“But I don’t want half! This is my house! She abandoned it. She left . . .” Rose’s nerve was cracking. Charlotte went to wrap her arm around her lover, but Rose wouldn’t have any of it. For the first time since she had seen the beautiful young woman, Rose didn’t want to be touched by her. She didn’t want to be touched at all. And Charlotte looked almost physically pained by the rejection. “This isn’t fair. I did everything right. I paid the property taxes. I supported myself. She’s a deadbeat bitch, but she might take away my home?” Rose turned and punched her heavy boxing bag as hard as she could. She landed a number of heavy swings before she lost all her form and just started wailing on it. Charlotte didn’t know what to do. She saw her lover losing control right before her eyes.
Finally, Rose took a very sloppy swing and wound up hurting her wrist. She didn’t know how badly. Charlotte moved quickly and wrapped the strong young woman up, and this time Rose was too weakened to resist. She wasn’t quite crying, but her eyes were definitely watering. She was somewhere between an all-consuming rage and total depression, and she couldn’t quite push herself in either direction. She felt lost, and she hated that.
Charlotte just held her for a minute before finding her voice. “Dan, I need you to take her to the hospital. I have to go talk to my father.”
———————————– ————————————
It was an hour before Dan dropped her back off at the house. The emergency room had been thankfully slow that evening. Rose had managed to sprain her wrist. Dan offered to stick around, but Rose told him to leave and that she would be all right. Charlotte was apparently still at her parent’s, so Rose just wandered around the place that had been both her home and livelihood for many years. It was strange to think it might not be hers much longer. Even if she got half of her father’s “legacy” and was able to put a down payment on a new place, it wouldn’t be the same. She looked around. She was able to smile a little bit as she remembered all the places in that house she and Charlotte had made love. There were quite a few of them. All over the cellar, the workout bench, the floor, the office desk, the front porch, the garage . . . She wandered outside and stared out towards the little clearing where she had spend so many moments looking down at the soccer fields, watching a beautiful girl with pigtails playing goalie. She suddenly wished she hadn’t shunned her lover earlier. She might be the only thing worthwhile she got out of this.
She saw a car pulling up the drive. It was Mr. Webb’s Jaguar. She was surprised Charlotte had managed to get him to drive out at such a late hour. She was more surprised when Charlotte’s mother got out. Rose didn’t know how to react. She and Annabel Webb hadn’t spoken directly since that fateful dinner gathering. Rose stood on the porch and faced the three of them, feeling very much like she was about to participate in a high-noon shootout. Then Charlotte saw the cast around Rose’s wrist, and she rushed to the redhead’s side.
“What happened? How bad is it? Are you going to need surgery? How much . . .”
Rose actually managed a chuckle. This little sexual dynamo still acted like a child from time to time, which is one of the things Rose thought was so adorable. “No, no surgery. It’s just a sprain. I’ll be fine.”
“I’d hate to see what the OTHER guy looks like,” joked Mr. Webb. Then a serious look crossed his face. “You didn’t hit your mother, did you?”
“Call her Beatrice please. I’m not really happy with thinking of her as being related to me. But no, I didn’t. I was tempted though.”
“Listen, we’re here to help,” he said with a sideways glance at his wife. “But we’re going to need see all records you have regarding the house. Tax stuff, receipts . . . anything your father left here.”
“It’s in the back of the house. There’s a closet I usually keep locked.”
“I know the one,” said Charlotte meekly.
Rose looked at the young woman and gave her the warmest smile she could. She hoped the girl would accept her unspoken apology. Charlotte blushed.
“There are a couple of filing cabinets in there. Both of them are locked too. The top drawer in the one on the left has all the paperwork that was left here when my father left, and the drawer below it is where I’ve kept all financial records regarding the property.” She had to reach her good hand around to fish for her key ring. She felt horribly clumsy as she managed to get them out of her pocket just to drop them on the ground. She reached down and picked them up with a trembling hand. Charlotte grabbed her hand and held it steady.
“Dad,” she said, “why don’t we go get those files?”
“Good idea.”
The two of them went inside, leaving Rose alone with Annabel Webb. She almost couldn’t stand to look at the woman, but the silence was almost unbearable. “You must be loving this,” she said, staring at her feet. “You must be thinking, ‘That impudent little girl sure is getting what’s coming her.’ Go ahead. Take your best shot.”
“I’m sorry.” Mrs. Webb was looking right at her when Rose finally met her gaze. “And I mean it this time.”
Rose was suspicious. “I don’t get it. This is your opportunity. You’ve been looking to put me down since I first starting seeing your daughter.”
