WHAT IF?
Chapter Fourteen
Rachel was reading YM magazine in
the store when she saw a picture of Jack and Rose. She grinned at their
picture, then aahed. She read a couple of things about an engagement. In the
photo, they had zoomed in on a ring on Rose’s left hand. Rachel’s mouth dropped.
She grabbed her cell phone and called Lisa and Piper, and told them what she
read about Rose and Jack. Rachel wasn’t the only one who read the magazine.
Ruth and Garret were shocked to hear about the engagement. Ruth called
Clifford, the only person who knew about the engagement, Jack’s good friend,
Fabrizio, and also Taryn.
"Ruth, I didn’t know about
the engagement until I read the magazine," Clifford lied.
"I can’t believe she got
engaged. And the worst thing is that she didn’t tell me. Clifford, try to call
her and tell her that she has a lot of explaining to do."
"Okay. I will call her.
Bye." He hung up, then sighed. He sat back in his chair. Tears flooded his
eyes, and he cried. He remembered the night that Rose had told him about the
engagement on the phone. He had cried all night and hadn’t been able to believe
that he had lost the woman he loved.
*****
Jack and Rose had been back from
Wisconsin for a month, and Rose was worried about what her mother might think
about the engagement. Jack had proposed to her on New Year’s Day. She had never
known that this would happen until that day. She had cried all night because
she wouldn’t have a father to walk her down the aisle. She finally got over it
and thought about other things.
Rose looked at the ring that Jack
had given to her. This was the first time that she had ever worn it. She smiled
at it. She had never known that Jack would propose to her. She stared at the
ring. As she did, she felt Jack’s arms wrap around her waist.
"Hey. Do you like it?" he
asked, smiling.
"Yeah. I love it." She
turned her head to look at him, then kissed him. "Do think we should tell
my mother?"
"I don’t know. Maybe she
should know. But if you don’t want her to know…"
Rose thought for a second.
"No, I don’t."
"Why?"
"Because if I tell her,
she’ll get in my business, and then she’ll start asking me questions like why
Jack? Why didn’t you get with Cal? Don’t you ever make the right choices? I
mean, things that I don’t want her to ask me."
"Isn’t Cal that guy who
tried to hurt you?" She nodded.
"Huh."
"What do you mean, huh?
You’re thinking of kicking his ass, aren’t you?" Rose turned around to
look at him.
"Only if he gets near
you."
"He won’t."