LOVE BY CHANCE
Chapter Ten
Rose stayed home that day, hoping that Jack
would call. When he didn’t, she tried calling him, but no one answered.
Obviously, he didn’t want to talk to her right now.
Ruth did call, though, much to Rose’s dismay.
And to her irritation, she sounded much more cheerful than she had that
morning. It was exactly the opposite of the way she wanted things to be—Jack
angry with her, and Ruth inexplicably pleased with her.
"What is it, Mother?" Rose knew
that she was being rude, but Ruth’s attitude was grating on her.
"Don’t speak to me that way, Rose. You
know I don’t like it."
"Mother…why are you calling me? I said
I’d call you in the morning."
"I wanted to talk to you. Is it a crime
to want to speak to my daughter?"
"What are you so happy about? A few
hours ago, you were furious with me. Now, you sound like the world is a
beautiful, wonderful place, and everything is as it should be. And don’t tell
me it’s about work. I know your office is closed on Sundays."
"Rose, I’m just happy to be near
you."
Rose sighed. "Wonderful. Look, Mother,
I’m waiting for a call. I really can’t talk right now."
"Is this about that Dawson boy?"
Rose stared at the phone for a moment,
shocked into speechlessness. "What about him?"
"While I was looking for a taxi, I saw
him come out of your house, looking rather upset. Trouble in paradise,
Rose?"
"Yes, Mother, if you must know. He was
upset about the remarks that I made about him after high school. You know—that
I hated him, made a mistake in going out with him, and never wanted to see him
again?"
"Oh, how terrible." Ruth tried to
inject some sympathy into her voice, but wasn’t very successful.
"Mother, don’t be sarcastic. You’re the
one who repeated all those things—things that should have been left in the
past, or saved for a better time."
"Relationships don’t work if you’re
lying to each other, Rose."
"I wasn’t lying to him! It had never
come up!"
"Well, Rose, look at it this way. If he
can get so put out over a few words from years ago, it just goes to show that
he’s wrong for you. Someone as beautiful and intelligent as you can do much
better."
"Mother…you said those things on
purpose, didn’t you? You were trying to make trouble."
"I wasn’t trying to make trouble. I was
trying to show you how much better off you would be with someone else."
"You were trying to manipulate me again!
Mother, don’t you understand? I don’t want your help or your advice. Jack is
the best thing that ever happened to me, and if you’ve driven us apart…I will
never speak to you again. Is that in any way unclear?"
"Rose, you are nothing but an ungrateful
child. After all I’ve done for you…"
"You’ve manipulated me, pushed me
around, and made my life miserable. The only reason I put up with you is
because you’re my mother."
Ruth drew in a shocked breath. "Rose,
how dare you?"
"I meant what I said, Mother. I love
Jack, and if you’ve destroyed what we have together, I will never forgive you.
Good-bye, Mother."
Rose slammed down the phone, shaking with
anger. Ruth had known exactly what she was doing, and Rose had fallen right
into her trap again.
She paced around the room for a moment, her
anger growing with each passing moment. Finally, she returned to the phone,
picking it up and dialing Jack’s number again.
When there was still no response, she turned
on her heel and headed for the door. Her mother had gone too far this time.
Rose would not allow her to destroy what she had with Jack.
Grabbing her keys, she rushed out the front
door and headed for her car. She had to fix things with Jack as soon as
possible, before her mother succeeded in tearing them apart. Jack had given her
a key to his apartment, so if he wasn’t there, she would simply go inside and
wait for him.
Ruth wouldn’t win this time, no matter how
hard she tried. Rose would make sure of it.