Lorenzo seemed somewhat satisfied, but Rose wasn’t. They stood out there while she continued to interrogate him, getting every detail of why exactly Vincent had agreed to leave and all that Lorenzo had told him so far about her and her boyfriend. One small relief was that Lorenzo said Vincent didn’t know it was Ben yet.

“I didn’t see the point in telling him. He was already devastated enough.”

“Please don’t tell him.” His face soured again. “I swear to you. I’ve never done anything with Ben. We’ve always been just friends. I’ll tell him but when he gets back. I promise. When I get a chance to see him in person, I’ll explain everything. He wouldn’t understand otherwise. I’d have to explain it to him myself.” An incredible feeling of hope and delight began to slowly encompass her. “Is there any other way I can talk to him sooner?”

Lorenzo shook his head frowning. “He’s in Iraq out in the field. The only way is writing a letter. I wrote him one about a week ago, but I haven’t heard anything back yet.”

Once Rose felt satisfied not just that she knew enough but that Lorenzo was through dealing as well, she headed home, skipping her evening classes. She had so much to say to Vincent she’d probably write all night.

“Vincent didn’t do it!” was the first thing she said to Grace as she rushed into the kitchen.

“What?” Grace looked up from where she sat feeding the baby.

“It was Lorenzo, not Vincent. Vincent just covered for him. Oh my God!” Rose clenched her chest smiling. “I don’t care how long I have to wait, Grace. I’ll wait the four years. I’ll wait ten if I have to! I don’t care! I don’t care!” She hugged Grace smacking a kiss loudly on the top of her head. Grace laughed, and Rose knew she couldn’t possibly understand.

“What about Ben?” Grace asked.

“I’ll explain it all later.” Grabbing a pear from the fruit basket on the counter, Rose dug her teeth into it and spun around. “Right now I have a letter to write.”

~*~

A couple of days later still walking on air, Rose answered her phone just as she drove in to work her shift at the restaurant. She’d written Vincent a ten-page letter explaining everything she’d gone through in the past year and how she’d made the whole boyfriend thing up to get Grace off her back. She also made sure she told him she loved him over and over again and that she’d wait for him as long as she had to. After the year she had, she knew now without a doubt she’d much rather deal with waiting and know she’d be with him again someday, than attempt to live life without him forever. That she obviously couldn’t deal with.

“Hey, Ben,” she said as she finished parking.

“Hey, Rose. Listen I’m gonna be gone all next week. I’m going hunting up north with my old man and my brother.”

Rose bit her lip. Shit. “Okay.”

“I was thinking I could just stop by Sunday to give you the shot because it’s the day before I leave, and I figured I could give you the next one Saturday when I get back, but I just found out my uncle’s coming too, and I gotta go pick him up this weekend.”

Rose sighed. “That’s okay. I can figure something out.”

“But I can come by today if you want. This way next week you’ll just have to go into the clinic one day. It’ll save you some time right? You said they take forever.”

Relieved that today was Lorenzo’s day off, she agreed quickly. “Yes, that would be great, if it’s not too much trouble.”

“No, not at all. Does a half hour from now work for you?”

“That’s perfect.”

Rose was gonna have to do something about this. She couldn’t be counting on Ben to do this for long. He said he didn’t mind and felt even more confident about his ability to give injections now, but something had to give. Grace had one more month to go before she had the baby. Rose could do this for one more month without having to worry Grace unnecessarily, and then she’d have to fess up. Especially because she knew Vincent would most certainly have an issue with this.

She’d only been waiting tables for about fifteen minutes when Lorenzo walked in wearing his restaurant polo. What?

Putting her order in quickly, she hurried to the back and reread the schedules. She distinctly heard him say today was his day off. She didn’t even care anymore that he’d volunteered to work a few more weeks at this restaurant. He always had something new to share with her about Vincent that she’d missed out on this past year. In fact now that she knew the truth, she liked having him around, but not today. Maybe he was just here to pick up something. The schedule confirmed he wasn’t supposed to be there today. He walked in just as she was getting ready to walk out.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” she smiled nervously, “I thought you were off today.”

“I was.” He smiled, walking past her. “But Sal called from the doctor’s office. Seems your sister is having early contractions. The docs are trying to stop them. He’s gonna be there most of the day, and someone called in so I get extra hours this week.”

“What?” Forgetting about everything else Rose pulled her phone out. “Why didn’t anybody tell me?” Grace said her appointment this morning was routine. Just then she noticed the missed call she had from Sal and a voicemail. The time the call came in was just before her shift started. He must’ve called while she was on the line with Ben, and it went straight to voicemail. “Stupid phone.”