Replacement Baby (11 page)

Chapter Eighteen

The Douglass family,
who was sitting around the large table, all turned to look at Rose. Lionel jumped up to see if she was okay and the face of Mrs. Douglass was clouded with concern.

“Rose, are you okay?” She asked.

“I’m sorry,” Rose apologized. “I’m sorry, everyone. It’s just that, I realized this is the same jewelry store Rodney manages. I was just… surprised.”

Julie raised her eyebrows, but turned back to her plate of eggs without a word. Lionel opened his mouth to speak but closed it instead.

He was going to say some snide remark about Lionel,
Rose realized. She was glad when he did not speak.

* * *

The afternoon came, and with it plenty of rain. The rain was light enough that Lionel and Rose decided to don rain boots and umbrellas and venture out of the house. Rose also promised to pick up the masks for herself and Julie at the hat shop on the way back.

They walked to Buckingham Palace and then asked a man reading a newspaper on a park bench nearby how to get to the jewelry shop. He was sitting under his large black umbrella and the raindrops fell around him in a circle. He mumbled something and pointed to the left when they asked him for directions. They walked the way which he pointed and within a few minutes, they saw the sign for the jewelry shop up ahead.

Approaching the building, Rose remembered going there last time with Rodney. She stared, reliving her memories and the familiarity of the place came back to her. Lionel nudged her.

“Let’s ask this guy what’s going on,” he suggested. He motioned to a man in a dark rain coat, jotting notes down on a notepad outside. Other men were milling around inside and others were walking in and out, boxes in their arms.

“Should we bother them?” Rose asked.

“Why not? Besides, it won’t be a bother,” Lionel reassured her. He turned to approach the man with the notepad. “Excuse me, sir, but do we know yet how the thieves got in?”

The man’s head snapped up. Squinting his eyes at Lionel, the man frowned. “All information is confidential,” he stated. Lionel nodded and mumbled an apology.

“Come on, Lionel. Did you really think they would tell you anything?” Rose pursed her lips and shook her head.

“Okay, but it doesn’t hurt to ask,” Lionel replied, defensive.

Rose shrugged.

“It’s strange that Rodney worked here,” Lionel said in a quiet voice. “Do you think he’s in the store?”

“No, he’s actually out of town this week. He comes back on Tuesday,” Rose told Lionel. She sighed. “I’m actually so relieved. I’d be so worried that maybe he was hurt if he hadn’t been away.”

“Wow.” Lionel’s expression showed his surprise. “You don’t think that’s odd?” He grinned in a way that was full of mischief. “Hey, maybe Rodney robbed the store.”

Rose gaped at him. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“Yes, I was kidding. Don’t be so touchy.”

“Don’t drag Rodney into this, then,” Rose retorted.

Lionel took her by the arm and led her away from the jewelry shop. “Come on, let me take you to lunch.”

“Okay,” Rose agreed, glad to change the subject. She pulled her arm away, because she was still a bit cross with Lionel.

Sitting down on the covered patio at a quiet café, Rose and Lionel ordered tea and food. The rain had almost completely stopped and the sun was beginning to peek through the clouds. After the waiter left, Lionel began asking Rose questions.

“Now you’re sure Rodney didn’t sneak in the night to rob that shop?” Lionel joked.

Rose’s mouth hung open as she listened to her friend speak. “Lionel,” she hissed, anger welling up inside of her. “This is ridiculous. Rodney is
not
a jewel thief! He has nothing to do with this whole thing. He was away for work. I don’t understand why you hate Rodney so much.”

“I’m sorry, Rose,” Lionel responded quickly. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just joking.”

“Well, it’s not funny.”

“Okay, I’ll stop,” he said to her. “And I don’t hate Rodney, I just have a hard time trusting him, that’s all.”

Rose took a deep breath to control her frustrations toward Lionel’s attitude about Rodney. “Lionel, I honestly think you have a hard time trusting anyone. You seem really suspicious of people all the time.”

Lionel sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he agreed. “I just know that there is a lot of evil in the world. So I tend to be more suspicious.”

Rose nodded. “You should try to be more positive.”

“I guess I should,” he mumbled. “I’ll work on being more positive about Rodney. He hasn’t done anything to make me suspicious. I’ll work on it, I promise.”

Rose reached out to squeeze Lionel’s hand. “Thanks. That means a lot to me.”

“This jewel robbery is so strange,” Lionel said, changing the subject. “I keep thinking of different theories, but nothing makes sense.”

“I can’t wait to ask Rodney what he thinks when he comes back,” Rose confessed with a hint of excitement. “I feel that we’ll get a lot more insight into the whole thing when I see him. He would know all the ins and outs of the shop. He would know about all the entrances and all that.”

“Yeah, true,” Lionel said. He stopped and took a deep breath. “Okay, so this is my first attempt at being positive about Rodney. He does seem to take you to neat places when you two go out together. Like that one night club you told me about. I’m taking some pointers from him the next time I take a girl out.”

“Yeah, he does take me the cool places,” Rose agreed. She paused and then looked at Lionel across the table. “Do you date a lot back at Dartmouth?”

