A LOVE FOR ETERNITY
Chapter Seven
The Way It Is
"Do you have to leave? Can’t
you stay a few more days? I’m sure Joanna can keep your house a little
longer," Ruth pleaded three days later, when her daughter and Jack were
about to leave.
"I’m sorry, Mother. We have
to start our own business in Chippewa Falls. But I’m sure we’ll come back
soon," Rose said, hugging her mother tightly.
"And you are invited to
visit us any time you want," Jack added, and also hugged his
mother-in-law. He noticed that she was near crying, and he understood this.
The last days had been just
wonderful. Rose and Ruth had gotten along as never before. Ruth even seemed to
like Jack, which was the greatest surprise for him. Mother and daughter had
done everything a mother and her daughter were supposed to do—shopping,
although Ruth hadn’t liked everything Rose had bought, but she hadn’t said
anything because she hadn’t wanted to disturb their new peace, cooking, and
just talking. Rose had told her mother that when her father had died, she had
been deathly unhappy, and discovered that Ruth had felt the same way. They had
even talked about Rose’s feelings towards Cal. Rose told her mother how he had
treated her, and that he had even tried to shoot her and Jack, and slowly Ruth
began to understand why Rose hadn’t wanted to marry him.
Jack and Rose’s train to
Wisconsin was going to leave in a couple of minutes, and they all stood on the
dimly lit platform, saying their good-byes. There were only a few other people,
because it was already quite late in the evening.
"And you are welcome at our
house, too," Molly said, trying to sound cheerful, but still the others
could hear that she was also sad that Jack and Rose had to leave.
"All aboard, please!"
Finally, it was time for the last
hug, the last kiss, and the last good-bye. By now both Rose and Ruth were
crying hard, and Jack almost had to drag Rose onto the train. The doors were
closed by porters walking along the train, and Jack and Rose waved through the
window. The train started to move, gathered more speed, and soon Ruth and Molly
were out of sight.
"I’ll miss her terribly. You
know, these were the first days in a very long time that I actually had a
loving mother," Rose said, sadly looking at her husband.
"I know, Rosebud, but we’ll
visit them again, and they’ll come to see us. You and your mother can write letters.
I promise that you won’t have time to miss her, now that we are starting our
own business. But let’s not stand in this hall all the time. I think we should
look for our compartment," Jack said, and softly kissed her cheek. He took
their suitcases, and they started to look for the compartment Molly had
insisted on booking for them. Soon, they found it and settled inside. The
journey to Chippewa Falls would take almost a whole day.
A few hours later, Rose was
asleep in Jack’s lap. He looked at her peaceful face, and again realized how
beautiful she was and how lucky he was to be with her. Her red curls were
spread out over his legs, and he could hear her steady breathing.
He looked out the window at the
passing scenery, and suddenly he wondered what a child of theirs would look
like, a combination of him and Rose. He smiled as he imagined a few red-haired
children running around their house, smiling like he always did, the products
of their love. Jack became aware that they had never talked about having
children. Maybe Rose didn’t even want to have a child. But somehow he knew that
she wanted them as much as he did.
*****
The next week, Jack took Rose to
the store he had bought for them three weeks earlier. Rose hadn’t seen it
because he had decorated it on his own and had wanted to surprise her with it.
The building was on the main street, and over the door a sign with their name
told that it belonged to them. When Jack opened the door for Rose, a small bell
rang somewhere in the back.
Rose looked around the store in
awe. It was clear who had decorated it. The walls and the ceiling were white,
but all along the wall were framed pictures Jack had drawn in the last month.
Most of them showed Rose, and some Jack and Rose together. The room looked more
like a gallery than a store, because there were only a few still empty shelves.
Opposite the door was the wooden
counter, and the wall behind it was the only one that wasn’t white. Jack had
used bright colors to paint the picture. It showed him and Rose standing at a
pier. The waves were crashing against the beach. They stood at the very end of
the pier, and Jack had his arms around Rose, who was resting her head against
his shoulder. Her red hair blew in the wind as they looked into a glorious
sunset. Rose turned around to face Jack. "It’s just great here–and I love
this picture," she said, indicating the sunset painting.
