The Sisters' Secrets: Rose Read online

  Rose had never seen Patrick so angry. There was a lot of finger-pointing from the chief’s end. When it came to rank, Patrick was still Shane’s boss. Shane didn’t back down right away, until a few minutes later when he stormed off from the situation, disappearing into the night.

  Nearby streetlamps were turned off to give the best experience for the event so there was no way she’d be able to find him easily even if she wanted to.

  ‘Come on,’ Missy said. ‘Let’s see if we can help out.’

  Rose tagged along. ‘What are we supposed to do?’

  ‘So now you don’t want to be involved in police business? It’s hard to keep up with you, Rosie.’

  The teens gathered in a small group while Patrick took the handcuffs off the one kid. ‘I don’t want to catch any of you with plastic cups, or I’ll make several personal phone calls to your parents.’

  They trudged off, leaving Patrick and two other officers standing nearby. Patrick wiped a hand over his head and dug the other into his hip.

  ‘Everything all right?’ Missy asked him.

  He blinked as if he hadn’t noticed them nearby. ‘You two can get back to the movie now. Nothing to see here.’

  Missy and Rose shared a look before they returned to their blanket. Around them people were talking, guessing what had happened.

  The speakers were loud enough to drown them out, but Rose found herself focusing more on the conversations than the movie.

  ‘He shouldn’t have done that,’ said one woman to the man next to her.

  ‘Seems like a lot of trouble if you ask me,’ he said. ‘What about Bobby Peters? He’s a good cop. He’d be a good replacement for Patrick.’

  Various agreements came from all around, and even though Rose hadn’t done anything, her shoulders pulled forward as if she’d uttered the words from her lips instead of listening to them. Should she stick up for Shane or just let the gossip roll off her? She didn’t owe him anything, especially after he’d accused her of obstruction.

  Leaving it alone felt like the best thing to do. Shane could defend himself if he wanted to – it wasn’t her job. He’d told her to back off, and that was what she intended to do.

  Chapter 19

  Even though Rose stayed out late the night before, she didn’t miss her daily visit with Pearl. Like most of the recent encounters with her mother, this one was uneventful. Pearl ate in bed that morning, Rose spoon-feeding her grits and applesauce. She seemed content enough to eat, but the entire meal took longer than usual. The final scoops of grits were cold, but Rose wanted to get as much into her as possible as, according to Jessie, Mom hadn’t been eating much lately. It was as if everyone was on board with Pearl’s declining health and was simply fine with it.

  Her phone rang as she walked across the parking lot to her car. Missy’s face popped up on the screen, her tongue sticking out through the picture.

  She answered it. ‘Hey.’

  ‘Are you out?’ she asked.

  ‘Yeah. Just leaving Mom.’

  ‘Everything good?’

  ‘Yeah.’ She didn’t want to talk about Mom right then. She needed to process a little first. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘I need you to pick up some provisions from Karl.’

  ‘Really? Is this a partnership now?’

  ‘Hell, no. But Brody borrowed some of our stock for Shane’s party, and I need him to replenish it. My asshole brother isn’t picking up, so I need your help.’

  ‘Not a problem,’ Rose said. ‘Text me what you need.’

  ‘Sure. Karl supposedly put everything aside, so you shouldn’t have to stay long in that bug-infested bar.’

  Rose stifled a laugh. ‘There aren’t any bugs there.’

  ‘I’m speaking of the human kind. Well at the very least, they keep away from my place.’

  After hanging up, Rose rearranged the rest of the day in her mind and started for the bar.

  Burrow’s Brews was a little hole in the wall, settled in a smaller neighborhood near the edge of town. It was home to locals who preferred to stay away from the touristy locations, and it looked more like a house than an establishment, which kept its appeal to those who wanted to be left alone.

  Rose hadn’t been inside for years. It wasn’t her scene, and she knew how much Missy despised the place. She had her reasons; her father had been an alcoholic and spent more time there than with his family. As she’d say, the only thing she ever got from him was the restaurant.

