LIFE AFTER JACK
Chapter Nineteen
It had been eight months since
Caitlin had gone to France. Rose and Jack had already moved into the house that
Caitlin had told them they could have. Rose was in the middle of reading a
letter that Paula had sent her. The letter read:
Dear Rose,
We are still in the opera
house, and I have now learned that the opera ghost is real. His name is Erik.
He is quite handsome, in a dark, evil kind of way. There is an idiot here at
the opera house named Raoul. He is a big sissy.
Anyway, I have met a young woman
named Caitlin. She is a very nice lady. She said she used to live in New York.
She lives with her husband, Andy, right down the street from the opera house.
I must be going now. Tell Jack
that I miss him, and I miss you, too! I love you both, and Nicolette says
hello. Sometimes I want to strangle her, but I won’t ever do that. She is a
good person.
Good-bye, with much love!
Paula
Rose could not believe it. Paula
had met Caitlin.
"Jack, come here for a
second!" Rose called.
Jack walked into the room and
asked what Rose needed. He always asked what she needed. After all, she was
almost nine months pregnant, and he did not want her to have to lift a finger.
"Jack, Caitlin and Paula
have met. Paula does not know about Caitlin. She is living with Andy down the
street from the opera house," Rose said to Jack.
"Well, did you not ever tell
Paula about Caitlin when you told her where we are living?" Jack asked
Rose.
"No. I did not really think
about it," Rose answered.
"You should write Paula a
letter immediately, telling her about Caitlin," Jack told Rose.
Rose turned around in the chair
and got out a piece of plain white paper and a pencil. She started writing. It
took Rose about fifteen minutes to get the page-long letter written.
The letter to Paula read:
Dear Paula,
I just got your letter about a
woman named Caitlin in the mail and read it. I think that there is something
you should know before you become too good friends with her. She is the one who
gave Jack and me the house. She was having an affair, and her husband, Michael,
walked in on her and Andy one day. Michael was going to leave Caitlin, but she
did not want him to leave, so she had Andy poison Michael. A few nights later,
we told Caitlin that we were moving out, and she asked why. We told her we just
wanted to get out on our own. She asked by accident if it had anything to do
with Andy poisoning Michael. We immediately went to the police station and told
them the situation. One of the officers came with us to Caitlin’s house to
arrest her. Caitlin was gone. She had left a note telling us that we could have
the house if we wanted it, and that she had gone to France. It also said that
she was going to send Andy a ticket to come to France when she got there and
got settled. I just wanted to warn you about Caitlin, because Jack and I don’t
want you and Nicolette to get hurt.
One more thing…I am expecting
to have my baby in two to four more weeks. I cannot believe it has been almost
eight months since I found out that I was pregnant.
Well, I am going to close this
letter now. We miss you and love you.
Rose
Rose put the letter into an
envelope and sealed it. She put a stamp on it and handed it to Jack. Jack
grabbed his coat because it was twenty-nine degrees outside and it was snowing.
He walked down the street towards the mailbox. When he walked into the house,
he saw Rose by the fireplace, trying to build a fire.
"Rose, let me do that,"
Jack said to Rose.
Jack walked over and started a
fire. He and Rose lay down in front of it and stared into each other’s eyes for
the rest of the night.