“Why don’t you and I have lunch tomorrow and I’ll answer your questions?”
“Really?” she asked, her smile as wide as the Grand Canyon.
“Really,” Rosa said. “I live at—”
“I know where you live,” Tommie cut in. “What time should I be there?”
“I was going to suggest we meet at the Angus. I haven’t have a good steak since I’ve been here.”
“The Angus?”
Surprise showed again on her face. The Angus was the best restaurant in the Valley.
“I’ll ask Vida to come, too. Davida King. Between the two of us, we should be able to tell you a few secrets.”
“Thank you so much,” she breathed, clasping Rosa’s free hand and squeezing it. Her voice filled with awe. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Noon,” Rosa said. “Do you need me to pick you up?”
She shook her head. “I have a car.”
She rocked back on her feet and hunched her shoulders before turning to return to her friends in the back of the store. A moment later Rosa heard one of them say, “You are kidding me” in a quick staccato.
Adam turned back to Rosa. “Thanks, you’ve made her day.”
“She seems like a nice kid.”
“She is and she really does want to be a model.”
“Vida and I will tell her the good parts and only a few of the bad. We don’t want to discourage her.”
Adam looked back again. Tommie waved and smiled at him.
“Can I buy you a coffee? Or a lemonade?” Adam was smiling at her. “I told them you like it with fresh lemons.”
For her own preservation, Rosa knew she should refuse. She needed to get home with the photos and begin working, but she heard herself saying, “Then I suppose I’ll have to order it.”
The two of them moved to a booth along the wall. Adam signaled the guy behind the counter and moments later he dropped a lemonade and a coffee on the table. They were far enough away from his cousin and her friends to not be heard.
“I’ve missed seeing you,” Adam said, his hand hugging his cup.
“You’ve seen me.”
“Only from a distance. And then you run away quickly.”
“I thought that’s how you wanted it.”
“I did, too, but I found not seeing you is harder than having you close by.”
“Does this mean you don’t dislike me anymore?”
He looked into his cup, then back at her. “I never really disliked you.”
Rosa heard a catch in his voice and it caused her heart to skip a beat. She didn’t state the obvious, only lifted her glass and toasted him. “Then tell me about the other woman.”
He didn’t pretend to misunderstand her. “We need to get out of here for that.”
Chapter 7
“Where are we going?” Rosa asked the moment they were outside. She didn’t think it was a good idea to go to her house. They would be alone and she didn’t know if she could trust herself. She’d longed to see him for the last week, talk to him as a friend if nothing more. When she did see him, her heart raced as it was doing now.
“For a ride. I’ll drive.”
They got in his truck and he drove out of town, away from both their homes and toward the imposing mountains. Mainly they were silent. Rosa couldn’t think of anything to say. And Adam’s stoic presence kept her quiet. He finally pulled the truck into the parking lot of a movie theater. Rosa was confused, but she didn’t say anything. The theater was closed. No letters lingered, hanging askew on an aged marquee. No posters remained, curled and faded in the glass cases outside the building.
Adam got out and came around the truck. When he pulled her door open, she turned and faced him. She didn’t immediately slip off the seat. Adam was looking at her, staring, his eyes piercing her.
“Why are we here?”
Adam looked at the old building. Many of these vintage theaters had closed down in the wake of multiplexes and enclosed malls. Rosa had the feeling he wasn’t seeing the same building she was.
“I had my first job in there,” he said.
“What did you do?”
“I started out sweeping the floor after a showing. By the time I left for college, I was running the projector. This was before everything went computer digital. Technology closed this place down. That and the high price of electricity.”
Adam went to the door. Selecting a key from the chain in his hand, he opened the door.
“You have a key to this place like you knew the code for the library entrance.”
“Nothing so secretive,” he said. “I own this building.”
He opened the door. Rosa entered the cool dark cavern.
“What are you planning to do with it?”
“I was going to renovate it. Spend time doing some of the work myself. Open it during the day for children’s movies, those rated G and PG. At night for other ratings, private parties, that sort of thing.”
“You’re speaking in past tense. What made you change your mind?” Rosa didn’t think it could be Bailey and his health concerns. If Bailey took his medicine as directed, he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. And he had Medea there to see that he did.
“A court order,” he said.
“The court won’t let you open the theater? Why?”
Adam had led her into the main viewing room. The place should have smelled musty and old, but it didn’t. There was a strange quietness to being in a theater with no sound and very little lighting. Unconsciously, Rosa reached for and found Adam’s hand. She grasped it and held on as he moved toward a distant wall. With a penlight he opened a panel and flipped several switches.
“Wanna watch a movie?” he asked.
“Not as much as I want an explanation.”
Adam pressed a button and Rosa heard the whirr of a motor beginning. Music began to play and she turned as the screen came to life. He lowered the sound and took her hand again. The two of them walked to the center aisle and down a few rows before taking seats.
“Sorry, the popcorn maker isn’t on right now.”
