NOW & FOREVER
Chapter Eleven
Jack gave Rose a stunned look, surprised that
she had been able to push him up against the wall like that. Then, his surprise
turned into anger. Shoving her away, he stepped away from the wall, glaring at
her.
"I don’t see why you’re trying to talk
to me," he told her, glowering.
"Because I want to know what’s wrong,
that’s why!"
"There’s nothing wrong. I don’t know why
you’d think there is—or why you’d care if there was."
"Oh, so you think a socialite doesn’t
have feelings? That she can’t care? Is that it?"
"I see no reason to think
otherwise."
"Well, you’re wrong! I do have feelings,
and I do care! There’s more to me than expensive clothes and boat trips."
"I hadn’t noticed." He turned to
walk away, then looked back at her. "I don’t see why you’d want to talk to
a gutter rat, anyway."
"A…a gutter rat? Oh, so you were
eavesdropping!"
He gritted his teeth. "I wanted to see
if you were okay. I wanted to talk to you."
"About being so out of it?"
"I was not out of it! Goddammit, Rose!"
"Don’t you swear at me! I haven’t done
anything to you!"
"Haven’t you? You were talking about me
behind my back. Isn’t that enough? Or was that fainting spell a ploy to get
attention, too?"
"No." Rose’s voice was icy.
"It was not a ploy. I’ll have you know that I have a terrible fear of
heights. I fell from the balcony when I was little and almost died. Most of the
time, they don’t bother me anymore. But almost falling again—that frightened
me. That’s something even you should be able to understand."
"Oh, so you think a gutter rat is
capable of understanding?"
Rose temper flared. "I didn’t mean it
when I called you a gutter rat! Or anything else, either! In case you didn’t
realize it, which you obviously didn’t, I was being sarcastic. Jessica is not my
favorite cousin, but she’s the only one who knows how to sail. Otherwise, I
wouldn’t have had her along. It is my boat, after all. I was arguing
with her when I said that, making fun of her attitude!"
"Why didn’t you say so then?"
"How was I to know why you were being a
jerk?"
"So you’ve let me avoid you all day,
looking like a total fool."
"You wouldn’t let me explain!"
"You shouldn’t have said it in the first
place!"
"Who are you to tell me what I can and
can’t say? Canada is a free country, too, you know!"
"I think you enjoyed making me look like
a fool. All your friends were laughing."
"At me, not you. They thought I was
slumming." She sighed. "Look, Jack, I’m sorry. I should have tried to
find out what was wrong on the boat. Can’t we start again?"
"No." Jack gave an icy look.
"I want you and your friends to stay away from me. I’ve had it up to here
with you."
He stomped away. Rose stared after him,
fighting back tears.