CHANGES
Chapter Twenty-Six
"I don't know, Ash," Rose said,
into the mouthpiece. "He's acting extremely weird. We were okay for a
while there, and then that lady called." She paused, turning on the stove.
"Yeah, the one he met in Canada or whatever. Now he's acting all nervous
all the time. I love Jack, and you know I want nothing more than to trust him
completely, but something just doesn't add up."
"You really think something happened
when he was up there?" Ashley asked, from her home in Minnesota.
Rose sighed as she sat down at the kitchen
table, carefully watching her rambunctious daughter play in the doorway.
"I don't know. I hope, you know, I pray to God that I'm just imagining all
this. That I'm being hypersensitive or whatever, but I don't know. Right after
then, he just stopped interacting with females, other than me. I think he
thinks I haven't noticed, but I'm not blind."
"Talk to him, Rose. I don't know what
else to tell you. If you ask him point blank, you know he can't lie to
you."
"Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Ash."
"That's what friends are for. But what
are you going to do if something did happen?" Ashley questioned.
Rose hesitated. What would she do? "I--I
don't know for sure. I mean, I love him, but if he was...with someone
else," she swallowed the words hard. "I'm not sure I could stay with
him."
Ashley smiled sadly, even though she couldn't
see her. "Well, I hope it's just your imagination working overtime. But,
if it's not, you're always welcome here."
"I know. Thanks." Rose sighed
again. "I should let you go. Jack will be home soon, and I still have to
finish dinner."
"All right. Keep me informed."
"Will do."
"And give Mandy a kiss for me."
"Okay. Bye, Ashley."
"Bye, Rose."
*****
"You okay?" Jack asked Rose,
closing the textbook he had been studying.
Rose glanced at him sharply, her body
extremely tense and rigid. She hadn't even noticed how long she had been
sitting like that. Forcing a smile, she nodded. "Fine. I'm fine."
Jack gave her a quizzical look. "You
sure?"
Nodding again, she adverted her gaze.
"Yep. Never been better."
Confusion was plainly written upon Jack's
face, but he shrugged it off. "Okay. If you say so. I'm going to bed. You
coming?"
"I'll be there in a second."
"Okay," Jack said, pausing to kiss
her. "See you there."
Watching his retreating form, Rose suddenly
called out to him. "Jack?"
Turning, his blue eyes met hers.
"Yeah?"
Rose fidgeted for a moment, unsure of what to
say. "You...you love me, right?"
"Of course I do," he answered,
taking a few steps closer to her.
Choking down the lump in her throat, she
again opened her mouth. "And you'd never intentionally hurt me?"
If she noticed the instant paling of Jack's
face, she didn't show it. Forcing himself to remain calm, Jack smiled. "Of
course not."
Rose returned the smile and stood, letting
him envelope her in his arms, both lost in thought.
*****
Two days later Rose left school early, due to
a sudden sickness. The information had been passed on to Jack, and he demanded
she go directly home and rest, and that he'd pick Mandy and dinner up after his
last class. Not feeling up to an argument, Rose did as he said, taking some
medicine and setting up camp on the couch. She watched a bit of television and
read some before succumbing to slumber. It was a few hours later that a loud
knock on the apartment door awoke her. Grumbling to herself, Rose made her way
to the door. Upon opening it, she was greeted by an unfamiliar woman.
"Can I help you?" Rose asked
warily.
The woman smiled uncertainly. "I hope
so. Does Jack live here?"
Rose nodded slightly. "Yeah, he does.
He's in class now, though."
"Oh." The woman's face fell.
"Okay...well, I guess I'll just go..."
"He should be home soon, if you want to
wait," Rose interrupted.
"Really? That would be great. Thank
you," she exclaimed, as she followed Rose inside.
"Would you like something to
drink?" Rose asked as they entered the kitchen.
"No, I'm fine. Thank you. Are you Jack's
roommate?"
Rose turned to face her at this question,
smiling in spite of herself. "Something like that. I'm Rose."
"Oh, you're Rose...I'm Kaci. We've
spoken on the phone a few times." Kaci smiled, extending her hand.
Rose shook it. "Well, it's nice to
finally put a face to the name. I--" Intruding on her sentence was the
loud ring of the phone. She shot Kaci an apologetic look, and picked up the
receiver. "Hello?"
