The Powdered Rose

About the Book

The midday sun had warmed New York City when Rose Lee O'Connell set her heavy suitcase down on a curb at an intersection three blocks from the bus depot while waiting for a traffic light change.  The soft breezes teased her honey-blond hair.  Her leggy slim figure was dressed in white pants and low-heeled, blue walking shoes.  The oval neck of her short-sleeved navy blue sweater, with a band of white stars knitted in across the top, was highlighted by an expensive broach attached to a thin gold cabled chain which hung from around her slender neck.

Rose Lee was an attractive woman, and young -- in her early twenties.  When she was fourteen, her father enrolled her in a renown girls finishing school.  Later, setting aside a dream of becoming a model, and to abide by her father's wishes, she attended a Texas university and graduated with a masters degree in psychology.  But now, she was going to do it her way for once in her life.

After her reign as beauty queen in her senior year in college, she received several offers from well-known modeling studios, offering her interviews.  She chose Ms. Stineburger's Modeling Studio in New York City over the ones in Hollywood, California.  It was hard for her to believe she was now in New York City standing on a curb waiting for the long traffic light to change, with only an hour to spare before her special modeling interview was to take place.

While waiting for the traffic light to change so she could step down into the intersection and cross the street, she became uneasy by the hustle and bustle of the busy city.  Rose Lee began to realize that New York was a long way from Texas and the spacious southern mansion she shared with her oil rich father whom she adored.  He had even offered to purchase an airline ticket for her, and she had wished, after several hours into the bus ride, that she had taken up his kind offer.  She was now beginning to wonder if her father hadn't been right after all about her being so tenacious about pursuing a modeling career.

Keeping up with the other pedestrians going in her direction was no easy task while carrying the heavy suitcase.  She finally stopped in the entryway of a large department store to check the business card in her purse for the studio's address.  A polite gentleman in the bus depot had told her it was just up the street.  She frowned, knowing she had been misled.  Her father, bless him, had warned her about this and other savory things that could befall young ladies if they didn't use their heads.  Suddenly she stepped back into the doorway's shadow as she saw that same polite gentleman drive slowly by in a new Cadillac convertible, looking as though he was searching for someone.  She trembled, thinking it was perhaps her, and felt safe as he drove out of sight.  Rose Lee missed her father now more than ever.  He had raised her from the time she was a small baby after her mother, who he still loved, had run off with another.

Duke was her father's nickname; his given name was Hugh Lee O'Connell.  He was a rough bull of a man.  His pleasant face was sun-browned and weathered.  The color of his hair was steel gray.  He was muscular built, and stood just under six feet in height.  In his later years, he dressed the part of the multi-millionaire, which he was.  He was somewhat like a junkyard dog, always accepting things as they were, but keeping a watchful eye on everything around him.  Though all work and no play had made him rich, it had cost him the woman he loved.

He worshipped Rose Lee, who was his only daughter, and was disappointed when she told him she wanted to be a model instead of a psychologist, even though she had spent the last four years in college and had received a masters degree in psychology.  But after he saw she was determined to be a model, he had given in and s

About the Author

Author Lee Ross Bailey has moved around some acquiring knowledge from NATURE, the SUPERB, and the HUMBLE. Born July 3rd, 1917 in Glendive, Montana, reared in Iowa, and later lived in Oregon and Utah. He now lives in Corona, California with his wife, LaVonne. Telling was a motivating factor when he wrote this western entitled, “It’s Mary Ann’s Range.” This story created the desire to make up for those lost years of writing time with other stories, too.