Rose for Rose: Book Two in the Angels' Mirror Series (31 page)

Oh, Jeanette had been mostly nice in Portland – nice when she wanted to be – and even on some of the train ride back across the country. But once they’d passed through Illinois, something inside the woman seemed to snap, and she’d become a totally different person.

At first, it had scared Rose, and then she had realized maybe it was the Jeanette she first met who was a fraud, and not the new one.

“Rose!”

“Yes, Jeanette,” she said, sighing as she saw her door in sights.

Here we go again? What did I do this time?

Forty Eight

Vancouver, Washington… September 2, 2013

As Paloma opened the gate into the back yard, she thought she heard a noise.

What was going on around here?

“Surprise!”

Paloma looked around at her back yard in astonishment. How had they done all this so quickly and without her finding out?

Her dream birthday party, come true. An ombre-style theme, from a Country BBQ on one end of the lawn to Bohemian on the other.

No wonder Edward had insisted she wear her cowgirl boots today. She smiled as she looked around her some more.

Thankfully, the rain hadn’t really come in yet; just a few sprinkles on and off through the morning, but maybe the rest of it would hold off until the evening, after everyone had gone home.

A girl could hope…

As she was pondering the weather and looking around at all the decorating her loved ones had prepared, a cheer went up and everyone began to sing her
Happy Birthday
.

Tawny and Pier Rose came over, each in full cowgirl getups. She spotted Jasmine in a sultry and sophisticated Bohemian-style dress finished off with cowgirl boots. Her boys were dressed like little cowboys, and her husband sported a pair of Wranglers and a white cowboy hat. In his arms was their little Bohemian princess, complete with a crown.

Tears streamed down her face as one friend after another hugged her.

Her brother and Me’chelle, Charlie and Clayton in tow, wore more Bohemian attire. Midge was there with Justice, and Rosemary accompanied Keith and Eugenie.

Mark was noticeably absent, but had sent a card with Jason for her.

Tom was there, as were the Henleigh kids. Each had their own take on the theme that was imaginative beyond Paloma’s wildest dreams. Especially little Lindsay, who had a crown to match Cherish’s, a purple and green dress and pink and purple cowgirl boots; to complete the outfit, she wore a matching pink scarf around her neck.

Eve was there, and though she wore her own everyday clothes, she still fit in well. As a gardener and a romantic, she had a wardrobe full of items that would suffice for a party like this, and she had chosen well: a black and white floral dress with a bright red cardigan and red flats. Her hair was pulled back in a chignon and it was apparent someone had helped her with her makeup for the event. Since her eyesight was beginning to dwindle with the years, Paloma knew Eve sometimes had Tawny help with the hair and makeup for special events, and was thankful for her friend’s big heart.

Melody was there, and was talking with a gentleman Paloma recognized, but didn’t really know. Both were geared up for an old-fashioned Country BBQ.

“Welcome, everyone, and thank you so much for coming! I know the weather hasn’t always been too cooperative,” she said as she took it all in.

She had been so busy she had completely forgotten about her own party until it was too late. But how they could have pulled it all off without her finding out, she wondered. It amazed her that they’d gone along with her wacky idea. Who’d ever heard of ombre-ing a theme instead of color? It had come to her one night, many months ago, and the idea had stuck.

When she’d initially mentioned it to a handful of people, they’d all looked at her as though they had no idea what she was talking about, and so she’d tried to explain it a few more times over the course of a few weeks.

It’s like, you know how when you see someone in a shirt or dress that starts out a really dark shade of some color, but then it gets lighter and lighter toward the bottom? It’s like that…
, she’d tried to explain.
It’s like that, but for a theme instead. So with color you might start with white for the light color and dark navy for the darker color, and it just runs together slowly… the blue gets lighter and lighter until it’s white. Well,
she’d told them.
I figure you can do the same thing with themes; just because it hasn’t been done before doesn’t mean it isn’t doable… and I think it’d be kinda fun.

So, slowly, the idea had begun to take shape, and it apparently had worked, since it was now a reality.

A knock on the gate startled her, and she followed Tawny to open it.

“Were you expecting anyone else?”

“No. This was everyone who said they could come, Paloma. So I have no idea, who…,” her friend said, opening the gate.

And as it opened, her heart dropped into her shoes.

Quentin.

With Lovan and an unfamiliar woman.

“’Bout time someone opened the gate. We heard the party all the way from the street, so we thought we’d join in,” the man said, sweeping past them despite their protests, his braids unkemptly pulled back into a modicum of a weird bun.

“Hey, get off my property,” she heard Edward shout. “Someone call the police. Why this man isn’t still in jail, I don’t know, but he isn’t supposed to be anywhere near this place. Heck, he isn’t even supposed to know where we live,” he said.

Quentin grabbed Lovan’s hand and propelled him forward, putting him between himself and the party guests as though he were a shield.

“Nice to see ya’ll, too, man. Ronnie and I – well, and Lovan – we was just passin’ through and wanted to say happy birthday to this lovely lady,” he said, pointing to Paloma.

“Didn’t realize it was a crime comin’ ta say that much. And since we’re not wanted here, I guess we’ll go ‘head and go. No need to be callin’ no coppers. Ain’t done nothin’ wrong. Just Lovan wanted to see his almost Mama.”

Lovan squirmed away from his father and ran to Paloma. She placed her arms around the young boy who had grown so much, he was almost unrecognizable as the youngster who’d left a few years before.

“Was this your idea, Lovan,” she asked gently as she heard Jason making a call to request police assistance.

“Naw, Auntie, ‘Loma, but it’s good to see you. I’m sorry Dad done messed your party up,” the boy said, returning the hug a moment and then letting go.

“Dad, we need to go. You and Ronnie been arrested too many times already, why add to it,” he said, walking toward the gate.

