Seeing her mother’s wide eyes staring at her, she recognized worry in them, the same look that Jason was giving her. Nodding slowly as she let out a long breath, she said, “You’re right. It’s just hard for me to imagine what she must’ve gone through.” Needing to change the subject, she began telling her mother about the shop, the delivery of all of the family equipment, furniture for her apartment, and even the visit by the pompous Mayor Banks.
Her mother laughed, her good hand slapping her knee as Rose described the way Jason swooped in like a knight in shining armor.
Rolling his eyes, Jason just said in his low voice, “Babe, you’re ridiculous.”
After their talk, they repeated the walk back to her room, her mom steady with her walker, and Jason, once again, hovering with his hands ready to catch her. Peggy opened her arms for a goodbye hug from Jason, and he stepped in, gently wrapping her in his embrace. She lifted her good arm to hold onto him and said, “Thank you for taking care of my Rose.”
Rose watched his gaze stay warmly on her mom as he said, “You don’t have to thank me for taking care of her.”
She patted his arm and said, “I’m thankful all the same.”
With that, Jason stepped back and allowed Rose to move in for her own goodbye hug with her mom. The two women, arms wrapped around each other, stood for a long minute, love moving freely between them.
“He’s a good man, Rose,” her mom said. “I was lucky to have a good man like that, too.”
Tears pricked her eyes, and she held on tightly for another moment before finally loosening her grip, stepping back with her hands still holding her mom’s. Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she said, “I know, Mom. He was a wonderful dad as well.”
Her mom smiled as she shifted her gaze from Rose to Jason and then back to Rose again. “This one,” her mom nodded toward Jason, “will make a good dad, too.”
Sucking in a quick breath, Rose felt Jason stiffen next to her, but before she had a chance to say anything, her mom sat in her chair and said, “It’s time for me to get ready for bed. You two go on and have a nice evening.”
Jason took Rose by the arm and led her out, and as soon as they left the building, he wrapped his arms around her. “How the hell would she know?” he asked, not able to hide his incredulity.
Swiping at her residual tears, Rose shook her head. “I have no idea.” Looking up, she said, “She’s right though, you know? You will make a good dad.”
Jason lifted her up in his arms, gave her a little swing around and kissed her soundly. “God, I love you.”
Laughing, she giggled through their kiss, and then said as her feet touched the ground, “Take me home and make love to me.” She loved the feel of his growl as he kissed her again, anxious for him to take her home.
The shop was filled, and Rose could not be happier. Ginny and Brogan had a healthy little girl named Colleen. As soon as she heard, she burst into tears, thinking of the child she carried.
Rose had been accepting deliveries of her fresh produce and items needed to re-create her mom and dad’s ice cream. She had bought the handcrafted tables from the woodworker just outside of town and purchased sturdy chairs to go around.
Two teenage girls and a teenage boy trained to work in her shop, and tonight was their maiden run at her soft opening. Rose had invited members of the American Legion and Auxiliary, which included all her friends as well as a few other townspeople, including the Mayor.
Her ice cream flavors for the evening included vanilla bean, chocolate mint, peach, pistachio, and her father’s specialty, rose petal. Coffee, freshly squeezed lemonade, and, for tonight only, champagne were offered.
Cups and waffle cones were filled with ice cream, and if the sounds of laughter were anything to go by, the crowd was definitely enjoying Baytown’s newest business.
With her hair pulled back in a long braid, she wore a pink polo with her logo embroidered over the left breast. Instead of blue jeans that she would normally wear, she paired the polo with black pants, although she stuck with her pink sneakers. She insisted on working behind the counter, wanting to keep an eye on her new employees and making sure that everything was going perfectly.
As her gaze would occasionally drift over the crowd, she would see Jason, chatting with some of their friends, and as though an invisible thread connected them, he would turn and look at her, his lips curving into a smile. His hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, his beard was trimmed, and her breath snagged in her lungs as his gaze made her feel as though she was the only person in the room.
