Ring Around the Rosy

by Roseanne Dowell

  “Well, come inside.” Clare said. “We can’t stand out here talking all day. Besides, I can’t wait to see my quilt.”

  Susan couldn’t wait to see the quilt, either. “So, what do I have to do to get you to make me one?” She followed Kate and Clare inside.

  “I almost brought you a dog, but thought better of it.” Kate ignored Susan’s question.

  “Well, it’s a good thing you didn’t. I don’t need a dog right now, thank you. And don’t go thinking about bringing me one later.”

  “Why not? The kids would love it.”

  Susan went to the bathroom and left her sisters arguing about dog stuff. Kate seemed to think everyone should own a dog, just because she owned two.

  Of course, they were Kate’s only companions. After that jerk, John, Kate didn’t date anyone. Or if she did, it never came to anything. Susan figured Kate was afraid of relationships. Poor kid, only two days before the wedding and he skipped, leaving Kate to call all the guests.

  When she came back into the kitchen, Kate looked at her. “So what’s going on with your boyfriend?”

  “What’s with everyone calling him my boyfriend?”

  Kate wasn’t going to let up. “Well, I heard you’re spending a lot of time with him. Surely, there must be something between you?”

  “Okay, okay. So we’re spending some time together. So what? It’s nothing serious, honest. We’re friends, and he only took me to Florida to keep an eye on me.”

  “What do you mean to keep an eye on you?

  Shoot, she hadn’t meant to say that. “Because of the phone calls.”

  “What phone calls?”

  “Come on, I told you about the phone calls.

  Kate tapped her foot. “You’re going to have to explain that.”

  Kate’s cell phone rang, saving Susan from answering.

  Much more of Kate’s interrogation, and she was going to scream. Sometimes her sister was too darn nosy for her own good.

  Katie and Johnny came in from school and saved further interrogation from Kate.

  After the kids went to bed, Susan curled up on the couch to watch a movie, Kate snuggled in to her rocker, and Clare picked up a book. Clare never was one to watch TV. Susan leaned back and closed her eyes and thought about Dave? Much as she enjoyed spending time with her sisters, she’d rather be home with him. Would she miss a phone call? Or would the killer know she was gone for the weekend? She missed most of the movie, and finally decided to go to bed. Sitting here half asleep wasn’t doing her any good. She stood, tossed a throw pillow at Clare and another at Kate.

  “Sorry, ladies, my eyes won’t stay opened any more. I’ll see you both in the morning.”

  “I’m going to turn in, too.” Kate tossed the pillow back at Susan. “I got up too early today.”

  “Boy, you guys are great company. I’m glad I invited you.”

  “Well, look at you with your nose in a book; it’s not like you’re making conversation,” Susan said.

  Clare set the book down. “Okay, can we talk?”

  Susan sat down. Clare sounded serious. More than likely, she was going to cry about Steve again. “What’s up?”

  Kate sat down next to Susan. “What’s going on?”

  Clare cleared her throat, looked from one to the other. Susan sat forward. Something else was going on. Clare had never acted that way before.

  “I made a decision.”

  “About what?”

  Clare stood, walked to the fireplace, sat down, and stood again. “I’ve decided to divorce Steve.”

  “What?” Susan jumped up. “What the heck are you talking about? Please tell me you’re not still seeing that guy?”

  “No, that’s over. But I thought about it after we talked yesterday. I wouldn’t have been attracted to someone else if I still loved Steve.”

  “Now, just a doggone minute. I never said anything like that.”

  “No, you didn’t. But it’s true, and you know it. Steve and I haven’t had a thing going for a long time.”

  Kate jumped up. “You can’t just throw your marriage away. What about the kids?”

  “That’s right,” Susan said. “This isn’t just about you. Darn it, just yesterday you were moaning and crying about what you’d do if Steve divorced you. Now you want a divorce.” Susan picked up the pillow and threw it at Clare. “Do you have any idea what you’re talking about?”

  “You know, I was hoping for your support, not a lecture.” Clare picked up the pillow and threw it across the room. “Do you think it was an easy decision?”

