Page 62 of Sweet Passions at Bayside
“They were two very different types of love,” Rose said, and her expression saddened. “The first might have started as love, and lust, to be honest. But a few years into our marriage, it had become duty that kept us together. In those days, you didn’t divorce. You stuck things out, even if you were miserable. My love for Leon, however, was the truest type of love, because it was fully reciprocated. We were married for two years and three months. One morning I woke up, and…” Tears welled in her eyes. She inhaled deeply, blinking repeatedly until her tears dried. “He was gone.”
“Oh, Rose.” Without thinking, she leaned in and embraced her. “I’m sorry.”
“Thank you. Do you have a man in your life?”
Emery hesitated. She knew Dean was friends with many of the residents, and she didn’t want to make that awkward for him, so she was careful with her answer. “I do, and he’s a good man.”
“That’s good, Emery. With age comes wisdom, and if I have any to share, it would be not to give your heart to a man simply because he makes your body feel alive. The physical part is easy. Love is hard. You should give your heart to the man who treats you like a treasure, who cherishes you and wants you beside him always. Someone who helps you become a smarter,betterperson. He might keep you up all night beneath the sheets, because let’s face it, lust is good, and it’s part of love. But it’s not everything.”
There was a knock at the door, and a gray-haired woman peeked her head in the door. “Is the coast clear?” she whispered loudly.
Rose smiled and waved her in. “Yes. He’s gone.”
Emery was still processing all the things Rose had said. It saddened her to know Rose had endured an unhappy marriage, but she was glad she’d found true love in the end, even if only for two years.
Rose glanced at her as two women hurried into the room whispering like teenagers. “If there’s one thing my son is good at, it’s clearing a room.”
“You can say that again,” the younger of the two women said as she plunked a knitting bag down on the coffee table. She was tall and wiry, with short, layered brown and gray hair and bright brown eyes. “I’m Magdeline. You can call me Mag.”
“Or Magpie,” the other woman added. “I’m Arlin. You can call mebeautiful, orsweets. I personally like sweets, but anything other thanma’amorgrandmaworks for me.” She had a happy, round face with rosy cheeks, and her orange-tinged hair was peppered with breakthrough white. Her brows were painted on, but her smile was real as the day was long. “Have you started the bendy class yet?”
“I hear yoga is great for sex,” Magdeline said as she sank down to the couch.
“That’s something else about my lifestyle that has changed,” Rose said. “There was a time when I could bend pretty well, and my husbands,oh, they both liked that.”
“Mm-hm,” Magdeline agreed with an emphatic nod. “Men do like us to be flexible.”
“You would know,” Arlin chimed in. “We used to call her Mad-Shag Magdeline.”
Emery stifled a laugh, feeling like she’d stumbled across the Dirty Grandma Club.
Arlin patted her hair with an air of primness and said, “I, on the other hand, made my men work for it.”
“You made them raise the cow from birth, milk it,andpasteurize it,” Rose said. “And then, maybe, if they jumped through all the other hoops on your list, they could get to second base.”
The women chatted throughout their session as she continued working with Rose. Emery not only learned about how Rose’s activity level had changed over the years and how a fall had led to her current pain, but she also realized how determined Rose was to get back on her feet. Rose’s range of motion was fairly good, and Emery was sure with the right care and the support of her friends and daughter, Rose was on a good path toward achieving the mobility she desired. While Emery usually started new clients with once-a-week sessions so they didn’t find their therapies or the payment for them a nuisance, she was pleased when Rose insisted they work together three times each week. They scheduled sessions for Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
After their session, Emery headed to the inn to check out the paintings at Devi’s Discoveries before going shopping with Desiree.And maybe I’ll pick up a little something at the adult-exploration shop, too.The idea sent her stomach into a wild swirl. She’d never used anything like that with a man before.
Surprisingly, the idea of exploring with Dean didn’t make her cringe with embarrassment. Instead, her girly parts twitched with anticipation, even if she wasn’t quite sure she would actually go through with it.
As she turned down the street toward the inn, she thought about her upcoming shopping trip with Desiree. She was excited about getting all dolled up for Dean, though she was nervous about meeting his parents. From everything Dean had told her, his mother was wonderful, but his father had gone from being a typical hardworking parent who spent time with his kids in the evenings and weekends to being a total jerk. She was not good at holding her tongue, and it had gotten her into trouble enough times that if she were capable of changing it, she would have by now.
She parked by the cottages and found Desiree looking carefree and happy, wearing a cute flowered sundress, her blond hair tied back in a low ponytail. Her paintbrush moved over the canvas on an easel in front of Devi’s Discoveries. Desiree had been a preschool teacher in Virginia, and when she’d moved to the Cape and taken over Lizza’s art gallery, her mother’s paintings had inspired her to start painting again. According to Desiree, the income from the inn, the shop, and the sales of their paintings, along with the batik wall hangings and pottery Violet made, earned more than enough to pay the bills. But Desiree also taught art to children during the schoolyear. She had their pictures hanging up throughout the inn.
Desiree turned as she approached, her smile quickly fading. She put her brush down and ran over to Emery. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Emery walked into Desiree’s open arms and said, “Tell me I’m not crazy for feeling like I’m falling, likereallyfalling, for Dean.”
“You’re definitelynotcrazy. Am I allowed to be super happy that my bestie isfinallyadmitting to her real feelings for our amazing neighbor?”
“Yes!”
“Good, because he’s an amazing guy, and he clearly adores you.”
Emery held her tighter. “Now tell me I’m not going to mess up our relationship by telling his father what I really think of him.”
“Um…”