"Hey, I'm on my way home. You want tacos
or burgers?" Jack's voice questioned.
Rose bit her lip. "Um...tacos, I
suppose. You...um...you have a visitor waiting for you."
Silence filled the space between them until
Jack finally asked, "Who?"
"Kaci."
*****
Kaci gazed longingly at the diamond ring that
adorned Rose's left hand. With any luck, she would be the one wearing that ring
soon enough. Oh, she knew he didn't love her by any means, but that wasn't
important. What was important was getting his current fiancée out of the way,
which should be all too easy once she found out Jack had slept with her. Silently
praising herself, Kaci let her eyes wander around the modest apartment. It was
large and open, but understated while still displaying that the owners came
from families with money. Money that would soon be hers if she played her cards
right. Making her way around the living room, she stopped in front of the
fireplace, pretending to admire the photos on the mantle. Rose was still on the
phone with Jack, giving Kaci the opportunity to take a peek into their lives. A
picture caught her eye and she picked it up. It was taken outside, during the
summer, she concluded, with Jack standing at the edge of a lake and a
golden-haired little girl raised above his head, both of them laughing wildly.
Kaci suspected that was his daughter, mostly by the look of utter adoration on
his face. Smiling slightly, she envisioned herself in the image, taking up the
role as the young child's mother once Rose was out of the picture. Yes, things
would be wonderful...
"He loves her so much," Rose said
from behind, smiling at the photo in Kaci's hand.
Kaci turned. "Is this your
daughter?"
Rose nodded. "Yeah, Amanda. That was
taken this past summer, while we were in Minnesota."
"How old is she?"
"Almost two," Rose said, her eyes
taking in all of the pictures. So many memories sat upon that fire mantle. And
soon enough, a wedding picture would be added as well. Or so she thought...
*****
Jack pulled up to the apartment building, his
nerves standing on end. Why was Kaci there? How had she found him? What had she
told Roes? Letting out a tortured breath, he exited the car, swinging Mandy
onto his back and grabbing the food. Food, he suddenly knew, would probably end
up forgotten.
Jogging up the stairs, while his daughter
held onto him tightly, laughing happily, Jack paused outside the door. His fate
was sealed, he knew. He was going to lose Rose and Amanda tonight. Mustering
all the courage he could, Jack pushed open the door and set Amanda down. The
toddler immediately bounced off, and he headed into the kitchen, where both
women were waiting.
"Good, you're home." Rose smiled as
she kissed him and took the food. "Where's MandaBear?"
"Hey. Probably in her room," Jack
answered, not releasing his hold on her waist as he turned to face Kaci. To
face the biggest mistake of his life. Kaci smiled coyly.
"Jack, nice to see you again."
"Hey, you too," Jack replied,
stiffly.
Rose felt his sudden tense state and shot him
a curious look. "Well, I'm sure you two have stuff to talk about. I'll be
in Mandy's room if you need me." She said the last part to Jack before
kissing his cheek and disappearing down the hall. When he was certain Rose was
out of earshot, Jack turned to glare at the other woman.
"What are you doing here?"
Kaci smirked and sat down at the table. Jack
reluctantly did the same. "There's something we need to talk about."
"I bet. Like how the hell you found
me."
Her smirk only intensified at the angry tone
in his voice. "I copied your driver's license while you were sleeping.
Never know when it might come in handy."
Jack's face darkened. "What do you
want?"
Crossing her legs demurely, Kaci cast a
self-satisfied look at him. "Now, now, there's no reason to be so mean. I
just thought you should be informed of your impending fatherhood."
"What?" Jack nearly shouted, his
face a chalky white.
"Isn't it fabulous? I found out a few
weeks ago," Kaci gushed.
Jack shook his head vehemently. "You're
lying. You have to be lying."
"Why would I lie? Oh, Jack, I know it's
all kind of sudden, but it's such a gift. Who would've thought one night of
making love..."
"No, dammit," Jack interrupted.
"We had sex. There was no lovemaking going on. None."
What happened next, Kaci couldn't have
planned better if she tried. After demanding she leave, Jack had turned and
come face to face with Rose.