Hi, Hearties! Here is a modern adaption of Rosemary learning to drive Lee's car. Several lines were taken from the episode and adapted for this one-shot. Hope you all enjoy it!
"Don't forget! Tryouts for the Spring Play Cheaper by the Dozen will be on Thursday!" Rosemary said as the bell rang at Hope Valley Academy.
"Yeah, totally NOT trying out," Robert scoffed to Cody as they walked past Rosemary.
"And just for that, you are. You can try out for Frank Gilbreth." Rosemary quickly placed the script on top of the books Robert was carrying. "I'll see you Thursday."
Robert cringed by managed to crack a smile. "I'll be there with "belles on my toes." See what I did there?"
Rosemary chuckled. "Get out of here."
"Bye, Mrs. Coulter." They waved and then greeted Elizabeth Thatcher who was standing at Rosemary's classroom door.
"That Robert," Rosemary sighed as she collected papers off of the desks.
"He's always been a handful," Elizabeth said. "Like the time he claimed he saw a bear in the woods during PE?"
"Oh, how could I forget? I had so many students wanting to 'go home' for their 'safety.'" Rosemary used air quotes as she rolled her eyes. "How was your day downstairs?"
"Third grade is always such an adventure," Elizabeth said as she wiped down Rosemary's chalkboard. "Thanks for letting me come up after class. I need the distraction while Jack's deployed."
Rosemary smiled at Elizabeth. "I always enjoy some company. What are friends for?"
"So, has Lee decided which truck to buy yet? I can't believe he's trading in his Harley."
"Well, sadly, the motorcycle hasn't proven to be practical now that we're married. And with all the snow we get each winter, it's just easier if we had a truck. I think we were going to go out today to go looking at cars. Speaking of Lee—" Rosemary pulled her vibrating phone out of her purse.
Rosie! I got it! Meet me at the office!
Rosemary looked up at Elizabeth. "He got the truck!"
"Really?" Elizabeth looked surprised. Rosemary waved her hand at Elizabeth.
"It's fine. It's either the Ford F150 or the Tacoma. Oh! I'm so excited! Come on!" Rosemary grabbed her purse.
"Um, okay?" Elizabeth dropped the chalkboard eraser and followed Rosemary out the door. "I'll follow you then." They separated ways as Elizabeth parked at the front of the school as that was closer to her classroom. Rosemary ran up to her Mazda CX5 and hopped in. She was ecstatic and sped over to Lee's office downtown. As she rounded the parking lot, she saw a bunch of the guys from Lee's office surrounding him almost drooling over the truck. She parked and jumped out of her car.
"Lee! You bought the truck!" Rosemary squealed as hugged Lee. "Oh, it's gorgeous!"
"Rosie Red, just for you." Lee winked. "It's a got a—"
"Wait a second. This isn't a Ford. Or a Toyota?" Rosemary took a step forward to examine the truck.
"Well, you're right, it's actually a Nissan, but it's okay!" Lee rubbed his hands together in excitement. "This one is so much better. And it was a lot cheaper since I got it used."
"Oh." Rosie furrowed her brow for a moment before shrugging. "That's my little Honey Bunny for you— always saving us money. Way to go, you little finance guru!"
Jesse and Hickam smirked. Lee glared at them. "Uh, Mr. Coulter, we're gonna head back to the office." They excused themselves as Elizabeth ran up.
"Oh my goodness, Rosemary! How fast were you going?" She stopped to catch her breath.
"But LOOK at our new truck, Elizabeth!" Rosemary motioned as she threw her hands up in a "V" like a cheerleader.
Elizabeth wasn't huge into trucks but wanted to support her friends. "It is really nice. Congrats, Lee."
"Thank you, Elizabeth."
"I'm sure Jack would be right here drooling over it with you guys. Actually," Elizabeth pulled out her phone. "Smile, you two!" Elizabeth snapped the picture. "I'll make sure to rub it in for you, Lee."
Lee laughed. "Thanks. Tell him we miss him around here."
"Just another six months." Elizabeth sighed. "Speaking of! I have a Skype date with him in an hour. I gotta go do some errands. Bye! See you tomorrow, Rosemary."
"So," Rosemary turned around and grabbed Lee's arms. "When do I get to drive it?" She jumped into the driver's seat.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Lee said. "You can't."
"Lee! Come on!"
"No, you literally can't drive it. You don't know how."
"What do you mean, I don't know HOW?"
"It's manual."
"What?" Rosemary asked, the term lost on her.
"It's stick."
"You bought a stick shift!" Rosemary looked down and then back up. "I can't drive a STICK!"
"It was a REALLY good deal. And we don't have the money for a brand new truck."
"But—" Rosemary paused. Then her eyes grew bright. "You can teach me!"
