Free Undaunted by Kate Douglas

inner thigh at precisely the same rate of speed as the folders slid to the floor.
    “We’ll have to talk another time, James.” Rose took a deep breath and broke the connection. She knew she’d hear about her behavior later, but there was no way she could deal with him now.
    She signaled for Denise to take the call on line three, then punched the button for line two. James’s mother. Could this day possibly get any worse?
    Alicia Dearborn’s shrill voice crackled into Rose’s ear. “No, Alicia. I can’t go to lunch with you and James . . . I’m sorry too. I’ll have to call you back.” Rose gritted her teeth. “I’m very busy. No, nothing special. Just a typical Monday. Good-bye.”
    Sighing, Rose replaced the handset. She stared at it a moment, daring the phone to ring, then picked the scattered folders up off the floor and piled them on her desk.
    She couldn’t put off her meeting with Bonner any longer, no matter how unpleasant the prospect. It had to be about the recent hijackings. Acme Insurance had paid a bundle in settlements the past few months and pressure around the office had been steadily building.
    Most of that pressure had come from Rose’s office.
    Insuring special loads for long-haul trucking companies had its risks, but lately it appeared as if someone had it in for her clients. Even Hannibal Trucking’s perfect record had been compromised with two major thefts in the past two weeks.
    Rose glanced at the heavy oak nameplate on her desk, the one Mr. Bonner had presented to her the day he’d promoted her to manager. “It’ll make a dandy bookend,” she muttered. She stared at the etched letters of her name a moment longer, then headed out the door for the inevitable dressing down from the boss.
    “Ms. DeAngelo.” Denise held up a stack of notes to catch her attention. “That last call was from your Aunt Rosa. She left you a message, said you must be really busy since she was on hold so long.” Denise flipped through the notes, then held one out to Rose.
    “I wish I’d known it was her.” Rose took the slip of paper. “She’s a lot more fun to talk to than James’s mother.”
    Denise laughed, then shrugged her shoulders philosophically as the phone rang again. She turned to answer it.
    Rose unfolded the note, suddenly aware of a lump in her throat. She hadn’t talked to Aunt Rosa for over a week.
    Please tell Rose the honeysuckle’s blooming. And tell her I love her. She’s working too hard. Rosa DeAngelo.
    The honeysuckle’s blooming and I haven’t seen Aunt Rosa in two years. The sweet scent of honeysuckle filled Rose’s mind, the memory of the massive vine covering the porch at her aunt’s bed-and-breakfast out in California a balm to headaches, frustrating clients, angry bosses and disappointing fiancés.
    Rose looked through the window into Frank Bonner’s office. He paced back and forth and gestured violently as he argued with someone over the phone, his angry words muted behind the soundproof glass.
    Denise answered her phone again, at the same time indicating to Rose she had a call waiting. Rose ignored the blinking light, mesmerized by the ugly shape of Frank Bonner’s mouth twisted in anger, visible but silent behind the glass.
    She took a deep breath in a vain attempt to ease the tension in her neck and shoulders, then turned around to take the call in her office. As if mocking Rose, the marquis diamond twinkled at her from its resting place in the paper clip bowl. She picked it up, staring absentmindedly into its icy blue depths before answering the phone.
    The door to the outer office opened. Rose paused with her hand over the headset and looked up to see James guiding his mother through the tastefully decorated foyer.
    “Why me, God?” she muttered. How had the two of them gotten here so quickly? Lunch was beginning to look like a setup, with wedding plans as the main course.
    She knew better than to think Alicia would ever take no for an answer. Or James,