Taking a sip of her hot chocolate, she stationed herself on the other side of the counter from where her mother was mashing sweet potatoes. “You’ll be happy to know that Cedric has perfect aim. I don’t think he missed me one time.”
Her mother laughed as she poured evaporated milk into the bowl. “He doesn’t get it from me. It was nice of your friend to send him those comics. I didn’t realize you met anyone other than Mrs. Jenkins while you were there. You never mentioned Jase when we talked on the phone.”
There was a good reason for that. After hearing ‘I told you so’ for months after the breakup with Randall, she hadn’t been in a hurry to talk about another man. Rosemary reached into the open bag of marshmallows resting next to a box of brown sugar and popped a few into her mouth. “It was more in the nature of a reunion. I met him years before when I was visiting Grandma.”
“Is he the reason you didn’t make it to Kennesaw?”
“Sort of. I did a lot of work on the house, but I also spent time with him.”
“Is he boyfriend material?”
Rosemary chuckled. “Definitely.”
“Are you planning to see him again?”
“I want to, but my schedule for the next few months is crazy.”
“If he’s important enough to you, you’ll make time in your crazy schedule to see him. I know it doesn’t seem like it now because you’re on top of the world, but nothing can replace having someone special in your life. As you know, I never thought much of Randall. You need someone who’s not part of the music scene and who hopefully isn’t blinded by your fame.”
She needed someone who would love her even if she wasn’t Sage. “Do you think it’s possible to fall in love over a matter of days?”
There was a moment of silence and then, “That’s a very telling question. I suppose it’s possible to fall in love in five minutes depending on the circumstances and the people involved. Love doesn’t follow a certain pattern. It comes on its own terms and in its own time.”
“Where’s the lecture on being sensible when I need it? I was counting on you to talk me down from the ledge, Mom, not push me over.”
“Being in love and being sensible don’t go together, Rosemary. As Martin would say, they’re mutually exclusive.”
That explained why her heart had stopped listening to her head from the moment she met Jase.
Chapter Eleven
The murmurs and laughter coming from his mother’s kitchen drew a smile from Jase. Things might be heating up in there, but he wondered how much actual cooking Ellen and Quinn were doing. Not that he blamed them. He’d give anything to be in the same situation with Rosemary.
The day of his mother’s annual Christmas party had arrived at last. It was always held the second Saturday in December. Each year the guest list grew longer and the preparations became more elaborate. No one in the immediate family was excused from helping with the big event. His brother and Ellen were supposed to be working on the long list of appetizers and finger foods his mother deemed necessary for a successful party. In his opinion, they were working on something else.
Terry and Lucas were outside transforming the front yard into a winter wonderland, and his father was running all the last minute errands. This left Jase to take on the most demanding position: his mother’s right hand man. He’d spent the last hour carrying in a seemingly endless supply of boxes from the garage and was now knee deep in Christmas village houses, garland, enough ornaments to decorate five trees, and a collection of snow globes and nutcrackers that could easily fill a store.
The only good thing about this ordeal was that he didn’t have to stay for the actual festivities. Jase had volunteered to spend the evening with his grandfather, who’d been under the weather for the past week with bronchitis. From what his mother said, Gramps had been more contrary and cranky than usual. Why did doctors make the worst patients? His father was the same way when he was sick.
“Have you seen the wreath for the front door?” his mother asked, coming into the room with a string of white lights wrapped around her neck.
It would be difficult to misplace a wreath with a ten foot circumference. “On the dining room table.”
She snapped her fingers. “That’s right. I put it there so I wouldn’t forget. Anyway, go ahead and start on the staircase. I’ll come help you after I hang the wreath.”
“Whatever you say, boss.” Another round of muffled squeals floated down the hall from the kitchen. At least someone was having fun. Trying not to feel jealous, Jase grabbed a section of imitation holly garland and stomped up the stairs.
As he threaded greenery around the handrail, he wondered what Rosemary was doing. Was she rehearsing for tonight’s show? He couldn’t be more excited or nervous if he was performing himself. Hopefully, he could get his grandfather to forego watching ESPN and agree to watch a program consisting primarily of singing.
Jase had missed Rosemary’s pregame appearance at the football game on Black Friday. Normally nothing would have induced him to leave the house on the busiest shopping day of the year and immerse himself in the mob of crazed people trying to get the deal of a lifetime. But when Ellen asked him if he would go with her to pick out Quinn’s Christmas present, which in keeping with their approaching parenthood was a camcorder, he couldn’t refuse. By the time they returned to the house, the game had already started.
His mother walked back into the foyer just as he reached the end of the banister. She inspected his handiwork with a critical eye.
“You’re much better at this than Terry or Quinn.”
Jase groaned. “Now I’ll never get out of it.”
“You’re right. I’ll set up the Christmas village on the mantle while you work on the tree.”
As he trailed her into the living room, he remembered hearing his father grumbling about having to buy a new tree. “What was wrong with the old tree?”
“Besides being five years old, it was only nine feet tall. I gave it to Terry. This one is twelve feet.”