There were still so many unanswered questions as to who they were and what they were doing, but as her hand drifted down to her abdomen, she could not help but smile in return, resting in the knowledge that their baby would be loved.
“Miss Rose,” Carol said, interrupting her musings. “I’m almost at the bottom of the Rose Petal ice cream. Do you want me to get more from the freezer?”
While all the invitees were present and eating, she did not want to have any of her tubs missing or empty during the opening. Nodding, she said, “Thank you, Carol. I’ll get more.”
She walked to her freezer and pulled out another tub of the specialty ice cream, finding it immediately lifted from her hands. Jerking around in surprise, she observed Jason carrying the tub over to the display case, exchanging it for the empty one. As he walked back over to the sink to place the empty tub into it to be rinsed out, she moved next to him. Keeping her voice low, she asked, “Jason, what are you doing?”
He opened his mouth to speak, but she jumped in first, “And you’d better not give me any ridiculous story about how I can’t lift anything! For crying out loud, it’s a tub of ice cream!”
Scowling, he replied, “Fine, fine. I can’t help what you do when I’m not around, but it doesn’t make any sense to have you lift something heavy when I’m standing right here.”
Before she had a chance to retort, the sound of a spoon clinking on a glass caught their attention. Everyone quieted, and she rolled her eyes as Corwin began speaking.
“As Mayor of this fine town, it is my great honor to be able to welcome our newest businessman…uh…woman—”
“Businessperson, Corwin!” his wife, Phyllis, corrected. Laughter ensued, and Corwin nodded toward his wife.
“Businessperson,” he continued. Looking toward Rose, he said, “Ms. Parker, the town has been in need of an ice cream shop for years, and we are all thankful that you finally decided to open one. I, myself, plan on being a regular here, having tasted all of the flavors tonight and finding them absolutely delicious.”
While the crowd clapped their agreement, Jason whispered, “If he comes here every day, he won’t be able to fit into his pants!”
Rose elbowed him in the stomach, grinning at the slight umph he emitted. “Shh,” she admonished, then sighed as the Mayor continued, knowing that he enjoyed having a chance to pontificate.
“I remember my Aunt Ellen’s shop in this very building when I was a child. Ellen Williams was an early entrepreneur in this thriving post-World War II town. She was born in nineteen-twenty, and I often wondered if so many of the young men in our town had not gone off to war if she would have married and her life been different. But she didn’t, and she opened her lady’s dress shop in nineteen-forty-five.”
For once, Mayor Banks had everyone’s attention, and Rose wondered if it was because he was not talking about himself. Interested in hearing about another female business owner that used to be in this building, she leaned against Jason and listened as Corwin’s speech continued.
“I remember, as a child, when Paul Gillespie, Bernard Sommers, and I would run down the street to the five and dime after school, and we would stop in Aunt Ellen’s shop. She would keep a glass jar of lemon drops on her counter, and if we asked politely, she would allow us to get one.”
Paul, standing near Corwin and Phyllis, chuckled, saying, “I think a few times when her back was turned, we would actually sneak a
n extra one.”
The crowd laughed, and Corwin nodded. “My aunt believed in providing the women in Baytown the opportunity of purchasing ready-made clothing of excellent quality. During the fifty years that she ran this shop, she gave many young women an opportunity to work in her shop, hoping to inspire others to become entrepreneurs themselves.”
“I believe you were sweet on a couple of those young women,” Phyllis said, lifting her eyebrow at Corwin.
Patting his wife’s shoulder, he shook his head. “Now, now, Phyllis, my dear. You are the only one who I was truly interested in.”
Phyllis rolled her eyes, and Corwin finished by saying, “My Aunt Ellen has been gone for many years now, and this shop has held quite a few other businesses between then and now. But it is my great pleasure to welcome Ms. Rose Parker to Baytown as the owner of Sweet Rose Ice Cream Shop.”
