JOHN AND ROSE
Chapter Twelve
June 1, 1927
"I still can’t believe you and Dad are
getting married!" Mary exclaimed, jumping out of the car as soon as Rose
pulled it to a stop.
"Now we’re going to have a mother,
too," Nadia added, getting out of the car at a more sedate pace. The three
of them walked toward the formal wear shop.
"I’m looking forward to it, too,"
Rose said, with a laugh. "After all, I’m the one who’s getting
married."
"So you finally found Mr. Right in
Dad?" Nadia questioned, a bit worried. She loved her Aunt Rose, but she
half-feared that one day Rose would get tired of Cedar Rapids and go back to
California, as Mary planned to do.
"Of course, Nadia. I would never have
agreed to marry him otherwise."
"But a lot of movie people get married
and then get divorced. People don’t think well of that around here."
Rose hesitated, thinking. "We can’t
predict what the future will hold, Nadia," she said slowly, "but I’ll
tell you this much–I love your father, and I have every intention of spending
the rest of my life with him."
"Besides, Nadia," Mary interjected.
"Aunt Rose waited years to get married again, and she’s too old to just
leave and look for someone else."
"Old? I beg your pardon, Mary. I’m only
thirty-two."
Mary stared at her. At seventeen, thirty-two
seemed far off to her. "Well, you’re not going to leave Dad, are
you?"
Rose couldn’t believe she was hearing this
out of her soon-to-be step-daughters. "Not if I have anything to say about
it. I’m not letting go of him easily."
Nadia nodded, satisfied by Rose’s vehemence.
Mary hurried ahead of them, stopping in front of the store.
"Come on! The wedding is only two weeks
away! We don’t have time to waste!"
Rose laughed, following her. In the months
since she had returned to California, she had filmed her last movie there–and
her best in a long time, she thought, sold her house to a well-to-do man who
had made his fortune in oil, and finally convinced her son that Cedar Rapids
could be just as good a place to live as Los Angeles, though he had still
stared longingly out the window until the city was out of sight. They had
arrived in Cedar Rapids on May fifteenth, one month to the day she and John had
chosen for their wedding, and moved into a hotel room for the duration, for
propriety’s sake.
Her belongings had taken several freight cars
to ship, costing an exorbitant amount, but John had surprised her by paying her
moving fees. Not that she couldn’t have afforded it, but she still thought it
was good of him to do so. Most of her belongings had been moved into his house,
crowding several of the rooms. Rose hadn’t realized how many things she had
acquired over the years.
Christopher had been allowed to select his
own room, much to his delight. There were several spare rooms in the Calvert
home, since John had no live-in help anymore and the three residents didn’t
need much space. He had initially chosen a room right next to Mary’s, but that
had lasted only until he had found a hole in the wall and looked into her room.
Mary, offended by this, had sneaked up on the hole, and when he had peeked
through again, had jabbed him in the eye with her finger. John and Rose had had
to separate the embattled teenagers. Christopher had wound up with a room far
from Mary’s, and Mary had hung a picture over the hole in her wall to keep
anyone else from looking into her room.
Rose, of course, had moved herself into
John’s room, though she wouldn’t actually be staying there until after the
wedding. She kept only what she needed in her hotel room, knowing that the
wedding wasn’t far off and not wanting to deal with moving in when she should
be enjoying the first days of her married life.
Mary and Nadia headed for the racks of
wedding attire in delight. Although both owned several formal dresses, as
befitted their station as the daughters of one of the wealthiest men in Cedar
Rapids, they had never purchased anything for a wedding. Rose followed them
more slowly, her eyes taking in the wedding gowns.
Technically, it would be inappropriate for
her to wear white, since she claimed to be a widow, but she had never really
been married before, and the elegant white dresses appealed to her. She had had
a very elaborate gown, custom-made for her, when she had been engaged to Cal,
but she hadn’t really had a choice in the matter. This time, she was choosing
her own dress, appropriate or not.
Mary and Nadia looked at her expectantly.
They were going to be her bridesmaids, the first time either had participated
in a wedding. They had been to a few weddings in Cedar Rapids, especially in
recent years as their friends had grown up, but neither had been a part of the
wedding party before. Nadia’s parents had been married a good year before she
was born, and Mary, while she had been present at John and Miriam’s wedding,
had been too young to take part.
Christopher was going to be the ring-bearer,
a role he had disdained as just for little boys. He had complained about the
prospect of wearing short pants and looking childish, until his mother had
stopped his whining by agreeing to let him wear the tuxedo she had bought for
him in California so that he could participate in some of the formal parties
Rose went to.