  “Okay, you two, calm down. Let’s sit down and talk about this like adults.”

  Susan looked at her sister. Leave it to Kate to take control. She took a breath and blew it out. Of course she was right. Yelling at each other wasn’t going to solve anything. But a divorce? What the heck was Clare thinking?

  She sat down and patted the cushion next to her. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Let’s talk about this.”

  “There’s not much too talk about. I was awake half the night thinking about this, weighing the pros and cons.” Clare sat down. “I care for Steve, honest. But I’m not in love with him. We’ve grown apart. We don’t even like the same things anymore.”

  “Don’t you think you ought to think about this some more? Talk to someone. A counselor?” Kate sat across from Clare and Susan.

  Susan held her breath. If anyone could talk some sense into Clare, it was Kate.

  “If I thought it would help, I would. I thought about this all day and all night. Steve’s a great guy, really he is. But it’s not going to work. I’m still young, I want a career.” Clare held her hand up. “I know, I know. I never wanted a career before, but honest, since I’ve been working, I feel so fulfilled, so alive.”

  “That’s fine, but why can’t you work and stay married?” It took everything in Susan’s power not to shout at her sister. “You’ve got sixteen years invested in this marriage. You have two kids to think about. What’s this going to do to them?”

  “You know, Susan, it’s not just about them. It’s not just about Steve. It’s about me, too. I gave Steve sixteen of the best years of my life. He made every decision down to where the kids went to school. Yet, he wasn’t here for them. He missed all the parent-teacher conferences, most of their sporting events. He even missed Johnny’s birthday. I can’t live like this anymore. I didn’t get married to live alone. I didn’t have kids to raise them by myself.”

  “Wow.” Susan put her arm around Clare. “I had no idea you felt that way. You always sounded so happy. You acted like you had the perfect life.”

  “Yeah, perfect. Right. As long as I went along and didn’t make waves, everything was fine.”

  “Now, just a minute here. I’m not saying you’re wrong, but Steve gave you everything you wanted, too,” Kate said. “I always thought he was a bit overbearing with the decisions, but you allowed it. And you have to admit, he gave into your every whim.”

  Tears filled Clare’s eyes. Poor kid, this wasn’t easy for her. Susan rubbed her back. “Okay, this isn’t like you to make sudden decisions. What’s really going on? And don’t tell me nothing.”

  “Maybe it’s been coming for a long time.” Clare shrugged. “All I know is I’m still young. I still have a lot of life left in me, and lately, I’ve not been living.”

  “Wow,” Kate said. “You’re really serious about this.”

  Clare stood. “Yes, I am. Now I have to figure a way to tell the kids and Steve.”

  “I don’t envy you that.” Susan shook her head. “What are your plans? I mean, you’re probably going to have to move. Have you given that any thought? And I know it’s not all about them, but have you thought about the kids at all?”

  “Of course I thought about them. In fact, they were my first thought,” Clare said. “I’m going to see if I can buy Steve’s half of the house. We do have some money saved, and at least the house will be paid for. The kids can stay in the same schools, k
eep their friends. I want to disrupt them as little as possible.”

  Clare yawned. “I’m sorry, ladies, but I really need to call it a night. We can talk about this more in the morning.” Clare stood and headed for the stairs.

  Susan looked at Kate and shrugged. It figured Clare wouldn’t want to continue the discussion. Not that she cared. She was tired, too. “I agree. It’s time for bed.” She followed Clare upstairs. Kate came close behind.

  About four in the morning, Susan woke up to the sounds of tapping. It sounded like someone at a window. She shook Kate, not wanting to wake Clare.

  “What?” Kate yelled.

  “Shh, don’t wake Clare.”

  “Too late.” Clare turned over and looked at her sisters. “What’s going on? What time is it anyway?”

  How could she tell Kate without letting Clare know? The last thing they needed was Clare getting hysterical. The tapping suddenly got louder.

  “What’s that?” Clare grabbed Kate’s arm.

  “Just be quiet, will you. Stay here, Kate and I will check it out.” How her sister managed to stay alone when Steve was gone was beyond her.

