Chapter 21
Lucas swallowed as his gaze drifted down her supple legs hugged by her jeans. His hands itched to touch her. He was certain his advances would be rejected with a resounding slap and it might actually be worth it. At least then she would have to look at him. She had gone pale since he appeared losing the healthy blush that graced her face all day. He wanted to see it again.
If only she’d yell at him, curse him, slap him, anything to show him the spirited vision he followed all day was still there. It couldn’t be that his presence was enough to destroy it. She was stronger than that. She had to be. If she wasn’t she never would have been able to stand up to Madeline in that crowd of harpies.
“Auntie Ruth! We saw sea lions today!” Zoe happily chatted. “And tigers and monkeys! And we got to ride a camel!”
“Oh really?” Ruth chuckled setting down her box.
“Mommy, can I show her the pictures we took?” Zoe bounced off the sofa.
Wordlessly Sarah handed over her phone. Taking Ruth’s hand Zoe pulled her to the couch and cuddled in her lap as she swiped through the pictures. Despite the tense situation Lucas and Alan smiled at her commentary.
“This is Central Park,” Zoe said. “And this is Big Red. He took mommy and me for a carriage ride. And this is the Balto statue. Have you seen that movie, Auntie Ruth?”
“I haven’t, no,” Ruth shook her head. “We’ll have to have a movie night while you’re here so I can.”
“And these are the sea lions! Aren’t they funny?”
Without a word Alan handed Lucas his phone. Displayed on screen was a movie poster featuring a husky with the title Balto in bold lettering. So it was a movie but he was still confused about the statue. It would take a little more looking into but at least he had a clue.
Lucas looked again at the little girl giggling as if unaware of the awkwardness of the situation. He had been planning to confront Sarah after a little more time to prepare. But now he had been thrown into it and he didn’t have a leg to stand on. How was he supposed to do this? How did one talk to their wife?
“Hey Rosemary Thomas!” Alan exclaimed sitting on a chair and reaching for the stack of books on the coffee table. “You have them all. You must be a fan too. I love her books!”
Zoe snorted as he picked up a book and paged through it. Even Ruth seemed to be fighting a laugh glancing
at Sarah who, to Lucas’s surprise, actually blushed. He had no idea why she was embarrassed by the books she liked to read but he was grateful to see color return to her face.
“You like Rosemary?” Zoe asked.
“Of course,” Alan gushed. “She has the most amazing adventures. In this one she goes to a rodeo. See here is the horse she actually rode.”
The back blurb included a photo of Rosemary in a sun dress and hat standing beside a dark bay wearing a
1/2
red halter with a southwestern design. For the picture the horse also wore novelty sunglasses to mirror the large, round lens Rosemary always wore to hide her own face.
“That’s Applejack!” Zoe exclaimed.
“Hey! You know the horse’s name, huh?” Alan was pleased. “I guess your mom read the books to you.”
“She lets me ride Applejack all the time,” Zoe said. “See!”
She thrust her mother’s phone at him. The image displayed showed both her and her mother in the saddle of a dark bay. Alan blinked studying the image his eyes darting from the book to the phone.
Bay horses certainly weren’t rare; however, the two horses in the pictures he saw now had the same round, apple-shaped star on their foreheads and a teardrop-shaped spot of white on their muzzles that almost looked like a spade.
“Do you want to see mommy’s scuba pictures?” Zoe asked.
“Zoe!” Sarah suddenly exclaimed but fell silent as all eyes turned to her.
Lucas was confused. Since when did Sarah know how to scuba? But Alan’s eyes suddenly lit up in recognition.
“Thomas,” Alan muttered. “Thomas. Oh my god! You’re Rosemary!”
Sarah pressed her lips together growing redder by the second. Lucas’s brow furrowed looking from one to the other not understanding Alan’s excitement or Sarah’s embarrassment. Alan looked at him and seeing his confusion rolled his eyes.
“She’s Rosemary Thomas! She wrote these books!” Alan thrust the book into Lucas’s hands.
To Catch a Cattail by Rosemary Thomas.
Lucas turned it over to see the picture on the back. The horse meant nothing to him. Instead he stared at the woman. Her hair was black, most likely a wig. Her lips were bright red and large sunglasses hid most of her face from view. Yet… The shape of her nose, jaw, her lips stretched into a smile he had been memorizing all day. Lucas’s jaw dropped as he tore his gaze from the book back to Sarah.
She bit her lip, her eyes wide and her face flushed. Was she embarrassed for him to know? Angry? Why would she keep such an important detail to herself? Why wouldn’t she be screaming it to the world? It couldn’t be easy for an author to top the bestseller list.
“But…” Alan hesitated, “Rosemary always claims to write from experience. She’s been to Paris and rock climbed and sky-dived…”
“Mommy’s done all of that,” Zoe said. “She says she’ll take me sky-diving when I’m old enough.”
