Sunday, February 14: The A.D.D. Detective
SUMMER ROSE, part II
by Leigh Lundin with John Floyd
A block from the café she got her answer— and stopped dead in her tracks.
There was Ross Stevens on the sidewalk, hugging another woman. Young, slim, dark-haired. And wearing a wedding ring. Rose watched them climb into a parked BMW and roar away.
Rose was devastated. First Dean, now this.
But she had to be certain.
The next day she skipped the café and went straight to the spot where she’d seen them. And sure enough, there was the woman. Waiting for someone. “Excuse me,” Rose called.
She’d rehearsed this a dozen times. Could this person be just a friend? Doubtful. They had seemed so comfortable together, so natural—as if they somehow belonged with each other. And there was also the wedding ring. So, as the woman turned, Rose said, “Ms. Stevens?”
“Yes?”
Rose’s stomach twisted. That was all she needed to know.
“Is something wrong?” Ms. Stevens asked.
Rose swallowed, holding back tears. “No. No, I’m sorry, I just … I know your husband.”
“Tony?”
Rose frowned. Tony?
My God, was Ross’ lover married to someone else? But what about the last name?
Rose started to say more, then shook her head. “Just tell him … tell him Rose said she’s sorry. About everything.”
“You’re Rose?”
Rose, who had turned to leave, stopped. The woman was grinning.
“Ross told me about you,” she said.
“Told you …?”
She took Rose’s hands in hers. “I’ve never seen him so happy.”
Rose was stunned. “I don’t understand. You’re not—you’re not Ross’ wife?”
“His wife?” A delighted laugh. “I’m his sister. Sheena.”
“But—”
“I kept my maiden name.”
Rose felt her pulse pounding in her ears. “So when I saw you two here—”
“We always meet here. I give him a ride to the hospital.”
“The hospital? I thought he was taking summer classes.”
“He is,” Sheena said. “Medical school. Fourth year.”
Finally the tears came.
“Rose? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Rose smiled, sniffling. “I was thinking of my late mother.”
“Was she a doctor too?”
“She was a dreamer,” Rose said.
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’tis not the end…
Like Rose’s mother, writers are dreamers. More importantly, we love our readers.
We rustled through our bag of Necco candy Sweethearts until we found a heart for most of you. If your name is missing, Steve probably ate it, but let us know and we’ll ask Velma to find one.
Criminal Brief wishes our readers a happy Valentine’s Day…
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Thanks for the <3 — you guys are so sweet!
Happy Valentine's Day everyone.
Women of Mystery gave us a tip o’ the hat!
Thank you!
What a sweet way to end the weekend.
Nice.
What a wonderful way to thank old friends and welcome new ones. Thank you to Messrs. Floyd and Lundin for a special CB, and to Velma for spreading around a little sugar!
What a heartwarming story. As always, CBers did a reat job.
Thanks for my heart. I am especially grateful for a candy I can’t eat!!
Terrie
A nice sweet Valentine’s story. If I’d written it, Rose would have killed him before she found out the other woman was his sister.
Lead this way by the Women of Mystery. Glad I stopped in. Great story for Valentine’s Day.
Happy Valentine’s Day! I am a believer that everyone finds someone when they are least expecting it — so smile, a Valentine could find their way to you today…or tomorrow…or you could find one sitting across the breakfast table from you right now.
Ditto all of the above!
John and I had fun cooking this up and it’s gratifying to see people enjoy it.
Happy Valentine’s Day! I do believe in love and passion…and that special someone. Thank you.
Loretta
Leigh
Reading the comments…
Good thing you’re not wealthy, good looking, we would have to barricade your door, so all the women would not be breaking in.
Thanks for all the “sweets” you two!
Many thanks to all of you for the kind comments. We did have a lot of fun putting this together.
Fran, I almost did have Rose kill him off before finding out the truth. (You’re as devious as we are!)
A Valentine’s treat. Thanks, Briefers!
Are you kidding? I wouldn’t have missed it for the world–it was a great honor. Say, this ain’t the big brush-off, is it? Cause, given enough time, I might actually come up with something else to write about…and this time it just might be interesting.
My best to all those at corporate headquarters!
David Dean
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Great job, Leigh and John! Enjoyed this mini romance story.
But just to clarify: Rose got teary there at the end because she realized she was about to date a future doctor . . . ? Damn, I knew I should have picked medicine!
I received a note from a reader:
One of my all-time favorite mystery writers died, Dick Francis. The Mystery Writers of America awarded him three Edgar Allen Poe awards.
That Dean Davidson character is most intriguing–I’d like to see more of him in any future chapters!
David, we’ll have to see what we can do about that!
A big hug and thanks for the sweet thought.
Nice job! I was totally expecting a death scene, but I think you cleverly surprised us all by NOT including death or crime.
(grin) Anita and Summer, we’re glad to accommodate.
Okay, I too was expecting something nasty to happen, and so was surprised at the happy ending and liked it.
I confess that I like happy endings. We see enough of the other kind in real life . . .
Nice tale. Mighty nice.
Great story! Thanks for the candy heart, its the best kind, no calories!
How wonderfuly nice! Just getting around to read part 2 nearly a month later! What a wonderful Valentine! By the way, if Jeff’s Bakery serves up something that embodies me it would be a bowl of warm romantic mush with a side of fries! Thanks for this! “To A Wild Rose” is playing in my head now!