Love Imagines (Sully Point, Book 6) (3 page)

Ben looked at her appreciatively when she reached
the car.

"Sorry for honking, but all the spots were taken
in the lot here."

"No problem. I'm famished. Let's go," Rose said.

"I suppose we could have just gone to the Bakery
to eat, but I want a full breakfast, with eggs and everything, not just some
pastry."

Rose nodded. "Me, too. It's been a while since I
had a big breakfast."

"No dieting for you on vacation?"

"Dieting?"

"Aren't all you models on a diet all the time?"

"Oh! No, I, uh, never have to diet."

"Really? Then why haven't you had a big breakfast
in a while?"

"Too busy."

"Early shoots? I guess that would disrupt
mornings."

"Yeah..."

Rose was glad when they reached the Diner and
hoped she could keep the conversation off models and modeling. Once inside, the
smells of food made her stomach growl.

The Diner had a large menu and it took a while for
the two of them to decide what to order. Rose picked a veggie omelet with
homemade biscuits on the side and strawberry preserves. Ben ordered eggs,
bacon, hash browns, and a biscuit with sausage gravy. They both got black coffee and
juice.

Rose debated saying something about cholesterol
and high fat foods, but then decided to be a model and not a doctor. It was
rather freeing. She took a sip of her tomato juice and wondered just what
people talked about outside of medicine. It had been her life for so many years
now, and all her friends were in the medical profession. When she had time for
friends, which was not usual.

"How was your dinner with your family last night?"
Ben asked.

"Fun. Noisy. Everyone came."

"Everyone?"

"All my family, Sam, Maggie, Beth and their
spouses and my parents. Then there were all the Graingers. Oh and Julia's
father, Rob Tremaine and his significant other. And the three kids. I think it
adds up to...twenty of us including me."

Ben choked on his coffee. "Twenty?" he finally got
out.

Rose grinned at him. "Yeah. I figured you might
enjoy the barbecue they are planning to have on the beach in a week or so. But
I don't know...think you can handle that large a crowd of family?"

He'd regained his composure and had a twinkle in
his eye as he said, "I think if I can handle screaming fans at a premiere, I
can handle your family."

She laughed. She felt comfortable with him, like
she'd known him a long time rather than just one day.

The waitress, whose name tag said Mary Jo, brought
large platters of food to the table. Rose couldn't believe the size of the
omelet she'd ordered. It was stuffed full of veggies and cheese. Ben's platter
had a pile of hash browns along with his other food.

"Can I get you anything else?" Mary Jo asked.

Ben looked up at her, and Rose watched as the girl
blushed when those blue eyes were on her.

"It will be a miracle if we can eat all of this,
so I think we're all set, Mary Jo."

"Uh...okay then. I'll just be over there if you
need me, Mr. Sterling."

Rose buttered her big fluffy biscuit and spread
preserves on it. "Do you get recognized all the time?"

Ben shrugged. "Sometimes. I'm not a big star, so
it doesn't happen very often."

They both got quiet as they dug into their
breakfasts. Rose's biscuit melted in her mouth, and the omelet had been
seasoned perfectly with some combination of herbs she couldn't identify.

"This food is delicious," Ben said. "But I'm going
to need a walk after this. How would you like to go with me to walk around the
square in the center of town?"

Rose thought for a minute and realized she had
absolutely no place to be. "Sure, I could use a walk. I hate to leave so much
food on the plate, but I can't eat any more of this omelet. Do you want some?"

He leaned back and patted his stomach, which was,
she noticed, quite flat. "I'm full. Do you want to take it with you?"

"No, my fridge is already filled with food. This was a thoroughly satisfying breakfast."

He snagged the check and paid the bill before she
had time to realize he'd done it.

"Next time we go out, we split the bill," she
said.

"Really? Does it truly bother you that I paid the
check?"

She thought about it. "Actually, not so much.
Okay, if you ask me out, you pay. If I ask you, I'll pay. Deal?"

He gave her a dazzling grin. "Deal."

They drove back to the town square and parked in
front of a store with a sign that said, 'Lucretia's.'