Everyone in attendance clapped, and Rose could feel the heat of blush warm her cheeks. Stepping forward, she said, “Thank you, Mayor Banks. Now, I have put out more ice cream, so please help yourself to any of the flavors you have not tried.”
Several minutes later, she watched as Mona rushed into the shop, panting as though she had been running. The crowd parted, allowing Mona to move to the counter. Rose greeted, “Mona, how nice to see you. Would you like some ice cream?”
Shaking her head, Mona exclaimed, “Oh, no, my dear. I’ve been out of town to visit my sister and just got back and heard what you discovered! But you’ve got it all wrong.”
She felt Jason move up behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders as she continued to stare at the distraught woman. Not understanding what Mona was talking about, she asked, “I’ve got what wrong?”
Mona’s hands waved wildly about the shop as she gained the attention of the gathering. “You couldn’t possibly have found the remains of Millicent Carson in your cellar. She and Charles lived to be over sixty and died within a few months of each other. They’re buried side-by-side in the old section of the Baytown Cemetery a few miles outside of town.”
By now, the shop was deathly quiet as everyone processed what the town’s historian was saying.
Corwin blustered, “What kind of cock and bull story are you spouting off about, Mona? Have you been drinking?”
Whipping her head around to stare at the red-faced Mayor, she huffed, “Corwin Banks, I’ll thank you to keep a civil tongue in your head! You know good and well I don’t drink!”
Before Corwin had a chance to retort, his wife placed her hand on his arm at the same time that Mitch stepped forward, saying, “Ms. Jorgensen, I’d like to know what information you have.”
“Chief Evans, I’m trying to tell you. That’s not Millicent Carson from the 1800s that you took from this cellar.”
Shaking her head slowly side to side, Rose said, “I don’t understand. Are you sure?”
Bobbing her head up and down, Mona said, “Absolutely. There’s no doubt about it, my dear. What you found in your basement were the bones of some other woman!”
The last things Rose remembered were the gasps from all around and Jason’s arms reaching out to grab her as she slumped unconscious to the floor.
22
Jason stared at Rose still sleeping in his bed, his mind in a whirl from the events of the previous evening. Glad that she was finally resting, he padded barefoot into his kitchen, starting the coffee maker. Shirtless, he wore an old pair of sweatpants hanging low on his lean hips. His hair was down, still tousled from sleep.
Once poured, he carried his cup of coffee through his living room to the large windows overlooking the street below. Staring at the front of Rose’s building, his gaze landed on the dark pink script that had been painted on her front windows. Sweet Rose Ice Cream Shop.
He slowly shook his head back and forth, unable to believe how it seemed that for every step she moved forward, she was forced to take another step back. She had hoped to open her shop full-time next week, but now that was an uncertainty until they got the go-ahead from Mitch.
He remembered Mitch stepping forward to Mona last night, his friend’s tight jaw indicating he understood exactly what she was saying, and the BPD now had an open investigation as to whose remains had been found.
Jason had been stunned at Mona’s declaration, but he was so thankful he had been standing with Rose, taking most of her weight. He felt the instant her body began to slump and, reacting quickly, was able to keep her from falling to the floor. Thank God that the room was filled mostly with their friends.
Zac and Belle had rushed forward, immediately seeing to Rose’s medical needs. Several of the others were in law enforcement and ushered Mona to the side so they could question her further. The gathering moved out of the way, clustered in groups, their voices low. Corwin continued to bluster, with Phyllis and Paul finally ushering him out.
Terrified of her fainting, he was grateful that everyone else had stayed on the other side of the counter, giving them privacy. He had leaned forward, knowing as medical professionals they would be discreet, and whispered to Zac and Belle, “She’s pregnant.”
Both simply nodded, and Belle continued to monitor Rose’s blood pressure as Zac listened to her heartbeat. He had focused on Rose’s pale face, his heart beating wildly until her eyes fluttered open. Embarrassed, she tried to push up, but Belle and Zac wanted her to continue to lie on the floor with her feet elevated.
