One Red Rose (2 page)

“No. I’ll just grab some fast food. I have to go to the theater right after work. I’m in a production that lasts through Friday.”

“Really?” he said, only sounding half-interested. Her love of the theater had not been shared by Cooper. A cold beer and the ball game on television was the extent of his culture.

“I’m in the chorus,” she said, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.

He scratched the back of his neck and looked over to Carol who was doing her best to listen now that she’d hung up the phone.

“Thanks,” he said flipping the key in the air and then nodding toward Carol. The woman looked away quickly, delving into her travel brochures.

Then as fast as he’d appeared, Cooper Dobbs left, and Eva was saddened by the feeling of emptiness once again.

By the time Eva left the theater that night, she had an armful of red roses. One she’d found under her windshield wiper when she’d left the travel agency, and another, frighteningly enough, she’d found on the seat of her unlocked car.

Then when she got to the theater, her stage manager handed her a dozen more, saying some man dropped them off earlier. Some man who he couldn’t describe any more than tall, dark and handsome.

With each flower was a note like the first. All signed,
your secret admirer.
She wondered which of the actors kept giving her roses? It could be her dance partner, Brad. He had been bugging her to go out for a cup of coffee with him lately. Or maybe it was the stage-hand Billy. The boy was fifteen years younger than her, but had been giving her lots of attention. He was always too eager to help her with her props and costumes. Or maybe it was even the stage manager himself, just saying someone delivered the roses when they were really from him.

She wasn’t interested in any of them, and now suspicious of every man there.

She fumbled with the key in the lock, roses balancing against the crook of her arm. What was she going to tell Cooper? How was she going to explain she didn’t even know whom this fanatic was? It sure looked like she had a sweetheart, and she didn’t want him to think that.

When she entered the house, it was late, and dark. But even in the dark, she could feel his presence there. The smell of sunshine and sawdust clung to his shirt that he had draped over the back of a chair. She entered the kitchen and spied the empty can of spaghetti and the empty plastic bottle of sport’s drink on the counter. His spoon and bowl were clean and stacked in the dish drainer.

The sudden joy of having him back hit her hard. She’d missed the way he left his dirty clothes on the furniture and the way he tried to help out by washing the dish, but leaving his garbage on the counter though the trash can was right below.

Loneliness tugged at her heart, and she knew she’d been denying the fact over the past year that she wanted him back. If only they could work out their differences. If only they could be the happy couple they once were twenty-five years ago.

The smell of roses permeated the air, and she couldn’t help but feel she had betrayed him in some way by accepting them from her secret admirer. She wanted romance in her life more than anything, but she wanted it from her husband, not from an infatuated fan.

As beautiful as they were, she couldn’t keep the flowers. Not with Cooper staying at the house. She dumped them into the garbage can and shut off the lights. Feeling very tired, she headed upstairs to her bed.

She froze in the doorway when she saw him lying naked atop the sheets. The light from the moon spilled in the open window, illuminating his golden body, every muscle showing in the moonbeams.

She had thought he’d sleep in John or Julie’s old room, but he’d claimed his territory, and she wondered if he was reclaiming her as well.

The room filled with his essence and she felt her desire stirring deep inside. She wanted to make love to him. She wanted to curl up into his arms and fall asleep in his embrace, but couldn’t.

He was only here temporarily, she told herself. Come the end of his building project, he’d walk out of her life once again.

Staying in the hall, she closed the door and leaned her head against the wood. Why had she let him stay at the house? She should have told him to stay far, far away. This was never going to work. She headed off to the spare bedroom, knowing it was going to be a very long night.

*

By the time Eva awoke, Cooper had already gone to work. She walked past her bedroom, noticing the bed neatly made, feeling bad for not sleeping in it with him last night. After all, they were still married. It wouldn’t have been like she was doing anything wrong. Or would she?

She showered and dressed, smiling at Cooper’s shaving cream still sitting on the counter. She’d kept the belongings he’d left behind, and was glad he put them to use. She hurried down to the kitchen to find the coffee hot and brewed, and an empty bowl and spoon with a box of cereal sitting at the table waiting for her. Then her eyes fastened on the huge bouquet of roses gracing the center of the table. There was a note next to them, and she picked it up with one shaking hand.

I found these in the garbage,
it said.
I added them to the one I found on the front porch swing. You really shouldn’t waste such a romantic gift.

The note wasn’t signed, but it needn’t be. It was from Cooper, and she cherished it so. She wished now she had thrown the roses into the outside can, but since he had salvaged them she may as well enjoy them.

One cup of coffee and sixteen sniffs of the roses later - one for each rose - and Eva headed off to work. When she arrived, she wasn’t at all surprised to see not one, but two red roses standing up straight in a crystal vase upon her desk.

“Hi, honey,” called Carol from the back of the room. She finished talking with Chadwick, closed his office door, and gave her son a few cleaning instructions before making her way over.

“Good morning, Carol.” Eva sat at her desk, ignoring the flowers altogether. This was getting most embarrassing, and it would have to stop.

“A delivery boy dropped off some more flowers from your infatuated fan,” she said with a grin. “And here’s something that I found at the door when I opened up this morning.”

Eva looked up to see the heart-shaped box of candy in the woman’s hand.

“Leif wanted to eat them, so I thought I’d better keep it at my desk til you arrived, for safe keeping.”

Eva took the candy and shoved it into her drawer.

“Aren’t you going to even read the note?”

“I don’t have to,” she said. “It probably says the same as all the rest.”

“No, this one is different.”