Lionel appeared to be taken aback by her question. “I do, some. I’ve gone out with maybe five or six girls since I started there. Just casual, no more than a few dates. Definitely nothing serious. I guess I’m just too busy during the semester. I focus a lot of my time and energy on school, and I also keep busy writing for work. Sometimes I do work with my dad, too. That makes me enjoy my summers in London even more.”

“Have you ever dated a girl in London?” Rose asked.

“Once or twice,” Lionel replied. “But then I realized that I would be leaving London soon anyway. It seemed pointless to take a girl out when there was no chance of forming any sort of meaningful relationship.”

“Yes, I see what you mean,” Rose said.

Their waiter brought out their lunch, which consisted of light egg salad sandwiches and a small cabbage salad for each. They ate in silence for several minutes. Rose stared out at the sunbeams on the tile floor, which were appearing from behind the clouds.

“Do you want to have a girlfriend?” Rose asked, going back to their conversation from earlier.

“Well, yes,” Lionel answered. “I would like to. But I don’t want to date several different girls anymore. I want to find one very special person and form a relationship with her. I want something that’s lasting.”

Rose smiled at him. “That sounds so nice. I love spending time with Rodney, but he hasn’t expressed any sort of desire to form anything long term with us. We are dating, but we aren’t officially together or anything.” Rose stopped, suddenly feeling shy that she had shared something so personal with Lionel.

“You are too wonderful for him to want to give you up,” Lionel reassured Rose. “Don’t worry, he won’t let you go. He’d be stupid to. You’re a special person, Rose. Don’t forget that.”

“Thank you.” Rose looked down at her hands and spoke in a quiet voice. “I hope he won’t let me go.”

Chapter Nineteen

Rodney called Rose
the following morning, the day of the masquerade ball. Her heart skipped a beat when she heard his voice on the line. She pressed the phone close to her ear.

“I’ll be home next week,” he reminded her. “Would you like to go out to lunch this Thursday?”

“Lunch? Thursday?” Rose repeated. “Yes, I’d love to.”

“It’s a date, then,” Rodney replied. “I’ll call you sometime next Wednesday to discuss the details about where to meet and at what time. Can’t wait to see you again. It’s been way too long.”

“I agree!” Rose exclaimed. Finally, after two weeks, she would get to see Rodney!

They said their friendly farewells and Rose hung up the telephone. She realized that she had forgotten to ask him about the robbery at the jewelry store. But her thoughts quickly drifted to their upcoming date. She sighed happily just thinking about it. Finally, Rodney was coming home. It seemed like he had been gone for forever, even though it was only a couple weeks.

Julie walked by and stopped when she saw Rose’s happy face. “Did Rodney call you?” her friend asked knowingly.

Rose nodded with enthusiasm. “Yes, he just did. I just got off the phone with him.”

“Well, it’s about time he called,” Julie pointed out. She crossed her arms over her chest. “He hasn’t called in a week.”

“Yeah, it’s been about a week,” Rose informed her. “We have a date on Thursday.”

“Thursday!” Julie cried enthusiastically. “So you’ve already set a date. Perfect! So, Rose, tell me something. What’s the first thing you will do when you see Rodney?”

“I’m going to run right up to him and kiss him!” Rose replied with a coy smile.

“Kiss him? Kiss him on the lips?” Julie’s voice was full of surprise. “It’s about time!”

“That’s right, I’m going to kiss him,” Rose repeated her idea. “I’m sick of waiting around. This whole ‘taking it slow’ thing isn’t working for me. We’ve been dating for over a month! I’ve tried kissing him before, but it was in such a shy and timid way that maybe he didn’t even realize it. So yes, I’ll kiss him. And we’ll see where it goes from there.” Rose laughed.

“Woah, where did this whole new Rose come from?” Julie asked with a smile. “You’ve gotten bold. I’m proud of you.”

“Just don’t say anything to Lionel,” Rose warned. “You know how much he dislikes Rodney.”

“Yes,” Julie agreed. “Which is so pathetically silly, anyway. He needs to get over it. You like Rodney, and not him. He needs to deal with it and move on.
My brother
.” She rolled her eyes. “He can be so stubborn. He needs to let it go and throw away his stupid pride. It’s not doing him any good.”

“Do you think Lionel wants me to like
him
?” Rose asked, her voice filled with curiosity. “In a romantic way, I mean,” she added.

“Don’t you know?” Julie asked, looking at Rose strangely. “Haven’t you noticed? He’s crazy about you!”

“Well,” Rose said, embarrassed. “There were times when I thought he did. But then I told myself that he was just friendly. Just kind and personable with everyone, you know? I guess I keep telling myself he doesn’t like me.”

“Well, you sure have been fooling yourself,” Julie said. “He would go out with you in a heartbeat. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my brother interested in someone like he’s interested in you. Whenever you are in another room, you are all he talks about. I’ve told him over and over again to let it go and move on. I’ve told him so many times that you like Rodney, not him. But he won’t give up hope that maybe you’ll be attracted to him someday. Really, it’s sad. Sad in a pathetic way, I mean.”