  Clare grabbed Susan’s sleeve. “You’re not leaving me up here alone.”

  “Fine, then. Come with us, but be quiet.”

  “No, we can’t go down there. What if it’s a burglar? What if he has a gun?”

  “Right. You stay here. If it’s a burglar, we’ll scream, and you call 911. If he has a gun, we’ll run.” Susan wasn’t in the mood for an argument or hysterics.

  “Maybe we should just call the police.” Clare started to cry.

  Susan looked at Kate. A little help would be nice about now. Not that she really expected it from Kate. Nope. Kate wasn’t going to do a darn thing. “Okay, you two stay here. I’ll check it out.”

  Clare shook her head. “N…no. We’ll all go.”

  Susan got out of bed. She was going one way or another. With or without her sisters. The tapping noise got louder.

  Kate pulled her back. “Clare’s right. We should call the police.”

  “And tell them what? There’s a tapping noise? We don’t even know where it’s coming from. For all we know, it might be a mouse. Wouldn’t that look cute?”

  Kate picked up the phone and punched in the numbers. “Clare’s right.”

  “Uh,” Kate said into the phone. “We’re hearing noises downstairs.”

  Suddenly, a loud thump sounded. Even Susan jumped. Someone was in the house.

  “Please hurry. I think someone just broke in.”

  “The police are on their way.” Kate hung up and put her arm around Clare, who was shaking and whining uncontrollably.

  Susan stood near the door and tried to listen for footsteps or someone moving around downstairs. Nothing, not a sound. Nothing but the distant sound of sirens. “Thank God, the police are coming. Stay here. I’ll let them in.” Susan eased her way to the stairway when she saw the flashing lights outside. At the top of the stairway, she paused and took a breath. Suddenly, someone came rushing up the stairs, almost knocking her over.

  “Mom!” Johnny flew around the corner. “The cops are here. What’s going on?”

  Susan burst out laughing and hurried down the steps to open the door. “Sorry, officer. It was just my nephew.” She knew she should have checked it out before her sister called. Now they looked like idiots.

  “No problem, Miss. Better to be safe than sorry.”

  Susan caught a glimpse of her car in the cop’s spotlight. A red rose hung from the door handle. She started to shake. “Come in a minute, please.”

  “Johnny,” she yelled as the policemen followed her inside.

  “What?” Johnny appeared at the top of the steps, red-faced.

  “Why did you come downstairs?”

  “I heard a noise, a tapping sound.” Johnny came downstairs and stood next to her. “I came down to check it out.”

  Clare gasped as she followed Johnny down the steps. Kate grabbed her just before she collapsed.

  Susan ignored her sister. Why Clare reacted like that to every crisis, she’d never know. Certainly not the way they were raised.

  “We’ll take a look around,” One of the officers said.

  “Are you the one that made the loud thump?” Susan asked.

  “Yeah, I tripped over the ottoman.”

  “Did you see anything?” Susan sat down to still her trembling legs.

  “I thought I saw a shadow, uh...near your car, Aunt Susan.” Johnny sat down opposite her. “I wasn’t sure. I mean, it was so dark out there. That’s when I tripped.

  The police officers came back in. “Nothing out there. We’ll keep an eye out. You people try to get some rest.”

  Yeah, like that was going to happen. Whoever was stalking her knew where she was, must have followed her, but how? She hadn’t noticed anyone. God, she hoped she wasn’t putting her sister and family in danger. It was too complicated to explain the rose to the police. She had to call Dave, tell him.

  “Come on,” Kate said. “Let’s try to get a couple hours of sleep.”

  “I’ll be right up.” She threw Kate a look that told her not to argue.

  Fortunately, Kate had calmed Clare down. Funny, through all the commotion, Katie never woke up. Sometimes, Susan wished she could sleep that soundly.

  Once her sisters were upstairs, Susan grabbed her cell phone and punched in Dave’s number with shaky fingers. “Dave!” Susan said when she heard the click that told her he picked up. “Dave, someone was here. Someone was tapping on the window.”

  * * *

  “Calm down, Susan. What’s going on? Did you call the police?”