  The street parking was always an issue, but the only complaints came from the residents who lived there when there wasn’t parking during televised sports nights, featuring Karl’s favorite football and baseball teams. Since it was still relatively early in the afternoon, Rose found a spot out front. A text came in with Missy’s list just as she left the car. She just needed two crates of wine. Thankfully, she didn’t need to carry it down the street.

  Even though there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the moment Rose walked through the doors, it took a minute to adjust to the dim lighting. Sunlight struggled to push through the stained-glass windows that were the only opening to the outside. In some places, streaks of tape covered the cracks in the glass.

  As she stood in the doorway, she blinked several times to make out the shadowy figures in the room.

  The owner, Karl Callahan, moved behind the bar, rounding the chipped wooden surface. ‘Rosie Barros. Wouldn’t have expected you here this early.’

  Or ever – she heard the words hanging in the air. She glanced at the one man sitting at the bar, turned to his drink. He wore a baseball cap and swirled the amber liquid in a tumbler glass.

  ‘I’m picking up for Missy,’ she said.

  ‘Oh, right, right, right,’ Callahan said. ‘Brody put those aside in the back. Let me grab them for you.’

  She stepped forward. ‘I can help.’

  Karl looked at her as if she’d suggested she lift the entire building. ‘I have a cart. I’ll be right out.’ He shuffled to the back, near the restrooms. The door to the back room closed and Rose took a breath.

  The man sitting at the bar shifted in his chair. Rose lowered her gaze to the knotty wood floor.

  ‘For a second, I thought you were here to find me,’ Shane said.

  Shane’s voice was hoarse and deeper than she’d heard before. His sunglasses weren’t on, but the hat shielded his eyes.

  ‘I’m not,’ she said. ‘You made it clear that you didn’t want to see me again.’

  He chuckled, a rumbling sound in his chest. ‘I never said that.’

  ‘Could have fooled me.’

  ‘Sit down. I want to say something.’

  ‘I need to get these to Missy.’ Could Karl go any slower?

  ‘Two minutes, Rose,’ he said, almost pleading.

  She licked her lips and walked over, pulling out the stool next to him. It wobbled when she sat, but she braced herself against the bar. ‘What is it?’

  He rubbed a hand across his face, scratching his chin before dropping it to the bar. His fingers traced one of the cracks in the surface. ‘I’m sorry.’ He lifted his hat and placed it on the seat next to him. ‘I shouldn’t have spoken to you like I did the other day. I was out of line.’

  Was Shane’s day made up of apologies? Rose wondered if he’d done the same to Patrick after his reaction about the kids drinking at the movie.

  ‘I did get in your way,’ she admitted.

  ‘Don’t make this easy on me,’ he said. ‘What I did, it wasn’t right. You were trying to help. I get it. It’s the way it works around here.’ He finished his whiskey or scotch or whatever was inside the glass. ‘I’m not used to relying on anyone.’

  ‘Okay.’

  His eyes closed for a moment, and Rose wondered how long he’d been there. ‘My ex-wife and me. We had a lot of trust issues.’

  Ex-wife?

  She dwelled on that as he continued. She tried to keep her trembling hands as steady as possible. ‘When I found out that you called the shelters
before I had a chance, something snapped. I thought that you were looking for information from me and then once you got what you wanted…’ His voice trailed off as Karl came into the bar. He let go of the handcart, balancing the crates of wine.

  ‘Need another?’ Karl asked.

  Shane nodded, moving his glass closer to the edge of the bar.

  Karl lifted a hand in Rose’s direction. ‘You stickin’ around?’

  With Shane finally speaking to her again – albeit slightly drunk – she couldn’t pull herself away. Especially since he’d admitted he was married before. ‘For a few minutes.’

  Karl topped off Shane’s glass with scotch and gave Rose a water. ‘I’ll bring those to the car when you’re ready.’ He waddled away towards the other end of the room, moving chairs around.

  ‘Anyway, I’m sorry,’ Shane said, sipping from his refreshed glass.