Eva’s head shot up and she scowled at the old busy body.

“Carol, did you by any chance read my card?”

“I did it for your own good, sweetie. I knew you’d just throw it away. It seems like this guy wants to meet with you. Tomorrow night at eight o’clock at that new ritzy restaurant called The White Plumeria.”

“I’m not going.” Eva took the note and tore it up, depositing it in the trash. “I’m not going to meet with him, whoever he is. And this guy is getting to be like a stalker. Do you know I even found a rose inside my car, and Cooper found one on the porch swing today? This guy even knows where I live. This is getting scary.”

“What’s scary about it?” Carol asked, sitting down in a huff. “I think it’s romantic. If I had had this happen to me twenty years ago, I would have jumped at the chance. You know you’re never going to get any romance out of that husband of yours.”

“He is my husband, Carol. He isn’t a scapegoat. I’m thrilled someone has taken an interest in me, but you don’t need to compare this admirer to him. Cooper is a wonderful man, even if he doesn’t know the first thing about romance.”

“So what does Cooper say about all these roses?”

“Well, nothing really.”

“He didn’t seem jealous or ask a lot of questions?”

“He would never pry into my business.”

“Or maybe he doesn’t care.”

Eva didn’t know how to respond to that. She had been wondering the same thing herself. She knew she should talk to him about all this, but she had always had a hard time opening up and starting conversations. He had never been one to communicate either. Just something else that had put a wedge between them.

“So what are you going to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean, honey. Are you going to take him back?”

“I’m not sure he wants to come back,” said Eva, staring at the roses. “He didn’t ask. But if he did, I would.”

“Eva, Eva, Eva, what is the matter with you?” Carol fanned herself with a brochure. “You have excitement in your life for the first time. You have a man who wants to romance you and you’re going to throw it all away for what? You said yourself that you and Cooper had lost that spark between you long ago.”

Eva knew she was right. But she also knew she didn’t want any man but Cooper.

*

When she got home that night, once again she had roses in her arms. The two from the office, along with the box of candy, and four more that had been delivered to her after the show. She fumbled with the key in the lock, but this time the door was open, as if in wait. She half-expected Cooper to be waiting up for her, but when she saw the dark house, she knew it wasn’t so.

A wave of disappointment surged through her, but she realized she was expecting too much. He had to wake up very early, understandably so, and she got home extra late tonight, having stayed for the cast party after the closing of their last show.

She made her way to the kitchen, laying the roses on the counter, and this time putting the box of candy in the garbage. The room smelled sweet from the flowers, but another delicious aroma filled her senses as well. The smell of a home-cooked meal wafted through the air, reminding her of the Sundays they’d once spent as a family, both of them in the kitchen preparing the one elaborate meal they had once a week. That’s when she saw the note on the counter.

I made dinner for you. Roast beef, baby potatoes and glazed carrots. All your favorites. I had hoped to eat with you, but I couldn’t wait up.

She pulled open the fridge, and saw the plate of food alongside the tall fluted glass of chocolate pudding topped with whipped cream. Her heart ached to think he’d gone through all this trouble, after a long hard day of work. For her. And she wasn’t here to join him.

She went to the dining room, placing the roses with the rest, first noticing the place setting, unused and waiting for her. Again. Loneliness struck a chord in her heart. The same loneliness of eating every meal by herself since he’d gone away.

She shut off the lights, no longer hungry, and made her way up the stairs. She pushed open the semi-closed door to the bedroom, seeing him once again lying stark naked atop the sheets.

A heat engulfed her, and she wanted nothing more than to give in to her urges. But one night of passion wasn’t going to end the problems between them. Not real problems, she reminded herself. Just two people going their own ways, going about their own lives. The romance of a union between them gone and lost forever.

She removed her clothing, and pulled her nightgown over her head. Then she lay down next to him, careful not to wake him. With one trembling hand she reached out, placing it gently atop his chest. His skin felt so warm, his chest so hard. This was the man she married. The man she’d let walk out of her life without even trying to find a solution. Sex wasn’t the answer, she told herself. She pulled back her hand and turned over in bed. Then the thought of her secret admirer consumed her thoughts.

Who was this man who sent her roses and candy? The mystery behind it was almost intriguing, and she thought about what Carol had said. Dinner at The White Plumeria was something she’d love to do with Cooper. She’d always wished they could go, just the two of them, out to a fancy restaurant. But through the years they’d always opted for fast food with the kids along, trying to save money and trying to be good parents by including their family. But now the kids were away at school and she had the chance to do these things. As tempting as it was to take this secret admirer up on his invitation, she couldn’t. She wanted to do these things with Cooper, not a stranger.

She closed her eyes and fell fast asleep, careful not to touch her husband at her side.

Chapter 3

The next day was Saturday, and though Eva could sleep late, she knew Cooper would be off and working, just as he always had on Saturdays for more years than she cared to count. She rolled over, the sun just starting to rise and lighting the room. The bed next to her was empty, but she heard the shower running in the bathroom.

He was still home. She could go to him and make love and she was sure he wouldn’t turn her away. She pondered the thought in her head, and before she knew it, there stood Cooper at the foot of the bed, naked and wet, glorious as ever. He ran a towel over his body, and she couldn’t help but want to do it for him.

“Hi, honey,” he said with a smile that lit up his whole face. She had a hard time remembering what it was that made them split up in the first place. She had hoped he would come to her, or try to kiss her at least. And she would have let him, had he tried. But instead, he dressed quickly, glancing several times at the clock. Once again, work won.