“So what should I do?” Rose asked. “Lionel is my friend. I really enjoy talking to him and spending time with him. I don’t want to lose our friendship, but I also don’t want to give him any wrong ideas.”

“You shouldn’t have to do anything different,” Julie reassured her. “He knows he needs to give it up. Lionel knows he doesn’t have a chance with you. Not even close, especially with Rodney around. You just do whatever it is you want to do and don’t worry about Lionel.”

“Okay,” Rose said.
It doesn’t matter, anyway,
Rose thought.
I like Rodney. I can’t wait to see him
.
I’ll kiss him and hold him and we can talk for hours. I’ll also ask for his insight about the robbery at the jewelry store.

* * *

At around three ‘o clock, Rose and Julie began getting ready for the big party. Julie curled Rose’s hair and pinned it up, with a few stray curls framing her face. She put several small crystal hairclips in her cluster of curls. Rose helped Julie curl her hair and pin half of it up. Then they fixed each other’s make-up.

“We look smashing, as the Brits would say,” Julie whispered with a laugh as they stood together, looking in the mirror.

“Oh, I agree.” Rose blew a kiss. “We are going to have the guys down there lining up to dance with us.”

“I like the sound of that. But I refuse to try that waltz stuff. I still can’t believe my mother chose all that old stuff. I hope the party won’t be too boring.”

Rose shrugged. “I’ll try it. It sounds interesting and different. And the party will be fun, no matter what.”

Julie raised her eyebrows. “Suit yourself. It’s your choice. I’m sure Lionel will try the waltz, too. He likes history and stuff.”

“You should give it a try,” Rose suggested.

“I’ll dance when the DJ comes out,” Julie told her. “Oh, did I tell you? I did convince my mom to hire a DJ for later on in the evening. So that’ll be cool.”

They continued to talk as they got ready. Rose wore pearls, which Julie let her borrow. Julie wore a matching emerald necklace and earring set, which she had borrowed from her mother. The friends helped each other get into their dresses. Then they secured their masks, which Rose and picked up at the shop the day before.

“Ready to go down?” Julie asked.

From downstairs, they could hear the string quartet playing. After dinner and the traditional dancing, the DJ would take over.

“Absolutely,” Rose said.

They walked down to the edge of the stair rail, which overlooked the main area for dancing. Over a dozen couples were milling around, snacking on hors d’oeuvres and sipping tall glasses of champagne. Everyone was dressed in finery and almost all the guests were wearing masks.

“Can I walk you ladies downstairs?” Lionel asked.

“I’m fine, thanks, Lionel,” Julie said flippantly and began walking down the stairs.

Lionel held his arm out to Rose. She smiled politely and took it. Together they walked downstairs and joined the party.

Mrs. Douglass was an elegant hostess. She wore a blue gown that was the color of sapphires. She introduced Julie and Rose to several dignitaries. Soon Julie was focused on staring across the room at the young Russian she had spoken of earlier. He had shoulder length brown hair and dark eyes. His facial features were defined and attractive, and he was tall. He was unmasked, most likely to allow the female guests to gaze upon his face.

After the dance lesson, Julie gave up her hesitations about dancing the waltz and walked straight over to the Russian guy. She practically asked him to dance. Rose watched Julie as her friend carefully tried to remember the steps from the lesson. For the next dance, another waltz, his partner was a young woman who appeared to be in her late twenties. Julie got a glass of punch and came up alongside Rose, who had not danced yet.

“Isn’t he so hot?” Julie asked breathlessly. “He was an incredible dancer, too.”

“What’s his name?” Rose asked her.

“I’m not exactly sure,” Julie responded. “His accent was so thick and the name was one I’d never heard of. I’ll just call him ‘the hot Russian guy’ for now.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Another young guy asked Julie to dance, and his friend asked Rose. After Rose got into the flow of the dance steps, they began to talk. Rose found their conversation boring, and he did not seem that cute to her. But she politely finished the dance and then excused herself to get a drink.

“Can I dance with you?” Lionel asked, catching Rose at the punch bowl.

“Sure.”

It was the last waltz before dinner. Lionel led Rose onto the dance floor. She spotted Julie dancing with “the hot Russian guy” again.

“Sorry, I’m not the best dancer,” Lionel apologized after he almost stepped on Rose’s long skirt.

“It’s okay,” Rose reassured him. “This skirt is beautiful, but very inconvenient for dancing.”

“Well, you look great,” Lionel told her. “Really, really beautiful.”

“Thank you.” Rose looked at Lionel in his starched tuxedo with his hair fixed neatly and his black mask covering his face. “You look good, too.”

“Thanks.”

After dinner at the large dining room table, Rose danced throughout most of the night. The string quartet packed up their instruments and the DJ began playing popular music. Rose even danced with the Russian guy once.

“Wow, what a fun party,” Julie announced at the end of the night. “That Russian guy was a hottie, but gosh, I don’t think I could handle him for more than a few hours. I couldn’t understand half of what he was saying. I’ll take American guys any day.”

“Yes, it was a good night,” Rose agreed as she took bobby pins out of her hair.
Now that this party is over, I can turn all my focus to Rodney and our date.