ADJUSTING
Chapter Thirteen
A Summer Wedding
June 22, 1913
As night fell, Rose and Lynn settled into
Jack’s bedroom. Jack had insisted that Lynn and Rose take the house for the
evening. He had said something about Lynn getting familiarized with her new
surroundings. Jack and his best friend, Robert, were going to stay at a hotel
across town.
The wedding was to take place in the
courtyard in the back of Jack’s house. It was going to be so lovely. The
arrangements had been rather hectic, but when all was done, it was worth it.
The two girls were having quite the evening
so far. They were celebrating Lynn’s last night as a free woman. They both
plopped down onto Jack’s bed and stared at the ceiling. Rose reached over and
turned on the large table lamp on the nightstand dresser.
"So, Lynn," Rose started.
"What do you have planned for tomorrow night?" Rose grinned
devilishly. It was so much fun to tease her about unmentionable marital
relations.
Lynn turned the brightest shade of red that
Rose had ever seen her turn.
"Oh, lighten up, dear. I’m just having a
little fun with you. Though, I think Jack could have a little more fun
w--"
"Oh, you!" Lynn picked up her
pillow and smacked Rose playfully with it.
"Well, the same to you." Rose stuck
out her tongue and hit Lynn back with her own pillow. The two of them looked at
leach other for a split second before quickly jumping up onto the bed with
pillows in hand, and exploding into a fit of giggles. They began to hit each
other with their pillows, trying to dodge the other’s attacks.
When finally they were out of energy, let
alone breath, they both fell onto their backs and laughed hysterically. Through
her giggles, Rose tried to find her voice. "I...I’ve never done that
before." She continued to laugh without ceasing.
"Oh, really?" Lynn tried to act
surprised. "Well, Mrs. Dawson, what do you have to say about your
scandalous behavior?"
"I’ll tell you what I have to
say..." Bam! Rose hit Lynn right in the face with her pillow once again.
The pillow exploded into a huge white cloud as the feathers slowly fell all
over the bedroom.
"Oops," they both said in unison.
Neither one could stop laughing for the next
hour.
Next Morning
The cool winds of spring had not yet subsided
as June twenty-third approached. It was an unusually cool, early summer day,
and for that Lynn was thankful. Both she and Rose were wearing long-sleeved
gowns. And though the sleeves were made of lace, it would still be rather
uncomfortable to go through the whole day with them if the weather were hot and
humid.
"It’s breathtaking," Rose stated as
Lynn finished dressing in her gown.
"Oh, but isn’t it?" Lynn was a
beautiful, blushing bride indeed. Her long blonde hair was half pulled up into
a beautiful diamond-looking hair net. The other half of her hair hung loose at
her back.
"Well, how do I look?" Rose stood
behind Lynn as she looked into the body-length mirror.
"Simply beautiful. Jack won’t know what
hit him." Rose grinned mischievously. Lynn hit her playfully on the arm.
Rose looked around the bedroom. "Oh, my,
look what we’ve done." Rose commented on the feathers sprawling out all
over the room.
"Well," Lynn replied. "One
more surprise that Jack will find when we return." She and Jack were going
to spend a week in the hotel before moving into the house together. Jack wanted
to give Lynn a big honeymoon, but she declined, saying, "I’d rather just
concentrate on you...not on any one place." Giving her a seductive smile,
he agreed.
Lynn could hardly believe that today was her
wedding day. And what was more, tonight was her wedding night. Sure, Rose had
made jokes about it the evening before, but Lynn was quite nervous about it.
She figured that Rose had sensed that, and that was why she made those
comments.
She sighed and smoothed out her gown. She
glanced at Rose through the reflection and realized that she had not yet
dressed. "Rosie, where's your dress? We can't have you walking down the
aisle like that, now can we?" Rose was still in her nightclothes, though
her hair was already pulled back beautifully.
"No." Rose laughed. "I suppose
not." She retreated into the walk-in closet to dress in her gown.
*****
"Are you nervous?" asked Rose. They
were standing on the patio out of sight. It was just about time for the wedding
to begin. Lynn and Rose looked so lovely. Their gowns were the same basic
design, and yet they were so different, too.
Lynn smiled sweetly at Rose. "No."
Lynn had gone through all the usual pre-wedding nerves in the morning. She was
now over them and ready to start the rest of her life...with Jack.
Rose heard the music start, and decided it
was time. "Well, I guess this is it, hon."
"I guess so," Lynn said calmly.
"I'll see you down the aisle." She smiled broadly and gave Rose a big
hug.
Rose picked up her bouquet of light pink
roses and made her way towards the aisle. As she was walking, the world around
her became distant and blurry. She did not notice all the guests, or even the
bridegroom, for that matter. Rose stood in her place and began to think. She
thought and thought. But what was she thinking about? Hundreds of thoughts
surged through her mind. She didn't know what they were all for. Until an image
of John appeared in her mind. John. She remembered the few special times that
they shared.
"...in good times and in bad..."
Rose was completely unaware of what was going on around her. But those few
words bit at her. "In good times and in bad." She had given up.
That's what she had done, but what was she to do about it now?
Now, Rose finally realized how desperately
she wanted to be with John. But she had already gone and made plans. Hell, she
even already had her train ticket. And John probably even hated her by now.
With what she had done to him, she wouldn't have been surprised if she never
saw him again.
"You may now kiss the bride."
Rose's mind came back to reality. Had she
missed the entire ceremony? She looked over to her right, and saw Lynn and Jack
share a sweet kiss. The guests began applauding, and Rose, too, smiled and
clapped.
It was all Rose could do to stop the tears
from falling down her pale cheeks.
*****
The reception was also being held in the
large courtyard of Jack's house. The floral arrangements were so lovely, and
the five piece orchestra played sweetly in the background.
There were an unusual amount of guests there
that afternoon. Rose did not expect that Lynn and Jack invited that many
people. And to tell the truth, Rose felt rather uncomfortable being around
these people. Though, they were different than the rich snobs that she was used
to.
Rose tapped on her champagne glass with a
butter knife. "Everyone," Rose spoke. "I'd like to propose a
toast." Everyone looked up at Rose. She was smiling, but both Lynn and
Molly could see the sadness in her eyes.
Rose spoke with a sweetness in her voice that
Lynn had never heard before. "To making it count." Rose looked at
Molly, who was holding Hope gently in her arms. She looked her in the eyes, and
Molly smiled sadly at her.
Champagne glasses rose and the crowd cheered
back. "To making it count."
It was all too familiar to Rose. She cast her
eyes towards the sky and whispered once more before taking a sip of her
champagne. "To making it count..."
The End.