“Oh, my God,” Rose moaned, “I can’t believe I fainted again.”
“Have you seen a doctor?” Zac asked.
Her eyes widened as she looked between Belle and Zac before turning her gaze to Jason. “Uh…”
“I had to tell them,” Jason whispered, hating that her eyes jerked open even wider.
Belle leaned down and whispered, “No one else knows, honey. Zac and I won’t say anything to anyone.”
Jason answered for her when he looked at Zac and said, “She has an appointment, but it’s next week.”
Zac smiled and patted Rose’s hand. “Your heart rate is good, and your blood pressure is a little low, but within the normal range. Make sure you keep the appointment next week.”
Assisting her to a chair, Jason stayed right next to her as her friends came by to offer a hug and well wishes after finding out that she was fine.
Everyone began to leave, and Mitch was the last to speak to them. “Don’t worry about this, Rose,” Mitch had encouraged. “I’ll call the Virginia Department of Forensic Science tomorrow, let them know there is now a rush on any identification they can give us.”
“Did Mona have anything to add?” Rose asked. Jason wanted to shush her, not wanting her to even think about anything upsetting, but he knew she would want to know.
“No,” Mitch answered. “She was able to explain the records she found on Millicent and Charles’ death from the old church records.”
Rose had held fast to Jason’s hand as she asked, “What happens now? I don’t want to seem insensitive because I know you now have an investigation, but what about my shop?”
“When we removed the remains a few weeks ago, the State Police removed everything, including combing through the cellar and the dirt floor. There won’t be any other reason for us to continue to look down there that I know of.” Mitch rubbed his chin for a second, obviously pondering something, before adding, “But Rose, I’d rather you not tell anyone that right now. I have no idea what we’ll be able to find out about the woman, but if it was a more recent death, then I might be looking at someone who’s still alive who may have knowledge of how she died.”
Jason looked at his friend, and before he could stop himself, said, “You mean a possible murder.”
Mitch’s gaze had jumped to his, and he said, “At this point, I have no idea what we’re looking at.” With a nod, he turned and left, leaving Jason and Rose as the only two people in the shop. She had dismissed the teenage helpers and had waved away the offers to help clean by her friends.
She looked up at Jason and said, “All I rea
lly want to do is crawl in bed and wish for a day when my darling shop is not overshadowed by death!” She stood, sucked in a deep breath, then added, “But my parents never once left the shop in disarray without getting it ready for the next day, and I’m not going to break that tradition.”
He watched as she began to move around, and pride swelled in his chest as he stared at her. Grabbing a wet rag, he began wiping down the tables as she moved the tubs of ice cream into the freezer.
It was well after midnight before they made it to bed, and she finally fell asleep in his arms. He was glad it was Sunday and the garage was not open, uncertain that he would be able to concentrate on working on an engine safely.
A light knock on the door sounded, and he threw it open, seeing Zac standing at the top of the stairway. With a jerk of his head, he indicated for Zac to come in.
“She still sleeping?” Zac whispered.
Nodding, he walked over to the coffee pot and poured another cup. “She insisted we clean the place up last night before we came over here. I hope she keeps sleeping because I know she needs to rest.”
“I wanted to check on you as much as her,” Zac said.
Holding his friend’s gaze, he sighed and shook his head. “I know when the news gets out, everyone will be shocked, figuring we just fucked up. But I can put your mind to rest right now,” he said. “I’m in love with her. Granted, it seems like we’ve gone about everything backward, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that I love her. And I’m stoked about being a father.”
Zac’s easy grin spread across his face and clapped Jason on the shoulder. “Glad to hear it, man. She’s a great girl.”
The two friends stood silently for a few minutes as they finished their mugs of coffee. Placing his in the sink, Zac said, “You do realize that we’ll become fathers together in the same year.”
Chuckling, he nodded. “Yeah, it looks like this is Baytown’s baby-boom year.”
Sweet Rose: Baytown Boys Page 18