PRESENT TENSE
Chapter Forty-Six

Tuesday, September 2, 2003

Preparations for the wedding began the next day. Jack asked Tommy to be best man. He agreed, though it was with a bit of melancholy. Jack had always assumed that Fabrizio would be best man at his wedding, as Jack had been at Fabrizio’s. But Fabrizio was gone now, though Jack couldn’t help but suspect that his old friend would be there in spirit.

Rose talked Helga into being her matron of honor. Helga was reluctant at first—the idea of appearing in front of all those people with her swollen middle didn’t really appeal to her—but finally gave in. She was the only one of Rose’s friends who had ever been married before, and as such was the only one who could be matron of honor.

After she came home from work that afternoon, Rose set about calling her friends and relatives to tell them about the wedding and invite them to see her married.

Ruth was the family member that lived closest, but Rose was reluctant to call her, not knowing what she would think of her daughter’s upcoming nuptials. Ruth had been more than happy to see Rose preparing for her wedding to Cal, in spite of the kind of person Cal had turned out to be, but Rose somehow doubted that her mother would be so happy about Jack. Ruth had met him only once, but he certainly wasn’t what she had had in mind for her daughter.

Instead, Rose called Sophie first, hoping that Sophie had left her cell phone on for a change. Sophie often neglected to turn her phone back on after turning it off for class. As such, they mostly communicated by e-mail, and Rose often dropped by when Sophie came home for the weekend, but this was something she thought she should tell her right away.

To Rose’s surprise, Sophie picked up on the third ring. “Hello?”

“Hi, Sophie. It’s Rose.”

“What’s going on? I just got out of class.”

“Well...” Rose looked at the list of people she wanted to call, smiling to herself. “Are you busy on October fourth?”

“No,” Sophie replied, a bit puzzled. “Why?”

“Jack and I are getting married that day, and I was wondering if you would like to be a bridesmaid.”

Sophie squealed in excitement, so loudly that Rose held the phone away from her ear, wincing. “Sorry,” Sophie said after a minute. “Rose, this is so exciting! You and Jack are actually getting married?”

“We are,” Rose confirmed. “Do you want to be a bridesmaid?”

“Oh, of course. I’ve gotta tell you, I think you’ll do a lot better with Jack than with Cal.”

“I think so, too.” Rose’s voice was slightly ironic.

“Sorry, Rose. I didn’t mean to bring up any bad memories.”

“It’s okay,” Rose assured her. “I have better things to think of now than Cal.”

“I’ll say! You’re getting married in just a month.”

“Yeah. Helga thinks I’m crazy for trying to put a wedding together on such short notice, but I think I can do it.”

“I’m sure you can. You always were able to get things to work.”

“Most of the time.”

“Yeah. What kind of dress are you going to wear?”

“I haven’t decided yet. Certainly not the one that I was supposed to wear to my wedding with Cal. I never liked that dress.”

“Then why did you choose it?”

“I didn’t. Mom did.”

“Oh.” Sophie’s voice was understanding. She had witnessed some of the confrontation between Ruth and Rose when Rose had moved out of her mother’s house.

“I was thinking,” Rose told her. “For the bridesmaid dress—I’m only going to have one bridesmaid—I think you should wear the dress you wore at Helga and Fabrizio’s wedding. Do you still have it?”

“Yeah, I still have it.”

“Good. Bridesmaid dresses are expensive, and that one looks pretty nice. You can wear it other places, too.”

“I know. I wore it to a formal dance.” Sophie paused. “It’s too bad Trudy won’t be there.”

“I know,” Rose said quietly. “Remember how we used to always say that we would be bridesmaids or maids of honor at each other’s weddings?”

“I remember. Trudy thought it was great that you were getting married to Cal. I wonder what she would have thought if she’d found out what he was really like.”

“I don’t know. Trudy could always find something good about everyone. She was the sort of person who could have befriended a serial killer and gotten away with it.”

“I think she would have been happy to see you marrying Jack. Remember how she once said that if you weren’t engaged to Cal, you should have gone after Jack?”

“When did she say that?”

“Last New Year’s Day. I think you had a hangover.”

“I did. Too much champagne at Cal’s New Year’s Eve party.”

“You know you’re too young to drink.”

“I know. I know. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“I bet you didn’t think so the next morning.”

“Nope.” Rose glanced up as Helga came in. “Listen, Sophie, I have several other people to call, so I’d better go. I’ll e-mail you later, okay?”

“Sure. Bye, Rose.”

“Bye.”

“Who were you talking to?” Helga wanted to know.

“Sophie. She’s going to be my bridesmaid.”

“Is she going to wear the dress from my wedding?”

“Yep. She’s okay with it. She already wore it to a formal dance.”

“Good to know all that sewing I did was good for something.”

“I’ve still got my dress.”

“Good.”

Rose picked up the phone again, realizing that she should let Trudy’s family know what was happening. She had seen them only a couple of times since Trudy’s funeral, but they had been like a family to her all the years that she and Trudy had been friends, so she wanted to invite them to her wedding.

Kay Bolt answered. “Bolt residence.”

“Kay? This is Rose.”