Christopher had finally stopped sulking when
John had taken him under his wing, letting the boy help with the wedding plans.
He had brightened considerably after that, no longer feeling left out by the
adult members of the family. It was John who, being more familiar with Cedar
Rapids, had arranged for the church, minister, and flowers, and had invited
half of the guests, including Elizabeth Anders. Rose had invited a number of
friends from California, as well as her mother, and the three teenagers had
each been allowed to invite a few friends, as long as they behaved themselves.
Word had spread quickly that John Calvert,
president of Anders Cedar Rapids, was marrying the movie star who had been his
guest the previous summer, thanks in a large part to Mary, who was very proud
of that fact and told anyone who would listen. More than a few people had been
scandalized by the prospect–many considered movie stars to be immoral, and the
fact that John was marrying one of them, rather than a good local woman, or
even an upper class woman from elsewhere, had caused tongues to wag. But John
had ignored the hint of scandal, confident that he and his business would pull
through.
And it had. Anders Cedar Rapids was too
important to the local economy to be torn down by a scandal, no matter how
juicy, and John was well-respected in the community, both for his business
acumen and as a person, since he didn’t hold himself above those who were not
so wealthy, and treated people equally. This had proven upsetting to Cedar
Rapids’ upper crust, but John had never forgotten his humble beginnings.
"Aunt Rose?"
Rose looked up as Mary pulled a dress from
the rack and showed it to her. "This would be nice."
"It would, but..." Rose took the
dress, examining it critically. "I think something of a little better
quality would be better. After all, bridesmaids’ dresses can be worn again to
some occasions, so you should get something that won’t fall apart easily."
She had done enough sewing to know the difference between quality and shoddy
work.
Mary frowned. "Well, what do you think
would look nice? It’s your wedding."
Rose looked at the racks of dresses, her eye
falling upon a rack of plain, white dresses that could be decorated and dyed to
suit the buyer. "How about one of these? I know they look plain, but we
can choose how to decorate them, and dye them." She looked at the two
girls, judging what would look good on them. "I think lavender would look
nice on both of you, and it would be practical for summer evening gowns
later." She smiled. "I always thought, if I ever got married, my
bridesmaids would wear lavender dresses."
"What about the decorations on the
dresses?" Nadia asked. "What do you want on them?"
"Well, I was thinking that you two could
decide that between yourselves. I trust your taste, and your judgment, so I
know you won’t look too gaudy." She gestured toward the shelves of lace,
ribbons, and other notions. "Why don’t you go over there and choose
something, and I’ll tell you if I like it or not. There should be time to have
the dresses made to your satisfaction before the wedding. There’s some picture
books there, too, to show you the different styles and help you decide."
Mary nodded, pulling Nadia toward the back of
the store. Rose turned her attention to the wedding gowns, determined to find
just the right one.
It took her two hours to select a gown and a
veil, while Mary and Nadia pored over the pictures of bridesmaid dresses and
argued about what style to choose. They were done before she was, and Mary
spent the rest of the time reminding the harried saleswoman that the wedding
was June fifteenth, and trying to help Rose choose her wedding dress. Nadia,
for her part, got bored and wandered down the street to the library.
Rose finally chose her wedding dress–a long,
white gown with alternating panels of lace and rose-patterned satin. The bodice
was tight, but not so tight that she would have to wear a corset with it, and
the short sleeves and slightly low-cut front showed off her figure to
perfection. Rose had eschewed the tanning that many other stars found
attractive, so her skin was still as flawless as it had been fifteen years
before.
The veil was made of several layers of white
netting, trimmed with lace and going down to her feet. A few satin roses
trimmed the front of the veil, and she had decided against having either a
train or a veil over her face. A train seemed to be too much trouble, while the
veil over her face seemed pointless.
"Oh, Aunt Rose. That’s beautiful."
Mary sighed, picturing her walking down the aisle in it. "Are you going to
keep it after the wedding?"
"Well...probably," Rose answered,
wondering why Mary had asked.
"Good. Because when I get married, I
want to wear it, too."
"Well, then, in that case I’ll be sure
to keep it. It will be an heirloom."
"Thanks, Aunt Rose." Mary smiled.
"Are we going to go get shoes now?"
"Yes, we can go get shoes now, as soon
as we pull your sister away from the library."
"I’ll go get her," Mary told her,
darting off down the street.
Rose just laughed, remembering when she had
been so young and full of energy.