by R. T. Wolfe
She was perfect and he was drowning. Their bodies fit like staggered bricks on a building, their mouths like well-oiled gears that moved and worked in absolute sync. Small hums came deep from Rose's throat. Unbelievable. Andy tightened his grip on her neck and wrapped his other arm around her narrow waist to the small of her back. They sunk into each other with sounds of excitement and discovery until they realized Charcoal was half mad from being left out of the play.
Andy found it hard to kiss and smile at the same time. With the dog on hind legs, shoving his wet nose between their bodies, Andy broke free, both of them gasping for air.
"Mmm." Without opening her eyes to him, Rose reached a hand down to scratch Charcoal's head.
Andy placed both hands on the sides of her face and brushed his thumbs along her jaw.
When she opened her eyes, he saw the same look he had seen the night before. Only this time, he understood. Everything. He understood.
Charcoal pushed off them and raced for the front door. Rose sighed. "Newspaper... or family home from breakfast."
He kept hold of her face. "Let's drive to Rochester. Lunch. No, that would still be breakfast. You could use to be a spectator at your zoo for once."
"You have finals."
"I can study on the plane. Come with me."
A smile erupted. She nodded as they realized Charcoal wasn't barking at the paperboy. They were still twined together in the kitchen but quickly released as the door opened.
"Brownies again?" Jessica asked as she headed toward the kitchen. "What is it with this family and brown... oh, sorry, Andy. I didn't know you were here," she said as she entered. "Are you trying to fast-fry the brownies?"
"Oh crap." Rose reached around him and adjusted the temperature of the oven. She smelled amazing. It was disconcerting to hear her out of breath and working to appear uninterested. "Mom," she called out toward the front door. "Andy and I are going to get something to eat and hit the zoo for a while. Do you need anything while we're out?"
"No, I can't think of anything. You two have fun now."
Rose looked to him. "Ten minutes?" she mouthed.
He nodded and said good-bye to Charcoal and the Nolans before walking home. Cutting over the creek, he passed the guesthouse his uncle was working on—the guesthouse he'd promised to help with that weekend. Nathan would take a rain check. He would understand. What would he say to make Nathan understand?
Shaking his head clear, Andy walked toward the back door. Brie was already in the yard sprinkling something in the landscaping beds.
He figured he'd better stop and say something. His aunt had a knack for looking through people. "Hey, Ma. I'm going to Rochester with Rose. I'll be back in time to make my flight. Tell dad I'll make up for the lost help on the guesthouse, will you?"
Her eyes loosened, one brow lifted and she smiled. "Will you need a ride to the airport, then?"
"I thought you said you were taking me?" He paused for a minute, thinking about his plans. "Can I let you know when I get back?"
"Of course. You have awfully dark rings under your eyes. Be careful driving."
He took the deck stairs two at a time.
"It's about time," Brie mumbled as he passed.
* * *
Although the cloudless sky offered promises of warmth, the cool morning air kept Andy from putting the top down as they drove. He handed Rose a tube of sunblock as he placed one of her feet onto his lap. The Eighty-Nine North was quiet at this time on a Sunday morning. Mountains stood in the distance, just then, allowing the sun to peek above them.
"You're my best friend." Rose rotated her body to him as he drove.
"Yes."
"I want to keep it that way."
"Are you having second thoughts?" he asked.
"No. Our friendship is important is all I'm saying."
"This is right. I know you know this is right." He unlaced her shoe and took it off as well as her sock.
He could see her focus on him while coating herself with the SPF fifty. "Are you going to tell me what you're doing?"
He finished with her other shoe, took her feet, one at a time, and set them on his dash. "There. No, wait." He reached back and took out the tie from her hair.
Rose took his hand. "What's gotten into you?"
"That." He pointed to her bare feet. "Your hair and those feet on my dash kept me up half the night."
"Oh," she sounded honestly startled. "In that case, I'll take out the braid myself."
He drove with one hand and with the other he ran the backs of his fingers possessively down her cheek. Rose closed her eyes and rested her head on the seat next to his arm. Her lips were sealed and the corners lifted.
He felt as if a light had been turned on—one that burned away a fog. Now that he could see, there was a desperate craving for more. More of this. More of her. It ate at him already. He wanted to dive in and explore this side of her. Of them. I am an idiot, he decided, and he hated that his brother saw it before he did.
Rose.
Real, determined, natural, sensible, selfless Rose. Soft, toned, sexy Rose. He shook his head clear. There was no way he was going there. Forcing himself to remember that she had her first kiss less than twelve hours ago, he pulled his fingers away from her face and instead slid them down to link with hers.
Chapter 9
Amanda tried to relax on her couch as the puppy snoozed next to her. Her feet were bare and crossed at the ankles as they rested on Dave's lap. Their stomachs were full of pancakes and their minds full of graduation plans.
"It's nice Rose and Andy have stayed such good friends even after his move to college. I wonder what will happen when she takes her turn to move on," she said.
Dave sat with one arm draped across the back of the couch and the other rubbing the ball of her foot. "Hopefully she'll get some new friends. Some girlfriends."
