Strangers When We Meet

by Rebecca Winters

  Last night, or rather early this morning—when Rosie had finally stirred from Zach’s comforting arms, where she’d sobbed half the night—she’d gotten up from the couch to make coffee. They’d talked everything over and had decided that Zach’s moving in would only add fuel to the fire. So, until their wedding, they would live apart as they’d been doing for two years.

  Secretly Rosie had been relieved by that decision; she’d only agreed to his living with her before their marriage as a way of proving her love to him. Circumstances—set in motion by the arrival of Nick’s parents—prevented her from following through on that decision.

  Neither of them had counted on Janet’s vitriol. And though they hadn’t discussed it, Zach knew Rosie had been devastated by the revelations concerning Nick’s torture in prison. It was an ugly moment. Rosie sensed that Zach had been affected by it, as well.

  It was better to forget the incident and simply maintain the status quo.

  With one difference.

  They were now making plans for their wedding. Zach wanted to build a home for them farther south and east in the valley. But he acknowledged that uprooting Cody would be the wrong thing to do.

  They both hoped that by the time her son graduated from high school, they could build their dream house together, and Cody would play an active part in that project.

  As soon as exam week at the university was over, Zach wanted Rosie to fly to California with him for a round of family parties and wedding showers. When the divorce was final, they would be married in Newport in Zach’s family church. Afterward, there would be a reception at the Newport Beach Club and another one in Salt Lake at the Colonial House on the Avenues.

  Rosie had picked the Avenues area of Salt Lake because it wasn’t linked to any memories of Nick or their life together. She needed to start her new life without shadows. Without regrets.

  She reached Zach’s condo and once again saw that his Passat was missing. Letting out a sigh, she turned around and headed home.

  No doubt she’d hear from him before dinnertime. Twenty minutes later, when she got home, she listened to her messages and heard Zach’s voice.

  “Sweetheart? After I left the office, Mitch called me on the mobile unit. There’s a problem I have to see about. I hope it’s all right if we give dinner a miss. I’ll call you later tonight. I love you.”

  Rosie was sorry she’d have to put off talking to Zach about Cody. On the other hand, there was no time like the present to prove to her son that she wanted to spend some quality time with him alone. He loved her homemade pizza. She’d fix that and have it ready by the time he walked through the door.

  Though Cody had taken the news about Nick’s going away better than she could have hoped, he would start missing him once dinner was over. That was when he and his dad went to the gym—their special time together. Maybe she could distract Cody by playing poker with him. He’d find out his mother wasn’t in her dotage yet!

  She’d never played poker with anyone but Nick, which was an experience too personal to talk about to anyone else. Somehow he beat her every time and exacted payment in ways that still had the power to make her blush.

  I’ve learned a lot since my days of being a blushing bride, Nick Armstrong. Just once, I’d love to have the opportunity to beat the pants off you. Literally. Just once I’d love to make you blush!

  “Mom?”

  “Hi, honey.”

  “I’m home. Has Dad left yet?”

  “I think he has. Why?”

  “I stopped at Jeff’s on the way home. His mom said he could go to West Yellowstone with me. I just wanted Dad to know.”

  “He’ll be calling you tonight. You can tell him then.”

  “I can’t wait!”

  It was going to be a long ten days.

  ZACH SHOULDERED his way through the throngs of people at the L.A. airport, anxious to meet his brother, who was picking him up in front of the terminal.

  “Richard!” he shouted when he saw the blue Oldsmobile. He sprinted over to the car. “I owe you for this, especially when you had to battle five-o’clock traffic.”

  “Hey, bro, it isn’t like I don’t want to see you or anything, but it would be nice to get a little more notice. Do you mind if I ask what in the heck is going on with you?”

  Zach couldn’t answer him. Since the scene in Rosie’s living room last night, his world had exploded in his face. He had a sickness in his gut that wasn’t about to go away.