Rosa said nothing. She glanced at the screen as the title came up. A train rode across the western frontier. Bad Day at Black Rock disappeared as the credits changed from one to the other.
Adam’s face jumped from bright to dark as the film changed scenes. “I had a camerawoman in D.C. Her name was Maureen Carter. She was with me before I became a regular weekend anchor.”
Rosa listened intently. She turned sideways in the seat and folded one leg under her. Her legs were too long for her to sit Indian-style.
“We went everywhere together. She was really good at what she did. She had all kinds of awards for her photographs.”
Rosa was slightly jealous of the other woman. She’d known Adam. And Adam had liked her. Unlike what he felt about Rosa. There was an attraction between them. One he fought at every turn. Rosa wondered if Maureen was the reason he put up barriers against her.
“Was she very beautiful?”
His face changed. Rosa didn’t know if she should call what he did a smile, but it was a pleasant movement, as if he got a visual image that he remembered fondly.
“She was beautiful, but we weren’t lovers if that’s what you’re thinking. Maureen isn’t the reason I distrust beautiful women.”
Rosa couldn’t help wondering who was.
She felt Adam was in love with her even if they weren’t lovers. And who was the beautiful one?
“A couple of years ago she was out on a job. I wasn’t there. It was a Saturday night, full moon in the sky. People go a little crazy during a full moon. I was doing the anchor job. Maureen was working with someone else, covering a suspected drug house. It was routine. They weren’t trying to enter the house, only doing some footage for a story the reporter was working on. Nothing was supposed to go wrong.”
“But it did.” Rosa finished Adam’s thought. He was looking at her, but he wasn’t talking to her. She could tell he
wished he’d been there, that he could somehow change the outcome.
“It did,” he conceded. “There was a drug bust going on they didn’t know about. People came rushing out of the house as the police converged on the place. Maureen kept her camera running until one of the bullets hit her. She died at the scene.”
A lump rose in Rosa’s throat.
“She left behind a son. Left his custody to me.”
“Where is he?” Rosa asked. She hadn’t seen any children at his house and no one had mentioned a child. Maybe he was a teenager and away somewhere.
“He had a distant aunt. She came forward and petitioned the court for custody. I challenged it, but the judge ruled in her favor.” He paused a second. Rosa knew there was more to it than the simplified version he’d given her. “That’s when I chucked it and came out here. It was my plan to bring him out here. The theater would give us something to do to get to know each other. You know, learn to trust each other. Learn about each other and get over our grief. But all that went down the drain.”
“So you never restored the place?” Rosa asked.
“Not fully.” Adam looked around the place. “I had some work done, the seats repaired, the projection room redone. I refinished the floors.”
“You have a pattern of that,” Rosa said.
“A pattern of what?”
“Running away, not finishing things.”
He frowned. “What are you talking about? What have I run away from?”
“To start with, there’s your house. A lot of loving work went into that house and you left it as if it meant nothing. Even when you came home, you left it sitting idle.”
“I got a job. I needed to move. That wasn’t running away.”
“Then there’s the job in D.C. and the custody.”
“I didn’t have a choice in that.”
“You always have a choice.”
“You know nothing about it.”
“I know more than you think.”
His head whipped around and he stared at her.
“No, no one’s said anything to me.” She answered his unasked question. “You’re the only one I’ve talked to about you. But I’ve learned a few things from what you’ve said.”
“I didn’t bring you here for a reading.”
“Shall I stop?”
He sighed, expelling a long breath. “I didn’t run away. I was so bruised after all that was going on. Maureen’s death, the custody hearing, I needed to get away. Starting over seemed like a good idea.”
“What about the child?”
“What about him? He’s with his aunt.”
“When was the last time you called him?”
He hesitated. “I haven’t, not since last Christmas.”
“Is he doing all right?”
“He seems to be settling in.”
“You miss him, don’t you?”
Rosa knew she’d struck a nerve by the way he answered. His simple yes was tight and hard.
“You say you and Maureen weren’t lovers, but you were in love with her.” It was a statement.
Adam contemplated her question. The film’s light painted across his features. Rosa’s gaze was direct.
“I suppose I was,” he said. “I never thought of it before. We were so like each other, each so in tune with what the other would say or do. I felt like I’d lost an arm when she died. And when the court ruled against me…”
Rosa wanted to ask if he was still in love with her, but she didn’t. “Have you thought of going back?”
“No.” He said it quickly. Too quickly. “You heard me on the phone with Ben Masterson.”
“I did and I saw your face when you hung up the phone. And when you looked at me for coming to the Valley. You smelled a story and you tried to find out the reason.” She waited for a reply. When none came, she went on. “At least until the day of the picnic.”
At the mention of that he turned away, giving his attention to the screen. The shot was of the sky and distant hills. It was bright and lit Adam’s face up as if it were high noon.
Rosa felt he was uncomfortable. She kept to herself the smile that threatened to break. “What about the other woman?”
“There are no other women.”