This was just getting better and better. Jase pulled the utility knife out of his back pocket and slit open the box. “Do you like having the same size tree as most government buildings?”
“What’s the point in having a huge living room window if I can’t fill it up with a tree?”
He sent her an amused glance. “I never thought of it that way.”
She threw a stuffed reindeer at him. “It’s not nice to make fun of your mother. Did you get your book back from Ellen’s friend?”
“Not yet. Faith’s in the middle of grading term papers. She said she’d have the editing finished by Wednesday. I did get the cover art from the artist. It looks really nice. She’s so much better than me at picking the right picture and font.”
“Are you trying to release it before Christmas?”
He pulled out the instructions, glanced at them fleetingly and laid them to the side. How complicated could it be to put up a tree? He could take a car engine apart and put it back together with his eyes closed. “That’s the plan.”
“How’s the work going on Rosemary’s house?”
“I installed new gingerbread on the front and back porch. Now I’m working on the laundry room.”
“It’s really nice of you to do that for her. She’s going to be so surprised when she comes back.”
“I hope so. I’m having a lot of fun doing it, and Mrs. Jenkins makes sure I never go home hungry. After I fixed her porchlight the other day, she invited me to eat dinner with her. We had pinto beans, cooked cabbage and cornbread.”
“I think she likes having you around.”
Jase looked up from spreading out the individual sections of the tree. “I was thinking about taking her over to meet Gramps. They’re both widowed. Maybe they could be company for one another.”
“Are you trying your hand at matchmaking now?”
“Just trying to spread a little Christmas cheer.”
“And give your own thoughts another direct
ion at the same time.”
“If that’s my intention, I’m failing miserably. I miss Rosemary more every day. I feel like an airplane flying around in a holding pattern hoping to get the signal to land.”
“That’s the hard part of a relationship. You can’t be completely happy when the other person isn’t around.”
Jase reached for another pile of branches. “Being in love is nothing like what I imagined. It’s not like falling off a cliff or suddenly getting hit by a bolt of lightning. It’s more of an awareness that my heart no longer belongs to me.”
“You’re definitely the most romantic of my children.”
“I prefer to be called a visionary or an idealist.”
“It all amounts to the same thing. We’re going to need a stepladder to decorate the top of the tree.”
“Let me go get it. I’ve been looking for a reason to interrupt the lovefest going on in the kitchen.”
His mother laughed. “Quinn won’t thank you for that.”
By the time Jase arrived at Magnolia Manor, the retirement community where his grandfather resided, he never wanted to see another Christmas decoration. His mother definitely thought more was better. The one thing he wished he could have stayed to witness was her reaction to all the places he’d hung mistletoe. There was going to be a lot of kissing going on.
He found his grandfather sitting in his favorite recliner watching a basketball game.
“Hey, Gramps. Mom sent you some chicken noodle soup and herbal tea.”
Joe Phillips grunted irritably. “You’d think I was at death’s door and unable to take care of myself.”
No need to ask how he felt. This comment told Jase his grandfather was feeling better. “Do you want anything right now?”
“No, thanks. I just had one of those menthol cough drops. They taste awful, but they work. How are the party preparations going? Is your mother driving everyone crazy?”
Jase put the soup on the stove and the tea in the refrigerator before grabbing a can of soda for himself. “Everything’s done. Mom was going upstairs to get dressed as I was leaving.”
“All that work for a few hours of boring conversation.”
“It’s only once a year.”
“Thank goodness for that. Ellen came to see me yesterday. She brought me a poinsettia and a tin of peanut butter fudge. She’s finally starting to look like she’s having a baby.”
Something his brother obviously found irresistible. He chuckled at the thought. “I feel sorry for the obstetrician who has to deal with Quinn. Talk about a hands-on daddy.”
“Most men are like that when their wives are pregnant. You’ll be the same way.”
“You’re probably right, but it’s fun to tease Quinn.” Jase checked the time on his phone and then glanced at the television. It was almost seven. The game was only a few minutes away from halftime, and Georgia was losing by double digits. Time to make his move. “Do you mind if we watch something else from seven to eight?”
“Not at all,” Gramps replied, handing him the remote. “Change it to whatever you want. This game is giving me a headache. We can’t make a layup or a jump shot to save our lives.”
As Jase scrolled through what seemed like an endless selection of channels, he could feel his excitement starting to build. This wasn’t the same as seeing Rosemary in person, but it sure beat not seeing her at all.
When he finally found the right channel, the show had just started. Against the backdrop of a wintry scene, a young couple walked out on the stage and greeted the live audience. After making a few general comments and exchanging teasing remarks with each other, they sang a medley of popular Christmas songs.
“They’re not bad, are they?” he asked, turning to look at his companion.
“They’re okay, but they’ve got nothing on Johnny Cash and June Carter.”
“Cut them some slack, Gramps. It’s difficult to compete with two country music legends.”
“Why do they always change how a song’s been sung for fifty years? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
“I’m with you on that. Don’t mess with ‘Jingle Bells’.
