Read Roses for Free Online Page A

been coming home, too…. She halted.
What if she had destroyed another what-should-have-been?
The thought was like a knife plunged into her lungs.
    “Miss Mary, what is it?” Matt covered her clutching fingers with his hand, his brow furrowed in concern. “Tell me.”
    Mary turned her disturbed gaze up to him. He had inherited his grandfather’s height and build and a rougher-cut version of
     his handsomeness. She had always preferred his face to Percy’s. It comforted rather than devastated and had an appeal entirely
     his own. She could see nothing of Percy’s wife, Matt’s grandmother, about him except his light brown hair and bright blue
     eyes. “How’s Lucy?” she asked.
    Looking baffled, Matt eased into his grandfather’s grin. “Why, the same as always. Full of piss and vinegar. I just got back
     from a visit with her in Atlanta. Should I mention that you asked about her next time I talk to her?”
    Mary threw up a hand. “Oh, good Lord, no! She might have a heart attack.”
    Matt chuckled. “You two. I don’t suppose I’ll ever learn what came between you.” I imagine you have a pretty good idea already,
     Mary thought, amused, and wondered if Matt would question Percy about what he’d overheard. Probably not. He’d let the creek
     lie still, rather than go fishing. No telling what he might drag up that would embarrass his grandfather. It had all happened
     so long ago, anyway.
    “I can see that you’re not going to relieve my curiosity,” Matt said, “so let’s go back to Rachel. When can we expect her
     next visit?”
    “Oh, in about two or three weeks, I’d say,” Mary said, her attention on her limousine drawing up to the curb. It was white,
     ancient, and in impeccable running order, much as she’d once thought of herself. “Here’s Henry, so I’ll say good-bye, Matt.”
    She gazed up at him through her sunglasses, a constriction suddenly in her throat. He’d always been such a good boy. She remembered
     when he and his mother, Claudia, Percy’s daughter-in-law, had come to live at Warwick Hall. Matt had been only a few months
     old. He had reminded her of Matthew, his namesake. Matt had been their rainbow after the storm. Pain swelled in her breast.
     “Matt—” she started to say, but to her dismay, a sob blocked her words.
    Matt said, “Hey, here now… what’s this?” and drew her into his arms. “You look too lovely to cry.”
    She felt in her purse for a handkerchief. “And you’re wearing too nice a jacket to cry on,” she said, finding a tissue and
     pressing it to a wet spot on his lapel, appalled at herself. “I’m sorry, Matt. I don’t know what came over me.”
    “Memories do that to you sometimes,” he said, his expression gentle and knowing. “How about letting Granddad and me come down
     for a drink around six? He’s missed you this past month—more than I can say.”
    “If you’ll promise not to say a word to him about my… behavior.”
    “What behavior?”
    Henry had come around to assist. “Aunt Sassie’s havin’ ham and black-eyed peas and collards and fried cornbread for lunch,”
     he said. “That’ll fix her up.”
    “Sounds like just the ticket,” Matt said, but Mary caught the look he exchanged with Henry that belied his confidence. Before
     closing the door, he leaned in and placed a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll see you this evening, Miss Mary. Okay?”
    She patted his hand. “Okay,” she said.
    But of course it wasn’t okay. She’d think of some excuse and have Sassie call down to Warwick Hall later with her apologies.
     After their month’s separation, Percy would have a fit, but she was in no state to see him. She needed her emotional and physical
     strength for her encounter with Rachel tomorrow, and she must still attend to that final task in the attic. “Henry,” she said,
     lifting her glasses to wipe away the last of her tears, “I’d like you to do something for me when we get home.”
    Henry cast her a