"You don't see that name every day," Ben said.
"Want to go see what she's selling?"

"Yes, let's check the place out."

They went into the narrow shop to discover cases
with jewelry. Ben stopped dead and Rose almost ran into him.

"What is it?"

"Lucretia...as in Lucretia's Designs. I dated a
woman once who would have killed for one of her pieces of jewelry. But from
what the woman said, she only does high-end pieces for the very rich and
famous. I can't believe she has this little shop in Sully Point of all places."

"Interesting. I wonder if she's here."

Nobody was in sight and they looked at the
necklaces, bracelets and rings in the cases.

"Ooh, look at that bracelet. I love bracelets but
I never get to wear them."

Ben looked at her curiously. "Why not?"

Rose glanced at him blankly. "Um, you know, they
always take the best pieces of jewelry right back to the stores after they do
the photo shoot."

She stared at the bracelet again. It was a twisted
bangle, with a design etched into the metal which appeared to be gold. She
sighed, thinking it probably would cost a fortune.

"Hello! Can I help you? I'm Lucretia."

The woman before them had long, blazing red hair
pulled back away from her face. It was an appealing and different kind of face,
all angles.

"I see you are looking at bracelets. Which one
attracted your attention?"

Rose pointed and Lucretia took the piece out of
the case and handed it over to her.

"It's absolutely lovely," Rose said, admiring it
on her wrist. "I wish I could get it, but I'm just looking today."

Lucretia chuckled. "That's how I get more than
half my business. You have to come in and look to find what you really like,
really want. Are you two vacationing here in Sully Point? I say that because I
don't recognize you...although you, young man, you look familiar."

Rose grinned at him. "He's a well-known actor, Ben
Sterling. And I'm Rose Carter. I'm here visiting family. Ben and I just met."

"Rose! The one who—"

"Yes, yes, Sam's sister. And Maggie and Beth's,
too. I just finished a modeling gig, and I'm taking some time off," Rose said,
staring into Lucretia's startled eyes.

"Modeling...of...course. Sam mentioned you'd be
here. Welcome to the town, both of you."

"Can I ask, just out of curiosity, how much is the
bracelet?" Ben said.

Lucretia wrote a figure on the back of one of her
cards. Ben looked at it and his eyes widened slightly.

"Good to know, good to know," he said.

"We'd better get on with our walk around the
square," Rose said, taking off the bracelet. "It was great to meet you,
Lucretia."

"It was nice to meet both of you, too. I'm sure
I'll see you again."

They left the little shop and, once outside, Rose
turned to Ben. "You have to tell me. How much was it?"

He shook his head. "You really don't want to
know."

"That much?"

"Oh, yeah."

They walked along that side of the square and
peered into a few shops. Then they went on and ended up in front of Grainger's
Hardware.

"Let's go in. You can meet Frank Grainger.
Remember, his daughter Anna is married to my brother Sam," Rose said.

They walked into the store and Frank saw them
immediately.

"Rose! How are you this fine day? Who's that with you?"

"This is Ben Sterling, the actor and photographer
I was telling you about last night. Ben, this is Frank Grainger."

Frank shook Ben's hand. "Nice to meet you, Ben.
You're here to do the summer play?"

"That's right, Mr. Grainger."

"You can call me Frank. Everyone does."

"This store looks like it has...everything," Ben
said, looking around.

Frank chuckled. "Yeah, I pretty much do have
everything here. Anything I can get you?"

"We just stopped in to say hello, Frank. We're
walking around the square this morning," Rose said.

"Actually, there is something," Ben said. "Where
are the best places for picture-taking around here? I figure you must know the
prettiest spots since you've been here a while."

Frank smiled. "Yes, I surely have been here a
while. The cliffs near Holly and Jason's house and the beach around Sam and
Anna's beach house are some of the prettiest places around. Then there's the
artist colony. They've done some amazing stuff up there with the landscaping
and architecture."

"What artist colony?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, an artist colony sounds like something you
normally wouldn't find in a small town like this," Ben said.