"Teach you? Rosie—"
"Come on, Lee, please!" Rosemary begged. "What if I have to drive your car? Like, remember the time you broke your foot and I had to drive you everywhere?"
Lee sighed heavily. "Fine."
"Yay!" Rosemary clapped her hands excitedly. "Ok, hop in. I'm ready to learn!"
"I have to go back to work. I have some hours to make up today."
Rosemary slid out of the seat and shut the door. "All right." She pouted slightly. "But tomorrow. Lesson number one."
Lee had to laugh at her enthusiasm. "I'll see you at 7, sweetheart." He gave her a kiss before walking her to her car.
"Love you." Rosemary waved as she drove off.
"Can you believe it? He bought a stick shift!" Rosemary huffed. This time she was in Elizabeth's class.
"I didn't even know they still made those," Elizabeth said.
"And I don't think he thinks I can do it! Don't roll your eyes at me!"
Elizabeth laughed. "I'm not laughing at you. I swear. It's just that driving a stick is hard. Jack tried showing me and I couldn't do it."
"How hard could it be? You push the clutch, figure out the gears and go."
"Put it into 2nd gear!"
"I'M TRYING TO!"
"ROSIE!" Lee grabbed the wheel to avoid swerving into the median.
"STOP!" Rosie was trying her best to blink back the tears. She pulled into the next shopping center and parked. She turned the car off. "You're stressing me out!"
"Me!" Lee rarely ever got upset. And this was one of those rare moments. "You're stressing ME out! We almost hit Florence Blakely pulling out of my office!"
"Like that would have been a bad thing?" Rosemary muttered.
"Rosemary!" Lee exclaimed. He shook his head. "I think we've had enough practice. Let's go home."
"I'm not giving up. This does NOT count as me giving up." Rosemary scooted into the passenger seat as Lee climbed over her. Before Lee turned the car back on, he sighed and then looked at Rosemary.
"I know you aren't giving up. It's just your first day."
"I can shoot a gun better than you. I can ride a horse. I can even play the piano backward with my arms behind me back."
"But that all took practice, sweetheart," Lee said. "Come on. Don't stress out about it. I'm sorry for yelling at you."
"I"m sorry for yelling at you too."
"Since we're already here, let's get some fro-yo." Lee could tell Rosemary was still thinking about driving. "Come on. It's Friday night. We can get some fro-yo and see what's playing at the theatre across the street. It's a date. Let's go."
"Well if you insist," Rosemary said with a dramatic flair. They decided on The Case of Christ which was absolutely stellar. By the time they got home it was almost midnight.
"Man, I'm exhausted. I'm really glad it's Friday," Lee yawned as they entered their townhouse. He headed up the stairs. "You coming?"
"I'll be right there. Just going to check a couple things and I promised I would email the callback list tonight." Rosemary went into their study and opened her laptop. As she started typing, she started thinking about her horrible driving experience. She opened a new tab and started to type.
How to drive a stick shift.
As Lee woke up the next morning he rolled over to find that Rosie was already up. It was a little odd considering she was the one who usually slept in on a Saturday morning. He flopped over and reached for his cell phone on the nightstand and saw he had a text from her.
"Hey, Babe, don't worry about me. Just going out this morning."
Lee rolled back over. She was probably getting them breakfast. Or donuts and coffee. She would sometimes surprise him with a breakfast goody every now and then. But then he realized something. Lee opened his messages. She sent it at 7:30. It was almost 9.
"That's odd," Lee said out loud. "She's been gone for a while." He sat back and started scrolling through Facebook. Rosemary's Facebook status popped up.
Rosemary Coulter "is feeling determined." - Ready to rock and roll! #LearningNewThings #RosieRed
With her post was a "selfie" of Rosemary.
"Aw, that's cute." Lee kept scrolling. Then he scrolled back up. Something was amiss. Rosemary's selfie. There was something—
Lee bolted out of bed and looked out of the window. Her Mazda was still in it's usually spot. His truck…
"Rosemary!"
"Oh, Elizabeth," Abigail said as she picked up empty coffee mugs and set them on her tray. "I'm sure it was just a bad connection."
"I know. But just hearing all of the commotion in the background and then the video chat cutting out, I can't help but think of the worst." Elizabeth said as she helped Abigail wipe down a table.
"You can't think that way. It'll drive you crazy until Jack comes home."
"I know. It's just — " Elizabeth and Abigail looked up to see Rosemary barge into the coffee shop. "Rosemary!"
