A CALIFORNIA ROSE
Chapter Three

Deveraux’s

They arrived at the restaurant just before 9:30. Once they were seated, and the waiter had taken their orders--Cal insisted that Rose try the lamb with mint sauce--Ruth excused herself to use the ladies’ room.

When Ruth had disappeared, Cal turned to Rose and pulled a small box from his pocket. Rose looked at the box, and felt her mouth go dry and her palms begin to sweat. She knew what was coming.

"Rose, I’ve been waiting for the right moment to ask you this, and I thought, tonight." Cal opened the box, revealing a ring with an enormous diamond. "Rose, will you marry me?"

Rose stared at the ring. The diamond sparkled in the light, reflecting off every facet. Cal took the ring from the box and reached for her hand. Rose drew back.

"Cal, I...I don’t know."

Cal put the ring back in the box and set the box in front of Rose. "Rose, I love you, and I want you to be my wife."

Rose stared at the ring, then looked up at Cal. "Cal, I just...I don’t know. I only just graduated from high school. I don’t think I’m ready to get married yet."

"It wouldn’t be right away--not for a year, at least. You need time to get settled into college and figure out what you’re going to do with your life."

Rose looked back at the ring. Cal seemed sincere. He did care about her; she knew that. His persistence and constant concern for where she was and what she was doing proved that. Still...

"If you’re worried about money, don’t be," Cal told her. Rose looked back at him, confused.

"There will be a prenuptial agreement, of course. Anything that I earn is mine, anything you earn is yours."

"I wasn’t--"

Cal interrupted her. "Rose, if for some reason the marriage doesn’t work out, we’ll just go our separate ways, no legal hassles. But I don’t think anything will go wrong. With the new marriage laws, it’s harder to obtain a divorce, and I won’t give you any reason to ask for one. I believe in the sanctity of marriage, so I won’t ask for a divorce from you."

Rose realized that she had been twisting her napkin into a wrinkled mess. Setting it down, she spoke. "Cal, I can’t give you an answer yet. I need to think about it first." She got to her feet. "Will you excuse me a moment?"

Cal nodded, slipping the box back into his pocket. He hoped that she would say yes, but if not, he had more to offer her to sweeten the bargain.

Rose walked towards the ladies’ room at the back of the restaurant. Her mother stepped out just as she reached it, and looked at her questioningly.

Rose just nodded to her, and slipped inside. She stood in front of the mirror, trying to calm her pounding heart. Her hands were shaking. Why couldn’t she just tell him no?

Rose looked at herself in the mirror, thinking. She didn’t really want to marry him, but men like him were few and far between. Cal was a decent sort, a gentleman. She would never have to worry about money, even if she had difficulty finding a job, and he wouldn’t cheat on her with other women. She wouldn’t wind up raising her children alone, struggling to make ends meet. Cal was a logical choice for a husband.

But another part of her rebelled. She didn’t love Cal. She liked him, but it wasn’t the same thing. And yet, she realized, many marriages based on love had ended in divorce anyway. Life with Cal would be stable, calm. Even if he had a few annoying quirks, even if he was a little too controlling, he would be a good husband for her and a good father to their children.

Rose shook her head. She didn’t know what to decide.

The door opened, and Ruth walked in. Rose turned to look at her, wondering what she was doing back in there.

Ruth stood beside Rose, and began fussing with her hair. After a moment, she spoke.

"Cal tells me he proposed to you."

Rose was surprised that Cal had told her mother that, especially since Rose hadn’t yet given him an answer, but she simply nodded. "Yes."

"He said you needed to think about it first."

"That’s right."

"Rose, Cal discussed this with me before he bought the ring. I felt that it would be a good match for you."

Rose turned to her, shocked. "But you didn’t discuss it with me first."

"Cal is a good man. He will make sure you never want for anything, that your children are cared for."

"I can take care of myself."

"Of course you can. But, can you raise children alone?"

"Many women do it."

"But not so well as married women. If you accept Cal’s proposal, you won’t have to worry about not knowing where your children are, or what they’re doing, while you’re away working to support them. He will see to it that they’re taken care of."

"I didn’t get into trouble when you were away working."

Ruth just looked at her for a moment. "How do you explain that incident last fall, when you stood on that wall outside the supermarket with a joint, shouting about how people have a right to smoke marijuana if they choose?"

"I was just expressing my opinion."

"You almost got yourself arrested."

Rose remembered the incident well. "I was right."

"I disagree. And, right or wrong, you were still getting into trouble."

"Mother--"

Ruth interrupted her. "Cal has agreed to pay for your college education, up through your Master’s degree, if you agree to become his wife."

"I don’t need his money."

"Rose, you haven’t yet succeeded in finding a summer job. I have no money to spare, but my income is too high for you to qualify for much financial aid."

"I can go to another college, then. Community colleges don’t cost much."

"You could." Ruth brushed a lock of hair out of Rose’s eyes. "But you’ll need to find a place to live, too."

"I could commute--"

"If you go to the university, you can continue to live at home. Otherwise, you need to find a new place to live."

"I’ll have to find a job first."

"Rose, I will not allow you to throw your life away. You need to make a choice--tonight."

Rose stared at her mother as her meaning sunk in. If Rose didn’t agree to marry Cal, she would be homeless. She had little money, and would be unable to afford a place to live with what she had. Her friends didn’t have room for her to move in with them, even temporarily.

"Why are you doing this to me?"

Ruth gently gave Rose a kiss on the cheek. "Because, Rose, I want what is best for you. Cal is a good man. He will make sure that you never have to struggle, that your children are provided for. He is moving up in the world--and you can move up with him."

Rose just shook her head. "But I don’t love him."

"You’ll learn to love him. Romantic love isn’t all its cracked up to be, Rose. You fall in love, you get married, and then the bloom wears off, and you realize that you have nothing. Believe me, Rose, I know."

"It doesn’t seem like I have much of a choice."

"You have a choice, Rose--we always have choices. Some are harder to make than others."

Homelessness, or marriage to Cal, Rose thought. It wasn’t really much of a choice.

Rose left the restroom, followed by Ruth. They walked in silence back to the table.

The waiter was there, silently placing their plates on the table. He set a bottle of wine on the table and left.

"Well, Rose, have you had a chance to think about it?" Cal asked her, as if nothing had happened.

Rose swallowed hard. She realized that she didn’t really want this marriage to Cal, but she didn’t have much of a choice. It would be all right, she told herself. Cal was a good man, and eventually she would learn to love him.

"Yes." Rose’s voice came out in a squeak. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Yes, Cal, I’ll marry you."

With a smile that could only be described as triumphant, Cal took the box from his pocket and removed the ring. Taking Rose’s left hand, he slipped the ring on her finger.

Ruth reached for the bottle of wine, declaring that a toast was in order. Cal took the bottle from her, pouring wine into all their glasses--even Rose’s, though she was underage.

Rose’s hand shook as she reached for her glass. It’s going to be all right, she told herself, over and over. But as she looked at the enormous diamond sparkling on her finger, she knew that she had made a terrible mistake.

Chapter Four
Stories