Battered Roses by Christina Rozeline

Author:Christina Rozeline [Christina Rozeline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-10-18T00:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-SIX

Rosaleen and Patsy bake a casserole dish and a few sides at the hotel.

Rosaleen is excited to enjoy her first Thanksgiving without Todd in a long time.

Finally, she’ll get the chance to relax instead of Todd yelling for her to fix his plate so he won’t miss the game. He never even watched football. He just lay there napping all day. I wonder if he’s watching the game right now.

One year, she didn’t have the table cleared and left overs put up by time he woke from his nap. Todd walked into the dining room and shoved everything off the table. Their fine china crashed and shattered everywhere.

She could feel green beans squish between her toes, sharp shards of glass cutting her feet. “Ouch!” She pulled a sliver from her heel.

“There’s still turkey under the table.” Todd sat watching her from the living room with his legs propped up, criticizing her as she cleaned up his mess.

Rosaleen could tell he found it amusing. She picked up the carving knife from the floor and glanced at the cranberry sauce running down the curtains. It reminded her of blood. That could be Todd’s blood, she thought, humoring herself.

He looked at her and squirmed in his chair, laughing nervously.

It was obvious to Rosaleen that seeing her with the knife made him nervous.

“Don’t forget to wipe the pumpkin pie off the table legs.” He pointed to a spot she hadn’t had a chance to clean yet.

She grabbed the turkey dish and grasped it tightly in her hands. Or I could just smash this over his head. That might be satisfying.

Another year, some old friends spent Thanksgiving with them.

Todd had been rude to Rosaleen in front of their friends.

“I don’t know why you don’t just leave.”

“I wish it was as easy as it sounded, Maddie.” Rosaleen tried to change the subject, focusing on Maddie’s round stomach. “So, are you ready for little Emery?”

“If you were truly miserable, you would not still live with him. I don’t feel bad for you. You deserve what he does if you won’t leave. You obviously enjoy it,” Maddie remarked, ignoring Rosaleen’s deflection.

“No one asked you to feel bad for me. This is why I never talk to you about Todd.” Rosaleen wanted to tell her to leave, but didn’t. There was no way she’d ever understand her life. Her husband was laid-back, and you could see how much he adored Maddie just by the way he looked at her. He planted little kisses on her cheek throughout the day. It was something Rosaleen craved.

Todd walked into the room as the women were exchanging awkward glances. “Is everything okay, dear?” He put his hand on Rosaleen’s shoulder.

Maddie shoved her chair back and stood. “Let’s go, Kevin. I can’t stand to be around fake people.”

Kevin looked confused, but did as his wife said.

Rosaleen hasn’t seen Maddie since that night.

What Maddie would never understand is that it would have put her in more danger if she had left then and there. The kind of danger she’s in at this very moment.

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