AN ADVENTURE TO REMEMBER AND A MEMORY TO FORGET
Chapter Thirty-Four
Victoria
Rose and I opened the door to my
suite so I could talk with my father. I had a pretty good idea what he wanted,
but I braced myself for the worst and walked into the sitting room, where he
was reading his paper.
"Victoria, Rose. Please,
come in."
I looked at Rose, and she gave me
a small shove into the room. She came in right behind me.
"If you’ll excuse me, I’ll
go tend to Shannon while you two have a chat."
"Rose, please stay. What I
am going to say to Victoria, you need to hear, too." I looked at my father
and then at Rose, and we both sat on the couch. Father began again. "Rose
has said that you expressed an interest in marrying Officer Lowe tomorrow? Is
what I hear to be expected as the truth? Are you ready for this?" He
stopped to look at me with a serious expression on his face.
"Yes, sir. I do wish to
marry Harry tomorrow, if at all possible. Rose has expressed that she won’t
have a problem sharing her wedding festivities with me, and if I have your
blessing, I would like to proceed."
Father sat back in his chair. He
stared at the wall for a moment before turning his gaze to both Rose and me.
"I have been dreading this day for almost twenty-one years. Ever since you
were born, I knew this day was going to happen. You’ll know once you have your
own children. It’s a day that, as a father, I embrace, as you’ll be stepping
out on your own and becoming your own person, as well as a wife and a mother
when that day happens. I also shun it, because it means I’ll be losing a
daughter. You won’t be here anymore like you are now. Shannon and I will have
to get used to being alone." Father stopped to wipe the corner of his eye.
"When your mother and I got married, I was a wreck. Your mother, always
the calm one, took one look into my eyes, and that was what did it for me. It
calmed me down. I knew then and there that I made the right decision, and I
have never once regretted marrying her." I watched as Father got up and
walked into his bedroom. When he came back, he gave me a small box. "Open
it, please."
I looked at Rose, then at the
small box in my hands. As I opened it, I had no idea what to expect. "Oh,
Father." I looked down and saw my mother’s delicate engagement ring and
her wedding band inside the box. "I cannot use this, for it means too much
to you." I looked at my father and saw another tear in his eye.
"Victoria, yes, the rings do
mean a great deal to me. But more importantly, they mean love. They mean a love
that has no bounds, no secrets, and no regrets. They mean a happy marriage full
of love, hope, and laughter, only to be torn apart by one’s death. They mean a
never-ending love, a true love, and a real love. One you’ll only find once in a
lifetime. I knew you would be getting married first, so I would like for you to
carry on the family tradition and use these."
I didn’t know what to say. I
showed the box to Rose. "Mr. Metcalfe, this is exquisite and such a
generous gesture. It’s almost beyond words that you would go out of your way
like this to accommodate us."
He looked at Rose. "I have
something for you, as well, Rose." He produced a similar box to the one I
was holding. Rose opened the box. Inside were two gold wedding rings. "I
knew that you didn’t have a ring for Jack, nor did he have one for you.
Consider these a wedding present from Shannon. She picked them out."
Rose had tears forming in her
eyes. "I don’t know what to say."
Father looked at Rose. "Just
say yes, and remember what I told both of you girls about what a marriage
means."
I slowly nodded. "I still
need to get a ring for Harry."
Father shook his head. "I’ve
already taken care of that. The jeweler from the store that Shannon found Rose
and Jack’s rings at is on his way up to Harry’s room right now to get the
correct size. Officer Lowe’s ring will be here later on today."
Now, it was my turn to cry. I
handed Rose the box with my mother’s rings inside it. "Father, I love you.
Thank you for everything." I reached down to give my father a hug, and he
stood up and gave me a powerful, warm embrace.
"I love you, Victoria. No
matter what, no matter where you are or whom you are married to, you are still
my little girl, always, now, and forever. Make sure Officer Lowe takes good
care of you."
"He will, Father. He
will."
Father straightened his shirt and
announced that he was going to take my ring as well as Rose’s ring up to
Harry’s room. "I’ll be right back. You two girls stay here. I heard
earlier that your dresses should be here any minute." Father walked out of
the suite, patting Shannon on the head as he left. Shannon came in with Rose and
me.
"I heard you and Father
talking. It sounds like you’re leaving me." Shannon was leaning against
the wall by the door with her head down. She was obviously distraught.
I motioned for her to come sit
with Rose and me. She sat in my lap, and I wrapped my arms around her to hug
her as I spoke. "I’m not leaving. Think of it this way. You’re gaining a
brother. You’ll have both Harry and me. Isn’t that good?"
Shannon shook her head. "But
you won’t live here with me anymore."
"No, Shannie, I won’t. Harry
and I will be living together. You’ll get married one day, and you’ll move out
of Father’s house, too. It happens to us all."