  “The last time you flew down here, you didn’t tell anybody. Today at lunch my secretary informs me that I’m to pick you up at six o’clock, but no one else is supposed to know. The folks would come unglued if they found out you were in town again and didn’t phone them. As it is, I had to make up some story to Bev about working late tonight.”

  “Like I said, I owe you. Big time.”

  Richard sighed. “Where do you want to go?”

  “Anywhere, but not too far from the airport. I have to get back to Salt Lake tonight.”

  “How about we just pull off at the first exit and sit at a Stop sign?”

  “Fine.”

  “Whoa. You are in bad shape.” As they wound in and out of traffic leaving the terminal, Richard kept looking over at him. “Did you and Rosie have a fight?”

  “No. Last night we got engaged for the second time.” Last night showed him a whole new meaning of the word “terror.”

  “Second time?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “Spill it!”

  “Hell, Richard. Her husband didn’t die in the war. After seven years as a POW, he’s back home in Salt Lake.”

  “What?”

  Richard pulled off the road and braked in front of an elementary school.

  “I saw a clip about that on the news a while back! But I never would’ve associated him with Rosie. Zach—look me in the eye and tell me you’re putting me on.”

  Zach turned his head and faced his brother.

  “Oh, Lord—you’re not!” He reached across the seat to give him a brotherly hug. “No wonder you couldn’t just tell me this on the phone.”

  Zach raked a hand through his hair. “I think I’m going to lose her, Richard. If that happ—”

  “Shut up, Zach. Just start talking to me!”

  “She loved me, Richard. She really did. We were making it. On that cruise she finally agreed to marry me. The first night out at sea, the band was playing requests. Suddenly the lead singer asked if there was a Zachery Wilde in the room. Naturally I wondered what Rosie was up to.

  “When I stood up, he announced that the next song was dedicated to me. Then he called Rosie to the microphone. She whispered something in his ear, and he said into the mike, ‘She’s expecting a marriage proposal when the song is over. Are you ready, Zach?’ They played Eric Clapton’s ‘Wonderful Tonight.’” The words of that song would be forever impressed in Zach’s memory.

  “Before she’d even sat down, I had that ring on her finger. At the end of the cruise, I drove her and Cody to her door, knowing that the rest of my life was going to be pure happiness because Rosie and I were getting married in June.

  “Six hours later I got a phone call. Her husband, Sergeant Nick Armstrong, had been freed from captivity and was on his way home to Hill Air Force Base. Rosie had to go. She’d call me later.”

  Richard groaned, then suddenly leaned across the seat to grasp Zach’s shoulder. “Tell me the rest. Don’t stop until I’ve heard every damn thing that’s eating you alive!”

  Zach heard the love in his brother’s voice. Richard had been at his side when Zach’s former fiancée died in the hospital. There wasn’t another human being who understood him the way Richard did. Zach had repressed his feelings for so long it served as a catharsis to be able to confide in his brother.

  Once he’d begun, he didn’t stop until he’d told him every detail and had admitted his deepest fear. “I have the gut feeling Rosie’s falling in love with her husband all over again.”
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  “But that’s crazy, Zach! Last night she agreed to wear your ring. You made specific wedding plans.”

  “I know. I know,” Zach said. “But you didn’t hear what I heard in Rosie’s voice when her mother-in-law started in about the tortures Nick had been subjected to. What I heard came straight from Rosie’s soul. It sounded like love.”

  “Does that really surprise you? He was her husband all those years. But they’re getting a divorce and she loves you, wants a life with you now.”

  “I know Rosie loves me. But you didn’t see what I saw today at the university.”

  “Okay. What did you see?”

  “She was talking to Nick. They didn’t know I was standing there watching. Have you ever been near a couple who are so involved with each other they have no awareness of anything else around them?”

  “Zach, you’re paranoid. Not without good reason, but I honestly think you’re looking for trouble where there isn’t any.”