“Oh, hi, Rose. What’s going on, sweetie?”

“Do you remember Jack Dawson? He was a friend of Trudy and me.”

“Sure I remember him. What about him?”

“Jack and I are getting married on October fourth, and you and Jason are invited. Scott, too, if he’s around.”

“Well, congratulations Rose. We’d love to be there. I don’t know if Scott will be around, but Jason and I will be there.”

“Thank you, Kay. I just wish Trudy could be there.”

“I wish she could, too, sweetie. Where is your wedding going to be held?”

“We haven’t quite figured that out yet. We’ll send you a formal invitation when we have it figured out.”

“Okay, Rose. Good luck.”

“Thanks.” Rose hung up, realizing that she hadn’t had to look for Trudy’s number in her phone…she still knew it by heart. She had almost expected Trudy to ask her mother who was on the phone and then settle in for a long chat with Rose.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Rose quickly called her maternal grandmother in Palm Desert, leaving a message on the answering machine. She wasn’t surprised that no one was home; her grandmother was a successful psychologist, and her step-grandfather often assisted with the enormous amount of paperwork required. She didn’t worry about it, knowing that her grandmother would call her back when she returned home.

Her fingers clicking the buttons on the phone, Rose scrolled through the numbers until she came to the names of her farthest away relatives—her paternal grandparents, Michael and Cora Bukater, who lived in Philadelphia. She hoped that they could come to her wedding. She hadn’t seen them since her father had died almost three years earlier.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Grandma!” In the background, Rose could hear barking. She smiled, shaking her head. Apparently they still had the brainless mutt that her grandfather had picked up in front of Walmart a few years earlier. The animal cowered in terror at the sound of the doorbell, but barked ferociously at the telephone.

“Hello, Rose. I wondered if you were ever going to call.” Cora’s voice was cool.

“What do you mean?”

“I expected you to call, or write, when your grandfather had his stroke—”

“Grandpa had a stroke? When?”

“In March. Didn’t your mother tell you?”

“No.”

“I called her, and she assured me that she would tell you.”

“She never said a word about it.”

“Typical.” Cora Bukater had disliked Ruth from the start.

“Is Grandpa okay?”

“He’s doing better. They weren’t sure he was going to survive at first, but he pulled through. He still has trouble getting around, but he’s improving.”

“That’s good. I would have called if I’d known.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have trusted your mother to tell you.”

“Grandma...”

“I’m sorry, dear, but your mother makes me so mad sometimes...”

“She makes me mad, too. I don’t live with her anymore.”

“Well, I wouldn’t think so, seeing that you got married in June.”

“She really hasn’t said much. I didn’t marry Cal, Grandma. He’s in prison now for trying to murder me and someone else.”

“He tried to murder you?!”

“Yes, and my friend Jack.”

“Why?”

“He was jealous of Jack and me.”

“Let me guess. He thought that you and Jack were more than friends.”

“We were by that time. I’d already broken the engagement when he tried to kill us.”

“Why, that filthy little bastard...”

Rose smiled. Her grandmother could voice her displeasure very explicitly when she thought there was a reason to. “Grandma, what I was calling you about is...”

“Yes?”

“Well, Jack and I both survived the murder attempt, and now we’re engaged. Our wedding is on October fourth. I was hoping that you and Grandpa could attend.”

There was silence for a moment. “Rose, dear, I wish we could come, but I just don’t think it’s going to be possible. Your grandfather is still having a fair amount of trouble getting around and doing things for himself, and Philadelphia is such a long way from California...”

“I understand, Grandma.” Rose’s voice was sad.

“Don’t sound so down-hearted, Rose. You’re about to get married. It’s going to be one of the happiest events of your life.” She paused. “I was thinking...if your grandfather is recovered enough to travel by April, perhaps we could fly out to California in time for your birthday.”

Rose smiled, her disappointment forgotten. “I’d like that, Grandma. You’ll be able to meet Jack, too.”

“Is he good to you, Rose?”

“Oh, yes. He’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. I love him more than I thought it was possible to love anyone.”

“Are you living with him now?”

“Sort of.”

“Sort of?”

“We live in the same house, which we share with two other people, but we have separate rooms.”

“Well, that’s good. Behave yourself, dear.”

“Grandma...”

“I know. I’m taking all the fun out of things. I’d best let you go, Rose, before your phone bill gets too high.”

Rose laughed, knowing that her grandmother had never quite understood the concept having a certain number of minutes available on a cell phone. “Okay. Bye, Grandma. We’ll send you some wedding pictures.”

“All right. Good-bye, Rose.”

Rose hung up the phone, dreading confronting the one person she still needed to call—her mother. How could her mother have kept something as important as the fact that her grandfather had had a stroke from her?

Rose was tapping in Ruth’s number, half-hoping that she wouldn’t be home, when Jack walked in. He gave her a quick kiss before heading down the hall to put his work supplies away. When he came back out, Rose was talking to Ruth.

“Mom? It’s Rose.”

“Hello, Rose. Why are you calling?”

Rose gritted her teeth. Her mother wasn’t making this easy. “I have a question for you.”