She sighed in agreement. "Yes. Yes, you're right."
"When are we going to tell her?"
Reflexively, she pulled her feet from his lap and sat up.
"I don't mean to upset you."
"I know, I know." She closed her eyes and ran her hands over her face, through her hair. Dave was an innocent in all of this. The battle in her head between protecting her daughter and being honest with her husband was making her insane. Literally. "I'm okay, really." She forced herself to smile at him. She knew it didn't reach her eyes.
"No one expects you to ever be okay with it, but Rose is grown now. You wanted to tell her long before this." He reached and pulled her into him.
Dave was a smart man. He had become complacent to her consistent drop in weight and increase in nerves, but she knew he wasn't blind. Over time, he seemed to find a balance between worry, obsession and the fact that he simply wasn't her father.
After years of failing to find the man who'd raped her and fix whatever he could in her life, Dave seemed to come to the point where he accepted that she was a grown woman and merely offered her the love and support any woman would ask for... and space when she'd needed it. Discussing the origins of Rose's conception always caused a spike in those nerves.
She wanted desperately to tell him why. Let him take over and take care of her, take care of it. But, she was afraid. And she was careful. Her family came first.
Family photos were stored in closed albums and off of mantles and walls. She gave Rose's father just enough money to keep him at bay whenever he decided to show up. The man had no idea he had a daughter, and she would do whatever it took to keep it that way.
He murdered her grandfather. Behind closed lids, she forced back the tears. That bastard had his hand around her throat when he forced her to listen to the details of how he did it. She knew it was an attempt to control her, and it had worked.
All those years of defense classes were for nothing. Each time he showed up, it was like turning back the clock nineteen years when he forced his way into her Red Cross trailer. The smell of his sweaty body and stale tobacco breath blended wit
h a feeling of helplessness and pain. She wondered if Dave ever suspected her motive behind pushing both of the girls through their defense classes. Rose appeased her, but Jessica still fought her with continuing.
Rose's birthday cut it too close. She knew he was due; he hadn't come lurking for over a year. Just enough time for someone to let their guard down, but not her. A thousand dollars every now and then was a small price to pay to keep him away.
She shivered. Dave responded by pulling her closer yet. He was the most loyal person she had ever known. He respected her when she didn't deserve it. Now, it was her turn to respect his peace. She would keep her secret, keep Rose safe and keep Dave from being dragged into her past or ending up like her grandfather.
"I know we need to tell her, but when is the right time? She's so happy right now. Seems more than excited about college. Do I send her off on her own with the knowledge of her violent beginning? With the fear of knowing first hand what's out there? What if she tries to look for him?"
"There's no trace of a Michael Rainer anywhere." He ran his fingers over the back of her hair. "She's grown, Amanda. She'll find out sooner or later. The longer you wait, the more it will hurt her."
* * *
Andy knew he was right. Rose as a guest looked different. Better. She wasn't rushed or looking like a mother watching over her kids, or trying to find something to work on. Still, she couldn't keep from acting as tour guide.
As they passed exhibits, she recited animal facts while he watched her face and reached down to take her hand. Thinking. Planning. Always planning. Start with a foundation. No. They already had that. It was solid with years of unwavering layers. They cut through the wallaby exhibit. Similar interests, same sense of humor. And the lips. How had he never noticed the lips? He ached to stop her and kiss her, but settled for lifting their joined hands and brushing the back of his along her cheek. She kept right on talking about a female that carried a joey, although when he touched her face, her blink lasted longer than natural.
Together, they took a seat on one of the benches around the outdoor stage, waiting for the morning's presentation. The split, treated logs were comfortable and reminded Andy of his uncle's bridge over Black Creek. While waiting for the zookeeper, they made pacts and plans for the summer, much like they always had. Only now they had impatience, excitement and... anticipation. They agreed to keep their relationship private. No one would question if they spent time together or offer any lectures if they decided to take off for a weekend—or every weekend.
Rose said they hit the jackpot when the senior zookeeper and her assistant brought out one of their two bald eagles. Two young brothers looked intimidated by the almost three-foot-tall bird. The boys seemed torn between cowering and curiosity. Rose assured Andy the bird wouldn't disappoint.
Draping his arm across her backrest, he resisted the urge to touch her. He tilted his body enough to give the impression of watching the presenter while actually watching Rose with his renewed sight. He never really felt the same obsession with animals and conservation that she had, but did have great interest in the way Rose ignited each time the subject came up.
Since Rose would already know anything the zookeeper had to say, he suspected she was thinking of the day she would be the one with the gloved hand speaking to spectators. Although she preferred the animals, Rose always had a way with the visitors as well.
Winking at her, the presenter explained to the small crowd that the two eagles were both from Alaska and both permanently injured and left flightless. A gunshot maimed the first, the other a car accident. The birds' zoo enclosure was without a roof and sometimes attracted an occasional wild bald eagle that would hang around for days at a time. The permanently wounded birds were able to hop along in their complicated enclosure and could even hover for a few seconds at a time.
As she spoke, the zookeeper lifted her gloved hand and the bird spread her wings their full eight feet, hovered above her, then set back down and enjoyed a hunk of meat as a reward.
