It was the next day in late afternoon as Rose took off the sheets from the furniture. Her hair was in one long braid with pieces lingering upon her face, and she had a white apron over her dress. Jack went around the house opening the windows since Rose wasn't able to.
"Hello?" Camilla's voice came from the entryway of the home.
"I'm in the living room."
"Oh, hello. I thought you two might be hungry, so I brought over lunch."
"Oh, thank you, Camilla," Rose said with a smile as she looked at the wooden weave basket.
"In here is some lemonade, fresh fruit, sandwiches, and some freshly made cookies. Now, you don't have to return the basket. It is a welcoming gift from us Taylors."
"Oh, thank you," Rose said.
"Hello, Camilla," Jack said, as he came down the stairs.
"Well, hello Jack. I just came over to bring you two lunch."
"Thank you, Camilla," Jack said with a smile.
"Where is Millie?" Rose asked.
"Oh, she's taking her nap."
Rose smiled and nodded.
"Well, I'm sorry that John hasn't met you two yet. He is working, but maybe when he comes home for lunch I'll bring him over."
"That will be fine."
"He gets off for lunch late so it should be around one."
"That will be fine. You know where to find us."
The three of them chuckled, and Camilla went back to her house.
"Oh, this looks wonderful." Rose peeked inside the basket.
"Come on, let's eat over by the steps." Jack picked up the basket, and set it down on the bottom step.
Rose sat down next to Jack, and opened the basket. "All right, here is your sandwich, your lemonade, your apple, and cookie."
"Yum," Jack said, unwrapping his sandwich. Rose smiled, and took a bite of her turkey sandwich.
"Knock, knock."
Jack and Rose looked at each other. "Who could that be?" Rose asked, and got up. "Anna, Scott! What a surprise," Rose said with a smile.
"We heard that we had new neighbors, and thought for a moment it might be you two." Anna smiled.
"Hey, Jack."
"Hey, Scott, how's it going?"
"Good. We just got back today."
"Did you?"
"Yep. How long have you been here?"
"We just bought it yesterday."
"Well, you two have some work to do." Jack and Scott chuckled. "If you need any help, I'm the house on the right."
Jack smiled. "Thanks, I might need to take that offer; I'm not sure. The house seems to be in pretty good shape. It's just a little dirty."
"Well, we should leave you two alone. We'll see you later!" Anna said, and the couple left.
Rose sat back down on the step next to Jack, and continued eating her sandwich.
*****
After lunch, Jack and Rose went back to work. Rose had the family room, the kitchen, and the living room done, and was now going upstairs to clean the others. Rose approached the first bedroom, which contained the queen-sized bed.
"Jack?"
"Yeah?"
"Our room is the second door looking from the top step."
"All right."
Rose started to dust off the huge chestnut dresser. After the drawer was dusted, she started to place nightgowns, undergarments, and Jack's clothes into the drawers. As Rose approached the second drawer, she found a picture frame that held a family photo. There were two adults and three children, all girls. It seemed from their clothing that this family was very wealthy. Rose smiled, and took out the picture. On the back it read 'The Morris Family, 1910'. Rose placed the picture back into the frame and placed it in the side table drawer next to the bed. Rose then continued to place the clothes into the drawers. She then went over to the closet, and started to place her dresses on the hooks. Rose hung up a dress on the rack, and noticed a knob. She turned the knob, and it was stuck. Rose went out of the room, and called down the stairs.
"Jack?"
"Yes?"
"Can you come here for a moment?"
Jack came up the stairs. "What is it, Rosie?"
"Come here. Look, there's a knob in the closet."
"Did you tried opening it?"
"Yes, but it seems to be stuck." Jack nudged his elbow against the door, and it opened. "Careful," Rose said as he stumbled into the next room.
"Gosh, it's all stuffy in here." Rose waved her hand as the dust particles swam around in the air.
"I guess this must be the attic."
"Look how much stuff is in here, Jack," Rose said, going over to a huge, long mirror.
"You're right," Jack said as he looked at an old hope chest. "Who would leave stuff behind like this?"
"Rich people." Rose chuckled. "I can't stand this dust. I'm going back."
Rose started to walk out of the attic. Jack followed Rose, and he closed the door behind him.
"Hey, nice room," Jack said as he looked around.
Rose opened the curtains, and light shone through. "I thought you might like it." Rose smiled as she went back to hanging up her dresses.
"What's for supper?" Jack wrapped his arms around Rose from behind her.
"Something simple. We really don't have a lot of food except for what we got at the market yesterday."
"How about sandwiches?"
"Sounds fine to me."
Rose turned around and kissed Jack.
"Hello?" a voice came from downstairs.
Jack went down the stairs, and Rose followed. A man stood at the entranceway.
"You must be Johnny Taylor. Hello, I'm Rose." Rose walked towards the tall man, and shook his hand.
"I'm Camilla's husband, and you must be Jack."
"That would be me," Jack said, as he shook John's hand.
"You guys are pretty lucky to get a nice house like this. Right next to the ocean, and everything."
"We do feel lucky." Jack smiled. "It's worth it, all right."
John laughed. "Camilla, Millie, and I were going to go to the beach. Would you two like to come?"
"Sure," Jack said with a smile.
"All right. We'll walk down together around five," John said with a smile, and left.
Later...
Jack and Rose walked out of their home, and met the Taylors by their home.
"Hi Rose, hi Jack!" Millie said, walking down the steps.
"Hello, Millie," Jack said.
"Hey," Camilla said as she and John walked down the stairs.
"Hello." Rose smiled.
"Are you two ready?"
"Yes."
"All right, then. Follow us." Camilla and Johnny held Millie's hand as they walked together.
"You'll love the beach," the little girl said, turning around, still walking. Jack and Rose smiled at each other. "I can hear it, Mommy. I can hear it!"
The ocean's waves could be heard as they walked down the narrow street.
"Go ahead and take off your shoes." Camilla helped Millie take her shoes off as they approached the sand. Jack took off his boots, and placed them by the log where Rose was sitting down taking her shoes off.
"How long has it been since you've been on the beach?" Jack asked as he sat down next to Rose.
"It's been a while." Rose's feet then touched the sand. "The sand is so cool." Rose smiled and looked up at Jack.
"Ready?" Jack asked, holding his hand out.
"Ready." Rose smiled and took Jack's hand.
"Tomorrow, would you like to come back here?" Jack asked.
Rose smiled. "I'd love to."
Jack squeezed Rose's hand tighter, and kissed it gently.
