James said nothing, and she wanted to remind him—again—that she and Autumn weren’t in the Navy. “We live in a sleepy town of ten thousand,” she said. “Autumn’s biggest concern for this afternoon is a sunburn. And maybe getting licked by the family golden retriever.” Queenie had certainly licked Rosalie’s hand several times when she’d been out to the farmhouse. “It’s fine.”
“Who is it?” James asked.
Rosalie heaved a sigh. “I don’t see how this is any of your business, but his name is Lee Cooper.” She’d fall down dead if James knew Lee.
He didn’t say he did, because of course he wouldn’t. For the three years he’d lived in Sweet Water Falls, he’d been deployed on his ship or recovering in the hospital. Then he’d moved out, and then away.
“I’ll look on Monday morning,” she said. “Okay? There’s still plenty of time from July sixth to July twenty-sixth to make plans.”
“Fine,” James said, less bark in his voice than she anticipated. “You’re doing okay?”
“Yes,” she said, surprised by the change in conversation. “You?”
“The games are going well?”
“Yes.” She hadn’t told him about her new board game at all. He hadn’t asked. James had never made it a big point to ask her about her own endeavors, even when they’d been married. Anything he knew was because she told him, not because he asked.
“Good,” he said. “I’m glad.”
“Me too,” she said. “I’ll talk to you later, James.”
“’Bye, Rose.”
The call ended, and Rosalie looked at the phone as it darkened, her ex-husband’s face disappearing from her immediate view. She sighed, because she’d harbored some tension in her shoulders and back she didn’t need.
She slid open the door and called, “Autumn, baby, come get in the tub. We need to start getting ready to go out to the farm.”
Butterflies danced through her stomach as her raven-haired girl came running toward her, the humongous white rabbit keeping pace at her side. She was taking Autumn out to Sweet Water Falls Farm today to meet Lee and the rest of the Coopers. He’d said he could come get her and make it a smaller affair, but she didn’t see the point of that.
She’d planned to go to Lee’s cabin first, and they could have the meeting there. Then, there was, according to Lee, a massive picnic planned for the whole family and everyone who lived and worked on the farm. When she’d asked him for an approximate number, he’d seemed confused.
Thirty?he’d guessed.Maybe forty. And then the Forrester’s are coming from next door. So maybe more like fifty or sixty…
Sixty people. It wasn’t as many as the wedding, but Rosalie’s stomach didn’t seem to care about a missing zero on the end of the number. It felt like a lot of eyes would be on her and Autumn, and it took a lot of strength and willpower to remind herself that she’d met Lee’s whole family before. Several times.
She’d already dressed in a pair of navy blue shorts that went halfway down her thigh, and she’d paired them with a bright red shirt with white stars. Completely patriotic and Texan at the same time.
“Should we braid your hair?” she asked Autumn as the tub filled with hot water.
“Can you, Momma?” Her daughter’s eyes filled with hope.
“Yep.” Rosalie helped her step out of her pajamas. “And you can wear that cute dress we got the other day.”
Autumn ran her fingers along a star on Rosalie’s shoulder. “The one like your shirt.”
“Yep. Get in now, baby. It’s warm enough.” She steadied Autumn while the spindly girl stepped over the tub, and then she squeezed some bubble bath into the stream of water still filling the tub.
Rosalie couldn’t help herself. As Autumn splashed and played with her ponies in the bubbles, she checked her schedule. She had planned to go live the day of her game launch, but her major appointments with schools and retailers were all the week before Autumn’s birthday.
She didn’t have plans specifically for her daughter’s birthday, but that didn’t mean she wanted Autumn to be out of the state on the day she turned five. Only two weeks after that would be the open house for her kindergarten classroom, and Rosalie would need to get supplies and clothes and all the things Autumn needed to start school.
Three days before her daughter’s birthday, Rosalie had an online meeting with a major distributor of games. Play Now sold educational games and jigsaw puzzles all over the Midwest and western half of the United States, and she’d already pitched Paul her board game. He’d liked it, and they would be finalizing their order that day.
The meeting was set for ten o’clock, and she supposed as long as she didn’t have to leave for San Antonio until noon, she could accommodate James’s request.
She wasn’t going to tell him that right now. She’d text him on Monday morning, as they’d agreed. Right now, she helped Autumn wash her hair and rinse all the conditioner out. She braided her silky strands into a single French braid and helped her daughter into the red-and-white starred sundress. With a pair of white sandals on her feet, Autumn was ready for the picnic.
Rosalie grinned down at her. “Ready?” She extended her hand toward her, and Autumn slipped her palm against Rosalie’s.