Rose Kirkland recently lost the man she most admired. She isn't ready for her life to change, but she begins to realize that her life is a series of other people's lies and interferences.
Cole Fuller needs a break. And his great-uncle's will has g...
The next day's melodrama began when Cole knocked on Rose's door. Rose had already showered, dressed and fed the kittens by then. Violet, who had curled up in Rose's bed around midnight, because the air mattress did, indeed, squeak, was still asleep.
But when Cole knocked, Violet jerked upward, and Rose shushed her back to sleep.
"What time is it?" Violet asked as her sister opened the door.
"Seven-thirty." Rose smiled at Cole. "Good morning."
"What, no bathrobe?" he asked.
Violet shouted, "Go away! Jeez! Who comes for a booty-call this early?!"
Cole grinned. "Your sister isn't much of a morning person, is she?"
"No, I'm afraid not," Rose said. "Come in. I just finished feeding them, so they should sleep for the next few hours. I thought about going down and having breakfast at Momma's diner. It's French toast Tuesday. Want to join me?"
"Sounds wonderful," he answered. "I just need to get a quick shower." He picked up the basket and the baby bag. He brushed a kiss on her forehead, apologized to Violet for waking her, and left.
Violet moaned, crawled out of bed, went to the bathroom and came out in a tank top and her underwear. She said, "If you're going down to the diner, bring me something, will you? With bacon. Lots and lots of bacon. Oh, and Zack called last night, looking for you. I told him you were on a date and to stop bugging you."
She climbed under the covers again, and Rose stared at the lump of blankets. She thought mostly about how bossy Violet could be...and nothing about Zack knowing of her date. Afterall...why should that be a problem?
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Rose had breakfast with Cole. They talked about his upcoming projects and their upcoming meeting with Mr. St. Mary, about his mother and the crazy Kirkland family, about the piano lessons she had to teach that day, and about the kittens. Mostly, they laughed about the kittens and how this was the first time they'd been alone without the babies since they were born. They talked for almost an hour about anything and everything...except what Cole said to her last night. Rose wasn't quite ready to process that.
Last night, she sat at her piano, playing on autopilot after he left her alone, just repeating his words over and over in her head. "...fallin in love with you..." She counted the days since the funeral, since meeting Cole Fuller. There were twelve. Twelve. Not even two weeks...only six of those spent together. So, six days...six days, and already he believed he was in love with her?
Six days.
Six days!
"...falling in love with you..."
Okay...um...okay...
Think about the positive. Cole was nice. And polite. He took time to converse with her grandmother, patiently and earnestly. He never balked at his turn with the kittens, and he actually tolerated her family. She liked him. And he was quite handsome, as well.