  “No. I know what I saw. This was different. There was a…light shining in Rosie’s eyes. I never saw anything like it. She even acted different. I could hardly believe it was her.”

  “What you saw is the way Rosie responds to the man she married. If he saw you and Rosie together, he’d say the same thing—that she doesn’t seem like the same Rosie to him—because you bring out certain things in her that he doesn’t.

  “Those two had a particular chemistry together. They made a child. You and she have another kind of chemistry. You’ll create your own child one day.”

  His brother had a lot of wisdom. “What you’re saying makes perfect sense. But I’ve got this awful feeling that one day after we’re married, Rosie will wake up and wish she was with Nick. He’s never going to go away! They share a son. Cody will be around as a constant reminder of their marriage. For the past two years I’ve done everything but stand on my head trying to erase his shadow. Now he’s back—in the flesh!”

  “Zach, thousands of couples are in second marriages and they work beautifully. Once you and Rosie are living together as husband and wife, you’ll forge bonds so strong nothing will threaten your love.”

  “Those thousands of women weren’t married to Nick Armstrong first.”

  “Aside from the fact that he was a victim of war, which turned him into a hero, why is he such a threat to you? I don’t get it.”

  Zach looked over at his brother. “The truth?”

  He nodded. “Is there any other way?”

  Zach squeezed his arm. “Her husband reminds me of a man I pretty well idolize.”

  “In other words, if you didn’t hate Nick Armstrong’s guts, you and he would probably be friends.”

  “He’s got many of your qualities, Richard.”

  Richard eyed him soulfully for a minute, then patted his shoulder. “I appreciate those kind words, bro. But if what you say is true, you’ve got something even more remarkable going for you. Despite the fact that her husband’s a paragon—” he gave a self-deprecating grin “she’s picked you for her husband.”

  “Maybe. Then again, the fact that Nick filed for divorce may have made me the winner through default, and you’re looking at Rosie’s consolation prize. I don’t doubt she’d go through with our wedding. With her noble little heart, she wouldn’t dream of hurting me again. She’d be a real trooper and try not to let on. But something deep inside tells me Nick would always be in bed with us. I couldn’t handle that.” His voice was harsh with pain.

  Richard had no ready comeback. His expression grew solemn. “Zach, if you’re really that unsure of Rosie’s feelings, if your gut’s telling you something’s wrong, then you need to have it out with her. I mean a knock-down, drag-out, bottom-line session. No holds barred. You know what I’m saying?”

  Zach nodded.

  Oh yes, Richard. I know exactly what you’re saying. Rosie might have had a legitimate excuse to go off with Nick and Cody today. But something tells me she wanted to be with them.

  He sucked in his breath. “That’s why I came down here to see you, Richard. Before I left Salt Lake, I’d half made up my mind to confront her—to get inside her heart and soul, even if I had to fight my way past every defense. I just needed to hear you confirm it.”

  WHEN ROSIE HEARD the front doorbell ring at eleven o’clock, she knew it had to be Zach. Cody had gone to bed an hour ago, but he wasn’t asleep. Nick hadn’t phoned yet. Something must have detained him. The waiting was killing both of them, for different reasons.

  Zach hadn’t called, either. All evening she’d been expecting word from him, yet she’d been dreading that conversation because she’d made a promise to Cody. Spending all her free time with her son meant she wouldn’t be seeing anyone else. Including Zach. Especially Zach. She could just imagine his reaction.

  It wasn’t fair to him. Nothing had ever been fair to him. They’d just gotten engaged for the second time. Now she’d have to ask for his understanding about not seeing him in the evenings until Cody flew to West Yellowstone to be with his father. Even a man as marvelous as Zach had his limits. She knew this would be pushing them, but Cody had to be her first priority. Keeping her son emotionally stable with Nick away translated as cruelty to Zach, a no-win situation. Rosie honestly didn’t know how much more stress she could take. As for Zach…

  With a mixture of reluctance and trepidation, she walked to the door and called out, asking who it was.

