Page 55 of The Inevitable Us

When my shift ends, I go upstairs and lift a sleeping Rosalie out of bed. She can be angry all she wants. She’s just going to do it in our bed. We don’t sleep apart.

Normallyinthemorning,Rosalie tries to be quiet while she dresses. This morning she’s running the hair dryer with the door open. I doze in and out while she thumps around in the bathroom. When she comes out ready for class, I sit up in bed.

“Baby Girl,” I start to say softly.

Her face crumples, and tears well up in her eyes. “My mom and dad didnotraise me to be the type of woman who allows a man to talk to her like that!”

“And they weren’t wrong. Rosalie, I shouldn’t have.”

I move towards her and draw her to me. I kiss her forehead. “I’m sorry, Rosalie. I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way. Forgive me.”

She nods. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a brat about it. It just upset me so much that you’d do that.”

I start to rub her back to soothe her. “No, Baby Girl, this one is all on me.”

She breathes deeply and looks at the alarm clock near the bed. “I’m already late. Can we just call a truce?”

“Truce,” I tell her.

On my way into town for groceries that day, I stop at the florist for a large bouquet of roses as an apology. It’s not enough, but it’s a start.

I realized after our fight that Rosalie was probably lonely while I worked. I’ve lived alone for twenty years, but Rosalie hasn’t. She has a large family and is hours away from them. Josie and Rosalie often speak still, but there seems to be some tension between Rosalie’s family and us, despite Tessa’s best efforts to calm the sea. Plus, she’s had a twin her whole life, and they seem to be putting some distance between themselves.

I’m supposed to be the gap in the hole, the one to keep her company when she’s lonely. I decide to leave the door open to the office more often.

Chapter twenty-seven

Rosalie

Myphoneringsjustas I’m slipping on my nightgown.

Rory: *Sends pic of his car with custom wrap of red and black skulls*

Rosalie: Wow! Did you do that?

Rory: My boss Declan taught me how to do it today.

Rosalie: Impressive. How long did it take?

Rory: A few hours. We used my car to practice on after he showed me how to do it.

Rosalie: I’m impressed! I thought you were just doing oil changes and tire rotations.

Rory: So you and Sawyer huh? Dad’s still pretty pissed.

Rosalie: Yep, Me and Sawyer. I wanted to tell you I just….

Rory: I get it.

I hate to admit it, but I miss him sometimes.

Drifting downstairs in the quiet of the night, I hear Sawyer playing a YouTube video or something from his work computer in the office. He must be on shift alone. I peek over and see the office door open and Sawyer at the desk. “Come in, Baby Girl,” he says.

I walk in and find him at his monitor. “Whatcha doing?” I ask. It’s the middle of the night and he works alone tonight, so it’s quiet except for the video on the monitor.

“Watching Jeff Dunham’s puppets. Have you seen the pepper yet?” he asks.

“He has a pepper puppet?” I laugh.

---