“Now don’tchu go tellin’ me what to do, Lovan. I’m the parent; you’re the kid. And you’re dumb if you think I’m not gonna do what I done came here for,” Quentin said.

The woman at his side, a tall thin blonde with earrings that dangled a third of the way to her navel, finally spoke up.

“I don’t think this is such a good idea, Q… I mean, you never said this was no ex of yours or nothin’.” Her voice was high-pitched, and it reminded Paloma of Didi Conn’s portrayal of Frenchie in the movie
Grease
.

Quentin ignored the woman’s comments, stepping toward Edward, who still held Cherish. Suddenly, the letters came rushing back to her.

“Edward, take her in the house, quickly. Someone grab the boys! He’s come to…. He wants to do something to the children.”

All of a sudden, there was panic.

The boys were scooped up by a couple of the men, and Edward, Jason, and Me’chelle helped get all the children inside. Even Kate went inside the house. Eugenie and Rosemary followed them inside, as well.

But Paloma was frozen to her spot.

There was no way the man was going to intimidate her.

Not again.

She knew she had to snap out of it, and shook her head to clear it.

With a laugh, Quentin just stood and observed everything happening around him. His hands traveled to his waistband, but just when Paloma thought he was going to pull a weapon, he raised his hands empty into the air.

“Stupid women, as always,” he said as police sirens pierced the air, swirling into the music on the radio. Within moments, he grabbed Lovan and Ronnie’s hands and bolted for the gate, which Tawny had closed and stepped in front of. Tom was now at her side, holding his side, which was still taped up from Quentin’s earlier attack.

As the sirens approached, Quentin’s eyes went wild. He dropped Ronnie’s hand and reached for his waistband. But this time, he pulled out a large pocketknife and flicked it open.

The cars screeched as they halted in front of the house, and a man on a bull horn began to speak.

“Quentin Quimby, come out with your hands up. If you resist arrest or do harm to anyone, there will be even more consequences than your flight from jail,” Paloma heard.

Quentin had escaped?

No wonder he looked so threatened and terrified.

“We’re so sorry to disturb your gathering, folks. And we appreciate your patience,” the man who’d introduced himself as Officer Basuki Tuah announced.

Paloma watched him maneuver through groups of people one at a time talking with this couple, then that individual, until at last he was back around to her. Keith had apparently escorted Rosemary out the front door after Quentin arrived, but before the police had, in the hopes that nobody would recognize her. Since the woman’s life was in even more danger than her own at this point, Paloma was glad she was able to be removed from the situation.

Since there was a free table, she decided to sit down with Cherish and wait until it was her turn again; she had a couple pieces of the BBQ chicken and a small slice of turquoise to blue ombre cake as she waited.

Moments after finishing, the officer headed her way, and Edward followed him. Tawny and Kate took the boys inside again, and it began to drizzle again.

With Edward at her side and Cherish in her lap, Paloma started her story for the second time that afternoon; first, it had been to Officer Tuah and his partner, and now, it was just Officer Tuah. His partner had been among those accompanying Quentin back to jail, and Lovan to his grandmother’s.

After jumping the fence in an attempt to disappear, the woman who’d arrived with them had been captured a few blocks away because of her alleged involvement in Quentin’s escape.

Paloma watched the officer’s compassionate eyes as she spoke to him.

“So, as I mentioned before, Mr. Quimby and I were involved in a relationship several years ago; we were engaged at one point, actually, until I learned he had been unfaithful. We stayed in each other’s life for Lovan’s sake, even though the boy’s mother and I were never really what you’d call… well, we were never really friends,” she began. “And when I finally had the guts to tell him I didn’t want him in my life anymore – with the help and encouragement of a handful of friends – he went berserk on me. I mean…” She looked to Edward for help.

“What she means is, we suspect he might have had something to do with an attempted robbery – or more… we aren’t certain the full intent – at her former place of employment. I know, because I chased off whoever it was, and the height and build were about right for it to possibly be him, and it wasn’t long after Paloma’s first attempt at telling him she needed him out of her life. We actually met the day of the attempt. It was at
Peacock Phantasy Shoe Shoppe
over on 23
rd
, next to that lovely little flower shop,” he said, gently taking Cherish from her when the little girl raised her arms in his direction.

“At the first confrontation, he totaled a lot of my living room,” Paloma finally said. “And then, he showed up on Thanksgiving. I was with Edward and my brother and another… mutual friend… and we were interrupted while reading the Bible. Quentin made a big fuss, and I seriously thought the police were going to show up. The neighbors at the plex weren’t too happy about it,” she continued as Officer Tuah scribbled more notes into his notebook.

“And did you report any of this,” he asked, his deep brown eyes meeting hers momentarily.

“We reported the attempted break-in, or whatever we stopped, but no… there was so much happening that on Thanksgiving, I just wanted it to all be done and over with. A couple officers came over the first time Quentin was confronted; a neighbor had called the police, and I’m glad they did. I should have pressed charges at the time, but Lovan was there, and I didn’t… I didn’t want to look like I was doing something to hurt his Dad, you know? I… I care a lot about that little boy. I watched him a lot, so….” She shrugged, running out of words.

A sigh escaped her lips, and she tried to stretch some in her chair. A small puddle was beginning to form on the edge of the table, and she realized it wasn’t sitting on level ground.

“Anything else? You mentioned earlier, when Officer O’Carroll was here, something about letters? Do you still have them somewhere?”

“We do. Would you like to come inside? I’ve got them in my office, and have photocopies of them in the house. I wanted to make sure if he ever came back, there would still be…some sort of proof, maybe, in case he came through on any of his threats,” she said as she stood. Edward and Officer Tuah stood with her, and Cherish began to babble as they made their way to the office of
Amethyst & Alabaster
.