A CALIFORNIA ROSE
Chapter Fifteen
Rose slept fitfully for several hours. The
nurses checked on her frequently, waking her every hour to make sure she was
all right. At five o’clock, Cal finally showed up.
Rose was sitting up in bed, staring blankly
at the television, when he walked in. Cal reached over and shut the television
off.
For the first time, Rose looked at him. “Go
away.”
He didn’t listen. Instead, he pulled up a
chair and sat down beside her.
Rose stared at him. He had brought flowers
and a small, wrapped package. After setting the flowers on the bedside table,
he handed her the package.
Rose didn’t open it. Setting it down on the
table, she reached for the remote.
Cal moved it out of her reach. He handed the
box back to her. When she still made no move to open it, he unwrapped it for
her.
“Rose...” he began, searching for the right
words. “About what happened this morning...I’m sorry. I went too far.”
Rose didn’t say a word. She just stared at
him, expressionlessly.
“Look, Rose. I think we’ll both agree that
your...behavior...has been inappropriate. I don’t want to see you running
around with other men, especially this close to the wedding. But, I’ll concede
that I went a little too far this morning. I never intended for you to wind up
here.”
“What did you intend?”
He looked at her for a moment. “To keep you
with me. To keep you at my side. You are my fiancee, Rose. I’m not going to let
you go. I only try to keep you in line because I love you. I know I went too
far this morning, and I’m sorry. I promise you that it won’t happen again.”
Rose looked at him. He seemed sincere, but
then, he always seemed sincere. The first time he had slapped her, he had made
excuses, then promised her that it wouldn’t happen again. But it had, and it
had only gotten worse.
Still, she thought, how much worse could it
get than this? Maybe this time he had learned his lesson about hitting her.
Maybe she had behaved inappropriately. Maybe, if she paid more attention to
him, if she did what he told her to do, he wouldn’t feel the need to hit her
again. Perhaps, if she slept with him willingly more often, he wouldn’t resort
to rape.
He did seem sincere. Maybe this time he
really was. What choice did she have, anyway, but to believe him?
Finally, she nodded. “All right, Cal.”
He opened the box he had brought her. “I
intended to give this to you on your birthday next Friday, but I thought that
now would be a better time.” He handed her the box.
Rose looked inside. A heart-shaped sapphire
surrounded by diamonds hung from a gold chain. She had seen this piece of
jewelry in a store window a few weeks earlier, and had expressed admiration.
Cal had apparently taken her admiration to heart and bought it for her.
The pendant had looked beautiful in the
store, but now, as the brilliant gems sparkled in the light, Rose wished that
she had never seen it. It was pretty, but it didn’t mean anything. It was just
a sparkling bauble, purchased to decorate a pretty possession.
Cal took the necklace from the box and
fastened it carefully around her neck. “It looks beautiful on you,” he told
her.
Rose reached to touch the pendant. It
probably would look lovely, she conceded, if only it wasn’t displayed against
her bruised collarbone.
Cal watched her reaction. Her eyes were bleak
as she reached to touch the necklace. Her hand moved up around her throat, as
if she were strangling.
Recalling that Rose had already managed to
break one necklace that he had bought for her, he quickly moved to unclasp it.
Carefully replacing it in the box, he told her, “I thought you might wear it at
the wedding. It would look beautiful with your wedding gown.”
Thinking about her dress, a low-cut, tightly
boned and laced creation that her mother had selected for her, Rose nodded. It
would look good.
Cal took her hand. When Rose tried to pull
away, he tightened his grip until she winced. “You know, Rose, there’s nothing
I couldn’t give you. There’s nothing I’d deny you, if you would not deny me.”
Rose just stared at him. “Open your heart to me, Rose.”
Rose was spared from having to reply when the
nurse arrived to check on her. “Visiting time is up, Mr. Hockley,” the nurse
told Cal, gesturing for him to leave. “She needs to get some rest now.”
Cal nodded. Giving Rose a quick kiss on the
forehead, he stood to leave, putting the box in his pocket as he did so. “I’ll
drop this by your house,” he told her as he hurried out the door.
The nurse expressed admiration for the
bouquet that Cal had brought Rose, and brought some water to put it in. Rose
lay quietly as the nurse bustled around, taking care of things.
Lost in thought, Rose didn’t notice when the
nurse left, or when the afternoon sunlight outside began to fade into evening.
In less than a week, she thought, she would be nineteen years old. Nineteen,
and trapped. She had nothing to look forward to, except a marriage she didn’t
want, an education that bored her, and a career that held no meaning. In just a
few weeks, she would be married, and then she would lose all hope of ever
getting away.
She suddenly wished that Jack were there. He
would listen to her, without judging, without interrupting her or warning her
to be quiet. He had been a good friend, and Rose was thankful for that. But she
realized that she couldn’t see him again. Even if they were never anything but
friends, Cal would never believe it, and Rose had had enough of Cal’s
suspicions, and his temper, to last a lifetime.
Rose sighed, thinking. If only she had met
Jack before she met Cal. If only she weren’t engaged to Cal. If only her mother
wasn’t set upon this marriage. If only she had never met Cal.
Rose shook her head. It didn’t do any good to
wish for things she couldn’t have. She was engaged to Cal. The wedding would
take place in a few weeks. Wishing that things were different wouldn’t help; it
would only make her more miserable. She had to accept things the way they were,
and try to make the best of them.