A CALIFORNIA ROSE
Chapter Twenty-One
Rose lay in Jack’s arms, feeling his
heartbeat and breathing return to normal. She relaxed, snuggling against him.
“You okay?” he asked her, brushing a strand
of hair out of her eyes.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” She kissed him,
running a hand over his back. He moved to the side, pulling her with him.
They lay that way for about twenty minutes,
until they heard the front door open.
“Hey, Jack, you left the front door
unlocked--” They sat up, Rose pulling the sheet up over her, just as Tommy
opened the door. He stopped in mid-sentence when he saw Rose. “Uh--excuse me.
Sorry.” He quickly stepped back into the hall, closing the door.
Jack looked at Rose. She was laughing, the
sheet still clutched in front of her. “Poor Tommy. I don’t think he expected to
see that.”
He laughed, too. “We’d better get dressed.”
A few minutes later they walked back into the
kitchen. Tommy was rummaging through the refrigerator, trying to avoid looking
at them.
“Hey, Tommy. We’re gonna go out and get
something to eat--you wanna come along?” Jack inquired, trying not to laugh.
“Uh, no. You guys go ahead. I’ll catch you
later.”
Jack shrugged, picking up the drawing off the
table. “Okay.”
He and Rose headed out the door. As soon as
the door was closed, they both started laughing.
“Did you see the look on his face?” Jack
asked her, leaning against the wall.
Rose was laughing too hard to reply. She
grabbed his hand and pulled him down the driveway.
“My car, or yours?” he asked her.
She thought for a minute. “Let’s take my car.
I’ll drop you off here later.”
As she started the engine, he asked her,
“When are you going to tell Cal?”
She hesitated. “I don’t know. Soon.”
“He won’t be happy.”
Rose nodded. That was an understatement. She
thought of the way he had reacted when he had even suspected that there was
someone else. He enjoyed controlling her, treating her like a possession. She
didn’t even want to think about what his reaction to her breaking the
engagement would be.
“I think I’ll try to tell him in a public
place, where he can’t beat me up or anything. I’ll be seeing him next Saturday;
I think I’ll return the ring to him then.”
“Why don’t you just call him and tell him?”
“I think I should return the ring to him.
Since we’re no longer engaged, I shouldn’t keep it.”
“Be careful.”
“Don’t worry, I will be.”
They had reached the nearest fast food
restaurant, El Pollo Loco. Rose parked the SUV, and they went inside.
Rose was surprised at how hungry she was. Her
appetite had improved with her mood. Jack laughed as he watched her devour her
dinner.
“You act like you haven’t eaten in days.”
Rose smiled around a mouthful of rice. It was
almost the truth.
Her smile faded when she glanced toward the
door and saw Cal walk in.
Jack turned to see who she was staring at.
Cal noticed them and came over to their table.
“Rose, what are you doing here?” he asked in
a low voice.
Rose looked at him, her heart pounding
nervously. She was determined not to back down from him this time.
“Eating dinner. What are you doing here?”
“Your mother was worried about you. She said
you left to visit the library early this afternoon and didn’t come back. She
called to find out if I had seen you. Since I hadn’t, I went looking for you.
Now, the question is, why are you with him? I told you to stay away from him.”
Cal didn’t bother to acknowledge Jack.
Rose took a deep breath. Now was as good a
time as any. “Cal, can I speak to you outside for a minute?”
He looked ready to explode, but only nodded.
Rose grabbed her purse and slid from her seat. “I’ll be back in a minute,” she
told Jack.
Incensed, Cal grabbed her elbow and started
to pull her toward the door, but Rose yanked her arm free and strode ahead of
him.
There was a bench just outside the door. Cal
tried to lead Rose in the direction of his car, but Rose refused.
“Either we talk here, or we don’t talk at
all,” she told him, sitting down on the bench.
Exasperated, Cal sat down beside her. “What’s
going on? What are you doing with him?”
Rose pulled the ring from her purse. “It’s
over, Cal,” she told him, placing the ring in his hand. “I won’t marry you.”
Cal was shocked. He had never expected this.
“It’s him, isn’t it? You’ve fallen for
that...that piece of trash. He’s not even fit to look at you.”
Rose’s face reddened angrily at his words,
but she kept her temper. “It would be over even if I had never seen him. I will
not spend my life with a man who would abuse me.” She rubbed her bruised wrist.
“You promised to stop, but you didn’t. I don’t wish to see you again.”
“And what about your education? Have you come
up with some way to pay for it on your own? Or has your mother suddenly changed
her mind?”
“I’m going to switch to community college,
like I wanted to do in the first place. I am going to try to find a job, and I
am leaving my mother’s house.”
“Where are you going live? I somehow doubt
you can afford the rent on most places. At least not most decent places.”
“I’m moving in with Jack. There will be three
people in the house, so the rent will only be about two hundred dollars a
month. Even I can afford that, at least for a while.”
“If you find a job. You won’t be working for
Sunpeak or for Titan Construction, I can assure you.”
“Those aren’t the only businesses around.
And, quite frankly, Cal, your influence isn’t that great. You may have control
in those companies, but not the rest of the world, no matter how much you’d
like to think so.”
“So you’re moving in with Jack Dawson. He’ll
probably get you pregnant, then throw you out or disappear.”
Rose just looked at him, feeling strangely
detached. Cal’s opinion no longer meant anything to her, she realized.
He swore under his breath. “Fine. Go to him.
I should have known you were nothing but a little slut.” He put the ring in his
pocket.
“Believe what you want, Cal. I don’t care
anymore.” She went back inside.
“God dammit, Rose!” he swore to himself.
Despite his words, he wasn’t ready to give her up. Not without a fight.
Cal stood outside the door, watching them,
until they got up to leave. Holding the ring carefully, he waited for them.
He had an idea.