"Thanks. It shows us as I
imagine us at the pier in Santa Monica," Jack said, glad that she liked
what he had done.
Rose started to walk along the
wall with the framed pictures, looking at each for a few seconds. Suddenly, she
stopped and looked at a series of images hanging there and telling a story.
"Oh, Jack. They’re so
beautiful," she said, almost crying.
Jack came over to her and took
her in his arms. "I hoped you would like them," he whispered softly
in her ear.
"Oh, yes, I really do,"
Rose said, looking back at the pictures.
The first showed herself standing
at the railing of the Titanic, like Jack had seen her for the first time. She
was looking terribly sad, and with the light framing her, she looked like an
angel, too. The second was of Jack trying to convince Rose not to jump off the
ship. In the next, they were sitting on deck, and Rose was looking fascinated
at Jack’s portfolio. The fourth picture showed a wild party, and Jack was
holding Rose in his arms after she had stood on her toes. The people around
them were applauding. In the last picture, Rose and Jack were standing at the
bow of Titanic. Her hands were stretched out, and Jack was softly singing to
her.
"Why didn’t you
continue?" Rose asked, turning to face Jack.
"I just thought the
following memories are too private to show in public," he said, and kissed
her. Rose blushed at the thought of what had happened afterwards, and pulled
away.
"I would like to see those
pictures in our house," Rose said, laughing slightly, and Jack just looked
at her. That was the fire he loved so much.
At that moment, the bell rang
softly. "We’re not open yet," Jack said. He turned around and saw that
it was Anne. "But you are always welcome," he added.
"How are you two? I haven’t
seen you for a while now," Anne said, coming towards them. Suddenly, she
noticed all the pictures around her. "Wow. These are really beautiful. Did
you draw these, Jack?"
Jack nodded and smiled brightly
at her. "I thought this place would look a little more personal with
these."
"You were right. Listen, you
two. I came to invite you to dinner over at our house tonight. Joanna will also
be there. Jim would also like to see you again, Jack. So, do you have
time?"
"Of course. We would love to
come over," Rose answered, and smiled.
*****
"Anne, it was delicious,
really," Rose said hours later, after dinner.
"I can only agree with
her," Joanna said, and stood up to help Anne with the dishes.
"No, no. You stay here and
enjoy yourself. I can manage alone," Anne said, and held Joanna back, who
sat down again.
"Do you want to have some
coffee in the living room?" Jim asked. "It’s much more comfortable
than in here," he added, and everyone agreed.
A few minutes later, they settled
down on the soft sofas in the living room. Rose was a little tired, so she
rested her head against Jack’s shoulder. He looked at her and smiled,
remembering that he had drawn her in the same position.
"Say, Jack, when will you be
opening?" Jim asked.
"Well, the stock will arrive
in a couple of days, and then we’ll be ready to start," Jack told him.
"And what exactly will you
be selling?"
"Mostly drawing utensils, like
paper, pencils, and such. But also paint and those things. You know, just
everything a person needs to draw. And I also thought about doing portraits
again."
Rose closed her eyes, and her
mind wandered suddenly back to an afternoon that seemed so far away…
"And after that, I went
down to Los Angeles to the pier in Santa Monica and started doing portraits
there for then cents apiece."
"Why can’t I be like you,
Jack? Just head out for the horizon whenever I feel like it? Say we’ll go
there, to that pier. Even if we only ever just talk about it."
"No, we’ll do it. We’ll
drink cheap beer. We’ll ride on the roller coaster ‘til we throw up. Then we’ll
ride horses on the beach, right in the surf. You’ll have to do it like a real
cowboy. None of that sidesaddle stuff."
"You mean, one leg on
each side? Can you show me?"
"Sure, if you like."
Rose didn’t listen to the
conversation around her anymore. She hoped that they would really go to
California. She didn’t know that they were nearer to it than she thought. Slowly,
she drifted off to sleep on Jack’s shoulder.