  ‘That was never my intention,’ Rose said. ‘After seeing the girl, I needed to figure it all out.’ She thought of Reen and why her sister kept her distance. ‘I tend to push. It’s one of my faults, I suppose.’

  ‘It’s a good quality,’ he said, smirking. ‘It means you care. At first, I thought the case would close within a few days, but no one else has been helping me. I learned that Patrick was testing me.’

  Was that why he gave Rose the names of the shelters so easily? Was he trying to get in the way? ‘Why would he do that?’

  ‘It’s normal,’ Shane said. ‘He wanted me to get to know the area, make my own way. I took it for granted since I come from a bigger precinct. That’s one of my faults.’

  ‘Cockiness?’

  Shane laughed. ‘I was going to say pride, but sure, that too.’

  Rose smiled, drawing streaks in the condensation of her glass. ‘It’s nice to have new blood in town. This place can get rote sometimes.’ She tapped her fingers on the counter. ‘Well, a hot-headed cop is something different.’

  Before she could move her hand away, he covered it with his. His fingers moved against hers for a moment, and they locked eyes. Rose licked her suddenly dry lips. He dropped his hand to the bar and tilted his chin to her.

  ‘After my accident, I thought my life was over. But my ex, Denise, she kept me going.’

  Rose swallowed. ‘I didn’t know.’

  He nodded his head a few times as his eyes stared off into his past. It was the same look that Pearl gave her sometimes. At least Shane would come back to her.

  ‘I don’t want to bore you with the details.’

  ‘Missy can wait.’ Her interest in him grew far beyond the case.

  He sighed. ‘Well, it’s not much of a story. After my injury, I was in the hospital for a bit then stuck at our place for some time. It brought Denise and my partner closer.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘“Oh,” is right. But it wasn’t all my fault. Their affair started before I got hurt.’

  Rose chewed on her lip. ‘That’s why you thought I went behind your back?’

  ‘I’ve got trust issues, I guess. That’s what my therapist says. I suppose seeing it in effect snapped me out of it. I’m sorry again, Rose.’

  ‘As long as we’re good, you’re forgiven.’

  ‘We’ve never been bad,’ he said.

  ‘As long as I don’t say anything about the case?’ she asked, edging closer to the possibility of him snapping at her again.

  ‘You can say whatever you want about the case. I won’t fight you anymore. But no more side investigations. I have a lot to prove to Patrick, especially after last night.’

  She nodded.

  Shane turned back to his drink and silence fell over their conversation. Rose wanted to know more about Shane’s past, now that he’d finally brought it up, but she held back the urge to ask. Like her, he seemed to want to oversee the flow of information.

  ‘I should get the wine to Missy,’ Rose said. It was hard to walk away from him when he was so open with her, but she wanted him to be open all the time instead of when he was drinking. She hoped he remembered their conversation.

  She stood from the stool just as Shane pushed off the bar. There wasn’t enough space for the two of them, so Rose grabbed on to Shane’s arm for balance. Their noses brushed against each other, and it was as if time stood still. Neither moved from their spots, yet one inch closer and their lips would come together. Were they at that point again? Would they ever be?

  She hoped so.

  Shane answered for her. ‘Sorry,’ he said and lowered to his seat.

  Rose blinked a few times before the sound of the stool legs against the ground radiated in her brain. It took a second for her to register him moving away from her, but his eyes didn’t let her go.

  ‘You ready?’ Karl asked.

  ‘Yeah,’ Rose croaked.

  Shane pressed his lips together in an amused smile and nodded at Rose. ‘I’d like to make it up to you.’

  ‘How?’ she asked.

  ‘My place. Dinner.’

  She held back a shiver as a wave of tingles rolled through her. She liked that he called it his place.

  ‘You cook?’

  ‘I do,’ he said. ‘I can’t sustain my health on burgers alone.’

  She cracked a smile. ‘Okay.’

  ‘I’ll call you.’