Rosemary looked wide-eyed and bushy tailed. And a little panicked. "Clara?" She said to Abigail's daughter who was also the barista. "I need—" Rosemary gulped and looked at Abigail and Elizabeth before turning back to Clara. "I need— an iced caramel— macchiato." Rosemary caught her breath. "And with an extra shot of espresso." Elizabeth and Abigail looked at each other. "Oh. And please add whip. Extra whip, please." Elizabeth's eyes grew wide. Rosemary NEVER asked for whipped cream, much less extra whipped cream. "Oh and make it a large, please." Then she turned to Elizabeth and Abigail before sitting down limply on the chair beside her.
"Rosemary, are you all right?" Abigail looked at Rosemary.
"No!" Rosemary wailed. Elizabeth was glad they were the only ones in the coffee shop. At least for that moment. "Why— why is Yost's Pharmacy in the middle of the street?"
"It's not?" Elizabeth said in confusion.
"You would think then," Rosemary gulped. "It wouldn't be so close to the dang road! Abigail! You were on the town committee. Don't they have laws about establishments and how far they can be from the street?"
"You're not making any sense. What happened?" Abigail asked.
"Driving a stick shift—thank you Clara—" Rosemary took a long sip of her iced caramel macchiato with an extra shot and extra whip. "Is much HARDER— than playing the piano with your arms behind your back and your eyes closed."
"Rosemary!" Elizabeth exclaimed. She ran to the window. "No!"
"What?!" Abigail asked, still confused.
"You DROVE Lee's new truck?!" Elizabeth exclaimed looking back and forth from the window to Rosemary. The "Rosie Red" truck was parked haphazardly, takign up almost three parking spots. It was a wondering Rosemary didn't hit a car coming into the parking lot and parking.
"I didn't think it would be that hard!"
"You don't know how to drive a stick!" Elizabeth said.
"Why would you drive Lee's truck without knowing how to drive a stick shift?" Abigail asked.
Rosemary looked up. "I didn't think it would be that difficult! I Googled it and watched YouTube videos last night!"
"Oh my gosh." Elizabeth shook her head walking back to the table.
"Lee is going to KILL me when he finds out I almost drove his truck into the pharmacy. And Florence Blakeley's mailbox. And Emily Montgomery's dog." Rosemary cried. Before she could go on, the door opened from behind her and she heard someone— a man— clear his throat. She looked up at Elizabeth and Abigail whose faces changed from shock to "Uh oh." Rosemary's blue eyes grew big. She cringed because she knew exactly who walked in the door.
"Sweetheart. Can I talk to you for a sec?" Lee asked, more like a statement than a question.
"I need to put these cups away," Abigail said.
"I'll help!" Elizabeth ran into the kitchen with Abigail. Rosemary cringed before taking in a deep breath and exhaling slowly. She stood and turned around, giving Lee her famous actress fake smile.
"Before you say anything. This. This really wasn't my fault." Rosemary tried to bat her eyelashes. But the look on Lee's face was not buying it. Of course not.
"Really. So the keys of the truck MAGICALLY popped into your possession. And the truck KIDNAPPED you and FORCED you to drive it."
"Lee Coulter! Your sarcasm is absolutely unnecessary!"
"You are NOT allowed to drive my truck!"
"YOU can't tell me what to do! You're not the boss of me!"
"It's MY truck! I should be allowed to say who can and who CAN NOT drive MY truck!"
"Lee! That is absolutely unreasonable!"
"All right, here are some fresh baked cookies!" Abigail and Elizabeth came out from the kitchen. But they realized it was a little too soon.
"Rosemary, you can be so— so irresponsible sometimes!"
Rosemary gasped. "You take that back!"
"No!"
Rosemary fumed and her cheeks grew pink. "Fine! Then I'm staying over at Elizabeth's until you apologize!"
"You are?" Elizabeth asked. She looked at Abigail as a plea for help.
"YES!" Rosemary exclaimed, nearly shouting. "I am!"
"Fine! You do that!" Lee grabbed his keys off the table and tossed Rosemary's keys onto the table. They watched him circle his truck about five times inspecting for damages. He finally got into the truck and sped home.
"I need fresh air." Rosemary left out the side door and unto the coffee shop's patio which overlooked the valley. As soon as the door shut, Abigail and Elizabeth looked at each other.
"What did we just witness?" Abigail asked rhetorically.
"Help. Please help me." Elizabeth begged. "I know I lived with Rosemary our last two years of undergrad, but you have NO idea what it was like whenever she came back to our apartment after their fights."
"What'd they fight over?"
"Stupid stuff. You know what it's like when you're young and dating. But never anything like this."
"I've never seen Lee this angry. He's usually pretty calm."
"Me either. He wasn't just ticked. He was MAD!"
"I would be too if someone almost totaled my new car." Abigail shook her head. "Well. Good luck tonight." She grinned, teasing Elizabeth. Elizabeth smirked and threw a dishcloth at Abigail.