“The beautiful one, the too beautiful woman.”
“That’s an attitude, not a person.”
“And you think I have it?”
“Thought,” he said, turning his gaze back to her and away from Spencer Tracy on the screen.
“Wasn’t there someone named Cassandra?”
“How’d you find out about her?”
“I looked you up on the Internet. For a while your name was linked with hers. I only found a few photos. She’s very pretty.”
“She is that, but that’s all she is and she uses her looks like a badge.”
“We all use our looks. I use mine and they’ve done very well for me.”
“But you’re not selfish, conniving, and untrustworthy. Cassie would never have done for Tommie what you did. She’d have brushed her away like an annoying fly.”
“Is that what she did to you?”
His head snapped to face her. “For the most part. She used me. And when someone better came along, she took off with the speed of a jetliner.”
“So you swore off beautiful women because of that.”
“She wasn’t the only one. And I thought you were one of them.”
“What changed your mind?”
“The picnic.”
The two words, although spoken quietly, had enough force to knock the wind out of her. Rosa was sure if she hadn’t been seated, she wouldn’t have been able to support herself. Then, like a vacuum, she sucked air into her lungs.
“You don’t really mean that?” Rosa asked, her voice so low she could only be speaking to herself.
“I mean it,” Adam answered.
For the length of eternity emotions warred within her. Elation bubbled up and threatened to overwhelm her. It was damped down by cold reality. What was she thinking? She and Adam weren’t a couple. They weren’t committed to each other or even intending to be. She’d let her imagination fly away with thoughts of them that weren’t to be. He was a loner and she…she was too.
Rosa got up. Adam followed her movements. They stared at each other. The screen burst with gunfire.
“Take me back to my car,” Rosa said, anger evident in every line of her body.
Turning away, she walked along the folded seats and out onto the carpet.
“Rosa,” Adam called.
Her steps didn’t falter. She reached the carpeted runners and walked up the short aisle to the back of the theater.
Adam got to the door before her. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re playing with my head,” she said. “And I’m not willing to join your game.” She moved past him and opened another door. It led to the anteroom that housed the ticket booth and candy counters.
“Rosa, this is no game.”
“You’re right.” She stopped and turned to face him. “To play a game you need as least two players for anything but solitaire. So game over.”
Proceeding to his truck, she got in. She hated that he’d brought her here and she needed to ride back with him to get her car. They were still in town, but the drugstore was miles away, and she’d had her day walking in nothing but a strappy pair of sandals.
Adam got in the truck. “I don’t understand. What did I say?”
“You said it all at your house a week ago, Adam. You said you were sorry. You said this couldn’t go any further. Well, I agree with you. And I’m not willing to participate in a…a summer fling.” She didn’t know what else to call it.
“Rosa—”
“Please,” she cut him off. “Take me back.”
Adam started the engine. The drive back was short. He pulled into a parking space next to the Corvette. Rosa reached for the doorknob as soon as the truck stopped. Sliding down from the seat, she fished for her keys in he
r purse and got in the car. Since the car was low to the ground and Adam’s truck sat high, she didn’t see him when she backed out of the space.
It was only after she’d driven to her house and was safely inside that her knees gave way. She leaned against the door for support. Taking deep breaths, she tried to quiet her heart. She’d wanted to jump out of the theater chair and into Adam’s arms when he mentioned the picnic. Both of them knew they weren’t talking about eating. They were talking about the result of the picnic, their time in bed together.
Rosa lifted her head and looked at the loft. Visual images of the two of them poured into her memory. Her body suffused with heat as if some internal furnace had suddenly come to life.
Forcing her eyes away, she told herself Adam was playing with her head. She wasn’t going to let that happen. She hoped she’d never see him again. But she knew that wasn’t going to happen. She was invited to Bailey’s party.
The party! Thoughts of the photos suddenly struck her. In her haste to get away from Adam, she’d left them in his truck.
“Damn,” she cursed, stamping her foot. She needed those to complete the photo book she planned to give to Bailey for his birthday. And she was running out of time to get it done.
She was going to have to go and get them. And that meant seeing Adam again.
Today had proven to Adam that initial instincts were the best judge of a person’s character. He should have trusted his first impression and steered clear of Rosa Clayton. But he’d felt drawn to her. Adam hadn’t had to go riding after her on the ridge that day. He could have made sure she was safe from a discreet distance. He didn’t need to pack a picnic breakfast and take it with him.
There were so many things he didn’t have to do, but it was too late. He couldn’t undo what was done. Just as he couldn’t go back and keep Maureen from going on that assignment. He couldn’t undo the judge’s decision regarding custody. He had to live with the consequences. Just as he had to live with knowing that Rosa Clayton had claimed his heart.
He’d also captured part of hers. He’d seen it in the photos she left on the seat of his truck. The truth was visual. As was her attempt to keep him from seeing them. Adam drove up her driveway, not even letting himself think why he didn’t allow her scheme to work.
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