“Ronnie, you could have wrapped it in newspaper and I wouldn’t have minded,” Rose assured, pulling the smaller box out. Ricky moved the first box out of the way. The red box was unwrapped and opened only to discover another box inside. “Oh, blue paper this time.”
“Wouldn’t want you to be bored with the same old paper,” Ronnie joked. Two more boxes with different colored papers had the boys in fits of laughter and the adults chuckling. “I can’t watch this,” Frank said with a huge grin on his face. Tabitha was having a grand time playing with the paper as it fell to the floor. “How many boxes did you wrap?” Rose asked after the sixth box opened only to find another one waiting inside.
“Oh, a few more.” The devilish grin and wiggling eyebrows sent Susan’s sons into renewed giggles. Finally a coat box wrapped in silver paper with gold ribbons was revealed. “That’s got to be it,” Frank said. Jack and Susan nodded in agreement. With all the excitement of a child, Rose opened the box to reveal a bright green and black ski jacket. “Oh, it beautiful,” she said, pulling it out of the box and holding it up for all to see.
“That is nice, even if it is a bit early for snow,” Susan said. Rose was already standing up to try it on. It fit perfectly. “Sharp,” Ricky said. John added a request for one in the same colors. Ronnie merely stood back and smiled at the image before her. “It may be early for snow here but not everywhere.” The corner of her lip curled up with a smile. “Rose, what’s in the inside pocket?”
“The inside…” She unzipped the jacket and pulled out a stack of papers. The bright stripes on the outer paper left no doubt as to its contents.
“I hear the Alps are just lovely this time of year,” Ronnie drawled. “I do believe we both have some vacation time stored up.”
“Oh my, tickets to Switzerland?” Rose’s fingers trembled as she pulled not two but ten tickets out of the sleeve. “Ronnie…” Her voice stilled as the names of several far away countries appeared before her eyes.
“I believe Germany, Austria, and France are in there too, aren’t they?” the executive teased just before an overjoyed Rose flew into her arms.
“Ronnie, you are something else,” her sister said.
“I can’t believe you,” Rose whispered into the warm skin of her lover’s neck. “This is too much.”
“Nothing is too much for you, Honey,” she whispered back. “We’ll bring the laptop and write it off as a business expense.” That made the woman in her arms chuckle. “Seriously, I would love to take you on a tour of Europe and this is the perfect time of year to go.”
“I love you.”
“Love you too. You’re not crying on me again are you?” Ronnie stepped back to see that indeed her lover was weeping with joy. Susan came up alongside them and silently held out a handkerchief.
“Thank you.” Rose took a few seconds to compose herself before turning to face the rest of the guests. Maria came up to give the young woman a hug. “What a beautiful gift,” the housekeeper said.
“It is very nice,” Agnes said, shooting her husband a look. “It seems some people would rather spend time with the ones they love instead of running off to some lake in the middle of nowhere for two weeks.”
“Umm…” Frank looked at his cousin for support and found none as she was too busy beaming at the happiness on Rose’s face. “Oh hell, Agnes. I guess two weeks in Hawaii won’t be so bad.”
“I knew you were a big softy,” Ronnie teased.
“Yeah, just like you, Cuz,” he countered good-naturedly. Looking down at her lover, the executive could only nod in agreement.
After the last of their guests left, the happy couple retired to the living room.
“I can’t believe you did this,” Rose said softly, looking at the tickets sitting on the coffee table.
“Why not?” Ronnie shrugged. “Now that you don’t need a cane and physical therapy is over, it’s a perfect time for us to take a nice long vacation.” Although she had been to many of the countries already, she knew the memory would pale to the new ones that would be created with Rose by her side. Looking at the jacket, Ronnie smirked to herself. Not every present had been opened yet.
Rose kicked her shoes off and tucked her feet up under her legs. “How did you manage to plan a vacation without me knowing?”
“Easy. My travel agent did the work. All I did was tell her what countries I wanted to visit. One phone call, a couple of emails and voila.”
“You are amazing.” Rose rested her head against her lover’s chest. “I’ve only dreamed of going to places like that,” she said wistfully.
“Well now your dreams will soon be a reality,” Ronnie replied. She leaned down for a quick kiss.
“I’m glad you liked your presents.”
“I love them and I love you,” she replied. “You didn’t have to do this.”
“It makes me happy to make you happy. You know that.” The phone rang, causing Ronnie to mutter a curse and reach for the receiver. “Cartwright Residence.”
“Ronnie?”
“Mother?” Turning to face Rose, she raised her eyebrows to indicate her surprise. It had been almost two months since they had spoken. “Um…how are you? Really?…How did that go?…uh huh, what about it?…Yeah, she was here earlier…It’s Rose’s birthday.” Ronnie’s eyes grew wider. “Uh…yes, it was nice….uh huh…no, no problem at all, Mother…What?…Um…yes, I’m sure that’ll be fine…of course…okay Mother, good-bye.” She set the phone down.
“She just called to say hello.”
“Really?” Rose reached out and put her hand on Ronnie’s shoulder. “Is everything all right?”
“Yeah,” she nodded. “She just said that we should come over for dinner this Friday.”
“Us?”
“Yes, us,” Ronnie said. “I don’t get it.”
“Maybe it’s your mother’s way of offering an olive branch.”
“But after everything that’s happened?”
“After everything that’s happened, you’re still her oldest daughter,” Rose said. “She really said both of us?”
“Yeah.” Ronnie shook her head and pulled her lover close. “I don’t believe it, but I’m not going to fight it. Maybe everything will work out with us.”
“You are wonderful.”
“You think so, hmm?” Ronnie’s heart began beating faster. “We may not have started out in the best of ways but I can’t imagine my life without you.”
“I feel the same way.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that.” Her face became serious. “I think you missed something in your jacket pocket.”
“What? After all this?” Rose held her hands out to indicate the stack of presents and the airline tickets. She picked the jacket up and laid it on her lap. As her hand fell over the pocket she felt the hard object hidden within. “Ronnie?” Her fingers traveled over it, her eyes widening. “Is this what I think it is?”