A CALIFORNIA ROSE
Chapter Nineteen
Rose parked her vehicle across the street
from the house. Climbing out, she approached the driveway. Tommy was there,
working on his clunky old car.
He turned when he heard her footsteps. Wiping
the grease off his hands with an old T-shirt, he watched her approach.
“Is Jack around?” Rose asked him, one hand
clutching her skirt nervously.
“He went out walking, probably up to the
hills,” Tommy told her, tossing aside the grease rag.
“Where in the hills might he be?” The old
housing development was at the edge of the hills that surrounded the Masline
Valley. The hills went on for miles before flattening out toward Southland.
“You know that street about two blocks from
here, the one that ends in a dirt road?”
Rose nodded. She had walked down there a few
times with Helga, Trudy, and Sophie, to visit the spring at the end of the
street.
“After a while it turns into a dirtbike path.
After that it branches off in two directions. Go left. The trail winds around
to the top of the hills. He likes to go up there and work on his art. Says it
inspires him.”
“Okay. Thanks.” Rose turned toward the
street.
Tommy stopped her. “What did you do to him?”
“What do you mean?”
“He went to visit you at college and came
home acting like his best friend had died. He keeps saying everything’s fine,
but then he sits there staring at his portfolio for hours on end. He starts
drawing something, usually something that looks like you, but then he crumples
it up and tosses it out, saying it’s not good enough. I asked him what was
going on, but he just said it didn’t matter.”
Rose immediately felt guilty. She could have
rebuffed him a little more politely, she realized. “We...got into an argument,”
she told him.
“I’ll say. I’ve never seen anyone so hung up
on a girl before. Except maybe Fabrizio with Helga. But he married her.”
Rose looked down the street. “Well, I’m going
to see if I can find him.” She glanced at her SUV, then decided to walk the
whole way. It would calm her nerves.
One of the kids at the house across the
street shouted a greeting in Spanish. Rose called back, preoccupied. Would Jack
want to see her, after the way she’d treated him?
She made her way down to the end of the dirt
road. A dog ran out of its yard, barking ferociously, then dove back under the
fence and cowered. Rose watched it, absently. The animals were acting very
strange today.
Putting the dog out of her mind, Rose climbed
the dirtbike trail. In the distance, a few kids rode around on a branching
trail, but none blocked her path. She kept climbing.
When the trail forked off, Rose followed it
to the left. Her heart was pounding nervously. Halfway up, she stopped to dump
the sand and dirt out of her shoes, admitting to herself that the ballet
slippers she had worn to church probably weren’t the best hiking shoes.
She finally found him. Jack was sitting on a
rock at the top of the hill, his portfolio in his lap. It was open, but he
wasn’t drawing anything; he just looked out at the horizon, lost in thought.
Rose approached him slowly. “Hello, Jack,”
she said, walking up behind him.
He turned, startled. “Rose!” he exclaimed,
surprised that she had followed him up here.
“I changed my mind. Tommy said you might be
up here...”
She broke off as Jack got to his feet. “Come
here. I want to show you something.”
“What is it?”
“Just...come here. Now, close your eyes.”
Rose wondered what was going on, but did as
he asked.
“Now, put your foot on this rock here. Don’t
worry, it’s stable.”
She stepped up onto the rock at the edge of
the cliff. Shakily, she grabbed Jack’s hand, wondering what was going on.
“Do you trust me?”
She smiled, knowing the answer. “I trust
you.”
He stepped up behind her, one foot on the
ground to steady them. Lifting her arms, he told her, “Now, open your eyes.”
Rose opened her eyes, and immediately
realized why Jack found this place inspirational. The valley spread out below
her, green-gold in the May sunlight. Just below them, a rabbit leapt from its
brush cover, then dove into another hiding place. The green grass rippled in
the wind like waves on the ocean. Farther away, the buildings of the town
spread out, ranging from the old brick buildings in the downtown area to the
identical pink-roofed housing developments on the other side. Small cars zipped
along the freeway, sparkling in the late afternoon sunlight.
Rose threw her head back and laughed. “I’m
flying, Jack! I’m flying!”
Jack laughed with her, then sang softly in
her ear, “Come Josephine in my flying machine...”
Rose smiled, remembering the familiar
childhood song. “And it’s up she goes, up she goes...”
Jack broke off, but Rose kept singing.
“Balance yourself like a bird on a beam. In the air she goes. There she goes.
Up, up, a little bit higher. Oh, my, the moon is on fire...”
She stopped singing as she turned to face
him. Their faces were only inches apart. Rose’s heart pounded as she looked at
him.
Then their lips met. Rose threw her arms
around him, pressing herself closer as the kiss deepened. She hadn’t felt so
content, or so safe, in a long time.
How long they stood that way, Rose wasn’t
sure. When at last they broke apart, Jack stepped back and reached for his
portfolio. Rose started to follow him, but he stopped her.
“Wait! Stay there!”
He opened the folder, pulling out a fresh
sheet of paper. “Put your arms out, like you were flying. Now, look at me. Keep
your eyes on me.”
Rose held her arms up, balancing on the rock.
The breeze tossed her hair around her face, and her skirt billowed in the wind.
Jack pulled out a pencil and began to sketch
her, trying to capture the smile on her face, the way the sunlight glinted off
her hair.
The sun was low in the sky before the drawing
was complete. Rose stepped off the rock, coming closer to view the picture.
She could hardly believe it was her. The
woman in the picture was smiling, her face highlighted by the sun. The haunted
look was gone from her eyes.
“Thank you, Jack,” she whispered. He started
to hand the drawing to her, then changed his mind, deciding to hold onto it
until they got to the bottom of the hill.
Rose pulled him to his feet, laughing. A
moment later, they embraced again, kissing.
It was Jack who ended the kiss. “I hate to
say this, Rose, but we’d better go back down. It’s starting to get dark.”
Rose nodded reluctantly. He was right. They
couldn’t stay out there all night.
They started back down the hill. The shadows
were lengthening, and the wind was growing stronger. A coyote darted out of
their path, dashing into the brush. Impulsively, Jack grabbed Rose’s hand.
“Race you!”
Laughing, Rose ran after him. Her slippered
feet slid several times on the rocky trail, but she kept up with him. When they
came to the paved street, they stopped, laughing and out of breath.
Rose sat down on the curb and dumped the dirt
and sand from her shoes. She could see by the streetlights that they were
definitely the worse for wear, but she didn’t care. Slipping them back on, she
got to her feet and followed Jack up the street.