HUES OF A MURDER

Chapter 2: Wine on the red dress!

"Scarlett?" Rose looked at the figure struggling to get up from the floor in disbelief.

"Get off me," Scarlett screamed.

"Oh! Sorry," Rose got off Scarlett. "What are you doing here? You said yesterday that you might extend your stay at Nana's. But, more importantly, why have you sneaked into my house? And how did you get the key?"

"Did you hit me with the umbrella?" Scarlett scrunched her eyes at the umbrella Rose waved at her, putting her hands on her hips.

"Nope," Rose hid the umbrella behind her and gave Scarlett an embarrassed smile.

Scarlet narrowed her eyes at her.

"That was an accident. I tripped over the carpet," Rose grimaced. "You are dodging my questions," Rose pointed out.

"I wanted to surprise you. So, I told you that I'm not returning today. I came from Nana's in the morning and went to the workshop and got the keys from your brother. I told him I was gonna surprise you," Scarlett rubbed her shoulder where she got hit by the umbrella.

"Oh! That's why he didn't mention you when I called him. And sorry about the hitting you with the umbrella. I swear it was an accident," Rose said without much guilt and a smug smile.

Just then they heard a ding from the kitchen. "Ooh! Lunch is ready. You want some?" Rose put the umbrella at the coffee table beside the sofa and went to the kitchen. 

Scarlett followed her saying, "I am starving. Something smells nice. I only had breakfast."

"Oh! We can share lunch," Rose said with a devilish grin. She switched off the microwave and took two plates from the cupboard while Scarlett went and sat on the two-seater table at the breakfast nook. Rose put half the casserole in her plate and half in Scarlett's and carried them to the table.

Scarlett's eyes gleamed at the food in front of her. "Wow! Egg plant casserole! I love aunt Roisin's casseroles." She started gobbling up the food like she had been starving for days.

Rose rolled her eyes at Scarlet and started digging in, albeit with reluctance. She was really hungry.

"Why did you have the umbrella and why were you behind me?" Scarlett looked over at Rose with suspicion.

"Well, I thought you were an intruder. You were the one sneaking into the house wearing a hoodie and... is that a trench coat? Who wears a trench coat?" Rose eyed the coat with disdain.

"It's my grampa's. Nana gave it to me. I helped her clean the attic and found it. Sorry about scaring you. Well! I did mean to scare you a little. But I swear this is the last time I do it. I don't want to get beaten up with an umbrella," Scarlett smirked.

"You do remember what happened at the Redmayne's, right?" Rose wiggled her eyebrows at her.

"Oh! Yeah!" Scarlett said, lost in thoughts. "Oh! I brought you some stuff from Nana's. It's in my car. We will get it after lunch. It's something you love," Scarlett said in a sing song voice.

"What is it?" Rose's curiosity peaked.

Nana Carmine always sent her something special. On her last birthday, Nana baked her a beautiful and delicious red velvet cake, her favourite. Scarlett winked at her and chirped, "you will have to wait."

During the rest of the lunch, they discussed Scarlett's time with her grandma and Rose's attempts at her novel.

After finishing the lunch, the girls washed and dried the dishes and went to get the stuff from Scarlett's car. There were two big baskets full of strawberries, several bottles of strawberry wines and some jars of strawberry jams.