Frank shook his head. "I forgot you weren't up on
things around here Rose, what with your med—modeling career. The family has a
foundation that has been working to set up an artist colony. We're the ones who
got the Playhouse finished. The first small bungalows have been built for the
artists to live in. Here, let me draw you a map on how to get there."

While he got out a pen and paper and began drawing
a map, explaining the directions to Ben, Rose wandered around. She liked the
feel of the store, so jam-packed with merchandise yet easy to walk around in.
She was relieved that Frank had remembered about her being a model instead of a
doctor. Smiling to herself, she knew she was being silly doing this, but she
needed it. Putting on another persona was a relief.

"Rose? You ready to go?" Ben called.

"Yes. I'm sure I'll see you soon, Frank. I'll be back
to look around. I know you have something here that I need."

He laughed. "Most everyone does find that to be
true eventually. You two have fun."

They went back out into the warming morning air.
The sky was a brilliant blue and the day felt to Rose like a shiny gift. She
whirled around on the spot, arms stretched wide, laughing.

She stopped, to find Ben watching her with a look
in his eyes that warmed her insides down to her toes. Those blue eyes of
his...the look was like a caress.

"Uh, I just felt happy," she said.

"I wish I'd brought my camera. We have to get that
in a photo. Your face was amazing."

She felt her cheeks heating up in a blush. "Come
on. Let's go see what's in the yarn shop."

"I'm gonna bet it's...yarn," he said with a grin.

They went into the shop and met Violet who was a
huge fan of Ben Sterling, the actor.

"I've seen everything you've been in, Ben, and I
think you're going to be extremely famous someday soon," Violet said rather
breathlessly.

Rose watched as he held the older woman's hand and
thanked her. While Violet seemed determined to ask Ben a whole series of
questions about his movie experiences, Rose poked around the shop, looking at
skeins of colorful yarn. With her life, she'd never had any time for things
like knitting. It always seemed to her to be a relaxing thing to do if she'd
ever had time to sit down. Her life had been one of running from one crisis to
the next.

She realized Ben was finally disengaging from
Violet, telling her he wanted to check out the Bakery on the next corner.
Violet recommended the harvest muffin, so that he didn't 'fill out' too much to
be on camera. Rose was choking off a laugh at that comment and the look on
Ben's face.

Outside, Ben looked at her as she bent over
laughing. "It wasn't that funny," he said.

"Oh, yes, it was. Your face...priceless," she
said, and started laughing again.

He finally smiled and shook his head. "She sounded
like my manager."

"Do you have a lot of people in your life...an
entourage?"

"Not really. I have a few close friends that I
trust and have known forever. Then there's my manager, my agent, my accountant,
my trainer, my...hmm...I guess I do have a few people."

"Will any of them be coming out here?"

"No, I don't think so. Let's go see what damage I
can do with pastry. It's liberating being out from under my trainer's eye. Although,
I guess now I'm under Violet's eye so I'd better not go overboard."

"The harvest muffin must be the Bakery's healthy
alternative. Are you already hungry?"

"Not quite yet. I mainly said that to get out of
there."

"Let's go into the park for a while then," Rose
said. "It looks like a well-kept place."

"I'm game," Ben said.

They followed a trail into the park. Rose loved
how there were patches of wildflowers and a profusion of plants and trees. The
path showed the park was managed, but it had been left with a feeling of
natural wildness. They wandered through until coming to a clearing with some
picnic tables.

"Let's sit," Ben said.

They sat down and enjoyed the breeze blowing
through the trees around them. Rose felt energized by the walk and the
surroundings, but especially, the company. Ben sat across from her at the table
with his blond hair tumbled by the wind.

"You know, this isn't a bad place at all for
photos," he said.

"You're right. I like it here."

"You like my park?" a voice said behind her.

Turning she saw a man wearing a vest that said
Sully Point Park. She saw that he had Down's syndrome.

"Hello," Ben said. "We do like your park. Very
much."

The man smiled broadly. "I'm Nicky. I work here.
Who are you?"

"I'm Ben, and this lovely lady is Rose."