  “Yes, but I didn’t tell them about the rose. It’s too complicated, and I didn’t want Clare going hysterical again.”

  Dave sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “What rose? What are you talking about? Start from the beginning.” He grabbed his pants off the chair, hopped on one foot, and managed to put them on without falling.

  “I heard a noise and woke up. It sounded like someone tapping on the window. I was going to go down, but then we heard a loud thump, and Kate called the cops.” Susan took a deep breath. “The thump was Johnny. He heard the noise, too, and went down to see what it was. He saw someone near my car.”

  “Okay, Susan, calm down. I’m on my way.” Dave slipped his bare feet into his loafers.

  “No! I mean— Oh, heck. I don’t know what I mean. No, don’t come. The police are going to keep an eye on things to make sure no one comes back.”

  “What about the rose?” Dave didn’t like this. He needed to go over there, check things out himself.

  “Someone hung a rose on my car. Just like they did at the hospital that day.”

  “I’m coming over.” Dave grabbed his jacket and started out the door. Didn’t matter if Susan wanted him to or not. He wouldn’t rest until he saw things for himself.

  “No, please don’t, Dave. I’m okay. I just needed to talk to you.”

  “Okay. Listen. I’m coming over. I won’t ring the bell or anything. But I want to check things out. Okay?”

  “Really, Dave, you don’t have to.”

  “I know I don’t have to. But I’m going to, anyway.” Dave hung up without giving her a chance to say anything else. What the heck was going on? Someone must have followed her. Dave grabbed his keys and ran out to his car.

  * * *

  Susan woke up around seven o’clock the following morning and wondered if Dave was still there. The fact she slept at all surprised her. She sneaked downstairs and looked out the front window. A patrol car drove by, but no sign of Dave. He must have taken the rose, because it was gone. She couldn’t help but smile. All she wanted to do was go home and be with him. Now she knew what Clare meant about being alone. Heck, she wasn’t even married, and she didn’t like being alone. She guessed she couldn’t blame her sister for wanting a divorce. She deserved to be happy, and if Steve didn’t make her happy, then no sens
e in staying with him. Still, she’d been happy with him once. Wasn’t marriage a two-way street? Didn’t it take two to make it work?

  Somehow, her sister would work it out. She had enough to deal with, how to sneak out without her sisters knowing was one of them.

  “Morning. You’re up early.” Clare came into the kitchen and took the coffeepot out of the cupboard.

  No chance of her sneaking out now. Oh, well, she’d grin and bear it. A couple more hours, and she could go home. Dave was probably busy, anyway. “So, where’s Kate? She’s usually the early bird.”

  “I’m right here.” Kate came in yawning. “You have the lumpiest bed I’ve ever slept in. I swear I didn’t sleep a wink last night.”

  “Sounded like you were sawing logs pretty good to me.” Susan opened the cookie jar and grabbed a handful of cookies. One of the things she liked most about visiting Clare — she always had homemade cookies, just like their mother.

  Kate grabbed a cookie from Susan. “How would you know? You were snoring so loud, I can’t believe you didn’t wake everyone in the house.”

  “All right, you two, that’s enough. You were both sawing logs. I heard both of you.”

  “Oh right, like you were awake all night?” Susan stuck her tongue out at Kate.

  “Actually, I was. I was thinking about what you two said. I’ll go to counseling for a month. If I still feel the same about Steve, I’ll go ahead with my plan.”

  “Come on, Clare, you know a month isn’t long enough. People go to counseling for years.” Susan took a package of ham and a dozen eggs from the refrigerator. “Anyone feel like an omelet?”

  “Only if you’re making them,” Kate said. “You make the best omelets.”

  “I’m making them. Clare, do you want one?”

  “I’m not very hungry.” Clare pulled a stool next to the counter and sat down. “Can we wait to talk about my decision until the kids leave for school? They’ll be down here any minute.”

  After breakfast, when the kids left for school, Clare sat down. “Now, back to our previous discussion. I’m willing to give counseling a month. If I still feel the same way, I’m asking for a divorce, it’s just that simple. I’m not wasting another year of my life to find out we aren’t compatible.”