?” That was it. That was all she could think of to say. She’d never gone brain dead on air before. As the silence stretched, she floundered to find words in her brain, but it was as dry and bare as the Sahara.
Well, if all else fails, fall back on the truth.
“I haven't prepared anything for tonight's show.” Rose spoke into the microphone. “Today was a really bad day for one of my best friends. I guess I got caught up in his problems and forgot about all of you. For that, I apologize. I owe you more. If anyone has something they would like to get off their chest, I think we'll talk as friends. The only rule is to keep it kind-hearted.”
With that, she flipped the switch and waited for the calls to start. The silence was deafening, and Rose was afraid she was going to have to play the one Aerosmith CD she had in her car. She was calculating how many times she’d have to replay it to cover four hours of airtime when a light flashed on the board.
Rose recognized her caller’s voice before he introduced himself. Roy was one of her regular listeners.
“Rose, you’re here every night, and you listen to our problems even when some of us sound a little to the south of sane. I just wanted to thank you.”
The next caller also thanked her and asked, “What’s the problem? Maybe if we all put our heads together, we can come up with a solution.”
And the calls kept coming, one after the other. Rose was overwhelmed with the sentiment expressed by the people she’d talked to every night for years. She’d assumed she was just a sounding board for them, that anyone could have done her job, but they really appreciated her. They considered her a friend.
Radio Rose (Change of Heart Cowboys Book 1) Page 26
