PRESENT TENSE
Chapter Fifty-Six

Sunday, October 5, 2003

Jack awakened slowly, nestled within the layers of blankets. Rose was still asleep, her head pillowed on his shoulder. As he stretched and settled back, she sighed softly, turning over and laying one arm across his chest.

Jack pulled her close, reluctant to wake her just yet. A glance at the clock told him that it was almost nine AM, but they could relax for a few minutes more. He smiled, thinking of the night just past.

They had made love twice the night before, first consummating their marriage with love and passion before falling asleep in each other’s arms; hours later, they had awakened and reached toward each other again.

As Rose snuggled closer against him, he glanced at the clock again and realized that it was past nine.

"Rose," he whispered.

She opened one eye sleepily, then closed it again.

"Rose," he repeated, a little louder. "It’s time to wake up."

"Mmm." Rose opened both eyes and looked at him. "Good morning."

"Morning." He kissed her.

Rose put her arms around him, laying her head on the pillow beside his. Sighing contentedly, she kissed him back, relishing their embrace for a few moments.

Finally, they broke apart and sat up. "What time is it?" Rose asked, noticing the amount of sunlight in the room.

"About nine," Jack told her, looking at the clock again.

"Nine! I never sleep that late."

"We didn’t do much sleeping last night," Jack teased her, watching as she blushed slightly.

"Oh, I don’t know. I feel pretty rested."

"That’s good, because we need to get up. Your relatives are dropping by at eleven before they head for home. Besides, I promised you I’d take you somewhere today in honor of our wedding."

"We’d better get up, then, if we want to see them off and take off somewhere. Where are we going, by the way?"

"I thought we’d drive up to Idyllwild. It’s in the mountains north of us, about an hour and a half drive from here."

"Idyllwild? I don’t think I’ve ever been there."

"You’re missing out, then. It’s a nice little mountain town. Very artistic. And the leaves are changing color, so it should be a pleasant drive. There’s also a lake near there, where we could have a picnic. Then, I thought I’d show you Cahuilla Tewanet Lookout Point, about halfway between the lake and the desert. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you can see bighorn sheep on the mountainside."

"I’ve been to Cahuilla Tewanet Lookout Point with my grandmother, because it isn’t far from where she lives. We never saw any sheep, though."

"They’re pretty rare now, but I was there once and I saw one. It was far away, but it was definitely a sheep, and it did have big horns."

"Did you get a picture of it?"

He shrugged. "No. I didn’t have a camera, and it moved away too quickly for me to sketch it."

"Maybe we’ll see one today." Rose got out of bed, tucking the covers up neatly beneath her pillow. "Do you want the first shower, or should I take it?"

"You go first. You usually take longer than me to get ready, anyway."

Rose gave him a mock scowl. "How do you know that? We’ve only been married one day."

"And we’ve been living in the same house for three and a half months."

Rose glanced at the clock; it read 9:15.

"It’ll probably be quicker if we shower together," she told him, looking at him consideringly.

"You think so?"

"Sure." She walked around to his side of the bed and tugged on his hand. "Come on. Get up."

*****

"Remind me never to shower with you if I’m really in a hurry," Rose told Jack, walking out of the bathroom. Her face was flushed, from more than just the hot water.

"I guess it did take a little longer to shower together than apart," Jack responded, giving her a look that made her blush and giggle.

Rose tried to look dignified. "We’d better get dressed, lest my relatives walk in and find something really shocking to look at."

"Your grandmother doesn’t strike me as the sort who would be shocked easily."

"Nevertheless, I’d rather not take a chance. It might be too much for her heart."

"Ha. Give her something else to analyze, more likely." Jack reached into the closet and pulled out some clothes, dressing quickly.

When he was done dressing and had combed out his hair, Rose was standing in front of the mirror, trying to get her hair to go just the way she wanted it.

"See? I told you that you take longer to get ready than me."

Rose eyed him balefully. "You’re already gorgeous. I, on the other hand, need all the help I can get."

"No, you don’t. You’re beautiful without all the makeup and fancy hairstyles."

"You’re very diplomatic."