"I can NOT believe Lee called me irresponsible!" Rosemary huffed, smacking her pillow. "If he thinks he can just call me names, he has another thing coming!"
"Well, you aren't going to fix anything by living here the rest of your life," Elizabeth said handing her another pillow and pillow sham. Rosemary shoved the pillow into the sham. "Don't take it out on my pillow… it's new."
"Lee has completely overreacted over this entire situation."
"Overreacting!"
"He called me irresponsible! I am an absolutely responsible person!"
"You DROVE Lee's BRAND NEW truck. Did you even ask him?"
Rosemary tossed the pillow on the bed. "Who's side are YOU on?!"
"The only logical side there is! You take off with Lee's truck. You didn't ask. You can't even drive a stick shift. You nearly ran into the pharmacy, a mailbox and a DOG! AND you "learned" how to drive off of Google and YouTube!"
"And!"
"And you don't think you're irresponsible?!"
"Elizabeth! Are you saying I'm irresponsible too!" Rosemary's voice was up a notch.
"What I am saying is," Elizabeth sat next to Rosemary on the bed. "Is that you can be headstrong, demanding, and completely unappreciative."
"What!" Rosemary gasped.
"Lee does SO much for you. And you seem to just take it for granted."
"That is NOT true!" Rosemary started to get up, but Elizabeth forced her back down again.
"Did you stop to think about why Lee bought the truck? It was so he would have more reliable transportation for the BOTH of you. This world is not all about you! And sometimes when you get this way, you are just a giant pain in the—" Elizabeth stopped as Rosemary's eyes grew bigger. "tushy." Elizabeth finished as that was the least offensive words she could think of at the moment.
"Ugh!" Rosemary crossed her arms, not appreciating what she just heard.
"You are incredibly lucky to have Lee in your life. Just think about it."
Rosemary flopped back on the bed. So, Lee called her irresponsible. But she had to admit, she didn't think through all of her actions. And she thought about their date night from the evening before. And how he was somewhat patient during their driving lesson. And how he had been working some much overtime to buy the truck. Then it dawned on her. She knew Lee well enough that he most definitely wanted the newer truck but opted for the older used truck. And she realized why. She had been begging Lee to take her to London and they were planning to go during spring break. Rosemary realized that Lee was trying to adjust their finances in order to make her wish come true. Elizabeth was right. She was being completely selfish and acted very irresponsibly.
Rosemary blinked back tears as she sat up and looked at Elizabeth. "Do you have to be so honest?"
Elizabeth hugged Rosemary. "What are friends for?"
"We must be pretty darn good friends."
"The best." Elizabeth hopped up. "Come on. I'll grab some ice cream and we watch some Gilmore Girls. Just like our old college days."
Lee decided to skip Sunday School the next morning. In fact, he wasn't even sure if he really wanted to go to church. Lee was still pretty upset about Rosemary from the day before and it didn't help that they left things unresolved. He had to admit though. He was impressed that he couldn't find a ding or a scratch on the truck after Rosemary's fiasco. He heard the doorknob jiggle and Rosemary walked in.
"Hi." She said meekly.
"Are you here to get some of your stuff?" Lee asked with an edge. He could have kicked himself. That wasn't how he wanted to start his week. Rosemary stepped closer to him.
"Lee. I'm sorry."
"What?" Lee asked, a bit shocked. Rosemary rarely ever apologized. It was a hard thing for her to do.
"Seriously. I'm sorry. You were right. I was irresponsible. And unappreciative. And a list of other things we won't get into. I shouldn't have driven your truck at all."
"You could have gotten hurt."
"I know." She said meekly. "Will you forgive me?"
"Come here." Lee wrapped his arms around Rosemary. "I'm sorry losing my temper." Rosemary shook her head.
"You had every right to be mad at me." Rosemary sighed. "I know I don't say it enough, Lee, but, I do appreciate you. And I appreciate everything— the sacrifices— everything you do for our family." She let go of Lee for a moment to look him in the eyes. "I love you, Lee Coulter."
"I love you, Rosie." He leaned closer and they kissed. As they slowly pulled apart, Rosemary's eyes were bright again.
"Ready for lesson number two?" Lee asked dangling the keys.
"Gosh, no," Rosemary said, taking a seat. "I'm good. I'll just drive my little car. At least for now."
Lee laughed. "All right, sweetheart. How about some pancakes instead?"
"Sounds good. I"ll get the Bisquick."
"I'll get the eggs and milk."
As they worked together in the kitchen, Rosemary stole glances at Lee. She was lucky— no— blessed to have him in her life. Elizabeth was right. Lee was the best thing that's ever happened to her and she couldn't thank God enough for giving her a man so forgiving, kind, adventurous, easy going, and loving. All along, God knew she needed him.