  She nodded and turned away from him. The moment she walked outside, she shielded her eyes from the sun. But she stood there, holding the door for Karl, who navigated the handcart through the tables and then outside. She couldn’t believe how easily she’d given in to Shane, but he’d also trusted her with more details of his past. And of course, she’d thrown herself all over him. What was it about Shane that made Rose turn into a different and more awkward version of herself? She’d find out his intentions soon enough.

  Chapter 20

  The first date with Shane had taken a lot out of Rose. It had been her first date in some time, and she really liked him. But within a day she’d screwed it up, and she’d almost ruined it. This time around, her guard was up. Several excuses floated in her mind about how bad of an idea it was to try again.

  Missy had been right. Rose couldn’t make him an enemy since he was sticking around for a while. Maybe they needed to get each other out of their systems before going back to their own lives.

  The very idea made her stomach churn. Her gut tended to be wrong about the men she’d chosen from the tourists over the years, but there was something in her that needed to see if she and Shane worked.

  It was a little unnerving to pull into her childhood home’s driveway, walk up to the door and knock. It was as if she was a stranger in her own home, but she reminded herself that was what happened when she rented the place out. Shane knew she didn’t like the water, but he must not have figured out the extent. She wasn’t going to push for him to take her out again. He’d wanted to cook for her, and she wasn’t about to refuse that offer.

  Footfalls came from the other side of the door, and she swallowed against the lump in her throat. When the door opened, she took him in. He stood there in jeans and a black T-shirt. It stretched across his chest, and a fluttering sensation filled her.

  ‘Rose. Hi.’ He moved to the side, and she walked through. They stood in the narrow entryway for a moment before he asked, ‘Do you want a glass of wine?’

  ‘Sure,’ she said.

  He nodded and walked through to the kitchen. She took a tentative step inside. He’d set up the dining room table with candles and two place settings side by side. Rose couldn’t help a smile stretching across her face. Dad used to do that for Mom whenever they had dinners alone. While she wanted to remain cautious and protect her heart, Shane in her house felt right. More right than her life had been for some time.

  As she neared the kitchen, the scent of spices and tomatoes enveloped her. ‘Pasta?’

  ‘It’s my go-to,’ he said from the stove. He swirled a wooden spoon around in one of the pots. ‘My grandmother taught me. She wanted me to be a chef like Emeril.’

 
She walked closer to him but stopped a few feet from the stove.

  ‘Want a taste?’ He lifted the spoon from the sauce and brought it close to her. They locked eyes as she tasted it. A burst of flavors filled her mouth. ‘That’s good.’

  Shane nodded a few times, pleased by her assessment. ‘I haven’t cooked for a while. I guess it’s like riding a bike.’

  Rose stood by the threshold between the kitchen and dining room as silence fell over them. Being back at home with someone she had a rocky relationship with wasn’t the ideal reunion. At least if they were at a restaurant, there were other things to distract her if there was a lull.

  Not here. They were in it, and they had no choice but to face the awkwardness head on. His apology from the bar made it easier, but they were nowhere near where they’d been. Rose turned and looked around the space. The ghosts of her family moved through the living room. Her parents at the table while Reen pouted from her bedroom door, not wanting to join them for dinner. She even glimpsed at her young self, admiring Mom and Dad and their relationship. Her parents loved each other, but they must have had fights. They were normal people. What mattered was how they resolved their issues and projected their love in the world.

  Rose had spent her youth in the clouds, and now she had no one to ask about what was real or not. She didn’t want to spend the rest of her life reaching for something that didn’t exist in the same way as it played out in her head. The opportunity to start her own relationship, the way she wanted, stood right in front of her.

  ‘What’s on your mind?’ Shane poured the pot of pasta and water into a colander in the sink.

  ‘You never talked about your accident,’ Rose said. If they were risking their relationship, she wanted to get all the details of his life and share hers.

  He shook his head. ‘Not at all. It’s not a secret. Three guys jumped us one night. I took two shots after jumping in front of Hector.’

  Rose sucked in a breath, unable to imagine how scary that might have been for him. ‘And he’s the one who your wife left you for?’

  Shane nodded. ‘But I think everything worked out for the best.’ He smiled to himself. ‘Eventually.’