"Nah, I was never much good at diplomacy. I’m telling the truth. Come on, you don’t need all that makeup to go up to the mountains. You’re dazzling without it."

"All right." Rose gave her hair one last stroke, then set the brush aside. "Am I presentable?"

"More than presentable. Come on. Let’s get breakfast before your family members show up."

*****

After Rose’s family members had departed, Jack and Rose started up to the mountains. Rose looked around with interest as they traveled. She hadn’t been this far up the freeway since the day she had confronted Cal in jail.

As they drove through Temecula, they looked at all the construction going on. Temecula had been hard-hit by the earthquake, and it had taken a surprisingly long time for rebuilding to begin for such a well-to-do town. Many buildings were still in ruins, and several off ramps were blocked by cones to keep people from driving down them and causing more damage, or driving off broken overpasses. Two lanes were closed on their side of the freeway, making traffic slow, and one of the closed lanes still sported a huge crack running down the center of it for half a mile.

They finally reached the off ramp they needed, Winchester Road, and were relieved to find that it, at least, was open, though it took them fifteen minutes to get from the freeway to the end of the off ramp. Jack complained about the delay, commenting that it was no wonder Temecula had long been known as Trafficula.

Rose laughed, but once they got away from the freeway the road was clear. A better job had been done fixing the city streets and side roads than had been done on the freeway, so they traveled along quickly.

The road wound slowly to the southeast, going toward Warner Springs, but they turned off on Highway 379 and headed east toward the San Jacinto Mountains. Rose looked out her window at the scenery. She had never been out this way before.

The hillsides were brown, red, and yellow in the autumn sunlight. Summer-browned buckwheat dotted the landscape, while farther on the thick chaparral added its own beauty to the view. As they slowed on their way through Anza, Rose tugged on Jack’s arm and pointed to some plants at the roadside.

"What are those things?"

"What things?"

"Those bushes. The ones with the long ribbons of peeling bark."

"I think those are called ribbonwood. And I know that those ones with the red-brown berries clinging to them are manzanita."

"They’re called what?"

"Manzanita. That’s Spanish for little apple." He shrugged. "You roam around enough, you learn a few things."

"They look like rotten apples."

"Some people like to eat them."

Rose wrinkled her nose and made a face.

"I guess they’re okay, if people keep picking them."

"Did you ever try them?"

"No. They didn’t quite look like something I wanted to put in my mouth, though when food was short and so was money, it did get tempting."

"I’d really have to be hungry to eat something that looks like a rotten apple."

Jack laughed as he pulled to a stop at the intersection of Highway 379 and Highway 74. "Lake Hemet is just a few miles from here. Do you want to stop and get some lunch, or do you want to drive to Idyllwild first?"

"Hemet is around here? I thought it was down in the valley."

"It is. They just gave the lake the same name."

"Weird. Wouldn’t that confuse people?"

"It confused me the first time I came up here. I worked in Hemet back in 2000, so I came up here once. It didn’t make much sense that the Lake Hemet was up here, but the town of Hemet was miles away in the valley."

"Let’s stop at Lake Hemet first. I want to see it."

"Okay." They pulled into the parking lot of a small store first, the only one near the lake, and bought sandwiches, fruit, and cookies for their lunch, as well as a Forest Adventure pass so that they could park. Rose grumbled about the pass, remembering a time when parking was free in wild areas.

When they arrived at the lake, they walked around for a while, looking for a place to sit and eat their lunches. It was a warm, sunny day, so there were many people at the lake, fishing, picnicking, walking, and even barbecuing.

Jack and Rose walked along the shore until they found a quiet, shady spot with several scattered boulders. Squeezing together on one of the rocks, they ate companionably, talking about whatever entered their minds and watching the water lap against the shore.

When they had finished, they walked up the bank to the road and strolled back, hand-in-hand. Rose stopped to stare at a low bush with red berries on it.

"That looks almost like a rose bush, but smaller."

"It is a rose bush. It’s wild rose."

"What are those berries on it? I’ve never seen them before."

"They’re rose hips," commented a young woman who had been standing nearby. "They’re edible." As if to prove her point, she picked one and put it in her mouth. "A bit seedy, but not bad."