“About what?”

“Why didn’t you tell me that Grandpa had a stroke back in March? I just called them, and only now found out about it.”

“I guess it just slipped my mind, among all the other things going on.”

“How could you forget something that important?”

“As I said, it slipped my mind.”

“How much wine had you drunk before Grandma called you?”

“Rose!” Ruth’s voice held a warning note.

Rose decided not to push her further. “I have an announcement.”

“Which is?”

“I’m engaged.”

“To who?”

“To Jack—remember Jack? The one that Cal shot?”

“And given your experience with being engaged, why are you now planning on marrying Jack?”

“Because I love him, Mom.”

“Didn’t you listen to a thing I said about love? You know what can happen when the bloom wears off.”

“I know, but I’m willing to take that risk. For all the couples who discover that they weren’t right for each other, there are many others who made the right choice, and I know that marrying Jack is the right choice. We’ve been there for each other through thick and thin, and I’m glad to be engaged to him.”

“Well, congratulations.” Ruth’s voice was sarcastic. “When’s the big day?”

“October fourth.”

“I wish you luck. Don’t expect me to be there.”

“Of course not. I wouldn’t want you to have to take time off from your precious work.”

“If you were making a smart choice, Rose, I would take the time to be there. But I don’t think you are. I think you’re making the biggest mistake of your life—”

“The biggest mistake of my life was letting you coerce me into getting engaged to Cal. Good-bye, Mother.”

Rose hung up, slamming the phone down on the table furiously. She turned, noticing that Jack was watching her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, coming to stand beside her.

“I hate her!” Rose shouted, kicking the wall and leaving a black mark. She grabbed her sore toes, hopping up and down. Jack helped her to a chair.

“What did she do?”

“First, she ‘forgot’ to tell me that my grandfather in Philadelphia had a stroke back in March. He could have died, and I would never have known about it. Now, she’s telling me that marrying you is the biggest mistake I’ll ever make. She flatly refused to come to our wedding. She would have been more than happy to see me marry that fucking asshole son of a bitch Cal, but she won’t even think of you as a good choice for me.”

“She doesn’t know me.”

“It wouldn’t matter, Jack. It really wouldn’t. I messed up her plans, and she’s not going to forgive me anytime soon, if at all.” She crossed her arms over her chest, her jaw set. “I know I’m making the right decision, even if she can’t acknowledge it.”

Jack pulled her into his arms. “Rose, come on. Calm down. Did you tell anyone else that we’re getting married?”

Rose leaned her head against his shoulder. “I called Sophie. She’s going to be my bridesmaid. And I called Trudy’s parents. They’ll be there. My grandparents from Philadelphia won’t be there, because my grandfather isn’t able to travel yet, but I’m sure that my grandmother and step-grandfather in Palm Desert will be able to be here. They never miss an important occasion, except for my high school graduation, because they were away on their honeymoon. But even then, they came to visit a few days after they got back.”

“You see? You’ll have people here who will be happy to see you get married.”

“But not Mom. She’s supposed to be happy for me! She made such a fuss about my getting engaged to Cal...”

“But that was for her own gain.”

“I know. But still...”

Jack changed the subject. “Where do you want the wedding to take place?”

“I was thinking that the church that I went to all those years would be a good place, if we can get it for October fourth. I don’t go to church very often now, but I’d still like to get married there.”

“That sounds good to me. I’ve never really gone to church much.”

“I’ll call Reverend Kilpatrick, then, and see if we can arrange it. If not, I’d like a small wedding right here at home, maybe in the backyard.”

Jack hesitated. “I don’t know that the backyard would be such a great place for a wedding. There’s not much space—not if we want to have the reception here, too. If we can’t get married in your church, why don’t we hold the wedding up the hills a little ways?”

“Do you think we could?”

“I don’t see why not. And it would be a beautiful setting.”

Rose nodded. “I like it. Why don’t we do that instead trying to get the church for that Saturday?”

“You really want to?”

“Yes. I’ll still try to get Reverend Kilpatrick to marry us, though. I’ve known him since I was eleven.”

“Okay.” Jack stroked her hair. “It’s going to work out, Rose. You’ll see.”

“Yeah. I hope so. Are you inviting your relatives?”

“I thought about it, but I decided not to. The only one who would want to come is Emmaline, and I’m pretty sure Uncle William wouldn’t allow it. I e-mailed Emmaline about it, and if she chooses to tell the others, that fine, but I’m not going to call them and invite them. I don’t need to give my uncle an excuse to give me trouble.”

“He really doesn’t like you, does he?”

“No.”

“Helga told me a little bit about him. He doesn’t sound very nice.”

“He’s very narrow-minded. Once he forms an opinion, he refuses to change it, and he sees everything in black and white. There is no in-between for him, even though in-between is usually where things fall in life.”

“Were your parents like that?”

Jack shook his head. “No. They were always willing to give people a chance and willing to forgive. People liked them a lot. They were well-respected in Chippewa Falls.”

“Do you think they would have liked having me as a daughter-in-law?”

“I think they would have. I think they would have loved you as much as I do.”

Chapter Forty-Seven
Stories