She leaned her head back and
looked up at me. "No. I’m not getting married. I like me. I like living
with Father."
"Shannie, you’re too young
to be saying that now. You’ll change. You’ll meet a boy you like, and
eventually, you’ll wind up just like Rose and me." I tickled her on her
rib cage, which caused her to squeal in delight. "Just give it time."
I sighed. "Plus, I’ll be close to you. You can still come visit. We won’t
be strangers; I’ll just be married. I’m sure Rose and Jack would like the
visits, too, wouldn’t you, Rose?"
Rose nodded. "You’re welcome
to come see us anytime you like. Maybe when we get a place to live, you’ll be able
to come play one day. We might move into a nice house with a couple of people
your own age nearby. I bet that would be fun, wouldn’t it?"
Shannon looked over at Rose.
"I’m always ready for new friends." She got off my lap. "I’m
going to go pick up my mess. I’ll be right back. Father told me to pick it up
before he got back." Shannon skipped out of the room to go pick up her
paper.
"What do you think your
father’s going to say to Harold and Jack?"
I shrugged my shoulders.
"Probably the same thing he said to us. Be nice, respect us, and so on. He
won’t get onto them, I’m sure."
Harry
The jeweler had just left when I
heard a knock on my door. Thinking the jeweler had forgotten something, I
yelled out to come in. Mr. Metcalfe opened the door and made his way into where
Jack and I were.
"Officer Lowe, Jack."
He shook both Jack’s hand and mine before he motioned for us to sit down.
"I have just come from a talk with both my daughter and Rose. Now, it’s
your turn. Seeing as how Rose’s natural father is not in the picture, I’ve
taken it upon myself to take up that role for her. In that role, I look out for
her and make sure what she’s doing is the right thing. Do you gentlemen follow
me so far?" Jack and I nodded. "Good. I have something for you,
Officer Lowe, as well as for Jack." I watched as Tory’s father dug into
his vest pocket and produced two small boxes. He handed one to Jack and one to
me. "Open them, please." I looked at Jack, and he looked at me. I
turned the box around and opened it. Inside was a gold wedding ring with
another ring. "Those were Victoria’s mother’s rings, Officer Lowe. I’m
sure with everything that has gone on and the speed with which the two of you
announced your engagement, you haven’t had time to select a bridal set for my
daughter."
"No, sir. I was going to go
do that today. I can’t use these. They mean too much to you."
"Nonsense. Please, use them.
As I explained to Victoria, they mean a never-ending love, a true love, and a
real love. I told Victoria that I wanted her to carry on the love that her
mother and I shared until her mother’s death in the love she has for you. I can
see no better use for the rings than my daughter’s wedding. I insist."
"I don’t know what to
say." I picked up the engagement ring. It had a larger stone in the
middle, flanked by two smaller stones on either side. The sunlight through the
window behind me caught one of the diamonds and it produced a sparkle that told
me that I was doing the right thing.
"Please, take the rings.
Jack, Shannon selected a wedding ring for Rose. She has the matching ring for
you."
Jack finally opened his box. Inside
was a gold band similar to the one I had for Tory. "Mr. Metcalfe, thank
you. And be sure to thank Shannon for us. I trust that we’ll see her
tomorrow?"
Mr. Metcalfe smiled. "Yes,
you both will. She has destroyed an entire newspaper preparing for her role as
flower girl. The hotel staff will be furious if I don’t make her clean up her
mess." He looked one more time at me before he spoke again. "Officer
Lowe, take care of my daughter, please. I know you love her, and I can see in
her eyes that she loves you. Take care of her. Don’t let her down."
"I have no intention of it.
Anything she ever needs or wants is hers. I’ll find a way to give it to her,
whatever the cost." I meant what I said, too. I’d do whatever it took to
help her out.
Mr. Metcalfe excused himself and
left Jack and me alone.
"Can you believe this? I
want to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming." Jack picked the ring
up out of the box and slipped it on his pinky finger. "I’d never be able
to do this on my own."
"If you want someone to volunteer
for that pinching job, let me know."
Jack rolled his eyes. "I’ll
keep that in mind. I’m hungry. Do you want to order room service for dinner, or
what?"
I eyed the grandfather clock next
to the bedroom door. "Sounds good."
Jack went downstairs to order
while I stayed upstairs in our room. I picked up Tory’s rings and tried to put
them on my fingers. I could get them on the tip of my ring finger, but that was
it. I still couldn’t believe that tomorrow I’d be married.
I walked over to the window to look
out. The sun was slowly sinking and the outside lights owned by the hotel were
just starting to flicker on. This is it. I’ll have a bride tomorrow.
Sometimes, I needed to be pinched
to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.