Rose tried one. "Seedy is right," she said after a moment, picking one of the tiny seeds from between her teeth.

"Some people make tea of them," the woman told her, picking a handful and tucking them into her jacket pocket. "They’re full of Vitamin C."

"Um...I think I’ll stick with oranges." Rose tried to dislodge another seed from between her teeth. "Mari would love it up here," Rose commented to Jack, looking around. "She likes nothing better than to study plants. She took a class on spring wildflowers last year, and about drove Michelle and me crazy by bringing plant samples to the dorm to identify. Some of them were full of pollen or insects, and once she misidentified a plant and made tea out of it. The plant was jimsonweed."

"I’ll bet she had some interesting visions."

"She insisted that her ex-boss was in the room and trying to kill her."

"Yeah, that’s an interesting vision. She didn’t happen to work for Sunpeak, did she?"

"No, she worked someplace in Perris the summer before she came to Elias University."

"Sounds like Perris’s answer to Sunpeak."

"If that’s possible."

"Trust me. It is."

They made their way back to the car. "We’ll go to Idyllwild now, and then drive down to Cahuilla Tewanet Lookout Point when we come back this way."

"Okay," Rose agreed, fastening her seatbelt. "What’s in Idyllwild?"

"Lots of artist’s shops. There’s everything from pottery to photographs to paintings sold. There’s even a couple of places that sell things like stone jewelry, embroidered clothes, and even objects made from things like pine cones and acorns. There’s even a totem pole in the middle of town carved from a single tree trunk and painted like those Indian totem poles up north."

"It sounds fascinating. Do you know any of the artists there?"

"A few, and I’ve had a few of my drawings and one of my paintings sold in one of the shops. I think you’ll like it."

Jack was right. Rose was fascinated by the artistic appearance of the small mountain town. It was cooler there than farther down, but not cold. They found a parking space in the center of town and walked around, looking at the shops and buildings. There was a small art show in the center of town, so they walked around looking at the works displayed by local artists. Rose could hardly tear Jack away, and finally bought him a forty-five dollar painting that he was admiring.

After stashing the painting in the trunk of the car, Jack took Rose to one of the clothing shops he had mentioned and insisted upon buying her a long yellow dress with elaborate embroidery. Rose protested at first, but once he got her to try it on and look in the mirror, she allowed him to buy it for her.

Later, when they stopped for ice cream, Rose thanked him for bringing her up there.

"This has been a great day, Jack. I never knew this place existed. We’ll have to come back sometime."

"I’m just sorry there’s not time for a real honeymoon now. Maybe later, if we’re both off from work at the same time, we can go somewhere for a few days. Probably not here, though. This place is expensive."

"Do you have the Friday after Thanksgiving off?"

"I think so. Why?" Jack was mystified by Rose’s question.

"I have that whole weekend off, too. Maybe we could go somewhere then. Remember that day when I came over to Masline City College to thank you for saving my life, and we talked about going to Los Angeles sometime?"

Jack nodded. "I remember."

"Maybe we could go there, do some of the things we talked about."

"You still want to go there?"

"Yes."

"We’ll go, then. We may not be able to do everything we talked about, but there’s a lot to see and do there, so I’m sure we’ll find something to do."

"What couldn’t we do?"

"We probably won’t be able to find a roller coaster that’s safe to ride. I heard at work that at least one collapsed in the earthquake, the one at the Santa Monica Pier. Luckily, no one was riding it when it collapsed."

"Did you ever ride that one?"

"Yep. I also hung around and made sketches of tourists."

"You said something about that. Did you make much money?"

"Not really, but it was fun."

"Enjoying your work is one of the most important parts of working. If you hate what you do, it’s not worth it."

"Some people would disagree with you on that."

"My mother certainly would." Rose looked down at her ice cream cone and changed the subject. "What else might we not be able to do?"

"You wanted to try surfing?"

"Yeah."

"I don’t recommend it in November unless you have a wetsuit. The water gets pretty cold at that time of year."

"I know. I used to go to the beach in Oceanside. It was a pretty town. I wouldn’t want to go there now, though. I don’t think there’s much left of it, after the San Onofre nuclear power plant blew up in the earthquake, and then that tsunami hit so many of the coastal towns. It’s probably in ruins and full of radiation."

