The Silver Rose Read Free

arrive for another couple of weeks.”
    â€œWho else would have that much potential flowing through him?” Beth noted. “Plus I spoke to Super Sleuth Ruth early this morning when she happened to be out walking her dog, and she said she’d heard he checked into the inn last night.”
    Alanna snorted and shot Beth a look of sheer annoyance. “How is it you know this delectable tidbit and yet forget until just now?”
    Beth shrugged and grinned. “I was overcome by his magnificence. All sanity evaporated with one look.”
    Rosa was momentarily amused. Alanna hated being the last to know anything. The ends of her wild red locks curled in a fiery display of temper. “Cut the theatrics, Alanna,” Rosa reprimanded. “And tone down the magic. You’re not impressing anyone with that hair thing.”
    Alanna huffed, pushed her hand under her hair and flung it upwards in defiance. Ignoring her, Rosa keyed the cash register open. Aden’s presence outside was adding to her anxiousness. It was nearly ten. Time to open the gallery to the public. Time to concentrate on work.
    â€œIf it is him, why hasn’t he come in to introduce himself?”
    â€œMaybe he’s shy,” Beth offered, provoking the intended derisive laughter from Alanna.
    In an instant, her temper was gone. “Shy? Look at him. There isn’t a shy bone in his aura!”
    All three sisters returned to staring out the window. Rosa absently straightened a display tray beneath a glass counter. “Surely he realizes we’ve seen him staring at us.”
    It was a crisp morning. People scuttled up and down the street making their way to work, but Aden Dragunis stood motionless on the edge of the curb, inches from the bustling foot traffic. Did he think he was invisible or something?
    â€œHe’s assessing us!” At a loss to explain how she knew or felt about this, Rosa masked her concern by checking the electronic cash link to ensure it was working. And still Aden’s attention remained focused on them. It was altogether too unnerving.
    She picked up a pen and clicked it repeatedly.
Go away
, she mentally intoned.
Go away!
She wasn’t ready to face her future today. Today she wanted it to be quiet and ordinary. She needed a few hours to mull over the available options and choices to be made in the next month. She wanted to be alone. Yet, here she was, scheduled to work while Beth and Alanna used the time to create pieces for the gallery.
    â€œI suppose we’re small fish to someone like him,” Alanna declared heatedly. “Didn’t his mother ever teach him it’s rude to stare?”
    It was widely reported that Aden Dragunis shunned photographers and refused to play their game at every turn. No one could recall seeing an image of him in a magazine or on the Internet. How could someone so famous escape the lens of today’s paparazzi? Perhaps if Rosa had so much as glimpsed even a single image of him before now, she might have been more prepared for the impact of his physical presence. Nah. He was knock-your-socks-off material. No normal woman would remain unaffected by someone so dynamic.
    â€œAll I care is, he said yes! And now that I’ve seen him in person — ” Alanna was practically drooling, “ — I’m ecstatic he’s here even if he’s a few weeks early!”
    â€œInvite him over.” Beth snagged Alanna’s elbow and steered her toward the entrance. “It’s freezing outside. He’s going to turn into Mr. Frosty if he stays out there much longer!”
    â€œAnd we wouldn’t want any of his precious appendages to snap off.” Alanna winked conspiratorially.
    Beth hooted with laughter but Rosa, too perturbed by last night’s untimely tolling of the bells and Aden’s way too early arrival, failed to see the humor. She was certain these two events were connected. Nerves frazzled, she felt edgy and