A trio of acts followed, but none of them were the one Jase was interested in. Just before a commercial break, he heard the words he’d been waiting for. “Coming up next is the CMA female vocalist of the year. You don’t want to miss Sage singing one of her favorite Christmas songs.”
Jase could hardly breathe as he waited for the program to resume. Rosemary appeared on stage wearing a long-sleeve white lace dress that ended a few inches above her knees and white velvet ankle boots. As the camera slowly zoomed in on her face, he thought his heart was going to leap right out of his chest. Under the lights, her lovely eyes twinkled like blue stars and the playful smile that was probably making more pulses race than his sat on her lips.
“Good evening, everyone. I’m so happy to be here with you tonight. Christmas is the time of year when we get together with those we care about. It’s also a time to remember the ones who are far away. I’d like to dedicate this song to a special friend of mine who I’ve known since I was eleven. I don’t know if he’s listening tonight, but I want him to know that I’m thinking about him today and always.
Jase sat as if turned to stone, unable to believe what was happening, as he listened to Rosemary sing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” During a performance in front of millions of people, she acknowledged his existence and let him know that she hadn’t forgotten him. When the song finished, there was a moment of silence and then thunderous applause. He looked down to see goosebumps covering both his arms. Beside him, his grandfather was pointing at the screen.
“She’s better than all the others put together. What did they say her name was?”
“She calls herself Sage.”
“Pretty little thing, isn’t she?”
More like head-spinning gorgeous. “Yes, she is.” He turned back to the television. The male host had joined Rosemary. Jase’s brows drew into a frown when the man put his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. It was unreasonable, but he didn’t want anyone else but him doing that.
“That was beautiful, Sage. I bet there are a lot of guys out there tonight wishing they were your special friend. Why don’t you put them out of their misery and tell us who the lucky man is?”
She laughed and shook her head. “I can’t do that. I have to make sure it’s all right with him first.”
“Someone told me that you’re working on a new album.”
“That’s true, Blake. It’s called Love at Last. It should be finished in early spring.”
“I know that will make your fans happy.”
The two of them chatted for a few more minutes and then with a final wave to the crowd, she disappeared into the wings.
“It’s nice to see a female performer who’s got some class. A woman doesn’t have to show everything to be attractive,” his grandfather said. “I bet she’s just as pretty without all that stuff on her face, too.”
Jase spoke his thoughts aloud. “She’s breathtaking even when she’s hanging wallpaper.”
“How would you know?”
He couldn’t help laughing at the confused look on Gramps’s face. “I meant she has the kind of natural beauty that doesn’t need makeup. Do you want to go back to the game now?”
“Sure. I doubt anyone else they’ve got on that show can sing better than her.”
Jase put it back on ESPN. They hadn’t missed much. Georgia was still losing. “I told you last time I came over that I was working on my friend’s house. The other day I met the woman who lives next door. Her husband died a few years ago, and her children have all moved away. When she found out who I was, she told me that you were her children’s doctor. Her name is Mrs. Jenkins, and her son had really bad asthma.”
Gramps nodded. “Alexander Jenkins. I remember him. He had to stop playing football because of it. They were in and out of the office a lot. Every time she came in for an appo
intment, she brought some kind of cake or pie. The girls in the office loved her.”
“She’s a big time Georgia fan. She’s got the flag flying outside in the yard and everything. When her husband was alive, they went to the football games. Maybe some time I can bring her over to see you.”
His grandfather moved restlessly. “I don’t know why she’d want to do that.”
Jase hid a smile at this evasive response. Gramps hadn’t said he didn’t want her to come. “I don’t, either, but we’ll ask her anyway.”
Gramps took off his glasses and blew on the lenses. “I’m a little old for this sort of thing, Jase.”
“Too old to meet new people? That’s ridiculous. Mrs. Jenkins is a big improvement on those three old fogies you play cards with every week.”
Satisfied with his efforts, Jase got up to get the tin of Ellen’s fudge.
Later when he was driving home, his thoughts turned to his own situation. Did Rosemary’s comments on that show mean what he hoped? Was she starting to believe that what they had together was real?
* * * * *
Rosemary cautiously opened one eye and then the other, relieved to find that the decorative crown molding above her head wasn’t moving. The spells of dizziness she’d believed were gone had returned with a vengeance in the last two weeks. Each of these annoying episodes had been followed by a blinding headache and nausea.
Back in July when the light-headedness first started, she attributed it to the emotional breakup with Randall and the exhaustion of being on tour. With this sudden increase in the severity of her symptoms, it was clear something more was going on.
As with most things, the vertigo didn’t happen when she was at home. It occurred while she was recording songs for her new album and again yesterday during a rehearsal for her New Years’ Eve appearance at Radio City Music Hall. Along with every nuance of her personal life, any change in the state of Sage’s health was the media’s version of winning the lottery for the outlet who could report it first. She could only imagine what interpretation would be put on her suddenly dropping to the ground and having to be helped offstage.
Love at Last (Finding Love Book 6) Page 14