Chapter 43Rose
Chapter 43
Rose
“ Y ou did not !” Lauren gasped.
“We did too!” I claimed. Pirate grumbled where he slept, stretched down my lower legs—luckily, head, not heinie, pointed toward my face.
He’d stayed extra close—some might’ve called it clingy —since Rafe and Princess had left. He was kinda like my protection detail slash fur comforter. Except for this last weekend, I’d even been parking the big boy in the café’s meeting room while I worked.
“Yep, we’d sold more than half the tins by Sunday afternoon,” I said, gently stroking between Pi’s eyes. “The kids were busy all day today filling online orders. I’ve already talked to Kenzo about more truffles and to Pete and Mike about more mini-bags of the Santa Paws blend.”
“What about your branded mugs and beanies? Oh, and don’t you have Chocolate Lab dog bandannas?”
“Mateo was on top of all that too. He bought extra back in September so we’d have plenty to last the entire holiday season. He’s stepped up to help me since Mom passed.”
Lauren sucked in a big breath. “Oh, girl, forgive me. This is going to be your first Christmas without your mom. With all my stupid drama, I forgot.”
“Don’t even, girl,” I said firmly. “To have you move here, to have Finn home for an entire month, to celebrate with dear friends and neighbors—Mom would be happy that I’m surrounded by so much love and support. In fact, near the end, she told me she was happy for me. I couldn’t hear her until now.”
I changed the subject so we wouldn’t start crying, and so I could put off why I’d really called.
“So it’s settled? Finn’s last final is Thursday afternoon, and you guys are driving up Friday?”
“That’s the plan, unless it gets super snowy in the passes. Then we might leave Thursday and stay somewhere overnight.” She laugh-snorted. “Although, with all my clothes and stuff crammed in the trunk and backseat, we should get pretty good traction. At least I won’t have to worry about Baby’s safety. It’s a mixed blessing that she’s staying with Oliver for the dog show.”
We’d catch up when she got here. Our convo about her toxic marriage, even more toxic divorce, and custody battle would resume over Manhattans at Fay’s.
I couldn’t wait any longer.
I burst out, “We’ve been talking.”
“Uh, yeahhhh, Rose,” she drawled. “For about the last fifteen minutes.”
“No. I mean, yes, we have. But I mean Rafe and I have been talking, texting actually, for the past several days.”
There was a beat. Trust Lauren to come out with “texting, not sexting?” as her first comeback.
“No. I mean, yes, Rafe and I have been texting .” I whisper-shouted, disturbing the dog, who decided to stand on my tender bits and jump down.
“Nothing sexy, just somewhat short and pretty sweet.” I swung my legs from the couch to sit up.
“That’s too bad.”
“Lauren!” I huffed in exasperation. “You remember—I was short and snarky when he’d texted me they’d made it safely to Boise. Of course, Rafe being Rafe, he had to take it one step further and check on my eating and alarm-setting habits.”
“I do remember, girl—you were still at the mad-and-crying phase before you moved on to sad-and-crying.”
And sleepless, I added to myself. We didn’t do video calls, normally, so Lauren hadn’t seen how run-down I looked. Another reason for text-only with Rafe, so far.
“Rafe hasn’t given up, Lauren. He hasn’t given up,” I said softly, arms on my knees as I stared at the rug where Pirate had resettled on his back, all four legs in the air. “He’s kept on with the good mornings and the good nights . The oh-so-innocent inquiries about my nutrition and safety.”
I snickered. “And he’s gotten downright chatty in text mode—for him. He goes on and on about Princess and her fascination with snow—the white stuff not being a thing in Afghanistan. He complains about rattling around the owners’ ginormous house, but then claims he’s grateful for the free roof over his head. He shares funny stories about the kids who work at Bean Love—says they remind him of our kid crew.”
“Okay, Rose, okay.” My friend stopped me in my blathering. “It’s me. I know you too well. You were heartbroken when Rafe left. But you’re too kind to leave the man hanging. When did you…reengage?”
“He seemed lonely. He needed someone to talk to.”
“When, girl?”
“Friday, I guess. He’d texted a good night . Although Saturday, I texted him during the day about Santa Paws and sent some photos. We may have texted that evening too.”
“What? Four days after he left?” She lost it and started laughing out of control.
Pirate righted himself and followed her lead, barking his fool head off.
I put the phone on speaker and clapped my hands. “Everyone—that’s enough! I’ve come to a decision.”
Lauren quieted down to the occasional giggle, but Pi continued to grumble.
“Shush now. Lie down.” For once, he did what I told him and jumped back on the couch.
“What did you decide?” she got out.
“I decided that I get to decide if we give love a chance. I decided to fight for Rafe. I’m going to show him he is the best man for me. I’ll start by telling him I need him. Then I’ll ask, no, demand that he come back home—come back home to me.”
“Get it, girl!” Lauren shouted.
I laughed and clapped again. I knew my bestie would cheer me on.
Wait. What was this….? I picked up my phone and squinted at the screen.
“I’m getting a call from an unknown number with a San Francisco area code. Talk to you later—fingers and paws crossed.”
I ended our call and answered the new one. “Hello. How may I help you?” I went for neutral in case it was spam or a café vendor or Finn with a new number or…
“Hello,” came a deep male voice. “This is Antonio Amato. I’m trying to reach Rose Connolly.”
“Yes, I’m Rose. Thank you so much for calling, Mr. Amato. Are you Angelina’s father?”
“Yes, I’m her papa.” A pause. “She’s named after my older sister.”
Oh!
I must’ve said that out loud because he asked, “Is this a good time to talk?”