  “It’s Zach.”

  Something was wrong. He didn’t say, “It’s me, sweetheart. I’ve missed you.”

  She opened the door, expecting him to reach for her the way he always did. It threw her when he remained in place, almost aloof. “I’d almost given up on you tonight. Come in, darling.”

  After closing the door, she headed for the living room, waiting for his arms to slide around her waist and pull her against him. To her surprise, he came to a standstill just inside the entry to the room, his hands on his hips.

  “Has something serious happened at work? Is there trouble?” She was starting to feel anxious.

  “No.”

  The one-syllable answer filled her with a new form of dread. “So you got everything straightened out with Mitch?”

  “I lied to you, Rosie. I needed some time to think, so I made up an excuse for not having dinner with you.”

  She shook her head sadly. “Why did you have to lie to me? Why didn’t you just tell me you wanted to be alone? I would’ve understood.”

  “I know you would’ve. But I didn’t want to alarm you, not when you’re dealing with so much here at home.”

  “Zach, I realize everything is precarious right now.” Her voice trembled slightly, despite herself. “In fact, there’s another favor I have to ask of you, and I’m afraid to ask it. But I know we’ll eventually get past all this, because we love each other.”

  “What favor?” he demanded, his features taut.

  “Nick left for Yellowstone today with his parents. He’ll be gone ten days and he’s worried about Cody’s reaction. That’s why he came to see me at the university, to decide how best to tell Cody.”

  She moistened her lips nervously when she realized Zach wasn’t going to help her out. “Nick told Cody his grandmother needed her son, just as I needed Cody. So they made a deal. Nick would spend time with his mother. Cody would spend time with me.”

  “And nobody else.” Zach filled in the blanks. “So I’m to get lost for ten days while you fulfill your part of the bargain.”

  “Don’t put it that way, Zach. He was only thinking of Cody. It worked. There were no hysterics.”

  “But there will be if I step foot in this house before the ten days are up. Under the circumstances, I’m surprised you bothered to let me in.” By now his face was completely drained of color. “It looks to me as if from now on I’d better check with Nick before I make plans with my future wife.”

  He was out of the room and the front door so fast she had to run to catch up with him. She’d just managed to slide into the pass
enger seat as he got behind the wheel and started the ignition.

  “Get out of the car, Rosie.”

  “No! Not until we talk.”

  “I’m off-limits, remember?”

  “I know it sounds horrible. It’s just that Cody’s been a different boy since Nick came home. If everything can stay on an even keel until Nick returns from vacation with his folks, you and I won’t have to worry about Cody as much anymore.”

  “Until the next time,” he ground out.

  “What do you mean?”

  Zach’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “There will always be a next time where Cody’s concerned, Rosie. You’re his mother. For the duration of our lives, you will always put him first. And he will always resent me. He’ll pit us against each other to test your love for him. He’ll try to make you choose between us. I’m not saying that to be cruel. I’m saying it because it’s true.

  “Today you made a promise to him. I realize you have to keep it. In fact, you’re breaking it by being out here in the car with me.”

  “Zach, I need to talk to you, darling. Please, will you take time off tomorrow to be with me while Cody’s at school? As soon as he walks out the door, I’ll drive over to your condo.” She paused, then added, “I can always go to the University later to work on my grading.”

  Zach hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “I’ll expect you at nine.”

  She waited for him to take her in his arms. “A-aren’t you even going to kiss me good-night?”

  “No. If I start kissing you, I won’t be able to stop. Go in the house. Now!”

  With tears blinding her, she got out of the car and raced up the lawn to the front porch. She heard a screech of tires as Zach drove away. The sound had a kind of desperate finality about it.

  She had expected way too much of Zach. He was the one who felt fragile right now. She had to do something, quickly. Tomorrow they’d talk, and she’d try to reassure him… But while she stood there in a quandary, the phone rang. She dashed over and picked up the receiver.