Page 88 of One More Day
‘For putting my life on the line? You owe me nothing for nothing,’ Rusty replies, then interrupts her when she tries to argue. ‘Happy Christmas, Rose. It’s been my pleasure to spend time with you after all these years.’
They walk outside and I see her through the window, waving him off, then she returns and I hurry back to my cooking.
The pan sizzles as the inevitable hangs in the air now. The car is fixed. She has no reason to stay here any more.
‘You OK?’ I ask her. ‘Good news about the car, yeah?’
‘Great news,’ she says. ‘Great news about the car.’
She busies herself around the kitchen, wiping worktops that don’t need cleaning, folding tea towels that were already folded. Then she stops and stares into space. She looks lost and lonely again, so vulnerable, just like she did last night by the fire.
I walk towards her and lean against the worktop with my arms folded.
‘Does this mean you’re going back to Dublin?’ I whisper, almost afraid of her response. ‘You don’t have to if you don’t want to.’
We breathe in sync. I close my eyes with dread of how she might answer.
‘Do you want me to?’ she asks.
‘No.’
More silence.
‘I think your breakfast is burning, Charlie.’
‘Shit!’
I turn around and shake up the pan as Rose opens the back door and swings it back and forth to let the smoke out while I try to salvage the fry-up I’d so been looking forward to.
‘I hope you like your sausages charred?’ I call.
Her answer to my question is interrupted when we both gasp in delight at the sight of a very cold, very wet and shivering springer spaniel coming from the forest through the garden towards where Rose stands at the back door.
‘He’s home! Max, come inside, honey!
Max greets us with a shake of wet fur that sprays across the kitchen, including over Rose, but she doesn’t even seem to notice.
George joins us immediately, barking with delight, and the two canine friends sniff and rub noses and cheeks while Rose and I do our best to join in the action, petting their fur as they lick our faces.
‘You little scamp! You had us out searching by torchlight in the snow, but you don’t care, do you?’ I say as I snuggle him.
I catch a glimpse of Rose watching me with tears in her eyes.
‘How about I fetch a towel and take this old guy to the fire to get warmed up while you finish off your charred special?’ she asks me, and we stand up in unison.
‘Sounds good to me,’ I tell her, our look lingering as we smile.
I hear Rose coo and marvel over Max’s grand return as she dries him off. She has no idea how much her simple gesture to care for him means to me. I hope that someday soon she can see in herself what I’ve seen in her so far.
She is funny, she is kind, she is a beautiful soul inside and out. She is strong, she is smart and she is going to leave this place much better than when she arrived, no matter what happens between us.
She hasn’t said so, but I don’t think Rose is going back to Dublin just yet.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Rose
The dogs are gently snoring by the blazing fire, the snow is piling up outside and with my belly full and my heart about to burst I put down my cutlery and lean back on the kitchen chair, watching as Charlie finishes up his breakfast.
