Page 29 of Rose's One Night to Forever
12
Two weeks before Chance’s gallery opening, Rose woke up on the wrong side of the bed, mad about being mad.
The entire day that followed, she forced herself to be kind to her customers. To keep a smile on her face when what she really wanted was to go hide in the shower and have a good long cry.
Nothing was seriously wrong. Only the steady shipments delivered to the rear entrance of Chance’s shop had more than doubled in the past week. After spending time together nearly every day the entire six weeks of summer, it was clear he was more distracted than usual and far more tired. As if he wasn’t getting enough sleep.
Which made sense. His mind had to be tangled with details for the showing. Five days ago Rose had decided to give him space to juggle preparations for his gallery opening.
It was silly how much she missed him after only a few days. Not just the sex, although until he’d vanished into his working-overtime mode, they had been burning up the sheets. And the back room of her flower shop. And the backseat of the new Bronco he’d purchased.
Every time they were together, they couldn’t seem to keep their hands off each other. Which was another reason to give him room. Less time having sex meant more time for him to deal with his art. Dammit anyway.
She’d stopped running over to the gallery during her lunch breaks. She’d answered his texts but kept her messages short and sweet. He’d stopped dropping by with the sweet, heart-aching gifts.
He’s temporarily busy. This isn’t the end, her brain insisted. Once the show is over, we’ll go back to dating, and everything will be perfect again.
Which was oddly new. Her brain being positively biased in spite of what seemed to be the end-of-relationship blues setting in.
That evening, Rose was quietly grumbling into her tea when Tansy grabbed Rose’s phone off the table and shoved it into her hand. “Call the man. Text him. Go to his cabin and jump his bones. Invade his studio. You’re too happy to be this cranky.”
“I’m not cranky,” Rose began indignantly before sighing. “Shit. You’re right; I’m totally cranky. But it’s not Chance’s fault. He’s busy, that’s all.”
Tansy peered over the edge of her cup. She snorted. “Too busy to see you? Bullshit.”
She made the last word come out like a sneeze.
Rose rolled her eyes. “Chance and I have spent so much time together this summer, and I’ve loved it, but I don’t want him thinking that—”
“That you like to spend every spare moment together because you’re completely gone over him? Yeah, I can see how that would be a conundrum.”
“Shut up,” Rose grumbled.
“I know you hate it when I make sense.” Tansy wrinkled her nose then spoke more softly. “Go see him. He makes you happy, and God knows why, but you seem to make him happy as well. Staying out of his hair for some undefined reason is—I hate to overuse a good word, but I'll stick with bullshit.”
“I shouldn’t need to see him this often,” Rose complained. “We just met, really. We have lots and lots of things to talk about and find out about each other.”
Understanding lit Tansy’s eyes. “Oh, that’s the problem. You think there’s some time limit that needs to pass before this thing between you can be real.”
“He arrived July first. It’s less than two months later,” Rose said. She let out a long, slow breath. “I’m in love with him, Tansy.”
“I know, sweetie.” Her sister shifted position until she could drape an arm over Rose’s shoulders. “But here’s the good part—I’m pretty sure he’s in love with you too.”
“I thought we were just having a wild fling. It’s too soon for it to be more,” Rose said again but only half-heartedly, especially when Tansy snorted. “Okay, already. It’s not too soon. We should totally confess our love, move in with each other, and start a family. Right now. Today, even.”
Her stomach dipped for a moment as she said it, but the sense of peace that arrived a moment later, in spite of saying such an outlandish thing—
Incredible.
A noise escaped Tansy, and Rose turned to her with concern. “You okay?”
“Yes,” her sister said in a small voice. “Only, paint me blue and call me a forget-me-not, I just realized people in love do wild things. Like shacking up. You’ll move in with him. I won’t have to listen to you snore, or hear you complain about me putting my feet up on the coffee table, or have you hog the TV control.”
Tansy was on the verge of tears. Rose wasn’t too far behind, except this was, again, way too fast. “I was kidding. Please don’t jump the gun.”
“Just let you jump the guy?” Tansy took a quick sharp inhale. “Okay, I can do that.”
Rose laughed, pulling her sister in for a hug. “You’re right. Chance is a grown adult. If he doesn’t have time to see me tonight, he’ll tell me so.” She made a face. “I need a good reason for a short visit, just in case.”