Rose leaned closer to him. "They're named Frick and Frack. This is Frack, the female."
"How can you tell?" Andy asked.
"The female is bigger. The crease of her beak flows back underneath her eyelids, and she has a tiny dark feather on her head. There. See it? That's the female."
"Your wish."
"Hmm?" She turned her eyes to him and stopped. Inhaled deeply.
He watched her blink to clear her mind and couldn't understand how he had never seen her in this light before. She was absolutely beautiful. Not artificially. Real. "Is this still your wish?"
"Oh, I'm not sure. I want to work with animals. That end of biology. I'll see where the four years takes me before I narrow down my doctorate options."
He turned a piece of her hair.
"Eagles are not pets," the presenter continued. "I need to be careful around her. Even though I'm the handler and the one with the food, she'll fight me for it. Starting as eaglets all the way through to fledging, they nip at their parents when food is brought to them. Their instincts are not only to hunt, but to steal."
The brothers, as expected, decided on curiosity over fear and were the first to raise their hands at the question/answer portion of the presentation. "What do they eat?"
"In the wild, bald eagles prefer mostly fish but will also hunt waterfowl, gulls and turtles. They will, however, scavenge and eat animal carcasses like road-killed deer."
The boys responded appropriately with an "Ewww" in tandem. "They live by water?" asked the older of the two.
"Smart question. Bald eagles are found mostly in the Great Lakes region, Chesapeake Bay and Florida but can be found as far north as Alaska and Canada. They are not found on any other continent and, yes, they almost exclusively live near water."
"Alaska?" the younger brother spoke up. "How do they sit on eggs in Alaska?"
The zookeeper looked to the boy. "Intuitive. Nice. They don't mind the cold. Their feathers are well adapted for it. A mother eagle can lay her eggs on solid snow. Unlike other species, both the male and female take turns caring for the young, including sitting on the eggs. It's called brooding and, as many species do, eagles have special feathers that keep eggs warm in extreme temperatures." She switched the heavy bird from one arm to the other.
After the question and answer portion of the show, the presenter finished with a final, dramatic show of wing span. She gave Rose a nod before taking the bird back to her exhibit.
Lunchtime neared, so they made their last stop at the small water tank. The pool held two sea lions and a seal. The seal rested lazily on a protruding rock in the middle of the tank as the sea lions swam in bored circles around him. Rose had the same look on her face as when she chased him down the edge of the lake with the snapping crawfish. Suspicious, he followed her lead and stood on the concrete ledge in order to get a better look at the circling animals. Leaning over, she waved at the sea lions, and then ducked.
With lightning speed, the smaller sea lion sprinted out of the pool and splashed a tailfin full of water, drenching him from head to waist. Rose laughed mercilessly as he grabbed her, tossing her over his shoulder. With her like that, he walked back to the car, soaking her as she squirmed and squealed along the way.
Walking around to the passenger door, he slid her down slowly, leaving little room between him and metal.
"PDA." Rose trembled. "Parking lot PDA."
"PD what?" He touched his lips to just under her ear.
He felt her arms slide along his sides to his back.
"Parking lot public display of affection," she answered and quivered against him.
Reluctantly, he glanced around and noticed a family of four walking out the zoo's exit doors. "Mmm. True. Carried away."
* * *
Charcoal sat, looking broken hearted as Rose went through her list of things to bring in her head. "How do you know?" she asked him. She could tell that he could tell she was getting ready to leave. "All right. One more time through. Th
en, I have to go."
She wanted to get to the terminal early. Actually, she arrived everywhere early but this was different. After the short, barely twenty-four-hour fling with her lifelong best friend, they had spent the week with few and far between phone calls while Andy studied for and took his finals. Now it was time to see, in person, if they would pick up where they left off or if the week had cleared the air and they would go back to where they had been since they were kids.
Charcoal ran in happy circles when he saw her put a few small treats in her pocket. He looked as if he had two different bodies. The front of him was painfully still, and he tried desperately to focus. The back was like a caffeinated belly dancer. He heeled, almost, on their way to the front. She remembered to use gentle reminders followed by an occasional treat for an extra reward.
Rolling him on his back, she praised the pup when he lay still. She lifted his eyelids and pulled at his lips as they learned to do in puppy kindergarten so that he would be comfortable when handled at the vet's. As he gobbled his treats, Rose sat in the grass. She remembered to place her hands close to his mouth so he wouldn't feel threatened with people near his food.
Next, sitting practice. She lifted her fingers above his head and pulled back on his collar while adding an oral command. After verbal praise, she gave Charcoal a hand signal combined with the word "stay." She kept him on his leash. He was nowhere near ready to go without. After just over a month, they could make it about ten feet from each other with success. It was slow, but he was getting better all the time.
"You are the best dog, aren't you?" she told him when he came at her command.
Scratching his ears and rubbing cheeks with him, she finished a solid fifteen minutes of training before giving the command to get in his crate. "Don't look at me like that. I can't take you with me." She gave him a chew toy to help him pass the time.
Chapter 10