“Yes, indeed I was. But sometimes it only takes one thing to clear someone’s head.” The older woman paused, trying to figure out where to begin. “I love my daughter, I hope you know.” Rose nodded. That had never really been a question. “But I don’t think you know exactly how precious she is to us. Jon and I always wanted a family. Actually, we wanted a big family. But try as we might, we just couldn’t seem to conceive. Then, out of the blue, I was pregnant with Charlotte. She’s been our whole world since the day she was born.”
Rose had a look of incredulity on her face. This woman who had shown nothing but contempt to her seemed to be leveling with her, but that hostility from before was completely absent.
Mrs. Webb continued. “She was a miracle, and we’ve only wanted the best for her. Her father and I hoped, like all parents do I suppose, for her to find a nice man who would love her, protect her and provide for her. Well, I don’t think she really needs someone to provide for her. Once she becomes a doctor, she can provide for herself. But I think you’ve shown you are capable of protecting her as well as any man could. And I was finally forced to accept that you seem to genuinely love her.” She sighed, and a bit of anger returned to her face. But it didn’t seem to be directed at Rose. “But when my daughter came home crying and told us about what your . . . about what Beatrice was trying to do, it offended every ideal I hold dear. I see having and raising a child as a privilege that I had to fight for, and to see anyone treat their child the way you’ve been treated is an abomination.” She actually seemed furious when she said that. It was nice for Rose not to be the target of her anger that time. “I may not be all that fond of your vocation or lifestyle, but that’s my right as a mother. What I don’t have the right to do is tell my daughter who she can fall in love with.” That sentiment brought Rose a smile, then Mrs. Webb went on. “And you are, by all accounts, a kind, decent person who has worked too hard to have that woman take away things that are rightfully yours.” Annabel Webb was smiling, seemingly enjoying making peace with Rose and herself. She glanced toward the door that her husband and child had gone through. “I would hear them, you know. Charlotte and Jon would talk about you two got together and about all the places she wanted to go with you and all your un-ladylike obsessions. But they would always talk when they thought I couldn’t hear. I realized that I was missing out on a large part of my daughter’s life, and I had no one to blame but myself. I don’t want to miss out on anything anymore.” She chuckled to herself. “Besides, it isn’t like my parent’s were thrilled about all of my life choices when I was younger. When I met Jon, we were at Woodstock and we were both stoned out of our minds. I think we were dating for three days before I found out what his name was.”
Rose just stared at her. Then she fell down laughing. She was picturing two people in well-pressed business suits with joints hanging out of their mouths rocking to a Jimi Hendrix tune or grooving to the Grateful Dead.
“What,” said Mrs. Webb, looking a little bashful. “You didn’t think we were always so straight-laced, did you?”
“Char . . . Charlotte said you used to be hippies, but . . . Damn!”
Mrs. Annabel Webb started laughing herself, sitting on the porch and clutching her sides. Just then, Charlotte and Mr. Webb came out. They looked surprised, as if they were expecting a massacre and finding a circus. Charlotte was so happy she almost glowed. This is what she had wanted from the beginning. She moved forward and helped her injured girlfriend back to her feet. Rose had needed that laugh. Jon handed a pile of files to his wife, who suddenly resumed her normal, business-like demeanor.
“We’ll look over all this stuff tonight. Since this Beatrice woman seems to be only interested in the money, she’ll want to avoid a lengthy set of proceedings. I wouldn’t be surprised if you heard from her as early as tomorrow. So get some rest, and don’t meet with her or her lawyer . . . What was her lawyer’s name?”
“Robert Jones, I think.”
“I know the man. Little weasel. Anyway, don’t agree to any meetings until you talk to us. I’ll cancel my appointments for tomorrow so I can be ready whenever they call.” She looked at her daughter. “Can I assume you’ll be staying here tonight.” She paused, then added, “AGAIN?”
Charlotte blushed. “Well, she’s hurt and all. I can’t just leave here like this.”
“Of course you can’t dear.” She kissed Charlotte on the forehead. “Well, your father was right about one thing. At least you won’t be getting pregnant before you graduate from medical school.”
“MOM!” Charlotte was so embarrassed she actually turned red from head to toe. Rose just found something else to look at, decided that a particular tree in her driveway was incredibly fascinating. Charlotte’s parents got back in their car without further incident and headed home.
Rose turned to Charlotte and hugged her and kissed her.
“Thank you. What brought this on?”
“I’m sorry I turned away from you earlier. I . . . I’m just . . .”
Charlotte silenced her by kissing her back. “Just don’t do it again, okay sweets?”
“Never. Would it help me out if I told you I loved you again?”
Charlotte might as well have been painted red for all the blushing she had been doing. “It just might.”
“Well then, I love you. Again.” The two girls went inside and downstairs, where they fell asleep on the couch.