"It’s said that the radiation from that nuclear accident went all over the state. The President insisted that it couldn’t have been predicted, but you have to be an idiot to put a nuclear power plant in earthquake country."

"The stupidity of people in charge never fails to amaze me. My dad worked there for a while, and he said that it was impossible for an accident to occur."

"Yeah, and the Titanic was unsinkable."

Rose laughed dryly. "And they both killed a lot of people. My great-great-grandmother was on that ship, along with my great-grandfather, who was five years old at the time. They survived. My great-great-grandfather did not. Of course, they were in steerage, which explains a lot. Nana, whose father survived the Titanic, said that they escaped by climbing over the railing from the steerage deck and pushing their way to a lifeboat. Of course, great-great-grandpa never made it to a boat. They found him floating in the water the next morning, frozen to death because there weren’t enough boats."

"That sucks. Why didn’t they just put enough boats on board?"

"They had more than required by law."

"But not enough for everyone aboard."

"There were enough for the first class people, I’m sure. Hardly any of them died. But after that the law was changed, so that there has to be enough boats for everyone."

"I read in the paper that some cruise lines are trying to change that law to save money."

"They would. Idiots."

They finally reached the car and drove off in the direction of their last stop for the day. Rose was quiet, thinking about how often it was that the stupidest or meanest people had the most power and wishing that there was something she could do to change that.

"We’re there." Jack’s voice broke into her thoughts. She looked up to see that they were in the lookout point parking lot. Stretching, she got out of the car, looking around at the clumps of yucca and scrub oak covering the dry hills. A century plant, its bloom completed, towered over them, looking for all the world like a giant stalk of asparagus gone to seed.

They walked around the paved trails together, reading the signs telling the history of the area and the identification of many of the plants, the descriptions now hopelessly out of date for many. Making their way up to the observing deck, they looked out over the sunlit hillsides, but no sheep were in sight. A few squirrels raced about on the ground below, bickering over a package of peanuts that someone had dropped, but nothing else moved.

They sat together on the bench, looking over the landscape. Rose leaned her head against Jack’s shoulder.

"It’s beautiful out here."

"It is. Look at the way the sunlight hits the leaves of those bushes, making them light up."

"Have you ever drawn this place?"

He shook his head. "Not yet. I haven’t had time the few times I’ve been here."

"Do you think there’s time to draw it today? I want to remember this day."

Jack looked at the angle of the sun. It would be a couple of hours until it got dark.

"I think so—but I want you in it, too."

Rose smiled. "Where should I stand?"

Jack stood up and walked around, considering. "Sit on that rock there, near the lit up bush. Don’t move. There’s a cactus right behind you."

Rose sat where he indicated, giving the cactus a nervous look before turning to face him.

"That’s great. Now, just look at me."

Rose kept her gaze focused on him as he bent over his work, his face intent. Every so often, he stopped and looked at the scene before him for a few moments before returning to his work.

It was growing dark by the time he finished, signing and dating the drawing. In the fading light, Rose came to look at it, admiring the way he had captured the beauty of the scene.

"We’d better be heading back," he told her, looking at the setting sun. It was nearly dark over the desert, and growing dark where they were. Rose walked back to the car with him, reluctant for the day to end.

"I’ve had a great day, Jack," she told him as they headed up Highway 74.

"I’ve enjoyed it, too. I’d much rather be here with you than alone. I’ve never met anyone who appreciated all this quite so much."

"It was wonderful, all the things we saw. I can’t believe I’ve never come up here before."

"Are you glad you did?"

"Oh, yes. Idyllwild is great, with all those artistic shops, and Lake Hemet is so peaceful, even with all the people around."

"Even when you eat rose hips?"

"Actually, they didn’t really taste that bad. I just didn’t like the seeds." She laughed. "Maybe someone should develop seedless rose hips."

"I think they already did." Jack poked her in the side.

"Jack!" Rose laughed, wiggling away from him. "Pay attention to the road."

"I am. I am."

