PRESENT TENSE
Chapter Fifty-Five
Rose stood at the gate, telling the last of
the guests good-bye. It was only ten o’clock, but a number of the guests had
young children, and those who didn’t respected the newlyweds’ desire to be
alone.
Rose sighed contentedly, thinking about the
day just past. It had been a beautiful ceremony, and she had enjoyed the
reception far more than she thought she would when she was running around
nervously that morning. After they had danced, she and Jack had cut the wedding
cake together. Though champagne was served with the cake, Jack had managed to
avoid any questions about his reluctance to drink it by filling a glass with
clear soda when no one was looking and drinking it instead. It had been dark by
that time, so no one had noticed the difference except Rose.
Several obnoxious guests had started heckling
them when they sat down to eat the cake, encouraging Jack to smash a piece of
it in Rose’s face. Neither Jack nor Rose had liked this idea, but Jack had
finally shut the hecklers up by taking a piece of cake on his fork, smashing
it, and popping it into Rose’s mouth—quite literally, smashed cake in her face.
The hecklers had told him he wasn’t doing it right, but he’d ignored them after
that, and they had eventually given up.
Closing the gate, Rose wondered where Jack
was. When the guests had started to drift away, he had excused himself and
disappeared into the house. No one had seen him since.
She was about to go look for him when he came
around the corner of the house. "Rose!" he called, waving her over.
"Where’ve you been?" she asked,
coming up and wrapping her arms around him.
Jack smiled mysteriously.
"Somewhere."
"Where?"
"You’ll find out." They started
back toward the house. "Has everyone left?"
"Yes. Our neighbors from across the
street just went home. That’s everyone."
"Finally. I thought they’d never
leave."
"Why would you want them to leave?"
Rose looked at him innocently, a smile twitching at the corners of her mouth.
Jack just laughed as they stepped into the
living room, then took her in his arms and kissed her. Rose kissed him back,
forgetting that anyone else was around until Tommy came in with a pile of leftovers.
"Hey, newlyweds. Get a room," he
told them, brushing past them on his way to the kitchen.
"Are you sure you don’t want us to help
clean up?" Rose asked, looking at the mess.
"No. Absolutely not. It’s your wedding
night. Get out of here before we have to witness any more public displays of
affection," Helga told them, looking up from where she was trying to find
space in the refrigerator for the leftovers.
"You’re a fine one to talk," Tommy
told her. "You and Fabrizio used to kiss out front, in full view of the
neighborhood."
Helga tossed a plastic bag of lettuce at him.
He ducked, and the bag spilled open on the floor.
"You’re right," Rose said.
"We’ll let you clean up. Good night."
She and Jack walked to the hallway where,
much to Rose’s surprise, Jack suddenly picked her up and carried her down the
hall.
"Jack! What are you doing?"
"I’m carrying you across the
threshold."
"Across the threshold? But we’re already
in the house!"
"But we’re not in our room, which is
officially our home."
"But we’ve already been in there."
"But not as a married couple."
Rose laughed, conceding the point. Jack
carried her to the end of the hallway, then struggled to open the door without
setting her down.
"Rose, quit squirming. You’re
heavy."
"Oh, that’s just what a new bride needs
to hear."
"Come on, Rose. You know I’m not back to
full strength yet."
"Deeper and deeper, Mr. Dawson!"
Jack finally succeeded in getting the door
open and stepped inside. He set Rose down and turned to close and lock the
door.
When he turned around, Rose threw her arms
around him and kissed him. When they finally broke apart, Jack put a hand to
Rose’s face.
"Happy, Mrs. Dawson?"
"Very." Rose smiled. "I never
thought that my wedding would be like this. It was wonderful, and now...now I’m
going to spend my life with you. I can’t imagine anything better."
Jack smiled back at her. "Neither can I.
I never thought I would meet someone like you." He paused. "Rose, you
changed something in me. You woke up that something that had been asleep in me
for years, something that was missing. Before you, I would have been content to
keep wandering forever, not staying anyplace for long. I didn’t have a place I
could call home, really. But now, home is wherever you are. I love you,
Rose."
"Jack..." Rose put a hand to his
face. "I...I...thank you. I feel the same way. I love you."
They kissed for a moment more, and then Jack
pulled Rose over to sit on the end of the bed. "I have something for
you."
Rose followed him, only then noticing what he
had done with the room. "Oh...so this is where you went." She looked
around at the transformation to their bedroom. Three candles in glass
containers burned on the dresser, with bouquets of flowers in vases at either
side. The covers on the bed had been turned back, and a small wrapped package
sat in front of the candles.
"Like it?"
"It’s beautiful...and romantic."
Rose sat down beside Jack as he took the wrapped package from the dresser and
handed it to her.
"Open it," he told her, as she
turned it over in her hands.
Rose did as he asked, carefully opening the
package. A box from the jewelry store where they had gotten their rings was
inside. Slowly, she opened the box, revealing a delicate gold locket.
"Oh, Jack. This is beautiful."
"Look inside."
She opened the locket, looking at the two
tiny pictures inside. Jack had drawn both of them, the pictures exquisitely
detailed. One was a picture of him, the other of her.
"I drew those while I was in the
hospital. It took a long time to get them just right—but I had plenty of
time."
"They’re wonderful. Every detail is
perfect."
"Put it on," he encouraged her,
taking the locket from the box and fastening it around her neck.
Rose touched the delicate gold chain, her
fingers moving to touch the locket suspended from it. "Thank you, Jack.
I’ll always treasure it." She kissed him, then knelt down and opened the
bottom drawer. "I have something for you, too." She pulled out a
flat, wrapped package and handed it to him.
Jack opened it, to reveal a framed photograph
of the view from the hill where they had first kissed. It had been taken near
sunset, and the golden light made the grass and rocks appear to glow.
"Wow." Jack held it up, looking
more closely at it.
"I took that picture just after we got
engaged and had it blown up. That place is special to both of us. I’ve never
forgotten that afternoon."
"Neither have I. I wonder what happened
to that drawing I made of you."
"I found it a few days after the
earthquake and retrieved it from the smashed remains of my car. I still have
it."
"You do?"
Rose nodded. "Yes. It was more precious
to me than anything else that I managed to retrieve, because you made it for
me. Even when things were at their worst, I could look at it and remember how
things used to be—and hope that they would get better."
"And they did." Jack kissed her.
"I didn’t think you’d kept it."
"I couldn’t throw it away. Even after
you were arrested, and I was so upset, I just tossed it into the back of the
SUV. I didn’t think to throw it away—and I’m glad I didn’t." She wrapped
her arms around him. "I love you, Jack, and I’ve never been happier."
"Neither have I," he confessed,
leaning forward to kiss her. He wrapped his arms around her, never breaking the
kiss, as he gently eased her back against the bed.