*****

They reached Masline around 7:30. Jack stopped by the supermarket on the way home, remembering that it was his week to make dinner and he hadn’t even bought any food yet. There wasn’t time to do all the grocery shopping, so he stopped by the deli to pick up chicken and salad. Rose, realizing how late it was getting, hurried to find French bread and milk.

She stopped short when she hurried around a corner and came face-to-face with her mother.

"Mom."

"Rose."

Rose looked at her mother’s shopping cart. It held some frozen meals, a few fresh vegetables—and a gallon jug of wine. Apparently getting Rose out of the house hadn’t changed Ruth’s drinking habits any.

"What are you doing here, Rose?"

"I’m grocery shopping, the same as you."

"You’re just married, and your husband already has you doing all the chores. Where is your husband, anyway?"

"He’s at the deli, getting some food for dinner. It’s his week to cook, but there isn’t time to fix anything. We’ve been in the mountains all day."

"No honeymoon, Rose? Even your father did better than that."

Rose bristled, but kept her temper. "There isn’t time now. We’re planning on getting away for a few days over Thanksgiving weekend."

"If he really cared, he would have made time."

"We are making time—over Thanksgiving. We have both have to work tomorrow."

"And where did you spend your wedding night—some cheap hotel?"

Rose gritted her teeth, giving her mother a sickly sweet smile. "We spent it at home, behind locked doors."

"Be careful that you don’t wind up getting pregnant. That would put a damper on your career."

"Mom, I am not discussing our plans regarding children with you. I just hope that when the time comes that we do have children, you will remember that you are their only grandparent, and treat them well."

"What about your husband’s family?"

"They’re dead." Rose glared at her.

"Well, Rose, I hope you’re happy. I still feel you’ve made a mistake, but you never did listen to me."

"I used to listen to you. I wanted to be like you when I was little, and get your approval, but you never could be bothered to notice."

"Get my approval? Rose, every move you’ve made from the day you were born was calculated to annoy me. You’re just like your father."

"Well, thank God for small favors!" Rose snapped at her, her hands tightening around the handles of the basket she held. "I’d rather be like him than like you! At least he had a heart! All you’ve got is a lump of ice. You couldn’t even be bothered to come to my wedding—and I’m your only child. It’s not as if you’re drowning in weddings to attend."

"Rose, lower your voice. You’re attracting attention."

"Maybe I want to attract attention. Maybe I want to show people just who you are—not the professional businesswoman, but the lush who drinks three gallons of wine a week."

"Rose!"

Jack heard the shouting and immediately knew who was fighting. Dropping his selections into the basket, he hurried in the direction of the voices, pushing past other people who had gathered around to stare. Rose was standing eye to eye with her mother, shouting about her drinking habits. As he pushed through the crowd, Ruth shouted at her daughter, garnering an equally rude response from Rose.

"Mother, shut up!" She turned to walk away, only then noticing the crowd that had gathered. Her face flushed as she saw Jack walking toward her.

"Mom, this is my husband, Jack Dawson. I believe you met once."

"Yes. So you’re the one who drove her ex-fiancé to attempt murder."

"Mom..." Rose’s voice was lower now, and much more dangerous. "Cal’s actions were of his own choosing, as were mine. Don’t you dare lay the blame on Jack."

Jack looked at the two of them, unsure whether to intervene or not. Ruth finally looked straight at him, plastering a fake smile on her face.

"So, you’re my son-in-law. Charmed, I’m sure."

"Mom..." Rose turned and stalked up the aisle, forgetting what she had come for. Jack hurried after her, grabbing the items she had forgotten.

"What was that all about?" he asked her when they got in line.

"You’ve just met my mother, Ruth DeWitt-Bukater. She’s usually more polite than this, but I’m willing to bet that she’s already had a few glasses of wine tonight. Usually, she’s exemplary in public. I’m sorry you had to see that."

"You two really don’t get along, do you?"

"No, we don’t. We really haven’t in a long time."

Jack shook his head. "Rose, if there’s anything I can do to help..."

"Thank you, Jack, but no. Don’t interfere right now. Mom and I are both upset with each other, and we really can’t see eye to eye. Maybe after a while we’ll cool down...maybe."

Chapter Fifty-Seven
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